Uh-oh... Van + Dilandau + Dragon = Trouble. Wow, I wish my calculus was that easy. Hmmm...perhaps I should unleash Dilandau on my book. I might enjoy watching it burn even more than he would. ^_^ This chapter is a LOT shorter than usual, but that's just how it felt like it should flow. Anyway, thanks for the feedback, folks, keep it coming. Feedback catches stupid errors I'd never noticed before... like how the hell Dilandau would get his shirt off if he was tied to Van (I went back and fixed that little goof, by the way, so thanks!)

I think we all know by now what's mine and what isn't.



=== "Red Threads" by Morgan Steelgrave - Chapter Three ===



"Don't move," Van hissed to Dilandau, drawing him as close as possible, dark eyes glittering in the dark, breathing heightened but even.

"Can it sense us if we don't move?" he breathed, his words barely audible even to his own ears. Van's eyes slid in his direction.

"No," he answered, his attention returning to the dragon, which was circling them slowly, unsure of their exact location. The two young men stood frozen, allowing the gigantic beast's glowing eyes to pass over them as if they were a part of the forest. When it raised its head and appeared to lose interest in their immediate vicinity, they could not help but relax minutely. Its nostrils flared once, twin puffs of smoke curling upward. A single claw twitched impatiently on the ground.

Van suddenly went rigid, eyes widening. "Move! Now!" He grabbed Dilandau's hand, and the two sprang high into the air just as the massive tail, ropes of taughtly-coiled sinew and armor, swept toward them. It landed with an explosion of dirt and brush debris, searching them out, lashing the entire clearing as it groped for its targets. The boys executed a series of jumps as they avoided the tail, working as one mind and body, moving together without a second's hesitation or doubt.

The dragon turned, tail whistling through the night air, and reared its head back in preparation to let loose with its fire. Legs already aching from dodging the lashings of the tail, Van and Dilandau paused momentarily to catch their breath. The Fanelian saw the waves of heat radiating from the beast's jaws and chest plates and cursed.

"Run!" he cried, grabbing Dilandau's arm once again. They turned and ran hard, the roar of the fire as it struck the ground as they pumped their legs in desperation. The heat was intense, licking at their backs as it rushed to catch them and throw them off their feet. They landed roughly, faces shoved into the moist leaf matter that now smelled of smoke as the forest around them was caught in a growing nest of flames. The dragon approached, impervious to the fire, its head reared to strike again. Van tugged at Dilandau, trying to force him to his feet. The Zaibach soldier seemed entranced with his attacker, refusing to budge an inch.

"Dilandau! We have to get out of here!" Van shouted, pulling at the ribbon that bound them.

Dilandau turned to face him, the fires reflecting in his eyes, making them seem to shimmer, liquid. This creature was so beautiful and so threatening at once, full of fire and pride and cunning. He had to see it. He wanted to see the fire as it poured out between iron teeth, descending to the earth like a tide of death, like the destruction he wielded as a Dragonslayer. "I want to stay!" he cried, turning back to face the advancing dragon.

"There's nothing we can do! We haven't got any weapons and we're crippled as long as we're tied like this! Now come on!" Dilandau still would not move. The dragon inhaled, the furnace within its bony chest plates glowing. Dilandau's eyes widened in exhilarated expectance, the hot breath of the dragon and the fires swirling around the two of them and tugging seductively at his silver hair.

The dragon opened its cavernous jaws to unleash its searing death, and after a split-second's hesitation Van set his jaw grimly and grabbed Dilandau from behind, pinioning his arms, jumping upward as hard as he could. He felt the bones in his back creak aside as his wings unfurled, catching the hot wind of the dragon's breath and the burning forest and carrying them upward into the night sky.

- TO BE CONTINUED -