Free The Green Dragon: A Claire-Agon Dragon Book (Dragon Series 3) by Salvador Mercer Page B

a more defensive position.”
    The labored breathing of his armored companion gave him comfort as they ran faster toward the boulders, several stone throws away. “All right, you are an educated man, but how will a few minutes help us? It won’t take them long to flank us from there.”
    “I don’t know,” the man said, running and not looking back, “but a few minutes seem very precious to me right now, and I’d like to live a tad bit longer, if you have no objection.”
    “I will agree as long as we can catch our breaths. I don’t mind dying as long as I’m not out of breath.”
    “Now that is probably one of the oddest things I have ever heard in my entire life. I really must get it written down before I die. See if you can hold them off when we get there.”
    It took only a couple of minutes before the unlikely pair reached the boulders. The ridgeline had broadened out, and they were dismayed to see that, despite their sprint, the barbarians had made up considerable ground below them.
    “I hope you write quickly,” the female warrior said, kneeling and breathing deep breaths, intent on keeping a promise to herself to not die while being winded.
    “I hope you catch your breath soon too,” the old man said, dropping his pack and pulling out a small pencil from his robe pocket and opening a small leather notebook that he withdrew from a small side pocket on his bulging pack.
    The warrior woman took a long moment to breathe, closing her eyes and focusing on it. When she felt ready, she stood and pulled out her blade, setting it tip first into the ground in front of her and using it to rest on. She would conserve every bit of energy she could for her pursuers. She at least wanted the historian to see that her count was correct, though she truly felt that one would be all that she could kill before succumbing to their massive weapons. She didn’t have the heart to tell him any different.
    “Are you really writing what I said in that little book of yours?”
    “I am,” the old man said, scribbling furiously.
    “You know they will just take or burn your precious books, don’t you?” she asked, not understanding the motive from her companion.
    “Probably, though I hope to dissuade them, even in death.” The old man finished and placed the small notebook back in the side pocket and then opened the top, rummaging around till he found an object and pulled it out, closing the pack and pushing it under the edge of one of the boulders. It wasn’t hidden, but the object he pulled out he placed against the pack. It looked like a fang from an animal, but not just any animal. A huge immense beast, as the tooth-like object was over a foot long.
    “Is that what I think it is?” the woman asked, looking back and hearing the war cries of the barbarians as they climbed the ridgeline below them.
    “If you think it’s a dragon’s tooth, then yes, you are correct,” the old man said, reaching deep into his robe and pulling out a small dagger.
    “They respect that tooth?” she asked.
    “No, they fear it,” the old man said.
    The first barbarian was about to crest the ridgeline, and the female warrior pulled her blade and held it in front of her. “I wish you had time to explain, but we finished using those precious moments of yours; I hope you accomplished what you wanted to.”
    “I did, thank you, and I hope you have caught your breath. You seem to be breathing rather calmly, considering the circumstances,” the old man said, taking a few steps to stand to her side, just behind her. He reached out with his free hand and placed it on her shoulder so she would know where he was.
    “I did catch my breath, and it was good knowing you, however brief our time was. Sorry I can’t make it longer.” The first barbarian had arrived and reared a huge axe over his head for a killing blow at the defiant warrior woman.
    The blow missed by inches as the woman stepped to her left, leaving the old man exposed as he had been