Chapter 16.

 

Pain roused her. Not the agony of a great wound – just a myriad of aches and pains born from sleeping on a hard floor.

Nothing had changed.

Maya sat up, stretching, trying to ignore the faint disappointment that clouded her mind. Silly as it was, she’d dared to hope that she’d wake to rescue. Jamie, truly a Dragon once more, ripping apart the cage that bound her.

Stupid. The puzzle she’d given him wasn’t the sort that could be solved in a heartbeat.

A number of soldiers slept in the bunks that surrounded her cage. Must be night then. A light always burned here, and without windows, it was hard to tell the time of day.

On stiff legs, she stumbled around the edges of her tiny prison. Circulation returned, gradually. And as the pain faded, boredom replaced it. Lucian Fowler hadn’t tortured her – a fact for which she should probably be grateful. Things could surely be much worse. Still, being locked up with no books, no tv, no radio, no internet… One afternoon of that had driven her nearly mad.

Hope made the waiting even worse. Each second offered a hope of rescue. That hope then died, every other second.

For the first time, Maya saw Fowler’s point: hope could be a curse.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, she gave up and lay down again on the concrete floor. With no insulation, cold seeped up through its hard surface. She rolled her blanket around herself and tried to sleep once more. With no success.

When the change came, it happened with a speed and violence that left her dazed.

In the distance, an explosion and a roar. Bestial, furious, deafening. The cry of an enraged t-rex.

Alarms rang, sending mercenaries spilling to the floor, grabbing for weapons and clothes. Officers screamed orders, men charged about… as that bellow of rage sounded once more.

Maya slipped her blanket over her head and kept still. Praying that everyone forgot they had a potential hostage in this cell.

Gun-fire rang out all around the building, chilling her to the bone. Dragon armor was thick, yes. But could it truly withstand that kind of attack? Or would her next glimpse of Jamie be his corpse, riddled with bullets, lying on the ground?

A whoosh… and the night air filled with terrible, agonized screams. Sounds that would haunt her dreams. Men spilled back inside the barracks as flame lit the world outside.

Chaos and confusion reigned. Soldiers panicked, Shifted, and suddenly, the barracks were filled with howling Wolves. Several streamed into the yard, and she heard their mournful howls fade into the distance. About half held their ground.

Until something slammed into the roof. One half peeled back like the lid of a tin can. Maya couldn’t see the attacker, but she knew who he was. The rush of wind as he passed, the buffets of his wings as he rose for another attack, all gave him away.

Jamie.

Her Dragon.

He had finally come to protect her.

His assault – unstoppable, overwhelming – broke the Fangs’ morale. The remaining Wolves and Bears poured outside, chasing their smarter colleagues.

Only one creature bucked the tide, fighting its way inside through the stream of fleeing Shifters.

Pale white scales covered its long, sinuous form. Around its maw dangled scores of thick strands, like the tentacles of an octopus. At her first, horrified glimpse, Maya thought it was a centipede. Then she got a good look at its head, so like a Dragon’s, and the black eyes that glittered with rage.

Worm. Fallen Dragon.

Lucian Fowler.

The one thing on this island that understood how important she was.

As it darted toward her, thin claws scrabbling at the concrete floor, Maya pressed herself against the back of the cage. A few minutes. She had to buy a few minutes. Lost in the heat of battle, Jamie had probably forgotten her…

But it was she who had forgotten.

What Dragons were. Where their souls lay.

What mattered to them more than life itself.

As the Worm scuttled forward, a dark form hurtled down through the shattered roof, pinning it to the ground. It writhed, squealing, its thin talons slashing harmlessly at the chest of the majestic creature that loomed over it. Lips rolled back from the Dragon’s flame-wrapped maw. Then, its head flashed down, jaws snapping. A sickening crunch, a shriek… and Lucian Fowler died.

Trembling, Maya could do nothing but stare.

Jamie’s head rose. Those burning emerald eyes studied her. Then, steely talons sank into the Worm’s still form and he rose, wings beating, carrying his prey aloft.

High above, a Dragon’s roar of triumph boomed.

Wails and yips echoed it, as the remaining Fangs fled into the woods.