Dragon's Isolation - Miranda Martin Page 0,45

away in my hands.

I lift it over my head and throw it in triumph. It flies out of the hole and across the desert. I roar in victory, holding my hands above my head, fists closed, wings spread. The female stares with wide eyes as if something is wrong.

Her mouth moves. Sounds come out. My female. My treasure. Forever. Mine. Must take her.

She slides down the sand into the hole and moves to stand next to the opening with me. She places a hand on my back. Her touch radiates warmth. I grumble my pleasure, turning toward her. She points into the opening and emits more sounds.

She wants to go down, into the hole.

My female wants. I will give her what she wants. She is mine and pleasing her is my duty. I sweep her into my arms, fold my wings around us and drop into the hole. She screams, clinging to my neck.

12

AMARA

He grabs me so quickly I yelp, but then we’re dropping into the hole. My stomach is left up top, and I scream in surprise.

As we drop into the darkness, he opens his wings, and our flat-out drop becomes a drifting glide down towards whatever is waiting for us at the bottom. I tighten my grip on his neck, holding like glue and putting my trust into him.

The hole above is the only source of light, and it pools on the floor way below us. We’re drifting down in a circling motion. My eyes adjust as we drop lower, growing used to the dimness. As far as I can tell, it’s an open area, but there are shadowy outlines of objects dotting the floor.

My stomach finally catches up with us about the time we land. Shidan doesn’t put me down, turning in a circle and growling while keeping me in his arms.

“Danger?” I ask.

He doesn’t answer or stop what he’s doing. I wriggle in his grip because if there is something dangerous down here, I want him to have his hands free to deal with it. He growls louder, looks down, then finally sets me on my feet.

He doesn’t answer though. No words. When I look into his eyes, the bright light is dim. He’s regressing further and faster. Swallowing hard, I do the only thing I can. I get into action. I put my hands on his shoulders and turn him around so I can access the pack he has. I pull out a torch, then hold it up in front of him.

“Light?” I ask.

He stares and frowns. I mimic blowing fire out of my mouth and that seems to get through to him. He burps a ball of fire that lights the torch.

“Okay,” I say, with a heavy exhale. “Let’s do this.”

I take his hand in mine for reassurance as much as anything, and, choosing a random direction, go left.

We’re in a large room. It might have been a hangar space at some point. Rosalind said that this was supposed to be a naval station before the Devastation. Ladon was hoping to find a workable missile, so a hangar makes sense.

There are no ships though, or at least none of a design I recognize. The space is filled with massive containers. Each one is an oblong cylinder that is around ten feet long and approximately five feet wide. There are rows and rows and rows of them. Dozens if not hundreds. It’s impossible to tell because I can’t see how far they go in all directions.

Squeezing Shidan’s hand, I move to closer to one of the containers. It’s so tall I can’t see the top of it. The metal is covered in thick dust. I wipe some of the filth away to reveal a plate.

XO-10560-SAM

“What does that mean?” I mutter. “Lift me up?”

I ask Shidan, but he doesn’t seem to get it. I mime what I want from him, and he grabs me by my waist and all but throws me into the air. The cylinder curves around, but on top there is what appears to be a broken glass window.

“Closer,” I ask, using hand gestures to get him to understand.

When he has me close enough, I step on top of the container and kneel down. I shift the torch to my other hand and move it closer to the opening. As the light illuminates the inside of the container, I scream and fall backwards.

Shidan catches me and growls, moving me behind him in what feels like a single motion. He’s ready for a fight