Read Online Between the Realms by Elle Casey - Free Book Online

smell?" I whisper-yelled to Tony.   My eyes darted left and right, trying to see what was dying and possibly decomposing behind me.   The thought of a zombie dragon crossed my mind, but I quickly erased it, knowing the reality couldn't possibly be that bad.
    Tony's face had gone white.   I knew things were really bad when Tim hid in the top of Tony's hair, shaking like a leaf.   He hated Tony's hair almost as much as he hated Scrum's.
    "Tim, did you just pee on me?" asked Tony in a quavering voice.
    "I think so," said Tim.
    I was nearly paralyzed with fear now.   "It's behind me, isn't it?" I asked, my words coming out as mewling sobs.   "What is it?   A dinosaur?   A pterodactyl?   A corpse?   A zombie?"
    Tony nodded first and shook his head second, pulling back farther behind the door, only the top of his head and eyes peeking out now.   I could just barely see Tim's face above the poof of Tony's hair that was still showing.
    Knowing that whatever was going to happen was inevitable and out of my hands at this point, I finally got a bit of control over my fear and broke the paralysis that had temporarily taken over my body.   I yanked myself back and forth, trying to turn around and face my nemesis.   If I were going to die by dragon breath or dragon bite, then I wanted to see it coming.   Having the beast that would end my life behind my back was too friggin awful, creepy, and wrong, wrong, wrong.   No one should have to die in the blind like this.
    Another hot breath hit me, the currents of air pushing me in a slow circle.
    I stopped struggling and just watched the trees and branches spin around, the ground being connected to the bottom of the trees that seemed to be floating above my head made me even more disoriented than I already was.
    It was when I was three-quarters of the way around that I finally realized how deep the shit was.   And I was standing in it without any waders on.
    "Oh.   My.   Friggin. G.   You are not a sheepdog."
    I was facing it now.   The T-Rex.   The T-Rex motherfucking dinosaur dragon that was about the size of my mother's house, black smoke trailing out of its nostrils and rising up in weird shapes that looked like phantoms of evil, haunting its frightening face.
    It huffed one more time, sending tendrils of the black stuff up around my face.   It stank like burnt boiled egg.
    "Oh, Jesus H. Smith, that is some nasty shit!" I yelled, without even thinking.   I knew I was dead, so a piece of my barely functioning brain had apparently decided that manners had no place in my life anymore; they were too much effort when I was so focused on how much pain was going to be involved in my passing.   It was bad enough this beast was going to eat me, but that it was going to choke me on rotten egg-breath first?   That was too much.
    "Tim we need to get this beast some mouthwash."
    I could hear whispering behind me, but not well enough to figure out what they were saying.   I ignored them and studied the dragon closely instead, as I tried to come up with a plan to either escape or make peace with my maker so I wouldn't have to be a permanent resident here in the Underworld.
    Its hide was black - blacker than black.   It was so dark, it looked like darkness Itself.   "You're The Dark of Blackthorn," I said matter-of-factly, putting the pieces together.   "Nice to meet you.   I'm Jayne Blackthorn."   I held out a hand, which mostly just flopped down to hang above my head.   All the blood leaving most of my body to go to my brain and face was causing me to have very little control of my limbs.
    It opened its huge mouth and breathed out a monstrously big wall of fire at me, roaring at the same time.   It was like a full-speed-ahead freight train had exploded in my face, screeching its whistle as it blew up into a million pieces.
    I closed my eyes as soon as I saw the first lick of fire coming from its black throat, readying myself for the pain.   I'm about to be the ash that