I am Dragon (Dragon Fires Rising Book 2) by Marc Secchia (famous ebook reader TXT) 📕

belt buckle, before coiling his thighs and springing into the air with tremendous power. Flexing his wings, he pulled away out of bowshot before the soldiers could get any ideas.

“Freaking imposter!” Azania steamed.

“Aye, plus he was lying through his fangs about Azerim. Do you think this is a coup, Princess? Surely –”

“Without a doubt, something smells rotten in Zunityne. Dragon, we need Aria, and we need her fast. How long until the suns set?”

“This season? Two and a half hours, maybe?”

“Mykita is a straight westward run from here. Why would all the Dragons go there at once?”

“For Aria’s nuptials?” He hated how his voice broke.

“Is she that important on the Isles?”

“Look, why don’t we just ignore that, and turn around and sack Zunityne until we find Azerim?”

The Princess had the grace not to point out that was unarguably the stupidest idea he had ever voiced, nor to suggest where it might have originated and why. Instead, she said, “The crystal says it is eighty-eight miles to Mykita.”

“Too far. Look, the suns – we’re much farther north … so my guess –”

“I’ve already adjusted for the latitude. Besides, ‘too far’ would be true if we were talking about most Dragons. However, we are not talking about your average Dragon here. I happen to be seated upon the biggest, baddest, strongest and fastest Dragon in the Tamarine Mountains, and perhaps in all of Solixambria. Do you know what else?”

“What?”

“He’s a fighter and a lover.”

Gnarr.

“That soldier was lying about Azerim, right?”

“Aye. He lied about Azerim, but not about the nuptials. As best I could smell out, that was the absolute truth.”

The Princess said, “Then, for both of our sakes and the sake of this Kingdom, Dragon, we need to shift tail for Mykita Lair. I am sorry. Azerim needs us – and I am not implying your love life is worth less than mine. You cannot stop her nuptials if you are not there.”

“Stop the – Princess! The dishonour!”

She patted his neck, which had gone stiff with outrage. “No, you silly old stick. Please listen. Am I allowed to be the female in your life who can speak a pinch of wisdom when needed?”

He growled, “Alright! Uh … alright, in a less belligerent tone of fireball. I’m listening.”

“Thank you. So, speaking as a female, you need to give her the choice. Let her know you are present. Then, you must trust her to make her choice.” He said a rude word. “Aye, your very presence might make that choice unbearable; it might make all the difference, either positively or negatively. Yet if you are not there, you will never know for certain and neither will she. And that, Dragon, you would regret for the rest of your life. I have a sense of how you feel about her. I cannot imagine how hard this must be for you, especially given your history, but hear this: I know for a fact you are the better Dragon. I don’t care who that other male is. I know you. I know your courage and your mettle and your fire.”

“I …”

Speechless.

Five hearts he had, but they all seemed to be fighting for space in his throat at once.

Quietly, she said, “We have flown together many a mile. My friend, Ariamyrielle Seaspray would be a fool to choose any other, and that is a fact. Trust my judgement, especially if you cannot trust your own hearts to speak true through the pain and fear, just now. This is your moment, Dragon. You must seize this day and make it your own.”

He choked out, “This … this is why you are my Rider.”

“Aye?”

“This is why this Dragon is honoured beyond measure to bear you aloft. Because you soar, Princess. You soar.”

“Then, let’s fly into the suns, my Dragon.”

INTO THE SUNS!!

“Again!” she cried, raising her fists to the sky.

ARIA, I COME!!

His thunder brought the city below to a standstill.

* * * *

Dragon churned the air with his wings. Higher meant faster. Could he maintain altitude and keep them both safe with the magic he had learned from Inzashu, yet bring them eighty-eight miles in what would have to be the longest, fastest Dragon sprint in history? He had heard of Dragons making thirty miles an hour; forty when swooping from a height during battle. No story he had read or report of Dragon capabilities had his kind sustaining such a burst for more than a couple of minutes at a time.

Then again, how many half-ocean half-air Dragons were there?

The Dragon and his Rider shot away from the shores of Zunityne as if a thousand Sea Serpents were snapping at their heels. He moved straight to the powerful swimming stroke he had discovered, while Azania made herself small against his neck, even drawing up her feet so that he could lengthen his body, shielding her from the blast with the edge of his skull ruff.

As he mounted into the sky, the Archipelago spread around them. Several smaller islands stood offshore of Zunityne, covered in mangrove swamps in which narrow waterways glistened secretively. They understood from the maps they had pored over together that Mykita Lair lay right on the north-western tip of this third island they saw in the distance. Coral reefs festooned this area, leaving only the narrowest shipping lanes, but there were numerous Human fishing vessels with tiny white sails pottering about the shallow oceans – perhaps shallow enough to stymie any Sea Serpent attacks?

Harder! Harder! They rose into a patchy layer of cumulous clouds.

“Disguise,” Azania breathed.

Ha. She was right. White Dragon against white clouds. Could do worse.

Now, he cruised amongst beauty. Soft, innocent flotillas of clouds surrounded them, flattish on the undersides and cotton-puff fluffy on their tops. The suns dipped toward the horizon, slowly, yet