Leah's Hero - Miranda Martin Page 0,58
draw blood. My tail rises between my shoulders, and I’m ready to attack.
No.
Don’t be stupid. They outnumber me. No matter my fury, I can’t be assured I’ll win. There are at least two of them. One of them could steal her while the other kept me busy. Fighting is not the answer, no matter how much the dragon wants to destroy them for making her feel fear.
I touch her shoulder and she looks up. I put my hand over my mouth, and she nods. Then I point to the path we’ve been following. She indicates her understanding, and we carefully pick our way through the trees.
I use my tail to stir the leaves behind us, covering over our trail the best I can. The voices are growing louder, they’re coming closer. We need a place to hide, now. I stop and peer into the dimly lit jungle, looking for anything that will serve, and spot a fallen tree.
Moss and various plants grow along the length of it. It’s going to be our best hope of a place to hide. I point to our goal and then let her lead the way to it so I can continue obscuring our trail. A good tracker will not be fooled, but in this case, I can do no more. If I must fight, I will, but better to play smart.
We reach the far side of the log. There’s a small gap beneath it, she lies down flat on her own and slides into the space. I lie down outside it, too large to fit with her, and wait. The voices grow louder.
My hearts beat loud in my ears and blood rushes to my head. The red covering my vision darkens, growing thicker, and it’s becoming harder to think clearly. Single thoughts pound with the pulsing of my hearts.
Kill. Destroy. Protect.
Over and over. My breathing becomes shallow, and it’s harder to hold myself still. The desire to leap into action, surprise my enemies and destroy them consumes me. I struggle with the primal instincts of the bijass as the enemy moves closer.
I look to the side and my eyes lock with hers. The bijass recedes slightly. She’s scared but controlled. She’s not letting fear rule her, how can I do any less? She sets the example, easing my own struggle.
“There’s nothing here, this is stupid,” one of the voices says.
“Shut up, you’re stupid,” the other responds.
“Nice,” the first voice says. “Mighty come back there.”
“You want to be sent to Zirthoan and JKaran when we return?” the other voice asks.
“No,” the first voice says, and I hear his fear.
Zirthoan and Jkaran. The dragon rages, rattling the chains I’ve barely managed to use to hold it down. They’re the ones who left me, wounded and dying. They laughed. I hear their laughter echoing in my ears still from when they left me to die.
They’re coming closer. Leah’s face pales, her eyes widen, and she covers her mouth with her hand. I slide my hand across the dirt and take her free one in mine. It sounds like one of them is directly on the opposite side of the fallen tree. It’s large enough that I should be hidden but I can’t be sure. My muscles tense, ready to react in an instant. I hold my breath waiting.
“Anything over there?”
“No,” the fearful one answers.
He kicks something and it slams against the fallen tree with a crack that echoes through the wet jungle.
“What about on the other side of that tree? You look for tracks over there?”
“Do I look stupid?” he asks.
Be stupid. Be stupid.
“We need to meet the rest of the group back at the rendezvous, let’s go.”
“Right,” the closer one says.
There’s a scratching and scrabbling sound. I look up, hearts pounding in my throat, and see his outline appear past the edge of the tree. He’s looking out across the jungle. If he looks down, I won’t be able to hide.
Leah squeezes my hand, but I don’t dare move even my eyes. I can’t tear them away from watching him, so close. If he looks down, I’ll leap up. If I can hit him fast enough, I might be able to catch the other one before he can escape.
Then what? There are even more members of the Order out here searching. They must be searching for Leah and the other aliens. They’re certainly not looking for me, they all think I’m dead. In all this time we haven’t seen any signs of the Order. They’ve left