Page 67 of Dreams and Dragon Wings
But how?
I chance a glance backward and immediately regret it. The black dragon is even closer now, swiftly devouring what distance remains. Ghostly claws scrape against my mental defenses again, trying to break down my walls, to invade my thoughts.
Bene, you must hurry, I whisper, speaking directly to my dragon king now. No, not to Bene.
But to his Shade.
I have an idea. It is a mad idea, but an idea nonetheless.
This dragon seeks to take me from you. He wants to consume me for his own.My stomach churns as I insist,But I’m yours to consume. I belong to you. Only you.
A fresh roar thunders from Bene’s throat as he surges forward, flying with renewed strength. The rain stings my eyes, blinding me. The wind rushes past, threatening to rip me free from my saddle.
I press myself as tightly against Bene’s back as I can and cling to the harness Glorana wove for me until my knuckles whiten. Until my hands ache. A final projectile soars through the air, harmlessly sailing past us.
And then we shoot over Spindleton’s walls. My heart flutters. We are free.
At last, nothing but farmlands and open country unfurls before us.
We can do this, Bene, I urge him, speaking to whatever part of my dragon king is in control now. Though the Door lies an entire kingdom away, on the east side of Briarhold while we still cut across the west, I encourage:We are almost there.
“No!” Brisa screams from just behind us, a frantic edge to her voice.
I do not even have time to look before something strikes us hard. Something sharp and heavy. Something wreathed in threads of Air and Spirit. The very bolt we had just avoided, now flung back at us from behind.
It pierces Bene’s wing straight through and slices across my left calf, ripping through the silk of my gown to rend flesh and muscle. I scream as liquid fire burns in the wake of the bolt’s passing.
I scream again when the powerful, pearlescent dragon beneath me suddenly shifts midair and becomes a mere man again.
A man with a great, bleeding wound now just above his left shoulderblade.
The flames ringing the Corona Ignis flicker weakly, as if they stand on the verge of being snuffed out with the next gust of wind.
We are in free fall, plummeting toward the river that borders Spindleton. Panic claws at my chest, desperate to be loosed. Those tumultuous waters rush closer. But I cannot swim.
I cannot swim.
I cannotswim.
Where are the aunties? We need them. We needhelp.
“Bene!” is all I have time to scream before I strike the river feet first, with Bene not far behind. The impact rattles my bones. Water rushes in through my mouth and nose. I struggle, frantically kicking, but going nowhere beyond down. Down into the deep. The dark.
I cannot breathe.
Ineedto breathe.
My lungs burn.
My mind screams.
Just when my vision begins to fade, something seizes me around the waist. The Water itself. And something else.
Bene.
In a daze, I stare into familiar eyes flickering between shades of sapphire and ruby as we shoot back toward the surface, wrapped in threads of Water and Air. Together, we arc out of the river and crash onto the muddy shore, landing side by side.
Water spews from my mouth, leaving my throat raw. I cough, drinking in deep of the night air. The rain still falls, heavy droplets beating against my back as I roll to my hands and knees and try to find the strength to rise.
