Silver Dragon

by Sarah Sarasota

  Shifting became a lot more complicated for young dragons as the human side developed and puberty hit. Hormones and urges and worries about social acceptance all piled on top of the distinct training that each type of dragon received. As a silver dragon, the expectations I had to meet were incredibly high and the social rituals I had to learn were rigorous.

  A dragon was never to turn in front of a human.

  I wanted to explain all of that to Cora but she had crossed her arms and was tapping her foot. This was the proof she needed and she demanded it despite the fact our separation made her increasingly ill.

  “You know a dragon does not reach manhood until he can demonstrate control over the turning, but that doesn’t make it any easier,” I muttered.

  She almost smiled, her lips quirking up at the corners in an irresistible curve. “You appear to be a man, and a quite handsome one. Now let’s see if you’re a dragon or not.”

  Instinctually, I moved between her and the door. If she ‘freaked out,’ as Balor termed it, I didn’t want her leaving. “Maybe you should sit down or something,” I said.

  Balor seemed to understand my hesitation and he found it hilarious. “Want us to turn our backs? Never known you to be the shy type, Maalik.”

  I glared at him in annoyance and then felt a stab of something more dangerous: jealousy. Cora was my mate and the idea of another male, another dragon anywhere near her made my hands clench into fists. “Are you sure you should be here for this?” I snarled.

  Balor raised a bushy eyebrow. “And why not?”

  “If Cora is scared of my dragon form, she will naturally run to the nearest human for protection. It’s instinctual,” I pointed out.

  “And you’re afraid your protective urges will overcome you,” Balor agreed though he didn’t move an inch.

  “We can’t have two dragons clashing in front of her,” I said.

  Balor burned a little brighter. “Plus, you don’t want her to see a red dragon take you down. That would be embarrassing.”

  I narrowed my eyes and was about to argue with Balor when Cora’s voice piped in. “Red dragon? What color are you? Does the color make a difference?”

  We both chuckled but I was the one that stopped to explain it to her. “Each color has different natural abilities. These have been noted for centuries and each color is raised within its own discipline. I am a silver dragon.”

  Balor interjected, “that means he’s high class. His natural merits lean more to intellectual pursuits, diplomacy, and intuition. Blue dragons specialize in societal exchanges like teaching or sales. Many blue dragons become merchants and they especially love the human world and all its markets.”

  I took back up the explanation. “Green dragons are, I’m sure you can guess, connected with growing things and they tend to become farmers or botanists though I know many green dragons that prefer to become rangers.”

  “And you’re a red dragon?” Cora turned and gave Balor a nervous but curious look.

  His barrel-wide chest puffed up. “Yes. Known for bravery, battle skills, and strategy.”

  “As well as bad-tempers,” I added.

  Balor glared at me but finished our little lesson. “You’d think there would be a dragon for every color of the rainbow but the only other type is a black dragon. They are rare but possibly only because black dragons love their secrets.”

  “They have a talent for intelligence gathering and espionage,” I told her. “In fact, my brother, Alister, is pursuing a high-level career in your country’s government.”

  Cora blinked, her brow furrowed together. “Your brother?”

  “Alister’s family was killed when he was young and my parents raised him as a Devereux,” I explained.

  A cloud seemed to pass over the sun just then and the foyer dipped into shadow. It served to remind me the day was almost over and I better get on with the turning, but Balor seemed more concerned. He stepped by both of us and looked out the door. Once he was confident the vast, sweeping lawns in front of the mansion showed no threat, he turned back to us.

  “I think I will give you two some privacy,” he said, suddenly curt.

  I could tell something was bothering him and his sudden change made Cora shiver. Her comfort was undeniably my highest priority and I dismissed my advisor so I could concentrate solely on her. “Perhaps we should return to the fire and I will turn there.”

  She took my arm as we walked through the great hall to the library where the large fireplace still flickered warmly. The contact soothed us both and we took our time crossing the large room.

  Then Cora slipped away from me and smiled. “Maybe a drink would help?”

  I nodded and watched as she poured a double-shot of bourbon for us to share. She knew right where everything was kept because of our connection and I found the proof of that almost more comforting than the expensive draught. We sat together on the sofa, our legs pressed close, and took turns sipping from the crystal glass.

  “I take it you weren’t ready for this, ah, mating call thing either,” Cora said, shyly.

  I grinned and confessed, “I honestly never thought it would happen to me.”

  “And you never thought it would happen with a human.”

  I put down the glass and took her hand. “Human or dragon doesn’t matter to me. I’ll admit my family will probably be old-fashioned and horrible about it, but there truly is no denying the mating call.”

  She squeezed my fingers and straightened her shoulders. “I’m ready when you are.”

  I stood up and stepped into the center of the wide rug that lay in front of the fireplace. Silver flashes ran up and down my arms and glittered across my chest. My body swelled and stretched, the change shielded by the bright sparkling of my silver scales. Cora raised her arm up to her eyes to shade them against the blinding light of my transformation, and when she lowered it her mouth dropped open.

  My tail reached across the rug and curled around the sofa, the end tipped with silver spikes akin to medieval mace. The tips of my burnished horns brushed the chandelier above and I tried hard to keep still. I knew the fear my prominent incisors and jagged teeth could inspire, so I kept my mouth shut as her eyes traveled up the mirror-like plates of my spine to my dragon face.

  Cora was braver than I thought. Much braver. She stood up from the sofa and stepped forward to reach out a hand despite its trembling. I stood over her, the size of a hulking SUV and held my breath.

  She looked up and our eyes met. I thought my heart might stand still but then Cora smiled and my pulse took off at a gallop. She pressed one small hand to my armored chest and said, “It’s you! I saw you like this in my dream.”

  “And you are not afraid?” I asked.

  Cora had to tip her head back to look up at me, but again she smiled. “No more afraid than you are.”

  Her hand rode lightly over my galloping heart and the love I felt from her touch turned me back into my human form without a thought. I bent my lips to hers and lost myself in our kiss.

  The sun must have set as we sealed our connection because the library became dim and the shadows stretched towards us. Too late I heard Balor’s voice yelling.

  I pulled my head back as Cora gasped. “Did he say a black dragon is coming?”

  The darkness charged at us and cleaved her from my arms. The sickness hit Cora hard as the shadow separated us and changed into an ebony dragon. I turned in an instant, ready to fight the black dragon. It was a form both confusing and familiar, but all I knew was that it had come between me and my mate.

  I was ready to kill but before I could lunge, the black dragon plucked Cora from the ground and disappeared, leaving me reeling in shock.

  Balor burst into the room and bellowed. “It was Alister!”

  “I know it was my brother,” I said, sinking under the waves of sickness Cora was experiencing. “But why?”

  Chapter Eleven – Cora

  The talons around me clenched hard and for a moment that was all I
could perceive. There was nothing but shadow and darkness, and then we burst out of the mansion and lifted into the sky. The sun had just set but there was enough light left for me to see black scales as shiny and hard as jet.

  I twisted hard, trying to get a look at my attacker. His tail whipped back and forth as he flew and I could see the same mace-like spikes that Maalik had. That meant the same tapered horns and sharp teeth, I reasoned and the thought made me shiver. My fear amplified the nausea and dizziness of my separation from my mate, and for a moment, it was all I could do to breathe.

  If this dragon had wings, then so did Maalik. I clung to the thought and squeezed my eyes shut. Yes, I remembered seeing silver wings folded on his wide back, just before I touched him and our meeting ending with a kiss. The memory temporarily relieved my pain and sickness, and, just for a moment, I was able to struggle against the dragon’s tight hold.

  “No use fighting, human,” he snarled. “Your fate has already taken wing and you wouldn’t want me to drop you.” His black-leather wings flapped hard and we went terrifyingly high up and over the dark forest.

  The rocky outcropping that was the namesake of Argo Heights sailed underneath us and I was glad for a landmark. If I ever escaped, at least I would know which direction to go. Another wave of sickness hit me and I wondered if I would be able to stand up, much less run. I needed to concentrate and focused on what the black dragon had said.

  Why didn’t he just drop me?

  We landed hard in a jagged clearing on the other side of the rocky landmark. I fought the debilitating illness I felt and sat up just as he turned into his human form. He was tall, like Maalik, but with jet-black hair and a sinister flex to his square jaw. I watched as he sauntered across the clearing to a rickety old cabin and opened the door.

  “After you, my lady,” he snickered.

  “I’m sick. I can barely stand.” I wondered if he had an ounce of compassion under his handsome yet brutal exterior.

  He walked back and yanked me to my feet. I stumbled as he dragged me across the clearing and shoved me inside the abandoned cabin. Unable to fight the aches and weakness, I dropped to the dirty floor in the corner.

  “Please. I need to be with Maalik,” I panted.

  He snorted. “I know.”

  “You can’t stand to see a dragon mated to a human?” I cried.

  He sauntered back over and bent down to examine me. “Not really. I understand it is happening more and more these days. Of course, Maalik would want to be on top of the latest trend.”

  The disdain in his voice was sharp and his eyes flashed angrily, but I could not stop myself from asking, “so you’re jealous?”

  He rocketed to his feet and almost kicked me. “Jealous? No. I just want to make sure the Devereux’s suffer, and when I found out Maalik had heard the mating call, I realized it was the perfect way to hurt him.”

  I tried not to cower but his eyes were so manic. “Please don’t hurt me.”

  He stepped back and blinked. “No. You’re right. I won’t hurt you. We’re cloaked here and Maalik will not be able to find you before it’s too late. There will be no need to hurt you because the unanswered mating call will kill you for me.”

  “So, that’s your plan? Just sit around and wait until I die?” I pushed myself to my unsteady feet. “I should have guessed you wouldn’t be the kind to get his hands dirty.”

  Sly, black eyes studied me. “What makes you say that?”

  “The fine clothes, the shiny shoes, and the cultured tones. You must be Alister Devereux.”

  Alister growled. “I have never accepted that name.”

  “But they raised you, didn’t they?” I stumbled to an old, forgotten chair and lowered my aching body into it. “So much for gratitude.”

  “Gratitude?” He yowled. “The Devereuxs deserve to suffer more than anyone for what they did!”

  “For what Maalik did?” I asked.

  Alister stopped and scowled at me. “Maalik’s suffering and subsequent death will haunt his parents as the death of my family has haunted me.”

  “But you couldn’t kill him face to face, so you snatched me instead.” I stared the black dragon straight in the eyes as my head pounded mercilessly.

  “Maalik has always been too close to humans for my taste. And, really, all you are is collateral damage,” Alister told me.

  “What about your family? Were they just collateral damage?”

  His eyes narrowed, but Alister checked his watch and then shrugged. “Might as well tell you while we wait for your bond to kill you. My parents were good dragons.”

  “But people haters?” I watched Alister closely. He was clearly uncomfortable and I sensed that he felt much the same way about my species that Maalik did, but he was struggling to align himself with the family he had lost.

  “They were loving parents, diplomats across the sea, and I had a wonderful and adventurous childhood.” Alister paced away from me across the dusty cabin floor. He glanced out the window and then continued. “The humans there were afraid of us, suspicious of the medicine we brought, and dead-set against the joining of our communities. They rose up against us.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said.

  Alister stared at me and then shook himself. “The humans lost. My parents were careful to discover each and every person who stood against us so that the threat would be destroyed.”

  “Your parents destroyed an entire village?”

  “My parents did their duty to our kind, but the Devereuxs thought otherwise. They hunted us down like dogs, and, because I was so young at the time, I was unable to cloak myself.” Alister paused and his mouth worked painfully before he managed to say, “it was my fault those silver dragons were able to find us at all.”

  “You don’t know that,” I reached out to him. “You can’t believe your parents blamed you.”

  “I was so young, still a baby,” Alister said. “The Devereuxs slaughtered my parents and then pretended to raise me out of the goodness of their hearts.”

  The dark had almost descended completely over the abandoned cabin but I saw a dozen conflicting emotions raced across Alister’s face. He clearly had just learned of this tragic history and could not decide on the real truth.

  Anger then covered everything and he turned on me. “They lied to me for almost my entire life.”

  “And now you think revenge will make you feel better?” I asked.

  “There was no trial, no chance to explain, no understanding. The Devereuxs just swooped in and decided my parents deserved to die,” Alister said.

  “It must have been awful living with them.”

  He started at my change of tack but could not help himself. He groaned. “I loved my adopted family. They never had a hard word for me. I thought they were the most gentle and loving dragons. I even understood when they delayed my training. I never suspected they wanted to keep me from my powers because they knew I would learn the truth.”

  I remembered Maalik and Balor explaining that black dragons were gifted with intelligence gathering. As soon as his training began, Alister must have uncovered the truth. His sudden anger made sense but the story bothered me.

  “How did you know they were good people, your real parents? I’m sure they were loving to you, but did you investigate what really happened in that village?”

  Alister’s mouth twisted but before he could answer; we heard Maalik’s roar. He and Balor landed in the jagged clearing and the rickety door of the cabin was ripped clean off its hinges.

  Chapter Twelve – Maalik

  The crushing feeling of Cora’s sickness was not enough to bring me to my knees but the sight of her captor almost knocked me over. “Can it really be you, Alister?” I asked.

  All during our flight and the panicked search of the surrounding areas, I had hoped it was someone else. I’d even yelled at Balor, reminding him of his suspicions that there was a darker force in the forest, because I wanted it to be anyone, anything else except my brother. I
couldn’t face the fact that the dragon I had known since childhood had set out to hurt me as cruelly as possible.

  “I’m surprised you didn’t see through my cloaking, Maalik. Though I understand you’ve been distracted,” Alister said. He stepped aside to show Cora crumpled on the floor.

  “Brother, how could you?!” I stepped forward but Alister’s aura shadowed the empty cabin and kept me from her.

  “How can you call me brother?” he snarled.

  I stopped short and stared at him. His dark eyes were blazing with emotions I did not recognize. “Where is this pain coming from, Alister? We will fix it together.”

  “Together?” Alister’s voice rose along with his anger. “I always looked up to you, Maalik. I loved you. And all of our childhood you were lying to me.”

  “What lies?” I asked. I could barely stand the suffering emanating from Cora but my brother looked broken. “Ask me now and I will tell you all I know about whatever it is that has so upset you.”

  “Upset me? My parents were murdered in cold blood and you think of it as something upsetting?”

  I looked to Balor but my advisor would not meet my eyes. “You are seeking revenge for their deaths? But why target me? The only truth I’ve ever known about their deaths is they died during an uprising in a human village.”

  Alister’s aura was the color of soot and growing thicker by the second. “You lie! Your parents, the very dragons I came to accept as my family, were the ones that murdered my parents in that village.”

  I gritted my teeth against Cora’s pain and tried to make sense of it. “Balor, you know the official record. Tell it to us now.”

  He tried to resist my command but the red dragon’s shoulders finally slumped, and he said in a quiet, grim voice, “the record proves Alister’s parents gave into their greed. They accepted a bribe from a neighboring clan and passed them food supplies meant for the village. That was the cause of the uprising. They could not reason with the humans anymore, and did not even try. Instead they slaughtered every innocent soul there.”