Description
From Chapter 4 of “Power Couple”
As if hurled by the gods themselves, a gigantic battleaxe came whistling downward between the sails, slicing through the smoke to embed itself in the wood mere inches from Boulderella’s toes. Then, from within the thickest part of the haze, came the sound of an animal landing lightly on its feet, and through it, a tall, armored female form materialized, strutting toward her in a confident gate.
Astrid stopped by her axe, cocking a hip and folding her arms across her chest, expression calm and cool, but not quite cool enough to douse the flame of anger in her eyes.
"Who are you?!" Boulderella demanded, stamping a foot. "What are you doing on my ship?! Those sails are very expensive and I just had them cleaned!"
There was a collective, awestruck gasp as Toothless gave a forceful flap of his wings, clearing out the rest of the smoke. Baring his teeth in a fearsome snarl, he prowled to Astrid's side, snapping at anyone he thought had any intention of coming near her. All such thoughts had already been purged from the minds of the crewmen, but it wasn't in the dragon's nature to let anything, even the tiniest blink of an eye, slither quietly past his notice.
Boulderella forced an expression similar to the one Astrid was wearing, only adding a raised eyebrow in order to seem altogether unimpressed.
"Well, Svarg, my dear," she sneered, giving him an amused look over one shoulder, "I spoke too soon. I do believe our search party has arrived. If you can call it that."
Svarg and a few other sailors snickered along with her as she sheathed her sword and twirled a curl, placing the other hand on her ample hip.
"Although I must say, love, your dragon is rather exquisite. Yes, I might just claim him for myself once I get rid of you."
Astrid wrenched the axe from the floor, twirling it around so that it glinted in the lantern light before settling it on her shoulder and examining the nails on one hand.
"I'd take that as a compliment, but he's not my dragon." She let the axe drop, spinning it all the way around until she caught it heads-up again. "I'm here," she went on, stabbing Boulderella with another fiery glance, "because you've just made the biggest mistake of your life."
Boulderella and the other pirates immediately burst out in boisterous laughter at her bold statement.
"And what might that be, if I may I ask?"
Astrid tested a blade with a thumb, then swiftly tipped the axe head down to Boulderella's eyelevel, strolling casually forward. The other woman blanched as she was pushed backwards to bump against the ship's railing.
When Astrid spoke again, her lowered voice contained a dangerous undertone.
"You've stolen something extremely important from me. No one…ever…steals from me and gets away with it."
The axe twitched almost of its own accord, making Boulderella flinch.