Page 101 of Dragon Blood

Marli skid to a halt, recognizing an old woman from the village. “What are you doing here? You need to find shelter.”

“I couldn’t find my granddaughter,” she straightened, stepping aside to reveal a small wide-eyed child clinging to her skirts. “We’d been playing hide and seek.”

She should have been with the other children, hidden away in the deepest vaults, reinforced with spells and wards. Vaults that were now sealed.

Marli approached, squatting before the precious child. “And you’re so good, no one could find you.”

The child nodded.

“I’m good at hiding, too. Shall I teach you a new place?”

At the girl’s second nod, she picked up the child and led the women through a warren toward the tunnels.

She led them, slow and careful, toward the beach.

“Where are you leading us?” the old woman asked as they ducked into a cluster of berry bushes.

“Do you know the tunnel entrance east of the bluffs?”

“It’s prone to tidal flooding.” The elder nodded.

“It is, but there’s a hidden chamber that isn’t affected and may be enough to keep you safe.”

They crouched as an enormous figure rocketed over their heads. Several guardians snarled in pursuit.

Zayli, Cindra and another dragon she didn’t recognize, though her scales identified her as being from the Steelscale house.

Zadora?

Who else could it be?

“I will lead the way. Don’t worry about us.”

Marli returned the child to her grandmother’s care as she described the access point of the hidden portion and specific hazardous segments to watch for.

From the top of the bluff, Marli watched over the small group as they picked their way along its perimeter toward the cave mouth, while surveying the battles.

Heart pounding, chest heaving, she watched and assessed, eyes flicking along the coastline and the surrounding landscape, seeking more stragglers.

Another earthshaking roar filled the sky. Her dragon magic rippled through her body in response, nearly triggering Marli’s instinct to respond in kind.

Fighting against it, she forced her attention to the task at hand, no matter how much her dragon wanted to join the fight, to tear and destroy.

Find the vulnerable.

In the distance, pieces of a broken fishing boat floated on the wavy surface of the ocean.

She launched into action, instantly taking her dragon form, wings snapping out, ever watchful of threats from overhead.

Hovering over the wreckage, Marli lowered her tail to the five women clinging to anything that was large enough to support them. Two figures lay face down in the water.

The women clung to Marli’s tail, weighing her down as her wings worked harder to keep her in the air. Carefully, she extracted the bodies in her foreclaws, struggling toward the nearest island, away from the main compound.

As soon as she was near enough to the ground, the women let go, dropping the last few feet. She settled onto her haunches and gently lay the unresponsive women on the sand close to a shelter of palm trees.

Their companions, one of whom was a shaman, immediately surged forward with efforts to revive them before Marli had time to back away in search of others.

She swallowed hard, fighting back tears of relief as Odson came into view. He flew, one claw curled into his chest carrying something—someone—toward Marli.

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