Aiding the Dragon (Stonefire Dragons 7)

How about we find them first and then go from there?

Since the sound of other dragons roaring had ceased, Teagan had to find the traitorous dragonmen the hard way, by searching every inch of her land and beyond.

As she flew over one of the observation platforms, she spotted Dr. Ronan O’Brien examining one of the French dragon-shifter judges lying unconscious. Two Protectors in dragon form mostly shielded the doctor and his charge with their wings, no doubt acting as a barrier from any more darts.

Since Orin’s clan had invited the French judges, it seemed not even allies had been spared. She wondered what Orin’s long-term game plan might be. At any rate, if she captured the bastard and proved his guilt, she might be able to use his betrayal to form her own alliances.

Her dragon grunted. Even without proof, it’ll be useful.

The DDA will require a confession. While I think it’s too much of a coincidence that my three competitors all acted the same way and disappeared at the same time, we need more.

Then let’s find them and show the males what we’re really made of.

Beating her wings, Teagan flew higher until she had a better vantage point of Glenveagh National Park. Dragons were at each of the viewing platforms. Her three competitors had probably left the park by now if her assumptions were correct.

She just needed to decide which way to go. Since venturing into Northern Ireland could provoke both Clan Northcastle and the British DDA into action, the three males would have no choice but to go along the coast to skirt around the tip of Northern Ireland before they could head further inland to any of their clans. And since flying would be more noticeable, they would probably drive a car to hide their escape.

If spotting them wasn’t hard enough, she needed to find the trio before they reached Donegal or she might lose them. The town wasn’t huge, but there was enough traffic to blend in.

Teagan turned her body toward the south and beat her wings quickly. The area was largely unpopulated, and she soon spotted two cars driving in the same direction but at quite a distance apart. One was an SUV and the other was a small car used by most families in the area.

Her beast spoke up. Dragons hate tiny cars. Not only are we too tall for that, but it's also easy for a dragon to attack it.

They might have taken the small car to try to throw us off.

The SUV turned off the road a few minutes later toward the west. Since they hadn’t reached the town of Donegal, the SUV probably wasn’t heading south.

Her gut told her to follow the small car. Let’s see if I was right.

Teagan slowly circled around to ensure there weren’t any other cars nearby. She didn’t need for an innocent to become a hostage for her enemies.

Not spotting anyone but the odd farmhouse here and there, she swooped down until she was nearly to the ground. At the last possible moment, she extended her rear talons and picked up the small car. Straining her muscles, she ascended about ten feet and used the wind currents to carry her further.

Her beast huffed. I wish I knew it was them. Then we could drop the car from a great height.

No. They need to be given a fair shot.

Stupid human ways.

Once Teagan reached a series of rolling hills and nothing but unoccupied land for a few miles in every direction, she gently placed the car on the ground and landed. Just as she touched down beside it, something fired from the window and a burning sensation exploded in her rear leg.

The pain threw her off balance, but she used her wings to right herself. A quick check told her that the cheating males had used some type of dragon gun and the ammunition had grazed her leg.

With a roar, she hit the car with her tail and it rolled. Once the car stopped, a red dragon burst from the car, sending metal shrapnel flying every which way. Once fully shifted, the beast hissed.

It was Hugh.

He jumped and charged at her. Teagan waited until the last second and swung her tail around to hit him out of the air. Hugh tumbled to the ground and Teagan jumped on top of him. He tried to bite her neck, but she leaned away and swiped her talons across his cheek.

With a growl, Hugh used his weight and larger size to roll them over. But before he could pin her, Teagan slashed his chest. Hugh cried out in pain and she punched his wound with her forelimb.

He gave a high-pitched roar. Teagan pinned him by the throat and quickly scanned for a boulder to use. In the split second she looked away, he freed an arm and swiped at her throat. Pain exploded as she felt something warm trickle down her hide.

Focusing on merely getting out of the situation alive, she stuck to her plan and found a boulder. Clutching it in her paw, she smacked Hugh on the head hard enough to render him unconscious but not kill him.

Panting, Teagan turned toward the car. She quickly limped to the wreck and ignored the jarring pain each movement sent up her leg and across her throat.

Once she reached the car, she sighed. A piece of twisted metal protruded from Orin’s chest, and he stared glassy-eyed into oblivion; probably a result of Hugh’s sudden shift. As for Padraig, he had a gaping hole in his chest; it looked as if he had shot himself by accident when the car had been rolling. Both were dead.