Page 102 of A Kingdom Restored

“Why aren’t they eating anyone?” Tish demanded, her face fearful. “I thought they wanted to eat us.”

Merletta shook her head. “They don’t want to eat us. They don’t really want to kill us. But—” Her words cut off as she caught sight of a whole group of merpeople, floating as if stunned in the path of the dragon.

“Get out of here, Tish!” Merletta shouted over her shoulder as she fled. “Go back to the island if you can!”

Putting on a burst of speed, she set herself on a collision path for the motionless group.

With a shout at them to swim for it, she threw herself in front of them, spinning just in time to face the dragon now streaking straight for her.

She no longer had the spear she’d pilfered, so she just braced herself, hoping the others had enough time to get away. The dragon swam with open jaws, and Merletta barely had time to gasp before its teeth closed around her.

She flailed and flapped, slapping the creature with her tail as it rose through the water. She could feel its teeth cutting into her skin, but it was far from the impaling she’d been expecting. It was being surprisingly gentle, showing no sign of wanting to rip her to pieces as the Center had described. She remembered her words to Tish, that the dragons didn’t really want to kill them all, and she could have wept for the tragedy of it. This dragon wasn’t savage. As far as it was concerned, it was carrying out an unpleasant but necessary task.

“You have it all wrong!” she shouted, knowing it was useless. “We’re not abominations! We’re—”

They cleared the water, and her words broke off as her tail changed seamlessly to legs. She’d barely processed the change when the dragon tossed her upward, making the world spin so that for a moment sea was above and sky was below. Then she started to fall, and saw the dragon’s mouth open again, flame growing.

“MERLETTA!”

The familiar voice roared in her ears as Merletta fell, making her wonder if she’d lost her mind. Then Heath’s arms closed around her, and the breath was knocked from her body as they flew sideways.

It took her several terrified seconds to grasp what had happened, then she realized she was clutched against Heath as they sped through the air, the human held in Rekavidur’s talons. The timing of their intervention was unbelievable, and a glance back showed the thwarted dragon hovering right where it had been, looking stunned.

Swiveling around, Merletta saw Elddreki performing a similar rescue for a merman who’d been about to suffer the same fate by the flame of a different dragon.

“Heath, what are you doing here?” Merletta cried, her words near a sob. “You promised you’d stay at the island if you didn’t find anything.”

“Firstly, I certainly did not promise,” Heath said into her ear, his voice warm against her neck as he continued to clutch her in his arms. “And secondly, we did find something.”

Merletta went still, hardly daring to believe it. “You mean…you can stop this?”

Heath’s voice was grim, and he squeezed her even more tightly as he spoke. “We’re about to find out.”

Chapter Thirty

Heath’s heart was racing so frantically, he thought it might burst from his chest. He’d really thought they’d been too late—they’d come so close to being too late.

His arms were as unyielding as iron as he held Merletta against him. Not that it was necessary. She was clinging so tightly, he could probably let go altogether without losing her to the water below. Her form was warm again, back in its human shape. She trembled slightly against him, but he didn’t think it was from cold. He slid a hand up her mostly bare back just in case, and was horrified to feel something other than water coming with him.

“You’re hurt!” he cried, lifting his hand to view the smear of blood.

She shook her head. “Barely. It was the dragon’s teeth, but they hardly broke the skin. I have no idea how that’s even possible.”

Heath’s breath almost failed him at the fresh reminder of how close it had been, but he knew it wasn’t the time to obsess over such things.

“How do we get the message to them, Reka?” he shouted to his carrier.

“It is already underway,” Reka responded.

Heath followed the dragon’s gaze to see Elddreki enter the water at a steep angle. “Let’s follow!” he called. He needed to see this, and he had no doubt Merletta would feel the same.

“It’s safer to enter the water separately,” Reka said, and with no other warning, he suddenly released them.

Heath and Merletta plummeted downward, still entangled. Heath barely had time to draw in a breath before he hit the water hard. His limbs flailed as he tried to find the surface, but before he could panic, he felt Merletta tighten one arm around him, tugging him up to the surface.

His face emerged into air, and he took a deep breath.

“Did Reka forget you need to breathe?” Merletta asked dryly.

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