Bianca D'Arc (18 page)

"Not I, sir. My mother knew a dragon once
though. She told me about your kind." Belora knew she had to
convince him soon. The longer this dragged on, the more likely he
was to haul her before some tribunal for poaching. "So what about
the stag?"

“
From where I stand, it was my talon that
made the kill. Not your puny arrow.
But you have a good
argument. I'll give you that.”

The dragon moved closer to her as she fumed
in response, but she didn’t realize she was being set up until it
was much too late. While she argued with him, the dragon moved
closer still, until he had the stag wrapped in the talons on one
huge foreleg and she was much too close to the other. As she
realized her mistake, he swooped in and made his move.

He reached out quicker than thought and
snapped the padded digits of his left foreleg around her waist,
trapping her arms inside the cage his wickedly sharp talons made
around her. She screamed in frustration and more than a bit of
fear. The dragon only chuckled.

“
Don't worry, little one.”
His voice
was gentle in her mind, as if trying to calm her.

The dragon beat his huge wings two or three
times and then they were airborne. She couldn’t help the little
yelp of fright that escaped as her feet left the ground. He could
easily open his claw and drop her to the ground far below. That
would solve his problem quite easily, she thought with growing
horror.

But dragons were supposed to be noble
creatures! In all the tales she’d heard about them, she’d never
heard of one going to such lengths to toy with a human before. They
were mankind’s friends, not enemies, and they weren’t supposed to
go around snatching up maidens only to hurtle them to their
deaths.

As they gained altitude and he did not
release her to die a nasty and painful death, she began to calm.
She was held in one front claw, the slain deer in the other. She
looked around and realized she had never seen such a beautiful
sight. The view from above was breathtaking. She could see the huge
mountain lake as they approached it, and if she craned her neck to
look behind, she could see the forest canopy, green and fertile,
hiding the secrets of the creatures that lived within.

She and her mother lived there, under the
thick cover of trees, and had for many years. It was their haven,
their home. Nothing as magical as this had ever happened to Belora,
living isolated in the forest, and she decided to enjoy this moment
out of time, flying high above the world. She would likely never
have the chance again, for it was rare that a dragon transported a
human that was not their knight partner. She knew that from the
stories and legends the old ones told of knights and dragons. Even
her mother—who had been friends with a dragon in her youth—had
never flown with one. It was a rare and magical experience.

“
Do you like the view, little
one?”

“It’s beautiful!” Belora had to shout to be
heard over the racing wind.

The dragon chuckled, thoughtfully directing
the stream of smoke out behind him and away from her. She realized
from the gesture that he was well used to being around humans and
carrying them as he flew, but she guessed he didn’t carry too many
in his claws. The legends all said knights rode on the backs of
their dragon partners.

“Where are you taking me?” She pulled her
attention from the gorgeous vista long enough to question her
predicament. If he was taking her to a tribunal, she was in big
trouble. She’d rather know now if she would be facing arrest when
they landed.

“
Fear not, little one. I said you had a
good case for the stag.
We will let the knight
decide.”

They cruised over the edge of the large
mountain lake. The water sparkled below as the dragon dropped
lower. A moist breeze off the water teased her senses.

"What knight?" That didn’t sound good.

Rather than calming her fears, the news that
there was a knight in the area only made things worse. She’d been
poaching, plain and simple. Mere peasants weren't allowed to kill
the deer to feed their families, but the dragons were welcome to
them as a snack at any time.

“
That knight,”
the dragon thought
back at her. It took her a moment to understand his meaning, but
when she looked down and just ahead of their path, she saw a sleek
male body cutting through the waters of the lake. He swam like a
fish or like one of the great sea creatures she had heard stories
about. She found herself distracted by the sun gleaming off the
powerful muscles of his arms as he sliced through the water,
heading for shore. Something about the man’s hard body pulled at
her most feminine core, though she was inexperienced with men, in
general.

“
I am Kelvan and that’s Gareth, my
knight.”

Please note:
All the books in the
Dragon Knights
series will be re-released, one per month
starting in August of 2012, building up to the release of the
newest book,
Keeper of the Flame
, in February
2013. Join the adventure today!