The Witch and the Dragon - Beta

Chapter Fifteen

"I think Geoff's following us," said Alannah, as she followed Dameon deeper into the forest.

The dragon cast her an aggrieved glance, back in his human form. "It is not, is it?"

Alannah turned her head. Sure enough, about ten feet behind them waddled Geoff, slinking under bushes with its gaze fixed on her. "Yep. I think we made a friend."

"It's just hungry." Dameon disappeared from view as he went down an incline. Probably thinks you'll feed it again. There was a note of resignation in the words.

"He's right," she said and received the mental equivalent of a sigh.

They'd been walking since dawn, making good progress through the trees. As they got deeper, Dameon's nose helped them locate more burnt trees and Alannah couldn't shake the feeling they were getting close.

Each time they stopped to investigate a new tree, or fill their water skins from a river, Geoff stopped too, watching them. Alannah was seriously wondering how she could get him back to the village when they stumbled out of the wood and into a small grove of sequoia trees. At the centre was another blackened stump, but prowling around it was a large grey wolf.

Alannah stopped short, a warning on her lips. She'd swapped places with Dameon and felt him come up behind her. "What is it?" he asked. "The warlock?" He pushed to stand beside her and froze.

"Uh... no," she said, "unless the warlock is currently a wolf." The animal circled the trunk, its head low, pale froth dripping from its mouth. It doesn't look right, she sent to Dameon, inching backwards as quickly as she dared.

Rabid, he replied. Maybe the warlock's experimenting on them.

Or when the tree spirits fled, the magic in this place-

A twig snapped under her boot. Alannah swore. The wolf paused and its narrow head swung to look at them. Its eyes – they weren't like any animal's eyes she'd seen before.

"Dameon...." The wolf crouched, gathering its weight on its haunches. It was going to spring. "Run!" she shouted and dove to the left. She rolled with the impact, coming up filthy and disorientated but intact.

Dameon had disappeared, but she couldn't spare the time to find him: the wolf growled, its eerie gaze fixed on her. She drew her sword. The animal slunk to her left, sizing her up. She turned with it. Another step, then another, and it crouched. Alannah whirled to the side, just in time. The beast shot past her. She slashed at it and was rewarded with a thin line of red across its flank. Too shallow.

She and the wolf circled each other warily. Alannah could hear the rattle of saliva in its throat. Then, with a roar, a sleek black dragon burst out of the trees. Alannah breathed a sigh of relief.

The wolf, though, didn't even pause. It turned, keeping them both in sight, and kept stalking her. Dameon rolled his shoulders and the line of spines along his back rippled gracefully. His nostrils flared and he opened his mouth.

"No!" shouted Alannah. "It's too big, you'll set the forest on fire!"

With a low growl, the dragon reared back. He gathered his weight under him, like a cat about to pounce, and leapt forward with a vicious snarl. The wolf dodged out of the way and Dameon slid across the grass.

Its dodge brought it to within inches of her. Alannah stabbed her blade into its flank. The creature yelped and wriggled away. One more like that.

Dameon snorted in what she hoped was agreement.

The wolf paused and tensed. A small, fat body rolled out of the bushes. It braced its legs and yapped at the wolf fearlessly.

Fear for him swept through her. "No, Geoff, don't!"

The wolf grinned, and a long, red tongue lolled out over its yellow teeth. Geoff, the stupid, brave thing, kept barking.

Alannah could see what was going to happen but was too far away to stop it. "Geoff!" she shouted.

The wolf leapt - and Dameon landed in front of it, just as it smashed into him face first, gouging ragged holes in his wing.

"Dameon!"

The dragon shrieked. He whipped around in a flash of black scales and lunged. One savage bite and Dameon flung it across the grove. The animal slammed into a tree and thudded to the ground. Alannah faced it, gripping her sword so hard it hurt. But it didn't move again.

She dropped her blade and raced to Dameon's side. "You're hurt."

There were great, jagged rips in the membrane of his wing. Dameon nosed them with his snout. They'll heal, he said, finally. With a ripple of familiar magic, the wings and scales smoothed away and Dameon-the-man stood in the dragon's place. He was wearing the same thing that he wore earlier, but Alannah wondered if there would be scratches on his back.

Geoff yapped once more, seemingly unaware of how close he'd come to being eaten. "You saved Geoff," said Alannah. "I thought you didn't like Geoff."

"I don't."

"Then why did you save him?"

His gaze flicked up at her and then back down. He fiddled with the cuff of his jacket. "It was an accident," he said. "I misjudged my leap."

A smile tugged at her lips and Alannah felt a lone butterfly flutter through her stomach. "Thank you," she said, softly.

He met her eyes. "You're welcome."

Still smiling – it wouldn't seem to go away, she must look like an idiot – she bent and scooped up Geoff. He came willingly, settling in her arms with a distorted purr. He was definitely domesticated. "Poor little thing," she murmured to it and Dameon snorted.

"That thing was perfectly happy to take on a fully grown rabid wolf," he said, apparently having recovered from his bout of whatever it was (it couldn't have been shyness, this was Dameon after all). "I'd hardly feel sorry for him."

She ruffled the uneven hair between his ears. "Don't be mean, Dameon. He was probably just following your example."

"You're not going to carry him all the way though the forest, are you?" he asked, glaring at the animal.

"I don't want him to get eaten," she said and tucked him into the crook of her arm, keeping his tail out of the way. She walked across the grove and picked up her sword. "Ready?" she asked, turning in the direction they'd been walking.

Dameon sighed. "I'm starting to regret this desire to understand humans," he said, but he followed her, nonetheless.

Alannah proceeded through the forest with caution. Geoff stayed quiet in her arms and she paused after every sudden noise, every flicker of a tree in the breeze, testing the air before she moved. She wasn't willing to risk another fight like that.

After a while, Dameon paused and inhaled. "I can smell something," he said. "Smoke, but not charred wood, this time. I think it's a fire."

"The warlock," she guessed and he nodded. Alannah tightened her grip on Geoff and kept walking.

Before long, she could smell it too; a proper fire, scented with pinecones. The smoke wove through the forest and stung her eyes. Alannah fought her way through the table of branches into a clearing. An oddly shaped hut stood within, a mishmash of different houses glued together that sprawled over the grass. The whole thing couldn't have been much bigger than thirty feet across, but the impression of the place was much larger. Dark smoke poured from a cluster of chimneys on the roof.

On the grass, about ten feet from the crooked double door at the front, stood the sorcerer. He had waves of sun-kissed hair and large blue eyes. The robes he wore were dark red with gold lettering embroidered on the sleeves and the collar. He wore it short, though, tightly belted over black breeches. Magic curled around him like mist.

And he was glaring right at them.