DragonKnight - Donita K. Paul [5]
Bardon knew just when Greer recognized his rider’s distress and flew toward the south end of the lake. The amount of fish he’d eaten slowed his flight. His movements would be sluggish, but the dragon would not abandon his rider.
Again the snake yanked backward, and Bardon fell off the rock. Just before his head splashed beneath the surface, he heard the enraged battle cry of a dragon above him and a feminine screech of horror from the shore.
2
ENTANGLED
Bardon kicked at the coil around his leg with his free foot, trying to pound the snake’s body into loosening its grip. Directly above him, the impact of a massive body entering the water announced Greer had come to his rescue.
A cloud of bubbles surrounded the squire, obscuring his vision. A moment later, his descent abruptly reversed. He whooshed out of the lake, dangling upside down, still entangled in the long snake. Greer held the serpent in his mouth and flew toward shore.
Water streamed from Bardon’s hair. He swiped at his eyes with one hand and glanced up. The snake coiled around his leg, its head battering the leather of his boot. The length of the writher’s body dangled from Greer’s mouth. Bardon estimated the creature’s body stretched twenty feet between his foot and Greer’s teeth. Bardon looked down at the rippling surface of the lake, then at the rocky shore as Greer gained height. The piles of rounded stones did not look like a comfortable place to set down. He desperately hoped the serpent would not let go of his leg now.
Seconds later, the dragon banked over the grassy expanse before the cabin. Bardon bent in half at the waist. Still holding his hunting knife, he grabbed the snake’s body as if it were a rope and hauled himself up to Greer’s head. Clinging to the dragon’s neck, he braced himself for the landing.
Thanks, Greer.
In return for his expression of gratitude, Bardon listened to a tirade on the foul taste of writher snakes and the unpleasant feel of serpent scales rubbing against the tongue.
As soon as the dragon’s feet hit the ground, he spat the offending reptile from his mouth. Bardon’s back struck the grassy bank with a thud, knocking the air out of his lungs. The knife flew from his grasp, landing out of reach. As he labored to breathe, a frantic young woman rushed toward him with an ax raised above her head. He wheezed, struggling for just one breath of air while the snake’s hold tightened around his leg.
His eyes followed the young woman’s helter-skelter dash toward him with that large ax brandished. He emphatically desired to get away from the snake and out of the path of the ax-wielder, but all he could do was hack and gasp. She stumbled, and the blade of her weapon barely missed his leg.
Sitting up, Bardon finally drew several breaths of bracing air. He tried to move away from the figure sprawled on the grass beside him, but the snake lurched toward the lake and dragged him along.
Greer!
The dragon whipped around, his tail flattening a bush. He examined the situation, gave a huge sigh, and reluctantly placed one large forefoot on the slithering beast.
His dragon friend’s surge of disgust washed over Bardon. He thought Greer’s abhorrence of snakes would be laughable if he’d been free of the creature wrapped around his leg.
Back on her feet and armed again with the ax, the young woman charged in between Bardon and Greer. She swung the ax above her head and, as it came down, let out a frightful screech. Bardon grimaced and covered his ears. The serpent jerked, the coil around Bardon’s leg relaxed, and he shook the body of the snake loose. Dark purple blood spurted from the two ends of the severed flesh.
Greer removed his foot from the twitching snake body and backed away from the creature. The young woman scrambled back as well. Tears ran down blotchy red cheeks, and her chest heaved as she sobbed. An older