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Aidan’s skin shimmered, the air around him distorting like waves of heat crashing around him. His eyes flashed as though backlit by emerald fire and his skin began to deepen in color, darker and darker, until it took on a midnight shade. His body morphed, doubling in size, then tripling, growing larger still. His face and neck elongated, developing ridges that tapered down his spine to his elongating tail. And suddenly a fully formed dragon stood before her. Like a caged beast finally unleashed, he stomped his taloned paws and bared his massive fangs, roaring up to the sky and spitting a stream of fire.
Mouth agape, head tilting back to take in the sight of him, all she could think was,He’s magnificent. Maybe she said it out loud, because in the next instant, he trained that cold, reptilian gaze on her.
Too late, she realized she should have asked if he remained cognitive in his dragon form, but she knew he’d never do anything to put her in danger, so it must be so. Still, apprehension fluttered through her belly.
She approached cautiously, extending her hand the way one might do with a stranger’s pet.
He puffed and rolled his eyes, which made her laugh. Then he lowered his head and body flat on the ground as though to put her at ease. Her hand made contact with his massive snout. It was warm to the touch and had the consistency of textured leather. He held still, allowing her to explore his face and neck with trembling fingers. She had always imagined dragons had scales, and they did, but these scales were covered in a layer of soft, silky fur.
Next to his ear, she muttered, “You are so beautiful.”
He grunted as though insulted, and a poof of hot air shot from his nostrils.
“Oh, pardon me. I mean handsome. Is that better?”
He rolled his shoulders in what could be construed as a shrug. Then his head came around so that he could urge her onto his back with the tip of his snout.
“All right, all right, give me a second. It’s a lot to take in.” Leveraging herself on Aidan’s front leg, she climbed onto his back and settled her legs on either side of his lower neck. Not surprisingly, they had gathered a crowd. Some people cowered behind booths and tables. Others stood frozen in befuddled awe.
As soon as she was securely in place, his great wings unfolded from around his body and began to flap. The motion blasted a current of air over her, whipping her hair. She gripped the ridges of his spine with white-knuckled fingers, feeling the first spark of reservation as adrenalin coated her system. But there was no time to entertain doubts. Aidan’s wings churned harder, and she felt him push off hard against the ground. Then they were rising and moving through the air with greater and greater speed. The arena was quickly left behind, the jungle now passing beneath them. As they soared, Aidan’s spine rolled along with the flapping of his wings, but it was an easy, fluid motion that she adapted to swiftly.
Through the thick jungle below, she caught glimpses of their competitors’ vehicles vying to pass each other.
Suddenly Aidan banked right, heading away from the mountaintop.
“Where are you going?”
Of course he didn’t answer. Onnika peeked ahead to see the marsh below. She caught sight of the suspicious dark spot under the water. If that conspicuously shaded area was anything to go buy, the thing was huge and boasted three or more monstrous tentacles. When Aidan’s head swung around toward the shadow, he let out a great roar that vibrated his entire body. She felt it through to her bones. Apparently alarmed by the sound of an even larger predator, the other creature slithered away in the opposite direction, deeper into the marsh.
Onnika laughed. “You just had to show off, didn’t you?” Maybe far fewer people would perish now, at least until the creature returned.
Aidan glided for a moment, swaying this way and that, and she suspected he was enjoying himself. She was, too, hardly caring that they were in the middle of a race. He took her up to the cloud line and she put her hand out. Amorphous wisps sifted through her fingers. The world from up here, flying so freely, with no noise, no worries, nothing but her and Aidan, felt exhilarating.
Regretfully, she called out to him. “Remember, we have a race to win.”
He chuffed out a sigh, and she felt like a wet blanket. He banked to the left, finally heading toward the mountaintop. It took only a minute to reach it. There was still no sign of the other contestants. She couldn’t even hear their vehicles.
Aidan made a feather-light landing. Quickly she slid off his back and approached the egg, keeping her eyes on the sky. There was no sign of that bird.
The egg had been returned the pedestal, sparkling in the light. She had assumed it would be made up of glittering stones. Instead, the shell was painted in brightly colored jewel tones and wasn’t quite smooth, but roughly textured by many small facets that caught and reflected the sun. Still, it was a beautiful thing to behold.
The instant she lifted it off its platform, a screech erupted from deep in the jungle. The bird shot into the air from behind a nearby tree line and dove for her, and she realized it was just as enormous as Aidan, and probably just as deadly.
Aidan was quick to place his big, reptilian body between them as he let out a terrifyingly loud roar. Onnika felt certain they could hear the raucous sound back at the café.
The bird squawked in surprise and lost its coordination, trying to backtrack into the air with wings that suddenly moved out of sync before it managed a midair turn and soared away…but not for long. It quickly circled back and shot toward Aidan, its razor-sharp talons bared.
Aidan’s lips pulled back, revealing his fangs, looking ready to do battle. The thought of him possibly getting hurt sent icy terror up Onnika’s spine.
But she saw another option, and she had no time to doubt herself.
With the egg tucked under her arm, Onnika raced toward the cliff. Putting two fingers between her lips, she let out a high-pitched whistle. “Aidan! Catch me!” Then she leapt off the edge and felt herself falling…falling…
It felt as if time slowed while she watched the ground rush up to meet her. Then suddenly a blurry dark cocoon closed around her and her descent was interrupted. It took her a moment to realize she’d been gently caged in Aidan’s clawed paw as they flew down toward the start of this macabre race. She glanced back through the bars of his claws, seeing that the bird hadn’t followed, opting to remain near its territory.
Aidan landed in the arena to the uproar of people cheering. After he released her, she stepped away and lifted the gilded egg high into the air in triumph, and the cheers turned deafening, managing to drown out the raging of her own heart. She could tell Aidan was behind her in his dragon form because she felt a hot puff of air waft over her shoulders. She turned, coming face to face with him. His piercing gaze was narrowed on her. She was sure he hated her stunt.
In an attempt to sooth his ire, she leaned forward and kissed his snout. “You were magnificent.” At the sight, the crowd became even more boisterous.
