by T. J. Klune
Tiggy moved without question, taking three lumbering steps before reaching out and grabbing Justin, throwing the Prince over his shoulder. Justin squawked in anger as Tiggy turned back toward me.
Trees began to fall in the forest as I turned toward Ryan. “Babe,” I said, “you gotta ride my best friend.”
His eyes bulged. “Now is hardly the time for that, Sam. Or ever! What the hell are you even—”
“Gary,” I said quickly, “remember that time you allowed Ryan on your back because you were riding in all badass to save me at Kevin’s keep?”
“I did look amazing, didn’t I?” Gary said, stumbling forward as the ground split along the edges of the clearing. “Granted, I only allowed it because you were in danger. Everyone knows that’s normally racist as all hell to allow—”
“Gary, I have something to tell you.”
“Yes, Sam?”
“It’s not racist.”
“What? Of course it is.”
“Do we really have time to be talking about this now?” Ryan snapped.
“Do you trust me?” I asked Gary.
“Yes,” Gary said immediately.
“I need you to let Ryan ride you.”
His eyes narrowed. “Are you propositioning me? Because that’s not—”
“Why does everyone think that?” I growled. “No. I’m not propositioning you. I need you to get him the hell out of here. You and Tiggy don’t stop running until you can’t run anymore. Do you hear me? You run.”
“But—”
“Please,” I begged him. “You have to go.”
“What about me?” Kevin asked.
“You’re with me,” I said, looking up at him. “It may be big, but you’re gonna be faster. And if we take this to the sky, then we’ll have a chance. I need you to help me, Kevin. Can you do that?”
Kevin nodded without hesitating.
“What the hell are you planning?” Ryan growled at me, grabbing me by the shoulders and shaking me a little. My scars felt like they were on fire. “You’re going to do something stupid, aren’t you?”
“Hey! I resent that. I never do anything stupid.”
But his eyes were wide and wild, and his grip was biting. “Sam,” he said, voice hoarse. “I’m going with you.”
I leaned forward and kissed him fiercely. “That’s not how this works,” I mumbled against his lips as another roar echoed through the forest. “You gotta trust me, okay?”
“I trust you with my life,” he said, pressing his forehead against mine. “But I don’t trust you with your own.”
I ignored how much that hurt. I could deal with it later if I wasn’t being slowly digested in a large stomach. “Well, you gotta try,” I said, “because that’s what I need you to do. I need you to go.” I shoved my pack into his hands.
He took it but didn’t step back. “You don’t have to do this!”
I grinned rakishly at him. “Of course I do. I’m Sam of Wilds.”
“Don’t,” he begged. “Please, just wait. We’ll figure this—”
The forest floor lurched, knocking us apart. I landed on my back, staring up at the gray sky, rain falling on my face. It took a moment for my head to clear before I pushed myself up. I was near the edge of the creek, water splashing up and onto my hands. Ryan had fallen back toward the others. He was on his knees next to Gary and Tiggy. He started to rise, and I could see the determined set of his jaw. Once he was on his feet, he was going to come for me, like he always would.
Would he? the voice whispered. Would he always come for you? Humanity is such a strange thing to be afflicted with.
I looked toward the cliff edge.
Then back at Ryan.
Then toward the cliff again.
And decided to do the stupidest thing I’d ever done, regardless of what I’d just said to Ryan.
The problem with me having stupid ideas was that I tended to broadcast them on my face even before I spoke them aloud. Gary had said it was a manic expression, like I’d gone suddenly and unequivocally mad, and that it wasn’t very attractive on me. I’d glared at him. He’d licked my face.
So that must have been the look on my face when the idea hit me, and I could see Gary’s eyes widen, and Ryan shouted my name, but this was the only way. I had to get them to leave before it came.
“Kevin!” I bellowed. “Catch me!”
And without looking to make sure he’d heard, I ran along the creek as it started to break apart, toward the edge of the cliff. I had the forethought to send up a quick prayer to the gods that the drop was as far as I hoped it would be; otherwise Kevin wouldn’t be able to get to me in time. Either the fall would be short and I would die as soon as I hit the ground, or it’d be too short, and I’d land face-first in the mud and be really pissed off at myself.
I didn’t hesitate as I reached the edge of the cliff.
I jumped.
There was a brief moment when I hung suspended in the air, arms and legs cartwheeling, throat squeezing tightly as a scream rose through me, that I realized there was a reason people tried to plan ahead. It was to avoid moments exactly like this.
The drop was much, much bigger than I thought it would be.
In fact, I wouldn’t have been surprised if it was the biggest waterfall in all of Verania.
Birds flew below me.
Birds.
“Oh fuck,” I said weakly.
Then I started to fall.
Water splashed against my face as the wind roared in my ears. I started to gather my magic, sure I was going to die, trying to think of something, anything I could do to stop the inevitable death, all the while cursing myself for actually jumping off a fucking cliff to make sure my brave idiot of a boyfriend didn’t try to stand in front of me, all dashing and immaculate, while the biggest dragon in the world bore down upon us.
Ryan was right. I had stupid ideas.
It was not the best revelation to have while falling.
I had time for life to begin to flash before my eyes (and wasn’t that a disappointing thing to see, that I hadn’t done at least half of the sexual things I’d wanted to do to Ryan—why, oh why had I not thought to get one of those sex swings like Mama had at the Tilted Cross? It would have been glorious), and I thought lightning was beginning to arc from my fingertips to do what, I didn’t know, when there was a flash beside me, and claws circled around me, jerking me up upward, cutting off my manly screaming and knocking the breath from my chest.
“You idiot,” a voice snarled in my ear. “Ryan is going to murder you!”
I opened one eye first to make sure I hadn’t actually died. Instead I was being held in a gigantic fist, black wings spread wide and catching an updraft, dark eyes glittering dangerously at me.
“Dude,” I breathed. “That was awesome. I am a motherfucking genius. Hurray for not dying!”
“Yet,” Kevin snarked at me. “I’m pretty sure Ryan will take care of that for you once this is all over. I don’t think I’ve ever heard him make a noise like that before when you jumped. You’re lucky I was already coming after you.”
The adrenaline was still coursing through my veins, and I felt light-headed. “Yeah, but did you see how badass that was?” I demanded.
“So badass that you’ll probably not get laid for a year,” Kevin agreed. “Let me know if you’ll need some help with that.”
“They get out?” I asked, looking down, trying to see what I could. But we were stuck in some clouds, and they were wet against my face.
“Last I saw.”
“Good, now we just have to—”
There came a thunderous roar behind us.
“—not die,” I finished weakly. “Definitely not die.”
“That’s your plan?” Kevin screeched at me.
“It seemed like a good plan at the time!”
“We’re gonna die!
“Shut up and let me—”
We broke through the cloud that surrounded us, and the Dark Woods appeared belo
w. I jerked around in Kevin’s grip, trying to look in all directions at once. At first there was nothing but trees and rain and more trees, and I bent forward, trying to look behind us. There was nothing there, absolutely nothing, but it couldn’t be hidden. It was too big. It had to be somewhere and I—
Something caught my eye behind us.
I squinted at it.
There was Kevin’s underbelly, his back legs, his tail, the clouds, and it looked as if they were starting to glow strangely. It was soft at first, like a lantern in the dark. But then it grew brighter until it was bright and furious orange, and my eyes widened as I began to beat Kevin’s claws with my fist.
“Oh my gods,” I squeaked. “Up, up, go up. He’s right behind us, and he’s breathing fire!”
“Hold on!” Kevin shouted, spreading his wings as far as they could go. We hit an updraft and rocketed skyward, but not before the clouds behind us broke apart with a burst of flames that hurtled toward us. I lifted my legs as high as they could go, muscles burning as I pressed my feet to Kevin’s underside.
The fire missed us by a good distance, but the heat from it was excruciating, and I thought my clothes were going to catch and burn. Kevin’s tail got caught in the fire, and he cried out before whipping it up and away.
“You good?”
“Yeah,” he said through gritted teeth as we rose through the clouds. “It’ll be fine. Just remind me to scratch his fucking face off when I get the chance.”
“Yeah, I don’t know if that’s a good idea. It seems like it would just piss him off. And if he’s not mad now, I don’t want to see what would happen when he was. Can you set me on your back? I’d rather be on top.”
“Baby, you can top me anytime.”
“Not gonna happen,” I muttered as he lowered his head and lifted his arm above his neck. I clambered on top of him, sliding between the spikes along his neck until I found the sweet spot on his back that allowed him to move as he needed to without the threat of knocking me off. I settled down between the boney spikes, grabbing one and pulling myself forward. With Ryan and Tiggy behind me, it’d been a snug fit, the half-giant holding us both so we wouldn’t slip off. Since I was alone now, I wrapped both arms around the spike and held on tightly.
I craned my neck to look behind us, half-convinced he would be right there, jaws stretched wide, fire blooming, but there was nothing. I didn’t know if that was better or worse.
“Do you see him?” I shouted down at Kevin, blinking against the rain.
“No. And I’m completely fine with that.”
“Get as high as you can! We need to stay above him.”
“We’ll lose the clouds if we go too high!” he snapped back.
“Just do it.”
“Then you better hold on to something.”
“What? Why are you—oh my fucking gods, you dick!”
Instead of being like a normal fucking dragon and rising gradually, Kevin turned his face upward, his body shifting until it was almost perpendicular to the ground. I held on as tightly as I could, pressing my face against the back spike, trying not to slide off. I started to lift off Kevin, my legs sliding back, and I squeezed my eyes shut, almost biting my tongue clean in half as we rose through the rainstorm. If it went on much longer, my arms were going to be the only thing on Kevin, and they were already tiring.
And then we broke through into sweet, warm sunlight.
I gasped as Kevin leveled out.
I opened my eyes.
The sun was bright. The sky was blue above us. There was a curve to the horizon, and it felt like I could see forever.
“Holy shit,” I said, my voice carried by the wind. “This is—”
It was calm. It was peaceful. It was one of the most beautiful things I’d ever seen.
Below us was a storm that stretched out across Verania.
Everything felt still. Like we’d crossed from one world into another.
“Have you ever been this high before?” I called down to Kevin, breathless.
“Once or twice,” he said. “But not in a very long time.”
“It’s… amazing. I can see why you fly.”
“Usually it’s without the threat of death. Well, that was before I met you. Now it seems like the only reason I’m in the air is if something wants to eat me or if I’m getting wizards blowing their whizbangs and their sparklies at me.”
“Dude. That sucks. My bad.”
“Eh, worth it.”
I took a deep breath and leaned over as far as I dared, trying to see if I could find the dragon before he found us.
I had a dizzying sense of vertigo as I stared down below us. The cloud cover belied how high we were, but what I was seeing wasn’t exactly what my brain was telling me. I saw the clouds below. But in my head, I could see straight through them all the way to the ground below.
“Oh man.” I swallowed thickly. “If I throw up on you, I am so sorry.”
“If you do, I’m going to eat you myself,” he said, glaring back at me.
“Bullshit. You love me too much.”
“Try and see, wizard. Remember the truth corn lady? I left her feet behind. I’ll leave nothing of you behind but the memories.”
“That…. Okay, that was actually quite impressive. Well played. Any vomit I might have had is now firmly back in my stomach where it belongs.”
“Thank you for sharing.”
There was nothing below us. I was starting to get uneasy. I would have thought the Great White would follow us much more closely. Granted, if he was as big as I thought he was, he couldn’t move as fast as Kevin. He would be a lumbering thing, something we needed to use to our advantage.
First I had to find him. I didn’t like the idea of going back down into the clouds, but if we didn’t see him soon, we’d have to. I couldn’t run the risk of him ignoring us and going after the others.
For the next minute, I scanned the clouds below us.
And it was the longest minute of my life.
I heard no voices in my head.
Felt no pulse of something like I had with the others.
And I thought that it was because he was shielding himself. That when I’d felt him before, it was because he let me.
I was about to tell Kevin that we had to go back down when I saw it.
I didn’t know what it was at first. There was something poking up above the clouds, thick and white, offset from the gray storm. It looked to be as wide as Kevin’s neck, which Tiggy couldn’t wrap his arms all the way around, even at the thinnest part, much to the dragon’s glee.
I narrowed my eyes, trying to make sure I wasn’t seeing an illusion. But I saw the way it split the clouds, like a fin below the surface of the water. Or below a sea of sand, and I shuddered at the reminder of the horrors that had hidden below the desert. I was about to point it out to Kevin when the thick white something rose even higher.
It was a boney protrusion.
Attached to the end of a wing.
A wing that made even Kevin’s impressive span pale in comparison.
“Oh my gods,” I whispered.
The wing split the clouds as it rose through them. It took me a moment to figure out that the dragon below us was flying sideways, one wing pointed up toward the sky, the other hidden below us toward the ground. The wing continued to rise through the clouds, getting bigger and bigger, until I was sure it was the biggest thing in the world.
Kevin tensed as he caught sight of the wing below us, the spikes on his back rattling together until he twitched and straightened them out, body rigid, wings spread and coasting on the wind to avoid making any sound. He turned his body until we were heading the same direction as the Great White, trailing behind him enough that we could dive into the clouds if needed.
There was a shadow of a body now, through the clouds. If it wasn’t an illusion, then we were most likely fucked. Kevin had grown in the last year until he was the size of the largest house in the City of Lockes, something that he was q
uite proud of.
The dragon below us appeared to be bigger than the castle itself.
The wing began to fall toward the clouds as the dragon straightened himself out. For a moment I was sure he was going to dip back below the clouds, but then he seemed to level out, large white spikes rising up from the cloud surface, much larger than the ones on Kevin’s back. I saw the quick flash of a long tail, the tip of which broke through the clouds before disappearing underneath.
But what was most magnificent and utterly terrifying was the hard ridge that rose on the top of his head as he moved above the clouds, fanning out in a half-spherical protrusion. Sharp, pointed juts of bone stuck out from the top of the crown, gleaming brightly in the sunlight.
It was exactly as I’d seen in the vision, down to the last detail.
It’d been real.
All of it.
What Vadoma had shown me was real.
“That,” I breathed unnecessarily, “is a big motherfucking dragon.”
Kevin turned toward me, eyes wide. “Do you think we could just leave it alone and go home now? I mean, honestly. Does it really matter if the bad guys win? We could always just move. I’ve heard living in exile is all the rage right now. Also, I don’t like how inadequate I feel. I liked being the biggest thing in the world before this. Do you know what this does to my self-esteem? You know Gary has a size kink. What if he sees this fucker and we don’t get back together because I don’t measure up?”
“I really don’t think that’s something we should be worrying about right now,” I hissed at him. “In case you didn’t know, there is a fucking dragon five times your size right below you.”
“And it begins. Oh look, Kevin, that dragon is bigger than you. Oh look, Kevin, he’s so charming. Oh Kevin, I’m so sorry, but I have to stay late at the office tonight and don’t know when I’m going to be home!”
“He’s going to hear you!”
He rolled his eyes. “You know our hearing isn’t that good. I’d be worried about him smelling us before he hears us. And his nose is still down in the storm, so that’ll fuck with his sense of smell. Watch. Hey! Hey, you! Unicorn-husband-stealing motherfucker! Up here!”
“Oh my gods shut the fuck up!” I snarled at him, sure that we were about to die.