Shit, the terror of that abduction. The horror when I was taken by the dactyl and dumped in the woods, the absolute nightmare of being prisoners of the dragon Troga for months until Caroline freed us...
No, I don’t want to think about it. I have to use my anger and disappointment as long as those things give me courage. Because this is not something I would have dared otherwise. Not at all.
And I’m not where I’m supposed to be yet.
Gazing up, I notice the neck isn’t swan-like anymore — the bobont is stretching it out ahead of the lower body I’m on, munching on treetops further away.
I was never the most athletic girl, and I’ve never considered rock climbing as a hobby. But this is not a rock, I remind myself. This is an animal. A living, moving dinosaur the size of an office block. Much easier.
I climb a half-foot at a time, moving slowly out on the endless neck and praying the dino won’t suddenly move. I can’t see the ground, but it must be a long, long way down.
It helps that the bobont’s neck is as thick as a big airliner and pretty flat on top. The thick, wrinkled hide also helps. It has the texture of rough sandpaper, making it about impossible for me to slip.
When I finally reach the bobont’s head, there’s light on the horizon and I can see better.
I have some trouble passing the final joint between the neck and the head, but finally I’m straddling the giant’s immense head, right behind two of its eyes. There are many small and big horns that I can hold on to, and the crunching noise of the dinosaur eating treetops is much louder up here.
I eat the remaining two salen fruits with no appetite, but they don’t make me feel any better. I’m crushed by Caronerax’s plan. We’re just too different — our goals and desires are completely opposite.
Why did I tell myself it might work? That damn love nest Marshie made! It made it so easy for the dragon to twist my mind.
Did he twist my mind? Maybe not on purpose.
I meant it, though. I did love him.
I squeeze my eyes closed, trying to keep the tears away.
It’s not to be.
The bobont swings its head around, but I’m sitting pretty safely up here and don’t let it bother me.
I take the bright yellow skins of the salen fruits and attach them to the newspaper-sized fake butterfly I made, attach the thing to the long spear with an even longer vine, and hope it will work. If not, I might have screwed myself really badly coming up here.
I dangle the butterfly in front of the bobont’s closest eye and hope that what worked for Heidi on the other dino will also work for me on this one.
21
- Caronerax -
The trees pass by faster now that I don’t have to slow down because of Jennifer. And yet my progress is intolerably slow. The Plood rejected my wish that they fly me to the place I have hidden my cache, stating that they prefer their flying saucer not to be seen.
They are infuriatingly rigid sometimes, sticking to their principles and contracts.
Well, at least they will ultimately be useful to me.
I don’t need Jennifer. The Plood know where her home planet is, and once there, the other dragons can gather their hoards with my assistance. I can add to mine, as well. Then, when we’re all in our dragon forms, that planet is mine and the dragons will easily accept me as their king after I kill my father. I am of royal blood, after all. Visibly so, with my blue and yellow colors.
My brother could have made that much more difficult if he were there, but now that he seems to be here on Xren, that is one complication less. I could not have wished for a better situation.
And yet I keep looking behind me, hoping to see a soft little face and a round, delicate body clad in the ugliest garment ever seen, walking steadfastly with rolling hips and a shy smile whenever she sees me looking at her.
All she wants is to be back on her home planet. Safe and sound.
With her friends.
That last idea is hard for me to wrap my mind around. I hate every other dragon, as they all hate me. In Jennifer’s place, I’d be overjoyed at leaving my compatriots behind on an alien planet while I