Dragons and Mages: A Limited Edition Anthology

by Pauline Creeden

  An annoying voice kept intruding on her thoughts and her newfound awareness.

  Phlox. The voice said. Phlox, come back to me. Tell me you’re okay.

  Who was that? Where was the voice coming from?

  I need more Twinkies.

  Twinkies? She was losing her mind. There’d been too much power for her to handle, and it had scrambled her brain like an egg.

  An attractive chuckle thrummed through her mind. She forced herself to focus and turned her head to the side. Rubrum. He towered over her grinning. Rubrum?

  He nodded his big scaly head.

  “That’s you?” she said out loud this time. “That’s you in my head?”

  Now, who’s yelling? He sent the message through their bond. A proper bond. A forever bond.

  She opened her mouth to speak but shut it and used her newfound skill. You sound so different. And, I can hear every word. This is…terrible. I’ll never be able to shut you up!

  Rubrum laughed.

  Phlox laughed.

  She made to push herself up from the ground, but it was such an effortless gesture, it was as if she floated to her feet. She peered down at her body. Everything looked the same, but she felt like a new being, a stronger being, a wiser being, a truly magical being for the first time ever in her life.

  And then she remembered the onlookers, her anger returning in full force. She spun around to face Arden, rage brewing inside her like never before. He’d wanted to steal from Rubrum, to hurt him, her best friend.

  “How dare you?” she asked, her voice eerily calm. And then a storm, like she’d never felt, erupted inside her. It stirred, pounded, took her over. The air heated and churned around her, and before she knew what was happening, a blast shot from her hands straight into Arden knocking him off his feet and throwing him back several feet.

  Rubrum spoke telepathically to her. Calm, Phlox. Rein it in before you really hurt someone.

  Arden gasped and pushed himself to his knees and she’d swear moisture coated the warlock’s eyes. Amica wrapped a wing around him, her glorious head hanging low.

  “What’s going on?” Phlox asked Rubrum. The satisfaction of blasting the warlock had given her back a modicum of control. And, oh, it had been so satisfying.

  She will die.

  “Die?” Phlox asked.

  I chose you. I will always choose you.

  “What? What the hell is going on?” She could feel the tinges of sadness tugging at him–-so intensely it was as if it were her own emotion. She’d felt twinges of his emotions before, but not this strong.

  The griffin is at her end. My peculiari scale could have saved her, but I gave it to you. It was the only way to ensure your safety from him, and hopefully from any future threat.

  Oh. No. Phlox gazed upon the scene of Arden and Amica with tears in her eyes now, her anger mostly diminished. Despite the circumstances, she mourned for the pair. Seeing herself and Rubrum in the same position, wouldn’t she also have gone to such lengths to save him?

  She absently stroked the scale now embedded beneath her collarbone, forever.

  “Isn’t there anything you can do?” she asked quietly, her voice wavering. “You are a red dragon after all.”

  Maybe buy them a little time. He plucked a hidden ruby from beneath one of the scales on his chest, tossed it high in the air, and blew out a stream of fire. The fire caught the ruby and held it high in the air for several seconds. It was blinding in its brilliance, and then it dropped to the ground at Phlox’s feet.

  Go on. It’s not hot. Give it to them.

  Phlox looked disbelievingly from the glowing ruby to Rubrum, but she bent and picked it up anyway. It was surprisingly cool to the touch, and magic emanated from it sending pleasant vibrations up her arm. She approached the sad couple slowly, tentatively, and held out the offering when their gazes met hers.

  “Rubrum says this might help you,” she said to Amica.

  The griffin inclined her head and offered a bow before taking the ruby with her beak. Her eyes instantly brightened and filled with life. Arden’s did too. She tucked the ruby into a thick mass of feathers beneath her wing.

  “Thank you, red dragon. And you,” she said to Phlox.

  Arden got to his feet. He half-scowled, half-smiled. “It won’t last,” he said.

  “Don’t be ungrateful, Arden,” Amica scolded. “After your foolhardiness, it’s a blessing they’ve helped us at all.”

  Chapter 15

  Phlox flung her hands into the air, palms forward, and focused on the magic building inside her. The trick was to not let it overwhelm her. There was so much, and it was difficult to slow it down and work with it.

  Rubrum stomped on a group of purple phlox flowers, and Phlox burst out laughing—which, of course, loosened her rein on the built-up magic. It shot out from her midsection instead of her hands, and it zapped Rubrum’s butt. He grimaced a displeased dragon-grimace and shook his head in a show of disapproval.

  “Oh, stop it,” she said as she rubbed at the spot on her belly the magic had shot from. “You stomped on phlox flowers to get a reaction out of me. Your fault, not mine.”

  He rolled his eyes as he tromped toward her. You need to keep focus no matter what is happening around you. Until you learn control, you’re a dangerous little nymph. Probably, the most powerful nymph ever.

  She sighed in defeat. He’d told her the same thing over and over for the last two weeks. At first, it’d been exhilarating to hear the “most powerful nymph” spiel. Now, it was just a load of pressure. Pressure to get a real grip on all the power coursing through her and to figure out what all she could do without harming anything.

  She wanted so badly to conjure a way to help Amica and Arden—mostly Amica. She and Rubrum had flown over to visit the pair a few times. The ruby needed to be recharged more often than should have been necessary, but Rubrum said it was due to the griffin being such a powerful being herself.

  With renewed determination, Phlox assumed the pose again, but this time she focused on the flowers Rubrum had crushed. Her stomach tingled and swirled, the sensations filling her, consuming every muscle, every organ, every vein. Her hands and fingertips heated, glowed. Holding focus with such a maelstrom inside her was difficult, but she persisted.

  Suddenly, she felt a shift, the maelstrom still present but not overwhelming, her vision and intent hyper-focused and she released it all. The air whooshed from her lungs as the magic flew from her palms and hit its target. The crushed flowers shivered, twitched, and reformed to their former glory.

  Phlox stood stunned a moment and then jumped up and down and clapped her hands while squealing. Rubrum held up one of his huge feet in invitation to high-five, but Phlox was too excited for that. She booped his snout and yelled, “Face five!”

  Rubrum shook his head, but he grinned a fangy-grin and chuckled in such a way that only a dragon could chuckle.

  She couldn’t contain her excitement as she alternated twirling around and jumping up and down in glee. “I did it! I healed something!”

  Indeed. Next thing you know, you’ll be saving the world.

  She stopped her child-like celebration and eyed Rubrum. “Was that sarcasm? There’s really no need to poop on my parade.”

  No…pooping. I’m proud of you.

  She twisted her lips as she wasn’t sure if he was being facetious or not.

  Come on. Hop on. Let’s go home. That’s enough for today.

  She climbed up a wing and onto his back and held on tight as he shot into the air. Her hair whipped behind her as he pulled a hard left around the mountain and to the cave entrance and landed as soft as a butterfly for the first time ever. She huffed as she slid from his neck to the cave floor.

  “I knew your hard landings weren’t necessary.”

  He grinned but didn’t confirm or deny the accusation.

  “I’m going to take a celebratory bath,” she said. “Will you heat the water for me?”

  He didn’t answer, just
led the way down the passage to the pool. He stretched out his wings as much as he could in the cramped space to protect her from any blowback, inhaled deeply, and blew out a stream of fire into the water.

  “Wanna join?” she asked as she stepped around him and dipped a toe in the water to test it. Perfect temperature.

  He shook his head. Twinkies.

  “Okay. Have fun with your sugar.”

  Phlox stripped and jumped in, completely submerging herself before relaxing on a rocky ledge and closing her eyes.

  She’d done it. She’d channeled the magic and had used it properly. And, most importantly, Rubrum giving her his special scale had done no discernable damage to him. If anything, it seemed to make him more powerful as it’d done for her. Or, maybe she was imagining that. Or, maybe it was simply because she felt so much more deeply than she ever had before.

  Rubrum wanted to help Amica as much, if not more than, Phlox. She thought he might have a bit of a crush on the griffin. He’d even offered to cross into dragon territory to see if he could find a dragon willing to give up a peculiari scale to save her life.

  Amica had declined the offer making Phlox think maybe the griffin also had a crush on Rubrum. Phlox had also disagreed with the offer. As much as she’d like to help, she put Rubrum’s safety first. Arden, of course, had been all for it. He didn’t care if Rubrum was hurt or killed as long as he got what he wanted.

  “Phlox.”

  It took her a second to realize Rubrum had spoken her name out loud, and in a normal tone of voice.

  She opened her eyes and screamed at the sight before her. It wasn’t Rubrum. It was a stranger. A man. A strange, naked man!

  “Who? What? How?”

  She ducked her body beneath the water to cover herself, but it was crystal clear and did nothing to camouflage her own nakedness. Was it Arden disguising his appearance again?

  “Phlox…it’s me.”

  It was the voice from her head, Rubrum’s voice, but it couldn’t be him. She stared unabashedly at the sculpted naked form, the irresistible handsomeness of his face, and his reddish-orange eyes. Reddish. Orange. Eyes. Oh, gods. Oh, my gods.

  Her throat went dry, her heart on the verge of bursting. “Rubrum?”

  Stay tuned for Part 2 as the adventure continues…

  About the Author

  Jocelyn currently resides in hot-as-hell Texas and shares her home with her very own alpha male and varying numbers of spoiled cats and dogs. She writes paranormal and contemporary romances that include humor, lust, love, and four-letter words on the way to a Happily-Ever-After. Apparently, she also writes fantasy stories with dragons.

  Check out all of her books here:

  http://www.jocelyndex.com/

  Sword Quest

  Amy Proebstel

  Sword Quest © 2020 Amy Proebstel

  All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

  Chapter 1

  MY ARMS ACHED with the vibrations of the clashing swords. That’s when I spotted our enemy lurking around the corner of the house.

  If it hadn’t been for their elongated shadows appearing on the dome beside the house, then we might have found ourselves caught off guard. This time of day created an almost perfect mirror on the plasglass surface. The red and orange light from the sun dropping toward the far horizon cast a back-shadow along the curve of the dome. Alyssa’s carbon fiber sword painfully thwacked my arm as my gaze remained riveted to the more significant danger.

  Alyssa’s surprise at getting through my defenses would have been hilarious, except she finally understood what had distracted me. Immediately, she turned until her shoulder came up against mine as we created a unified front against the impending attack.

  The men growled as they realized their easy targets had spotted them. Rather than remain in stealth mode, they charged ahead, swords at the ready, while yelling out their battle cry. The swinging of their swords warned us that they had come to take us down.

  My adrenaline pumped with my lunge, blocking the first attacker’s longer reach, the aching muscles of my arms long forgotten. We would have to defeat them fast before the last of my energy reserves ran out. I couldn’t afford to fight elegantly.

  As the stronger swordswoman, I noted Alyssa seemed well-matched with her opponent, as she held her ground. Knowing she was going to be okay, I parried several more blows while shifting my feet along the ground until I could hold a more defensible position.

  I hoped the dirt would obscure my opponent’s vision, even to the point where I considered kicking some up into his face. As if it were doing my bidding, the dry earth billowed in great plumes of dust around us as we continued to fight across the open, flat enclosure. Sweat caused rivulets to appear down my arms in the layers of filth settling onto my skin.

  Even the failing light would not create any advantage for me in this fight. My opponent’s familiarity with this area equaled my own. No, I had to hope for a break in his form or pray he grew tired before I collapsed from exhaustion.

  Alyssa let out a battle cry. The momentary distraction allowed me to thrust my sword forward and bring it to a swift halt at the edge of Drew’s throat. “You’re dead!” Alyssa’s announcement of victory a mere second later made my grin grow wider.

  “I yield,” Drew said as he and Marcus let their swords fall until the tips rested on the ground.

  Only then did I let my battle stance relax. I wouldn’t put it past the boys to renew their fight without any regard for the rules of the game. “That wasn’t very fair of you to ambush us at the end of our practice session.” I glared at Drew as I settled my sword into the leather strap at my waist.

  “What? Do you think your real opponents are going to wait until you’re well-rested and ready? You should be thanking us for pushing you harder,” Drew said. “After all, we’ve only got one more week until the tournament begins.”

  “Yeah, and I’d say you’ve got a lot more practice to get in,” Alyssa said to her twin brother, Drew. “Even tired, we defeated both of you in less than ten minutes. How do you think the Sword Dome will have any chance of regaining the trophy in the Tatsu tournament with fighters like you?”

  “That’s easy,” Marcus said, a grin spreading across his face as he looked over at me and quirked one eyebrow up. “All we need to do is make sure Kat’s the last warrior standing in the ring. Our team just needs one supreme fighter. The rest of us will eliminate all of the lesser competition and leave you to fight their best.”

  I rolled my eyes. Leave it to Marcus to worm his way out of having to put in more practice time. As it was, I’d spent nearly every waking hour sparring with anyone who’d put up with me. I wanted to lead us to victory.

  “I don’t just want to win for our dome. Think about the advantages the wins will bring to our families. We could move to Dome 1, have better food, and the best job choices after we take the FEE. I think we’re able to win the trophies from every dome this year. Don’t you think it’s about time we showed everyone that Dome 2 is the strongest and best?” Even as I spoke the words, my sister’s voice in my head encouraged me. Her faith in my talent made me want to prove her correct.

  “But what about if any of us lose? We’d have to take the Dragon’s Dare and c
ould end up worse off. Besides, it’s never been done before,” Marcus argued, shaking his head as he lifted his sword to inspect the rough edge near the hilt where Alyssa had nicked off a chunk.

  “Exactly my point. Don’t you want to make a name for our class? This is our last year in school. We could be the first to achieve this monumental victory.” I couldn’t let myself think of any of us failing. The Dragon’s Dare had a twenty-five percent chance of certain death through the dragon passage. Nobody ever came back from there.

  “I like it,” Alyssa agreed, a small grin lifting the corner of her mouth as she imagined us crushing the other teams. She looked over at me with a gleam in her eye, the kind she usually reserved for our scheming.

  She would stand with me until the bitter end, no matter the risk. I could not have asked for a better best friend. Just as I opened my mouth to tell them about my plan, the klaxon sounded, drowning out all conversation as the noise reverberated throughout the dome.

  As one, we turned toward the plasglass wall of the dome. That klaxon only sounded when Viceroy Blair’s spaceship entered our airspace. With one last operational ship left and no spare parts to repair it, it was a rare sight to see the majestic craft come in for a landing.

  All thoughts of the tournament left my mind as I pointed toward the heavens, where I spotted the lights surrounding the massive vessel. “He’s coming in pretty fast. I wonder if they’ve got a problem onboard.”

  “Nah,” Drew said. “He’s just showing off.” We stood in silence for a few seconds as the ship’s descent rapidly decreased.

  “I wonder if they were able to bring back any new food synthesizers,” Marcus said, his nose almost pressed flat against the see-through wall.

  I shook my head. Leave it to Marcus to think first about food. Although, I could agree that the food quality had dropped precipitously in the last couple of years. “Forget that; I hope he brought back some new gear for the auchieball games. The helmet strap disintegrated in my hand as I tried to fasten it.”