The dragon backed out of the crack, and I followed it.
I didn't walk. I pushed. The black-and-white fire went out ahead of me, and the rock in front of it didn't melt, it broke, and the dragon's own heat couldn't get through it. We came out of the cliff together onto what was left of the ledge, into the open dark, and the dragon spread its wings to get away from me.
"Kneel."
Voice of Authority went out of me, and this time the word had weight.
The dragon's front legs buckled. Its chest hit the stone hard enough to crack it. It screamed, and fought it, and dragged one leg back under itself, claws scraping long white lines into the ledge, so I said it again.
"KNEEL."
It knelt.
Somewhere far above us, the two giants tearing at each other in the dark sky went quiet for a moment.
I didn't care. I was already counting.
'One minute. That's what Overdrive gave me last time, before my body broke.'
