Page 74 of Total Eclipse of the Moon
If he woke, he’d freak out with her gone. She should leave a note or something, but there was no time.
The distress call came from the direction of the water. She navigated a narrow sandy path lit by moonlight in her bare feet, still in the borrowed dress that was only a bit rumpled from lying in it. Scattered clouds hid the stars. Once she reached the edge of the water the sound of waves lapping in and out drowned out the frogs’ happy post-rain songs.
She said out loud in an old language that she inherently knew but had never been taught, "I’m here to answer the call."
Waves rolled in and out. Offshore, several hundred yards out, the water became choppy. Heads broke from the surface as a group of serpentine water dragons wove their way through the water toward her. The water dragons were the most intriguing to her of all dragon types with their ability to breathe both underwater and on land. Moonlight bounced off their iridescent skin in rainbow hues. Four of the gigantic creatures walked on four legs from the water. One carried a baby in its hands. At least five remained in the water, hovering and watching. The four adults towered over her at a size five times that of a horse and as tall as a giraffe. She wondered if a T-rex would be about the same size.
One bite and they could end her. But she experienced no fear.
They wouldn’t be here to kill her. They only revealed themselves on their terms.
She’d adored dragons when young and had learned everything possible about them from books, although most of it was pure conjecture. When she first met one in the woods near her house when she was about eight, she discovered not only could she communicate with it in a secret language no one but her seemed to know, but also, she could help it by healing its injury. She may be a passably skilled spell and potion witch, but in this specialized ability to heal dragons, she never felt a moment of hesitation. With no other creature was she able to do this. Only dragons. It didn't feel like a life calling, though. It felt like a specialized skill.
Madeline knelt before the gigantic creatures and bowed her head to drop eye contact. They bowed back to her as was their custom.
The largest in front, the seeming leader, said to her in the language of the dragons, "You are the Dragon Healer. I can feel it in my bones."
"I have been known to heal a few of your kind before." She struggled not to come off smug. Unlike other uses of magic, healing a dragon took nothing from her and gave back rejuvenation, which meant the idea of using it tonight buzzed her with excitement. "How can I help you?"
The leader turned to the one holding the limp young dragon. "My son was attacked by a water leech. I don’t know if we’re too late. He might’ve lost too much blood."
"A what?" she asked, thinking she heard wrong. What kind of leech would be big enough to hurt a dragon? The baby dragon was the size of an adult hippopotamus.
"A Burach Bhadi. A Wizard’s Shackle."
"Never heard of it or seen it, but I’ll take your word for it. Let me look at him."
* * *
Awake,Shane stared at his empty arms, and the vacant side of the bed where Madeline had been. The sheets were cold. She’d been gone a while.
Where was she? No light on in the adjoining bathroom. Door to the outside was cracked. Someone either came in and took her or she went out by herself. Adrenaline shot through him along with the feeling of being smothered. Knife out and on his feet, he prepared to fight anything coming out of the shadows.
"Breathe,"Baku said."No sign of a struggle. I don’t sense her in here."
"They could’ve drugged her," he said out loud.
"Without you hearing anything?"
"Her leaving was voluntary?" How had he missed her leaving? She better not have put a spell on him.
The demon said, "I don’t feel any residual magic, but I do feel something unusual in the air."
He tracked her footprints up the sandy trail. Why was she heading for the water? When he crested the dunes, he froze at the scene in front of him. Hair spiked on the back of his neck. "What in all that’s holy?"
"Get down! Quiet,"Baku commanded."Stay hidden."
In shocked silence he fell to the ground behind a dune and watched her communicate with huge, winged serpent-like creatures. She waded into the shallows of the ocean with them, soaking the bottom third of her dress. Her hands glowed as they slid over the little serpent’s body.
His tension didn’t ease upon seeing her alive. It ramped up, unsure if he should be protective or prepared to stop her from leaving. He asked Baku,"What are those?"
"Water dragons,"Baku said in an awed tone."I’ve never seen one. Thought they went extinct."
"What’s she doing with them? Is she escaping? Leaving?"He watched the huge creatures hold out a smaller one so that she could run her hands over it.
"She’s not running, but they’d help her escape if she asked."
"I’ll fight them."
