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her fear-addled mind having difficulty grasping what just happened.
    The dragon had cut her loose.
    Then the creature's bulbous snout eased around the side and her sense of self-preservation kicked into high gear. Jill bolted.
    She hiked the long skirt to her knees and ran for the woods. Her gasping breaths and the drumming of blood in her ears drowned out all other sound until the telltale whoosh-whoosh of the dragon's wings overrode all else. Without turning, Jill knew it was airborne again—and coming after her.
    The trees. Just get into the woods and you can hide. It was too big to fly in after her, wasn't it?
    She'd almost made it to the timberline when the creature crashed to the ground in front of her. Without breaking stride, Jill skidded and reversed direction, running as if the hounds of hell nipped at her heels. Hounds in the form of a twenty-foot dragon.
    She dared a swift glance behind her. The creature took flight again, its scaled belly gliding bare inches from the ground. Her legs ached and her lungs threatened to burst from her chest. Oh, why hadn't she taken up jogging? She was in no condition for this. There was no way she could outrun the thing.
    The beat of wings grew louder and the dragon's breath singed the back of her neck. She didn't need to look to know it was almost upon her. Was it even now taking aim to spit a bolt of fire at her and burn her to a crisp? Jill didn't want to find out.
    She dodged to the left, then to the right, hoping its large size would hinder its ability to make quick maneuvers. Sure enough, the dragon whizzed past her, nearly knocking her down with the downdraft from its wings.
    Jill continued to duck and sidestep in an effort to evade the beast. Running up one hill and down another, she dashed barefoot across the grassy terrain like a manic gazelle. Tiring, she knew her only hope was to make it to the woods. She changed direction again, praying her legs would hold out long enough to get her there.
    An enraged roar ripped through the air and she braved a glance over her shoulder. She didn't have to be an animal psychologist to know the thing was pissed and its game of cat and mouse was over.
    She focused on the trees. A few more yards and she would make it. Just a bit more—
    Her feet slid out from under her.
    Nooo! her mind screamed as she fell, sprawling in something wet and gooey. She couldn't tell what it was, but it was thick, dark and oozed between her fingers as she tried to push herself up. With her luck, she'd just fallen in a big pile of dragon shit.
    A gust of wind whipped at her gunk-caked hair, slapping the slimy locks in her face. She rolled over to find the beast hovering above her, its broad wings flapping back and forth to keep its massive body airborne. One of its front claws, the sharp talons spread wide, reached for her. She tried to crab-crawl backwards, but her hands and feet found no purchase in the muck.
    It was hopeless. She couldn't get away.
    This is it. This is how I'm going to die.
    The scream Jill had been holding inside ripped from her throat as the dragon grabbed her around the waist and took off into the sky.
    She gripped a claw as she watched the ground slip further and further away, not sure if plummeting to her death would be preferable to whatever fate awaited her when the thing decided to land.
    It tucked its wings, turning them into a stomach-rolling dive as it sliced through the clouds. She clutched the talon tighter and groaned. Then with one mighty sweep of its powerful wings, the beast soared up once again, leaving Jill's churning stomach somewhere in the vicinity of her feet before it leveled out, soaring on the breeze like a giant Chinese kite.
    She shut her eyes against the icy wind battering her face until the dragon plummeted once again. Startled, her eyes shot open to discover they were heading straight for a rocky mountainside.
    The dragon flapped its wings in a backward motion, coasting in toward a large, dark crack in the