Phoenix by Finley Aaron Read Free Book Online Page A

in dragon form, I turn into a dragon just long enough to pluck up fallen timber in my talons. It’s so much easier to move the trees when I’m as big as they are.
    Once I’ve got a pile assembled in a stony stretch free of other flammables, near the stream so we’ll have a water source, I blow a burst of flames onto the pile.
    It’s a cheery bonfire, and warm. Nia immediately steps closer, hands outstretched. “Thank you. I can never get warm enough.”
    I nod, swallowing back an offer to snuggle her. From every signal she’s given me, I don’t think she’d welcome that proposal, no matter how chilly she feels. I’d like to chat with her, to get to know her better. She mentioned coming from a land of sunshine. Maybe talking about it will help her feel warmer. “You’re used to a milder climate?”
    Nia nods and looks like she’s ready to open up, maybe even tell me more about herself, when Ram returns with a Siberian brown bear in his talons. The clawed creature is a particularly large specimen—probably a good 800 pounds, not including its heavy fur.
    “Save the pelt,” Nia requests as Ram changes back into human form and draws his swords to butcher the carcass.
    “Have no fear. I’m an accomplished butcher.” Ram winks at her, and then proceeds to show off his expert slicing skills, freeing the hide from the animal before unfurling the pelt in Nia’s direction, fur side up. “This should give you a more comfortable rest—and keep you warm.”
    Nia buries her feet in the thick fur and smiles contentedly.
    I make a mental note to offer to go hunting the next time we make camp. Since our parents both worked as butchers when they first met, they’re highly skilled in the art, and passed their knowledge along to all of us. I can skin a bear just as well as my brother.
    As though sensing my chagrin, Ram tosses me a side of bear meat. “Heads up!” He shouts, and I look up just in time for the hundred-pound snack to slap my face. I peel the meat back from my skin and frown. “Thank you, Ram.”
    “No problem.” Ram mutters softly, his attention mostly on Nia as he politely carries her a large cut of meat. She’s lounging on the bearskin in front of the fire, and beams at Ram when he offers to roast the meat for her, any way she likes it.
    I stab my bear meat onto my longest sword and hold it close to the flames, charring the outside while leaving the inside moist and delicious.
    Once it’s cooked, I join Nia on the bearskin (it’s a spacious skin and there’s room for me to sit next to her without even touching her) and we eat in companionable silence while Ram roasts his supper.
    “So, where are you from?” I ask Nia once we’ve both finished off our bear portions.
    “Tanzania, not that it was known as such then. My ancestors ruled a kingdom that stretched from the easternmost shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro, all the way to the headwaters of the Nile, from the Serengeti to Lake Tanganyika, as far as the island of Zanzibar.”
    “Those are vast holdings,” Ram observes, roasting the last of the bear carcass.
    “I have many ancestors.” Nia smiles, but then sadness clouds her face. “Not that any lived for me to meet them.”
    I want to know more, but I don’t want to pry. Nor do I wish to dredge up Nia’s saddest memories. Still, I can’t imagine that none of them lived for her to meet them. Maybe not long enough for her to get to know them, but she had to have at least met her own mother, didn’t she? When she doesn’t volunteer any more of her story, I ask softly, “What happened?”
    Nia sighs. “What always happens? Our people were lied to, told the dragons were evil. They didn’t believe those claims—most of them never did believe the claims—but some were afraid. Or jealous. Unfortunate events were blamed on the dragons. They became scapegoats. When enemy dragons attacked from across the sea, the fearful, jealous people betrayed the dragons. There were battles. Many battles. My