“You in there, princess?”
Her blood ran cold. It wasn’t Dane, but it was one of the men who had taken her before. Though she hadn’t seen his face, she did recognize his voice. If he is down here, where is Dane? There was no way he would have let them get near her. She felt sick.
“Don’t worry, honey. We’ll get you out,” the voice said mockingly.
Adriana continued feeling along the wall and finding nothing. There was a metal clanging as they seem to try to pry the door open, and then they were talking again.
“Shift and blow it off its hinges. There’s enough room down here. When you get in, fry anything you find inside. I’m done with these two assholes.”
Adriana panicked. Even if she found the map and the light, did she have enough time to sort out which way to go and get far enough down the path not to get roasted by dragon’s breath? She did the only thing she knew to do: shift and try to get away faster.
She wasn’t a moment too soon either, as the door came flying open, barely missing her as she made her way down a corridor to the right. She could feel the heat behind her as the dragon’s head entered and sent a heavy stream of fire down the center tunnel from which she had just moved away. It was only a matter of time before he turned it toward this fork, as well.
She moved as fast as she could, aiming for what seemed to be a dim thread of light in the distance. As she approached it, she was surprised to find it growing wider, a set of doors opening up directly to the light above. She headed straight for it, not knowing who was on the other side, but she was caught off guard as she was joined by at least a couple dozen bats, allowing her to blend in with their masses as her bat form shot out the opening and up toward the sky.
All around here were dragons, fighting ferociously. She didn’t see Dane as she landed in the thick moss-covered branches of a nearby tree and looked around for him, her sonar thrown off by so many moving about her and the heat from their bodies and breath. She dared not shift back as she looked around for any sign of Dane.
A crash caught her eye as he suddenly erupted from the center of the house as if it were made of paper mache. Dane made quick work of two of them, sending them head over tail back down to bounce off the dirt below, injured and writhing in pain, but those two were quickly replaced by more.
A large dragon with dark claws was right on his trail, chasing him further up and snapping at his tail. He almost had him when Dane suddenly turned and dove back down past him just as another dragon drove into his side and knocked him to the ground. They rolled about on the ground, their fierce jaws snapping at one another as they struggled for control. Finally, Dane managed to gain some height above his opponent and looked as if he was preparing to roast him with a stream of fire.
Instead, a half dozen dragons rushed in and were all over the Black Talon, who was still rolling about on the ground, trying to move an obviously broken wing back into place so he could fly. With the appearance of these dark steel-colored dragons, the Black Talons suddenly aborted the fight, taking to the skies in retreat.
Then, it grew quiet. Dane shifted and ran over to the uncovered hole in the ground where his workshop had once stood. He yelled Adriana’s name into the shaft below, soon joined by a few more dragons shifting back into human form while several stayed with the dragon they had slain, watching to see what human form it would take upon its demise. She could only assume they were looking for someone they knew in that form.
Adriana flew from the tree, not wanting to shift and be naked in front of all these strangers. Instead, she landed on Dane’s shoulder, causing him to jump. He looked up at her and laughed.
“What the fuck?” one of the men said.
“Crosby, meet my girlfriend, Adriana.”
“She’s lovely,” Crosby replied, still looking at her.
“Is it safe for her to go inside and get dressed?” Dane asked, apparently realizing why she hadn’t shifted.
“Yes, if she can find her things in all that debris. There’s a big-ass hole in your floor and roof where you came up out of there like a bat out of hell,” he said, immediately looking at Adriana with a look of worry. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that to be offensive.”
Dane laughed, and Crosby looked at him with a puzzled expression. Adriana didn’t wait any longer. She flew toward the house and landed in the living room, quickly shifting and letting herself into the bathroom to find a towel until she could locate her clothes. A few minutes later, she had managed it and gotten dressed, but by the time she walked back out to the yard, everyone was gone but Dane, who was limping toward the house.