SAVE POINT 20

Sparo

I hoped Rosabella held on. It was a wicked thought, I knew, but I couldn't help but think it as I felt the girl’s fingers grappling for a hold on my slick scales and her feet digging in—

Ouch! Damn girl. She was a lead foot!

Watch the liver.

I griped, using my dragon telepathy to reach into her mind again with my voice.

I need that thing for my bad habits.

She stifled a chuckle that told me she could care less about the joke, and I was left imagining her falling out of the sky again. No, if Rosabella fell, I'd catch her. I was hella fast.

Feel those horns right at the nape of my neck? Yes, those.

I told her, feeling her touch. Grand Dragon, the things it did to me. But I had to focus. I got, maybe, half an hour with her. I wasn’t going to spoil it by being all lovey-dovey, stars-in-my-brains. I had to pay attention—stay in the present. It was all I had left with her for right now.

Hang on tight to those horns.

I lectured.

It's about to get real windy—

And I shook out my neck, loving the slap of the air in my face as I lifted my giant, scarlet wings. The breeze caught them, swooping under their folds—tickling and cooling at the same time. Oh. Oh, how I loved to fly! To quote the greats:

"To fly too steep.

Too steep, perchance to dream..."

...Or was that not how it went? I’d never paid attention to all that written word stuff. Dragons had better things to do—

Hold tight!!!!

I bellowed the warning, digging my claws into the dirt—feeling it crumble between my toes before I—

Shoved off.

I leapt.

My massive wings beat.

To the tune of freedom.

To the tune of letting Rosabella see my piece of the world.

The lift forced my wings upward like they were rounding two full barrels while gravity ripped them downward. I fought to push up—stretch out my neck.

There! I let out a roar of fire as my talons rose from trailing along the speeding grass under me and—

I flapped my giant wings.

Felt Rosabella’s hair whip against my neck as she buried her face in my scales with a scream.

Felt the air rush past my face—

Freedom!

Finally!

The sky was baby-blanket blue with those fluffy clumps of porcelain clouds that looked like cotton candy; I wanted to snap my teeth through them all. Rosabella had probably never even tasted a cloud before—felt those glistening droplets of dew in thousands on her tongue and the sun so bright and up-close in her face. I'd wanted to show her these things forever. A few, sparse trees and, then, the mountains slid into view beneath us—like little toys in a playset, rather than the entire landscape of our world. Everything looked small with a new perspective. The world was bigger up here, and most on the ground could barely even see that—barely look up.

But Rosabella saw it now. I felt her body loosening—letting go of the fear and tension. I felt her hands slide down, relaxed around my neck as she shifted her weight to peer below us.

"Sparo!" she called, astonished, "This is—amazing!"

And a grin split my face that I couldn't hide or refused to. I grinned so hard I felt the air rushing through the spaces in my jagged teeth.

You gotta admit,

I shouted in her mind over the wind whipping past my ears.

This is better than walking!

"Hell yeah, it is!" she yowled into the sky. And I felt her hands slide off my neck. I looked back to see she had them both in the sky with her brown hair billowing out behind her like a kite. I had to grin at the pure joy in her eyes.

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But I, also, wanted her to put her hands back on me.

Hang on tight again, sweet.

The words rumbled through me along with all the thoughts I couldn't seem to contain.

You ain't seen nothing yet.

And the thrill of the anticipation of Rosabella’s reaction trilled through me as I felt my haunches preparing to—

D

I

V

E

I twisted.

The world rushed—hurled.

Past in a blur.

My stomach jumped to my mouth.

And dizziness crackled in my ears till—

I pulled up and leveled out, breathing hard. Exhilaration crashed through my body—all the way to the edges of my talons. And I could feel the heat of Rosabella’s tiny body, clutching at my neck—and her heartbeat. Pounding. Each fluttering, small beat of hers matching the booming thrum of mine. And I hauled us up on the ledge as she clutched at me, feeling the rocks punch in between my claws.

We were here. Just like I’d pictured it. I held my breath as the girl slid off my back and to the cliff's rough ground because—

Because I hoped she loved it.

This place was one of my favorites, but I wanted to see it through Rosabella’s eyes—like, maybe, I could see it all again for the first time. We were standing in the mouth of an enormous cave—one of the many that dotted this mountain range's side. But this particular one was higher than most and the view... Oh, the view...

You could see for miles up here, watching the clouds mix with the landscape below: tiny trees, patches of farmland, cities and towns... Large places looked like a pinprick on a map from up here—like you were standing over the whole world and had it, literally, spread before your feet.

I watched the girl’s breath catch just as I'd hoped it would.

Her eyes widened.

"Sparo—this place!" she breathed in amazement.

I knew you’d love it.

I murmured it in her mind, drinking in her response. Grand Dragon, how I wanted to wrap my arms around her right now, press my chin and lips into her hair, breathing deeply of her. ...But I couldn't do any of that as a dragon...

I burrowed in my mind till I found the Creator Magic. I let it sweep me up—fill my lungs and heart with tingling. Red smoke enveloped my vision while neon words buzzed and flashed before my eyes:.

[System Alert: Human Transformation Initiated. Loading…]

[-50 CMP 1650/1700]

Rosabella gasped softly as smoke filled the air around us, and I reappeared again.

As a man now.

The man she craved.

And it was like being separated by my giant form was far too painful or far too long, because Rosabella rushed at me, her arms open and her hair flying. And I caught her. My arms encircled her—engulfed her petite waist—and her hands locked around my neck. And, Grand Dragon, that was all I’d wanted: Rosabella, here, in my arms. How long I'd waited for this. But I wouldn't wait any longer.

I leaned to kiss her, any kind of hesitance or shyness gone. My lips expanded against hers—hungry. God...starved.

I pulled her into me—against me.

I felt her hunger too. Like we were two puzzle pieces finally locking together: her need for safety and my need to keep her safe.

Secured.

Forever.

Unshakable.

Grand Dragon, I think I loved the girl. I’d would never say it to her face—not now. I was early again with the emotions. I didn't want to spook her, but it’d been decades since anyone made my heart flutter.

Soar.

Race.

Like this.

My hands shook as I raked my fingers through her hair, pressing our mouths closer. A shiver of delight ran through me as my tongue snaked around hers. And it was probably one of the few times I'd been solidly in the present moment for a while now. ...Except last night. Last night was amazing.

I was so caught up in our embrace that I didn't notice it at first—and she tried to conceal it, I thought.

The sputtering.

Spasming.

Of her chest.

Of the cough coming up between us like a tangible reminder of the sickness that literally stood between us—that made this barrier of space and time that was going to separate us now for who knew how long.

She had to break off the kiss to cough—to clutch at her throat and my chest as the darkness raked through her body.

[ROSABELLA, GAME MAKER 12: -7 HP, 73/107]

"Rosabella," I peered into her face. I hated that this was so awful for her—that she had to carry so much. "Where's the root powder?" I sputtered.

And she nodded to a backpack slumped against the cave wall that I hadn't noticed she'd brought with her. My fingers fumbled with the thick zipper and thin fabric before sliding against the sides of a glass jar. One quick tug and I had it open for the girl.

"Here," I shook some into her trembling palm, and she pressed it against her tongue while the spasms continued to ravage her chest. It made something hurt inside me. She’d taken on all this pain...all this suffering for our world. For our benefit. How could we ever repay her? I could try for a hundred years, and it might never be enough, and the crazy thing was that the girl wouldn't even care. She'd give more. I thought that was why I was falling for her.

[ROSABELLA, GAME MAKER 12: +2 HP, 75/107]

"I'm okay," she coughed, "I'll be okay."

And I reached out and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear with gentle fingers, smiling a little. Because I knew that was true. Rosabella was a warrior. She’d fight this too. She’d win. She had to.

Suddenly, a strange sort of war cry echoed up through the valley—like a hundred voices all at once.

"What's that?" Rosabella asked.

We both whipped around at the same time—

There was a dark cloud on the horizon.

But it wasn’t in the sky.

It was on the ground like it was—

"A Darken swarm?" Rosabella guessed, her sweet mouth pulling into a worried frown.

I narrowed my eyes, but it was too far away too be sure. For that I'd have to—

"I'll check it out," I called, reaching inside for the Creator Magic.

The tug.

The red mist.

[System Alert: Dragon Transformation Initiated. Loading…]

[-50 CMP 1600/1700]

And I had wings again—and, thankfully, my Vodyaracka eyesight—but I needed a better view. I prepared for launch—

"Take me with you," Rosabella begged weakly, but her face was parchment-paper white.

"In your condition? Like hell I am," I spat—was she crazy?!—"Rest for a minute. I'll be right back."

The wind gathered under my wings as I heaved upward. The breeze ruffled through my scales. And the rock ledge left my feet. I had a purpose this time. I was razor-focused as I sped towards the cloud—

Not cloud—crowd. I realized quickly, as I approached.

It was a horde—an army? Zombies? Warriors? I wasn’t close enough to tell yet.

I dialed my eyesight in like the scope of a gun, turning blurry to sharply clear—what?

I shook my head, not sure I was seeing this right. An enormous throng crowded every crevice of the mountains around the Trading Portal gas station, spanning for probably miles—pancaking out in a huge sea even from up here.

But they were not Darken...not warriors...they were...

...It kind of looked like they were...nerds...