biting and clawing and ripping one another apart to get to the females.”
“I don’t understand,” Marisa muttered, hurrying to keep up with her brother’s longer stride. “This has never happened before.”
“Hurry. You have to calm them down before the guards shoot them out of the sky or they kill one another.”
Beware the man with the gift of sight, for knowledge is a dangerous thing.
—H IGH P RIESTESS OF A VALON
6
A ccording to Marisa’s schedule board, the crowded sky should have been empty. But overhead, dragons bellowed fire, their mighty
wings maneuvering them to take tactical advantage of deadly claws and razor-sharp teeth.
Marisa stood beside Rion on the university’s grass field, trembling with the effort of sending her telepathic message to over
a dozen dragons.
No biting. No fighting.
Lust blasted her through the telepathic link. Primal fury ricocheted down the connection. With three giant males fighting
over one female, blood dripped from beaks, claws, and necks.
So far, the guards had refrained from shooting the dragons with tranqs, but their trigger fingers were ready, the weapons
aimed. Marisa spoke to the guards over the radio. “Stand down. I’ll deal with them.”
The guards lowered their weapons but remained alert. Wary.
Marisa turned her attention back to the dragons.
Calm yourselves. Control the primal urges. You are dragons, but you are also human.
To her right, four females battled. This time over turf and platinum pellets. The females were about Marisa’s age but they
outweighed her by twenty tons.
Share the platinum. There’s enough for all.
Marisa kept her messages short and simple. In dragon form, their brains were primitive, and more complicated thoughts became
difficult to process. At least the females sheathed their claws.
But the males flew straight up, then engaged in a deadly air battle filled with squawks of pain, flapping wings, and bellows
of fury. They weren’t listening to her. She wasn’t getting through.
Two dragons shot fire at each other, and the air reeked of burned flesh and roars of rage. If Marisa didn’t stop them, the
dragons were going to kill each other.
Stop it. Stop. Stop.
The male dragons broke apart. Had her own fear gotten through? Relief filled her.
But then three males dived straight at Marisa, their deadly mass targeting her.
No.
She held up her hand, signaling the guards to hold. At the same time, she closed her eyes as the dragons flew at her in attack
formation.
I am your friend. Friend. Friend.
As a huge roar rolled like thunder across the sky, she opened her eyes and gasped. The largest dragon she’d ever seen had
placed his body between the three angry males and Marisa.
She recognized the clothes on the ground beside the massive dragon. That dragon was Rion. He’d dragonshaped. And now, rearing
up on his hind legs, he trumpeted his fury.
But even with his tremendous wings and fierce bellow, he couldn’t defeat three blood-hungry dragons. Not if he stayed rooted
to the ground. An easy target.
Fly.
She shot him a message.
Not leaving you.
The guards fired tranqs at the three attacking males. And missed. Their darts fell short, unable to reach the dragons barreling
down on them. No way could Rion stop them; it was like a semi-truck trying to stop a freight train.
While the guards reloaded, Marisa pleaded with Rion.
If you don’t fly, you’ll die. We’ll both die.
Rion roared fire, his flames flaring across the sky in bright reds and fiery oranges, singeing the attacking trio.
Fear sliced Marisa until she trembled with it.
Fear. Fear. Fear.
Just as the guards fired again, one of the attacking dragons swerved right, the other left. The third pulled up short, tumbled.
Thank God. They’d broken off the attack.
Still shaking, her fear easing, she sent soothing praise.
Good work. You did well. We don’t fight. We are friends.
Marisa sighed with relief. “That was close.”
“Too
“I don’t understand,” Marisa muttered, hurrying to keep up with her brother’s longer stride. “This has never happened before.”
“Hurry. You have to calm them down before the guards shoot them out of the sky or they kill one another.”
Beware the man with the gift of sight, for knowledge is a dangerous thing.
—H IGH P RIESTESS OF A VALON
6
A ccording to Marisa’s schedule board, the crowded sky should have been empty. But overhead, dragons bellowed fire, their mighty
wings maneuvering them to take tactical advantage of deadly claws and razor-sharp teeth.
Marisa stood beside Rion on the university’s grass field, trembling with the effort of sending her telepathic message to over
a dozen dragons.
No biting. No fighting.
Lust blasted her through the telepathic link. Primal fury ricocheted down the connection. With three giant males fighting
over one female, blood dripped from beaks, claws, and necks.
So far, the guards had refrained from shooting the dragons with tranqs, but their trigger fingers were ready, the weapons
aimed. Marisa spoke to the guards over the radio. “Stand down. I’ll deal with them.”
The guards lowered their weapons but remained alert. Wary.
Marisa turned her attention back to the dragons.
Calm yourselves. Control the primal urges. You are dragons, but you are also human.
To her right, four females battled. This time over turf and platinum pellets. The females were about Marisa’s age but they
outweighed her by twenty tons.
Share the platinum. There’s enough for all.
Marisa kept her messages short and simple. In dragon form, their brains were primitive, and more complicated thoughts became
difficult to process. At least the females sheathed their claws.
But the males flew straight up, then engaged in a deadly air battle filled with squawks of pain, flapping wings, and bellows
of fury. They weren’t listening to her. She wasn’t getting through.
Two dragons shot fire at each other, and the air reeked of burned flesh and roars of rage. If Marisa didn’t stop them, the
dragons were going to kill each other.
Stop it. Stop. Stop.
The male dragons broke apart. Had her own fear gotten through? Relief filled her.
But then three males dived straight at Marisa, their deadly mass targeting her.
No.
She held up her hand, signaling the guards to hold. At the same time, she closed her eyes as the dragons flew at her in attack
formation.
I am your friend. Friend. Friend.
As a huge roar rolled like thunder across the sky, she opened her eyes and gasped. The largest dragon she’d ever seen had
placed his body between the three angry males and Marisa.
She recognized the clothes on the ground beside the massive dragon. That dragon was Rion. He’d dragonshaped. And now, rearing
up on his hind legs, he trumpeted his fury.
But even with his tremendous wings and fierce bellow, he couldn’t defeat three blood-hungry dragons. Not if he stayed rooted
to the ground. An easy target.
Fly.
She shot him a message.
Not leaving you.
The guards fired tranqs at the three attacking males. And missed. Their darts fell short, unable to reach the dragons barreling
down on them. No way could Rion stop them; it was like a semi-truck trying to stop a freight train.
While the guards reloaded, Marisa pleaded with Rion.
If you don’t fly, you’ll die. We’ll both die.
Rion roared fire, his flames flaring across the sky in bright reds and fiery oranges, singeing the attacking trio.
Fear sliced Marisa until she trembled with it.
Fear. Fear. Fear.
Just as the guards fired again, one of the attacking dragons swerved right, the other left. The third pulled up short, tumbled.
Thank God. They’d broken off the attack.
Still shaking, her fear easing, she sent soothing praise.
Good work. You did well. We don’t fight. We are friends.
Marisa sighed with relief. “That was close.”
“Too
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