Free The Dragon Tree by AC Kavich Page A

otherworldly screech.
                  Her moment of perfect calm ended when she felt her body snatched out of its freefall by powerful hands the size Volkswagons.
                  But no. They weren’t hands.
                  She was too close to the creature to see its full form. For her, there was only an expanse of scaled blue flesh that heaved with rapid breath. There were only thick black claws – gleaming like polished marble – that clutched her body firmly but somehow failed to slice her open. There was a great blue wing stretched translucent over arcing bones that flapped angrily.
                  There was gray water, and brown cliffs, and gray water and brown cliffs as the creature that held her in its paw spun wildly – out of control – down and down and down. And then there was only the gray water and white foam and the press of blue flesh as Eva’s protector plunged into the harbor like a boulder.

CHAPTER EIGHT
     
                  When the hulking creature had appeared above him, Hiroki lost his grip on the cliff. He swung his arms wildly until – miraculously – his right hand brushed the nylon rope. It was swinging loose now that Eva’s weight no longer held it taut, but he managed to wrap three fingers around the rope and hung on for dear life.
                  He spun himself around in time to get a clear view of the beast before it plunged into the bay. The pale blue wings were at least forty feet long from tip to tip, their elastic thickness fluttering with wind resistance as the beast pumped them frantically. The heavy body between the wings was a darker blue, mottled with uneven rings that were darker still. The creature’s tail hung uselessly at the rear of the body, but Hiroki could make out short plates protruding along its length.
                  He could not see the creature’s head from his angle, but he cringed fearfully and painfully at its cacophonous screeching. Seconds later, when the creature plunged into the water, the boom of the impact snuffed out the screeching.
                  So massive was the creature that struck the water that the splash it caused reached up the cliff wall all the way to Hiroki’s legs. His jeans were soaked and his shoes filled with cold water that sent a chill up his spine.
                  “Eva!” he screamed, unsure where she had gone. The horrifying creature had blocked his view of her for the precious moments it would have taken for her to complete her deadly fall and strike the water.
                  The tears came fast to Hiroki’s eyes. He tried to blink them away and focus on the rope in his hands, but his sobs only worsened. He managed to reach the rock shelf above Billy’s mysterious tree, and swung himself to the side to plant his feet on its surface. As the sobs wracked his entire body, he collapsed to the ground.
                  “Billy! Can you hear me? Billy!”
                  Even as he called out Billy’s name, he knew it was futile. The realization came to him with crystal clarity. The magnificent creature he had seen – the horrifying creature – that was Billy . He had seen the early stages of Billy’s transformation. He had seen Billy’s skin turn gray then eerily blue. He had seen the scales push their way up from somewhere under the skin. His black and bottomless eyes had been so unnaturally wide on his face.
                  Billy had transformed into a dragon .
                  He struggled to his feet and wiped away his tears. Unsteady on his feet, he crept closer to the edge of the shelf and leaned to one side to peer around the rocky curtain that shielded it. He could see the interior edge of the harbor where the cold Pacific water lapped against a rocky, crescent-shaped beach.
                  And there it was, lying still in the foaming surf.