Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 107619 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 430(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107619 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 430(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Wait for me, I try sending. Don’t go!
There’s no response. No connection, no anything. It’s like he’s not there at all. The thought’s terrifying.
He spreads his wings and does a little hop, and all the breath leaves my lungs. He doesn’t go aloft again, though. His wings tuck against his back and he continues to pace through the broken streets, heading unerringly in the same direction.
I catch up eventually, panting and breathless, and race to his side. When he doesn’t acknowledge me, I put my hand on Zohr’s big foreleg. “Hey. Hey! Are you in there? Babe? It’s me, Emma!”
Nothing. He doesn’t even look at me.
I choke back my frustration and terror and slap him on the haunch, hard. “Yo! Earth to dragon! Come in please!”
It’s like I’m not there. I suspect if I set his wing on fire, he’d continue on, oblivious. Azar’s turned my beloved Zohr into a zombie. I…don’t know what to do. I fight back tears of frustration. I’m not giving up. I won’t lose him. I can’t.
Ignoring caution, I race ahead a few steps and fling myself in front of the dragon. I spread my arms wide, trying to make myself as big of a roadblock as possible. I’m nothing but a scrap to him, but I hope that it kicks some sort of instinct in as he lumbers ever closer.
Then, a scant inch or two before he runs me down, Zohr stops. I breathe a sigh of relief, waiting for his head to lower so he can acknowledge me. But he only pauses, moves to the side, and then goes around me. Well, fuck. I race ahead again and do the same thing, spreading my arms wide and blocking his path. This time, before he can move around me, I press my arms and my cheek to his scales, clinging to him for dear life.
“Zohr, please,” I whisper. “You have to be in there.”
The dragon stops. There’s no response, but he’s not moving, either.
I can’t help it. I feel so frustrated and helpless and alone that I start to cry. “You said you’d never leave me,” I sob at him. “You told me we were going to be together forever, remember? You can’t leave me behind. Not like this.”
I feel a tremor in his big body.
Hopeful, I reach out to him with my mind. At first there’s nothing but the blankness, and then something snaps back into place, like a rubber band. The big head lowers, and the gray’s clearing from his eyes. He leans down and nuzzles my hair.
Emma?
I cry even harder. It’s me, I tell him. Is it you?
Why are we outside? He noses me, rubbing his snout along my arm and shoulder. Why do you not wear your coverings? Why do you make sad water from your eyes?
“You don’t remember what just happened?” I ask him, curious. I swipe away my tears with the heels of my hands and then cling to his front again, still worried he’s going to snap back into zombie mode again.
All I remember is sleeping with you next to me. You put your cold feet on my legs. Then…nothing.
I half laugh, half cry at that. “You were dreaming about the mountains. And then something happened in your sleep and Azar took over your brain. You ignored me and it was like you weren’t there at all when I tried to touch you with my mind.” I do it even now, just to reassure myself, and I’m relieved when his mental affirmation brushes over my mind. He’s there. “You were gone, and you started flying away. When your wings gave out, you kept walking. I didn’t think you were ever going to stop.” I can feel my throat closing up, the tears preparing again.
He rubs his nose against me one more time, and then a second later, he’s in human form and his big arms go around my shoulders, holding me tight. My Emma. I am so sorry. His thoughts are puzzled and worried all at once. I do not understand how he was able to touch my mind. He must have deceived me in my sleep.
I cling to him, pressing against his warm, comforting body. “We have to get away from here,” I whisper. “I don’t want him to try this again.” If I can’t get to him a second time…I’m terrified at the thought.
We will go away from this place, he reassures me.
“Now?”
Now, unless you wish to return and get your gear?
I shake my head. I have my bug-out bag. It has essentials and a spare change of clothing. Everything else isn’t worth the risk. It doesn’t matter that I’ve worked for weeks to make the place safe, or that I’ve got a bunch of food stored up. Fuck it all. The only thing that matters is my dragon.