Meanwhile, a ten feet further on, the larger of the two dragons remained fixed on the ground, while the other dragons began turning into boys again and approaching the winner, who had also turned back into a human—one with a very pissed-off expression. They looked at him silently, apparently waiting for his orders, but he was only thinking about Rahel and looked around for a moment, startled.
"By Drodar! Where did my girl go? Where is she? Rahel?" he called shortly, almost a bark, but she didn't answer him at first, just stared into thin air like a poor madwoman, shaking her head blankly.
But the dragons fanned out quickly and found her.
"Here she is, Leader!" one of the boys cried and the next moment Quarterback crouched in front of her on the ground and gently reached under her chin, lifted her head to his gaze and wiped her cheek and forehead tenderly. "Hey, that was a pretty violent fall just now. Are you all right?" he asked her, a note of tension in his voice, and then gently felt her arm, which she was still holding.
She just nodded wordlessly. All she wanted was to back away from him, to get up and... Better to run away now. But he had already put his hands around her arm with a low growl, frowning briefly with concentration.
It began to tingle, her arm...
And then in the next moment it had completely stopped hurting. She continued to breath in quick gasps, but then he let go of her and the bone seemed fine. Huh?
"Are you feeling sick?" Quarterback asked her earnestly. And Rahel looked at him, completely perplexed.
"No... no, I'm okay," she murmured flatly before she could stop herself and he just nodded slightly, got up, and turned back to the gang.
"Now bring your girls in and take good care of them!" he said sternly to the group and all the dragons nodded back just as seriously. Quarterback had already plucked her from the tree into his arms and was actually carrying her off somewhere. "What ...? Ohhhh no you don't! Quit it!? What is this shit? Let me down!" Rahel kicked her legs wildly and slapped his chest and shoulders, but he only smiled briefly before swiftly crouching down on the ground, pressing his head to his chest and then jumping straight into the air. "Whhhaaaaaaaaaa...?" she managed to screech shrilly. He leapt and landed much higher up on a wooden plateau that was built like a veranda around a sturdy tree trunk. "Oh, wow, wow...!" she gasped for composure, only then realizing she was clinging to his neck with almost a death grip. Startled, she let go of him and then kicked her legs wildly again.
"Let me down, I said!" she barked at him roughly and finally he put her back on her own feet with a big smile.
"I like you more and more. Really. Despite being injured, you're still fighting. No Dragongirl has been like this ever, at least not as long as I've followed the selection. Hey, your arm is fine now, okay? And you'll soon see there's no need to fight me. By the way, I... would like to look at your neck, if you'd allow me? I hurt you there earlier, at the landing strip, and want to heal it. You've already seen that I can." He made to grab her hair, but she hastily evaded him and staggered back out of range.
"Are you nuts? First you choke me and almost pound me into the ground, not to mention your tail switching, which almost scalped me, and now you just want to take a quick look at what else you've done? Does it give you an extra-perverse kick to look at the bruises of those you beat up?" she provoked, still feeling shaky, but now capable of some deliberate roughness.
Then his smile disappeared and, before she could even see that he was moving at all, he had already caught her, pushing her back against the huge tree trunk and sweeping her hair aside. "AAAAHHHHH! NO!!!"
"Hold still!" He glared at her as she hammered at his chest, trying desperately to push away. Then, although she shook violently, he stroked his hand very gently over her neck.
"Hold... still!" he repeated more gently. She finally heard him over her heavy panting and closed her eyes in horror. She rashly turned her head to the side in disgust at the proximity of his face. But that didn't impress the dragon a bit either. His palm just kept stroking her neck gently.
"It's all right. You see? It doesn't hurt at all now. It's just a couple of slightly swollen bruises. No wonder you're so snappy right now. You're already jittery from withdrawal, you're scared and on-edge and then I almost strangle you—by mistake, of course. And I can't apologize for you landing on the ground. That was Tronn! He landed too close to me and pushed you off. Well... it shouldn't hurt anymore now; swallow and tell me how it feels!" he ordered her quietly and then slowly released her.
She just looked at him viciously, even though her throat truly didn't hurt anymore or feel the least bit tight. But how she hated this brutal, nasty dragon!
"If looks could kill..." he murmured softly and then frowned and walked a few steps away from her to the edge of the platform. If she hadn't known that the guy here could morph into a dragon at any time, she would have tried to push him off the edge, it occurred to her briefly. But then she realized how terribly, freezing cold she was, and that she couldn't get rid of him no matter how she tried, because all she did wouldn't be more than a pin prick, with his strength and power He would probably only see it as another show of bravery—or, even worse, a turn on. God! She was so lost. This was the end, lights out—she was finished.
Slowly she slid down the trunk to the floor and rested her forehead on her drawn, trembling knees. She needed to rest, if only for a little while. Her throat was still burning with thirst, her tongue almost sticking to the roof of her mouth. She felt dizzy and absolutely miserable, nearly to the point of tears.
"Hey, hey, hey! Rahel, no!" The dragon rushed over to her, sounding horrified, and again lifted her head to his gaze with a firm hand, but she only pressed her eyes tightly closed. "Don't give up now! Come on!" he grumbled, sounding worried, when all she did was stay limp. She managed to mumble "thirsty." He put her head back on her knees and cursed softly.
When he tapped her again it was with something cold. She raised her head inch by inch to see a tall glass filled with fruit juice floating in front of her. "God!" she murmured, reaching for it thirstily and emptying it in almost one gulp—at least that was how it felt to her.