Fang And Claw (Nocturne Academy 2)

We all took several hasty steps back and I felt Megan reaching for my hand on one side while Avery did the same on the other.

I grasped my Coven-mates’ hands, grateful for their support. We were all holding hands now and standing in a line as we watched Ari in the moonlight. I wondered what we were about to see and couldn’t help thinking of the hideous way Pedro Sanchez’s face and mouth had distorted when he had done what Ari called “a partial shift” right here on the athletic field. He had looked like he was mutating—like he was turning into a monster.

Was that what I was about to see happening to Ari?

I couldn’t help shivering as I tried to steel myself for such an awful sight.

But as it turned out, it wasn’t like that with Ari at all. In fact, it was completely different.

As I watched Ari, I first saw a shimmering in the air around him. I saw a look of intense concentration coming over his face. And then…then he simply wasn’t there anymore.

In his place was a dragon as big as a barn with eyes as wide and golden as the moon itself.

63

Kaitlyn

I stared at the huge Drake in surprise. Either Ari changed in a different way than I had previously seen with Sanchez, or he had changed so fast that my eyes hadn’t been able to see the shift at all.

It didn’t matter which had happened, the result was the same—a giant creature bigger than an elephant, no, bigger than three elephants put together—was now standing in front of me.

But, no—not standing, I saw as I looked at it with my heart pounding. The Drake was sitting in front of us—sitting very much like a cat with its haunches drawn up to its sides, its front paws tucked under it, and its long tail curled around its legs. Its sail-like wings were furled tight against its massive sides, making it look surprisingly compact.

I thought there was something very cat-like about it, except for its long neck, which reminded me a little of a giraffe’s. It’s head—which was shaped more like a horse’s than a crocodile’s—towered several stories above us in the sky.

“Oh,” Megan breathed beside me. “I thought it was going to look like a T-rex or a snake.”

“Or maybe an iguana or something,” Emma breathed.

But in fact, Ari’s Drake didn’t look like any of those things, I thought. He didn’t look like a clumsy, flying dinosaur or a snake with wings or anything reptilian at all, really. He just looked like…himself.

And with that, I realized I was thinking of the Drake as a “he” rather than an “it.” I wondered how that had happened.

“I have never seen a Drake in his beast form up close.” Griffin’s voice was low and awed. “Truly he is an awe-inspiring sight.”

“And I thought he looked magnificent half-naked in his human form,” Avery breathed. “But this is amazing.”

“He’s gorgeous,” Emma agreed. She looked at me. “Kaitlyn, I think he wants you to go to him.”

For the Drake had curved his long neck down very gracefully so that his enormous, dinner-plate-sized eye was on the same level as my head. The eye didn’t have a slitted pupil like a cat’s—it didn’t have any pupil at all, that I could see. It was simply a pure, brilliant gold and the Drake was regarding me with it intently.

“I think Emmers is right, Katydid,” Avery remarked softly. “But it’s up to you if you want to or not. We’ll stand with you either way.”

“Th-thank you,” I somehow managed to get out. “I think…think you’re right, Avery. I think he wants me to…to go to him.” I took a deep breath. “And I think I should.”

It took almost more courage than I thought I had to drop my friends’ hands and step forward to go to the huge beast, but somehow I knew I had to. When Ari had asked me to meet his Drake, he hadn’t meant I should just stand in the moonlight gawking at him. No, in order to actually make the Drake’s acquaintance, I would have to get up close and personal with him—a lot more up close and personal than I actually wanted to.

You have no idea, until you try it yourself, how hard it is to walk towards an animal that is very clearly dangerous—a predator that you know could eat you in a few bloody bites. Walking towards that danger instead of running away goes against an instinct that has been hardwired into humans since the cavemen days. Simply put, you don’t go towards a grizzly bear—you run from it. Forcing yourself to do otherwise is incredibly difficult.

Imagine walking towards a lion or a tiger with no bars or fences between you and the massive cat. Now imagine that the lion or tiger you’re headed for is as big as a building and could eat you literally in one bite. If you can picture that, you might have some idea of how I felt as I approached the Drake.