“Next step,” she said, “free the rest of the slaves.” She walked away from him, but not before he heard her mutter, “And get that dragon some pants.”
Though Talon felt a brief exultation at having the chain broken, another twinge of disappointment stirred in him, the realization that she definitely had no sexual interest in him.
It’s for the best, he told himself. All he knew of human mating was pain and misery. Why his libido was even charged up, he couldn’t fathom.
Soon, if Shaylinor kept her word, he would be able to shift back to his true form, to fly again, to feel the wind against his face. He would have his strength and his power back, and nobody would ever take advantage of him again. And he could forget all about the silliness of the human reproductive system.
He told himself these words, but that didn’t keep him from watching Shaylinor like a hawk as she strode through the slaves, expertly cleaving their chains with her sword.
Chapter 3
As the cold night air swept across the desert, raising gooseflesh on Zala’s arms, she forced herself to watch the dark route ahead of them instead of glancing back to check on the slaves. To check on one slave in particular.
She had instructed Talon to stay close to her, so she could keep an eye on him and also because the others knew what he was and were terrified of him. But his closeness stirred strange thoughts in her mind. She kept thinking of him standing there, making that deal with her, in all of his glorious nudity, his cock standing as erect and proud as the rest of him. He hadn’t seemed aware of it at all. She had struggled not to let her own awareness show. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t seen penises before, but his had been hard to ignore. Maybe because he had been gazing into her eyes as it stood tall, demanding attention. She could almost think the erection was for her, but that was a foolish thought. As if a dragon would want her. It was doubtlessly, as Vorkan had suggested, Talon’s pleased reaction to seeing his tormentor killed, nothing more. Besides, the idea of coupling with a dragon, a dragon that had killed thousands of her people, was appalling. Just because he was masquerading as a handsome human male did not make him one.
Still, she found herself extremely aware of Talon walking behind her. Any time they stopped, he seemed so close that she could feel the heat radiating from his naked body. They hadn’t been able to find any clothing for him or the other slaves.
Talon never touched her or looked at her in an inappropriate or suggestive way, but she couldn’t stop thinking about him. She wished Salena was at her side, so they might have talked, if only for a distraction, but Salena was walking at the rear of their strung-out group. Hundreds of slaves navigated the rocky, dusty terrain in the shadow of Mount Slash, and Zala was well aware that for a dragon flying overhead, they would be easy to spot, even without a moon out. The group had to remain vigilant and hope to reach their destination before dawn.
When Vorkan trotted toward her group, his form barely distinguishable from the boulder- and cactus-filled landscape around him, she let out a breath of relief, glad for a break.
“Did you find our contact?” Zala asked, keeping her words vague, aware of Talon standing behind her. She could have moved away from him, but there was nobody else to guard him. The beleaguered slaves had no weapons or even clothing or shoes. Talon might decide to run and search for a way to get out of that collar on his own. If she had freed him and gained nothing, merely letting a dragon warrior return to the skies to further torment her people, she would not forgive herself. She had to make sure he didn’t escape before delivering the information he had promised.
“No, ma’am,” Vorkan said. “I reached the meeting point, but he wasn’t there yet. Maybe it was because I was early. Nobody anticipated we—you—would deal with the overseer so quickly.”
“We,” Zala corrected him. She hadn’t been the only one to strike blows against that dragon. “We’ll press on then.”
“There’s more.” Vorkan looked behind them and up toward the star-filled sky. “I thought I saw a dark shape flying above the ridge back there, something blotting out the stars for a moment.”
“Something large?”
“Yes.” Vorkan frowned past her shoulder. “I don’t mean to question you, ma’am, but shouldn’t your prisoner be tied? He’s uncomfortably close to your back.”
“I’m aware of where he is.” Zala looked toward the shadow that was Talon. She couldn’t see his face or eyes in the dark—she almost expected them to glow violet to give away his dragon-ness—but somehow she knew that he wasn’t sending any menacing thoughts toward her. That was surprising, given the thorn she had been to the dragons over the past years, and maybe she was being naive. But even if he did intend her harm, he was unarmed, and she had a sword capable of decapitating a man as easily as cutting a piece of a string.
“Yes, ma’am,” Vorkan said, when it became clear she wasn’t going to dig out rope to tie him.
“There’s a canyon nearby, isn’t there?” Zala asked, picturing the map of this area, Lizard Salt Flats, in her head. Their people had rarely settled out here, since it was so dry on this side of the volcano, and only near the Salt River when they had, but the army had used the scrubby desert land for training grounds. She had been across it often, in the days before the dragons had come.
“Yes, ma’am. About a half mile to the south. It’s out of our way.”
“I know. We’ll divert and use it to hide.”
Even if Vorkan had been imagining things, and there wasn’t a dragon hunting for them, their refugees could use a rest. They had covered seven or eight miles since leaving the pits. It must have felt like an eternity for starved slaves without footwear.
“Have them follow me,” Zala said, “and get the word to Salena too.”
“Yes, ma’am.” The darkness hid Vorkan’s salute, but she sensed it, crisp and certain, before he jogged back and started quietly telling the slaves of their new route. He might object to how she was handling the dragon, but that wouldn’t keep him from doing his duty.
“This way,” Zala said, nodding at Talon and turning toward a dark cliff that rose in the distance.
The land was more open than the boulder-lined trail they had been following, but they had to watch for clumps of prickly pear and jumping cactus, pieces of which littered the earth. The spiny obstacles sank hooks into clothing or flesh that were difficult to remove. Curses and gasps of pain from behind told her when someone brushed against one—or worse, stepped on one. Her sturdy boots and trousers protected her for the most part, but her heart went out to the slaves, and she set a slow pace so they had time to measure their steps carefully.
“He’s right,” Talon said, speaking for the first time since they had left the pit. “I saw him too.”
“Him?” Zala followed his gaze toward the sky back in the direction of the pit. “A dragon?”
“Yes. Females rarely deal with military matters, so it is likely a male.”
As Zala watched the stars, she glimpsed what the others had seen, a dark silhouette against the night sky, wings outstretched. Though the shape flew some distance behind them, she could tell it was too large to be a raptor or any other natural creature. Her hand dropped to the hilt of her sword, but she did not draw it. The light of the magical blade would be a beacon in the dark desert. There was a reason she was leading these people along without torches or lanterns.
She stood in place, torn between not wanting to let Talon out of her sight and wanting to race back to where she could protect the refugees if the dragon attacked. When the dragon attacked. Chances were, it wouldn’t go straight for her or Salena; instead, it would strike the helpless slaves in the middle of the line. With people strung out over a quarter mile or more, it would be able to swoop in and out before Zala could reach it and fight back. She had to get everyone closer together and hurry them to the canyon.
“His eyes will be keen,” Talon said. “Even at night. And he’ll be in range to smell us soon.”
His voluntee
ring of information surprised her, but it wasn’t anything she did not already know. Was he trying to win her trust? As if that would happen.
“Stay here,” Zala told Talon. She almost added a threat, but if she was overbearing, he would only want to escape more. For now, she would hope that he, too, feared the approach of a dragon. It might kill him as easily as the human refugees.
“I know where the canyon is,” Talon said as she started to head back. “I’ve flown over this terrain often. I can lead them.”
“Just stay here.” She didn’t have time to question him on why he would want to help. “I’m rounding everyone up.”
She ran back, whispering directions to the canyon to the refugees and urging them to hurry, that far worse than cactus needles awaited them if they didn’t reach it before the dragon found them. They did not need the urging. At the word “dragon,” their walks turned into sprints. The word spread down the line, and soon the entire group was racing for the base of the cliff.
Salena and Vorkan caught up to Zala, and they ran along at the rear of the group, twigs and brittle cactus pads crunching underfoot. A sturdy spine sank through the sole of one of Zala’s boots, and she winced as it prodded the bottom of her foot, but she did not slow down. Judging by the gasps coming from ahead, others were finding needles, too, their feet not protected at all. They tried to muffle their utterances of pain.
Soon, the group made it to the cliff and turned to run along it, searching for the opening into the canyon, a difficult feat when shadows smothered the rocky wall.
“He’s getting closer,” Vorkan whispered.
“I think he knows where we are,” Salena said, her hand on the hilt of her sheathed sword as she ran.
“He can smell us,” Zala said. “Maybe see us.”
To her relief, the refugees veered into a gap to their left. The canyon. The dragon could still attack them, but it would have a harder time swooping down on them from above with the steep walls protecting them to the sides. Her people could hide under ledges and outcroppings. Zala would stand in the center of the canyon, inviting the dragon toward her. If he wanted a fight, he could have one with her.
Rocks clattered and shifted as people raced along the dry creek bed in the center. Without orders, they scattered and found hiding spots.
“Keep an eye on them, you two,” Zala said. “Don’t let them run too far, but make sure they’re not exposed to the sky.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Vorkan said, but her lieutenant objected. “Where are you going, General?”
“To face the dragon, if that’s what he wants.” Zala drew her sword, no longer worrying about the gray light. She had just glimpsed the winged figure sailing past the mouth of the canyon. There was no doubt that he knew where they were.
“I can help,” Salena said.
“If he attacks, then I hope you’ll do just that. But for now, make sure everyone is hidden as much as possible.” Zala strode into the center of the canyon and stood in a dry creek bed, her sword hanging at her side, its grayish light illuminating boulders, manzanita, and prickly pear around her. A few twisted juniper trees rose farther up the canyon, but here, her view of the sky was unbroken, except by the canyon walls.
The dragon sailed overhead, coasting with his wings outstretched. He soon disappeared from view, but not before a pair of glowing red eyes peered into the canyon, staring at her. Even though Zala had not been hiding, her gut still gave a queasy lurch as that gaze raked her. The eyes of dragons always made humans uncomfortable because of their intensity and the promise of power that came with those flashes of inner light.
A rock shifted, and a dark figure stepped out of the shadows to join her. At first, she thought it was Vorkan, coming to help with his bow, but the light of her sword played over bare, muscular legs.
That answered her question as to whether Talon would use this opportunity to escape.
“You should hide too,” Zala said, returning her attention to the sky.
“Most likely,” Talon said, a hint of humor in his voice. It was the first time she had heard that, and it surprised her. “I wish to try to identify him.”
“To what end?” Zala would kill whoever swept out of the sky to attack them, even if it was the self-proclaimed dragon king.
“The satisfaction of curiosity.”
She regarded him out of the corner of her eye. “One of your kind locked you in that slave pit. Are there others who would help you if they found you out here?”
He shifted his gaze from the sky to her, but he did not answer.
Yes, she wagered she had guessed right. If a helpful dragon rescued him, he wouldn’t have to rely on her to free him, and he wouldn’t have to give up any intel.
“Just don’t get any ideas about hindering me.” Zala shifted so that her sword arm—and her sword—hung between them.
Again, he kept his thoughts to himself. All he did was look at her with that unwavering and unsettling gaze of his. She noted it and kept him in her peripheral vision, but turned most of her attention back to the sky.
The dragon sailed past again, this time heading the other direction.
It crossed her mind to shout up a challenge, to draw him down for a battle. As far as she had seen, there was only one dragon out there. She and Salena and Vorkan might handle another lone one. But if he called even one other to join him, the odds turned drastically against them.
“Is he waiting for help to come?” she asked aloud, the question mostly for herself. She did not expect Talon to give her any intelligence, not if he was hoping for a rescue.
“Perhaps,” Talon said. “He may simply be wary. If he’s seen Scarkoft’s body, then he knows what you can do, and this canyon wouldn’t be the ideal place for him to fight.”
“Do you recognize him?” Zala asked.
“No. My eyes are pathetic in this form.”
Zala snorted. “Welcome to being human.”
“If my collar were removed, I would have more of my usual capabilities, even in another form.”
“Sounds like a good reason for us to keep it on you.” She kept her eye on him, thinking her honesty might irk him.
Instead, he snorted, sounding vaguely amused.
“I can’t—” Talon broke off with a gasp and bent double.
At first, Zala thought one of those cactuses had dug into his bare flesh, but he hadn’t been moving. No, this was something else.
“What is it?” she whispered, stepping closer to him as she scanned the sky again.
The dragon coasted into view once more. This time, instead of flying over the canyon, he alighted on the rim. He crouched there, like a statue of the air god peering down from the roof of a temple, looking at Zala. Or maybe the dragon was looking at Talon? His red eyes glowed steadily, his gaze as piercing as an arrow.
Talon fell to his knees, grabbing his head with his hands. His body promised that he was in pain, but he did not gasp again. He growled, sounding more furious than anything else. His hand wrapped around a rock, and he forced his head up, meeting the dragon’s gaze across the hundred meters between them. He hurled the rock, but his tormenter perched high atop the cliff, and the projectile merely bounced off the canyon wall with a clatter.
Zala knew that some dragons had the ability to send mental attacks, but she had thought it was the females rather than the males. It hardly mattered. For whatever reason, this one was attacking Talon.
“Want me to shoot, ma’am?” Vorkan called from farther up the creek.
Though Talon wasn’t making a noise, his proud features were contorted with pain. A dark trickle of blood slipped out of one nostril, and with a start, Zala realized she might lose her prisoner to this attack.
“No,” she said. “I’m going up there.”
She glared at the dragon as she raced through the brush and around boulders, hardly caring if the creature knew she was coming. There were trails that led up the walls of the canyon, but she did not know if she could find them in the dark. She would
have to climb.
But she had no sooner reached the base than the dragon leaped from his perch. His wings flattened against his side, and he arrowed down toward the prone Talon.
Cursing, Zala ran back toward him, branches and thorns ripping at her clothing. Talon tried to rise to his feet, to scramble away, but he wasn’t going to be able to escape, and she would get there too late. Though she feared it utter foolishness, Zala leaped onto a boulder and hurled her sword.
It spun through the air like a throwing axe, flying end over end, light flashing. Luck favored her, and her timing was better than she could have hoped. The tip of the blade struck the dragon in the right shoulder as he plummeted toward Talon, his claws outstretched to capture him—or shred him to pieces.
The sword strike wasn’t a killing blow—it probably did little more than bite into the dragon’s shoulder a couple of inches—but the pain must have surprised him. Instead of striking his target like a graceful bird of prey, he struck the ground. Dust and rock flew as he tumbled and skidded to a stop.
Zala leaped from her boulder, her eyes locked onto the spot where her sword had landed. She had to get to it, both because she was powerless against the dragon without it and because losing it, having her enemy steal it, would be a great blow to her and to her army.
She practically dove through the dust to reach it, but the dragon did not even turn toward her. As soon as he found his feet, he leaped into the air. Vorkan’s arrows followed him, but their foe was already flapping his wings, fleeing the canyon.
With her blade comfortably in hand again, Zala rolled to her feet. She exhaled with relief and walked toward Talon. She did not think he had been clawed or crushed, but she worried until he crawled out from between two bushes, his face scraped in several places and drops of blood spattered on his chest.
He slumped there on all fours instead of standing up. “Human bodies are so fragile,” he muttered, looking down at himself.
Dragon Bond Page 4