To Tame a Dragon - Tiffany Roberts Page 0,57

agony burning across his scales. He was failing his foremost duty. Above all, he was meant to be her shield, her guardian.

She was not for the vermin swarming the ravine. She belonged to Falthyris the Golden.

Mine.

He thrust himself higher with a final pump of his wings. His heartfire blasted outward, obscuring all his senses with fire, smoke, and a hundredfold increase of his pain. Flames suffused him from within and without, swallowing his mind and lashing his soul. Only once before had he suffered such agony—in those moments following the first time Elliya had touched him.

For an instant, he hung weightless in the air. His body was crumbling to ash, and as the fires expanded, he was formed anew, reshaped by the flames.

Though he could not see Elliya, he could feel her—she was all he sensed but for the fire and pain. He angled himself toward her, stretching his neck, and fell into a dive. The rush of wind beat back the flames, sweeping across his thickly armored scales, but it did not cool his heartfire.

Deep in his mind, he recognized that he was whole. He was himself again—huge and powerful, a true dragon. Whatever transformation the bond had wrought upon him was finally undone. But he didn’t care. Only one thing mattered.

Falthyris flared his mighty wings, which spanned wider than the ravine, just before he landed on all fours. A cloud of dust billowed up from the ground, mixing with the thick smoke pouring off his scales to shroud everything in brown and gray. The creatures around the ravine howled, hissed, and growled, challenging him on a level he recognized in the most bestial part of his mind. These puny things were voicing their claims on his territory—their claims on his Elliya.

Her coughing below him cut through all the other sounds. Falthyris flapped his wings, blowing away the smoke and dust, and looked down.

Elliya waved lingering dust and smoke from her face and looked up at him, her dark eyes wide. The sunlight reflecting off his scales cast a soft golden light upon her, and it seemed fitting. Had not her people once treasured gold and considered it precious? Nothing in all the world was as precious as her.

That light also fell upon the blood covering her arms and legs, spattered on her face and chest, glistening through the dirt that had mixed with it.

His tongue flicked out. The scent of blood stood out over all others, recognized by his inner predator. Some of it belonged to the creatures attacking her. Too much of it belonged to her.

Falthyris reached forward, curling his claws around his beloved little mate, and drew her closer. She grabbed his finger as though to steady herself, but did not pull away.

The creatures in front of him charged out of the swirling dust.

Falthyris lifted his head, filling his lungs with air, and dipped it forward to release a roar that shook the ground beneath him. A cone of dragonfire accompanied that roar, engulfing the creatures and their pained cries.

Fresh howls rose behind him. He swept his tail back and forth, slamming more of the creatures against the walls of the ravine hard enough to pulverize bone and crack stone. Several of the things leapt from the ridges to claw at his back and gnash their teeth against his scales. Their futile assault only fanned the flames of his rage.

One of the beasts bounded to the bottom of the ravine and darted toward Elliya, jaws wide and fangs glistening. The smoke, lingering bits of fire, and charred corpses of its packmates did not deter the beast.

Falthyris rose briefly on his hind legs and lifted his empty hand off the ground. He threw his weight back down atop that hand, crushing the creature beneath it.

At the same moment, he bent his neck back and clamped his jaws over one of the creatures on his shoulder. The little beast thrashed and clawed. Falthyris bit down, and the creature’s struggles ceased with a crunch and a gush of warm blood. He snapped his head to the side and flung the carcass away.

Falthyris drew his precious Elliya against his chest. Despite the furious heat of his heartfire, he could feel her warmth through his scales, could feel the softness of her little body. That only poured fresh heat into his blood. She pressed herself against him, leaning into the shelter of his body.

Keeping that firm but gentle hold on Elliya, he ravaged the ravine with teeth, talons, tail, and fire,