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His nose wrinkles in disgust. “Seriously?”
“I kind of like it, has a nice ring to it.”
He rolls his eyes.
“How about, Mountain-tamer.”
He gives me a wicked grin and looks down at my breasts. “Not unless I’m taming these mountains.”
I laugh.
He releases me and walks toward the caves. “You comin’ or what?”
I catch up. As we get closer, we’re silent, although I have no doubt the dragons know we’re here. My mother told me, now that I’m Dragon Touched, the dragons should allow my approach.
We come up to the first cave and sitting just outside is the massive dragon, Ruukahn. Daimis and I stop in our tracks putting his body between me and the giant in front of us. He seems bigger than I remember. His blue scales shine with moisture from the heavy fog, reflecting more gray this time. Those intelligent eyes of his look us over and he curls his upper lip back revealing his deadly teeth and a low warning growl. He lets out a huff of air from his nostrils, the warmth washes over us, and his tail swishes behind him in irritation.
Okay, so he’s not happy to see Daimis.
Daimis’s hand automatically goes to the hilt of his sword, but I place mine over it to stop him from unsheathing the blade. I shake my head at him. He goes against his instincts, trusting me enough to let go of the hilt.
“This is by far the stupidest thing we’ve ever done in a long line of stupid things,” Daimis whispers to me.
I shrug. “Probably.”
I step out from behind him and try to remember the little speech my mother had me memorize to ask Ruukahn to train with me. She’d said something about it being a sacred ritual and that tradition must be kept and whatnot. Really though, I was Dragon Touched just fine without all that traditional crap. But I memorized it anyway. Of course, now that I’m faced with the fear of a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth that might devour Daimis at any moment, I’m having difficulty remembering my own name, let alone some ancient speech. Ruukahn raises his massive head at my approach.
“I’m Sahra Devoe-Tanaris, daughter of Laneya Tanaris and Ronaan Devoe, and a descendant of the three great lines of the fae,” Ruukahn looks past me at Daimis and growls, a low rumbling from deep within his throat. “My ancestors. . .um, my ancestors. . .”Shit,I can’t remember the rest.The dragon’s growl grows in volume, and I feel it all the way to my bones. I get the feeling he’s losing patience. “To hell with it,” I say. “I know you remember me. I was the one covered in your shit. How could you possibly forget that?” The dragon stops his growl and turns his head to the side, examining me closer. “Despite my strange antics, you still Dragon Touched me. I assume it’s because you saw something in me that was worth your touch, even back when I was a thief and a liar. Back when I was scared, and alone, and lost. Back when I only wanted to run and abandon everyone and everything to save my own sorry ass.” The dragon dips his head lower and I lock gazes with him. “Well, I’m not running anymore. The same magic that’s in me is in this human, too. He is a part of me. I ask that you accept him. Accept us both, so that we might train together and one day fight together.” I gesture to Daimis, and he takes tentative steps toward me. I hold his hand. “His name is Daimis Berhane. He’s the heir to the Thaaryn throne. And he is the best person I know. The truth is, we need your help. We plan to free the people of Thaaryn and stop an ancient evil that has come into our world.”
The dragon focuses his attention on Daimis. Daimis for his part doesn’t flinch. I let go of his hand and nod my head at the dragon, conveying that he should go to him. He raises his brows at me as if to say,are you crazy? I give him a wicked smile and nod my head again, this time I follow up with a scowl. Daimis sets his jaw and turns to the dragon. He squares his shoulders and approaches Ruukahn. And I hope with every fiber of my being that I am right about this. Daimis stops just in front of the dragon. He examines Daimis but backs away.
Daimis looks over his shoulder at me. “Well, at least he didn’t knock me off the cliff.”
My heart drops. I didn’t expect him to Dragon Touch Daimis, but I had hoped he would accept him enough for Daimis to ride Ruukahn with me. My disappointment is short-lived when another dragon steps forward. It’s bigger than Ruukahn, but with red shimmering scales and a slimmer build. I recognize her from my observations months ago. With her long snout and slimmer build, she’s the fastest of the dragons, and she’s Ruukahn’s mate.
Her bright yellow eyes narrow in on Daimis. She looks him over for a long time, almost like she’s reading him. He stays steady and examines her right back. Finally, she steps closer and lowers her head to him. Without hesitation or fear, Daimis closes the distance and reaches out his hand to touch the dragon’s snout. His entire body glows and he falls to one knee, panting. I wonder if that’s how I looked the day I was Dragon Touched.
Daimis stands back up while gazing at the dragon in awe. I walk to stand beside him. Both dragons gaze down on us with what I swear could be pride in their intelligent eyes.
“Now what?” Daimis asks.
“Now, we devise a way to get you on your throne. I might have been born in Crystal Falls, but Thaaryn is my home, and I refuse to watch it suffer under fear and oppression when its true leader can bring it the peace I’ve seen in Crystal Falls.”
Daimis smiles. “Have I told you lately that I love your crazy ideas?”
He reaches out and laces my fingers with his.
The dragons let out roars that make the mountains tremble. More dragons join. I hope they can be heard all through Thaaryn. Let it ignite hope in the hearts of our allies, and strike fear in those who stand in our way.
THE END
