The mouth of the volcano loomed ahead, vast, gaping, glowing like the throat of a dragon god with indigestion. Rivers of lava flowed downward like veins, pulsing, alive. Heat distorted the air so badly reality looked drunk.
And then…Something moved inside. Not lava. Not fire. Something else. My heart dropped straight into my stomach. "Oh no," I whispered. "That's not geological."
Raya felt it too. Her wings faltered for half a second. The volcano answered with another violent eruption. Fire blasted upward like a cannon. "DOWN!" I screamed instinctively.
Raya folded her wings and dove. We plummeted. Wind screamed. Lava screamed. I screamed. We missed a flaming boulder by inches, inches, and I felt the heat scorch the soles of my boots.
"I AM NEVER MAKING FUN OF DRAGONS AGAIN," I sobbed into Raya's scales. "YOU ARE DOING AMAZING, SWEETIE, JUST, DON'T DROP US…"
"I'M TRYING," Raya snapped, banking sharply. "THIS MOUNTAIN IS THROWING A TANTRUM!"
