ClosertoFire by Alexis Reed

magnificent
marriage of reptile and avian. Awe filled her and she wished fervently that she
could touch it. The dragon regarded her dispassionately with a slit-pupiled
gaze from a height of about thirty feet. Sharp, venomous-looking horns crested
its head and ran down its thick neck in two rows. Its membranous wings were
folded against its back, bony structures ending in hooked talons. She watched,
entranced, as the creature settled to the ground, gracefully folding its legs
and curling its long, whiplike tail around its body. Its hide, plated with a
mosaic of circular gemstone scales in all shades of red, was stretched taut
over ridge upon ridge of solid muscle. In the vision, Lily approached it
slowly, drawn by its unblinking gaze.
    Darek shook her shoulders and she nearly screamed, startled
out of her vision. Letting go of her hands, he slipped the black cloth from her
eyes and she blinked in the light of a campfire that hadn’t been there before.
They were still on the beach—she could tell that much. They were sitting on the
same blanket, which was now at the edge of the firelight. It had grown dark,
and Lily could see very little outside the halo of the fire.
    Darek cupped her face in his hands, turning her this way and
that as though looking for bruises. “Shhh,” he said. “You were out, Lily. I
couldn’t get you to talk. Are you okay?”
    “Yeah,” she said after a long moment. “I was… I’m not sure
what happened.”
    “We showed you a picture,” he said. “Did you see it?”
    She nodded. “I forgot where I was. I wanted to touch.”
    “What did you see?” he asked.
    “I saw you, and then you…you turned into a dragon,” she
replied, feeling foolish. It was one thing to hear words like “dragon-shifter”
from Darek and Bane—it was quite another thing to say it.
    “What color was the dragon?” Darek asked, tucking a stray
hair behind her ear.
    “Red,” she replied.
    He smiled as though satisfied.
    She looked around her, gathering her wits—and realized Bane
had disappeared. “Where’s Bane?”
    Darek smiled. “Not far. Do you want to go find him?”
    Something in his tone made her wary. “Why? Are we still playing
a game?”
    He shook his head. “No. No games. You were out for a while.
Bane shifted. He could gather wood and brush for the fire faster that way. He’s
down by the water. Come on,” he said, urging her to stand.
    She did so, her legs feeling shaky, and he joined her,
taking her hand. “Wait.” Darek stopped, his eyebrows raised. “If your dragon is
red, what color is Bane’s?”
    “Three guesses,” he said playfully.
    “Well, he has to be blue,” she murmured, her hand drifting
to the tiny dragon symbols at the base of her throat. “Blue and gold?” She
looked to Darek for confirmation but he said nothing. He lifted the mysterious
duffel and her small bag, and gestured toward the shoreline.
    Once they were outside the circle of the campfire, Lily’s
eyes quickly grew accustomed to the darkness. The moon was just a sliver high
in the sky, its meager light dancing across the water’s restless surface. Off
to their right, about a hundred yards away, Lily made out a large shape on the
shore, not far from the breakers. Like they had in her vision, excitement and
nerves pooled in equal measure in her belly as they drew closer to the
creature. Its head shifted a little and she realized that it—Bane, she
corrected herself—was aware of their approach. She wondered what was going through
his mind.
    “In your dragon form are you still yourself?” she asked.
Darek gave her an appraising look as they walked. When he didn’t answer, she
continued, “I mean, is it like being Darek , only in another body, or are
you a different thing entirely?”
    He tilted his head. “I’d never really thought about it
before,” he answered after a moment. “I suppose I’m still pretty much myself,
in that my memories and experiences are all there. But my perceptions,