The Circle Girls

Chapter Thirty Nine

Will have to get it redone. Again. Maybe I should buy another truck? I really like this one, though. I'm not supposed to get attached to things. How old are these tires? What if I get a flat? I just replaced them—

"Tavi..." Tavius rasped, looking mostly unrecognizable with his hair undone and his whole body painted white-gray with dust. No one would have guessed they were twins now. "Sonya...Sonya..."

"Who?" Tavia could hardly hear him over the roar of the truck. Should've listened to Redbud and got a sports car. But she wouldn't have been able to haul six people out of a burning mountain in a Maserati, now would she? "TT, can this wait until later? I'm kinda..." She swerved again, this time to dodge a panicked bear that was sprinting down the road. "...busy."

She overtook the bear easily and couldn't help but watch the animalistic terror on its face as they passed by. Then frowned in confusion when the animal dug in its back end, wheeled around on its rear legs, and bolted the way it had come.

"TAVIA!" Redbud screamed, slapping her palms against the dash again. "STOP!"

Tavia punched her foot against the brakes. The truck jerked, the brakes skipping with complaints. The orange ABS light flickered on the console. But the vehicle stopped, the rear end wobbling slightly. No one was pitched through the windshield or out of the bed, thank goodness. All the same, Tavia's heart thudded with sudden panic.

How many accidents a year are caused by not wearing a seatbelt? Isn't it a crazy bunch?

Redbud screeched again.

"What, Mom?" Tavia turned to the front, then jumped back against her seat, a surprised shout coming forth.

A quarter of a mile down the road, hovering in the air, was a dragon.

A literal dragon.

It was huge, about four or five times the size of the truck. Bigger. Spiky brown scales sheathed its face and back, while its belly was a deep, pitch black that reflected flashes of red and yellow from the burning trees. The membranes of its wings were thin and gold, shot through with dark spiderwebs of veins. The tail was longer than Tavia would have expected, easily three times longer than the rest of the dragon's body, and long enough that it dragged against the pavement.

The dragon slowly lowered itself to the road. It was remarkably more limber than its size would have suggested; its wings didn't make very much noise and its landing was rather gentle, maybe even dainty. There was nothing 'gentle' about its face, however—glossy black and brown scutes, topped with a menacing crown of bone-white antlers, the tips stained a noxious blue. Its eyes glittered, red and malevolent, and when its jaw dropped open, it exposed a half-second flash of a blue-skinned mouth rimmed by sharp fangs and terrible teeth.

It crouched on all fours, its clawed feet flexing with impatience. Tavia noted with some anxiety that the claws were also white, tipped blue.

Tavia nearly screamed when a hand came around her front, pinning her to her seat. But it was her twin. By instinct she relaxed a little. Then started to panic again, because...dragon!

"Don't freak out, Tavia, please." Her brother begged in a whisper. "Calm down. Calm down."

She gulped. Calm down? How was she supposed to calm down when there was a dragon right there? There weren't supposed to be any dragons in the US! Yet the forest continued to burn on either side of the creature, framing it and drawing emphasis to its size and terrifying power. Yes, that was a dragon.

I need my medicine. That dragon could kill them if it wanted to, and more likely than not, it would get away with it. Pay a fine, maybe get a slap on the wrist, but not much else. One did not really chastise a dragon, after all, not if they didn't want their entire country razed to the ground.