Free Tail of the Dragon by Craig Halloran Page A

wandered. What if Selene was down there? And Brenwar?
    What if it’s a trap? Another one of Selene’s clever setups?
    The hours went by, and darkness fell over the hill. Above, the moon’s light was dim in the drifting and dreary clouds.
    The caves gave off the faintest illumination. The smell of sulfur remained strong. Nath let his eyes close. He sank his talons deeper into the hard earth. He could feel all of the life of Nalzambor. The heartbeats of the sleeping creatures nearby. The feet of ants marching over the dirt. There was something else too that he felt. Distress. Nalzambor seemed worried.
    The hillside suddenly quavered.
    Thoom.
    It was faint. Undetectable by many creatures of nature. The shale shifted the slightest bit.
    Thoom.
    Nath’s eyelid slid back.
    Thoom. Thoom. Thoom.
    The bellies of the caves were coming to life. Angry sounds and shrieks erupted from within. Something was coming out.
    Thoom! Thoom!
    Shale and dirt poured out over the rims of the caves. Creatures who had been lying peacefully in the forest scattered. One of the caves glowed with bright orange light, and the roar of a dragon echoed.
    Something fights within!
    A slender black dragon snaked out of the hole.
    Selene!
    She was smaller. More svelte. The scales on her dragon chest were heaving as she backed away from the mouths of the caves.
    Nath’s claws pulled up out of the dirt.
    I’ve got her now!
    Selene snorted fire and smoke. Her long neck swayed from side to side. Her violet eyes were intent on the caves. She continued her retreat.
    What’s going on here?
    One by one, wurmers emerged from the shadows of the caves. Ten of them, claws sharper than swords that twinkled in the night, flanked Selene.
    This should be interesting. I’m no fool. I’ll just wait and see what she says to them. She probably has them wrapped around her finger like she once had me.
    Striking with uncanny speed, the wurmers plowed into Selene. Her body was covered in the scaly fiends. Only her whipping tail could be seen.
    Selene!
    “Maaaaaaarrrroooooo!”
    With a fearsome roar, Nath tore his body out of the rocks and pounced into the fray.
    The wurmers let out shrill cries.
    With a bone-crushing stomp, Nath silenced several cries. Fully healed now, Nath tore into the wurmers. Fueled by his vengeance for the yellow streaks, he cut loose. Plucking wurmers from Selene like ticks, he pinned them to the ground.
    They nipped and clawed at him.
    Nath responded in fiercer kind. He took in a lungful of air and blasted them with flames that ended their existence.
    “Save your breath!” Selene cried out. There was desperation in her voice. “Save it, Nath!”
    “Hah,” he said. “Like I should trust you.” His tail coiled around a wurmer’s neck. He lifted it up and slammed it repeatedly into the ground.
    Wham! Wham! Wham!
    “Nath!” Selene cried out. “Help me!”
    His head reared up.
    Four wurmers had latched onto her. Two of them sank their teeth and claws into her neck.
    Her violet eyes popped open, filled with pain.
    The hot glow of the wurmers’ powerful maws ignited with fire. Lava oozed out, down Selene’s neck.
    She let out a horrifying howl that split the air in the sky.
    “Haaaaaaarrrrrrrrllllllllll!”
    Nath’s scales stood on end.
    Selene’s supine body went limp, and the light in her eyes faded.
    “Nooooooooo!”

 
    CHAPTER 19
     
     
    Nath’s golden eyes burned like fire. Staring down the wurmers, he unleashed a blast of power from his eye sockets. The rays of light cut through one of the wurmers on Selene’s neck, killing it. He let loose on another. Eye beams blasted into it and turned it to ash and powder.
    The remaining wurmers detached themselves from Selene and launched into Nath.
    Fueled by a desperate sense of urgency, Nath’s massive body became a juggernaut of battle. He bit down on one wurmer and crushed it in his jaws. His claws smashed a second one into the ground until its bones became dust.
    Die, you scaly vermin!