Avondale V Read Online Free PDF Page B

war ship further down and under the dragon.
    “Lexi!” Tiberius shouted again.
    He lost sight of Lexi and Dancer as the war ship’s massive balloon sail moved between him and the dragon. For a long moment on the war ship, no one moved. Tiberius didn’t know what to expect, until he felt the ship jolt slightly. The soldiers looked toward the captain, who was frowning angrily. Then the dragon reappeared, behind them. It was flying away; the jerky, spasmodic movements of the wounded beast made it seem almost comedic, but all Tiberius could think of was the fact that Lexi was no longer on the dragon’s back.
    The soldiers cheered as the dragon flew away, but Tiberius looked up. The balloon sail was covered with a thick net of heavy ropes. He waited, terrified until he saw Lexi. She was as agile as the most experienced sailor climbing down the sloping ropes. It was like the rigging of the ship was a ladder, and she had no trouble scurrying down toward the deck.
    Tears streamed down Ti’s face. He didn’t even try to hide his relief. He limped toward the ropes that Lexi was climbing down, his back so stiff he was hunched to one side, and his back was wet with sweat. The soldiers began cheering for Lexi, all but the ship’s captain, who seemed bitter that Lexi had survived. They gathered around Tiberius, and when Lexi was low enough, they reached up with strong hands to pull her down onto the war ship’s deck.
    “Well, that was exciting,” Lexi said breathlessly.
    The men cheered her, and Tiberius pulled her into a painful embrace. Dancer ran around Lexi’s shoulder and then across Ti’s neck, before settling on Lexi’s back again.
    “What were you thinking?” he asked.
    “I wasn’t thinking,” she said. “I fell, and the dragon was beneath us. I was just trying to survive.”
    “I was terrified that I would lose you,” Tiberius said.
    “Not as terrified as I was.”
    “You didn’t look scared. You looked fearless.”
    “I was only doing what I had to do.”
    “No, any normal person would have fallen. They wouldn’t have even thought to fight back.”
    “The dragon was trying to knock me off its back,” she said. “I used the dagger because it was the only way to keep from falling.”
    “May I see the dagger?” asked one of the soldiers.
    Lexi held it out. The soldier stepped forward, dabbed a finger in the thick dragon blood, and then sucked it off his skin.
    “What are you doing?” Lexi asked.
    “Gaining the boldness of the dragon, my lady,” said the soldier.
    The others were laughing, but they too wanted to taste the blood of the dragon. Some smeared the blood across their foreheads, and others rubbed it under their eyes. When Tiberius looked at the captain, the old man spat as if the entire scene disgusted him.
    Tiberius dipped his finger in the blood and looked at Lexi. She ran her finger across the blade and held it up to him. The blood was dark red and almost shimmered in the amber-colored sunlight. Tiberius held his finger up to Lexi, and they both licked the blood off the other’s finger. It tasted like copper at first, almost like he’d stuck an old coin into his mouth, but then the taste changed just before he swallowed. It became sweet, and there was a part of him that wanted more. He looked longly after the dragon, which was merely a dark speck far away by then.
    “What is it?” Lexi asked.
    “I don’t know,” Tiberius said. “Probably nothing.”
    “Your face,” she said. “It looked like you were thinking something.”
    “I was just wondering how you could be so courageous,” he said.
    “I just couldn’t stand the thought of not being with you.”

Chapter 6
    Olyva
    She had spent the whole afternoon with a tailor and had been fitted with an elegant white gown. It wasn’t tight, but the silk fabric flowed down her tall, narrow body, accentuating each curve and ending in a spray of lace that flowed out from her knees like the billowing mist at the bottom of a