Nath clenched his fists and backed away.
Selene’s face snaked down towards his. He could count the long lashes on her eyes.
“How did you do that?” he demanded.
“You are such a fool, Nath! You hold back. Are you a man wanting to be a dragon or a dragon wanting to be a man? I think the later, and that is truly sad.” She head butted him with her curled horns.
Whack!
He stumbled to the ground, seeing stars and reeling.
“Pathetic, Nath Dragon,” she said, shifting side to side, “and that is why you must die.” Her tail came up, and down it went.
Wham! Wham! Wham! Wham! Wham!
Confused and stunned, pain lancing through his body, he tried to figure out what was going on. He rose.
Her claws ripped across his chest, drawing blood.
He cried out.
“Scream all you want, but no one will come to your aid!”
Nath shuffled side to side. His gold eyes were fixed upward, to where she towered over him several feet, sitting back on her haunches as her tail slithered like a great snake in the grass. He became angry. Jealous. How could she turn into a dragon and not he?
She spit gobs of green fire at him.
He jumped out of the way.
“Come on! Fight me, Human!”
There was nowhere to run. No blade for his hand. No friends to come to his aid. He clenched his teeth and rushed in, swinging for her nose.
Her neck slid away. She laughed.
“Pathetic.” She batted her eyes and stuck her chin out. “Care to try again?”
He swung.
She dodged. He’d never seen a big thing move so swiftly.
She swatted her paw at him.
He ducked under.
She slapped him head over heels with the other paw.
He crawled through the grass and started rising to his feet.
She pounced right on top of his back, crushing him into the ground.
“Are you a man? Or are you a dragon?” she said, shoving him down harder. “Are you a man? Or are you a dragon?”
He couldn’t speak with his face pushed into the ground. He strained to push up. No avail. He grunted.
“WHAT DO YOU SAY?” she roared, lifting a paw off of him. “YOU ALWAYS HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY. WHAT HAVE YOU GOT TO SAY FOR YOURSELF NOW?”
He rolled onto his back, sucked in his breath, and shot flames from his mouth.
Selene leapt into the air, wings beating, and soared into the sky, making a great wide circle.
Gasping for breath, Nath watched with envy. It seemed every dragon could fly but him.
She flew higher and higher, turned, and dove downward straight for him.
He set his feet and gulped a lungful of air.
So be it!
She closed in.
A geyser of flame shot from his mouth.
Selene the dragon plucked him from the ground. Her talons dug deep into his shoulders. High into the air she soared, and flung him across the sky.
Spinning head over heels, he crashed into the earth.
It went on like this: once, twice, three more times. Nath struggled to his feet every time, shrugging off the searing pain that wracked his body.
“WHY WON’T YOU DIE?” Selene roared. “TELL ME, NATH! WHY WON’T YOU DIE?”
Blood seeped over his scaly chest and dripped onto the grass as he staggered through the meadow. His paws were numb. His mouth was dry. Painful bright spots leapt in his head. He teetered face-first into the ground, bewildered.
CHAPTER 34
Selene the dragon loomed over him. Her shadow covered him in a cloak of death.
“Pitiful dragon,” she said, spitting green fire, “Just pitiful.”
Swollen, bloody, and with a mind full of mud, Nath fought his way back to his feet and faced off with her, swaying.
“You are no dragon,” she said. “You are a disgrace. You are a little worm. Nath Worm.”
Her words stung. If he had Fang, he’d ram him through her chest. Instead, she played with him as a cat toys with a mouse. He’d be angrier if he had more energy.
“Are you tired, Nath Worm?” she said, sliding her head from side to side. “Tired, and you haven’t even put up a fight yet?” She flicked him in the chest with her claws, knocking him back down. “Crawl into the ground and sleep with your brethren, O’ Worm Prince.”
He put his fist to the ground and rose again. His mind began thinking.
I should be dead, yet I live.
“I’m a dragon,” he said.
Selene stuck her face in his and said, “No, I am a dragon. You are a scaly worm.”
Nath struck her in the nose.
Whack!
She reeled back.
“YOU DARE!” Her chest expanded and glowed.
Something ignited in Nath. A deeper furnace now burned within. His mind triggered a mystery, and his thoughts shouted.
I’m a Dragon. I’m a Dragon. I’m a Dragon!
Swat!
Selene slapped him across the grass and dropped her foot down on his chest. She glared down at him and said, “I’m going to rip you apart.”
Nath shot her a fierce grin and said, “No, you are not!” I’m a Dragon! He slammed his fists into the ground. Shot fire from his mouth.
Selene recoiled back, dodging the flames. Nath bounced up to his feet. I’m a Dragon, the same as she!
Selene shot another blast of green fire at him.
Nath blasted his own, bright red.
Fires collided, gushing flames from both mouths. A great plume of blue fire erupted between them.
I’m the Dragon!
Nath kept breathing. With every passing second, he felt bigger and stronger. His limbs stretched. His head rose taller. The flames kept gushing out.
Selene smiled on the other side of the flames. She extinguished her fires and jumped away.
Nath cut his own flames out and stared down at the charred circle of grass. It seemed so far down. Everything seemed smaller. Even Selene. She prowled over the grass with her neck hanging low. Her dragon eyes were wary. She hissed. Her tongue flicked out of her mouth.
Something swooshed over the ground behind him. He jerked his neck around. A great tail and wings lurked behind him.
“Gah!” he said, leaping and landing hard on the ground.
Whump!
He circled in the grass, chasing after the tail. His neck stretched behind the wings. Oh my! He stopped. Focused. Beat his wings. His own wings! Oh my! A great thrill shot through him. He eyed Selene.
“Worms can’t fly, but dragons can,” she said, “Fly, Dragon. Fly.”
He stretched his wings out. Grand and beautiful they were. Their thin dragon skin glowed in the setting sun. He flapped them, whump, whump, whump, and took off running.
Nath’s talons lifted from the ground.
He soared over the fields and up toward the mountains.
Zoom!
No words could describe it. There was peace. There was power. The wind lifting him higher and higher. He could see everything for miles and miles. Towns, farms, animals, people. He caught it all. He cut through the clouds. Looped. Barrel rolled. Blasted through flocks of birds. He spied a lake of crystal clear water and glided for it, half landing, half crashing into the ground. He shook it off, strolling his great form into the waters and staring at his reflection.
The water settled, and his image became clear.
Great horns crowned his head. His eyes were living gold. The scales over his face revealed only a shade of the man he once saw in the mirror. Black scales traced in white coated his entire mammoth body.
Nath knew this much: he was all dragon.
Whump!
He turned.
Selene landed in the grass by the lake, and he said, “You meant for this?”
“I did,” she said. “You had buried deep inside you what should have come out long ago.”
“That’s why you had Kryzak try to kill
me? Wanting this outcome?”
“That was one step.”
“And this was step two, you trying to kill me as well?”
“No,” she said, “I was merely trying to beat you into turning dragon. You, however, seemed determined to die. Good thing you’re tougher than you look. I had started to worry.”
Nath waded back out of the waters, drew closer to Selene, and slashed his tail across her face.
She gasped.
“Why did you—”
His gold eyes narrowed.
“Don’t you ever call me a worm again.”
EPILOGUE
Samaz’s eyes popped open. In the dungeon cell across from him, his mother and brother slept. He sighed and swallowed, mopping the sweat from his brow. The dream that woke him had been fierce. Terrible. Horror unleashed in the land.
He ran his fingers over the cold metal bars of the cell, thinking, Perhaps it’s safer within than beyond.
***
Bayzog and Ben watched a flock of dragons streak across the sky, zipping over the rooftops of Quintuklen. Their visits had been more frequent.
“That’s not a good sign, is it?” Ben said, squinting his eyes. “Even I can feel it.”
“So can I,” Bayzog said, “so can I.”
The pair took a seat on a bench in the city’s grand garden. They’d spent much time there of late. An investigation of sorts. Bayzog was tired of waiting on word about his wife and sons. He had to take action. He had to outsmart their enemies.
He slid his hand inside his robes and rubbed the jaxite stones. During his studies, an idea had blossomed. He was learning how to harness their power.
I will find you, Sasha. I will find you soon.
***
Brenwar sat inside the walls of Morgdon on a chair carved from stone, staring into the night sky. War Hammer rested on his lap. Home among thousands of his brethren, he’d never felt more out of place. He needed to be with Nath Dragon. Nath Dragon needed to be with him.
About the Author
Craig Halloran resides with his family outside his hometown of Charleston, West Virginia. When he isn’t entertaining mankind, he is seeking adventure, working out, or watching sports. To learn more about him, go to: www.thedarkslayer.com
The Darkslayer Series 1
Wrath of the Royals (Book 1)
Blades in the Night (Book 2)
Underling Revenge (Book 3)
Danger and the Druid (Book 4)
Outrage in the Outlands (Book 5)
Chaos at the Castle (Book 6)
The Darkslayer Series 2
Bish and Bone (Book 1)
Black Blood (Book 2)
Red Death (Book 3)
The Chronicles of Dragon Series
The Hero, The Sword and The dragons (Book 1)
Dragon Bones and Tombstones (Book 2)
Terror at the Temple (Book 3)
Clutch of the Cleric (Book 4)
Hunt for the Hero (Book 5)
Siege at the Settlements (Book 6)
Strife in the Sky (Book 7)
Zombie Impact Series
Zombie Day Care: Book 1
Zombie Rehab: Book 2
Zombie Warfare: Book 3
You can learn more about The Darkslayer and my other books at:
Facebook – The Darkslayer Report by Craig
Twitter – Craig Halloran
Table of Contents
Fight and the Fury
The Chronicles of DragonBook 8Fight
The Chronicles of DragonBook 8Fight
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2Running
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12“Well,
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17The
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20A
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29“
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
CHAPTER 32
CHAPTER 33
CHAPTER 34Selene
EPILOGUE
About the Author
Fight And The Fury (Book 8) Page 14