Bálint shivered, every instinct on alert. A cold prickle crept down his spine. We’re not alone, he warned, his voice low. His dragon scanned the trees.
We no alone since we fell.
The wind changed—no longer a gentle breeze, but a swirl of air that twisted unnaturally around him.
His dragon jerked when something brushed his leg.
It touch me! It going to eat me up!
If it eats you up, it eats me up too!
A deep snarl slipped from him when he felt the poke to his shoulder.
To the left! It’s on our left. Roast it!
His dragon blew out a burst of blue-dragon fire that was swept away on the wind.
It no work! Think! Think! We get out of here! Think!
I’m trying!
A startled squeak escaped him when he felt a prickle to his side.
His dragon jerked with a start—then snickered.
It tickles! his dragon wheezed through a laugh.
Bálint scowled. This is not funny.
The tickling across his scales paused… then swept low, brushing his stomach in a playful swoop that made him flinch.
He had no more patience for being anyone’s puppet.
Alright. Enough. He took a breath and shifted.
His limbs folded inward, his wings shrank, his scales melted into skin. In a flash, he hung tangled in glowing silk that clung to his human form like a net.
“If you want a fight, at least have the decency to show yourself,” he growled, glaring as he scanned the area.
The wind died down.
And from that silence—she appeared.
A girl.
About his age. Maybe a little younger.
He blinked several times, watching as she stepped out of the mist as if it parted just for her. Sunlight caught the silver-blue shimmer of her skin. Her hair drifted like it was still part of the wind, and her eyes—clear and bright as a summer sky—watched him with unsettling calm.
Bálint’s mouth went dry. Literally, bone dry as she walked towards him. She was the most beautiful, mesmerizing creature he had ever seen.
Besides Alice. Don’t forget Alice! his dragon retorted in irritation.
His head bobbed up and down in agreement, but his eyes were glued on the unusual girl.
She lifted her chin and circled to his left, her gaze curious but unbothered, like he was an animal in a trap she’d stumbled upon and hadn’t yet decided whether to help.
“Uh—hi,” he said, twisting slightly in the web to follow her movement. “I don’t suppose you could… help me down?”
