"Omari, you need to get back into your seat and put your seat belt on, okay?" I murmured, my eyes still in the sky.

"Are there dragons outside?" he asked in a hushed whisper.

No use lying. He could just look through the window or the hatch.

"Yes," I said, helping him into his seat and pulling the seat belt over to secure him into place. "I'm going to go fast now," I said, and checked my own seat belt again.

He nodded, his eyes glued to the open hatch above us.

Here we go.

Putting the car back into gear, I slammed the pedal down. It lurched into motion. Chances of escaping were slim to none, but I had to try. Maybe if I could make it to the unused part of the city, I could take cover somewhere with Omari.

I had to protect him from them. Dragons and phoenixes were enemies. It was one of the facts everyone knew. Like the sky was blue. Or the air outside the domes wasn't good for humans.

Another roar and staccato growl came from above us. I was unable to resist looking up. Three more shapes were now gliding soundlessly through the air.

Clenching my jaw, I turned my attention back to the space ahead.

We hit a large rock and bounced over it, my teeth snapping shut from the abruptness. There was a reason why I hadn't been going faster than a crawl before. But now I was willing to risk it.

Omari gasped and I reached over so he could hold my hand. His small ones immediately took a tight hold on me.

Just a little further...

The sound of beating wings filled the night air.

I chanced another glance up and found more dragon-shapes lazily following the car. At any moment, one of them could choose to simply burn us. The armor was fire resistant, but not fireproof. No armor was. It could take a glancing blow but it couldn't take direct, sustained fire.

If it was just me in the car, I would have made peace that this was the end. I was an adult and my choices led me to this moment, where there were no choices left.

But I wasn't the only one the car. Giving up wasn't an option.

"Come on," I muttered to myself, trying to will the car to go faster. I frowned. Was the city moving?

No...the world was tilting...

Was the car flipping? Had I hit a rock?

A gust of hot wind blew my hair across my eyes. Oh no. My hand tightened on the wheel as I looked up.

Right into the underside of a dragon.

I squeezed Omari's hand as I looked out the windshield and realized we were being lifted. One of the dragons had literally taken hold of the car and was picking us up. I couldn’t even fathom how much strength that took.

Heart in my throat, I watched the world fall away, until the roofs of the buildings in the city were below us. It was larger than I'd thought it was. From this vantage point, it was clear that the inhabited part of the city was directly in the center of the vast ruins.

It was built taller, with the new parts showing above the older buildings, but I'd been too far away to make them out at night. It was also somewhat shielded from view by the unoccupied portions. The lower part of the center section was lit and people were walking around even at this time of night. They must have installed windows to deliberately block light in the upper floors of the tall buildings, to minimize how visible they were at night. It made sense as a security measure.

In one corner of that area, there was a flat, round clearing with tall walls encircling it. That was where our impromptu pilot took us.

The dragon slowly came to a hovering standstill above the clearing and carefully lowered us down onto the ground. The care with which the tires connected suggested that they weren't trying to kill us.

At least not immediately.

Maybe they were just waiting to interrogate me before incinerating us.

What a reassuring thought.

The round clearing was much larger than I'd realized from up above. The six dragons that were following us had plenty of room. The dragon that had picked us up landed directly in front of us. It lowered its long neck almost down to the ground and tilted its head to regard me through the windshield.

Its head was almost as big as the car.

I looked over to see that Omari had his eyes squeezed shut. I had the urge to do the same. I'd never seen a dragon or phoenix in their other form. Not in person.

The idea of a dragon had always seemed otherworldly, majestic. But the reality of the sheer size of it, of the power behind that enormous body, the intelligence behind those eyes...

Next to this giant, I seemed small and insignificant. Any one of those things could kill me in an instant without breaking a sweat. The idea of going after one with my bow and arrow was preposterous now that I was so close. How was I supposed to take one down with something so small?

It was dim, but I could see each individual scale, the three-foot-long talons at the end of each toe, the sharpness of the fangs when it opened its mouth slightly.

I took a deep breath. I needed to keep calm. Freaking out wouldn't accomplish anything, even if that was really all I wanted to do.

I took another deep breath and let it out. I needed to see what they wanted.

Hopefully it wasn't a fresh, barbecued meal.