Chapter 2: Eliane

We're being chased, Snow and I. We're running as fast as we can. He's faster than I am, being a dragon, and he can fly. So, I tell him to run ahead of us, to go. It's really him that they want, not me. There are five of them and they're spreading out, trying to pin us down.

Only one of them has shifted into something that I recognize - a lioness. The other woman looks like a winged Lycan, her body covered in sapphire scales. The males, I'm not sure if they're boys or men, have hideous shifts. They look like they should have been dragons, at least they have scales on part of their body, but not all of it. Whatever they are mixed with did not blend well with the dragons. They hiss and slither like reptiles.

Snow has been leading us up a mountain. The last time he fought them, one of them fell off the mountain and that was how he and I got away. I'm not exactly sure what that means or how he did it. It was one of my blackouts and I don't remember it. But it doesn't matter. If he thinks that he can save us again by going up the mountain, then I'm certainly going to follow him. I don't know what this group wants with us, but whatever it is, it can't be good. They've never tried to approach us without trying to capture Snow.

“Snow, you have to go. You have to run. It's you that they want. Go, go, go!” I yell at him, but he refuses to leave me.

Instead, he moves himself so that his head is underneath my rear end, pushing me up the mountain faster. He lifts his head slightly and I end up sliding down his neck. Thankfully, the spikes on his neck close with me going in this direction. As soon as I'm on his back, I grab hold of his neck spikes and he begins to run faster.

“They're going to leap off the mountain, cut them off!” I hear one of the males yelling behind me.

“I've got them,” the girl with the wings and the blue scales says. Because she has wings, she's able to fly faster, closer to us.

“Faster Snow. We have to go faster,” I say, turning my head and watching as the girl starts to close in on us. I can hear the lioness roaring on my right, and I feel the heat of fire on my left.

Snow bellows angrily and begins running faster now that I'm on his back. He flaps his wings, ready to take off, but he's small for a dragon and now that I'm fully grown, I know that my weight is a struggle for him.

I turn again to see the winged girl closing in on us. We're so close. I can feel the air blowing up from the valley below. But I know we're not going to make it. She's too close and she can follow us over the cliff edge.

Just as Snow leaps off the mountain, the girl reaches out, grabbing hold of me, ripping me off of Snow's back.

I jolt awake, sitting upright quickly and looking around only to realize that I'm safe and Snow is wrapped around me. He begins crooning at me. And I reach out, taking his face and my hands.

“You saved us. You got us away from them,” I say.

He answers me, but of course I have no idea what he's saying. It's so similar to how it used to be with me and Ancalagon. You'd think after spending this much time with dragons, that I would at least have some idea of what they're talking about, but I don't.

Snow lifts his head and I continue to rub my hand over his neck as I look around.

“We're on top of a mountain again. You sure do like it way up here,” I tell him. Every time I black out, we end up at the top of a mountain.

He croons at me. “Yeah, I know. The cold up here doesn't bother you at all.”

I'm surprised it doesn't bother me more. But who knows what my father did to me when I was in that laboratory. I remember after Ancalagon got away that my father took me to a different laboratory. I remember the pain, so much pain. I just wish I could remember how I got out of there. I remember I was there and the next thing I remember, I was outside. Alone and hungry. So hungry.

“I wish you could tell me how we got here. I remember that winged girl grabbing me. That's the last thing I remember. Whatever you did, it must have worked. Did you kill her?” I ask him.

He shakes his head, no.

“Well, that's good, I think. I think it would be hard for you if you killed someone,” I say as he leans down and I stroke his face. Snow is a sweet dragon. Unlike the other dragons, he's not a fighter.

“Did you see the other dragons while I was out?” I ask him. He shakes his head no again.

“So we're safe for now?” I ask and he begins to croon again.

I relax for a minute. Then I remember something else. “But they found our home. They found our hiding spot, didn't they?”

I watch as he lifts his head. I can feel his sadness, the same as mine. That had been our safe place for a long time. No one had found us there, not even the dragons. But now that group has; the Mean Ones, we call them.

He gently runs the side of his face against the side of mine, and I wrap my arms around him. He doesn't have to answer, I can tell by his response.

“We'll just have to find a new safe place then. We did it once before, we can do it again.”

I lean back against him, looking up at the sky and seeing that it's late afternoon. “We need to get some food before it gets dark. Do you think it's safe to stay here overnight? I ask.

He gives me a series of clicks, rattles, and hums. It’s his way of answering me that I don't understand. I turn and look at him. “How about you nod yes or no?” I suggest.

He blows out his breath. I know he's frustrated that I don't understand him. He understands me perfectly, but I don't understand anything that he says.

“I'm sorry, I can't understand you, Snow. Maybe we can find a way to work on that. Maybe we can find a way to teach me dragon speak,” I tell him.

He leans down, pressing his snout against my chest, over my heart.

“I know. I love you too, Snow.” I tell him. “So let's get some food for tonight, and then tomorrow we'll start looking for a new place. How does that sound?”

I stand and he does as well. I look around the area where we are, seeing that he's found a place that has a wall of earth on one side, almost as if it's been partly carved out, maybe even by a dragon. If so, it's been a long time since the dragon has been here.

“This is a good spot. It looks like a spot where a dragon lived at one time, but that makes me nervous Snow. If a dragon lived here before, then it's possible the dragons know where this place Is. We don't want them finding us here.”

I stop, turning to look at him. “Oh my goodness Snow. I didn't even ask if you were okay. Did they hurt you? Are you injured?”

He leans down again, crooning at me, letting me know that he is not injured.

“Okay, good. If you're healthy, then you can carry me on your back tomorrow and we can fly away from here. Depending on how strong you are, we can look around and see if we can find another place that seems safe. How does that sound?”

He does a clicking and rumbling response. I smile at him.

“How about we start teaching me dragon speak right now? Was that little noise you just made a yes?” I ask.

He makes the same clicking and rumbling sound and at the same time he nods his head yes.

I clap my hands together, then throw my arms around his snout. “Yay Snow, I'm learning dragon speak. Pretty soon I'll understand everything that you're saying.” I say to him, kissing his snout.

“Alright, now let's go get some food.” I stop looking at him. “Am I allowed to get on your back?”

He gives me his clicking, rumbling, ‘yes’ as he lowers his wing for me. I quickly run up his wing and get settled on his back, holding on to the spines on his neck.

“I don't know why I didn't think of this before, Snow. You and I, we're going to be an undefeatable team.”

He croons happily as he lifts off and we go in search of food.