Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 127722 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127722 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
Then I felt it. A tremor underneath my feet. My eyes darted back to the cave, and the vibration of the earth became more powerful, more distinct. “They’re coming…” The footfalls became audible, and then the shiny scales of the first dragon came into the light. Dark green scales and dark eyes, he looked like the lizards on the ground…but infinitely bigger, with teeth the size of my whole body.
He stared at the carcass on the ground before he lifted his gaze and looked at the trees.
As if he knew.
Dragons weren’t like horses or other animals. They had intellect. I could see it in his eyes that very moment.
He inched closer and dipped his head to smell the offering. His nostrils flared, and for just a moment, I could see the swirling flames all the way in his lungs. They closed, and he took a bite, breaking through the bones like they were twigs.
He chewed as he lifted his head again, looking at the tree line where we were hidden.
“I’m going to go for it.”
Huntley turned to me. “And by go for it, you mean…”
“Walk up to him.”
He released a loud sigh of disappointment but didn’t issue an argument. “I don’t have a better idea. I’ll have my arrow trained on him. That’ll give you enough time to run for it.”
“I don’t think it’ll come to that. He knows we’re here.”
Huntley withdrew his bow and nocked an arrow to the string.
I left my weapons behind and inched past the final tree, letting the sunlight hit me right in the face.
The dragon stilled when he saw me, and his nostrils immediately flared as he sucked in the air around him, as if trying to smell me.
I raised my hands gently. “Uh…hi?”
Still as stone, he stared. The look reminded me of Huntley’s, actually.
“The boar is from me… I’m not sure if you remember me from last time.”
Dragons must not blink, because he hadn’t blinked once.
“You have no idea what I’m saying, do you?” I should just be grateful that he wasn’t trying to burn me alive right now, but I was disappointed there wasn’t a more obvious way to communicate with him. The people who’d exiled him there, could they communicate with him? Those people may not even speak English, for all I knew. “My name is Ivory. I think I can fix your wings.”
The same stare continued.
I made the motion with my arms, flapping them up and down like a bird. “Wings.” Then I pointed at him. “I want to fix your wings.”
He turned his head to look at his own flank as if he understood.
“Yes!” I threw my arms up in the air. “Exactly!”
He gave a quick flinch and ducked his head lower, getting in a defensive stance.
“Shit. Sorry.” I lowered my hands again. “Sorry, sorry. Just got excited. I didn’t mean to startle you. I just… I think I can fix your wings, if you’ll let me try.” I made the gesture with my arms again, like an awkward bird trying to fly.
His dark eyes started to shift back and forth, examining me with his shrewd intelligence.
Then I felt it, a cloud of emotion. It pushed against me like a wall, so thick and potent, it felt like ash was in the air and I couldn’t breathe. It was overwhelming, the intensity.
My knees went weak, and I found myself lowering to the ground.
“Ivory.”
The dragon turned and looked at Huntley behind me.
“I’m okay.” My palms flattened against the earth, and I steadied myself. “I think he’s…trying to tell me something.”
The dragon turned back to me, and once his focus had returned, the sensation grew heavier. It pushed against me from all sides. It was emotion in a physical form, telepathy without need of words. Like swords against my skin, the feelings pierced me everywhere, trying to get deep inside me.
Grief.
Despair.
Hopelessness.
Death.
I felt it all, like he put everything in my hands.
Then I felt the weight lessen, as if he took things from me. Pain. Anguish. Tears. He took them from me like he picked my pocket.
Then the wall vanished.
“What was that?” I looked to him for explanation but knew I wouldn’t receive one.
“Ivory, what happened?”
I held up my hand to him to silence him. “I think he’s trying to communicate with me.” I got back to my feet and brushed off the dirt from my breeches. “I want to help you. Please let me help you.”
He stared at me with that shrewd gaze, those dark eyes ageless in their depth. Then he looked at his flank once more and moved the limb on his back, the limb where his wing should be attached. A quiet whine escaped his ferocious jaws, like a dog in pain.
Within a single breath, I became choked up. Tears burned my eyes because I could feel all his despair with just the single sound. “I’m so sorry they did this to you…” I raised my palms slightly, showing my empty hands. “But I think I can fix you…if you let me try.”