Ana

Fly?!

“Umm, I hate to break it to you,” she said, “but I can’t fly.”

Ferro just smiled as they took the stairs and swiftly gathered their things up.

“I know,” he said at last.

“Can I ask your genius plan then?” she asked. Her hand was still in his as they held each other tight. Ferro was guiding them outside of the village. To her left, the sun was beginning to fully set.

“Yes,” he replied, barely covering up his snicker.

It was like the mountain all over again.

“What have I done,” she moaned. “I finally find a man who can live forever, and he insists on driving me crazy!”

Ferro laughed and snatched her up into his arms. She only resisted slightly. The truth was, he was holding her tightly to his chest, and she rather enjoyed it. There was something about Ferro, something that made her just want to be as close to him as possible.

“This isn’t going to save you,” she warned him, just so he knew it wasn’t over.

“Shh.” He tossed her a wink, and when she made to try and scramble down from his arms in mock protest. He hushed her by pressing his lips to hers.

Ana inhaled his scent, relishing the touch of his soft lips as she returned the kiss as passionately as she could from within his arms. After a long, lingering moment, he set her down.

“What now?” she asked.

They were standing in the middle of an open field that dug deep into the side of the forest, obscuring them from view of the village. Not that it mattered anymore. The villagers had seen them already. She just thanked their lucky stars that technology had passed the villagers over.

“Now, you need to stand back and give me some room,” he requested.

“I still don’t know how you expect this to work,” she told him, but dutifully moved back.

“Farther please,” he motioned, and she kept moving back until there was well over a hundred feet between them.

She watched then as Ferro knelt in the clearing. He was wearing a long jacket, black pants, and a dark gray long-sleeve shirt. The jacket fell around him, and she watched in awe as the air around him began to shimmer, forming a bubble. That bubble began to rapidly expand, until it occupied most of the clearing. Ana was forced to move back several more paces.

Within the sphere, Ferro began to grow. Even as he did, other things happened as well. Talons, like those that had grasped her the other day, sprouted from his hands and feet, swelling rapidly in size. A tail, long and sinuous, shot forth like the biggest snake she had ever seen. On his shoulder, huge bulges appeared, and seconds later thick membranous wings exploded from them, instinctively curling around to block her view of him. Scales appeared across the parts of his body she could still see, and just as the shimmering air bubble disappeared, a majestic head reared up from within the confines of his wings, bursting through the bubble and completing the transformation.

Ana was unable to speak as Ferro, in his natural form, swept his wings back and turned to face her. She’d seen dragons shift from beast to human before. But despite the events of the past few days, this was actually the first time she’d seen them go from human to dragon. Even Merlin earlier had shifted after she had taken off.

“That was…impressive,” she said in mute awe.

A deep, rumbling chuckle came from the dragon’s throat. Ana was mildly disappointed there was no smoke emanating from his nostrils at that. She knew that wasn’t how it worked, but part of her still thought it should happen.

Damn legends and stories, coloring my thoughts.

“So, now what?” she asked, nervously approaching the massive creature.

“Now, my lady, climb aboard,” he all but purred. The huge dragon head lowered itself to the ground near her.

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” she teased, making her way to his neck.

“I am,” he replied. “Here.”

An ocher wing swept forward, the rust-colored membrane providing a platform for him to lift her up to where his neck and body met.

“Uh, now what?” she asked. Her legs fell on either side of his thick, scaled neck. The off-red coloring screamed at her that it would stain her clothing, but the scales weren’t dirty. In fact, they were so sleek they almost shined, even in the coming darkness.

“Squeeze your legs, and find a scale to hold onto.”

She stared at him like he was crazy, but the huge, yellow orb outlined in silver simply stared right back at her.

“Okay,” she said with a shrug. “We’ll do it your way. But if you hear screaming, don’t look back, look down, because that’s where I’ll probably be.”

Ferro’s eyes widened in surprise at her tone, and then she began to shudder slightly as he laughed.

“I like your spirit,” he said, “among other parts of you.”

She blushed at the sexual undertones of his words, which only brought more laughter forth from the massive dragon.

“I shall not drop you,” he reassured her.

Ana nodded and hunkered down, her fingers finding hold on one of his scales. She put a brave face on, and vowed not to scream in terror.

His huge wings spread wide, and below her she felt his muscles tense. With a giant push Ferro leapt into the air, his wings propelling them up even higher.

The noise that came from Ana’s mouth was not a scream, she told herself. A peep, perhaps. She would allow herself a startled cry. But not a scream. Absolutely not.

“Everything okay back there?” Ferro asked, his head turning back to inspect his rider.

“Eyes on the sky!” she shouted, releasing one hand to point ahead, before frantically scrabbling for purchase as she brought it back.

Ferro laughed again, and she saw his long snout open as if to say something more.

Probably about my lack of restraint.

“Trust me,” he said simply instead, before returning his eyes to the sky in front of them.

The words reverberated through her soul. Trust me. That was a big request to make of her. Ana knew she already trusted him to a degree, but that wasn’t what he meant. Ferro was asking her to trust his decisions without reservation, to believe that she would be okay in his presence without ever having to think about it.

She had never trusted someone like that before. Even now, as she clung to his neck, hundreds of feet in the sky, Ana wasn’t sure if she was ready for that. It took longer than a few hours to undo centuries of mistrust. Even with the bond they were forging between them, it would be a while yet before she achieved that level of comfort with him.

Hopefully Ferro would understand that.