Page 41 of Dragon Lord
It took her only a moment to reassess that sentiment as the stone wall blurred by her.
I’m plummeting!
She batted her wings in panic, her great dragon heart hammering, but at last she caught the wind, and she rose.Still, she was over the fields by the time she relaxed.And when she did… Oh, but the landscape was beautiful by moonlight—different from when she’d been peeking around Draknart’s wings and neck.She was in full control now, flying where she pleased.She grinned so wide, she nearly caught a startled bat in her teeth.
She didn’t see Draknart anywhere, but she did see a man walking up the road toward the castle.And in her excitement to see a new journeyman, she set down right before him, forgetting that she was a dragon.
His sharp cry of “Return to the devil, ye great evil beast!”reminded her.
She recognized his robes then, the robes of a traveling priest.He tried to hit her on the snout with his staff, but she stepped back.
“Haunt these hills no more!”he cried, his triple chin trembling.“I order you to burst into flames and die the agony of hell!”
She blinked at him.
“I will bring an army of soldiers of light.I’ve come to confirm troubling rumors that these hills hid witches.I see now what drew them here.”He tried to hit her again and missed, his small eyes burning with hate.He kept on madly waving his staff, utterly undaunted.“I shall burn you all out!And when you’re burned and the castle is reduced to ruin, I shall sprinkle the ground with holy water!”
It was then that Einin learned the first thing about being a dragon.Dragons were not nearly as patient as humans.She lurched forward and ate the man.
The second thing she learned about being a dragon was that they weren’t bothered by guilt.She just licked her chops and wasn’t the least bothered.If anything, she felt satisfied.She was about to launch into the air when she noticed a growing shadow in the sky.
Draknart attacked with a battle cry.
Dragon instinct pushed Einin to fight.Her human mind told her she didn’t want to hurt him, and she didn’t want him to hurt her.So she forced herself to drop to her belly and present her neck.
He landed on her, his sharp teeth snapping at her throat, but then he sniffed, his dragon nostrils drawing air in rapid drags.He looked her in the eyes.“Einin?”He sniffed her again.“Einin!”
“Visited by the goddess.”She grinned at him.
His eyes narrowed to slits with fury.Smoke streamed from his nostrils.“Cursed?”His voice rumbled with anger as he shifted his weight.“Why?”
“Blessed!”
He grumbled as he got off her, then paced, only stopping to tear the ground with his talons.“’Tis no blessing.”
She rolled to her feet and nudged him with her shoulder, nearly knocking him over.She laughed.“We’re blessed with a pup, you great oaf.Or soon will be.”
He puffed smoke at her.“Don’t jest with me, Einin.”
“I’m not jesting.”She flapped her wings.Then she stopped and looked at them, the full wingspan.“Why are my bones aching?Is that a pregnant-dragon thing?”
Draknart flapped his own wings, his obsidian gaze dazed and disoriented.“Dawn.We’d best fly back to the tower.Unless you want to walk through the village naked.”
She squeaked, and immediately swore never to do that again.The sound was all wrong coming from a dragon.Dawn!She launched herself into the air, grateful when she didn’t fall back.
Draknart trailed behind her.“A dragon pup?”
“A halfling, I think.”She didn’t dare glance back.She was new to flying.She needed to look where she was going.
They didn’t talk again until they were back in their bedroom, two large dragons, making the place feel tight.
“A halfling.”Draknart stared at her, his gaze softening.“A pup of our own.”
She nodded.“A daughter.”
His eyes snapped wide.“A daughter?We live in a tower!”He whirled around.“What if she falls out a window?What if she falls down the stairs?”
His tail knocked a bowl off the table, and it crashed onto the stones.
