Dragon's Claim

Chapter 4-2

WHEN THE FIRST PLANE landed, Layla had felt a surge of relief until Drake informed her there was a second plane trip still ahead of them. It was shorter, only a jump from New York to Nebraska. But after the second plane landed in Nebraska, Layla found that she kind of missed the plane and the great heights that it allowed her to reach without her dragon form. Still, she was anxiously excited to see the American dragon’s home. It kept her mind from trying to return to Snowdonia and all the people she would miss.

Outside, the parking lot radiated heat in the summer sun. She watched as the dragons around her rotated their shoulders and glanced at one another with expectant smiles. She looked around, trying to figure out what was going on as they reached the edge of the parking lot. They weren’t heading toward any parked cars.

They were going to fly.

Fear was a cold spike as she looked out at the open sky. Not because she worried about the incoming planes. No, she was terrified of the monster that rose inside of her. It pressed against her skin, trying to overwhelm her until it could break free. It wanted to fly alongside the other dragons, free to do as it wished.

That was what terrified her.

Layla shook her head. Her lips pressed together while she fought against the monster inside of her, she turned away from the edge of the parking lot and started back toward the airport. Someone behind her called out.

Drake.

Layla was not weak. She would not let the monster win. She wouldn’t become a liability in this new world. She would be steady and she would keep a rein on the thing that had grown inside of her, the thing that craved violence. Even if that meant driving all the way to the American Territory.

The American leader finally caught up to her, half-way back to the airport. He caught her arm and spun her around. They were eye to eye, a question floating in his eyes. Her lips were still pressed together, not to keep from speaking, but to keep the monster trapped inside. She looked up into the air. It called to her. She missed it with a fierceness that no one would understand. They wouldn’t comprehend the sacrifice she was making to keep the world safe.

Drake’s grip on her arm softened. Together, they glanced back at the three dragons waiting at the edge of the parking lot. The dragons watched them with mixed expressions. Confusion and impatience. Layla turned away. She didn’t want them to know her battle, didn’t want them to judge her for what she had to do.

For what she could no longer do.

“I’m going to rent a car,” she said once the monster was pushed back into a secure corner. It growled with fiery irritation, a sound that roared in her ears until she could barely hear anything around her. “Send me the address and I’ll use my phone’s GPS to get there.”

“I’m not leaving you alone in a new setting. This is insanity. Why won’t you just fly with us?”

Layla didn’t shake her head. She didn’t waver. Instead, she stood straighter and pulled her arm from his grip.

*