A |
ll the breath flew out of me at once. After a moment of lying there, wincing, I opened my eyes to find myself staring up the side of a cliff at Rio. He was only able to throw me a worried glance before a large, colorful, and distinctly ugly bird crashed into him.
After a moment of getting air back into my lungs I figured it was about time to right myself. Rolling onto my stomach resulted in much protest from my now twice-injured neck. I really wished someone had given me the option of staying back on the ship.
Levent seemed to be the only other person that noticed my fall in the commotion, but he was currently on the other side of an overgrown lizard. By the looks of things, the dragon had swept the side of the pit with its spiky tail in another effort to end the kin’s life. Levent had dodged again, but the little foundation that had been keeping the ledge steady was removed in the process, resulting in my fall.
I scooted back against the slope to avoid the swinging of its thick tail and tried not to panic.
Above me, I heard a series of loud cracking sounds, and I looked up just in time to see the tree that I had just been clutching onto so tightly tumble toward me. I was able to scoot out of the way well in time, but the tree continued its journey down the hill until it bounced against the dragon’s tail.
Everyone in the pit went rigid, including the dragon. It slowly turned its ugly snout back toward the tree and me, glaring through one eye. The other one was completely clouded over from a thousand years of use.
I watched the creature’s huge nostrils twitch before it opened its gaping mouth and let out a shriek that shook my bones. Apparently it did not like the way I smelled. The feeling was mutual.
It spun to face me, swinging its tail as it went, this time successfully knocking Levent off his feet and into the side of the pit. I did not appreciate the sound of his skull knocking against stone, and I especially did not like that the huge dragon was now staring me down.
Just as it opened its mouth to either screech again or swallow me whole, something whistled past my ear. The dagger stuck into the dragon’s narrow tongue and pinned it to its bottom jaw. Truly in pain now, it thrashed violently and made a noise between a gargle and a scream. Dirt and rocks from the ledge fell down around