To Wake a Dragon - Naomi Lucas Page 0,19

looks like. I kept my eyes closed when she lit the fire. The sudden light hurt too much for me to bear. But I am healing, I realize, and with each minute that passes, the poison dragon’s toxin lessens within me. Liquid beads my usually cold body—from the fire, no less—and it is helping me expel the poison’s effects.

Perhaps that was all I needed these long years—a way to sweat it out of me. If dragons could sweat…

Why has she not returned? My weak human fingers twitch at my sides. She should be here where I can see her. Can protect…

Yet another growl expels from me. I cannot protect anything, not even myself right now.

A dragon male protects his mate. That is his sole duty after his mate has been claimed and seeded. Until a dragonling is born, and even then, the male remains, lingering until the dragonling is grown enough to protect itself—then and only then do the femdragon and offspring leave.

But dragons bond differently with humans. That bond is unique because of the red comet that shifted Venys. When the comet first appeared, the world twisted, and all species upon it suffered.

The red comet brings out the heat in dragons—the wild urge to reproduce. It was a boon as much as it was a curse.

I do not know whatever blight fell upon the other species of Venys from the comet. It had never been my concern.

I have missed many comets though, I am certain… stuck in this cave. Does Venys even suffer the red comet anymore? For all I know it is possible, after all, long ago when I was young, the red comet did not exist.

Is this why a female human has found me? Is the red comet in the sky at this very moment? My tails lift and my fingers curl. Bond or not, my need to mate is powerful. And with a human female no less. Where is she!?

As soon as I can rise…

Thoughts whirl through my head. She will never leave my side again, and I—I will reclaim all that has been taken from me! I will start with her.

I flick my tails, purposely this time. And that… that is everything. Excitement joins my annoyance. I may never fly, but I will be able to eat and rut. I will be able to run and hunt. I will be able to move again.

I can search for the bones of the poison dragon and ruin them.

But first… Where is my human? My nostrils flare. Too much time has passed.

My human is hurt, I know this. Is the hurt on her head? I like it less and less that I cannot rise to care for her. My gaze shifts to the cave ceiling, and I watch the golden cast of the fire’s light dance over it. It is an easy trance, and it dulls the pain I sense from her. I can be stable while she is in the dark.

A hissing noise pricks my ears. A second later, it happens again, louder this time.

My eyes drift from the fire, searching for the source.

I see something move. A long and angular mass. It slowly gets bigger. It pauses when I move, managing to drop my head to the side. The first thing I notice is its tail-like body, it’s gaunt frame.

Not a human. I inhale. It is not the other human who was with mine from earlier. But I know this already…because of the tail.

A naga?

White and yellow eyes pierce the shadows to pin mine.

This time when I growl, a growl comes out. The naga does not flee, but it also does not come closer. I strain and flex again, urging my body to do something, anything. If the naga attacks, there will be nothing I can do to defend myself. Nagas are base beasts of the jungle, a staple of any dragon’s diet.

I taste its flesh in my memories.

The beady yellow dots of its eyes flash in the dark. I am prime food offered up on a platter. Any beast as gaunt as this one would not balk at the opportunity to engorge.

I manage to make a fist with my hand closest to it, bracing, readying it. I do not want to die, and I growl again, but the noise is not nearly as loud or as frightening as it used to be.

I wait for the attack but the naga only stares at me.

What is he waiting for?

Suddenly, the bond inside me flares up. I hear