dragons breath 01 - stalked by flames

by Susan Illene

“Yeah, I just wish I could nail Aidan during training,” I said, finishing my set.

  Conrad smiled, flashing his white teeth. “You almost got him last time.”

  “Almost only counts with horseshoes and hand grenades.”

  He snickered. “True.”

  For the last few training sessions, I’d been practicing with my sword against Aidan. He moved faster than any human and could anticipate my every move. It was frustrating, especially to my bruised body. One day I planned to knock him down the way he’d done to me dozens of times. The man was a brute when it came to training.

  “So what’s going on?” I asked.

  Conrad shoved his hands into his pockets. He’d made it into an art keeping his khaki pants clean and wrinkle-free despite the lack of modern conveniences. “Justin wants a couple guys to go with us in your truck to scout for supplies. We’re running out of batteries, bandages, and a bunch of other stuff. He’s got a list of what to look for.”

  “Damn.” I sighed. “I was hoping we wouldn’t have to get more gas before my next training session with Aidan.”

  We’d found a car dealership to meet our needs. Most of the vehicles didn’t have much, but if we took some from a few at a time it was enough to fill up the tank. Conrad had wanted to steal one of the trucks. We spent a couple hours searching for the keys, but the owner or managers must have hidden them. Neither of us knew how to hot-wire and we weren’t desperate enough to learn yet. My truck might be banged up, but it still ran fine.

  “I’m with you on that. It’s my turn to siphon.” Conrad wrinkled his nose. Poor guy had the worst luck with getting gas in his mouth. It was part of the reason I made him do it.

  I put my sword in the truck behind the backseat. “When do we go?”

  “As soon as possible.”

  It was almost noon. We’d have to make the trip quick and even then it would be risky. “Bomber coming with us?”

  He shook his head. “Nah, he got a cut on his paw this morning while out on patrol and needs a few days for it to heal.”

  Well, that sucked. “Alright, go get the guys. I’ll wait here.”

  Conrad took off at a jog down the garage ramp. I tucked the sword behind the backseat and grabbed a washcloth from one of my bags, using my canteen to pour some water over it. My face and arms were covered in sweat. The storms had been inconvenient when they came almost every day during the spring, but I would have gladly taken them over this crazy heat. I wiped myself off and put on a fresh shirt before the guys returned.

  “Where should we go?” I asked after everyone piled into the truck.

  The two teenage guys who’d come along weren’t ones I knew well other than their names. Freddy had red hair and Nate had brown. They appeared to be about sixteen or seventeen years old and looked nervous. Not surprising, considering they’d only joined our group a few days ago and hadn’t left the library since.

  What the hell had Justin been thinking to send them with Conrad and me? He should have kept them close to the library and let them pull guard duty. They looked too young to be going out on a supply raid. Then again, what was the appropriate age for kids to start stealing from abandoned stores during an apocalypse? I would have guessed eighteen, but I had a younger brother close to Freddy and Nate’s age I wouldn’t want to see out on this mission. Maybe I was biased.

  “Our fearless leader suggested we check out that outdoor supply store over on 24th,” Conrad answered.

  I started the truck. “Alright, but I’ll be surprised if there’s anything left in there.”

  We made our way across town, using the neighborhood roads where there was less clutter and damage to the street. I caught glimpses of a few people working on gardens by their houses. They’d seen my truck go by a few times and didn’t hide from me anymore. I slowed down for a stop sign.

  “What are you doing?” Conrad asked when the truck came to a halt.

  “There’s a stop sign,” I said, but then it hit me. “Oh, right. Old habits die hard.”

  He snickered. “Worried the cops might pull you over?”

  “I haven’t seen any police since D-Day.” That was our new term for the day the dragons invaded. Miles had been the one to coin the term, borrowing it from its original meaning.

  “Can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m beginning to miss the cops. Can’t tell you how many times in the last six weeks I started to reach for my phone and call 911.”

  “Seriously?” I glanced over at him. “I thought that was just me.”

  “Nah, it ain’t just you.” He stared out the window. “I wonder where all the cops went. Except for Jennifer’s husband, I haven’t seen or heard about them since after this started. Not that there’s much they can do to help us anymore.”

  The brown-haired guy behind us cleared his throat. “My dad was a Norman police officer.”

  There was something in his voice—a sadness layered underneath that let you know he was revisiting a tragic loss. Checking the rearview mirror, I caught him looking out the window, hiding most of his face.

  “What happened?” I asked.

  “He tried to fight the dragons when they came to our neighborhood,” he said, his voice raw with pain. “My mom stood out there with him holding a shotgun. They managed to fire a few rounds but…it didn’t go so well. They made me stay in the house. I should have gone out there with them, but I didn’t.”

  Listening to his story distracted me so much I almost hit a huge pothole in the road. I quickly veered around it. “I’m sorry to hear that. How long ago did it happen?”

  “A couple weeks,” he answered.

  I didn’t know what to say. There were no adequate words to make someone feel better when they’d just lost both their parents. Not to mention he’d had to abandon his home soon after to stay with a bunch of strangers in a library. I was amazed he’d been holding up as well as he had. He’d been helpful since he first arrived. Maybe that was his coping mechanism—staying busy. It worked for me.

  “That’s the place up there,” Conrad said, pointing at the store.

  I’d never been in there, but I’d driven past it a few times in the past. If memory served, it had once been a large box store with a fenced outdoor area on one side for garden supplies. That part was gone, along with a third of the building.

  It looked like it had been hit with a huge wrecking ball a few times—if you ignored the scorch marks at the edges. A dragon had burned a hole large enough for a semi-truck to drive through. At least, it could if not for all the debris piled in the way. I pulled the truck up, getting as close to the opening as I could.

  Conrad pulled out the gun he’d gotten from Justin. “Freddy and I will go check it out first. You two wait here.”

  “Be careful,” I warned.

  They stepped over the debris and disappeared into the store. Nate and I got out to stand next to the truck. I checked my gun, making sure it was ready just in case. Satisfied it was locked and loaded, I scanned the area for potential threats. Something about this place bothered me, but I couldn’t put my finger on what triggered my internal alarm. Maybe it was the silence. Not even the birds chirped and I couldn’t see any squirrels around. That was never a good sign.

  “We’re clear and there’s still plenty of stuff in there,” Conrad said, coming out ten minutes later. He made his way over the rubble while gripping plastic bags filled with batteries, flashlights, and other miscellaneous items.

  I nodded. “I’m going to stay here and keep an eye out. The rest of you should hurry up and grab everything you can. I don’t want to stick around long.”

  After Conrad and Freddy dumped the first round of their loot in the back of the truck, Nate followed them inside. I watched with growing trepidation as the guys kept coming out with sleeping bags, lanterns, clothing, cookware, and even food. Something was wrong. This place shouldn’t have so much stuff left six weeks after D-day.

  “Just one more trip,” Conrad promised, noticing the worried look on my face.
“This is too good an opportunity to pass up.”

  The back of my truck was overflowing. One of the guys took out some rope they’d found and started tying it all down. I checked the nearby woods, the street, and the sky. Nothing. Prickles began to form at the back of my neck and the hairs on my arms rose. We needed to go. I felt like a bank robber who’d spent too much time collecting the cash.

  A distant roar came from over the trees, sending my heart racing.

  To hell with a gun that would just get burned. I pulled the truck door open, tossed the Glock on the seat, and went for my sword. Dammit, this was going to be bad. I wasn’t ready to take on a dragon by myself, but what choice did I have? The guys came running out with their hands full of more stuff. They heard the next angry roar and froze. All their gazes turned to the sky where the dragon had yet to appear, but would any second.

  Conrad moved first. “Come on, let’s go!”

  “Take the truck,” I said, holding out the keys for him.

  He dumped the bags and turned to face me. “I’m not leaving you.”

  “There’s nothing you can do other than get yourself killed and you know it.” I forced the keys into his hands. “You have to get these guys to safety while I distract the dragon—it’s the only way any of us survive.”

  Nate and Freddy still hadn’t moved from the gaping hole in the store. They stared up at the sky with their mouths hanging open. Oh, for crying out loud, now was not the time to freeze up. The dragon roared again, this time much closer. Both guys dropped their bags and I was pretty certain Freddy pissed himself, considering the spreading stain on his pants.

  “Start the truck,” I urged Conrad. “I’ll get the guys.”

  He worked his jaw. “Fine, but you better not get yourself killed.”

  While he dashed toward the driver’s door, I went for our frozen companions. Did they have no sense of self-preservation? I screamed at them. “Get in the truck!”

  Nate started backing up. I grabbed him first and dragged him over the debris. Halfway to the truck his common sense finally took over and he ran the rest of the way himself.

  “You, too!” I went for Freddy.

  But it was too late. A green dragon came over the trees not more than a hundred feet from us. I pushed him face-first to the ground and covered him as best as I could with my body. A moment later flames engulfed us. I closed my eyes against the intense heat and tried to shelter the kid under me. He screamed and thrashed, trying to buck me off.

  Then he stopped and so did the flames as the dragon passed us to fly over the store. It’d be back in a minute once it circled around. I needed to get him out of the way before then. Ignoring the state of my clothes—which hung in tatters at the front—I scrambled off of Freddy. It took a moment to see him clearly and then I jerked a hand over my mouth. Silent screams ran through my head.

  I hadn’t covered him enough. Parts of his body were ash, including half his head. I swallowed back the rise of bile in my throat and blinked away tears. Had I made his death more painful by not letting him get burned all at once? Why hadn’t I considered I was much smaller than him and that it wouldn’t help?

  It took everything in me to look away. If the dragon hadn’t roared in the distance, I might have stayed there staring at Freddy longer. Maybe even begged for his forgiveness, but I didn’t have that luxury. Conrad and Nate still waited in the truck and I needed to get them out of there.

  I went to push off the ground and my hand landed on something sharp that dug into my palm. Lifting it up, I realized it was the gold pendant. It must have fallen out of my front pocket after most of my clothes got burned off. The ruby set in the middle shined in the sunlight. I still couldn’t remember where I’d gotten it, but I did know what it did.

  “Go,” I screamed, standing up.

  They lifted their heads from where they’d ducked down in their seats. The dragon was coming back around. There might not be enough time for them to get away, but they had to try. I waved my arms and yelled at them again. “Get out of here!”

  Conrad stared at me. Though we were separated by nearly thirty feet and a pile of debris, I couldn’t miss his expression. He was giving me one last look—a goodbye. He didn’t think any of us was going to survive.

  I flashed the pendant at him and saw his nod of understanding. We’d talked about it and how I was certain it could ward a dragon off for a little while. He’d been skeptical, but he’d seen enough crazy things lately that he couldn’t completely discount it. The pendant would buy us time if he’d just believe.

  The dragon came over the trees and I lifted the talisman to let it shine in the creature’s eyes. Bursts of red light shot out of it. The dragon let out a loud scream and flapped its wings, holding back from going any farther. With my free hand, I made a shooing motion at Conrad. We had less than a minute. Someone had to keep the creature distracted once it came out of the spell.

  Conrad gunned the truck, racing out of there. It was then I realized I’d dropped my sword in my attempt to protect Freddy. I found it on the ground next to him and grabbed it, leaving the pendant in its place. The dragon inched closer—the talisman’s magic slowly letting go. I had seconds left before the creature would be entirely free. The interior of the store beckoned and I raced inside, hurrying toward the opposite end.

  I was surprised I didn’t trip over anything along the way. The path was clear in the middle. All the shelves had been shoved or knocked over to the sides of the store. Even in the dim lighting it was easy to avoid the few small things scattered on the floor.

  No flames followed me as I made my way deeper into the building. I glanced back and caught sight of the dragon landing on the rubble. It poked its head through the opening, searching for me. Why didn’t it just burn the place down instead?

  I tripped over something soft just before reaching the back wall. My body plummeted and I fell face-first into a pile of blankets, almost losing my grip on my sword. It was so dark I hadn’t seen anything on the ground. I reached out, trying to work my way back to my feet. My hand landed on a roundish object that cracked against my weight. A gooey substance seeped out to cover my fingers. Oh, God, please don’t let that be a dragon egg.

  Chapter 27

  Bailey

  I sucked in a breath. Running my fingers over it, I found the shape was about right and the texture was only a little rougher than an egg. Overall, it was about two feet tall. Checking around, I found one more just like it—minus the cracks.

  Holy shit. That had to be why no one had raided the store before. A dragon guarded it most of the time and we’d probably shown up during a food run. But where was the dragon’s mate? Wouldn’t one have stayed while the other hunted? Or had a missile killed it during one of the military campaigns? I had no way of knowing why it was alone, but there was definitely only one outside.

  Crashing sounds came from behind me as the dragon made its way closer. It huffed and snorted, sending chills down my spine. I couldn’t see anything now except its glowing red eyes. The dragon blocked all the light from the opening of the store. I was trapped right next to its eggs with nowhere to run.

  What to do? I gripped my sword as an idea formed in my head. It was a long shot, but it had a better chance of working than just sitting there. I watched the dragon, waiting for it to come closer. The eggs were right next to me. It wouldn’t do anything too rash if it didn’t want to risk hurting them. The dragon had already proven it was smart enough to think of that or else it would have burned the place down.

  When it reached five feet away, I leaped up and raised my sword high above my head. I ran toward the creature, aiming the sharp tip toward its face. The dragon huffed out a stream of flames, but I was too close for the creature to hit anything more than my chest. My blade sunk into its left eye with a sickening squish.

  The creature roared. It jerked its neck to the left, sending me and my sword flying through the air. My back crashed into a display. Plastic water bottles came tumbling down on
top of me. I shoved them off and rose to my feet. Between my flight across the store and the darkness, I’d become disoriented, but I located the dragon. It was about ten feet away and pawing at its injured eye.

  The dragon was no longer blocking my path. I scrambled through the various shelves and products strewn across the tile where I’d landed. Before I got far, a tail swung around. It crashed into my legs and upended me. I landed hard on my butt with half the breath knocked out of my lungs.

  Snarls had me jerking my gaze in the dragon’s direction. It had almost gotten itself turned around and would be on me any second. I scrambled to my feet and raced for the door, skidding to a halt just before reaching it when two more dragons appeared in the opening. For crying out loud, couldn’t I get a break?

  It took me a moment to realize they were both red. One of them glowered at me with familiar eyes. I could have sworn there was annoyance in them, but I was no dragon expert. Maybe it was happiness. He jerked his head in a very human gesture that said to get out of there.

  Not one to argue with perfectly good advice—on most occasions—I dashed out past him. Let Aidan and his cousin handle this one. I swiped the talisman off the ground where I’d left it and reached the rubble before looking back to watch them go inside.

  It was too dark in there to make out more than large moving shapes, but random objects flew out from the opening. Occasionally, I saw a burst of flames. One of them lit up the green dragon’s face as it roared in pain. I backed up a few more steps, starting to feel guilty. If that was the mother in there, then she was just trying to protect her young. It wasn’t her fault humans had stumbled into her nest.

  At the same time, she wouldn’t hesitate to kill me regardless of where she found me. Not to mention her offspring would grow up to be monsters just like her. My slayer instincts told me she had to die even as visions of cute baby dragons flitted through my head. Ugh. I wasn’t supposed to find anything I should kill as cute.

  A light breeze brushed against my skin, reminding me I pretty much had no clothes left. There were a few tatters hanging from my legs where the fire hadn’t touched, but not much else. Unless you counted my shoes, which hadn’t been burned this time and remained on my feet. I could take some comfort in that.