Beyond the Crimson (The Crimson Cycle) by Danielle Martin Williams

, and this time I did laugh. “Give me the bracelet. Now!” he commanded angrily. I held it out for him, not willing to submit to his demands but also slightly afraid to keep provoking him. He groaned, obviously not as entertained as I was, but stomped towards me to retrieve it, keeping his dark eyes locked into mine. He snagged it out my hand roughly and suddenly a loud swooshing sound broke through the room, followed by a bright light bursting out of the portrait. 
    He tw isted. “A vortex,” he whispered with his arms hanging limply at his sides.
    A loud strange screechin g sound pierced through the air; we both crouched down, covering our ears. “You opened it when you touched the bracelet!” I accused over the terrible noise. He turned his back to the vortex and looked at me with wide eyes, surprised but not afraid. He quickly shoved the bracelet back into my hand, and the brilliant light started to fade, but not before I saw the huge, dark, bird-like creature with navy blue scales instead of feathers swoop out of the portrait into the warehouse.
    “Behind you!” I screamed, pointing at the terrible beast soaring out of the closing vortex. He whipped around, putting his arms out to hold me safely behind his body in the first archetypal gesture of a chivalrous knight that I had yet to see from him. 
    He stood up, grabbing his sword from his sheath. “Keep clear, girl!” he yelled.  I crawled behind metal shelves, shaking and willing myself to wake up from this dream. The large creature snapped its beak, as Brendelon swung his sword across the bird’s face, slicing a large gash over its snout. It twisted its head up, screeching in pain, flapping its terrible wings angrily, and sending Mr. Riley’s precious antiques crashing to the floor. The bird swung its large pointed tail into him, knocking him backwards into hard shelves, causing him to lose his grip on his sword. He quickly regained himself and scrambled towards it, but all of a sudden he stopped in place, inches from his weapon. The bird reached back and started swooping forward for its kill.
    “Damn it! Move forward !” he roared. Instantly, I remembered that he was bound to the bracelet. Finding my senses, I did as he commanded, and grabbed a large brownish vase from the closest shelf and threw it into the creature’s face to distract it.
    It worked, but I almost regretted it because the bird wheeled its fiery head into my direction. I froze, so afraid that my brain could not even register to flee. The bird whipped back, screeching with a terrible ferocity , as it was about to attack me, but in the same moment Brendelon dug his sword into the side of the overgrown monster. It roared so loudly I was sure my eardrums would pop. I covered my ears and knelt to the ground. The creature flapped its wings desperately. Brendelon pulled his sword out of the beast’s side and thrust it again in the chest. The bird crashed to the ground, and in an instant was nothing more than black ash.
    I shook with fear at how close we were to death. Shock, yes, this must be shock. Brendelon came closer to me. He was talking , but I couldn’t hear him. I just stared into those brilliant eyes waiting to wake up from this nightmare. He grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet, but I swayed to the left. He quickly caught me and gently helped me back to the floor. He knelt beside me still speaking, but I just squeezed my eyes shut. He patted the top of my head, as I inhaled deep breaths.
    “It is over,” he said with a slight chuckle, as my hearing slowly returned. Finally , I peeked at his lovely face through my eyelashes. He smiled his picturesque crooked smile, and though it appeared to be enough to dissipate my resentment toward him, I still couldn’t understand his humor in near danger experiences. He stood up and held his hand out to me. I took it as he helped me to my feet, still shaky but finding my balance.
    “I have fought worse beasts than that little baby