Ember turned towards the beast and opened his mouth. A torrent of fire roared from his glowing throat into the beast. The fire hit what Sarah assumed was a drake, engulfing a chair in flames.

Ember coughed, spitting molten flame. “Open the door,” he ordered while motioning to the sliding glass door of the balcony.

Then, he hit the beast with a second round of flames.

She froze up for a moment before running over to the balcony to try to open the door, but turned to see if she was in immediate danger. The beast romped around attempting to maim, decapitate, or otherwise harm Ember. It was similar to the orcs from her place, but stronger and faster. Also, somehow less stupid. Instead of talking or giving Ember a moment to think, the drake pounced on him like a cat chasing a mouse. It was all Ember could do to barely stay ahead of him.

She tried to open the door again, but it wouldn’t budge.

“It’s stuck!” Her fingers were shaking from the adrenaline.

“Well, open it!” Ember breathed another flame at the drake and then ducked as the beast jumped over him. The drake landed on the bed and got caught in the blankets, giving Sarah more time to open the door. As the beast scrambled out, it resorted to using its steak-knife claws to dig into the mattress and get that big body moving.

After realizing that door wasn’t going to budge, she grabbed a nearby chair and used it to shatter the door around the locked area. At least that was the plan. What really happened was she wrapped her hands around the chair and heaved. The chair whirled through the air and smashed up against the glass. The door shuddered pathetically and that chair fell to the hotel floor.

“Try a little harder,” Ember suggested as he caught his breath.

She was vaguely aware of some orcs lumbering into the room, ducking underneath the door frame with the same nasty bats as before. Her heart jumped into her throat and she fumbled with the gun, partially wondering if it really was loaded and if it had the safety on. She aimed at the lock and pulled the trigger.

Yup.

It was loaded.

The bullet zipped into the glass, completely shattering it. A little piece of glass rocketed from the small explosion into her chin, but she hardly noticed. The rain began pouring through the window.

How in the hell is it still raining?

Sarah turned to Ember to see him still fighting with the creatures. “It’s open!”

He darted away from the drake and away from the long swing of the two orcs and started running towards her. The creatures took their focus away from Ember and turned their eyes on Sarah.

Oh my god! I’m going to die!

The orcs couldn’t outrun Ember, but the drake stood a solid chance of beating Ember to Sarah. Ember’s form changed and Sarah’s courage dropped through her feet.

“Ember, what are you doing?”

“Brace yourself!”

“No! No! We are not—”

And with that, he tackled her out of the door, wrapping his body around hers to shield her from the broken glass.

She heard screaming and it took her a second to realize it was her. The drake jumped out of the door after them, clawing at them. One of its paws caught her leg, ripping her jeans and probably cutting her, but the adrenaline pumping through her veins made it impossible to feel any pain.

She’d gone skydiving once. It was fun and predictable and somehow beautiful. This was not like that. This was horrifying.

She couldn’t see. She couldn’t hear. She couldn’t think. She felt Ember’s body around her but that was about it. Every glance she got was stolen by raindrops flying into her eyes and mouth, and down into her nose. She simultaneously confronted the fear of falling, drowning, and being blinded all at once.

She kept waiting for the inevitable smashing into the ground. As high up as they were, it would probably be painless. But it never came. Instead, she kept feeling the wind whip by.

“We’re safe.” She could just barely hear Ember’s voice over the wind. “You can relax.”

Suddenly, the world opened up around her and she stopped spinning. She was flying between the buildings in a fully stretched-out pose. She glanced up to see what she could only assume was Ember in full dragon form.

He had brilliant, sleek red scales, like those of a well-animated dragon. His head, although she couldn’t see much other than the underside of his jaw, had similarities to a lizard, and yet Ember was majestic. He twisted his head to see her, showing the same mane of spiked up hair, but instead of hair, he had a series of frills. His eyes, oddly, looked the same. His clawed hands were around her waist, pinning her up against his underbelly as they flew.

Perhaps this would have calmed another woman, but Sarah was past the point of consolation.

“What is happening?” she yelled.

“We escaped,” he said matter-of-factly.

It was a strange thing seeing a dragon talk. His face didn’t move properly, but it still made the sounds.

She was panicking, though her fear was justified. Just because she was attracted to the guy didn’t mean she entirely trusted him. She was still not quite sure about the whole nightmare thing. She was willing to talk to him and give him the option to explain himself. Hell, she was even willing to sleep with him. She was not, however, ready to take a ride through the city with him. Although staying in the hotel room would have been worse.

She felt utterly helpless. If he wanted, he could clench those claws around her stomach and lop her in two without even trying. But he wouldn’t do that, right?

“I won’t hurt you,” he assured her.

He must sense my fear.

She could just barely see his wings angle to take them off in another direction.

She tried to calm herself and look anywhere other than down. “Where…” she took in a deep breath. It was okay. She would be okay. “Where are we going?”

“My kingdom,” he replied as if he were telling her they were going to the grocery store.

“That clears everything on up,” she complained. “What was that thing that found us?”

“A drake,” he replied. “He was just tracking us. Roland’s orcs were following him.”

With that, he shifted around his hands to grip her more tightly. On one hand, she wouldn’t fall as easy, but one of his fingers was uncomfortably close to her throat, stretching across her breasts. She didn’t think he was trying to make her uncomfortable. All the guy was trying to do was keep her from plummeting to death, and she couldn’t think of a reason to fault him for that.

She looked out across the city, trying to keep herself from panicking. The initial terror of being launched out of a window high up in the sky was beginning to wear off. Ember’s large dragon body shielded her from the rain. Sure, she could still feel the cold wind on her face, but his chest was amazingly warm. She was willing to bet he was working on creating some fire in there. She snuggled up against him as they flew.

“Why didn’t we do this in the first place?” she marveled as they glided past a tall skyscraper.

“Same reason you own a car instead of walking everywhere,” he replied. “It’s easier.”

“Huh.”

“Have I convinced you that I’m telling the truth yet?” he asked. His chest rumbled when he spoke.

“You’re getting close,” she replied.

Sarah felt him laugh from deep within his chest.

“I hope you’re not too cold,” he said.

“I’m a little chilly.”

The heat from his chest intensified, warming up her back. She purred with pleasure.

He exhaled smoke with amusement. “Try to get some sleep, my angel. I’ll wake you when we arrive. We have a long flight ahead of us.”

She wanted to say no. She wanted to stay awake and look at all the buildings and people below, but her mind lost to her body, and she curled up in his arms. She closed her eyes peacefully, feeling Ember’s warmth surround her. All she could hear was the gentle pitter-patter of rain against Ember’s scales and the methodic swishing of air as his great wings moved up and down.

It was a strange night.

Unsurprisingly, her dreams were strange. A person doesn’t go through a day like that and sleep like a baby. She’d been introduced to dragons, orcs, possibly goblins, and drakes. The world as she knew it had been turned upside down and her mind was opened to a reality that most people would never know about.

Almost as soon as her eyes closed, she had the dream.

But this time, it started before she saw the scales and heard the scream. Her brain somehow pieced together that they were the same scenario.

Sarah was in her body from one-thousand years ago. She didn’t know she sensed the time period, but immediately, she knew it was the last time she’d seen Ember. They were in bed together. He was sleeping beside her while she was sketching something on a thick notepad. He looked the same, except his hair was longer and he wore different clothes. But other than that, it looked like it could have been yesterday. She couldn’t see herself, but somehow she knew the same applied.

In the dream, Sarah whispered to Ember. “Are you awake my love?”

He stirred sleepily. “I am now.”

“Do you ever wonder what it would be like if the earth suddenly stopped moving?”

He brought up a hand and placed it on her thigh. “Darling… Go back to sleep.”

“I can’t.”

“Try.”

“I have tried.”

He sat up and let out a ferocious yawn. “What’s going on?”

She kissed his lips. “Thank you for listening to me. I know you’re tired.”

“Well, I love you and I want to know if something is bothering you,” he replied, blinking lazily.

“Will I ever be able to go back to humankind?” she asked. “Or will I live out my days here?”

His glimmering orange eyes shifted over to her. “If you’re not happy here, we can—”

“No! No, it’s not that at all. I feel at home here. I know I’ll love it. I’m just… I’m going to be immortal. What happens when I want to explore the world?”

“You explore,” he replied. “With me, if you’ll have me.”

She smiled, running a hand across his smooth chest. “Of course I’ll have you.”

Then, abruptly, the door flew open and there stood a woman with a menacing look. She held a mean-looking crossbow that was aimed straight at Ember.

“Die, you dragon bastard!”

“Marilla!” Ember jumped up in surprise, trying to push Sarah out of the danger zone. Marilla pulled the trigger once. The bolt zipped into Ember’s chest, about three inches away from his heart. Stunned, he fell off the bed. Marilla was there, reloading while he tried to shift into dragon form.

“Sarah, get out of here!” he yelled, clawing at the bolt stuck in his chest.

He spat fire at Marilla, but she dodged aside. She raised up the end of the crossbow and Sarah leapt to block Marilla from the man she loved.

“No!” Ember had fully transformed into his dragon form. Marilla’s finger squeezed the trigger. The bolt started from the crossbow in slow motion. Her aim had been off, ever so slightly. It was headed for Sarah.

Ember jumped in front of Sarah, spreading his wings to catch the bolt. She saw a flash of red scales and watched the bolt slip under his wing and sink into her chest. She let out a scream and fell back onto the bed. She clutched the wound, feeling something seeping between her fingers.

She fell and watched a blurry red shape rip into a small, white shape.

And then she woke up.

She was still in Ember’s protective arms as he flew. They were starting to descend. The rain had stopped, and the first signs of sunrise were peeking over the mountains.

“Good morning,” Ember said, not looking down. “Did you sleep well?”

She looked around at the city landscape with its twinkling lights. She took a deep breath. “Yeah,” she said. “I slept really well.”