Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 44553 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 223(@200wpm)___ 178(@250wpm)___ 149(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44553 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 223(@200wpm)___ 178(@250wpm)___ 149(@300wpm)
I won’t take another mate. They’re too important.
Agreed. They aren’t trained to hold on for dear life, either. Damn it! I wish I could shake this off. I don’t think I can even take off. Keres tried to haul himself to his feet and knocked Slate onto his back.
The gray dragon couldn’t stop his flame in time, and a jet of brilliant red and yellow fire erupted into the sky. A distant shout told Rimi and Keres that the bad guys had spotted it.
You have to go now, Rimi. Concentrate on the clouds slightly upwind from the main camp. Grab the barrel and go!
Rimi galloped to the cracked container and scooped it up, placing one talon against the gaping opening. She paused for a quick second to enable her talent and cloaked her massive form. The barrel should disappear from view as well. Unfortunately, once the AgI scattered from it, the mixture would no longer be disguised. Throwing herself into the air, she divided her attention between the men scrambling below her and the clouds.
Before rising over the clouds, she marked the line where the dragons had dropped as they tried to give Keres time to enact their plan to destroy the supplies with rain. Starting with the section she judged would drift over her mate, Rimi lifted the talon away from the barrel to allow the mixture to fall into the clouds. If he could recover first, Keres would know what to do to help her.
She had moved on to seed sections over the others when a gray shape flew past her, moving erratically. Slate! Get out of here.
Her son didn’t answer.
Vowing to ground him for years, Rimi forced herself to focus. A plume of colorful dust almost reached her. They were targeting wildly hoping to hit something.
Watch out, Slate!
Were the clouds darkening? Surely she was imagining it. Rimi kept making passes across the clouds until the barrel was empty. Please let that work!
Slate, I’m out. Let’s get out of here.
Rwahr!
Slate’s outraged roar sent cold chills down her back. She looked back to see the remains of a column of powder dropping back to the earth, close to her son. They’d hit him.
Slate spiraled downward, heading directly toward the main camp. She had to save him. Dropping the barrel, she saw it reappear once out of her hands.
“There are two. One must be invisible,” a loud male voice screamed.
“Don’t panic. Shoot a barrage of powder around the area. We’ll hit it,” another voice ordered. Evan.
Rimi swooped under Slate’s tumbling dragon and groaned at the impact. He was heavier than she was. Flapping her wings desperately, Rimi fought to carry his body away from the camp and slow down his descent.
Rimi! What are you doing? Get out of there. Slate’s too big. Keres’s voice sounded panicked.
Ignoring him, Rimi begged Slate, Wake up! You’ve got to help me!
The young dragon’s mind spiraled as if he were caught in a hurricane. Rimi was on her own. She couldn’t fight gravity with his dead weight on her back. The ground loomed underneath her. Rolling out from under Slate, Rimi held her breath as her son tumbled unhurt to the grass.
Rimi breathed a sigh of relief as she whirled to face the approaching threat. The chemist stood a hundred feet from her, and Evan’s men struggled to yank a tube free from the earth to target her. She froze, hoping her cloaking ability would save her.
A rumble of thunder made the chemist glance up before he refocused on her. “Dragon, I see you. Your talent doesn’t hide you from me.”
Was he lying? Rimi wasn’t going to fall for a trick. She kept her gaze locked on the dangerous man ahead of her. A rain drop landed on her right wing.
The chemist lifted his chin and inhaled through his nose.
He could scent her?
“Ah, a female. Of course.”
More drops tumbled from the sky, wetting the ground around him. Out of the corner of her eye, Rimi saw the men attempting to protect the bags of dust. The sprinkles multiplied until the water ran off her scales.
“You might as well drop your camouflage, dragon. I can detect you now,” the chemist told her, stalking directly toward her.
Spooked, Rimi’s heart beat even faster until she was sure everyone could hear it. Still, she stood locked in place. If she moved, he would see her blur out Slate’s form collapsed behind her.
Keres’s voice filled her mind. Hold on, Rimi. The rain is working. The horde is rallying.
Rimi stiffened her back, bolstered by her mate’s words. Gaze locked on the threat, she stood still. The man stopped a mere foot before her. Could he hear her heart racing? The chemist reached out a hand toward her snout. Automatically, she blasted him with fire breath.
The flames bent around him. Not a hair on his head sizzled. Surprise snapped her mouth closed, extinguishing the flare of heat.