Dragon Blood

Fifty-Seven: Blood Red Ruby

The blue dragon whined as yet another member of her clan perished. She continued to pace back and forth, staring in the direction of the battle. The dragons were losing ground, and no one knew where Draco was. The coward was probably hiding somewhere. She snarled to herself and clawed at the ground. Her only solace was that her mate was safe. But she couldn't help but wonder for how long?

She walked further from the village, far to the north. She would double back soon enough, but she was getting tired at staring at the same stretch of trees. Only she and Fiona remained on ground patrol; the other two had taken flight and were circling over the territory.

She hated this waiting. She felt utterly useless standing out there staring into the darkness, waiting for something that might not even happen. Was this what it would always be like as Alpha female? Simply waiting at home, not knowing if her mate was going to return to her? She sincerely hoped not.

She turned to walk back toward the clan, her eyes still surveying the tree line closely, when she felt herself disconnect from the clan link. She stopped in surprise, looking around as if that would explain what had happened. She still felt her mate, felt how tired he was, how worried he was getting, but that was all, and it was only through their mate bond. She felt none of the other dragons and could sense nothing of the battle. She was pondering this when a gut-wrenching pain tore through her. She roared in surprise as her body convulsed and she collapsed in a heap in the prairie grass, short, pained shrieks escaping her. It was nearly as painful as the time Orion forced her first shift, when she felt like she was being torn apart.

Finally, mercifully, she blacked out.

She wasn't sure how long she was out, likely only for a minute or so, but when she awoke, she was human again. She wouldn't have realized it at first, except for that all of her senses had dulled after she'd spent the last few hours with them at full sensitivity.

Skylar sat up slowly, holding a hand to her pounding head, unsure how or when she'd shifted. She hadn't made a conscious choice, that was for sure. She needed to get back to the village since something was obviously wrong with her, but when she opened the link for her dragon to take charge, she couldn't find the beast. Well, she could, but her dragon couldn't find her; she locked up in a cage in the back of her head.

Alarm shot through her at the state of her dragon. The creature clawed and roared in confusion, attempting to escape, but it was as though Skylar had never come to the clan, never had Orion help her break the cage. It was there and as solid as ever. The dragon wasn't breaking free. The beast roared in fury, causing Skylar's head to pound. She winched and held a hand to her temple. It felt like forever since her dragon had caused a headache.

She stood up slowly as she took a few deep breaths to try and calm down. Panicking would do neither her nor her dragon any good. Her dragon took the hint and settled down, but still pushed at the bars of the cage.

"What's happening," she whispered, breaking into a run back toward the village. Something was wrong with her, extremely wrong, and she hoped Nana would know the answer.

She cursed her dragon for walking so far away. The human Skylar, though she was in much better shape than she'd been upon her arrival, could only run for so long. In her distress about the battle, the dragon had been out of sight of the village. The dragon in question snarled and clawed at the cage again but realized that this hindered Skylar's focus and stopped after one swipe.

Skylar ran on, her breath coming out in pants. What she wouldn't give for wings right then, or even just longer strides. She slowed to a jog when more pain ripped through her, though this time she knew it wasn't her own.