Page 4 of The Last Syphon

Inara got off her knee, slammed her foot back to the ground, and pushed with all her might, straightening to a stand, arms completely outstretched over her head.

The dragon pushed back, unleashing more power onto her. She continued to syphon it, funnelling it directly into her shield. Gritting her teeth, Inara braced, drawing all her strength, and then sent her shield shooting upwards with a powerful concussive burst.

The shield flew fast, going right through the dragon’s red flame, and slammed into the beast’s face.

It roared, shaking its head in confusion. The fire disappeared.

Inara panted heavily, staring up at the creature as it tried to get its bearings. Residual magic sizzled at her fingertips. It begged to be used, begged to be unleashed, begged to destroy.

Holy Fates.

She’d never felt so fucking powerful before. Inara felt as if she could take on the realm, destroy everything in her path. It was…exhilarating.

And dangerous.

She closed her eyes, trying desperately to slow her erratically beating heart and ignore the voice screaming in her head to take more. Every cell in her body burnt for more, but she refused to take it, refused to give into the temptation. All she had to do was wait. The extra power she’d taken would eventually fade, as it always did, and when that happened, the voice would disappear along with it. She just had to wait it out.

Easier said than done.

When Inara opened her eyes, she sucked in a harsh breath. The dragon’s face was right in front of her, its long neck wound in a circle so its chin rested on itself. The creature stared at her, blinking confused, inquisitive eyes. Its head tilted to the side in assessment.

She took an involuntary step back and banged into the boulder behind her. “Look,” she began, clearing her throat, “I’m sorry about that, but you kinda deserved it. You know, for trying to burn us alive.”

What the Fates am I doing? It probably can’t even understand me.

That didn’t stop Inara from trying to talk to it, though, did it?

“Let’s just call this a draw,” she said, raising her palms in a show of surrender. “We didn’t mean to disturb you. We’ll just go, and we can forget this whole thing ever happened, okay?”

It just continued to watch, studying her.

It was beginning to creep her out, if she was being honest. She wondered what the blazes it was looking at, what it was thinking.

Inara swallowed the lump in her throat and took a step to the left. Its head moved instantly to counter it, swivelling in the same direction.

She froze. Drat. She still firmly had its attention.

“Inara?” Felix whispered questioningly, still curled up in a ball.

“Just stay down.”

Until what? What was she going to do? Going toe to toe with the beast was completely out of the question. She was able to hold it off last time, but there was no guarantee that the next time would end in the same outcome.

Seconds turned into minutes. Minutes turned into what felt like hours. The dragon’s gaze stayed firmly locked on her the whole time. Never moving. Never wavering. The intensity of it was a little staggering.

Inara got the overwhelming feeling that she was being evaluated. Judged. Assessed. For what, she had no idea, but she dared not move. Perhaps the creature was debating letting them go. She hoped that was the case.

Finally, after what felt like a lifetime, the dragon moved.

Inara’s body tensed, her magic rushing to the surface again to protect as it came closer until it was only a hair’s breadth away from her face. Its gaze, sharp and focused, never left hers, and it caused her heart to slam in her chest, pounding so hard she could feel it in her ears.

Part of her wondered if staring into the eyes of such a powerful and dangerous predator was a smart idea, but then, another part thought that looking away might show fear, and predators loved fear. Fed off it. Craved it. So, despite the sliver of terror cutting through her body at having this giant, magnificent beast who could squash her with one of its claws only inches away from her, Inara stared it down, refusing to crumble under its powerfully intimidating gaze.

It blinked slowly in a horizontal motion. Once. Twice. Three times. Time seemed to stand still between them, everything else just fading away until it felt as if they were the only two beings left in the entire realm.

Inara got lost in its hypnotising gold-and-black orbs that moved and swirled as if they possessed a mind of their own.

Fascinating.