Scarlet ignored Ash. She kept her eyes on the group. “I have a woolen shawl for each of you. It can get cold up here in the mountains. Apparently, you humans struggle to keep yourselves warm.” She rolled her eyes. “So weak.” She tsk’d. “Do as I have instructed and you will stand a chance. Ignore my advice and…” She shrugged. “It will be your own fault.”

Chapter 5

Her feet touched the ground and for a moment, there was a feeling of suspension. Then the dragon let her go and gravity took hold. Julie staggered but managed to stay on her feet. The others were deposited in much the same way. She pulled off her blindfold. Lisa was looking around her. Jo was picking herself up off the ground. The others were scrambling to remove their own blindfolds. Of the dragons, there was no sign. Quick motherf-ers!

They were in the middle of nowhere. The grass was about knee-high and a beautiful, bright green. The field for the most part, was clear of trees with only a few small bushes here and there. But beyond that, with thick forests as far as the eye could see. And beyond the forests, were giant, craggy mountain peaks. The tallest one, was white and covered in snow.

It was breathtakingly beautiful and terrifying, all in one. How on earth were they going to escape this? It seemed that the nearest civilization would be thousands of miles away. If they escaped the dragons, and that was a big if, they might just end up dying out here in the wilderness. There would be mountain lions, bears and God knows what else in this god forsaken terrain.

One thing was for sure, she would rather die trying to escape than to allow herself to be caught by one of the dragon shifters. She shivered, recalling Scarlet’s words. There was no way she was going to allow herself to be used in that way. She would rather die trying to escape and would fight to the death if one of them managed to catch her.

The other women were talking amongst themselves. Arguing about which direction to take.

“We need to go that way.” Lisa pointed to the route that would take them further into the valley.

“That dragon woman, Scarlet, said to head for the waterfall and to follow the stream.” Candy pointed to the right. True enough, a white mist could be seen on the side of the mountain. The undergrowth looked thicker and greener as it moved away.

“Yup.” Julie nodded. “That looks like the waterfall alright.”

Lisa shook her head. “You’re actually going to trust her? Scarlet has it in for us. She wants to see all those horrible things happen. She’s not on our side and not to be trusted.”

“Yeah, but what she said makes sense.” Candy put her hands on her hips.