Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 86059 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 430(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86059 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 430(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
“Of course.” Daniels nods once, and then turns his bike around. He pauses, and then glances in the direction of the fort. “Actually…before you go.” He rides up next to me and then offers me a plastic-wrapped slender item. “It’s a pocket knife. Azar doesn’t want you to have weapons, but I’d feel better knowing you weren’t defenseless out there. It won’t do much against a dragon but…” He shrugs. “I washed it and wrapped it so no one else’s scent is on there. I hope this will be our secret.”
I’m surprisingly touched by his gesture. Daniels is always someone that plays by the rules, so I know this is a big leap for him. I take the knife. “Thanks. I won’t tell anyone.”
He nods again. “Stay safe,” Daniels tells me. “We’ve got few enough as it is.”
“Women?” I ask, my lip curling with disdain.
“People,” he says simply. “Every person counts.”
Now I feel like a jerk. I nod, unwrapping the knife, and then carefully store the plastic wrap in my bag. With the knife in my pocket, I glance out at the south quadrant and then start riding toward it.
Nothing to do but go meet the dragon, I guess.
I bike for a while, my shoulders tense. I’m not extremely far from the fort when a large shadow flies overhead and begins to follow me. I can just guess who that is, and something about his presence is…frustrating. Azar was right. It doesn’t matter if I choose to play along or not, this dragon is going to keep tailing me until I get him to understand that I don’t want to be his new best friend. Unfortunately for me, the only way to communicate that is to somehow get him to want to fuck.
This really is the most ridiculous situation.
I keep on pedaling, getting on the highway and cruising down the middle, where fewer cars are. The dragon flies lower, trumpeting a call that makes me jump. I grit my teeth, determined to ignore it, and keep on biking.
If what Azar says is true, this dragon won’t hurt me…but he can hurt others, so I need to get as far away from the fort as I possibly can.
So I keep on going, ignoring the dragon’s circling overhead, or that he dives so low that my hair swishes in the breeze left from his wings. He bugles, trying to get my attention, and I glare straight ahead, determined not to stop.
After a few more minutes of this, the dragon lands with a thump directly on the highway in front of me.
That makes me screech to a halt. I skid to the side, panting with alarm, and glare up at the gigantic roadblock. He’s really making this impossible. I glance backward, but I can still see faint plumes of smoke coming from Fort Dallas’s cookfires and I’d really like to be a bit farther away. I turn and look at the dragon, studying him.
My heart hammers in my chest as the gigantic head lowers and the dragon goes on all fours, tucking his wings against his lithe body. His tail slithers back and forth like an enormous snake, smacking against an abandoned car as he studies me. It occurs to me that this could be an entirely different dragon. That I’m covering all of the ruins of the south quadrant in my scent and pulling in others.
But the eyes that meet mine are more gold than black, and the horned frill is missing one at the end, just like the dragon from before, and I relax, just a tiny bit.
At least, I do until he reaches out for me with one clawed forearm, as if he’s going to snatch me from my bike.
“No,” I say firmly. His claws get close enough to touch my skin, and I suck in a steeling breath and gently push them aside before he can touch me. “Not right now.” I point in the distance. “I want to go that way.”
If this dragon’s half as intelligent as Lord Azar made it sound, I hope he understands.
There’s a low growl coming from the dragon that makes cold wash down my spine, and my scars feel hot. I say “no” loudly one more time, then begin to slowly pedal on my bike once more, forcing myself to ride past the draconic blockade.
Before I can, the big tail slides across my path, blocking my way.
I stop again and look over at the dragon. I point to the south once more. He cranes his head, looking where I point, and then his eyes bleed brighter gold. He moves his tail, and I continue biking.
I’m trembling as I bike past, but I feel…victorious? This dragon’s not going to hurt me. That counts for something.
I bike past him, and the dragon follows after me, remaining on the ground as he trails behind me like the world’s biggest stalker. I try to ignore him, but inwardly I wince at every crunch of metal as he steps on a car hood, or the creaking sounds an ancient overpass makes when he crosses over it. Maybe this isn’t the best idea I’ve had so far. I know I’m just delaying the inevitable.