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The fallen shelving shook with his movements, knocking Charlie and Zaide off balance. Charlie toppled over and dropped through a gap to the floor, his body hitting metal with a clang. Zaide fell to his knees and gripped me tighter before surprising me and dropping me into the same hole Charlie had fallen into. I landed on him with a thump and apologized with a whisper as Zaide jumped down.
Flames whipped over our head as Fafnir spat his anger. But the place was too wet for the flames to catch now. His wings flapped with frustration, forcing smoke, dust, and ash to rise into the air, tickling at my throat. I coughed, and more flames blasted toward us.
“Quiet as you can, Little Cat,” Zaide whispered as we started crawling our way to the door.
Bored of not being able to roast us, Fafnir decided on another method of death—squashing us under his huge scaly feet. His wings flapped again, this time lifting him as he jumped and came crashing down on the mess of shelves and debris. I flinched as bars and boxes around me were crushed under his weight.
His wings flapped again, warning us of another impending jump.
“Go!” Charlie shouted, and we threw caution to the wind. No longer silent or unnoticeable, we rushed toward the door.
We crawled out of the shelves like ants from a pavement crack and raced the last distance to the main door. Zaide charged through it, and when we got to the outside, elation rushed through me. The extra adrenaline had given more power to my legs even though I’d been nearly drained.
Charlie's car was the only one in the lot, and we started toward it.
A huge crash sounded behind us, and we turned to see Fafnir burst through the doors of the warehouse, knocking them off their hinges. In squeezing his body and wings through, he’d pulled the brickwork with him, and I shuddered at his strength, at his apparent invulnerability.
With a door frame caught around his middle and restricting his wings, he roared his anger. And the building quaked.
Zaide, with a dark expression and determination in his stride, took advantage of Fafnir's predicament, leaped toward him, drew back his hand, clenched his fist, and punched him straight in the snout.
I almost laughed at the sight, and I know Charlie was equally as amused. With Zaide’s strength, he managed to knock Fafnir's head around and forced him to stumble back into the hole he'd created. As he smacked into a wall on the inside, the building moaned.
"Get in the car!" Charlie shouted.
We wasted no time diving through the doors before Charlie peeled out of the lot.
But I couldn’t pull my eyes away from the scene behind us. Staring out of the rearview window, I watched the building come down around Fafnir, crushing him under bricks and timber that tumbled from the roof onto his wings, body, and finally, his head. A thick cloud of dust stopped me from seeing anything more, and I turned away. Shaking.
“Is he dead?” I squeaked.
Charlie stopped the car and turned around in his seat to look back at the wreckage. “He is covered in the warehouse. I don’t know if dragons can survive that. I fucking hope they can't.”
I buried my head in my hands, trembling, and pushed my palms into my eyes to stop the tears. A large hand stroked my head in comforting brushes.
Charlie's seat squeaked as he faced forward again and sighed. "Let's get back and freak out in the safety of the apartment."
He turned the key in the ignition, but instead of hearing the car start, we heard the rumbling of bricks behind us. My head shot up, and we looked out the back window and gasped as a dragon head nudged its way out of the rubble.
"You have got to be fucking kidding me." Charlie gaped open-mouthed as the dragon’s wings flapped, shaking free bricks and dust, his tail dragging as he rose into the air, pulling himself free.
"Charlie, drive," Zaide demanded.
