Page 37 of Captured By the Dragon Warlord
My stomach is quaking. I always knew this moment would come, or rather I expected at some point there would be flying.
I can’t do it.
The snap is audible as Dexx changes back into his biped form. He takes hold of my upper arms, studying my face.
“You fear the flight?” he rasps.
“I fear any flight. I’m sorry, Dexx. I’m going to have to take the stairs or tunnels to get down there. I can’t fly, I really can’t.”
There is a sheen of sweat on his brow. “To reach the bottom of the shaft by foot will take several hours, and that is if you are Sarkarnii, not…” He looks me up and down.
“I can’t do it, then.” I shake my head. “I have a thing about flying.”
“While you can see?” Dexx asks.
He’s sharp, too damn sharp. I shake my head in exasperation at my own fears, the ones I can’t control.
Dexx slides his hands down my arms, taking hold of my hands briefly, his skin hot against mine, then he sticks out a single claw, slowly slicing through the top I’m wearing.
“Dexx?” I try to get away, but he easily completes the strange task.
“If you do not need to see, you do need to trust,” he says, lifting up the strip of fabric he’s cut from my clothing.
“Oh.” I can’t stop the strange noise coming out of my mouth, somewhat strangled surprise.
I do have to trust, not just Dexx but his Sarkarnii too.
And I’ve seen his Sarkarnii.
Dexx lifts the fabric up to my face.
“If you wish?” he asks.
I have to choose. Do I trust him? Can I trust him? He stole me without asking. But he also agreed to the rules. And now he’s prepared to let me help him. Dexx’s hands tremble slightly.
It’s getting close to the time he needs to shift. And I’ve let him do it once but return to his current form. I’m not sure I have much of a choice.
“Okay,” I agree.
Dexx wraps the fabric over my eyes, blanking out most of my vision. I can still see light and dark, and if I look down, I can still see my chest and feet.
“Are you ready, my little ember?” Dexx’s velvet, dark voice says in my ear.
“Yes,” I whisper.
There is silence, save for the ticking and clanking of the ship surrounding us.
“I am going to put you on my back.” Dexx’s voice comes from high above. I’m grasped around the waist and lifted up. I try not to wriggle or peer out from under the blindfold as I’m placed onto something huge and scaly and my hands touch something hard and bony.
“Hold on,” the deep voice rumbles.
I don’t need to be asked twice. I grasp at the bone, which I can get my arms around, and I feel Dexx lift into the air. I crush down the fears which attempt to swallow me.
I cannot see anything, and that is the only way I can tolerate this. Wind rushes past me, and under the blindfold, I close my eyes, keeping them tightly shut as I expect my ride to tip and shift.
Only there is nothing, no movement, no sliding. Instead the gentlest of thumps and a voice in my ear.
“Can I lift you down, little mate?” Dexx asks.
