Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 44553 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 223(@200wpm)___ 178(@250wpm)___ 149(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44553 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 223(@200wpm)___ 178(@250wpm)___ 149(@300wpm)
Ten minutes later, she froze and then flattened herself to the ground. Aurora, Ciel, and Lalani slid to the ground when she motioned them down with a slight movement of her head. Slate! Skye! I can see Drake collapsed on the ground. I can see him breathing, but he’s not moving. There are men and supplies with him. She mentally sent a location marker to them.
Slate responded with his own location. He was to her right and circling the target from the other side.
Be safe. Do not do anything heroic, Rimi sent him.
She was surprised to discover that an eye roll could be expressed mentally. Rimi shifted soundlessly. Leaning to the side, she pressed her mouth to Aurora’s ear and whispered, “I see Drake. Do not move. He’s unconscious before us but breathing. I do not see the others. I’m going to sneak closer to see if I can find out what’s happening and check on Drake.”
Rimi waited as Aurora shared the message with Ciel and then Ciel with Lalani in a risky relay. Every hint of sound was a chance to be discovered, even at this distance. She signaled for the women to scatter to the left and she shifted back to her dragon. Pulling the elements of nature around her, Rimi faded from their view. Rimi heard Ciel gasp before covering her mouth to muffle the slight sound. Aurora reached out a hand and pressed it against her scales. She mouthed, Wow!
Rimi would have a lot of questions to answer—later. For now, she needed to get close enough to come up with a plan. The women faded away, following her request, as Rimi crept closer. A dragon moving stealthily seemed unimaginable, but Rimi had mastered the art of sneaking away over her long life.
She stopped a safe distance from Drake. A scattering of powder dulled his gold scales. It littered the ground behind him in an arc, attesting to a heavy impact. That actually pleased Rimi. The more knocked off his scales signaled a better chance he would wake up.
Three men scrutinized Drake. The large axes in their hands revealed the reason for their presence. She sent a warning to Slate and Skye for the group to be vigilant.
“How long do you think it will be until they attack?” a rough male voice asked.
“It depends. That small dragon may not have gotten back. You doused him well. He’s probably dead a mile away.”
The first man laughed, making Rimi’s blood boil. “With luck. A dead dragon is a good dragon.” She steeled herself to remain in place. Slate was fine.
“They might send out scouts when they’re not home in a day or two. That is, if they can find them.”
“Wait. I thought we wanted them to come here,” a high, reedy male voice asked.
“That would be easiest for us. We can take them all out with one fell swoop. But if not, we’ll kill these while they battle to escape the craziness in their minds.”
Rimi hated whoever that voice belonged to. He had to be the one in charge. Whatever had poisoned him against dragons?
“Sir Evan, I don’t understand why these dragons are still alive. A bit more powder will end them,” a shaky voice pointed out.
“I will keep that in mind, Chemist. These dragons are now bait. We will draw in the others to eliminate this horde. Then we go raid their holdings. Imagine the amount of money the dragons have collected over the years.”
The guy in charge’s voice again. He must be Evan, Rimi decided.
“Money is not important! They’re vile, vile creatures. We must smite them from existence on the earth. Only then will the world return to its previous form.” The man called the chemist’s voice rose in volume like an old-fashioned brimstone and hellfire preacher.
Rimi steeled herself from shaking her head. They might see the movement. The chemist sounded like a zealot. He was the one the horde had run into over and over. She now knew what they were against—a brilliant mind capable of creating a substance that could end such powerful creatures. Unfortunately, his mind was twisted against dragons.
“If you gave us the formula for the dust, we could smite more dragons,” Evan suggested.
“Never. Only I am the justice bringer,” the old man yelled, shaking his fist at the others. “You are only my army of vengeance.”
“Right. We foot soldiers will hang out here together,” Evan said. As he turned away, Rimi could see his face had turned red with what she guessed was anger.
She edged forward slightly to hear what Evan said to the other men. The chemist turned his head toward her and Rimi froze. Thank goodness for the clouds in the sky that kept her shadow from revealing her presence. He would see her move past landmarks so she couldn’t move. She forced herself to focus on counting the number of men gathered, instead of panicking that he could see her.