Free Dragon Dodgers (Wounds in the Sky Prequels Book 1) by V. R. Cardoso Page B

It
rattled across the ground, echoing through the cave as loud as a
thunderstorm. Or at least so it seemed. Targon froze. His heart
pumping so hard he thought it was about to shoot out from his
chest.
    But the Dragon gave no sign of hearing it. It was still
snoring as steadily as before. Tha met appeared behind him, handing Targon a torch. He took it
and nodded back.
    Now able to
see where he was going, the Captain hurried across the cave,
swinging his head left and right, searching every corner of the
bone covered ground.
    He circled an entire half of t he cave, but there was no sign of her.
    Did that idiot follow the wrong Dragon?
    He was on
the other side of the cave, now, behind the Dragon, right beside
its tail. And then, he saw her. The tail curled protectively around
Anweh’s body. She was lying on one side, her arms lifelessly spread
out as if she was a doll casually dropped by a child. He gasped.
Was she alive?
    He hurled himself over the tail, probably far more
carelessly than he should have , and kneeled beside her. He held her gently by the
shoulder and rolled her onto her back. Her skin was cold and
pale.
    “ Anweh…” He
whispered.
    Her chest moved up, ever so slightly,
and Targon felt air coming out through her nose. A smile grew on
his face. She was alive. If only barely.
    Targon felt
a pungent smell of iron. There was blood trickling down from the
corner of her mouth, but the smell came from her blackened clothes.
He lifted her shirt and discovered a horrible gash across her
belly.
    He cringed with the
sight. It was bad, he had to get her out. Thamet could certainly
stop the bleeding and stitch her up. And maybe Balcazar knew of
some healing potion that could help, but she didn’t have much
time.
    Targon
placed the torch down and slid his hands under her, but, when he
was about to lift her up, she gave a small whimper. In a panic,
Targon covered her mouth, muffling the sound. Her eyes opened, wide
with fear and wet with pain. She recognized him and her face
creased in a silent cry; tears rolled out of her eyes. Targon
pleaded her to shush without a sound, when –
    He saw it out of the corner of his eye. A small whisk from
the tip of the Dragon’s tail. It was like a punch to his
gut . Was it waking up? He had
to hurry. Trying to be as gentle as he could, Targon lifted her,
but it was still too much for her. A sharp scream of pain escaped
Anweh and then, everything fell apart. The Dragon thundered, the
tail swirled and its body rose. The whole cave seemed to move.
Targon tried to run, hoping to reach the exit before the creature
could see them, but its tail whipped back down and slammed them
against the wall.
    He was almost knocked out. Cringing from the pain, he tried to get back on his feet,
quickly, before the Dragon squashed them both. The Dragon, however,
was too busy to notice them. Screams filled the cave, challenging
the beast. His men were attacking.
    Taking
advantage of the distraction, Targon moved to the fallen body of
Anweh next to him. She was out cold. He tried shaking her,
screaming at her, but nothing worked. He put an ear to her chest,
searching for a beat, and heard one, then another. It was faint,
weak, but there nonetheless.
    The Dragon Dodgers were forming a semi-circle in front of the Dragon. Those holding
a lance tried to keep the monster at some distance, while the
archers fired a shower of Glowstone-tipped arrows onto the
monster.
    There w ere no
questions that the crystals worked. Targon had never seen something
go through a Dragon’s scaled hide, but all those arrows were
digging themselves deep into the creature, sending it reeling
backwards, roaring in pain.
    There was no
way he could get Anweh past the Dragon, at least not safely. He
tucked her against the wall, making sure she was still breathing
and then kissed her.
    “ I’ll be right back.” He
told her.
    Then, he
drew out his Glowstone dagger and charged against the Dragon. He
stabbed its thigh, hoping to get the