Page 16 of Dragon Me Through Space

Wayne pulled a tablet from a satchel I hadn’t seen around his back and brought up what looked like schematics of the ship we were facing. He nodded at Preston, some silent communication occurring between them.

“Ten million credits,” the squidsan offered.

“No,” Preston replied immediately. He hadn’t even considered it, not even for a second.

“It’s a sad day when men fall prey to a woman. Seeing as we need her alive to collect on our bounty, I’ll give you one more chance. Hand her over or we destroy you and your ship.”

They needed me alive? Who wanted me alive? Charles was dead.

“Charles is dead,” I told him.

The mercenary looked at me. “Aye, we know.”

“Who hired you?” I asked.

“Come onto our ship and we’ll tell you.” He tried to give me a reassuring smile, but I could practically see the credit symbol dancing in his eyes.

I held up my middle finger in response and gave him a bright smile.

“Fire!” the mercenary yelled and his image disappeared from the screen.

“Destroy them,” Preston said with a vicious smile.

Gage, Wayne, and Zeke hit buttons on their chairs at the same time. Their chairs fell down through the floor of the ship and the floor closed over the top of them.

I leapt out of my chair and gave it the side eye. “What are they doing? Where did they go?”

“Come, sit,” Preston invited me and stood out of his seat.

“No way. I don’t know where you sent them. I don’t want to get ejected out of the airlock or something.”

He sighed. “You really think they would have ejected themselves? Or that I would eject you?”

“Why are you four protecting me? You could sell me for a fortune.” Not that I wanted to be sold, but I wanted to know his reasons. What was their motive behind protecting me from the mercenaries? “He offered you ten million credits and you didn’t blink.”

Movement outside the window caught my eye and made me turn.

Three giant dragons in three different colors, green, red, and blue, with large webbed wings, flew through space, straight at the mercenary ship.

“Aren’t they going to suffocate?” I asked. Fear for their safety caused my heart to speed up.

“No,” Preston replied simply, appearing completely unconcerned and almost bored.

The dragons stopped on different sides of the ship and simultaneously released a purple magic from their mouths. It looked like lightning, but when it hit the ship, it didn’t spark or burn. No, the ship just … imploded. One minute it was there and the next it was gone.

Like I had dreamed the entire thing.

“Where did the ship go?” I asked even though I knew it was a stupid question since I had watched it happen.

“Disintegrated,” Preston said.

“The entire ship and its crew?” I swallowed around a lump in my throat. That type of power was almost unheard of.

He nodded.

The three dragons flew back towards our ship and a few moments later, the floor opened and the three chairs with Wayne, Gage, and Zeke returned to their places.

“No one knows you are capable of this type of destruction,” I whispered, “do they?”