Edged in blue with a red mane, it was a thing of beauty. Sleek and lethal, it rose above them, bugling a challenge at the sky. It had powerful forelegs tipped with deadly talons, and fins meant to cut through water along its side.
"It's a lu-ong," Graydon said grimly, not taking his eyes off the creature. "Barely more than a baby."
"You consider that a baby?" Kira asked in disbelief. No wonder they insisted on seeing her as a child if they counted that giant creature an infant. Their definition of what constituted a baby was seriously off.
"A full-grown lu-ong can grow up to three times its size. This one is nowhere close to that."
Kira's mouth clicked closed. That put things in perspective.
The lu-ong lowered its head, snorting at them. Its lips curled, exposing the terrifyingly sharp teeth of a carnivore.
Kira swallowed hard, the thought of where she'd been minutes before making her slightly queasy. She wasn't afraid of death, but the thought of being some creature's snack was terrifying.
Graydon let out a low curse. "We're going to have to kill it."
"Wait," Kira started.
Graydon didn't listen, his powerful stride taking him close to the lu-ong before she could do more than form a token protest.
Kira screamed in frustration.
The insufferable man was going to get himself killed. What did he think he was going to do? Punch it to death?
Kira darted after him.
The lu-ong tossed its head, biting at the air as it reared, springing even further out of the water, its movements frantic and mindless.
"Stop," Kira shouted, kicking the back of Graydon's knee and sending him stumbling forward. "You can't kill it."
"What do you suggest I do? Let him eat you?" Graydon asked sarcastically.
"Perhaps you can take a moment away from needless posturing and actually analyze the situation," Kira spat.
Graydon showed her his teeth, displeasure pouring off him in waves. "What's there to analyze? Once it's dead, you can talk about your feelings about its tragic end all you want."
He did not just say that.
Kira glared at him and pointed. "Look at the side of its neck. That's a Tsavitee control collar. The moment it senses its host's heart stop beating, it will attach itself to the next closest source."
Where Kira pointed, there was a large lump. On closer inspection, it resembled an alien tick, tentacles plunging deep into the lu-ong's skin.
"But if you'd like to be used as a Tsavitee puppet, go ahead, kill the lu-ong," Kira said, her words dripping with acid.
Graydon's eyes spat fire as Kira raised her eyebrows at him, unmoved by his temper tantrum. She was right and he knew it.
"What do you suggest?" Graydon said, the words sounding like they were forced out of him.
"Thank you for asking," Kira said, unable to resist prodding at him. His ire deepened until his eyes looked like storm clouds. "It'll be easier if we destroy the collar first. After that, the lu-ong will either run off or you can kill it."
She'd prefer the lu-ong escape with its life intact. Something that beautiful didn't deserve to be destroyed because of a Tsavitee's poisonous interference.
"Fine," Graydon said, his voice rigidly controlled. "How do you suggest I do that?"
"Destroy the collar's brain first. One hard blow to the body should do it," she said. "Just be careful. If it senses its mission is compromised, it might try to attach itself to you."
She spoke from experience. The alien tick was a pain in the ass to kill. You had to be quick and precise or risk falling under a Tsavitee's control.
"Think you can handle that?" Kira challenged.
Graydon curled his lip at her. "The day I can't handle something like this is the day I admit a human is better than me."
Kira rolled her eyes at him, exasperation making it hard to keep her retort to herself. "I'll act as decoy. You take care of the collar."
"No, just stand where it's safe."
"That's not happening," Kira told him. "Accept it or get out of my way."
He growled at her, but she didn't move, just folded her arms and stared him down.
The lu-ong chose that second to strike, its head snaking forward with the speed of a cobra.
Kira dove into the water. It closed around her, cold and wet, as panic beat at her. It had been instinct to seek the water’s protection, but now it worked against her.
The lu-ong was aquatic, at home in its depths much like an alligator. She needed to escape before she ended up as lunch.
She kicked her legs, propelling herself for the surface. Her first gasp of air tasted like razorblades.
A dark shape loomed over her. The lu-ong's slightly mad eyes watched her, pain and fury deep in their depths.
Kira froze. Its fear choked her as it mentally thrashed under the collar's control.
I'm here, she thought at it.
There was a brief hesitation as all that deadly focus zeroed in on her. The lu-ong was intelligent, she realized with a start. A fierce intellect burned inside, the likes of which threatened to break Kira's brain under the pressure.
As it stared at her, she was conscious of Graydon, absurdly small next to the great beast as he worked his way up the lu-ong's neck.
Kira shouted when she felt the dragon's attention slipping away. Here.
The lu-ong's head snaked forward, hovering over Kira, its teeth on display.
Graydon reached the collar as that head began to descend. Kira held still, knowing if she lost the lu-ong's focus, Graydon likely wouldn't survive.
Hurry, she urged him silently as her death closed in.
He drew his arm back and hammered at the tick, cracking its shell in a single strike.
Kira dove to the right as the lu-ong plunged. Finn hit the lu-ong’s side, his face a mask of fury, his arms and hands glowing with a faint red light as he struck. The lu-ong's teeth scored a bright line of pain along Kira's arm and torso as it dove, barely missing her.
It kept going, disappearing into the water.
Blood stained the water around her red.
She clapped a hand onto the wound on her arm as coldness invaded her limbs. "Shit. Where'd it go?"
She tried to staunch the blood, even as she struggled to find the shape of its body under her, convinced it was about to swim up from beneath and gulp her down.
The thrashing sent waves of pain coursing through her body. Graydon appeared next to her, reaching down and scooping her out.
"I don't see it," she said, trying to fight through the pain. She needed to stay awake and aware for when it returned.
"It's gone," Graydon said soothingly, clutching her to his wide chest. "You were right about the collar."
"Of course, I was. I'm always right," she said through stiff lips as relief rushed through her. She'd survived. Yippee for her.
His chuckle was rusty even as concern pinched his face.
"The lu-ong has its own power. As soon as I broke the control collar, it wasted no time in escaping," he said, trying to distract her.
"That's nice," she said, barely able to keep her eyes open. She'd lost a lot of blood, she realized.
"Is she all right?" Finn yelled as he raced toward them.
Graydon didn't answer, worry in his face as he started to jog toward the end of the course. "Hang on, Kira. We're going to get you some help."