dragons breath 01 - stalked by flames

by Susan Illene

  “Hey, jackass. Over here!” I screamed.

  No reaction. I gazed around, searching for something useful. A book someone had dropped lay on the ground. I scooped it up and tossed it in his direction. It went high enough to reach his line of sight before fluttering down about a hundred feet from him. His beady red eyes narrowed on me. He swooped lower and headed my way.

  I screamed and flailed my arms at him one more time for good measure, pushing back my rising fear, then dashed for one of the pillars that ran alongside the library. It wasn’t much cover, but it was several feet wide and made of brick. Surely he couldn’t burn through all of that?

  The ground shook with another earthquake just before I reached it. I lost my balance and stumbled the rest of the way, falling just before I reached the pillar. My hands and arms scraped the cement as I dragged myself behind it.

  Heat like I’d never felt before suffused my lower legs where they stuck out. I cringed and tried to pull them closer to my chest. Flames licked the ground on the other side of the pillar, almost reaching my face. It was all I could do to make my body as small as possible.

  I caught sight of the dragon swooping back up as bricks started falling. A chunk from one hit my arm and another grazed my leg, sending rivulets of pain through me. I frantically rolled away as what was left of the pillar started to crumble. My shoulder hit the library wall, stopping me. I wasn’t far enough yet. Before I could move, another brick crashed in front of my face. I winced from where a piece of it had cut into my forehead.

  I dragged my body along the wall, unsure if the overhang above me would hold with the pillar gone. Unless I wanted to risk being buried alive, I had to get up. Slivers of pain shot through my legs as I pulled them under me. They were bare to my mid-thighs, though my jeans had run to my ankles before. Had they been burned in the fire?

  The dragon was coming back around again in the distance. My breathing came out ragged as I got to my knees. I needed to get down the corridor where the women went and try to make it inside another building before it returned. I’d barely made it to my feet—which were oddly lacking shoes—before a roar filled the air.

  A second dragon had entered the scene, coming from Elm Street. For crying out loud, couldn’t I catch a break? How many of these things would I have to fight off before I could get to safety? The new dragon was different from the first in that his scales were a deep red color. His shoulders were more defined so that he had human-like arms coming from them and long fingers. He also had small horns on his head and back.

  To my surprise, he didn’t head for me. As the first dragon swooped down from the north the two collided, tumbling to the ground. The red one sank his teeth into the neck of his opponent. He was smaller than the green dragon. I estimated his body to be about the size of a cow while my initial attacker was more like a small elephant.

  As they wrestled across the sidewalk, it appeared the red one’s size worked to his advantage. All the larger dragon could do with his neck caught was flail his legs. I couldn’t help but watch the fight. It was like seeing a fantasy version of National Geographic.

  With his wings folded tightly against his back, the red dragon rolled until he came out on top. He clawed at the green one’s belly with his front arms, raking it with deep gashes. Guts spewed onto the ground. The green dragon struggled, but in a matter of seconds his flailing slowed to a stop. I could only guess losing half his organs had done him in. His legs fell to his side, and his head slumped.

  The winner unlatched his teeth and climbed off his opponent. Then he turned, swinging his red tail around. I discovered another difference between him and the green dragon when his gaze met mine. This one had yellow eyes and they showed signs of intelligence I hadn’t seen in the other creature—as if I was looking at a human inside an animal’s body. He was assessing me, rather than just leaping in for the kill.

  My back hit the library wall. Searching to my left and right, I couldn’t find an easy path away from him. How was I going to get myself out of this? He was going to act any second.

  Chapter 2

  Bailey

  The dragon stomped toward me on all four legs, steam puffing from his nostrils. His nose was as big as both my fists put together. I grabbed a brick off the ground and clutched it in my hand. Maybe I should have tried to run—a normal person would have—but being attacked by dragons had spiked my adrenaline.

  Whenever that happened, it was as if another side of me took over. I became someone who fought and stood her ground. More than once my stepfather had marveled at my ability to compartmentalize fear and think clearly when in danger. My mother hated it. She feared it would get me hurt or killed someday.

  I grew up on a ranch outside of Dallas where we had a lot of land. When I was ten years old, I’d decided to go out fishing by myself. Along the path to a nearby pond, I stumbled across a rattlesnake. Most people would have run screaming, especially a girl my age. I chucked a heavy tackle box at the thing. That didn’t kill it, of course, but it immobilized the snake’s body long enough for me to beat it to death with my fishing pole.

  That’s how my stepfather had found me. Hovering over a mangled snake and pondering whether to get my tackle box back. It had blood and guts all over it. Killing a poisonous snake was one thing, touching icky stuff was another.

  Now I had an honest-to-God dragon coming at me and once again I refused to panic. I needed to weigh my options. With my back against a wall, there was nowhere to go before he’d reach me, but there had to be a way out of this mess. Did the dragon have a weakness I could exploit? Something to buy me time until I could get to a safe place?

  I glanced at my brick—it was all I had. A heat-seeking missile would have been preferable, but no one had told me we were about to get invaded by mythical beasts, so I didn’t have one on hand. I looked up at the sky and wished a bolt of lightning would strike my opponent. The storm wasn’t close enough to make that a possibility yet. Not that I’d get that lucky.

  The red-scaled dragon lumbered closer, less than ten feet away. His gaze still didn’t show any signs of wildness or rage in it. The tilting of his head made me think he was curious more than anything. It’s what stayed my hand as he lowered his head to sniff at my legs. The heat emanating from his breath warmed the skin on my calves.

  I stared down and noted once again that my jeans had been burned off to my upper thighs. The sandals I’d been wearing earlier were missing, too. How had I lost half my clothes? There weren’t any signs of burns, only scratches and bruises.

  The dragon inspected all of this as his head inched upward. His hot nose tickled the skin of my thighs and he let out a puff of steam near my crotch. Okay, that was just a little too uncomfortable. I smacked his nose.

  “Back off!”

  He shook his head and let out a snort, then reared onto his hind legs. Flames licked up his body, consuming him. Standing only three feet away, there was no escape from the heat. I scrambled along the wall sideways, putting as much distance between us as I could. What had just happened? Did smacking dragons in the nose trigger some weird reaction?

  The flames narrowed and became brighter. Then a dark shape emerged within them that had me tripping over my own feet to get away. It looked demonic—like something straight out of Hell. There was standing my ground and then there was being stupid.

  I spun on my heels and took off down the sidewalk that lay between the library and the building next to it. A growl echoed down the corridor—a really angry one. I passed by bushes and benches that provided no cover from a menacing dragon and kept going. There were plenty of paths to take up ahead if I could just get past the library. The damned building seemed to extend forever.

  Through the racing of my heart, I caught heavy footsteps behind me. They didn’t clomp the same way as the dragon’s and sounded more like boots on pavement. Glancing back, I saw a man with feral yellow eyes wearing strange clothing. The red dragon was nowhere to be seen. Shivers raced down my spine as I realized this
guy’s attention was focused solely on me and he was racing toward me fast. Where had he come from?

  I gripped the brick in my hand—amazed I still had it—and slowed down. It took a couple of deep breaths for me to find my calm place. All the while, the boot steps came closer. When the man couldn’t have been more than a stride away, I spun around with my arm held high. I launched the brick at his face, but he jerked his head to the side at the last moment. It grazed his chin instead.

  My momentum kept me going into a spiral I couldn’t recover from before the ground came rising up. The brick slipped from my grasp as I crashed into the ground. Damn. I should have planned that better. The man flipped me over and straddled my waist with his thighs, using his weight to keep me down.

  “Get off.” I tried to shove him away.

  “Hold still,” he commanded.

  I punched and slapped at him to no avail. He blocked every move I made.

  “No!”

  He grabbed my wrists, forcing them to my sides.

  “I’m not going to harm you,” he said, enunciating each word slowly.

  There was no getting myself free. The man himself wasn’t overly large, but he had solid definition in his muscles that he used to keep me pinned in place. His form was lithe and he looked like he could move fast and strike hard. Had I just gotten myself into even deeper trouble than with the dragons?

  “What do you want?” I asked through clenched teeth.

  He had short black hair, olive skin, and yellow eyes that slit like a cat’s. I shuddered. His appearance both attracted and repelled me. He wore tight-fitting black pants and a matching vest. I didn’t recognize the material, but it seemed sort of like leather except the texture was rougher where it rubbed against my skin. There were no buttons or zippers, only laces.

  “To talk to you,” he spoke slowly again, as if he was testing the words. His tone was deep and guttural. There was a distinctive accent in his voice I couldn’t place.

  I studied him, finding no hint of malice. “Why?”

  One corner of his lips curled up. “You are brave…for a human.”

  Romanian. His accent sounded sort of like that. Wait. Did he say human? Like he wasn’t one? I narrowed my gaze to study his features more closely. He had thick brows, a long nose, and sharp cheekbones that all appeared normal enough. It was only his eyes that stood out as different. Animalistic.

  “You’re not the dragon,” I said after taking him in again.

  “Am I not?” He sounded amused.

  “No.” I shook my head decisively as if that alone could settle it.

  He pulled my hand toward his face. His touch was hotter than any human’s I’d ever felt. I tried to jerk away from him, but he didn’t let go. Instead, he lowered his mouth to my palm and blew a light stream of fire over it. I felt the heat, but it didn’t burn.

  “What the…?”

  I stared at my hand in amazement, then at him. He could blow fire from his mouth—and it didn’t burn me. This couldn’t be happening.

  “Does that convince you?” he asked.

  His English became more fluid each time he spoke. It was like he knew the words, but hadn’t had many opportunities to use them. I’d met a lot of foreign students who talked like that.

  I stared at my hand again. “This isn’t real.”

  “No?” He let go of me and stood up. “Then what is it?”

  “It’s, um…”

  I rose onto my elbows. A picture in my mind flashed of all the people who had burned to death in front of the library. That had been real. As real as all the cuts and scrapes that pained me now. There was no need to pinch myself to check if I was dreaming. But how had I escaped being burned like the other people? First my legs had escaped the flames—minus my pants and shoes—and now my palm.

  The guy reached a hand down toward me. “I am called Aidan and you are?”

  I stared up at him. Every instinct cried out that I couldn’t trust him, but I also recognized he hadn’t killed me. He certainly could have if he’d wanted. Instead, he claimed he didn’t want to hurt me. A glimpse at the sky revealed dragons flying in the distance—a lot of green ones. Whether this was real or a dream, I’d play along with it for the moment.

  “I’m Bailey.”

  As soon as my hand met his he pulled me up to my feet.

  “You are…smaller than I expected,” he observed, running his gaze up and down my body. “Almost puny.”

  I jerked my hand from his. “Did you know you have eyes like a snake? I’ve killed snakes.”

  “Good.” He squeezed my bicep as if testing its strength. “Perhaps there is hope for you.”

  “Hope? What’s that supposed to mean?”

  He gave me an odd look. “You do not burn.”

  “I got that.” I glanced at my palm again, still surprised to find it whole. “So?”

  “I have enemies—worse than humans,” he replied, as if that explained everything.

  “I’m still not getting it.”

  He nodded toward the sky. “Those are not my friends.”

  Was that why he’d attacked the green dragon? Was there some sort of rivalry going on? He did appear different than the others—both his dragon shape and his coloring.

  “Why did you guys come here? And how?” I asked.

  His expression darkened. “We were in a different…world. The wall that has separated us from you is weakening.”

  I searched for a term that might relate to what he meant.

  “Like another dimension?” I cocked my head.

  He mulled that over. “Perhaps. We were sent away from Earth long ago.”

  “How long…”

  A red dragon appeared in the sky, flying toward us from the same direction Aidan had come. I stiffened.

  “Do not worry,” he said, glancing at the new arrival. “This one will not harm you.”

  It landed next to the dragon Aidan had killed earlier, folded its wings, and sniffed at the carcass. The man in front of me didn’t seem the least bit concerned. In fact, he took hold of my arm and made me walk with him to greet the new arrival. I considered running but knew I wouldn’t get far. Besides, he had saved me from the last dragon who’d attacked. It wouldn’t make sense for him to let this one finish me off.

  “Ihah,” Aidan said in a commanding voice. “Ti dah garik neeman.”

  For a second the dragon just stood there, then it turned around and left. Spreading its wings to take flight into an ever-darkening sky. The storm clouds were much closer now and lightning flashed at regular intervals.

  “What did you tell him?” And would those words make his kind go away if I said them?

  “I ordered him to go and that…I will join him soon.” Aidan turned to face me.

  “He’s your friend?”

  “He is from my toriq,” he paused, “my clan.”

  “Can he shape-shift to human form like you?”

  “Yes…all of those from my clan can do so,” he replied.

  “And the dragon you killed?”

  “No.” Aidan shook his head. “He cannot.”

  At least he was giving me information. Though I didn’t know if I could trust what he said, I felt compelled to find out all I could. It could be useful later if they stuck around.

  “Does it have something to do with your different color?” I asked.

  He nodded. “Those who have red scales can shift…but do not trust any other dragon. Only me.”

  “Why?”

  Thunder rumbled and a flash of lightning cracked nearby.

  “I must go.” He turned and began walking back down the sidewalk. “I will see you again soon. Do not talk to other dragons.”

  Okay, he seemed to be really stuck on that. Like I was going to run out and find another one to chat with after he left.

  “But…” I had a thousand more questions.

  “Soon,” he called back.

  Aidan reached the open area away from other buildings and trees where his clan mem
ber had landed before. Flames erupted, covering him completely. Seconds later they widened and a large dark shape became visible through them. When the fire died down, he reappeared in his dragon form. He really could shift. His leathery wings spread wide and he took off into the air.

  Yeah, that settled it. This day really had been doomed from the start.

  Chapter 3

  Aidan

  Taking to the air, Aidan searched for Donar. His cousin wouldn’t have gone far, especially since most of their clan hadn’t made it through the fracturing walls in their world yet. They might be strong fighters, but they were severely outnumbered at the moment. The Shadowan and Thamaran dragon clans—who couldn’t shift to human form—could be ruthless. It was only the sight of more humans than they’d ever seen before that kept them distracted.

  They wanted revenge and he couldn’t say he entirely blamed them. Humans had taken this world for granted while the dragons suffered in a barely hospitable land for all these centuries. They’d nearly starved by the time the veil separating them from Earth started to weaken. Only then did things begin to change and their hopes for a better life returned.

  Using his strong sense of smell, Aidan found Donar waiting on the rooftop of a nearby building. He spread his wings wide and sailed down to land next to his cousin. They greeted each other with snorts of steam. It was traditional among dragons in this form.

  “Why were you talking to the human?” Donar asked, speaking telepathically in their native tongue.

  “She is the dragon slayer I told you about,” he replied.

  His cousin’s eyes widened. “You are certain?”

  Aidan had chosen not to tell Bailey about herself yet. She needed time to adjust to her new reality. He and the other dragons had been able to see through the veil separating their worlds for nearly two decades, preparing them for what would come. It had been murky at first, but with each year that passed more sections of Earth became visible. That advantage had only worked one way. While humans could accidentally cross into their world, they couldn’t get back. They were left trapped and waited to return as well.