Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 137226 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 686(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137226 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 686(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
The heavy thwump-thwump of wings comes from behind us. They sound heavier than an elderdrage…
“Lie down flat, quickly,” Andor commands, and the two of us drop down to the ground, Lemi copying us, just as the light seems to be eclipsed, a dark dragon-shaped shadow passing over us.
I don’t dare move, don’t dare look up.
It’s a deathdrage.
The largest and most formidable dragon to have ever existed, one that I have only seen from far away.
And right now, it’s flying over us.
Sand and dust get churned up as its massive wings beat overhead, and I hold my breath, praying it doesn’t see us here. It’s too late for Andor to pull out his camouflaging blanket, so we’re sitting ducks.
“Fuck,” I whisper, unable to keep the awe from my voice.
It’s so beautiful.
And unbelievably terrifying. The wingspan alone seems to take up the entire valley, its head the size of a horse-drawn carriage, moving back and forth as it spans the land.
“Watch for the tail!” Andor cries out, and before I can act, he’s reaching for me and pulling me over to him, then rolling us over just as the heavy, whiplike end of the deathdrage’s tail slams into the ground. Lemi shifts just in time and I feel him appear behind us, safely.
“That was close,” Andor says into my ear. He’s on top of me, his arms holding me in a tight embrace.
I nod, the wind slightly knocked out of me, momentarily enjoying the feeling of his weight on top of mine. He’s holding back a little and if he totally relaxed, I’m pretty sure he would crush me.
He pulls back and stares down at me, our noses brushing against each other, our breathing labored, and I feel myself pulled into the depths of his eyes, noticing the way black and brown lines seem to radiate outward into the amber, like the rays of a black sun.
Is he going to kiss me? The thought flits across my mind.
It scares me.
Because I think I might want him to.
Then he looks away, in the direction of the dragon’s flight, breaking the spell.
And thank the gods, because the last thing I need to be thinking about right now is the fullness of Andor’s lips. I need to be thinking about the gigantic dragon that just flew overhead, nearly taking us out with his tail, and the fact that we can’t do anything until that dragon moves on. It’s a death wish otherwise.
“Shit,” Andor says quietly, and I follow his gaze. The deathdrage is heading right for the nests. “We might have competition.”
The both of us watch as it lets out a roar and the blooddrages that were sitting on their nests suddenly take flight, looking incredibly tiny compared to the beast. One of them isn’t so lucky and the deathdrage snaps it up in its jaws, its throat bobbing as it swallows it in one go.
The deathdrage lets out another loud roar and for a moment I fear that it might turn and come back around, potentially spotting us this time. But it flies on forward with great beats of its wings until it gets smaller and smaller.
We stay motionless, watching until the dragon disappears from our sight, swallowed up by the dark haze.
“We need to move fast,” he says, looking back down at me. His gaze flits over my face, focusing on my lips for a moment, his nostrils flaring. Then he suddenly pushes himself off me and gets to his feet in one smooth motion, pulling me up along with him. “The blooddrages are gone from the nests. Who knows how much time we have before they return.”
He starts running toward them, his bow and arrow out, and I follow, Lemi loping beside us. The nests are all wide open and I’m not sure where the bloodsuckers would have flown to, but I don’t think they would have gone far.
We approach the first nest, just a bunch of dried twigs and seaweed that’s been lined along the bottom of one of the cracks in the ground. This batch has five eggs lined up in a row, their shells gleaming in green and purple iridescence.
“Take those,” he says, running ahead to the next nest. “Might as well take advantage of the peace,” he adds over his shoulder.
I don’t have a suen extractor like he does, but blooddrage eggs are about the size of a chicken egg. I grab the ones I see, slipping them into my pouch while scanning the horizon for new intruders. My pain seems to have taken a back seat at the moment, the adrenaline making it dull while the rest of my senses are on full alert.
But perhaps the resin has dulled things more than I thought because suddenly Lemi barks just as I’m putting the last egg in, and two blooddrages appear from over the top of the cave cliffs.