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Dorothy McFalls
a book bubble about
The Last Moonlight Dragon
Romance
Author Insight
"You have magic."
A mammoth cat encounter nearly turns deadly, thanks to the slave collar. But, as a result, Celestina discovers something important about herself.
Book Excerpt
The Last Moonlight Dragon
Soren knew the names of the streams we were passing and the names of the hills. I supposed as a general for the Fein army, he’d have to learn the landscape he was passing through.“Bells is an old way of saying home,” he said. “There used to be wild cats the size of horses living up in these hills. Mammoth cats, they called them.”My eyes grew wide as I looked around me. “Really?” I’d never heard of wild cats that could get that big.“Really. Farmers around here have found bones of them. Their teeth are…” He held his fingers to his mouth miming how large the cat’s teeth must have been.Again, I was amazed at how much more he knew about my homeland than I did. Cats the size of horses? I would have never guessed it. “What happened to them?” Did they go to wherever the dragons had gone? I knew well enough not to wonder that aloud.“No one knows. Perhaps they disappeared along with the fallen kingdom, supposedly most of the world’s magic and magical creatures left when the fifth kingdom collapsed. Not that I’m saying the cats were magical. No one knows that for sure. Come, look at this.” We had reached the top of the hill where there was a large expanse of tumbled-down stones. It took me only a moment to realize what I was looking at.“It’s a ruin.” The outline of what appeared to be foundation walls was still visible in the landscape. “The building had to have been huge.”“It was a palace, one with elegant soaring columns and tall archways and grand halls,” he said looking at the ruin as if he could see it when it was still intact and in use. “It was once the center of a large capital city.”“The legendary fallen kingdom?” I asked, intrigued by this mysterious realm that no longer existed.“No. But wouldn’t it be something if we found that?” He looked younger and happier as he walked through the ruins, picking up stones here and there and turning them in his hands before returning them to where he’d found them.“You’re a closet scholar, aren’t you?” I couldn’t help but smile as I watched him. “I bet all this chest-beating and sword-swinging is just a cover for your real passion.”He looked at me. A corner of his mouth curled up. “But I’m fantastic at sword swinging. And my chest is large enough to make quite an impressive sound if I ever were to beat at it.”“So it is,” I murmured. My cheeks heated when I realized that I had been staring at his chest as if it were a piece of honey cake. I quickly turned away and pretended to be extremely interested in a broken design etched on one of the fallen stones.The design looked familiar. It was nearly identical to the crest that had been stitched on my tunic—the Fein Kingdom crest.I looked up suddenly. “How far are we from the Fein border?” I asked.“About a four-day journey.”That far.And this land used to belong to the Fein? It was once the center of the kingdom? Oh, gracious. Did the Fein once hold claim to this land? Did they now want their land back?“Why did your king send you to defend our kingdom?” I asked. Why would a kingdom that had been closed to outsiders for as long as anyone could remember and had a history of ignoring the affairs of other kingdoms suddenly become interested in helping the Kingdom of Earst? Had Soren’s king sent his general and warriors to fight for a foreign court as a means to assess the enemy and prepare for an assault of their own?Did the Fein help stop the Tiburnians from taking Earst because they wanted to take the land for themselves?“It was a diplomatic mission,” Soren answered. A muscle in his jaw jumped.“I see.” I took a step away from the etched stone. I hoped he didn’t notice I’d been studying it. “Thank you for showing me these ruins. I…I’m embarrassed to be so ignorant about my own kingdom’s landscape and of its past.”He stepped over to me. “Don’t be embarrassed, Celestina. That’s not why I brought you here. I thought you might enjoy seeing some of the countryside and have a look at a piece of the past.” He shrugged.Our eyes met. He was big. A brutish warrior with the power to kill with a swipe of his sword. And yet, and yet, he had this other side to him. He had learned all about the lands he traveled through. He knew the history.I envied him.And the foolish wanton girl that lived in me wanted to run my hands over his broad chest and feel the power of his corded muscles underneath my fingertips.It was insanity, I know. But anyhow, I took a step toward him.He took a step toward me.“Celestina,” he whispered.“Yes?” My voice sounded odd. Husky.He blinked.“Raya told me that you wanted to move into my tent.” He stepped away and spread his arms wide. “I…I…don’t…”“She already told me it was a terrible idea,” I quickly cleared my throat and said before he could explain why he couldn’t…why he wouldn’t…why we shouldn’t.“She told me the same thing. But”—he put his hands on his head and looked at me again—“I don’t hate the idea.”“Really? You don’t?”He nodded. “I like the idea of keeping you close by.”“You do?”He moved toward me again. “You are”—he frowned—“unique.”“Unique.” My shoulders dropped. He thought I was unique, as in an oddity, as in the girl with the nose that was too large and body that was too gangly, as in that peculiar friend who really didn’t fit in with the rest of the group, as in an enemy who might strike when everyone is sleeping?He swore. “I’m not explaining myself well.”“No. I understand.” Where was a hole for me to dive into when I needed one? “No need to explain yourself. You want to keep an eye on me because I don’t fit.”He hooked his thumb under my chin. “No, Sky Girl. I want to keep you close because I think you and I might fit.”His lips hovered so close to mine that his warm breath felt like a caress. He smelled of pine and snow and caramel. I trembled, waiting.But before anything happened, he dropped his hand and turned away. “Raya is right. We should not. At least not until we reach the capital and figure out what to do about that damned collar around your neck.”“Are you going to free me?” I don’t know what was making my heart pound faster—the thought of him wanting to kiss me or the thought of him granting me a reprieve from the queen’s death sentence and her slave collar.“It’s not really up to me to decide, but I will tell the king about your bravery.” He shook his head. “I believe Queen Beatrice acted in haste when she punished you for your parents’ actions. You acted with honor that day you saved the—”He moved quicker than my eyes could follow. He roughly shoved me behind him and drew one of his large swords.“What?” I gasped.“I don’t believe it,” he said while backing up, pushing me to retreat with him. “They-they aren’t supposed to be around anymore.”I peeked around him. My heart froze.Standing on one of the tumbled-down fluted columns was a cat. It had sleek, golden-colored fur and bright green eyes. And it was the size of a horse.“It’s beautiful,” I whispered.“Don’t make any sudden movements,” he warned as he kept backing us away from the beast.I tried to sidestep him. “I don’t think it wants to hurt us.”“I don’t think we should stick around to find out what that monster wants to do.” He kept backing us away from the cat and around the outside of the ruins toward a path that would take us down the hill to where the warriors were setting up camp.The large cat stretched its back and then leaped, not toward us, but toward the path. It then turned around and sat down in the middle of our escape route. It seemed like it wanted to trap us within the ruins.“What do we do now?” I asked Soren.He glanced around. Anywhere else on the hillside was too steep and littered with too many loose stones to try to climb down. We could possibly climb down the far side of the hill, but that would take us further away from his army. Unfortunately, with the cat sitting where it was, the long route might be our only escape. We started to move in that direction.The cat moved again to block our path.“It’s playing with us like a house cat plays with a mouse,” Soren said.“I don’t think it wants to eat us, do you?” The cat sat back on its haunches and lifted a paw and started to clean itself. All the while, it kept its emerald gaze locked on us.“I don’t know.” The muscles in Soren’s back tensed under my fingertips.“I think it’s curious.” I stepped out from behind Soren and then took another step toward the cat. I held my hand out as if trying to let it know that I meant it no harm.“Celestina, no.” He grabbed my shoulder. “I cannot let you risk yourself like that.”His command zapped through me like a burst of lightning.The cat hissed.“I…” How did I explain to him that it didn’t feel like a risk? “The cat wants me to go to it.” I looked up at Soren. “Please. It feels like something I need to do.”He shook his head. “I don’t like it.”“The cat won’t let us leave. It’s waiting. I think it’s waiting for me.”“That doesn’t make sense.”“No,” I agreed. “It doesn’t. I can’t tell you why, but I think it’s true though.”And since he still hadn’t given me permission to get near the cat, the collar kept me rooted to the spot where I was standing.“We should wait here. It’ll either get bored and leave or attack.” He tightened his grip on his sword as if expecting the second option to happen any moment.After the cat had finished cleaning its paw, it stood up. Keeping its intelligent eyes trained on us, it made a soft chuffing sound as it closed the distance.I reached my hand out to it.“Celestina…” Soren warned. But he didn’t order me to lower my hand or to get behind him.Ever so slowly, the cat stepped closer and closer. I could feel Soren growing tauter and tauter beside me. I could also feel a ripple in the air. It reminded me of tasting something sweet, as wild as childhood laughter, and as alluring as one of Soren’s near kisses.“Don’t strike out at it,” I whispered. “It’s magical.”“It is.” Soren lowered his sword just a little. “The magic feels like warm raindrops against my arm.”The cat lowered its head and pressed its wide jaw to my hand. A low rumble came from its throat.“Is it purring for you?” Soren asked while holding as still as a statue.“I think so,” I breathed. Its fur felt like silk. I wanted to pet it like I would one of the castle cats, but I didn’t think that would be appropriate, considering how it was a magical being, and perhaps treating it like a pet would be offensive.It sniffed and nudged my hand. I held my breath as it then sniffed my arm and moved closer and closer to my face. The cat’s long fang-like teeth extended out of its mouth by at least an inch. The tips looked as sharp as a knife’s edge.The part of me that had been pampered and locked away in the castle my entire life screamed at me to run. Run as fast as you can move!Which was ridiculous. No matter how fast I ran, that cat could catch me with one pounce.But there was another part of me, one I really didn’t know all that well. It was the part of me that enjoyed pretending I had wings and could fly with the dragons above the clouds. That part of me smiled.“You are utterly amazing,” I whispered to the cat as it sniffed my cheek. Its magic bubbled around me like bubbly wine.It sniffed my chin, my neck, and then its velvety black nose touched the gold slave collar.With a jerk, it peeled back its lips, revealing a mouth filled with knife-sharp teeth. The gentle purr turned into a low, unfriendly growl. Its emerald gaze seemed to harden as it turned its massive head from me and toward Soren. Its muscles tightened. Its ears flattened onto its head. And there was an almost musical zing as its claws extended from its front paws. The cat was going to strike!Soren started to swing his sword.“No!” I shouted. It came out in that growly voice that I used to scare and thrill the princes.Both Soren and the cat froze.Their surprised gazes shot toward me.“No!” I repeated, still in that unsettling growly voice that seemed to come naturally from the base of my throat.The cat lowered its head and stepped back. It remained just out of range of Soren’s sword for several minutes. It simply stood there watching us before it finally turned. It then shivered and jumped. As if leaping through an invisible doorway, the majestic cat disappeared before it landed.“What just happened?” Soren asked as he turned around full circle with his sword still held at the ready.“I don’t know.” I put my hand on Soren’s arm. It seemed natural to reach for him, especially since I needed to touch something real to ground me. My nerves seemed to be firing all over the place from the aftereffects of the magic that had ripped through the ruin. “I don’t know.”“I think you do know.” He covered my hand with his. “Because you, Celestina, have magic.”
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