Page 50 of A Tribute of Fire

“They never come this far north!” someone shouted, and I realized that there was complete pandemonium among the entire crew. I’d been caught up in my memory and had shut everything else out.

A dragon.

There was a water dragon beneath us.

My heart slammed against my chest and there was a high-pitched ringing in my ears. I shook my head. I needed to pay attention to what was going on.

“The goats! Get the goats!” the captain yelled.

“I told him not to throw those bodies into the ocean,” Jason growled. “We chummed the water. We were begging it to come find us.”

Quynh’s hand tightened around mine, looking for reassurance, but I had none to offer. My throat felt like it was going to close in on itself. There was no way to escape the water dragon—if we jumped into the ocean, we’d be eaten. And there was no place to hide on the ship. If it chose to, the dragon could snap the hull in half to better pick us off, one by one.

Maybe we should have moved closer to the center of the trireme, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I had to see what was happening, what the dragon’s next move would be.

Three crew members ran onto the deck, each carrying a large goat in their arms.

“What are they doing with the—” Quynh started to ask, but then the men heaved all three goats overboard.

“No!” she gasped and ran to the railing.

I pulled her back from the edge. “Don’t look.”

She buried her face against my shoulder, but I couldn’t take my own advice. I watched as a massive blue reptilian snout emerged from the sea, sunlight and water glistening off its scales. He opened his jaw wide, which caused the water to stream from his teeth, off his snout.

The dragon swallowed all three goats so quickly that it was shocking. Would that be enough food? Or was he still hungry?

I thought he might dive back down. It would be the smartest maneuver—he could disguise his movements under the cover of the ocean, and we wouldn’t be able to predict what he would do next.

The dragon didn’t do that, though. Instead it began to raise itself slowly out of the sea. Silence fell over the deck, all the sailors motionless. Rivers of water poured down the dragon’s lanky sides as he grewtaller and taller. His long, sinuous body seemed to sway slightly back and forth. His massive claws looked like swords, shining and sharp. There was a staggering and terrifying amount of power and potential destruction on display.

His terrible golden eyes stared directly into mine. Was I supposed to look away? Would staring at him be seen as a challenge? I couldn’t help but continue to stare—something about his gaze was unearthly, powerful, and I felt hypnotized.

A low humming sound seemed to reverberate inside me. As if he were singing to me. Calling.

No, not he. She. She was beckoning me.

My arms dropped from Quynh and I took a step forward. Did the dragon intend to snap me up from the ship, the same way she had the goats in the water? Quickly swallowing me whole?

I should have been afraid, but I wasn’t.

“Lia.” Jason’s voice pierced through the haze. His voice was deceptively calm as he wrapped his hand around my wrist and gently tugged me down from the railing.

I didn’t remember climbing it.

He pulled me against his chest with one arm; the other held his sword. Which he kept down at his side, most likely so that the dragon wouldn’t see him as a threat.

“Are you trying to get eaten?” he demanded quietly, his words hot and angry against my ear.

“That would be one way to avoid the tribute,” I said with a tiny laugh, still caught up in some kind of connection with this magnificent creature that I couldn’t have explained.

He did not seem to share in my amusement.

The dragon watched us for a few moments more and then lowered herself into the water so carefully and quietly that it was like she had never even been there at all.

I glanced down at Jason’s strong forearm, still clamped against my shoulders, pushing my back into his front.

Why was I drawn to such dangerous and deadly things?

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