A Dawn of Dragonfire - By Daniel Arenson Page 0,71

raw chicken skin. She forced herself to bite, though her teeth were loose, and she chewed, swallowed, bit some more.

"Lyana, don't!" Elethor cried, and she heard the terror in his voice, but she ignored him. She had to keep eating. She dug her teeth deeper, and liquid exploded in her mouth. The Shrivel flapped, screaming and squirming, and she kept biting and chewing, eating it alive.

It is the sweetest meat, she thought. I am a huntress, a feeder, a creature of darkness, and—

Starlight blazed.

Above her shone the Draco Constellation, the stars of Requiem, her homeland. Hot tears flowed down her cheeks, and she gasped, shook, blood on her fingers, blood on her lips.

I am a creature of starlight, she knew. I am… I am Lyana! I am a knight of Requiem. I am a daughter, a sister, a warrior.

She rose to her feet, the dead Shrivel hanging from her mouth. She spat it to the floor and cried for her betrothed.

"Elethor! Elethor, where are you?"

He ran toward her. He held her, shook her, touched her cheek. Tears filled his eyes.

"Lyana, I'm here! You're changing. You're healing. Can you see me, Lyana?"

She kept gasping for air, and the chamber swirled around her. She saw the hanging things move and laugh and swing, and Nedath's fangs, and that black hill with the black rose, but… she also saw marble columns rising from a forest of birches, and she heard harpists play, and she saw—

"Dragons!" she said, digging her fingers into Elethor's shoulders. "I see dragons, Elethor, herds of them. They fly over our home." She wept. "We are from Requiem. I am Lyana. You are Elethor. Don't forget that, never forget."

She trembled so violently, and he held her so tight, not letting her fall, not letting her forget herself, drown in that dark place.

"You are Lyana Eleison, daughter of Deramon and Adia," he said, stroking her hair. "You will not forget. You will see dragons again. We will return to Requiem." He held her tight. "We will return, and we will save our home, and we will destroy this place with fire." He kissed her forehead and touched her cheek. "You are healed, Lyana."

She turned to face the golden dishes and saw her reflection. Her red curls fell around her shoulders in a mane. Her skin was once more white, young, and strewn with freckles. Her limbs were strong again. She pulled her boots back on, lifted her sword, and marched toward the doorway.

"Let's go, Elethor," she said, her voice cold. "Back to the bodies outside."

She walked through the darkness. Soon she stepped back into the tunnel where bodies hung on meat hooks, snake eggs in their bellies. They howled and smacked their lips, drooling.

"Feed us!" they cried. "Feed us, child of starlight! You promised."

Lyana took several steps to where the tunnel widened, ten feet between the walls. It would be a tight squeeze, but Lyana narrowed her eyes. She would do this.

"Stand behind me, Elethor," she said softly. She pushed him behind her. "Go farther back. Fifty steps. Go."

"Lyana, are you sure?" he said, and from the softness in his voice, she knew that he understood.

She nodded and looked into his eyes. She saw something new there, something she had never seen when he looked upon her: warmth, caring… even love. It made her eyes sting, and she couldn't help it. As the bodies shrieked around them, she touched his cheek and kissed his lips.

"I'm sure, El," she whispered. "I'll do this. Now go."

He nodded and walked down the tunnel into the darkness. The bodies lined the tunnel in front of Lyana, screaming on their hooks, thrashing their limbs.

"Feed us ourselves!" they demanded. Some began to eat their own limbs, coating their teeth with blood. The eggs inside them squirmed. "You promised! You promised!"

Lyana took a deep breath, lay down on her stomach… and shifted into a dragon.

Wings burst from her back and slammed against the tunnel ceiling. She pulled them close to her body. That body grew scales and ballooned until it pushed against the tunnel walls. Her tail flapped behind her. Fangs grew from her mouth, fire filled her maw, and with a howl, she shot a stream of flame.

The jet blasted the bodies. They screeched. The tunnel shook and rocks fell from the ceiling. They screamed and screamed as they burned, and the eggs inside them popped, and small snakes fled only to burn too. Lyana could not believe how long they screamed. They screamed as their flesh