The Red Dragon Girl by Lea Doué

Author:Lea Doué [Doué, Lea]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Butterwing Publishing
Published: 2017-10-31T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

Mel’s ears popped as Keir ascended rapidly, trying to fly over the storm clouds. She squeezed her eyes shut but immediately opened them again. She’d see nothing outside, either way.

Hunter and Fleet peered wide-eyed from their basket. True crooned and they ducked back inside. Orin secured the top flap.

The wind gusted, clawing at the canvas cover and spitting rain inside. It knocked Keir around, turning their smooth soaring into a bone-jarring ride. Thunder boomed and lightning lit up the basket like a thousand glowing cave dragons. Mel wanted to cover her mouth and her ears at the same time, but she wouldn’t let go of the straps.

“Tell Keir to land now!” Orin shouted.

“I have been, but he won’t listen!” Baz said.

Mel turned to Vanda. “You tell him.”

She shook her head. “He can make it!”

“Can and should are two different things!”

Lightning sparked on top of a crash of thunder, followed by a bellowing roar from Keir that vibrated the basket. They plummeted, and Mel swallowed hard against a scream. Were they falling or was Keir still in control?

“That bolt almost got his wing,” Baz said.

Mel let go of the straps and turned around on her knees. She needed fresh air, just for a second. Lifting a flap of canvas between the tie-down ropes, she peeked out and gulped cold, wet air like a diver surfacing from the ocean. Rain pelted her eyes, and another flash of lightning outlined Keir’s form.

“Hold on!” Vanda yelled.

Keir tucked his wings and dove, throwing Mel and everyone else to the back of the basket. She ended up in Orin’s lap, and they clung to each other in the darkness. The glowing scale had been knocked underneath something.

Hours from dawn and in the middle of nowhere once again, Keir finally slowed and extended his wings in a smooth glide. He hovered and then landed with a crack of breaking branches and a jarring thump.

“We should stay in the basket for now,” Baz said. “Putting up the tents in this storm would be pointless.”

Keir’s feet splashed in water as he walked. The rain eased on the top of the canvas, falling in plops and drips rather than a steady drumbeat.

“I think I’m going to be sick.” Mel fumbled with the knots tying down the canvas, but the rope had become soaked and she couldn’t loosen them.

Baz crawled over and helped untie a few while Keir crouched. Not bothering with the ladder, she squeezed out the gap and slid down into the mud.

“Hurry back,” Baz called.

Fresh mud pulled at her boots as she stumbled a few yards away and threw up. She had no intention of getting back into the basket, no matter how hard the rain beat her down. Instead, she pulled up her hood and followed Keir until he stopped and wiggled himself into a bed of ferns underneath a cluster of giant trees. He laid his head down and closed his eyes, and the basket moved gently up and down with his breathing.

“Could you tell the others I’m staying out in the open?” She wrapped her cloak around her and sat beside him.

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