Page 124 of Between Soul and Vessel
I reached for my dagger, always strapped to my thigh, but it wasn’t there either. The weight of my quiver was gone as well.
Shit!I had no weapons, nothing to defend myself with. The tunnel had stripped me of—
The tunnel!
Whatever was hiding in the trees let out another warning growl, spurring me into action.
Shooting to my feet, I swirled around, spotting the hole I had been tossed out of. I started for it, eyes searching the ground for my weapons along the way.
Please. Please. Please,I repeated the mantra.
I looked around, frantically searching but finding . . . nothing.
My heart sank.
Trees smashed behind me, and I spun around, ready to meet my fate.
A beast, cut from darkness itself, emerged. It had sleek, black scales that looked like impenetrable armor and vicious, snarling teeth.
Larger than life. It was—
A dragon!
“Stay back!” I cried out as it approached, knocking over the trees as if they were brittle twigs. My hand trembled, my lungs heaved, my knees wobbled. The stories my father used to tell began to sift into my mind—about the dangerous dragons that lurked in theshadows of this world, only appearing when little children didn’t do as their parents asked. Those children would be taken away and never seen again. Father would snap his teeth at us, his fingers tickling our bellies as he said dragons loved to eat little kids. As I grew older and I listened to the horrific stories passed among our clan, I came to realize—dragons didn’t differentiate between children and adults . . . They’d eat anything that walked.
My foot collided with something in the dirt, knocking it loose.
My eyes widened—my dagger!
With lightning speed, I grabbed it and thrust it up into the air, holding it out in warning as I snarled, “I mean it. Stay back!”
The dragon tipped its head curiously to the side, eyeing my dagger—about the right size for it to pick its teeth with after it was done eating me.
Its endlessly black eyes, larger than my head, shifted back to mine. Although it was a beast, its eyes were full of intelligence. It was like looking through a glass window into the inner workings of a lethally sharp mind. I could see those sleek cogs moving, turning in thought and churning out a plan.
Probably to eat me.
I swallowed, waiting for the snap of those vicious teeth to end me in one swift bite.
But then, the dragon sat down.
Its tail curled around its monstrous body. It looked like a massive black house cat, but I wasn’t foolish enough to tryto pet it. The tip of its tail swished from side to side in anticipation as it waited to devour me.
It was as if the dragon was enjoying this . . .
My brow furrowed, my eyes shifting as I looked for an escape. I wasn’t going to allow it to torment me like this. Perhaps if I could get the rest of the way to the tunnel, I might be able to climb my way out of it. But would I be able to get there in time before the dragon’s iron jaw clamped around me?
I had to try.
Turning on my heel, I sprinted toward the hole. My blood thrummed in my veins, shooting adrenaline through me. My heart pounded in my ears, my body waiting for that deadly swipe of the dragon’s claws. Reaching the hole, I didn’t dare look back. I leapt up, trying to grab hold of the opening, trying to pierce the wall with my dagger. I tried again and again, but I had no luck. The wall was too hard to pierce. I chucked the dagger onto the ground and resorted to my fingernails, desperation making an animal out of me, unable to think logically. Deep down, I knew the opening was too high for me to reach. Still, I jumped, my fingernails biting into the dirt, but I never got close enough.
I didn’t want to die down here. I didn’t want to die!
Father Creator, please help me. I prayed, begging for his aid. I made the plea over and over again, but my prayer was never answered.
By the time the sun started to dip its head, I was exhausted. I turned around, rested my back against the dirt wall, and slid toward the ground, crumpling in a heap ofexhaustion and frustration.
I looked up at the dragon, who was still sitting there, onyx eyes thoroughly fixed on me.
