Victor Rosevale's Arc

Chapter 6 of 18

Dawn came gray through the ferns. Victor had not slept. He watched Sable's face by the low light and saw the change he needed to see. Her cheeks had color again. Her lips were not blue. He pressed the back of his hand to her forehead. Warm, not hot. He let out a breath he had been holding since the river. She stirred and opened her eyes. They found him at once. "You look worse than me," Sable said. Her voice was dry but even. "You scared me, honey." "I know." She tried to sit up and winced. He caught her shoulder and eased her back. "Water," she said. He gave her the cloth again and she drank from it. "How long?" "One night. The wound closed. You're going to walk out of here." She studied him. "You didn't sleep." "I'll sleep when we're home." Outside, the dragon lifted its head. The moss on its shoulders shifted as the long neck turned toward the trail. Its ears pricked. A low sound came out of its chest, not a growl, more a warning hum. Victor was on his feet before he thought about it. He took the spear. "Stay flat," he told Sable. "Don't call out." He crouched at the lip of the hollow. Two men were coming up the slope. He knew them without ever seeing them. One carried Sable's pack on his shoulder. The other had a short blade in his hand and was watching the sky for the falcon. Victor set his feet to move. The dragon moved first. It came down the slope in three strides, faster than something that size should move. The man with the blade got his arm up. The dragon knocked him flat with its shoulder and pinned him under one clawed foot. The second man dropped the pack and ran. The dragon's tail swept low and took his legs out from under him. He hit the ground hard and did not get up. It was over in the time it took Victor to reach the trail. The dragon stood over the two men and looked at Victor with its pale blue eye. Waiting. Victor understood the question. He shook his head. "Just hold them," he said. "We'll tie them and leave them for the road." He walked back up to the hollow. Sable had pulled herself to the mouth of it, one hand braced on the stone. She had heard everything. "They won't come back this time," Victor said as he scooped her up into his arms. "No." She looked past him at the dragon, then at him. "So we can go home."