The Writer's Escape

16. The Dragon

Both Berry and Patrick turned to look at Serena, which surprised her.

"I think . . ." She grabbed her bag and stuffed the Dragon's Heart book back into it. "I think we should go find the Wild Sisters."

*     *     *     *     *

The fortress was under siege by desert beasts. Their heavy bodies whammed every entrance door, snarling and huffing. The dragon-shifters might be gone, but they smelled Serena's blood. Berry had to cut through five of them before they got to the library. 

Serena needed to get out of here, and fast. Her heart thrummed in her chest. She hoped, desperately, that her instinct had been right.

They flung open the door. The three witches spun to face them, and Serena's heart leapt: None of their eyes were red.

"Berry!" they exclaimed. Jayla rushed forward, and she and Berry embraced.

"What's happened?" Esther asked. She was the tallest of the three witches, with honey-colored hair and purple tattoos climbing her neck and curling around her jawline. "I . . . I can't remember anything from the past week."

Serena thought about introducing herself, but she hung back instead as the others exchanged information.

Instead, she looked around the library, uneasy. If the sorceresses were gone, and the witches free from corruption, then why hadn't she returned home? Something must still remain unresolved in the story.

The dragon's roar shook the fortress. 

Of course. How could she forget?

Berry looked up at the ceiling grimly. "We gotta take care of that."

At that moment, something hard and white broke through the ceiling of the library— stone? No, Serena realized— giant claws, which curved through the ceiling. Stone crumbled to the ground. The witches around her shrieked and jumped out of the way. 

With another earth-shaking scream, the dragon swiped off the ceiling of the library. A giant tail, glittering in bright blue scales, lashed through the library, sweeping entire bookshelves to the floor. 

The dragon leaned its massive head into the library. Everyone gasped and backed up against the far side of the wall, drawing daggers and summoning spirits. 

One giant, yellow eye swiveled, and Serena swore it was looking right at her. The color of burnished gold, the size of a small human, the eye seemed to pierce right through her.

Another swipe of the dragon's claws sent Esther flying. She hit the wall and slumped down, blood gushing from her side. Patrick rushed to her, and the dragon lifted its claw to strike him down—

Time froze. All Serena could think about was that in her outline, Patrick sacrificed himself to save Esther, dying a hero's death. She couldn't let that happen.

"Stop!" she shouted at the top of her lungs, and walked up to the dragon's head. The eye turned to look at her. Waves of stinking heat emanated from the dragon's maw. "I am the intruder," Serena said. "Leave them."

She looked at Berry across the room. Berry narrowed her eyes, as if in a question, and Serena nodded. Once the monsters cleared out of Redhaven, the story would end. 

After what seemed like an eternity, the dragon's claws curled around Serena's waist. It felt like being encased in marble, squeezing around her ever tighter. She writhed in the grip to turn around and look:

The witches were staring in wonder, Esther crumpled on the ground, but still breathing. Patrick stared at the dragon, open-mouthed. The library around them had been torn to shreds, gutted library books drifting in the air, shelves overturned. Bloodstains mottled the blue carpet. Behind them all, a red sunset burned in the sky.

Goodbye, Serena mouthed. She smiled to show them that she was leaving willingly, and that she wasn't afraid.

Berry waved with the bone-white dagger gleaming in one of her hands. "See ya, princess!" she shouted. "Don't forget my gold!"

Patrick lifted a hand, his palm glowing white-hot, dark eyes wide.

Serena opened her mouth to say something. Then the library below was ripped from view as the dragon tore her into the sky with him.

*     *     *      *     *

When Serena could breathe again, she looked down. The library beneath Serena shrunk smaller and smaller, until the witches and the healer turned into black specks, the fortress into a small stone block.

Heavy claws dug into her skin. Wind roared in her ears, and she struggled to breathe through it, the atmosphere getting thinner and colder. Above her, the dragon's gargantuan wings flapped in a steady rhythm.

I'm being carried by a dragon. Magpie would be so jealous. 

Higher and higher, they rose. All Serena could see were the endless dunes rolling below her. The sun sank lower and disappeared behind the horizon, leaving behind the last vestiges of its burning orange light.

Stars blanketed the sky above her, and below was a black ocean of sand shifting and moving as if alive.

Serena squeezed her eyes shut. The dragon's claws released their hold, and then she was falling through miles and miles of empty space.