Page 44 of Rapunzel's Gambit (All That Glitters)
I whirled around and stared up. Pollox was circling the castle, long neck stretched out as he searched for me.
“The dragonsbane! Give it to me!” Griffin ordered. His gentleness had evaporated, replaced by a crisp, decisive tone that was perfect for battle.
I hesitated. What was he planning to do with it? Pollox was my best friend. Even if he was a little overprotective of me sometimes, I certainly didn’t ever want to see him harmed.
Griffin didn’t wait. He ripped it from my pocket and wrenched an arrow from his quiver. In the brief moment before he plunged the arrow’s tip into the pouch of dragonsbane, I noticed that the arrowhead was strangely shaped, almost like it was partially hollowed out, perfect to pour a lethal powder into. With a motion like one would use when stirring a drink, Griffin nocked the arrow and pointed it upward. Panic for Pollox set in. How dangerous was it to a dragon? If he was weakened here, there was an entire army within Donover’s walls. Pollox would be killed.
“Stop!” I pulled on Griffin’s arm as he released the arrow, causing it to fly astray. Instead of hitting Pollox, it simply got his attention, and he dove down to land just as Griffin swilled another arrow into the pouch of dragonsbane.
“Stay back, Rapunzel!” Griffin shouted, shrugging me off and taking aim again.
I wrenched the dragonsbane away from him and threw it into the forest. “Don’t hurt him!”
Pollox’s tail shot out to wrap around my waist. “She ismine,” he growled at Griffin, and took off. As we soared upward, I heard a mightytwangand a moment later, Pollox let out a scream of agony.
CHAPTER20
Pollox thrashed around in the air, wings still beating, but I was whipped from side to side. His body temperature skyrocketed so he felt uncomfortably hot, but I couldn’t let go of my precarious grasp on him for fear of falling. He let out another bellow and continued to flap away from the castle, but lost height until our feet were skimming the treetops. Behind us, bugles and gongs rang out. The dragon hunt had begun.
Pollox continued to twist in pain as he fought to put as much distance as he could between himself and the castle. Miles whisked by beneath us, but it wasn’t enough to get us back to safety. Finally, he crashed down in a shady grove halfway between the castle and the tower.
During the final descent, Pollox flipped over and wrapped his wings protectively around me, cradling me against his soft underbelly as his back took the full impact of his fall.
“Pollox!” I shouted the moment we skidded to a stop. I scrambled to see where the arrow had hit him. There it was, protruding from the muscled area above one of his legs.
The dragon’s entire body shuddered. “Get it out,” he rumbled, body temperature continuing to rise.
The whine of panic in my head was going to deafen me. “Hold still.” I braced my feet and heaved. As I wrenched the arrow free, Pollox let out a blast of fire that instantly withered several nearby bushes.
“Get back!” Pollox groaned, twisting in agony once again. “Don’t…don’t watch.”
I couldn’t obey. I couldn’t simply turn a blind eye to his pain. I clutched at my face, nails digging into my cheeks as I stared on helplessly. He was thrashing about, writhing from side to side, and there was nothing I could do to help.
His entire body shimmered with the same magical glow that always occurred inside the wardrobe, his shape morphing and shifting, wings twisting inward so that he was balled up in pain. Was he…shrinking? I closed my eyes tightly and reopened them, certain that my fear was causing my mind to play tricks on me.
But no, he was noticeably smaller and changing shape. His four legs transformed into two arms and two legs, and his neck shrank rapidly. He was becoming…human. He sprouted hair the same shade that his dark horns had been, his reddish-brown scales became the clothing suitable for a rogue highwayman or thief, and his face transformed into a human one.
Finally, he stopped thrashing about and lay perfectly still, eyes closed. For a solid minute, I stared at the man lying face-down on the shriveled grass.
“What in the blithering blue blazes was that?!” I said aloud, still in too much shock to do anything other than stare with my mouth hanging agape. “I just…what?” I repeated, floundering for any semblance of a rational thought.
He groaned and sat up, and I backed up several paces, fighting the urge to run. My mouth hung so low that I was in danger of swallowing another fly. Still facing away from me, he put a hand up to his shoulder and gently massaged where the arrow had penetrated.
I felt rooted to the spot, unable to speak or move at all. Hesitantly, he turned to look at me.
“So that’s what you look like through human eyes,” he said, smiling through his pain. “No wonder that squire wants to have you all to himself.”
Still, all I could do was stare. His eyes were a rich brown color, but there were still hints of flame sparking deep within his pupils. This all felt too sensational to be any sort of dream my own brain could have cooked up. No one would ever mistake this man for some innocent squire, and he still appeared almost as dangerous as he had as a dragon. He looked like the sort of man that fathers always warn their daughters to avoid.
“Pollox?” I asked nervously.
“You don’t have to act so surprised. Are you all right?”
I put my fists on my hips. “Of course I’m not! How was I supposed to know dragons could transform into humans? I think I’m entitled to a moment or two of freaking out, so let me process here.”
It looked like Pollox was about to shoot back a retort, but he winced and grabbed at his shoulder again. Still dumbfounded but more concerned about his well-being, I tentatively crossed the clearing and knelt at his side, gently pressing my palm to his forehead. He was no longer the inferno he’d been moments before, but his normal dragon temperature.
“Where does it hurt the most?” I asked, anxiously searching for any additional injuries.
