He is mine. Even if he’s dead, he will forever be mine. I squeeze my eyes shut but soon reopen them, knowing I can’t linger.
Finally, I reach the dragon’s neck, and my heart thunders. I’m almost to my destination. Enthralled. I’m enthralled. I’ve barely breathed and now stop altogether. Picking up my feet, I quicken my steps to the front.
The first thing I see is his very long snout, much longer than expected, and streaks of purple and black scales alight the dragon’s features. My eyes glisten with them. They’re like lightning at night, seen from the shore, a storm far off the coast. Following them from the snout, I lift my torch higher, catching a glimpse of the dragon’s firmly shut eyes. They’re huge, like the rest of him, but my focus doesn’t linger, moving to the glassy jewel-like appendage between them, at the center of his forehead.
The giant deep purple stone captures my attention, and my lips part. Nearly as big as my head, a jewel I have never seen the likes of fills my vision. This time, I’m certain I see wisps of black coming off of it. Glancing down at the dragon’s scales once more, I find the tendrils again.
I’m not seeing things.
Why would it be smoking? My gaze returns to the jewel. I sniff the air but smell nothing but dirt. Putting my dagger into my belt, I reach out to touch the jewel—
I stop short and snatch my hand to my chest.
“Milaye!”
Startling, I twist around. “Haime?”
What am I doing? I shake myself, dashing away from the dragon’s corpse. I’d completely lost focus. Anything could’ve snuck up on me—attacked me. I would’ve let them. I’m never this absent-minded, especially in such a dangerous place.
“Milaye, say something again!”
Haime needs me. I hasten back to the direction I think I heard her from.
“Haime!” I yell. I come to the cave wall when something runs out of the shadows. It’s heading straight for me. Tensing, I swing out my torch with a cry, but the figure stops short. Haime’s features come into view, her arms outstretched.
Without pausing, I drop the light and fling my arms around her, pulling her hard to my chest.
“Stooop—” she whines, but I don’t.
I lean down and bury my face into her hair. “You stupid, stupid girl. You could’ve gotten killed.” Tears well in my eyes. “Never—and I mean never—run away from me again!”
Haime tries to tug free, but I grip harder. “He ran away,” her voice is muffled by my chest.
“I don’t care!” My frustration returns. I release her enough to hold her gaze. “You could’ve gotten yourself killed, or worse! He could’ve been bait to lead you into a trap. You could’ve been hurt! And you ran into a cave, of all places! A cave I had no idea existed. If I hadn’t found it, what would you have done? Wander around in the dark and hope you found a way out? That is if you didn’t get hurt in the process? Do you know what kind of monsters makes their homes in caves? Some of the worst!”
The dragon’s body comes to mind.
“I didn’t know it was going to be so dark,” Haime gripes.
“I don’t care. You never do something like that. Ever!” I want to shake her, make her understand, but she’s still a child, and ultimately it was me who failed her. I tug her back to me and wipe my tears away.
I’d never forgive myself if something had happened to her while I was preoccupied with the dragon. If something had happened to her at all.
“Promise me you won’t do that again?”
She sighs, shoulders shrugging, like my question annoys her. “I promise.”
“I mean it, seashell. I’ll never take you out on a hunt again if you don’t.”
“I promise,” she says again. “You won’t tell Mama and Father, will you?”
“I am most definitely going to tell them.”
“But—”
I let her go. “Just because you’re sorry doesn’t mean you didn’t know better. This wasn’t some mistake, Haime, you could’ve gotten us both killed. We will tell your parents and deal with the punishment, you and I both. That is what a Sand’s Huntress does. We face all things with courage despite the situation. We make mistakes, and we own up to them.”
“Yes, Milly.”
I gaze at her for a moment longer, sucking my lips into my mouth before nodding. “Good. Then let’s get out of here and go home.” I grab the torch from the ground. “Stay close to me,” I order.
“But what about the naga boy?”
I move around Haime, looking for the exit. “What about him? We’re not going after him, if that’s what you’re wondering.”
“But he looked hurt and sickly! He might need food.”
I frown, a little disoriented in the darkness. There’s nothing around us but more darkness. “I know, but he’s not ours to care for. He’s a dangerous creature of the jungle, one that could sooner hurt us than accept our help, and from the looks of him, he didn’t want our help. He wouldn’t have run otherwise.” Part of me fears running into the dragon with Haime in tow. It’ll just dredge up old memories and wants again, and I don’t want Haime to see it.
My gut churns at the thought.
Haime’s half-dragon. I don’t know what it would do to her if she saw one of her kind, and in such a state. There’s no precedent for it. No one in the tribe—not even Haime’s father—thought we’d encounter another dragon once the red comet left the sky.
But it wasn’t only that, the dragon is mine. Something in me claimed him. It seems ridiculous but I felt that way. Like an invisible string attached itself from my soul to him.
“I thought a Sand’s Hunter protector was always to help those in need,” Haime argues.
“Those, meaning humans,” I correct. “Nagas aren’t human.”
“My dad
