Page 65 of Jace

Slowly, gently, Jace tried to tell it. She has never seen us in this form. She may be frightened.

But it was no use. The dragon was already bending until his head was just above Susannah’s height on the precarious perch.

She blinked up at him for a heart-stopping moment.

“Jace,” she breathed.

The dragon nearly roared with delight, but held himself back at the last moment.

He leaned his weight slightly to the side instead, hoping she would realize he was offering her help getting down with their youngling.

Her eyes lit up and she extended her hand cautiously, the tips of her fingers caressing his smooth scales.

His eyes wanted to roll back with pleasure at her gentle touch, but the machine was shifting gears. He had to focus.

Lowering his neck, he jutted his chin slightly, inviting her on.

She obeyed immediately, adding her small weight to his back, and then sliding herself all the way down his bent leg to land at his feet.

“Thank you,” she said, tilting her head all the way back to look at him.

“Run,” Zara screamed to her.

He could have cried with relief. He needed his mate and whelp as far away as possible so that they could not be hurt in the fallout of his fight to stop this horrible machine.

I will lift them all up, the dragon decided. I will carry them away.

She will not go, Jace told him. She wishes to protect her home.

The machine lurched forward again, the treads engaging this time, screeching as they ripped stone from the ground.

The dragon leapt and pumped his leathery wings once, rocketing into the sky so that he could better observe his mechanical opponent.

Grass and stone were already disappearing into its mighty maw. It appeared to be sturdy, and the metal teeth made short work of anything they encountered.

So, it had to be fire.

The dragon fell back slightly to look for the proper angle.

His mate and child and her friend had removed themselves as far as the rocky ledge. He would have liked for them to have kept running, but this was far enough.

Floating above the creek, he inhaled deeply, wondering if the machine took any notice of him or the bellows of his lungs.

If so, it did not impact the programming. One of the arms grabbed a boulder and fed it into its maw before it could interfere with the treads.

The dragon spewed fire from his mouth, blasting the brilliant flame so that it engulfed the machine. With its arm extended, it should be more vulnerable. He hoped some of the heat had found its way into the inner workings. Fire and technology didn’t mix.

But when his fire ran out and the smoke lifted, he could see the thing was unaffected.

Scanning the woods for anything he could use as a weapon, the dragon lighted on a gigantic dead tree, long ago withered by lightning.

He flew to it, the leaves of the nearby trees shivering and flapping in the wake of his wings.

Wrapping his talons around the trunk he pulled with all his might, flapping wildly.

The tree came loose from the earth with a terrible groan.

He swung it through the air and let go, bracing himself.

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