Hunter

by Joanna White

  Fire burned bright, sending to my nose the smell of ash. In the distant forest beyond the wolves, I saw dark, raging colors of death and heat. I swung powerful wings, speeding my descent. The presence of others from my clan was strong. Over the treetops, there were three dragons; large, potent creatures using their fire to burn a village until there was nothing left but ash. They were all fire dragons, their scales as red as the flame that came from their breath. Sirath, our clan’s Alpha, lit hut after hut ablaze, the reflections of the fearful humans visible inside his eyes.

  I narrowed eyes at him and stood firm while watching; I would not do as they did. My wings folded inward as the chaos and terror rained in the air around me. As my vision followed Sirath, heat bubbled inside, as did anger. Feelings such as those toward him were unacceptable by any in our clan; he was Alpha; it was his right. Though, I disagreed.

  Perhaps he had the right to be Alpha, but not to murder innocents. He believed the humans to be weak creatures, undeserving of this land. Nearly a decade he had been slaughtering them and it began to appear never-ending.

  “Watch them burn. S’aa-fah’t.” Sirath’s voice spoke in our minds as one; it was how we communicated in our dragon forms.

  My wings extended as my mind wanted nothing more but to return to the sky. Sirath sensed my restlessness and I felt the weight of the Alpha’s gaze. I returned his gaze with one of my own. I was the only one who had the power to do it, due to my father’s bloodline inside me.

  “S’aa-mi’r, Beroan. Immediately!” His voice was pure command; ordering me to burn them, as did the other fire dragons around me. My tail twitched at the force of the command, but my gaze held steady against his. I would not back down.

  One of the humans, a young woman, hid under debris, unknowing that her smell flared in our noses of sweat and tears. We all knew she was there. Sirath’s eyes were wild with glee in anticipation. He swung his tail around, whipping it across a nearby hut, shattering the wood to splinters. He roared, piercing and violent, into the air. My body hunched as he whipped his tail again to move the debris. He grabbed the woman in his mouth and threw her into the air. He reached his neck upwards and caught her in his jaws, tossing her body back-and-forth; just a tattered rag that meant nothing.

  We could all sense that life had fled her body. He ate her greedily, and when done, met my eyes with his raging gaze. I growled, deep in my throat—a low sound—and stayed in a defensive position.

  “You are a shame to the clan. Leave my sight.” Sirath turned from me, back to his murderous play.

  I stared at him, snarling for another minute, before pushing off with my legs and taking off into the air once more.

  For more information on Joanna White, Hunter, or The Valiant Series, please visit her website at: www.authorjoannawhite.com

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