To Tame a Dragon - Tiffany Roberts Page 0,55

as large as her hands.

Elliya’s fiery emotions finally wavered, retreating from a slowly spreading wave of cold—the first hints of fear.

Dunehounds were small and often timid, acting primarily as scavengers, but their bites were surprisingly strong and were known to inflict blood sickness. The beasts could become quite aggressive when they felt their food was threatened—and there certainly had been food for them nearby. Elliya and Falthyris had left animal remains in the area for the last few weeks. Even the bones would’ve been tempting to dunehounds, considering the creatures could crack them with their powerful jaws to get at the sweet marrow inside.

But the true reason for her fear was another aspect of dunehound behavior—they always ran in packs. Elliya could defend herself from a few of the beasts on her own, but an entire pack?

Keeping her movements slow and smooth despite the tremors threatening to overtake her limbs, Elliya lowered her face, bent forward to appear smaller, and backed away. At the upper edge of her vision, the dunehound swayed toward her slightly and bobbed its head, nostrils flaring. It fixed its eyes on her. One of its paws slid forward, claws scraping stone.

These beasts were capable of hunting, but they usually avoided doing so. Elliya just needed to continue her calm withdrawal, and the dunehound would turn away, return to its nearby food, return to its pack, and that would be the end of this.

The dunehound straightened its front legs, stretched its neck to lift its head high, and pointed its snout skyward. Elliya’s eyes followed the arrow its body had formed to land on a faint but unmistakable point of glimmering red in the clear blue sky. The Red Star.

The force that seemed to be affecting the behavior of all the world’s animals.

The dunehound released a quick succession of high, chirruping howls that echoed along the ravine and across the sky. A chorus of similar calls answered it, all of them far too close for comfort—and coming from all sides.

Elliya straightened and adjusted her hold on her knife. The weapon felt wholly inadequate for the challenge facing her. She hastened her retreat as the first beast bounded gracefully down to the bottom of the ravine, kicking up little clouds of dust with its landing.

Elliya moved her eyes quickly, scanning the ridges to either side while repeatedly looking back at the first dunehound.

More of those abrupt howls sounded, and more dunehounds appeared on the ridges to both sides. There were two at first, then six, then nearly a score, all staring down at her with those dark, hungry eyes. Several leapt down from their perches.

That quickly, she was surrounded. Elliya clenched her jaw and let out a ragged breath through her nostrils. Her skin itched beneath all the predatory gazes fixed upon her. Keeping her eyes moving between the dunehounds that were slowly advancing on her, she crouched to snatch up a rock in her free hand.

One of the dunehounds growled, sinking into a lower stance with its short, thin tail curled down.

Despite everything that had happened up until now, despite the argument and the emotional aftermath, despite her own skill and pride, Elliya did not hesitate in doing what was needed. She only hoped she was still close enough to the lair for him to hear.

“Falthyris!” she shouted as loud as she could, ignoring the burning rawness it sparked in her throat.

The closest dunehound darted toward her.

Elliya swung her arm reflexively, and the rock caught the attacking beast on the side of its snout, knocking the creature away. It released a pained yelp. The scraping of claws over rock and dirt behind Elliya prompted her to spin. She immediately backpedaled, narrowly avoiding the snapping jaws of another dunehound.

She kicked hard, striking the creature in its ribs with enough force to briefly lift it off the ground. The dunehound landed heavily atop a pile of nearby stone and writhed, making desperate, agonized whines.

There was barely time to turn away before several more of the beasts rushed at her.

Releasing a primal growl of her own, Elliya fought with all the strength and savagery she could muster, lashing out with knife, stone, fists, and feet. Her thunderous heartbeat drowned out all other sounds. She perceived little in the chaos; dunehounds swarmed around her, snapping and clawing but recoiling from her onslaught. There were spots on her skin that were overly warm and pulsed with faint, far-off tingles—places where the beasts’ claws had torn her flesh.

She’d feel those wounds later.