Mara ignores the pain in her infected limbs as she tugs the duir’ne and Kimala along. She glances back at the clash of weapons, wishing she can help them against the attackers. Gritting her teeth, she focuses ahead – but stops at the sight of the ebony-skinned tav’luk leader ambling toward them from around the front of the wagon.

He sneers, flexing his extra-jointed limbs. “You think you can escape me, little dragonling?” he rumbles in a gravelly voice. He has many of the same features as a regular person, and Mara wonders if the pressure points are similar, too.

“How strong are you?” she asks the ‘dragonling,’ a plan formulating in her head.

Kimala shakes her head. “You shouldn’t fight – ”

“What do you require of me?” the dragon duir’ne asks, shifting on his feet to remove his weight off Mara’s shoulders.

“Throw me at him feet-first.”

“Prepare yourself.” Hands wrap around her waist and catapult her at the dark-skinned tav’luk. She aims with her bad foot, already calculating the damage the impact will do to it. She cannot afford to hurt her only good ankle on top of her current injuries.

The tav’luk is definitely not slow. He catches her bad foot in mid-air, causing the bones to grate against one another. Mara grimaces as pain shoots through her ankle.

She performs a swift kick to the nape of his neck with her one good foot. As gravity kicks in, she uses her entire body’s momentum behind her arm and slams her elbow between his legs, hoping it is a weakness like most male bipedals.

He grunts in pain, dropping her. She catches herself with her hands, rolling away and getting back to her feet. She favors her right leg, testing her balance on her twisted ankle as the tav’luk recovers. Whipping out her dagger, she flourishes it in her left hand, unsure if her right one will be able to hold it because of the impact with the ground.

“No honor,” he growls, straightening. He steps forward, and the impact trembles the ground. “You will pay for that, little girl.”

Mara grins recklessly, masking her fear of the giant man. “And kidnapping a prince – a duir’ne – is honorable?” She holds up her knife, sinking into a crouch. Behind her, the dragon-boy sucks in his breath and mutters something in a strangely familiar guttural language.

Hatred flashes through the tav’luk’s eyes. Using incredible speed despite his size, he swings his fist down.

Mara dodges, wrapping her arms around the limb and guesstimating a pressure point. She jams her fingers into the tender patch of skin as she stabs his arm.

He howls in agony, bringing his other fist around. Again, Mara dodges, but her ankle gives out on her.

She stumbles.

He catches her by her throat, slowly crushing it as he raises her off the ground. The dagger slips from her fingers.

Gasping for air, Mara rakes her nails across his arm, but it doesn’t faze him. Red spots splash across her vision. She holds her hand out, reaching for the tav’luk.

The ebony creature’s laugh sounds like a rumbling thundercloud. “Puny child,” he chastises, smirking. “Do you wish to beg for mercy?”

“As… if.” Mara spits in the tav’luk’s face. He closes his eyes and wipes away the spittle – giving her an opening.

Silver sparks gather at her fingertips, shooting out with a wave of black fog barely in the form of a sphere. It explodes in his face.

The tav’luk howls and falls back as Mara catapults across the ground from the mini explosion. She slams into someone; his arms encircle her, protecting her as they ram into the side of the wagon.

The dragon prince winces as he sits upright. “Take off the pendant,” he orders. Mara stares at him, stunned by the demand. The tav’luk struggles to stand up, clutching his bleeding face. “Now!”

Mara fumbles with the charm, flinching as the stone’s heat bites into her fingers. Finally, she figures out the latch and unclasps it, pulling it off his neck. The stone turns black.

His body stretches and morphs.

His neck elongates and his hair hardens together into flaming red scales. His face pushes out into a muzzle ridged with spikes and bumps. Mara slides to the ground as he grows, his arms turning into scaly claws that flatten the grass on either side of her. Two beautiful orange-red wings stretch out and scrape the trees on either side of them.

The dragon crouches over Mara protectively. He shakes his head and roars.

The tav’luk grins manically, his dark eyes shining with bloodlust. A deep-throated snarl rumbles through the dragon’s chest, and Mara’s eyes widen as she stares at the scales vibrating in front of her face. She tilts her head back, watching upside-down as the tav’luk charges at them.

The dragon swipes his extended claws at the tav’luk, sending the creature crashing into the wagon. Whirling around, he roars at the other slavers, rising onto his forelegs to tower over everyone. Codi, Rick, and Ace scramble out of the way as the scaled beast lunges at the slavers, swiping his huge claws at the attackers. His tail swings around, sweeping several off their feet.

Kimala helps her cousin up. Mara winces as her ankle twinges painfully.

“Are you all right?” Ace asks worriedly. He glances behind the two girls and his eyes widen. “Carc’ra.”

The tav’luk staggers to his feet, rage contorting his face. He roars and charges at them.

Ace quickly grabs Mara’s right arm while Codi takes Kimala’s place, supporting Mara as they dart into the forest.

Rick widens his stance, gripping his sword as he waits for the charging tav’luk.

“That idiot,” Ace mutters, releasing Mara and racing toward Rick. Mara watches in dread, wondering who will reach the soldier first.

The tav’luk does.

The guard leaps out of the way at the last second, slashing at the tav’luk’s unprotected back. Howling, the extra-jointed creature whirls around with his fingers curled into claws, slashing across Rick’s armored torso.

The armor falls apart like ribbons. He staggers back, clutching his chest in pain.

Mara’s eyes widen as Kimala covers her mouth. Ace stabs at the tav’luk, but the blade chips as it glances off the skin. It hardened its exterior, Mara thinks, unable to see this creature as a man anymore.

The tav’luk swings his curled fingers at Ace; he barely dodges it, and the claws scrape against his arm. Rick lunges, defending Ace’s back as the tav’luk tries to land another hit.

Mara steps forward to help them, but her right ankle caves underneath her and she collapses on the ground. Kimala and Codi quickly help her up and support her.

The dragon, finished with wiping out the slavers, pounces on the tav’luk before it can turn Ace into flank steak. Claws glinting, the dragon slashes at the ebony creature, opening deep gashes into its torso. The tav’luk howls in pain and lashes out at the dragon.

Ace grabs Rick’s arm and scrambles to the others. They collapse in front of the teens. Four shallow claw marks ruin Rick’s shirt and bite into his skin; Ace has a nasty gouge on his arm where the tav’luk had caught him. It is too dark to see the blood against their dark-toned clothes.

Mara leans forward and examines Rick’s injuries. “It-it needs to be treated,” she says numbly, swallowing hard as she glances at Kimala. “Can you help him?”

“Not now,” Ace growls, grabbing Mara’s arm and pulling her with him. He nods his head at the darkness of the woods. “We need to head out.”

“What about – ” Codi starts, turning to the dragon.

The red-scaled reptile gracefully glides across the ground, pausing beside them. The tav’luk lies against the wagon, either knocked out or dead.

“Follow me.”

Mara’s eyes widen as she hears the dragon’s voice inside her mind.

Letting go of Ace, Mara stumbles alongside the dragon. She ignores her screaming ankle and cradles her wrist, wishing the pain to abate just for a bit. Codi supports Rick as Kimala struggles to close his wounds while they walk.

Hoping for a distraction, she asks the dragon, “What’s your name?”

“Mara, that’s no way to – ” Kimala starts.

“Ryutaro,” the dragon cuts off the girl, releasing a rumble that Mara quickly identifies as a chuckle. “Thank you for rescuing me.”

“We should be the ones thanking you,” Ace quickly bows while walking alongside Mara. “Ace Narweun, Your Grace. This is Mara and Codi, as well as Tein’stra Kimala Brunet.”

Ryutaro bobs his giant head in a nod. “It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

Mara examines the dragon’s fiery scales, still blocking out her screaming ankle and wrist. “How are you speaking like that? It’s like… telepathy.”

Ryutaro chuckles. “To an extent, it is. I am using my Source to communicate directly to yours.” He stares at her with a fiery eye. “Tell me, how can you have so much power yet still be infected by Hemius? Usually, that poison avoids those with power.”