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Rook grunts as a blade sinks into his right thigh. He bashes his attacker’s face with his longsword’s pommel. The knight staggers back, blood gushing over his teeth. Another knight slashes at his legs, trying to hamstring him, but Rook leaps away. Barely.
I lunge to my feet.
A knight meets me halfway. I block him with the flat of the blade, but the force of it drives me back to my knees.
Rage reddens his face, but it twists into an ugly smile. “Dragon.”
When Rook looks at me, two knights take advantage of his distraction. One slashes him across the chest, a blow that gouges his leather armor but fails to cut flesh. The other knight curls his armored hand and punches Rook square in the jaw with a fistful of steel.
Dazed and bleeding, Rook staggers back.
I roll away from my attacker and lurch onto my feet. His gaze drops to my breasts. He licks the spittle from his lips. Acid rises in my throat. He wants to punish me. It’s obvious in his eyes.
The dragon writhes inside me, caged by the aellurium collar.
“Rook!” I yell. “Free me!”
“Pyrah.” Pain roughens Rook’s voice.
Another knight swings his sword. Rook blocks the blow, but he’s breathing hard. He lowers his head like a wounded bull, then tackles the knight. His horns screech across steel.
On the ground, it’s too close for combat for swords. Rook draws one of his daggers, but the knight flips him. The dagger skitters toward the ravine. The men roll through the blood and the mud.
My attacker advances on me. “Surrender, or I won’t be gentle.”
I bare my teeth. “Fuck you!”
Rook’s lying with his back in the dirt, grappling his enemy, struggling to reach his second dagger. Now two of the knights have their attention on me. I’m the prize. Rook’s already losing.
“For fuck’s sake, Rook!” I scream, my voice raw. “Free me now!”
I lose my sword so I can sprint faster and fling myself at the demon. His bloodstained hand fumbles for me.
He can’t reach. I crawl nearer.
His fingers touch the aellurium. The collar chimes and falls from my neck into the filth where it belongs.
Freedom.
The dragon roars inside me. The sound escapes my mouth as a scream. Rage in my blood burns my fear to ashes. My skeleton and skin melt before hardening into my draconic form.
I unfurl.
My wings spread wide, overshadowing the knights, and I roar again. Louder. Stronger. Powerful enough to crunch their armor like crab shells. One whimpers profanity.
I want to incinerate these men alive.
But Rook would die, too.
There’s still a knight pinning him. I bend down and bite the knight’s skull, then shake him like a dog with a rat. When I open my jaws, he arcs over the trees and disappears in the ravine.
Two knights left.
“Surrender,” I hiss, “or I won’t be gentle.”
Of course, they attack me. They still believe they can defeat a dragon.
I breathe fire.
