“Snappy caimans, it’s a phoenix!” I cried out, scrambling to open the book to its chapters on flaming birds. “Go after it, I wanna record it!”
The dragon looked at the retreating bird.“You… want me to catch a phoenix?”
“Yes!” I cried out, slapping at his scales. “Go, go! It’s getting away!”
“Hold on tight,”he sighed, then shot off into the sky.
The wind blew so hard against my face that my skin pulled back, baring my teeth and eyes to the bitter cold. I gripped his mane tight with one hand and secured the book against my chest with the other. When we came up behind the phoenix, the bird squawked in terror, nearly dropping its fish. It tucked its flaming wings tight against its body and dove into the trees below.
“Oh no you don’t,”Dante growled, then took a deep breath and roared. The sound was so fierce that an entire flock of birds flew out of the trees in a panic.
I searched the fleeing birds for a sign of the phoenix’s colorful plumage. One bird flew more erratically than the rest and I zeroed in on it to find the phoenix still struggling to fly away with its fish. “There!” I shouted, pointing to the bird.
Dante shot off after it. The phoenix veered hard to the right before we could close in, using its superior maneuverability to elude the dragon.
“Cherry, hold the book out in front of you and stay as still as you can.”
The book was far too heavy to hold out with one hand. Let alone while darting after a bird. “But I need two hands for that. I don’t want to fall.”
“Don’t you trust me?”
I glanced down to the icy river below. “Not at all.”
“Then close your eyes,”he said.
“Oh shit,” I cried out, my heart leaping into my throat as he sped up. Swallowing my fear, I scrambled to lift the book up and faced it toward the bird. When the phoenix tried to speed away, Dante flung us upside down to loop around the bird, cutting its path. The phoenix cried out and erupted in flames once again before shooting straight up away from us.
When he evened out, I was left panting hard. Blood rushed through my veins in a frenzied dance until I giggled like a madwoman. I turned the book around to see the page still glowing. After a few seconds, the glow died down to reveal an image of the phoenix. Its fiery wings were spread wide while the half-fried fish still dangled in its talons. “You did it!” I cheered.
“Are we good to continue, or do you see any other creatures to terrorize?”
“I’ll let you know,” I said, happily flipping through the pages.
The dragon snorted then veered us back on the path where we fell into a comfortable silence. Volsog was vast and strangely beautiful in a way, and I was content to sit back and enjoy the view. It was so different from anything I’d seen in Kinnamo that it almost looked like another world entirely. Instead of endless trees and water, Volsog was wide open. Sparse clusters of trees bundled together against the wind. Rolling hills of white blanketed the landscape, while a wall of mountains lined the horizon. If it wasn’t so unbearably cold, I would have liked to touch down and explore awhile.
“Hey Dante, this is gonna sound crazy but, do you think we could ever come back to Volsog? You know, after we get settled if we work this out and stay together.”
“I refuse to dignify your ‘if’ with a response. You are my wife, and we areclearlyfalling in love.”
Touchy thing.
“Such confidence,” I teased. “Alright, fine. Dear husband,” I cooed, adding as much sugar to my voice as I could. “Will you take me back to Volsog someday?”
His body trembled, and I had a feeling that it wasn’t from a laugh this time. Heat radiated off the silver strands beneath me until the air sizzled. The aurora lighting our path cast its rays against the shine of Dante’s silver scales. Snow-brushed mountains lit up in the reflected light. Hills of greens, trees of pink, and everything that danced in between. When he spoke, the dragon’s voice commanded the surrounding sky. As if the noise of the world knew to fall away at his vow.“Cherry, I’ll take you anywhere.”
Anywhere.
“I like the sound of that.”
Chapter 10
Cherry
After what seemed like hours, Dante landed near a large manor nestled in a valley. The valley was fenced off with walls made of tightly packed snow. Smaller houses and buildings were clustered together in an oval at the valley’s center. I looked around for any inhabitants, but the little town seemed completely devoid of life.
Eyeing him warily, I slid off his back when he knelt down to let me off. “Is this the part where you kill me?” I asked.
He laughed.“This is the part where we rest for the day so my wife doesn’t freeze to death.”
