Naeva-To Fight a Monster

Chapter 23

Naeva soared through the air, steadily catching up to the dragon. She had put her staff into its sling, opting for the griffin talons instead. Those had proven more effective against tough armors, and dragon scales definitely qualified as tough armor. Very, very tough armor.

That stunt she'd pulled with the tornado had worn her out to the point that the dragon could outmaneuver her. Naeva was fighting to keep her eyes open as she flew. She wondered if exercise would do any good for wings that disappeared whenever she wasn't using them; did they even have conventional muscles?

With its greater experience, the dragon definitely had the edge in the air. Maybe Naeva could get it to land somewhere?

Her skin turned obsidian black as she manifested the golem. The weight made it slightly harder to fly quickly, but not by much. She had a thin frame to begin with, and her wings were built for a full-sized griffin. She wouldn't have even noticed the difference if she wasn't already pushing herself.

Yelling to give herself a bit of adrenaline, Naeva caught up to the dragon and managed to grab a hold of one of its wings. Her claws punched holes in the leathery bat-like skin, and the Skytenant roared and turned its head to her. Naeva quickly let go with one hand and let the wind push her down the wings, tearing all the way through. The dragon slammed its tail into her while she fell, but the golem's skin absorbed the strike.

Naeva closed her eyes and dispelled the wings; they were too tired to effectively fly anymore. Her time on the ground, however, had been pretty short today. She felt more refreshed now that the wings were fading into mist. She hit the ground, the tough stone once again saving her from instant death. This golem's power was a keeper, for sure.

The Skytenant crashed down in front of her, landing clumsily with only one usable wing. It roared and swiped at her with its claws, but Naeva slid underneath it and swiped at it near the spot where Valerian had hit it earlier. It shrieked in anger, and the thought occurred to Naeva that she would normally have run from the dragon, not coming anywhere near this scenario.

But she was part of an order now, and she was tired of running. Lowly Champion prioritized protection of the people, and this dragon had proven its will to come back. That was why Naeva was still here. She was going to do her job, and this beast wasn't going to kill any more people.

Fang of Cerberus, I've gone soft.

The tail hit her again as she finished sliding. The attack knocked her sling off her back; her staff tumbled down the slope. Naeva was unhurt, but seeing the staff fall sent a wave of grief through her. Master Zero's staff had saved her life more times than she could count.

She pulled herself to her feet and glared at the Skytenant. This dragon was really beginning to get on her nerves; she was done holding back. She ran forward, brandishing her claws.

Something changed.

Her hand slapped uselessly against the dragon's nose. Her claws were gone, and so was the stone skin. The dragon huffed smugly in her face, making her cough at the smell of its breath. Why couldn't she hold the transformation? What had changed...?

I'm tired, Naeva realized with horror. I've never had anything stronger than griffin eyes before yesterday. I didn't realize this could happen, and it feels so different from mental or physical exhaustion that I didn't recognize...

The massive dragon spun, and Naeva dove out of the way, shielding her face from the explosion of snow that the tail left behind. How was she supposed to get out of this?

The phone!

Could she survive long enough to call Valerian?

Before she could find out, the dragon clamped its jaws over her upper body, shaking her painfully. Thankfully, it didn't bite down; that would have meant death regardless of healing magic.

Her worries only increased, however, when it tossed her into the air. She desperately tried to manifest wings, but it was hopeless; she fell until the creature's jaws clamped around her.

Naeva's first thoughts regarded the tightness and heat, but she then remembered, as powerful muscles dragged her into its throat, that comfort was probably the least of her worries right now. The dragon's jaw had knocked the wind out of her when it closed, so she already felt like she was going to suffocate...

She was deposited into a cramped pouch filled with air, and Naeva's skinwalker instincts sensed a bit of magic as she gasped for breath.

Wait, is this the stomach? Naeva frantically tried to turn to stone, but she needn't have worried. There was no acid here, and it wasn't even as hot as the throat in here. It was barely more than room temperature.

I'm in its crop, she realized, a fuzzy memory of her hometown squeezing past her mental block. That farmer was right; dragons do have them.

That only left the question of why she could breathe. Why would an internal food storage have breathable air, especially this fresh? And why hadn't it taken the opportunity it had to bite her in half?

That was simple, she realized: her devourer preferred fresh meat, and nothing was fresher than a meal that fought back. The Skytenant had deliberately waited for her to run out of stamina so she couldn't claw her way out.

Racking her brain, she recalled that it took roughly twelve hours for a chicken's crop to empty. This in mind, she briefly considered just taking a nap and then tearing her way out.

Than again, dragons were obviously not chickens, and it was likely hungry enough to speed things along. There was no telling how much time she had.

Naeva pulled out a healing vial (Radley had only had enough time to mix one for each of them this time), her arm rubbing the wall of the cramped confines, and opened it. A faint glow revealed her surroundings: Surprise, it was a dragon gut.

She knew that the vials didn't remove exhaustion, but she needed to do something before the crop emptied. Maybe it did something for magic that it didn't do for the body. No better time to test it than the present.

Before she could tilt the vial, the dragon moved very abruptly and threw Naeva into the top of the organ, forcing the vial out of her hand. It felt like the dragon had made an attempt to fly, but its wing was too badly torn to do much good.

The vial's contents spilled over the bottom, most of the liquid seeping through the sphincter below. Naeva watched, an odd combination of horror and intrigue filling her as the raspberry juice made its way down into the wrong stomach. A moment later, a glowing red pulse flowed around the muscular chamber.

She was tossed face-first into the muscular wall as the dragon took off again. Naeva sat silently, irritably. Before, she'd been trapped inside a wounded, grounded dragon with some slight hope of rescue. Now she was trapped in a healthy, airborne Skytenant that she'd healed herself.

Feeling mildly annoyed but far from giving up, Naeva decided to try her earlier plan—that was, make a phone call. She flipped the phone open, shielded her eyes as she adjusted to the light, then began to dial.

After all, what was one conversation? She wasn't exactly going anywhere.