Page 111 of Brambles and Bellflowers
Yet somehow, he always managed to find them.
“Seriously?” I asked. Why did he have to bring themcamping?
“Mind your business,” he challenged. “We can’t all summon our weapons from other realms.”
I nodded, as that was a fair point, and furrowed my brow in concentration. I imagined the solid, lightweight of my kilij, and not even a moment later, I felt the hilt’s smooth leather firmly in my grip.
It’d given up all pretenses of secrecy, stomping through the forest and causing the treetops to shake.
Titus remained unmoved while Julian tensed. And I had to admit, my ears perked, and my heartbeat accelerated in the excitement—it had been lifetimes since we’d had a challenging battle or a chance to fight any beast.
The more interesting creatures died out a long time ago.
“This isn’t a game,” Julian hissed at me. “Titus looks worried.”
The dragon’s aura had pulled in tightly around him, and his stance was braced. So, itwasdangerous, after all.
I couldn’t help but smile.Perfect.
It had been a stressful few weeks, and I needed something to kill.
The noise grew louder. It was almost upon us, so close that we could almost see it. A dark shape moved behind the shadows of the forest.
“What the hell is it?” Julian asked.
I had no answer because, like Julian, I also couldn’t tell. Titus, though, had deepened into his defensive position. He saw something we couldn’t.
“Titus, what?” I asked, holding my weapon ready. I hadn’t seen him this disturbed in ages. “Don’t tell me it’s actuallya dragon.”
I was half-joking because despite what the local legends might say, there was no way—
“Yes,” was his short reply. “Sort of.”
I blinked at him, dropping out of my stance.
“What the fuck does that mean?” I asked. “Either it’s a dragon, or it’s not. How can you not tell?”
Titus had no chance to elaborate because the object of his attention—something both reptilian and strange—had taken that moment to tear its way through the trees. It uncurled its furiously imposing form.
He was right. It was a dragon. Kind of…
The sage-green creature was as large as Titus’s dragon form, almost as imposing. It was honestly the strangest thing—having the body of a brachiosaurus—with a much shorter neck—and proportionally tiny wings. There was something off about its gait, too.
It didn’t look like any dragon I’d ever seen.
In fact, it was a little bit sad to watch. It stumbled forward as it crossed into the clearing, trying to balance on four uneven legs and too-long claws that appeared to catch on the ground beneath it.
As it drew near, its features became more apparent. While a traditional dragon had a snout and powerful jaws, this creature had a bright orange, duck-like beak.
It was the most bizarre thing I’d ever encountered.
“What’s wrong with it?” Julian tilted his head, straightening to his full height as he lowered his guard. Now that it was here, our wariness and caution had dissipated.
I, too, wondered the same thing.
Thisthing—the Snallygaster—had one eye. However, that wasn’t unusual, considering some of the things we’d seen. Yet, the orb was large—primarily white—with no visible eyelid, and it was focused on us, unblinking, in the most unnerving manner.
It almost seemed angry and a little bit afraid, as if it was defending something. My theory was further validated as the creature moved into a defensive position, rising onto its hind legs and letting out a tremendous roar.
