Page 112 of Dream Reaper

“I understand. Do you need supplies for the journey? How long will you be gone?”

Jerrid finished picking meat from the bones of the fowl she’d given him and nodded. “I’ll need to refill the water sack, but I should have enough provisions to get us back. It won’t be fancy, though.”

Prince Haryk, who had stooped to tug on his boots, snorted. “I don’t need fancy. Persis, can you find me my jacket? I don’t remember where I left it.”

She returned moments later, pulling a finely embroidered coat onto his arms. He tugged her toward him and planted a firm kiss on her mouth.

“Come back,” she whispered.

The prince said nothing in return, trailing his hand down her cheek before he turned toward the door. “Lead me to the dragon, Jerrid.”

Jerrid faltered on his way through the threshold. “Oh. About that. There’s something I should probably tell you…”

The prince took the news about Jerrid’s shifter heritage surprisingly well, asking no questions, just nodding that he understood. With greater problems on his mind, the fact that a dragon shifter had snuck into his kingdom unannounced probably didn’t warrant the anger it would have under other circumstances.

The flight back to the ruins took longer than the flight to Eroth.

Jerrid kept falling asleep, and the prince would have to awaken him and make him land for fifteen-minute naps. He refused to sleep longer than that, desperate to get back to the camp and make sure the shadow had not overrun things in his long absence.

He couldn’t stop thinking about Ava trying to face that monstrous creature alone.

Prince Haryk stayed silent on their journey, speaking only when absolutely necessary. Jerrid appreciated that because he didn’t have the energy to fly and talk at the same time. He couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that Hel was about to release her wrath on them all.

He wasn’t going to make it in time. Ava and the girls were all going to be dead by the time they arrived.

Everything was about to go wrong.

Sunset arrived on the second day, and they were still hours away from their destination. Jerrid panted and desperately dragged air into his aching lungs. His wings felt as if they were going to fall off his body.

“You need to rest,” Prince Haryk called to him.

Jerrid ignored him, driving harder against the wind, forcing himself forward. Again and again and again.

“You need to rest!” the prince shouted again, louder this time. “I order you to land, soldier.”

Jerrid growled and shook his head, but even that slight motion sent a quiver through his body that knocked him out of rhythm. He flapped frantically to stabilize himself.

The trees rose toward him as he fought to keep aloft, the prince clinging to the saddle. They plunged into the treetops, branches all around them. Jerrid’s claws dug into the trunk of the tree in a desperate attempt to halt their descent.

They skidded to a halt in the branches, hidden among the tree leaves. The prince clung to his neck, breathing heavily.

“That was not pleasant,” he grunted. “How far did we fall?”

Jerrid glanced around, straining his long neck to get his bearings. “Not far. We’re in the treetops.”

He shifted and tried to figure out the best way to get them out of the trees. Going back up wasn’t ideal, but neither was climbing all the way down to the ground. They were still dangerously high in the air.

“Hang on.”

He scrabbled down the trunk of the tree, smashing through branches and shredding leaves in his wake. The prince said nothing, but Jerrid could hear his fast breathing. They hit the ground with a jarring thud. Jerrid growled and shook himself, annoyed by all the cuts and bruises. He’d lost more than a few scales, too.

“Are we on the ground?” the prince asked.

Jerrid growled an affirmative as he collapsed into the undergrowth, too weary to move. The prince detached himself from the harness and slid to the ground.

He patted Jerrid’s neck. “Take a nap. I’ll keep watch.”

Jerrid shifted back into his human form and fell asleep before he had time to argue.