Dragon Tamer

Chapter 19

Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian readers! I'm grateful for my loving, supportive boyfriend, my amazing family, and all my fans!

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"Elesor, I need you to hurry up."

I grabbed a stone from my pouch and tossed it to the ground before me. The clearing filled with light from the fire. The inferno stretched high into the sky, licking the clouds looming ominously over me. The flames spread quickly through the grass, creating an unbreachable barrier standing between me and the cluster of goblins scrambling up the small incline to us. No taller than my knees, their little eyes glowed gold in the firelight. They shrieked at the sudden flash of light and jumped back. I used the moment to gather my senses and slow my heart rate. Now was not the time to panic at their vast numbers. Now was not the time to think about anything. The fire would last at least ten minutes. Hopefully, the fight wouldn't last that long. Any longer and I would be too tired to raise my sword.
What happened to not thinking?

Focus, Kali. Breathe. Fight. Live.

Survive.

Something I'd done all my life.

After their moment of surprise disappeared, the goblins cried out in a hungry roar. They split up, running around either end of the fire for me. The first one had a spear. I knocked it aside with my sword and kicked its face in. Most of them used the weapons they were born with--teeth and claws. I managed to cut down the first few, but there were so many, while I was slashing, others leapt onto my legs and bit down. I flushed out the pain, grabbed them by their tiny heads and pried them off like the oversized leeches they were. My blade, an extension of my body, sliced through them as I danced around the goblins, swiping and bashing. When they hit the ground, I stomped down, heads and chests crumbling beneath my feet. There could be as many of them as they could throw at me, I was not backing down. This was a fight I intended to win no matter how ugly it got.

And then, before I knew it, the fire was simmering down into a gentle flame. It didn't matter, though. I sliced my blade across the last goblin's throat and was left standing in the middle of a circle of bodies. The only sound was the flicker of the dying fire in front of me.

Gasping for breath, stunned I'd actually survived an attack by an entire swarm of goblins, I turned for Camden. He was still lying by the boulder, untouched by the swarm. Blood trickled down the side of his face where I'd hit him; aside from that, he appeared to be sleeping peacefully. If the attack was any indicator as how the rest of my night was going to go, he could sleep all he liked.

As my adrenaline wore off, the sting of my wounds kicked in. My legs felt like I'd stuck them in a river full of parinas, but it was my ribs that hurt the most. The swift movements weren't exactly part of the "no sparring" rule Cadence had forced upon me, that, on top of having half of Camden's weight on me for hours, would most assuredly set back my recovery.

Groaning, I slipped down the boulder beside Cam and held my ribs. Even the tiniest of breaths cut deep into my side. I stared up at the sky, wishing the stars were out so I could at least distract myself from the pain while I forced myself to breathe. The fire that had shimmered in the clouds above me fizzled out, shutting me in darkness once again. Except this time I was alone.

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Hours of silence went by. At least, it felt like hours. It was cold, the only thing stopping me from freezing to death was the intense heat of Camden's body. Breathing still hurt, but not as much now that I'd caught my breath. I opted out of lighting another fire for two reasons: one, to avoid detection from further monsters; two, I didn't want to be reminded of the carnage only a few feet away from me. I did what I had to do to survive, but it sure hadn't been pretty and if I looked at one more caved in skull I was going to hurl.