11:03 Wed, Apr 22
How Not To Fall For A Dragon
Chapter 140 140- Never Stand Downwind Of A Fire-Breather
LEXI
73
I squeeze my eyes shut tightly and hold them there, like if I just don’t see it, it won’t be real. It’s a stupid thought. I know it is. But it’s the only thing I can cling to right now. Everything else feels… too much. Too close.I stand there, trying not to move, trying not to sway, but I can feel it anyway, that unsteady tilt in my balance, like the ground beneath me isn’t quite where it should be. My head throbs in time with my heartbeat, each pulse making it harder to stay upright, harder to focus on anything except the fact that I am very, very vulnerable like this. Blind. Unprotected. Trusting. I hear movement. Shuffling footsteps. The scrape of boots against stone. The faint crackle of magic building, low murmurs turning sharper, more urgent. Someone, Professor Farrow, is giving orders. His voice cuts through everything, no longer slow or absent-minded, but precise. Controlled.
“Spread out. Try to get behind it-” he says. Then, a different sound. Deeper. Heavier. A scraping drag of something large against the courtyard. Blake. Even without looking, I know it’s him. The shift is unmistakable, the way the air itself seems to shift with him, the subtle vibration under my feet as his weight settles into something much larger, much more powerful. People notice. I can hear it in the way their movements change. The hesitation. The sharp intakes of breath. The sudden edge of panic. Someone swears under their breath.
“That’s a dragon!” says another voice, tight and strained. I swallow hard, my throat dry. Don’t look. Don’t look. Blake told me not to look. The sinking feeling in my stomach deepens, heavy and undeniable. I know where this is going. I’m not stupid. But I don’t let myself think the words. I don’t let myself name it. Because if I do, if I actually say it in my head, then it becomes real. Permanent. Something I can’t take back. So I just… stand there. And wait. A low, rumbling sound builds in Blake’s direction. It’s not a growl, not really. It’s deeper than that. It vibrates through the air, through the ground, through my chest. Something ancient. Something powerful. Something dangerous. Then, footsteps. Fast and erratic. People moving, no, scrambling. The calm control from before fractures completely.
“Move! Move, MOVE!” Someone yells.
“Get back!” Says someone else.
“Stop him!” Says a panicked voice. And then, heat. It hits all at once. A violent, suffocating wave of it that slams into me from behind, blasting past me in a rush of dry, searing air that steals the breath from my lungs. It feels like standing too close to an open furnace, like the world itself has suddenly ignited. My skin prickles, my eyes squeezing tighter instinctively as the light bleeds red through my eyelids. And then, the sound. The screaming. It rips through the air, high and raw and utterly, horrifyingly human. It’s worse than anything I’ve heard before. Worse than bones breaking, Worse than anything. It’s not just pain. It’s terror. It’s people realising, all at once, exactly what is happening to them. I flinch, my whole body going rigid, my hands curling into fists at my sides. I should cover my ears. I should. But I can’t move. I’m frozen in place, rooted there by something I don’t even understand. The smell hits next. Smoke. Thick, choking, curling into the back of my throat. And underneath it, something else. Something metallic and sickening and wrong. My stomach lurches violently. I bite down hard on my lip, hard enough that I taste blood, trying to stop myself from gagging, from reacting, from doing anything that might break whatever fragile control I have left. Don’t think about it. Don’t name it. Don’t picture it. Just… Wait. Trust Blake and wait. The heat surges again, another wave, then another. The air roars, alive with it, crackling and snapping like the world is splitting open. The screams don’t last long. That’s almost worse. They cut off too quickly. Too abruptly. One by one. Until there’s nothing left but silence. Not complete silence. There’s still the faint crackle of something burning. Still the distant hiss of heat meeting stone. Still the slow, heavy movement of something large shifting across the courtyard. Blake. I don’t know how long it lasts. Seconds or minutes. Then, there’s a sudden flare of light behind my closed eyes. A pulse of heat, sharp but brief. The shift. Before I can process it properly, something lands on my shoulder. 1 yelp, jerking violently, stumbling back in blind panic, and then I’m caught. Blake’s arms close around me, solid and immediate, steadying me before I can fall.
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11:03 Wed, Apr 22
Chapter 140 140- Never Stand Downwind Of A Fire-Breather
73
“Shh… it’s okay. It’s me.” Blake’s voice is low and steady, so normal that it almost doesn’t match anything that just happened. His hand cups the back of my head, guiding my face into his chest, shielding me, not just physically, but from everything else. The smell hits me
properly now that I’m pressed against him. Smoke. Ash. Something else underneath it that I don’t let myself think about. My body just… gives out. Whatever adrenaline was holding me upright disappears all at once, and I sag into him, my weight collapsing fully against his chest. He catches me easily, like he was expecting it, one arm tightening around my back while the other steadies my legs. For a second, I
just breathe. Or try to. My breaths come shallow and uneven, my hands clutching weakly at his shirt as if letting go might somehow make everything come rushing back. He shifts slightly. And then I’m lifted again. Effortless. Like I weigh nothing.
“I’ve got you,” he murmurs, his voice softer now, gentler in a way that feels almost careful.
“Let me get you out of here. Don’t open your eyes yet.” He instructs. I nod against him, even though my eyes are already closed, my face
still pressed into his chest. I don’t trust my voice right now. I don’t trust anything about myself right now. He starts moving. I can feel it in the sway of his steps, steady but faster than before, more purposeful. There’s urgency there now, not panic, but something close to it. A need to get me away from this. Away from what just happened. Away from what he just did. I KNOW I shouldn’t look. I know it. He told
me not to. And I trusted him enough to listen. But, there’s a part of me, something small and terrible and curious, that just… needs to know. Needs to see. Needs to understand. Before I can stop myself, I shift slightly in his arms and crack my eyes open, just enough to glance over his shoulder. And I immediately regret it. There’s nothing left. Not really. The courtyard is… ruined. Blackened stone, scorched and cracked. The shapes that remain aren’t shapes anymore, not properly. Just… piles. Dark, uneven piles scattered across the ground. Ash. Char. Something red that shouldn’t be there. Something that was there. I can’t even recognise them as people. If I didn’t already know… If I hadn’t heard… I wouldn’t know. My stomach drops violently. Blake’s voice echoes in my mind. ‘Move.’ I thought he was warning them away for my sake. For me. But now… Now I understand. That wasn’t for me. That was for them. He gave them a chance. A
real one. To leave. To live. And they didn’t take it… Oh shit.
“Blake, put me down,” I choke out, the words tumbling over themselves in a rush. He hesitates, just for a second, like he wants to argue. Like he wants to tell me no, that I’m not steady enough, not safe enough. Then he looks at my face. Really looks. And something in his expression shifts. He lowers me carefully, quickly, making sure I’m stable, but it’s barely enough time before I turn sharply away from him and vomit. It hits fast and hard, my whole body convulsing as I stagger toward the edge of the path, barely managing to make it onto the grass before everything comes up. My head pounds, the motion making the dizziness ten times worse, my vision blurring as tears sting at the corners of my eyes. I gag, coughing weakly, trying to catch my breath between waves of nausea. Behind me, Blake exhales slowly.
“This is why I said to keep them closed,” he says quietly. There’s no anger in it. No frustration. Just… something softer. Something almost like regret. I can’t answer him. I’m shaking too hard, my hands braced weakly against my knees as I try to steady myself, to breathe. My whole body feels like it’s vibrating, like I’m barely holding myself together. I killed someone. He killed- No. Don’t think it. Don’t say it. Don’t- Blake steps closer again, his presence grounding and overwhelming all at once.
“Let me…” he starts, then pauses, like he’s choosing his words carefully.
“I’m just going to get you to the infirmary. I’ll make it quick.” He tells me. I nod weakly, not trusting myself to do anything else. A second later, I’m lifted again, his arms solid and unyielding around me as he pulls me close and starts moving, faster this time, his pace long and determined. I should close my eyes again. I should. But I don’t. I can’t. My gaze drifts over his shoulder, drawn back despite everything, to the faint flicker of flames still burning behind us. Small fires licking at the edges of what’s left, crackling softly in the night air. I stare at them. At the aftermath. At what’s still burning. And I don’t look away.
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11:03 Wed, Apr 22
Chapter 140 140- Never Stand Downwind Of A Fire-Breather
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Tonjia O’Connor
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I so wish we had more than one chapter a day. but also thankful we do get a chapter a day. I know i should not be greedy that you have a life too. so… More
12 hours ago
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