Excerpt:

The chains rattled, waking Kira.

"It's time," the dragon said as it stretched and broke the chains and ropes.

Kira looked up to see a truly awesome sight. Standing on the wagon, framed by the morning sun was the most amazing creature she had ever seen. And it bore little resemblance to the sickly creature she had tended for the last two days. Its eyes glowed with power. The long sinuous neck bent placing those eyes level with her own. She should have been frighten by the teeth that were larger than her hand, or the smoke gently swirling from its nostrils, but instead, she was fascinated by frilled crown that began just above the ridges over its eyes. She had noticed it previously, but now it sparkled and she could not take her eyes off it. He nudged her with his jaw to bring her out of the trance.

"We need to get going. Step aside so I can get off this bloody wagon."

She moved aside and watched as he spread his wings. She expected him to fly, but instead, he stepped off the wagon instead. It was then that she became aware of just how large and how well muscled he was. She longed to run her hands across his flanks, to feel the muscles move beneath her hands, as she had with her lion friend. Although somewhat feline, the dragon's muscles make the lion's seem puny and weak.

"You'll have time for that later," he said.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing, " he replied. "Climb on the wagon and then up on me. Sit right on my shoulders, in front of the wings."

She did as she was told and before she was even settle, he was airborne.

"Hold on tight," he yelled. "We need to get out of the range of the archers before they wake up and notice we are gone."

It didn't take long. They were barely 100 feet in the air, when the first arrow flew past her head. The dragon began dodging arrows while climbing higher and higher. It was a good thing he had warned her, and that she was holding on tightly, because even so, she nearly fell off the first time he rolled. Finally he was above the reach of the men's weapons and soared freely across the sky catching the air currents and drifting along with them. He was free and he was having one of those "I love flying" moments.

He didn't hear her the first time. "Please," she gasped. "Please land and let me off." He turned his head, intending to tease her about her fear of flying, but quickly changed his mind. She was almost as green as he was and clearly fear was not the issue.

He had flown over a deep ravine, so clearly they were safe now. Well, she was safe. He was seriously in danger of being vomited upon. Before he had even settled on the ground, she had rolled off and was puking her guts out. They hadn't fed her much, which maybe was a good thing in this case, but she emptied her stomach of what little was there. Then she collapsed into the grass.

"There is a stream nearby. Would you like me to carry you to it?" he asked.

"You've got to be kidding. There's no way I'm flying with you again. I can walk."

"I will walk rather than fly."

"I'll be fine," she said as she pulled herself up.

She felt much better after having some water and rinsing the foul taste from her mouth. The dragon meanwhile had stretched out and was watching her.

"So what happens now?" she asked. "I mean now that you're free you can go home and warn the others, right?"

"Yes, I can," he replied. "But right now the more important issue is finding a safe place for you."

"I can take care of myself," she said, trying to be brave, but in reality being very unsure about where she would go or if she would ever feel safe again.

"Where will you go? Your home will not be safe. Garin's men will look for you there. And he won't be happy that you helped me escape."

She laughed. "I helped you escape? It looked to me like you were rescuing me? I mean, you broke the ropes and chains, you put some kind of a sleeping spell on the guards, you flew us to safety. Why did you even need me?"

"I needed the treatments and the care you showed as you gave them. I was too injured and sick to escape without your care. Had you not been at the castle, I might have died that night. Your life sustained me."

"Woh, now you're freaking me out. Do you mean that you took some of my life force?"

"No, child, I would never do that, but when you cared for me, you gave me freely of your abundance."

"What?"

"You would not understand, but know that I am forever in your debt."

She didn't know what to say to that, so she just took another drink and started gathering some berries.