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No. He swallowed. Something watched them. He could feel its gaze on him, could sense the warning of it in the pulses of magic that drifted up from the earth and into his very soul. They weren’t alone.
“We need to keep moving. I don’t think it’s gone.” Remis rounded the group and put a hand on Percy’s back. “We need to run aga—”
Something cracked like lightning behind them. A torrent of branches began to break and rain down upon them as something crashed through the treetops. Remis caught the wicked glint of talons, the stretch of leathery wings, and glowing yellow eyes as the dragonis swooped above them, thundering out an echoing roar.
“RUN NOW!” Remis yelled against the might of its cry. Spittle rained down on them, a lashing of hot wet droplets and a torrent of wind as its body soared near enough to ruffle their hair.
Percy nearly tumbled over his own feet as Remis shoved him forward, only righting himself as Merritt took hold of his arm once more. Remis saw the dragonis in fleeting glances. He funneled all of his strength into moving as fast as he could go while making sure they didn’t lose Percy, who held onto his book with white knuckles.
The creature disappeared into the night, breaking through the canopy. More bits of bark and broken branches cascaded down around them, making the already beaten path much worse. Merritt stumbled once, grunted, and pulled Percy forward while Remis pushed him from the back. They’d all make it to the nearing city's edge together or they simply wouldn’t make it all.
Those looming lights were a fraction closer, just a tad bit brighter and larger than they were moments before. Safety was a mile away, taunting them.
Another rumbling cry from the dragonis came from their right. Remis snapped his head to the side searching over the trees. Wind pulsed with the pump of the animal’s wings as it hovered above the woods. Smoke puffed from its nostrils and when it opened its mouth to reveal razor-sharp teeth, Remis caught sight of an orange light building in its throat. He’d hardly opened his mouth to warn his friends before a terrible heat was upon them.
Remis hissed and threw all his weight into his friends, launching them forward. Fire licked at his back. Despite the way his body curved forward, arching away, he could feel it scorching his skin. He screamed through tightly clenched teeth. When the heat faded, flames ate away at his cloak and he ripped at the buttons that secured it to his shoulders and flung the fabric off of him.
The dragon was playing with them, never getting quite close enough to snatch them up, but near enough to ignite their fear. He wondered, fleetingly, if the rush of adrenaline and terror somehow would make their bodies that much tastier when the dragonis finally decided to end the game.
Olden was waiting for them at the end of the road. They could see their goal clearly now as the last of the trees began to fade away at their sides.
We’re going to make it. We’re here.
They were all yelling now, screaming into the night, and waving frantically to warn the watch of what was coming, of what terrible beast was on their tail. Remis’ gaze bounced along the edge of the city. A flame cannon was poised next to the road aimlessly pointed toward the sky. Beyond that were a few dilapidated buildings and the start of the cobblestone roads. Not a single man or woman came to their call. Not even the ghosts or shadows stirred where the guard ought to be.
There were no watchmen at the city's edge. No person to man the gun. No one to save them.
Shit, Remis thought as the clouds parted and moonlight poured down on them.
The dragonis’ shadow darkened their flailing forms. It grew as they ran the last few yards until they could feel the monster at their backs once more. There was nothing else to protect Remis if the animal would so choose to send its flames upon them again.
He told himself not to, scolded himself for even having the desperate want in the back of his head, but Remis looked over his shoulder. The long neck of the beast was stretched, reaching toward them, its eyes wide and watching with their sickening gold depths. It blinked with its inner eyelid and then again with the outer. The scent of smoke on its breath made the air smell bitter like singed hair. Two arms and two legs in total, each ending in inches of sharp claws. The nails clicked against each other as its hand-like appendage contracted and opened in anticipation. Its ashy scales rippled as it locked eyes with Remis. He surged forward, pushing Percy with renewed determination.
Pain tore through Remis' shoulder, a black talon emerging inches under his collarbone. Red bloomed around the claw, staining his white shirt as three more talons clutched his shoulder. A cry of desperation ripped out of his throat, achy and raw. His pursuit of safety was suddenly halted by the dragonis’ grip. He clawed at the hand that held him only to be lifted from the ground.
“Remis!” Merritt yelled watching in horror as Remis was pulled upward several yards.
Remis kicked his feet but the pain in his shoulder was a tearing one and his vision began to darken on the edges. There was a lightness to his head and his stomach was already twisting tight to release its contents. He gripped the animal’s leg, digging into it with his own well-filed nails, only to find that no matter the pressure he couldn’t pierce its scales.
“Watch out!” It was Percy who yelled this time.
Though Remis tried his best to watch for the snap of the dragonis’ teeth, he let his gaze scan the skies briefly before he realized the threat Percy was referring to was coming from the ground. Fire roared to life at the end of the mage-made cannon meant to replicate the flames of a Bold Wing. It blasted through the air missing him by less than a foot. The heat of it hit Remis’ face as though he’d just stepped out on the hottest day of summer and the sun was beating down upon him.
The dragonis swerved out of the fire. Those flames left no mark upon the shining matte scales of its face but the animal hissed and lifted Remis another foot higher. He swore as he felt more muscles tear, his arm threatening to go limp as a tingling numbness shot into his fingers.
Merritt yelled as he pushed his body weight into the cannon. Fire swirled around Remis and he shrieked as it came close to his dangling legs. His muscles strained then burned as he tried to pull himself up, tucking his legs against him. Percy’s shouting was unrecognizable to Remis as his friends called out to him, all while they pointed the flames dangerously close to his head.
Fire surrounded the dragonis but never truly scorched it. The flames danced away from its scales, but when they surged toward its wings the animal pushed itself back somehow managing to get Remis closer to the ground, though it was still a considerable distance for one to fall.
He sucked in a breath, the hot air scalding his lungs. In one jerking movement, Remis yanked himself forward. The talons on his shoulder pricked into his skin drawing fresh blood, and his shoulder screamed in protest as the back claw was freed from his flesh. What pressure the front claws had on him was not enough to hold him.
Remis plummeted to the ground. The grass and dirt raced toward him faster than he could angle to catch himself in a manner that might prevent injury. He hit the ground on the side that didn’t have a gaping wound, but the impact knocked the air from his lungs, and for a moment the world danced around him. Trees blurred together, the stars twisted in and out of their constellations, and the dragon was a hazy shadow surrounded by flames. His vision split and then came rushing back to one image.
When he sucked in a breath it was exhaled with a groan. In all his years of training, he’d never been injured. Not like this, not in such a way that his entire body trembled with the pain and his head swam. Still, his mind screamed at him.
Get up. Get up. Get up.
Run, Remis, run.
