But Naomi was scared now. She’d woken to find herself tied to a rock near the ocean. She could smell the salt in the air and hear the waves lapping at the shore. If she craned her head just so, she could make out the glinting of the water.
Dimly, she still remembered the giant hand that had come bursting through the window and closed around her.
It seemed like a nightmare. She knew these things weren’t real—monsters, dragons, those things only existed in fairy tales.
But right now, she’d woken tied up with rope, and the last thing she remembered was that giant hand covered with glistening scales.
A dragon’s hand. Only that’s impossible.
She took a deep breath, trying to center herself. Panic wouldn’t help her now. She had to think.
My phone. My phone’s in my purse... Oh no!
She must have dropped it in the gallery, when the dragon had broken through the window. Either way, it wasn’t as if she could call 911 and ask for help with a dragon.
Just then, a terrible roar made the ground tremble. She distantly remembered that the dragon who’d kidnapped her had been covered in black scales gleaming with a strange, red sheen—like dark embers glowing with a hidden fire.
But the dragon who now came hurtling out of the sky towards her wasn’t black. He was covered in silver-gray scales that gleamed, the color of clouds—the color of the storm dragon she’d painted.
Maybe I’ve just gone mad, she thought, her heartbeat as loud as thunder in her ears. That’s impossible!
But she knew the dragon who came dropping out of the sky towards her. It was impossible—but he was right here in front of her eyes. The dragon she had painted. He was real. As real as the dragon who had broken through the window...
All of a sudden, the terror inside her drew back, making way for a familiar anger.
They’ve kidnapped me and tied me up here like a damsel in distress.
But she wasn’t weak and helpless.
If that was what these dragons wanted, they’d have to go and look for another victim. Naomi was sick and tired of life just buffeting her about like she was a toy. Everyone thought they could take advantage of her—even people like Jeff who claimed to be her friend.
I’m not a god-damn princess, she thought grimly, flexing her wrists to see if she could slip out of the rope. And I refuse to be bait.
Of course, it would be easier if she hadn’t worn her nice dress to the gallery. Usually, she was never without a penknife in her pocket.
The rope didn’t give. But now that her mind was clearing, she realized that the rock she was tied to wasn’t very tall. Craning her head, she saw that the boulder had deep indentations where it was exposed to the ocean water and the wind.
She must have lost her shoes when the dragon brought her here. They’d been her last pair of nice shoes that went with the dress—but she supposed it didn’t really matter anymore.
With a soft gasp, her feet searched for purchase on the stone. Then she drew herself up.
It went easier than she had feared. With her hands tied behind the rock, she could awkwardly make her way upwards. She could feel the thin fabric of her dress tear where her back rubbed against the rough surface, but she ignored it—right now, losing her last nice clothes was the least of her worries.
Halfway up the rock, she nearly slipped. Gasping, she scrambled for purchase, the rough surface of the stone scraping painfully against her arms.
Just at that moment, one of the dragons roared. When she looked up in terror, she was just in time to see the dark dragon spew a cloud of fire that hit the other dragon from below.
They were so close that she could feel the heat of the fire on her skin. With her heart racing frantically, she ignored the pain as she continued to force herself upwards—and then at last, with her final strength, she managed to pull her bound arms free over the rock.
She began to topple forward. She couldn’t use her arms to stabilize herself, and so, instead of falling, she decided to jump from the rock instead.
The impact was hard enough to drive her to
her knees, tears of pain in her eyes as the rocky ground bruised her knees.
A heartbeat later, something incredibly large and powerful hit the ground just a few feet in front of her.
The storm dragon.