Free Dragon Fire (Dragons of Perralt Book 1) by Sher Dillard Page B

have been so stupid?
    The great dragon shook his head, then turned. He took a few steps, then his wings beat the air, sending waves of air washing into her, almost knocking her off her feet.
    He jumped, then slowly rose into the sky. His wings pounding a slow drum beat as he fought to gain altitude.
    Her heart jumped with him. Was he leaving her? Her anger mixed with loss. No, not like this, she thought.
    The giant beast rose. She marveled. How was it possible? He had grown ten times, how could such a beast fly?
    As he climbed into the sky, the great green monster, Drake, let loose a mighty roar and then, a stream of fire erupted from its mouth as he claimed the sky.
    Elsbeth gasped, holding a hand to her mouth. The beauty of the flames shocked her. The animalistic power, the pure magic of it. All overwhelmed her with wonder.
    That was it, she realized. Magic. Drake was a dragon. He could fly and shoot fire. The only answer was magic.
    A whimper bubbled at the bottom of her throat. She had let herself be used by a dragon. What did that make her?
    A fool, she thought.
    He began to circle over her, then turned as something from the west approached.
    Elsbeth strained to see as a small dot grew larger and larger.
    Another dragon. Her stomach fell. Who? What? Her mind continued to spin as she tried to understand. Up until a few minutes ago, she had never really believed in dragons. They were stories used to scare children into minding their nannies.
    But, now. Not one, but two dragons. Her mind fought to regain reality.
    The second dragon was gray, equally armored, and equally as large as Drake.
    For the first time, a new fear entered her.
    She watched in awe as Drake’s wings gave a mighty push, sending him towards this new interloper at breathtaking speed.
    The Gray Dragon twisted as well, diving towards Drake.
    Elsbeth held her breath as the two dragons came together in a resounding crash. The thunderous roll of sound pushed at her. She swallowed hard as she watched them twist and turn. Each searching for an advantage.
    Drake broke away to climb higher.
    The Gray followed. Elsbeth could see an old scar across the Gray Dragon’s back. She knew that this was not its first fight. He? It? Was every bit as large as Drake, and just as fierce.
    She grit her teeth as they fought.
    Drake raked the side of the Gray Dragon with fire, but it was a waste, as it had no effect. It was like trying to burn stone.
    She gulped as the Gray dipped under Drake, turned onto his back and raked at Drake’s belly with its claws.
    She screamed for Drake to be careful.
    What was she doing? she thought with chagrin. She was telling a dragon how to fight. Shaking her head, she continued to watch.
    They were like two dogs in the worst alley. Circling, nipping, and scratching at each other. Whatever it took to take the other down.
    They separated again, then swooped together, crashing into each other with a resounding burst.
    Elsbeth yelped as she saw the Gray sink its teeth into Drake’s shoulder. Where wing met armored side. Her own shoulder screamed in sympathetic pain.
    Drake twisted and brought his own mighty jaws into the beast’s neck.
    He had purposely sacrificed his wing so that he could reach the animal’s throat. Her insides turned over with fear as the two mighty dragons tumbled in the air. Falling, neither relinquishing control. Latched onto each other for life or death.
    She held her breath as she waited for them to break apart. They had to.
    “Drake,” she screamed as the two monsters crashed into the earth.
    The ground jumped under her feet as a large cloud of brown dust, and green grass exploded into the air.
    Still, Drake held onto the beast’s neck while the other worked his shoulder. Neither had been destroyed by the fall.
    She laughed to herself. Obviously, they could survive fire. Could beat and scrape each other with mighty claws and massive spear like teeth. A fall wasn’t going to end this.
    They twisted and rolled on the