Page 4 of Ava's Love of the Dragons
"You hid a dragon egg from him! That was high treason!"
They knew about the dragon and that it had hatched?
Why did they know about it? Had news of the dragon child's birth already spread, or had Rob blabbed about that too? By now, she wouldn't put anything past him. Was he a traitor or did he really want to protect the dragon world?
She had to postpone those questions for later—and first make sure there would, in fact, be a later for her.
"What are you planning to do with me?"
"If you don't shut up right now, I promise you won't be conscious for any of it! Now be quiet!" He struck the back of her head, causing her to fall forward. If one of the soldiers hadn't held her, she would have fallen face-first onto the ground, as for now she couldn't brace herself or defend herself in any way with her hands.
Damn! How was she going to free herself?
"HELP! AIR DRAGON!" Her voice was muffled by the sack, but she screamed with all her lungs could muster. "HELP!"
The soldier holding her grew uneasy. "Why is she calling for him?" He sounded uncertain.
"I told you to shut up!" The captain shoved her head again, but this time she had been expecting it and steadied her stance beforehand. Instead of having to fight for balance, she took a deep breath and screamed again.
"AIR DRAGON!"
She knew the air dragons guarded the borders. During her first border crossing, the mere appearance of the dragon had been enough to make the soldiers let her go. He was her only chance. The only way she could keep herself from falling into the king's hands. Because if she considered the accusations—not all of which were far-fetched—King Eldric would show no mercy.
"Gag her!" the captain roared and pressed his hand over her mouth. She shook her head, and his hand slipped aside for a moment.
"AAI—"
The sack over her head was lifted a bit, and her scream was stifled as a thick piece of cloth was shoved between her lips. She tried to close her jaws, but the soldiers pushed the wad of fabric directly into her mouth. Before she could spit it out, they pulled the sack down over her head and secured the gag with a band they tied tightly at the back of her head.
Heavens, she had to pray not to suffocate! Panic threatened to overwhelm her and she tensed up. Breathe. Breathe. Finally, she managed a somewhat normal rhythm.
"Take her away!" The captain spat on the ground again.
"But she called for him. What if he comes and incinerates us because we've captured her?"
"Are you such cowards? She has a sack over her head! How is the dragon supposed to recognize her?"
"But she's full of dragon magic. We all saw the stone glowing."
"Then, you'd better hurry, or do you want to stand next to her at the execution and be charged with insubordination?"
Grumbling, the border guard pushed her forward. She stumbled but caught herself before falling to her knees. A wind picked up and tugged at the sack over her head. This had to be the air dragon! She just had to stay outside long enough for him to find her. With all her weight, she braced herself against the soldiers.
"He's coming!" one of them shouted.
"Lock her in the hut!"
"But he'll destroy everything with his water vapor breath!"
"Hurry up, then he won't see her!"
The guards pushed her forward, but Ava made herself heavy, didn't take a step, and risked falling. The dragon was coming. He would help her. Surely!
A soldier grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder. Her upper body was wrapped up like a package, so she couldn'tdo anything but kick her legs. But immediately another started holding her feet, and the men rushed off at breakneck speed. She heard a door being unlocked, and then they ran inside and a door slammed shut behind them. It got even darker; they were probably in the shed.
She tried to scream, to make noise, to cause any kind of ruckus, but the border guards held her tight and only muffled sounds escaped her mouth.
"Get one of the horses in here, quick!"
