A Destiny of Dragons (Tales From Verania #2)(130)

“That,” I wheezed, “sucked balls.”

“Understatement,” Ryan groaned. “Remind me why we’re doing this again.”

“Fate of the known world.”

“Oh. Right. Still don’t know if it’s worth it.”

“Tiggy, all right?”

“Sand in my trousers,” Tiggy said, sounding grumpy as he sat up, pulling us up with him. “Sand, Sam. In my trousers.”

“Yeah, dude,” I said, patting his arm. “That’s terrible. Believe me, I know. I have sand everywhere too.”

“Stupid snake dragon monster thing,” Tiggy said.

Speaking of.

The dust was clearing by the time I stood. I shook myself out, trying to get as much sand off me as I could. I took a step forward as I brushed off my arms and— A shadow fell over me.

Because apparently the day couldn’t get any worse, Jekhipe rose above me. Its body was still mostly on the ground, muscular and agile, red scales bright in the sun. The lower third of its body was wrapped around Kevin, holding his arms against his chest, Gary tucked under his neck, trapped in its grip. Kevin was trying to snap down at it, but he couldn’t reach. I thought for a moment he’d breathe fire at it, but it would run the risk of burning Gary, and I knew he wouldn’t take that chance.

But Jekhipe wasn’t focused on them.

It only had eyes for me.

And I was furious.

“That’s it, then?” I growled up at it. “That’s all you got. Come on, you bastard.”

For a moment, I thought I saw its eyes widen slightly.

“Um, maybe not anger it, huh?” Ryan said. “That’s probably not—”

It jerked its head toward the sound of his voice, hissing at him, tongue out and tasting Ryan’s scent.

Which, no.

It squeezed Kevin and Gary tighter, causing Gary to cry out in pain.

Which.

No.

“Hey!” I shouted at it, taking a step back. “You look at me when I’m talking to you!”

It reared its head back as it turned to me.

“That’s right,” I said, taking another step back. “Thaaat’s right. It’s me you want. And I’m right here.”

“Sam? What are you—”

“Don’t move,” I said, not taking my eyes off Jekhipe. “I got this. Tiggy, get him out of here when I say.”

Ryan sounded furious. “And you get pissed at me for acting like a martyr?”

“Tiggy! Do you understand me?”

“Sam got a plan?” Tiggy asked, sounding worried.

“Yeah,” I muttered. “Yeah, I got a plan.”

That was a lie, but they didn’t need to know that.

“Bullshit,” Ryan said. “Tiggy, he’s going to—”

Jekhipe coiled to strike.

“Tiggy, now!”

Three things happened at once:

Jekhipe struck, teeth flashing;

and,

Tiggy grabbed Ryan and bolted to the side, out of the way;

and,

I jumped in the other direction as Jekhipe snapped its fangs at me. I felt the heat of its mouth as it missed me by inches. It slammed into the precarious battlement face-first. The tower swayed dangerously and then it tipped, tipped, tipped— And then collapsed on top of Jekhipe’s head.

I scooted back as quickly as possible, trying to avoid falling stone. When it landed on Jekhipe, its body tensed and began to writhe. For a moment, I thought it was going to squeeze Kevin and Gary further, but it released them, causing them to sag toward the ground as Gary gasped sharply.

“Sam!”

I turned and looked toward the other end of the island, where the sea of sand had been before I’d destroyed it.

Ruv stood there, waving his arms over his head. “Sam, this way!”

I pushed myself up off the ground and started to run.

Jekhipe roared behind me as I heard it pull itself out of the collapsed battlement. I didn’t look back, didn’t stop to see if it was coming after me or how close it was. All I focused on was Ruv.

Wizard wizard wizard wizardwizardwizard—

My lungs burned with every step I took as I jumped over the ruins of the desert castle that lay spread out around me. Magic was curling itself against my skin, and I knew my eyes were flashing again. The ground shook beneath my feet as Jekhipe tore after me. I could do this, I could make this— “Sam!” Ruv shouted. “Left, move left!”

I moved left.

Jekhipe’s head came down on my right, jaws snapping closed around nothing, much closer than I thought it’d be. The eye on the left side of its head focused on me, still black, but there was a hint of a reptilian shape in the cornea.

I kept running.

I distinctly remembered the island being much shorter than it was right now. Fear and terror of being eaten by a snake dragon monster thing apparently caused me to misjudge distances, because one moment, Ruv looked like he was as far away as the City of Lockes, and the next, I was about to crash into him.

“Go!” I shouted at him. “Go! Go!”

He started moving, and by the time I caught up with him, was running full tilt.

“What’s the plan?” he shouted at me, darting to the left when Jekhipe tried to snap at him.