Page 63 of Blood of Dragons

Almost there.

The voice was inside my head, so I wasn’t sure if it was real.

If I was dead.

If I’d officially lost my mind.

“Roooaaaaaarrrrr!”

My body tightened, but I didn’t move.

“What is this?” Uncle Barron said. “Control him.”

I didn’t move because I couldn’t. I couldn’t do anything.

“What is he doing?”

I’m here.

I spoke back in my mind.Who are you…?

My vision was suddenly blocked by a mighty talon. It circled me on all sides then came in close, scooping me from the cobblestones and gently cocooning me in his grasp. I was lifted from the ground, and the heat of the flames disappeared.

“Stop him!” It was Uncle Barron’s frantic voice.

Hold on.

My body started to shake in his grasp, jerking left and right from his sudden movements. It was dark so I couldn’t see anything, just hear the flap of powerful wings, hear the powerful roars of other dragons as they pursued us.

I’m sorry I couldn’t save her.

My eyes glistened with more tears, but they didn’t have a chance to fall. My mind couldn’t accept the horrible truth, simply couldn’t bear it, and shut down again. The world went black…and I hoped it would stay that way.

I felt my body gently set upon the ground. After all the bumping and shifting, it finally went still. My mind stirred slightly, and I opened my eyes, seeing darkness, the rocky texture of a cave wall.

I think I lost them.

I continued to stare at the wall, my entire body in unspeakable pain, but not from injury.

We’ll have to stay here for a week or two—until they give up and stop looking.

I lay there for a while, just staring at the wall and the dirt, so indifferent to everything, I wasn’t sure I cared about my predicament, about the fact that a dragon was speaking directly into my mind.

What is your name?I felt my body shift as he sliced the tip of his talon through my bindings.

My hands came free, and I slowly pulled them to my chest, all the muscles screaming in protest from being restricted for so long. I grimaced as I sat up, feeling the blood shift and descend downward to my stomach. I felt my wrists before I turned to look at the dragon, black as midnight, his eyes the same color except for the shade of gray on the outside edge. I’d seen a dragon before, but we rarely interacted with them, so it was still a surprise to be up close with one like this. His head was lowered toward the cave floor so our eyes could meet, and the hot breath from his nostrils moved over me like a humid breeze.

My eyes moved back to the ground, and my fingers dug into my hair. Heavy tears pooled in my eyes, and I started to sob, the kind that cracked my chest and made my spine tense. My mind tried to shield me from the trauma, but I couldn’t stay unconscious forever. The only way out was death—a merciful reprieve I was denied. “You should have left me.”

They were going to kill you.

“And I wish they had.” I sobbed like I never had, indifferent to the dragon who watched. “I have nothing to live for.”

What about revenge?

I was too broken to feel anger. I was too broken to feel anything. “Why didn’t you get there sooner…?”

I flew as fast as my powerful wings could carry me?—