Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 105164 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 351(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105164 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 351(@300wpm)
And when he was in his human form, a different sense of wonder filled him. Sure, he wanted to strangle Haru most of the time. Everything that came out of the dragon’s mouth seemed designed to drive him insane, but that didn’t mean he wanted him to stop. Haru made the world feel new again.
His smile also had a way of stopping Adrian’s heart. It didn’t matter how many times he saw it. When Haru’s slow smile spread across his lips and those dark eyes locked on him, it was as if he became the entire world for the dragon. Not a small feat when Haru was obsessed with uncovering every eccentricity and unique bobble that crossed his path. When he had an entire world spread before him, how could he find Adrian interesting?
A low rumble rolled up the dragon and he shook his head as if in a shiver. He felt Adrian’s touch.
Fuck. He rolled his eyes at himself. Of course Haru could feel him running his fingers across his scales. Idiot. He was a freaking idiot where Haru was concerned.
It didn’t matter. He was curious about dragons. They were still new to him. That was all it was. He didn’t have feelings for the dragon. His attraction was…it was just appreciation for something beautiful. Nothing more.
A sudden drop in their altitude had Adrian’s stomach plunging to his toes. The cold wind barely touched him, as if the warmth radiating from the dragon wrapped him in a protective cocoon. He tore his eyes away from Haru’s scales to find them dropping out of the clouds west of the ridge.
The Empire’s forces were considerably bigger than he’d been expecting. He thought they’d face little more than a skeleton force—enough people to man the big guns that had been placed on the ridge to hold Erya back.
No, there had to be at least two regiments, numbering almost ten thousand men, waiting for them on that ridge. Their commander had a very good reason for holding the men where they were, but this shouldn’t be a problem for the dragons.
Haru dipped one wing and gracefully banked his entire body, swinging it around so that as he dove at the ridge he could sweep in from the west and head directly east. Adrian tightened his grip on the rope, cutting into his fingers while squeezing the dragon with his thighs. Haru needed to worry about the army below him, not the rider on his back.
As they grew closer, he could clearly make out the Empire forces pointing at them and scrambling to turn their guns toward the incoming dragons.
Haru’s roar vibrated through Adrian with enough force to rattle his molars, letting loose a blast of fire. The dragon carpeted a long strip of the ridge with fire. As soon as the bellow was complete, he flapped his massive leathery wings, pulling higher into the sky while a trio of dragons did the same in his wake.
From the other side, dragons led by Mika and Shey mimicked their actions from the opposite direction. Despite flying at each other, the dragons easily missed each other in the sky, swooping and turning in a graceful dance. They wheeled and turned, preparing to make a second run.
As they passed over the ridge, Adrian carefully memorized the arrangement of the defenses and the organization of the camp. The second they were out of reach of the Empire’s guns, Adrian leaned as close as he could to Haru’s neck.
“On the next pass, aim for the rear of the camp and the road leading deeper into the Ordas!” He shouted as loud as he could. He wasn’t entirely sure the dragon could hear him over the roar of the wind, but Haru gave a small nod.
The dragon gave an odd tilt of his wings and Adrian looked back to see the other dragons in their team move into formation behind Haru. His heart skipped a beat and he let loose a shout that he could hold in any longer. It wasn’t just that he was riding a freaking dragon, but he was issuing commands to an entire squadron of dragons.
When they’d flown to Clan Omari during the Takahashi attacking, he’d seen nothing like this. The humans had been quickly dropped off so the dragons could fight other dragons. It had never occurred to him that the dragons had developed ways to communicate while in the middle of a battle. And he was part of it!
He shouted again and Haru gave an answering cry as if he felt the same boundless joy as Adrian.
They turned and Haru dove, ready to make his second run. This one was decidedly more dangerous as great columns of black smoke rose from the ridge, obscuring their view. Haru shifted to the most southern part of the camp and laid down another strip of fire, igniting tents, crates of weapons, and scorching the trees that surrounded the road. The escape from the ridge was now blocked.