Page 35 of The Dragon’s Captive

“And you have not removed the rod from your rear,” Aria replied.

She was effectively drawing fire from her husband’s concerns, turning his attention to her instead of letting him fixate on what Vilka had to do. Unfortunately, it did not work and they both lapsed into concerned silence. The child they both loved had become a man, and the destiny that awaited him was his and his alone.

CHAPTER 15

Kate held fast to Vilka’s scaled back as they ascended into the heavens. The portal was a gleaming wound in the sky, one that called her back to Earth and yet she could not help the tears that streamed down her face and were blown away by the rushing winds.

Vilka was showing no hesitation in the face of what could easily be his end. She could barely believe how brave he was, but she was trying to be just as brave. The guilt weighing heavily on her heart made it difficult. She wanted to crumble and beg and plea—though for what? The great menace had to be contained and had to be battled. There was no choice for Vilka, and there was no choice for her. She would have to close what she had opened and she would have to leave the man she loved more fiercely than she had ever known it was possible to love to his fate.

With a dragon cry, Vilka broke through the portal and in one wing beat they passed from the dragon realm and into the human world. They were high above New York City, the multitude of buildings laid out below them like a hyper-organized termite’s nest. What Vilka thought of it, she did not know for he had already spotted Avastias, circling the perimeter of Manhattan. Helicopters were holding at a distance, fighter jets were likewise circling the great beast.

She was relieved to see that there did not seem to be much in the way of damage. Perhaps Avastias thought the jets and helicopters were his vanguard, as the dragon legion had been. Or mere flies, seeing as they were but specks against the creature’s leviathan frame. He was casting a shadow that covered much of the city, blocking out the sun to those who thronged the streets and parks, watching the spectacle unfolding around them.

“Drop me on the tallest roof nearest the portal!” she yelled to Vilka. “We’ve got to get out of the sky quickly!”

Vilka circled down to a building a few miles below the portal, which hung very low over the city. Her plan to close it was going to work, she had no doubt of that. She already had the components ready in the backpack that had accompanied her throughout her adventures.

She slid from the dragon’s shoulders and Vilka transformed to his naked human form.

“I don’t think he’s done any damage,” she said. “I didn’t see any downed buildings or fires, or…”

“Avastias is likely confused,” Vilka said. “He will soon start to feed, his hunger must be growing. There is no time to waste.”

He took hold of Kate and pulled her close. Together they embraced against the city skyline.

“Is this going to be the last time I lay eyes on you?” He asked the question in a rough, rasping voice choked with emotion.

Kate tried to hold her emotions in check and failed. “I will come back to you, Vilka. I promise. We will find our way back to one another. We have to.”

“If you do return, I cannot promise you what you will return to,” Vilka said. “I will not lie to you, Kate, I may die doing this. If I can but tempt Avastias back to the dragon realm, I will have achieved my goal. Defeating him is a much more remote possibility.”

“Don’t die,” Kate said, her eyes filling with tears, which made him swim and go blurry and ruined what was going to be one of her last looks at him.

“I will try not to, I promise.” Vilka smiled sadly and pressed kisses to her tearstained cheeks and lips.

“I do love you,” she whispered. “Just, I want you to know that.”

“I love you too,” he said. “If you wish to come back to me, I will be waiting.”

She kissed him passionately, and then there was no time. Every second Vilka stayed on Earth he was risking capture or worse. Their arrival had almost certainly been observed by someone somewhere. The longer they waited, the more chance there was of everything going wrong.

She stood back and tried not to cry as Vilka took his dragon form. In the moment before he changed, he smiled at her, a handsome, sad, loving smile that would remain burned in her mind for years to come.

She watched him take off toward Avastias, held her breath and tried to focus on her own work as the helicopters and jets registered his presence. Vilka was several times larger than any of them, but there was still some risk as he flew over them, his pure red form streaking across the sky. He reached Avastias in less than a minute and discharged a plume of fire into the creature’s eye.

Avastias let out a roar that made the entire city shake. Kate scrambled for the device she had created for the purpose of closing the portal, setting up as quickly as possible. Vilka had already circled quickly and was flying back toward the portal at impressive speed. The world eater had arced about more slowly, but was giving chase. A couple of the jets followed in close formation, peeling off before hitting the portal as Vilka zipped through it, drawing the world eater in his wake. In seconds, both dragons disappeared from the world, their massive forms melting through the tear in space and time.

CHAPTER 16

The world eater was enraged, its cries rending the air with a volume that threatened to deafen Vilka, but they were in the right realm now. Massive teeth snapped behind him as Avastias gave chase, intent on destroying him. The smallest miscalculation now, a false move of a wingtip would be enough to end him. But Vilka did not intend on making a mistake. His fear had gone, replaced with a battle focus that did not allow any kind of emotion.

He glanced back over his shoulder and saw the world eater’s ferocious form, and behind that, clear sky. Kate must have been successful in closing the portal, just as he had known she would be. Her inventiveness knew no bounds.

He flew alongside the great creature, dropped beneath its sweeping, crushing claws and sank his teeth into the softer belly of the thing. He held fast as Avastias roared with anger, his talons grasping fast as Vilka’s teeth tore into the world eater to reach a source of its blood. It was cannibalism of a kind, the taking of flesh, the drinking of blood. This was what the dragons had come from. This was the creature that had taken the creature of man and infused it with something more.

As Vilka drank, he felt himself expanding with a pure reptilian power. It was as it felt when he took his dragon form, but in a far more extreme and invigorating way. He felt himself transformed by the world eater’s blood, growing, glowing, the bright red of his body becoming a crimson arc against the blue sky as he expanded to a size that was comparable to the great bulk of Avastias.

The world eater snarled and slashed at him with its vicious claws. Vilka fell to the side, avoiding the great scimitars of death, plunging a few hundred feet before regaining his balance and swooping back up and around to face the world eater. They were on a direct collision course now, the great nightmare creature and the dragon with human blood coursing through his veins.