Her pulse pounded hard, reverberating in my ears from across the clearing. Her fear was a pungent bitterness on the wind, so sharp, the tang on my tongue forced me to swallow hard. Her head swiveled in my direction. She knew I was there. She knew she was being hunted. But no matter how hard she peered through the trees, she find the predator, my dragon senses more acute and more refined than hers.

My arrow notched,...