It carried me up above its head and I saw those narrow yellow reptilian eyes staring coldly at me, first one and then the other. Its teeth were not made for rending flesh but those jaws could crush my body quite easily, I knew. That was just what the beast was going to do. Its yellow collar frills relaxed slightly; the monster no longer felt threatened.

I strained to break free of the demon’s claws, but I was just as helpless as the baby had been moments before.

“Orion! Here!”

Anya’s voice made me glance down while I struggled in the lizard’s powerful grip. She had come up behind me and was pulling my knife out of the lizard’s knee. Before the beast understood what was happening, she threw the dagger as expertly as any assassin. It pierced the soft folds beneath the lizard’s jaw with a satisfying thunk.

With its free hand the dragon started to reach for the steel in its throat. But I was closer and faster. I grabbed the projecting hilt of the dagger and began working the blade across the lizard’s jawline, back toward the frills that had snapped fully erect once again. It shrieked and released me, but I clutched at its neck and swung up behind its head, pulling the dagger free and jamming it in beneath the base of the skull.

It collapsed as suddenly as a light being switched off. I had severed its spinal cord. The two of us came crashing down to the grassy ground. I felt myself bounce and then everything went blank.

Chapter 3

I opened my eyes and focused blearily on Anya’s beautiful face. She was kneeling over me, deep concern etched across her classic features. Then she smiled.

“Are you all right?” she asked.

I ached in every part of my body. My chest and thighs were slashed from the lizard’s claws. But I consciously clamped down on the capillaries to stop the bleeding and closed off the pain centers in my brain. I made myself grin up at her.