squeezed her neck, feeling the tears slip down her cheeks. “It doesn’t make sense. But now you know. And from now on we can’t—”
Whizz!
What was that? Horrified, she dared look down at the crowd below, her eyes falling upon the distinct outline of a rifle, pointed in their direction. Were they actually shooting at them? There were strict laws against packing heat on school grounds, but that didn’t mean everyone followed them. And each one of them probably felt more than justified in their God-given right to shoot down the creature that had invaded their Friday night lights.
Not that their bullets would do much good. Emmy’s scales were stronger than titanium and only special bullets—made in the future—could pierce her single soft scale to have a prayer of bringing her down. That was one of the reasons it was so easy for dragons to take over the world the first time around. They were practically immune to traditional weaponry.
Trinity, on the other hand, was not. And with her and Emmy’s life force intertwined, a bullet meant for the dragon that ended up hitting her instead could do them both in.
Another shot rang out. Trinity jerked as blood burst from her arm. She screamed, losing her grip on Emmy’s neck as white-hot pain cannonballed through her entire body. For a moment she thought she would let go altogether, that she would tumble off the dragon and fall screaming to her death below. But somehow she managed to hold on, gritting her teeth and pulling herself back into a semi-stable position. But the trail of blood streaming in the wind told her she wouldn’t last long.
“Emmy! You have to land. Now!” she told the dragon. “I can’t hold on!”
The dragon turned her head to regard her mistress once again, her blue eyes now locking onto Trinity’s arm. She gave a loud, angry snarl then changed direction, picking up speed and heading for a copse of trees up ahead. Trinity squeezed her eyes shut, trying to focus on anything but the pain piercing her skin. But visions of tumbling to her death from hundreds of feet up honestly didn’t serve to make her feel much better.
She won’t let me fall. She won’t let me fall.
Emmy dove down, trading altitude for the protection of the trees, and Trin felt the branches scrape her face and claw at her arms and legs as they dropped into the forest. One particularly gnarly limb slapped hard against her wounded arm, and for a moment she almost lost her balance completely. But somehow she managed to keep a fragile grip on the dragon until Emmy came in for a semi-graceful landing in the middle of a small clearing.
Trin rolled off, crashing down onto the ground with a loud oomph. A rock dug into her back and her ankle jarred. But the pain barely registered, she was so happy to be on solid ground again.
“Emmy…” she tried, wanting to express her gratitude. She tried to turn her head to acknowledge the dragon. But it felt so heavy. So, so heavy.
And a moment later, she fell into blackness.
Chapter Eleven
Scarlet walked her bike down the side of the road on her way back to the football stadium, confusion and concern weighing her every step. From time to time, she glanced up into the sky—half hoping to see the emerald green dragon, Emmy, swimming among the glittering stars. But save for a few bats diving for mosquitos, the sky remained empty.
As if the whole night’s adventure had been nothing more than a dream.
Or a nightmare as the case might be. The boy had been so furious at her—she was half-convinced he’d shoot her with his strange-looking gun and end things then and there. Instead, he’d taken off, running through the fields, screaming after the dragon, leaving Scarlet behind to wonder what it was she’d just done. She’d tried to ask the boy questions—like why had they locked the dragon in Mrs. McCormick’s old barn in the first place—but he’d only given her a disgusted look before turning away.
And so there had been nothing
Whizz!
What was that? Horrified, she dared look down at the crowd below, her eyes falling upon the distinct outline of a rifle, pointed in their direction. Were they actually shooting at them? There were strict laws against packing heat on school grounds, but that didn’t mean everyone followed them. And each one of them probably felt more than justified in their God-given right to shoot down the creature that had invaded their Friday night lights.
Not that their bullets would do much good. Emmy’s scales were stronger than titanium and only special bullets—made in the future—could pierce her single soft scale to have a prayer of bringing her down. That was one of the reasons it was so easy for dragons to take over the world the first time around. They were practically immune to traditional weaponry.
Trinity, on the other hand, was not. And with her and Emmy’s life force intertwined, a bullet meant for the dragon that ended up hitting her instead could do them both in.
Another shot rang out. Trinity jerked as blood burst from her arm. She screamed, losing her grip on Emmy’s neck as white-hot pain cannonballed through her entire body. For a moment she thought she would let go altogether, that she would tumble off the dragon and fall screaming to her death below. But somehow she managed to hold on, gritting her teeth and pulling herself back into a semi-stable position. But the trail of blood streaming in the wind told her she wouldn’t last long.
“Emmy! You have to land. Now!” she told the dragon. “I can’t hold on!”
The dragon turned her head to regard her mistress once again, her blue eyes now locking onto Trinity’s arm. She gave a loud, angry snarl then changed direction, picking up speed and heading for a copse of trees up ahead. Trinity squeezed her eyes shut, trying to focus on anything but the pain piercing her skin. But visions of tumbling to her death from hundreds of feet up honestly didn’t serve to make her feel much better.
She won’t let me fall. She won’t let me fall.
Emmy dove down, trading altitude for the protection of the trees, and Trin felt the branches scrape her face and claw at her arms and legs as they dropped into the forest. One particularly gnarly limb slapped hard against her wounded arm, and for a moment she almost lost her balance completely. But somehow she managed to keep a fragile grip on the dragon until Emmy came in for a semi-graceful landing in the middle of a small clearing.
Trin rolled off, crashing down onto the ground with a loud oomph. A rock dug into her back and her ankle jarred. But the pain barely registered, she was so happy to be on solid ground again.
“Emmy…” she tried, wanting to express her gratitude. She tried to turn her head to acknowledge the dragon. But it felt so heavy. So, so heavy.
And a moment later, she fell into blackness.
Chapter Eleven
Scarlet walked her bike down the side of the road on her way back to the football stadium, confusion and concern weighing her every step. From time to time, she glanced up into the sky—half hoping to see the emerald green dragon, Emmy, swimming among the glittering stars. But save for a few bats diving for mosquitos, the sky remained empty.
As if the whole night’s adventure had been nothing more than a dream.
Or a nightmare as the case might be. The boy had been so furious at her—she was half-convinced he’d shoot her with his strange-looking gun and end things then and there. Instead, he’d taken off, running through the fields, screaming after the dragon, leaving Scarlet behind to wonder what it was she’d just done. She’d tried to ask the boy questions—like why had they locked the dragon in Mrs. McCormick’s old barn in the first place—but he’d only given her a disgusted look before turning away.
And so there had been nothing
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