“Welcome, my lady. My name is Xutin,” the dragon said, his breath smelling of rotten flesh. “We’ve been expecting you.” He bent into a deep, mocking bow.
“Xutin. It means Lord of the Red,” Lana said. “If your name claims you are a lord, then why are you following a buffoon? Shouldn’t you be the leader, instead? Are you not strong or smart enough?”
The dragon merely smiled. “Dizag said that you had a mouth on you. You certainly don’t disappoint,” he said.
“Well, you do. For as big as you are and your auspicious name, you should be a ruler. By the way, you could use a mint. Your breath is awful,” Lana said.
“I’m not here to impress you, Your Royal Highness,” he said sarcastically. He obviously didn’t mean it as a term of respect. “I’m here to take you to Dizag. He’s been waiting for you. We’ve been taking bets on how long it would take you to get here after you received your message. I must say that I’m in awe. I never thought that a woman could move so quickly.”
“You should never underestimate your opponent,” Lana said, trying to make a plan while she stalled as long as she could. “It could end up costing you your life.”
Xutin ignored her dig. “Let’s get on with this. I haven’t got all day, and we don’t want Dizag to get impatient.”
“Mmm,” Lana said. “As polite as you have been, I think I will decline your invitation. I would rather meet Dizag on my own terms.”
In a very polite voice, tinged with amusement, Xutin said, “I don’t believe that you have a choice. When Dizag issues an invitation, he expects that all invitees comply with his wishes.”
“Well, I guess he will have to be disappointed,” Lana said.
Nick was watching the exchange, but also scanning the area, trying to figure out how to best attack. A fight was inevitable.
Xutin puffed up his chest and moved closer to Lana. He put his claw out toward her as though he was going to try to force her toward the cave. Lana roared and swiped his face with her paw, leaving five long, deep cuts on his face. She leapt back, waiting for her next opportunity to attack.
“Don’t touch me,” she hissed at him.
Although Xutin tried to keep his cool, Lana and Nick could see that he was getting angry. Wisps of smoke escaped from his nostrils. That was a sign that he had a full blast of fire built up and was ready to cut loose on them with little warning.
Nick was looking for a way to get the dragon’s belly, as the face and the belly were the only two vulnerable areas. The rest of its body was covered in scales. They could eventually get through the scales with enough attacks in the same area, but Nick was sure that they didn’t have that much time. The belly was the only option.
Lana, who could hear his thoughts, looked at him and nodded. She was in full agreement with him.
Lana and Nick leapt apart to avoid the long blast of fire that Xutin had thrown at them. He whipped around and tried to use his tail to attack Nick. Nick saw it coming and jumped just in time, leaping over the tail as though it were a jump-rope on a playground.
While Xutin’s attention was focused on Nick, Lana managed to move in and leave deep claw marks in Xutin’s belly. Blood spilled from the wounds.
Xutin spun around quickly, trying to grab her, but Lana was very fast, and as a large dragon, he wasn’t as swift or agile. Nick moved in quickly, trying to get another shot at the dragon’s now bleeding abdomen.
Nick was soaring in mid-air when he was caught by something and thrown back down to the ground, hard. He felt as though all of his bones had been rattled. He assessed himself and determined that nothing was broken.
Just as Nick got to his feet, Lana ran up beside him, their sides touching.
Two more loud thumps echoed through the air and shook the earth beneath them, as massive forms landed on the ground around the trio.
Xutin lumbered over to the other two shifters that had joined the fight.
Lana and Nick were facing the three dragons, staring back at the lions with smug expressions on their faces.
“Kerog. Kyrse. Where have you been?” Xutin asked. “Lana and her companion declined Dizag’s invitation, and I was in the middle of persuading them to accept.”
“Looks like you were getting your butt kicked,” Kerog said. “Imagine that. You never could do anything by yourself.”
Xutin faced him. “I’ll deal with you later. Get them and let’s go.”
Realizing they couldn’t fight off three dragons and that they had no choice, Lana said, “Fine. If you want to be that way, I guess we will go meet Dizag. You don’t have to be rude about it.”
Xutin and his crew didn’t seem to notice Nick. All of their attention was on Lana. Nick wasn’t the important individual in this game. He was just more of a nuisance. However, there was no way that he could fight the dragons by himself even if he would, or could, not follow Lana into the cave where Dizag was waiting for them.
As they headed toward the cave, the three dragons poked and prodded Nick, taunting him.
“You couldn’t protect your woman. What kind of man are you if you can’t even take care of your mate?” Kyrse said.
“What kind of warrior are you, if you can’t fight a lion by yourself? You’re just a playground bully. You always have to have someone to back you up because you are too chicken shit to fight on your own,” Nick replied, keeping his voice as even as he possibly could.
Kyrse kicked Nick, leaving a cut in his side and sending him staggering across the path.
Nick had to use every bit
