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  The trees were as tall as oaks with brownish-black trunks and leaves a teal so dark they were almost black. So when a flash of gold flickered in those dark leaves, it made me look.

  There, sticking its head out from between two teal leaves, was a perfect little miniature dragon. Not a lizard or a snake—an actual dragon about as long as my hand from the tip of my middle finger to my wrist. It had an elongated snout and large, jewel-like eyes that whirled as it considered me. When it sat up on the branch I saw it had tiny wings too—gold with red and black webbing. It looked like an exquisite golden statue come to life.

  “Hi there, little guy,” I said to it. Could this be the fire drake? It didn’t seem nearly as frightening as I’d thought it might be. “How about coming here for a minute?” I said to the little dragon, holding out a hand, palm up to it. “I’m supposed to touch you but I’m pretty sure it’s okay if you touch me instead.”

  It hesitated for a moment, then stepped out onto my hand. Its little claws were sharp and its skin was dry and very hot—in fact, I could feel the heat of its tiny body radiating against my palm as though I was holding a live coal instead of a living creature.

  “Hey, buddy…” Carefully, using just one fingertip, I stroked the top of my new friend’s head. The whirling jeweled eyes half closed with pleasure and it made a soft humming sound I took to mean it was enjoying itself. I stroked it again and was so caught up in the enchanting experience I forgot to look and see what Eucilla was doing until I heard her voice.

  “Well, hello there,” I heard her coo. I looked up to see that she was staring at another miniature dragon that was peering at her from a higher branch of the tree. “Aren’t you just adorable,” she gushed, as it cocked its tiny golden head from side to side, studying her. “Morbain said you’d be big but just look—you’re tiny.” She cast me a defiant glance. “I see you’ve already got one.”

  I shrugged. “He just came to me. They’re cute, right?”

  “Hmmph.” Apparently she was done talking to me. Instead, she held out her hand to the little golden dragon, which was slightly larger than the one I had. “Come here,” she said in a coaxing tone. “Come to the True Incarnation as you’re supposed to, now.”

  The dragon sniffed her hand, cocked its head to one side…and bit her middle finger.

  “Ouch!” Eucilla cried, snatching her hand away and glaring at the dragon, who almost seemed to be laughing at her. “Why you little—oh no, you’re not getting away that easily. Come here—come here!”

  She made a snatch at the dragon but it darted away. Eucilla, however, was clearly not one to give up easily. She grabbed the branch the little creature had jumped to and began to shake it vigorously.

  With a sharp sound of distress, the miniature golden dragon fell out of the tree, onto the soft moss below.

  “Got you!” Eucilla snatched it off the ground before it could skitter back up the tree. “Let’s see you try and bite me now,” she exclaimed, holding it in front of her face, but not so close that it could reach her with its spiky little teeth.

  “Be careful,” I said sharply, putting my own little dragon carefully back on the tree branch he’d come from. “You’re hurting him!”

  “Well, he hurt me.” Petulantly, she squeezed the little creature until it squeaked in distress.

  “He was probably frightened,” I said angrily. “Stop it, Eucilla! Put him back!”

  “I’ll do no such thing. I—”

  She was interrupted by the high, keening wail coming from the little dragon in her hand. At once, about a hundred little golden heads stuck out from the trees on either side of us and other miniature dragons took up the cry. It got so loud I had to put my hands to my ears.

  “Stop it! Stop that dreadful racket!” Eucilla exclaimed. “If you don’t, I’ll make you sorry! I am the True Incarnation—I’ll have the lot of you destroyed if you don’t shut up.”

  And then the hill moved.

  It was just a motion in the corner of my eye at first—something I barely saw because I was so focused on the little dragon clutched tight in Eucilla’s hand. But then it moved again and I turned to face it.

  What I saw made me feel cold all over. The little dragons abruptly fell silent and in the sudden stillness I swore I could hear my own heart pounding in my ears.

  “Eucilla,” I whispered breathlessly, my mouth so dry I could hardly talk. “Eucilla, put it down now.”

  “It bit me,” she said, her eyes still trained on the little dragon. “I’m not done with it yet! Besides, I’m supposed to touch it.”

  “Well you’d better get done in a hurry,” I told her, still facing the hill which was no longer hill-shaped. “Because I don’t think that’s the fire drake we’re supposed to be touching.” I pointed with one shaky finger. “Look.”

  “What are you talking about?” Reluctantly, she turned her head to look at what I was pointing at. Her eyes grew wide and she gasped.

  The hill was a hill no longer. It had uncurled itself, revealing that what I had taken for a moss-covered mound of dirt was actually an enormous back. A long, snaky neck had uncoiled to point a huge head directly at us.

  Once when I was a kid, my adopted parents had taken me up to Washington DC to visit the Smithsonian museum. My favorite part of that trip was the Natural History museum with all the animals. Specifically, I loved the dinosaur exhibit. I still have a picture of me standing beside a Tyrannosaurus Rex skull, completely dwarfed by the huge fossil.

  That was kind of the way I felt now except the creature facing us was no fossil. Also, it was at least twice as big as a T-Rex and it looked mad as hell.

  “Oh my Goddess,” Eucilla whispered, staring at it. “Oh my Goddess.”

  “Drop… the little… dragon,” I hissed at her from the corner of my mouth. Dimly I was aware of Morbain shouting the same thing at her from the doorway. But the door was so far away, on the other end of the football field-sized room, it was hard to hear him. “Drop it,” I repeated. “I think that’s a baby and this is the mother. If she thinks you’re hurting her baby…”

  “Oh.” Understanding flooded Eucilla’s face, which had been nearly drained of prettiness by the fear that was stamped on her perfect features. “All right—it’s all right,” she said in a shaking voice to the huge dragon which was watching us with whirling jeweled eyes as big as basketballs. “I’m letting your baby go, see? I’m putting it down.”

  Up until now, both of us had been frozen in place. Now, as Eucilla reached up to place the little golden dragon back on the tree branch with his brothers and sisters, I saw the dragon’s huge eyes tracking us. Suddenly, it opened its mouth and let out a roaring, hissing screech that made my eardrums bulge.

  “Ahh!” I clapped my hands over my ears in pain and Eucilla fell to her knees, crying.

  The huge head lifted and the jaws stretched wide, showing razor sharp, serrated teeth as long as my arm. The fire drake blew a huge plume of flame into the air, white-hot and as bright as a jet from a blow-torch. The temperature in the room went up by what felt like twenty degrees and the cold sweat that had popped out on my skin suddenly turned hot and desperate.

  Eucilla shrieked and started trying to scramble to her feet in the ridiculous heels.

  “Run! We have to run!” she babbled.

  “No!” I caught her arm, dragging her under the shelter of the tree with me.

  “Let me go!” She batted at my hands frantically. “I have to get away from here! This creature is mad. It doesn’t understand I’m the True Incarnation!”

  “Stay right here.” I shook her, making my voice stern, as I did when I spoke to unruly patients. “Don’t you see—she’s protecting her babies! She won’t burn us as long as we’re close to them because she might burn them, too. If you run, you’ll make yourself a target because you’ll be far enough from them for her to breathe fire at you.”

  At last I saw my words were sinking in. Eucilla’s eyes grew wide and she stopped struggling against my han
ds on her arms.

  “You…do you really think so?” she whispered. “I mean, are you sure?”

  “Of course I’m not sure,” I snapped. “I didn’t know anything about this stupid Trial, unlike you. But it seems logical. Look at the way she’s looking at us.”

  The mother fire drake—because I was pretty sure that was what she was—had stopped screaming and shooting fire for the moment, and now she had lowered her massive head again and was looking at us, the huge eyes whirling with some unknown emotion. She almost seemed to be…waiting for something.

  Could it be that she was waiting for either Eucilla or me to complete the Trial?

  You need not fear. Nothing will hurt you. Kristoff’s words came back to me. He’d been right about the first Trial…could he be right about this one too?

  And was I really going to have to go touch that enormous head I saw pointed in my direction?

  I can do this, I told myself. I’m not afraid of animals—even big animals. I loved riding horses as a kid.

  Of course, horses aren’t twice as big as a Tyrannosaurus Rex and able to breathe fire. But if I really was the True Incarnation of the Goddess-Empress, as Kristoff claimed, I should be able to walk up to the massive fire drake and touch it without harm.

  Of course if he was wrong, I would probably get burned to a crisp or bitten in half or both. I had a sudden vivid mental image of the bottom half of me still standing on the moss while the top half of me disappeared in flaming chunks down the hot, red gullet.

  Don’t think that way—in fact, don’t think about it at all, I told myself. Just do it.

  Taking a deep, shaky breath, I took a step away from the shelter of the tree and towards the massive dragon. Its hide was thick and pebbled, a deep green with an iridescent gold sheen that reminded me a little of Kristoff’s tan and gold.

  Kristoff. Kristoff said I couldn’t be hurt. That nothing in these trials could hurt me. I held on to that thought like a lifeline as I took another step forward and then another.

  “What…what are you doing?” Eucilla breathed, looking at me as though I was crazy. “Are you mad?”

  “I’m going to touch it,” I said, keeping my voice low and soothing. “I’m supposed to.”

  “No, you’re not—I am!” She jumped up suddenly and started to totter towards the huge head on her stilt-like heels.

  The fire drake, which had been quiescent, suddenly came to life and let out a mighty snort from the vast nostrils on the end of its snout. The snort sent out a hot black cloud of smoke and ash, directed right at Eucilla, who shrieked as it enveloped her.

  “Go back,” I hissed at her from the corner of my mouth. “Go back under the tree where you’re safe, you idiot!”

  The smoke cleared and Eucilla was left standing there, her lovely gown blackened and her pale skin and hair completely gray from the ash and smoke. She looked like she’d decided to take some time out of her busy schedule of being a rich bitch and moonlight as a chimney sweep.

  “That’s it!” she stormed, tears of rage cutting tracks down the grime on her cheeks. “I’m leaving! It doesn’t matter if I touch that…that thing anyway—I already touched a little fire drake. So I don’t have to touch the big one!”

  She turned and started flouncing away, stumbling and tripping in her angry haste as her heels caught in the moss.

  It was the heels that saved her life.

  The huge green head swiveled to face her retreating back and the jaws opened, just as they had before. I saw that the dragon was about to breathe fire again but it happened so quickly, there was nothing I could do to stop it. The best I could do was shout a warning.

  “Eucilla!” I yelled. “Duck!”

  “What?” She turned her head to see me and her shoes got tangled in the moss. With a little cry, she fell over just as the fire drake belched a burning gout of flame directly at her.

  Eucilla hit the moss covered ground and the stream of white-hot flame went directly over her head—setting the back of her long hair on fire.

  “Crap!” Visions of patients in the burn unit back home flashed through my mind and I acted without thinking. Rushing out of the safety of the tree, I ran to Eucilla, who was shrieking and rolling around ineffectually on the ground as her long hair flamed.

  “My hair! My hair!” she shrieked, sitting up and batting at her head which only spread the fire. Honestly, didn’t they teach stop, drop, and roll on this freaking planet?

  “Get down,” I ordered her. Grabbing her shoulders, I tried to force her to the ground. But panic had made her strong and she fought me back, shrieking and crying.

  “No…no! Leave me alone!” she sobbed.

  “You have to smother the fire!” I shouted at her. Then, realizing that I wasn’t getting through to her, I looked for something to smother it myself. There was nothing in the flat, mossy landscape I could use. Then I looked down. Well, nothing but my dress.

  Hurriedly, I grabbed at the flowing material of the bottom of my dress and began ripping at the seams. Luckily it was sewed right at my knees and I was able to yank it off all in one glittery, flouncy piece.

  As soon as I did, I rushed at Eucilla, who was still screaming and waving her arms, and tackled her to the ground, wrapping her head in the yards and yards of silvery-gold material as I did so.

  She shrieked even louder but the sound was muffled by the train of my dress. I pushed her down and squeezed her head tight, heedless of her flailing. Only when I was sure the fire was out did I lift the material and take a look at her.

  “You…you…how dare you?” she spluttered when her face, still gray from the dragon’s ash, came into view again. “I’ll have you hanged by your thumbs from the palace walls for assaulting me, so everyone can see what happens to one who hurts the Goddess-Empress when I ascend the throne!”

  “You’re welcome,” I said dryly. “I was just trying to put out the fire before you went up like a human torch.”

  “You…” Her voice trailed off and her eyes got wide. “Oh my Goddess,” she whispered faintly.

  In the craziness with the fire, we had both forgotten about the source of it. Now I felt a presence looming over my right shoulder. When I turned to look, I saw that the dragon was right there. Literally, not even a foot from my face.

  As my friend Zoe would have said—holy shit.

  “It’s going to burn us,” Eucilla whimpered, beginning to cry again. “It’s going to burn us to a crisp.”

  “No,” I said. My voice was shaky and my knees felt even shakier but somehow I managed to make myself stand. “No, she’s not.”

  Nothing will hurt you…have no fear…have no fear…

  I risked a glance at the doorway, so far away across the massive room. I could see the figure of Morbain gesturing at the figure of the Head Councilor who was gesturing back angrily. Kristoff, however, was simply leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed over his broad chest and watching me quietly. He was too far away for me to see his eyes but I knew they would be a rainbow of shifting colors as jewel-bright as the dragon’s.

  Only I have the Vision, he’d told me. Only I can see the rainbow aura that surrounds you, my Lady.

  His eyes, so much like the fire drake’s. Could it be…could it be that she could see the aura too? The rainbow aura which was supposed to surround me—which was invisible to everyone else?

  I looked at her and saw she was watching me intently.

  “I’m sorry,” I said to her, using a low, soothing tone. “I’m sorry we invaded your…your nest and bothered your babies.” I took a step towards her, though I could hardly believe I was doing it. “Forgive me,” I said, holding out a hand to her.

  To my mingled relief and disbelief, the dragon snorted softly and nudged my outstretched hand with her scaly snout. Her skin was hot—much, much hotter than that of her baby’s—but she only touched me for a moment.

  After that one, brief caress, she shook her head and turned, ambling back towards the trees where dozens o
f little golden heads were watching from between the branches and squeaking for their mom.

  The moment she got settled between the two trees, a hundred little golden dragons came rushing out of the leaves and swarmed all over her, looking like bright, jeweled ants next to her massive bulk.

  The mother fire drake snorted again, this time a sound of contentment, and settled her head between her huge front paws. But her eyes continued to watch Eucilla and me, as though she wouldn’t be completely at rest until we left her chamber.

  “Come on,” I said and tried to help Eucilla to her feet.

  “Get off me.” She pushed me away and got up on her own, still tottering on the ridiculous heels.

  “We have to go,” I said but she was already on her way towards the distant door, tottering along with as much dignity as she could muster.

  Walking behind her, I saw that most of her hair had been burned off in the back and she was probably going to have some pretty nasty second degree burns on her exposed scalp. The ER doctor in me wanted to rush after her and talk about treatment options but I could tell my help wasn’t wanted. Instead, I plodded after her, heading for the doorway where Kristoff waited for me.

  Speaking of burns, my own hand should be blistered all to hell from the touch of the dragon—it had been like pressing my fingers to a red-hot stove. But when I lifted my palm to look, I saw I was unharmed. Nothing will hurt you, Kristoff had said, and he had been right.

  I was just sorry that Eucilla had been burned so badly. I had a feeling that she really did think she was the True Incarnation. It was an idea that someone—probably Morbain—had been feeding to her since childhood. And as pretty and tall and perfect as she was, I could see how it would be an easy lie for her to swallow. After all, she certainly looked like an Empress. Or she had before she tangled with the dragon, anyway.

  Well, at least one good thing will come of all this, I thought to myself as I walked over the soft moss with the dragon’s glittering gaze still weighing on my back like a golden stone. It will put an end to the Trials. There’s no way Morbain can claim Eucilla is the True Incarnation after all what just happened.