Without warning, Leo swooped toward the trees.
Popsicles. While she’d pondered, she’d failed to spot the two massive dragons hovering in the sky ahead of them. The nearest dragon trumpeted a victory trill and arrowed toward them talons outstretched.
He or she let rip with a stream of fire. Leo dodged, but the heat of the flames seared Gwenyth’s skin.
Since he was carrying her, Leo couldn’t return their attack. He could simply evade.
“Go lower,” she shouted. “When we’re close to the ground, release me.”
The two dragons split up while Leo hesitated, hovering in the air. Gwenyth turned her head and spied a dragon intending to attack from behind. The other dragon—a black—rushed them head-on.
“Watch out, Leo,” she screamed.
Leo gave a hard flap of his wings and shot upward before either dragon could attack. He flew fast and strong, swooping low to the ground. When he reached a small clearing, he flew even lower before he dropped her. Even though she’d expected it, she hit the ground hard. For long seconds, she gasped for breath, the abrupt collision with the firm ground exploding the air from her lungs. Obviously, she was not designed for flying or leaping from a moving dragon.
The sharp whop-whop of wings forced her to haste. She shoved to her feet with an audible groan and raced for the trees. A shot of flames seared the ground right where she’d sprawled mere seconds earlier. Sparks shot through the dried grass, and a blaze soon danced through the spot where she’d landed. Gwenyth retreated until the trees acted as a protective umbrella. The flames grew larger and lit the foliage.
From where she stood, Gwenyth couldn’t see Leo or the dragon attacking him. She scuttled through the waist-high undergrowth while trying to make the least amount of noise. She planned to find an alternative place to view the overhead struggle, and hopefully, she’d think of a way to aid Leo.
She crept to the tree line. Both of the dragons—the black and the green—were attacking Leo. They were taking turns and attempting to tire him.
Gwenyth spied several fist-size rocks and scooped one up to gauge its weight. Now to test her throwing skills.
Another random thought surfaced. She’d been on the rep softball team as a youngster. Time to put her skills to use. She mentally measured the distance and fired her first rock. Bullseye! It worked better than she’d thought. She fired at the black dragon since she knew for certain this one wasn’t Leo. Her second rock missed, but the third missile struck the dragon’s chest as it banked to rush Leo.
Gwenyth put muscle behind her fourth rock and took satisfaction at the dragon’s screech of fury. She hefted the next stone and fired, missing because the creature wheeled and flew straight at her position. Flames flared around her, crackling and hissing as they fed on the undergrowth and trees. Gwenyth jerked back and sprinted deeper into the woods. She scooped up more rocks and slipped between the trunks until she found another vantage point.
When she was in position, she spotted Leo and the green dragon.
The black dragon was nowhere in sight. Gwenyth stilled, peeking from behind the wide girth of a mature tree. She paused, wondering whether she should fire more rocks. No, she’d hate to hit Leo by mistake.
She collected ammunition, sneaking through the trees and avoiding the smoking area while keeping watch for the black monster. Had she injured the dragon enough to ground it?
Surely not. Gwenyth stilled and watched, scanning her surroundings. The skip of a small pebble along a clear spot of ground had her freezing in position. Where was that dragon?
A pale shape slipped between the trees over to Gwenyth’s right before disappearing. She kept watching, and the shape darted closer to Gwenyth’s position. Was that Nan?
The figure moved again, and Gwenyth weighed one of her rocks in her hand. Her chances of helping Leo increased if Nan remained in her human form. Gwenyth waited until Nan scurried closer before she fired her next rock. She struck the dragon’s shoulder and took great satisfaction in Nan’s surprised roar of pain.
Gwenyth scooped up two more rocks and darted to a new position. In her black tunic, she blended with the darkness while Nan’s naked body glowed in the moonlight, making her easy to spot.
“Stop playing silly games,” Nan shouted. “You can’t escape me.”
Maybe not, but she could fire at least two or three more rocks and make Nan hurt. Gwenyth wasn’t stupid enough to return Nan’s shout.
Instead, she watched the dragon shifter and took pleasure in Nan’s frustrated curses. The woman had a nasty mouth on her. Gwenyth took up her next position against a wide tree trunk and waited for Nan to show herself again.
She still had Leo’s dagger in her right boot, but she didn’t intend to venture close to Nan since she’d witnessed Leo’s speedy changes. If Nan caught her, she’d shift and spurt fire. Gwenyth would be toast before she…
Ah!
There she was—the cocky dragon.
Gwenyth waited for a clear shot. Now! She flung her rock. It struck Nan on the shoulder, and the woman bellowed in pain.
“The instant I get my hands on you, I’m gonna rip off your arms,” Nan snarled. “You think you’re clever, but you’re a useless human. Don’t forget that. Mongrel humans don’t have the pedigree to marry dragons. You can’t fly, can’t breathe fire or protect yourself.”
Gwenyth listened to Nan’s ranting but didn’t react. Leo didn’t agree. He appreciated her enough to marry her in a human ceremony. Gwenyth didn’t know how the dragon marriage ceremony differed, but their marriage was real. Leo hadn’t lied about that.
“Where are you?” Nan demanded. “Show yourself.”
Gwenyth bit back a snort. Did she look stupid?
The battle sounds continued overhead. Gwenyth edged to a clearing so she could see what was happening while still keeping an eye out for Nan. The dragon made it easy for Gwenyth to keep tabs on her with her taunts and threats. Gwenyth stilled, a rock curled in her hand.
“I’ve had enough of this,” Nan declared. “If I have to burn the entire forest, I don’t care. I’ll smoke you out and hunt you down. Leo will marry me, and that is final.”
Gwenyth curled her lips in disdain. Over my dead body.
Nan stalked into the open, and Gwenyth pelted her with two rocks. Nan roared and rushed Gwenyth’s position. Gwenyth kept firing rocks, some striking and others missing.
“Try running,” Nan said. “You won’t escape. I have your position now.”
Gwenyth gritted her teeth, her mind sorting possibilities. Leo was busy, and she needed to save herself. She ducked to pick up more stones. Apart from the dagger, they were her best weapon. Nan couldn’t shift back to her dragon if Gwenyth stayed beneath the trees. That gave Gwenyth an advantage. From what she’d already noted, Nan’s temper and her arrogance made her stupid. The dragon woman didn’t believe she’d lose.
Gwenyth would emerge the victor or die trying.
Leo counted on her.
“You’re hiding again,” Nan snapped. “Come into the open where we can fight to the death.”
Huh! And give up her one advantage? Not likely.
Gwenyth froze, scarcely breathing. Wait. Wait. Nan darted between the trees. Gwenyth aimed, fired. The rock flew in a straight line.
Bam!
Nan howled, and before the dragon woman recovered, Gwenyth flung another stone. This one clipped Nan on the head. Gwenyth didn’t wait to witness Nan’s reaction, but judging by Nan’s aggrieved roar, she figured she’d done some damage.
“You’re a coward,” Nan shouted, the end of her sentence rising to a shriek. “Stop hiding and show yourself.”
Why, when she was having so much fun? Gwenyth slinked through the forest, placing her feet with care to avoid standing on a stick and signaling her position. She gathered suitable stones as she slipped past trees and crawled through undergrowth. She peeked around a rough-barked trunk and discovered Nan a few feet away. The woman stood with her hands on her hips, swiveling
as she sniffed the air.
Gwenyth ducked out of sight, convinced Nan would discover her.
Her heart thudded, panic icing her veins as she waited for Nan to pounce.
It didn’t happen.
Instead, Nan tromped farther away.
Gwenyth peeked out and saw blood trickled down the dragon woman’s cheek. Time to get serious. Once Gwenyth had a dozen stones collected, she crept from behind the tree and pelted Nan with rocks. One. Two. Three. Gwenyth kept firing, ignoring Nan’s cries of pain and squawked insults. Once she was down to her last stone, she kept it in her right hand.
This was the perfect place with the trees growing close together and a thick canopy. Nan couldn’t shift here without risking her wings or tail becoming hooked in the trees. And if she did that, Gwenyth would be ready.
“When I catch you,” Nan roared, “I will rip you apart with my bare hands. I will chew on your bloody heart.”
Gwenyth wrinkled her nose, her pulse racing from her exertions.
That sounded messy. Painful too. She was doing better than she’d expected against Nan, and that bolstered her confidence. Humans weren’t useless after all.
A few more rocks. She’d aim for Nan’s chest, face, and head.
Draw blood.
Hopefully enough to shroud Nan’s vision.
Then, and only then, could Gwenyth risk attacking with the dagger.
Overhead, the two dragons battled with ferocious roars, their flames lighting the night sky. Gwenyth pushed aside her worry for Leo. He’d earned his title Champion of the Skies by beating every other dragon in aerial battle. But she’d bet this dragon didn’t play by the rules.
Another trickle of worry speared her until she reminded herself she could best serve Leo by disabling Nan. Back to the plan.
Gwenyth glided through the trees, able to see and hear Nan’s location because of the dragon’s cursing. Then the woman fell quiet. Didn’t matter. Once Gwenyth collected enough rocks, she’d stalk the dragon woman and disable her. No one ever accused her of a lack of ambition.
Gwenyth carried her ammunition in her hands. Ready. She peeked from behind a tree and discovered Nan three steps away. Gwenyth hadn’t heard a thing. Nan let out a roar of triumph, and Gwenyth acted on instinct. She pelted her rocks at Nan’s head, one after the other. Nan stumbled, raising her hands to protect her face even as she continued charging. The instant the last rock left Gwenyth’s fist, she curled her fingers around the hilt of her dagger.
Blood ran down Nan’s face and into her eyes. She backhanded Gwenyth and, in a lucky break, connected with Gwenyth’s jaw. Gwenyth fell, striking her head on a tree trunk on the way down.
Gwenyth saw stars. Her head rang, but every survival instinct had her forcing her unwilling body upright. Nan released another of her triumphant howls and sprang at Gwenyth.
Instinct had Gwenyth reaching again for the dagger and plucking the blade from her boot. It came free in a clean arc. Gwenyth gripped the knife, holding steady while, triumph shining in her face, Nan forced her weight downward. The dagger slid into Nan’s chest, the dragon woman releasing a shocked scream.
Nan struggled, but too late, she realized her weight was forcing her down onto the blade. She kicked and screamed, but Gwenyth refused to release the dagger hilt.
It was kill or be killed.
Nan thrashed, blood from her wound splattering Gwenyth. Gwenyth closed her eyes, still seeing stars. Then, Nan stilled, the fight fading from the dragon woman. Gwenyth shoved at the dead weight and squirmed free, not opening her eyes.
She took a shaky breath, her head pounding, the throbs—a bang-bang-bang almost too loud to bear. She groaned and pressed her hand to her temple.
“Joanna, turn off that loud music,” she shouted. “I can’t hear myself think.”
When nothing happened, she opened her eyes, frowning at the trees, the greenery. This wasn’t her bed in her apartment. There was no loud music. Where the devil was she?
With a groan, she turned over and pushed to her hands and knees. Her gaze focused on Nan. The knife hilt stuck from her chest and blood pooled on the ground beside her.
Memories whooshed into Gwenyth. No Elizabeth. Liza.
That was the name her friend Cherry and her half-sister Rena used. With her head still aching, she sprang to her feet. Joanna, her daughter.
Popsicles! How long had she been gone? She counted back—a few days.
That’s all, yet so much had happened.
Dragons.
Not only were they real, but she’d married one.
Cripes, she was still married to Tony because her ex refused to release her without a fight. He declined to sign the divorce papers because her father had money, and Tony wanted a cut. Bastard.
She glanced at Nan, who was still and showed no signs of life. Liza crept closer. She reached out a finger to test for a pulse. Nothing.
Nan was dead.
A savage roar sounded in the sky above her.
Leo.
Liza stumbled away from Nan and along a narrow track until she reached the small clearing where Leo had dropped her. Two green dragons were still fighting, talons slicing and gouging. Flames lit the sky.
How could she help?
Heck, she wasn’t even sure which dragon was Leo.
She collected another pile of rocks until she had thirty or forty. Her head still thumped, but the worst of the pain seemed to have passed.
If she could help Leo, the fight might end on a positive note.
Liza sucked in a deep breath and marched to the middle of the clearing. “Leo!” she hollered and prayed that he heard her. “Over here.” She waved her arms and shouted again.
One dragon broke away. She cataloged the beast’s wounds. It roared and attacked, spurting fire in her direction. An enemy, then.
The dragon opened its giant maw. Its big green chest expanded.
Instinct told Liza to run.
She sprinted into the trees and barely dodged the blast of flames that rained down on the spot where she’d stood seconds ago.
Not Leo.
The dragon hovered, his colossal head twisting as he searched for her or perhaps Nan. The dragon bugled then listened. Yep, searching for Nan.
Too late, buddy. The weak human prevailed.
Liza tiptoed through the undergrowth until she reached her pile of stones. Softball champion. Yay, her! She waited until the dragon flapped its wings and flew closer before she launched her first projectile.
Bam! Take that.
Her other rock flew true and smacked the dragon in the chest. The dragon let out a screech of rage and swooped toward her. Liza scooped up several of her rocks at a run and darted under cover again. She exited the forest at a different point and lobbed more rocks. They didn’t all connect, but it was enough to distract the green dragon and divide his attention.
Leo, bless the dragon-man, caught on to her gambit while she chucked rocks. He spewed fire and attacked from the rear. Around her, the forest crackled with flames. Dead branches and undergrowth caught fire and smoke filled the air.
Liza coughed, her lungs burning. The muscles of her arms quivered from firing all the rocks, yet she kept going, scooping up rocks and chucking them at the dragon, finding it easy to tell the difference between the two now.
Their strategy seemed to be working. Her rock clouted the dragon’s snout. It roared, pain and fury filling the dragon’s shriek. While she distracted the dragon, Leo attacked, tearing at the beast with his talons. Hunks of flesh dropped from the sky. Blood. At first, Liza thought it was raining, but no. She ducked away, grabbing more stones for the instant Leo backed up.
But that didn’t happen.
The green dragon’s shriek cut off mid-bugle.
Liza watched the huge beast shudder, then it dropped like one of her rocks.
She fled for the safety of the trees but didn’t make it. The dragon crashed into the ground, the wallop of contact, shaking the land. Liza dropped to her knees, her he
art beating almost out of her chest. Was the dragon dead?
Leo landed and shifted to his human form. “Gwenyth!” he shouted.
“I’m here,” she said, waving from behind a burning tree. “Is the dragon dead? I’ll circle to meet you.”
Leo scanned the clearing, his expression harsh and urgent. “Where’s Nan? Where did she go?”
“Dead,” Liza shouted. “I’ll come to you.”
Liza circled the burning trees and bushes. It took her longer than she’d thought to go around the fire. When she reached Leo, he was beating at the flames near him, and she helped, using her tunic to smother the flames until scorched earth and charred trees remained.
“Gwenyth,” Leo said, long strides bringing him to her side.
His arms wrapped around her. He smelled of sweat and smoke and soot covered his limbs. Despite this, Liza felt the same sense of safety she’d experienced each time Leo held her. A tiny grin started and widened.
Dragons were real. Who knew?
Liza pulled away so she could see Leo’s face. “My name is Elizabeth. My friends and family call me Liza.”
Leo froze, his expression going blank. “Your memory has returned?”
“It has.” Understanding his apprehension, she smiled and hugged him hard. “I still like you, Leo, and have much to tell you. My daughter is in danger. It’s imperative to keep her out of my ex-husband’s reach.”
“You’re married?”
“My husband and I separated when I was still in New Zealand, a country on the other side of the world. My husband learned my father is wealthy, and he wants his share of that money. He’s refusing to sign the divorce papers.”
“So we’re not married?” Leo said. “Because you already have a husband.”
“No, I consider myself divorced and free,” she said. “That’s not important. I have to get back to my daughter as soon as possible. We must discover how I got here so I can return to Joanna.”
19 – The Past Returns
“She’s on the mainland all alone?” Leo asked, horrified that he’d split up a mother and child, albeit unknowingly. “I’m not even certain crossing the barrier is possible again.”
Liza (Dragon Isles Book 1) Page 19