High House Draconis Box Set

by Riley Storm

  “We cannot do this on our own,” Aaric continued. “Not the three of us.”

  “There will be more,” Victor argued. “They can awaken a new dragon now. An elder, who will awaken the others,” he said, pointing right at Liz.

  She shivered slightly. The women had mentioned that fact to her before, but it still unnerved her to know that hundreds more dragons slept below her very feet, and that only she and Valla could help awaken them.

  “We can’t know that,” Aaric countered. “Not once have we managed to awaken an elder. It seems as if the magic intends for us to do this ourselves, for some reason I cannot fathom. We need to plan as if there will only be four of us, Victor. Not four hundred.”

  Liz felt Valla’s hand tighten in hers, and she squeezed him back, giving as much reassurance as she could.

  “What would you have us do then?” Valla asked quietly into the silence that followed.

  “We must make an alliance,” Aaric stated. “With all the other Houses. We must come together and fight this menace in one grand alliance. Otherwise, we risk losing it all.”

  Everyone there sucked in a breath. Liz hadn’t been aware this was Aaric’s idea, and by the sounds of it, neither had Valla.

  “They might not go for it,” Valla said. “They are weakened. Fighting amongst themselves. Will they submit to our command again, as they did during our fight against the shifters for so many years? They are free now. Why would they willingly do so again?”

  Aaric shook his head. “We will not command them, Valla. This must be an alliance. Working as one this time, a unified threat against the vampires. That is the only way we shall succeed.”

  Liz shivered.

  “It will be okay,” Valla said, kissing her head. “I am here for you, my love. I will protect you. Both of you.”

  Somehow, deep down, Liz knew that despite all the odds arrayed against them, Valla would do just that.

  Whatever it took.

  Chapter 40

  “Well this isn’t creepy at all,” she said, exiting the stone staircase into the underground cavern.

  Whereas everywhere else within the Keep that she’d visited had been made by hand, it was clear that the space far underground was all natural. Stalactites and stalagmites dotted the landscape, but they were far overshadowed by something else.

  Stone statues. Hundreds of them, all carved into incredibly lifelike detail of dragons.

  Torches by the hundred flickered and cast light throughout the massive cavern, allowing Liz to see the awesome panorama in front of her.

  “Which one are we going to wake up?” she asked quietly, still not sure she believed in what they were doing.

  Valla carried in his hands an artifact. An artifact that, according to him, would allow them to awaken a new dragon. It would also, apparently, enact the changes that would allow her to stay by his side for as long as he lived.

  According to Valla, that could be more than four more centuries of life. That terrified Liz, and she’d resisted it at first. Only several panicked talks with the other women had helped her calm down and start to truly think it through.

  Even so, it had taken her three days to come to terms with it before she would allow herself to be taken down into the cavern, to help Valla awaken another dragon. There was one overriding thought that had finally spurred her into action.

  Her child would not be able to live in the world as it was. If she wanted to give their baby the best possible chance to survive, then she needed to do this. One more dragon to fight the vampires. One more dragon to protect her unborn son or daughter.

  That was more than impetus enough for Liz. She would do anything to protect them, as would Valla.

  So together, they strode into the ancient cavern, and she looked upon statue after statue of dragons. They all looked fairly similar to her, though on closer glance, they were quite different indeed. A great many species of dragons rested in the cavern, more than just the trio she was aware of.

  “How do we do this?” she asked. “Which one do you awaken?”

  Valla looked uncomfortable. “I would prefer to awaken an elder. Awakening an elder would awaken their mate as well, according to what Aaric has read. When they return from the deep sleep, they could instantly awaken another mated elder, and then another, until many more of us are awake.”

  “So, let’s do that,” she suggested. “That seems proper. We’re going to need the really strong dragons to take on that old vampire, aren’t we?”

  Valla nodded. “Yes, him and his master. I hope it is just the two of them that are that old, and not many more, but we won’t know until we take the fight to them for real.”

  “Let’s get on with it then,” she said, nodding as much to reassure herself as Valla.

  “I don’t think it’s that easy,” he said, looking around. “According to both Victor and Aaric, the magic seems to be taking on a life of its own. Victor tried awakening an elder, but instead, the magic awoke me. I…I think it has a different plan in mind.”

  “You don’t think it will work on an elder, do you?” she asked softly.

  Valla shook his head. “No. Not at all.”

  “Well, then, who do you awaken?”

  “The dragon we need right now,” he said, setting off in a certain direction.

  “And that would be…?”

  Valla didn’t answer. He was lost in thought, moving from statue to statue, shaking his head after a few moments as he looked for the right one. Liz followed along, keeping her hand in his, needing the connection.

  “Here,” her mate said at last, stopping in front of a truly massive stone statue.

  She eyed the horns twisting back from its head and the wicked spikes along its spine. “It doesn’t look overly friendly,” she said softly.

  Even the head looked…angry and violent.

  “Earth dragons weren’t blessed with the beauty of the rest of us,” Valla admitted. “But while ice dragons like myself are natural hunters, they are natural talkers. And a talker is what we need right now.”

  Suddenly, Liz understood. “To go to the other shifters. To form an alliance. You’re waking up a diplomat.”

  “I sure hope so,” he said, extending the matte black box he carried in one hand out toward the supposedly sleeping dragon. “When you’re ready, place your palm on top.”

  Liz looked at the box. There were no discerning features, no markings or etchings that she could see. How did it work?

  Valla started to speak. “If you’re not okay—”

  “No,” she said, cutting him off abruptly. “It’s okay, Valla.”

  She looked him right in the eye, sticking out her hand and putting it on the top of the box. Almost immediately, it began to glow, and her arm started to tingle.

  “I trust you,” she said quietly, staring right into his eyes.

  The box burst into golden light.

  ***

  ***

  Thank you for reading Ice Dragon’s Caress.

  Next Book: Earth Dragon’s Kiss (Keep Scrolling)

  Earth Dragon’s Kiss

  High House Draconis Book 4

  Riley Storm

  Earth Dragon’s Kiss

  Copyright© 2019 Riley Storm

  All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic means, without written permission from the author. The sole exception is for the use of brief quotations in a book review. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real.

  All sexual activities depicted occur between consenting characters 18 years or older who are not blood related.

  Edited by Annie Jenkinson, Just Copyeditors

  Cover Designs by Kasmit Covers

  Chapter 1

  Smoke and ash drifted down through the sky, bloc
king the sun and turning the battlefield below into a nightmarish scene straight out of one of the seven layers of hell. Bits of molten lava flowed down the side of Mount Novarupta, orange streaks that stood out in the dark against the brown earthen mountainside.

  Other colors flared and faded as the forces of the shifters collided, clashed and retreated with the lines of the human mages. Magic burst into being, a multitude of colors, driving back the snarling wolves and growling bears.

  Here and there, packs of roving felines moved independently of the main bulk of the shifter forces. Slipping through openings, the panthers, lions and tigers of House Panthere savaged the unlucky who were caught unaware, darting back across the lines before the mages could react.

  Overhead, Jax flew with his fellow dragons, massed v-wings of his kin wheeling, diving and striking with their breath weapons in perfect coordination.

  “Target. Six o’clock. By the book team!”

  That was Ka’ine, one of the elder dragons, and Jax’s wing leader. As a group, the five of them dipped a wing, pivoting into a spiraling downward twist that ended with them pointed directly at the cluster of mages that was fighting off all comers. Dead shifters lay all around them, including a downed ice dragon, the left side of its lizard-like snout caved inward as a result of one of the mages.

  Jax snarled and called upon his powers, feeling the earth below him respond. It reached out to him and he paired with it. A focus of his mind, and suddenly the mages began to sink, the ground turning to quicksand in the blink of an eye.

  They were no novices, however, and reacted quickly. Green magic flowed out from two of them, countering Jax’s spell. Two others pivoted from their attacks on the earthbound shifters and looked for the new foe. Spotting the incoming dragons, they shouted to their comrades.

  Standing up, the black-clad mages thrust one arm forward and drew back the other. Forces gathered and the magical bows they had summoned shimmered into existence, the bright blue arrows indicative of the darkest, most powerful spells.

  Death Magic.

  To be struck by one of those darts would be akin to a death sentence. The dragons had to act.

  Ka’ine bellowed a challenge and the mighty wind dragon called upon his own powers. The mages were assaulted by hurricane-like winds, the air itself at Ka’ine’s beck and call as he made them work to steady themselves.

  But then the true attack came. The three other dragons of Jax’s wing, all of them younger, fed their own powers into the strike. Fire shot from their mouths, three streams of it aimed directly at the mages.

  The fire mixed with Ka’ine’s wind and a firestorm was born. The mages fighting off Jax’s spell tried to erect a shield, but his distraction had proven too effective. The screams died out shortly, and when the dragons swept past, there was little left of the mages save for their boots, still sinking rapidly into the earth.

  The entire encounter had taken but seconds.

  An ominous rumble caught Jax’s attention. His long neck flexed, swinging his head around to eye the nearby volcano suspiciously.

  “Jax, check it out,” Ka’ine commanded.

  Jax didn’t wait for further comment, but instead banked away from the fight, toward the volcano. Something was not right, and hadn’t been from the start, he knew. This volcano wasn’t ready to blow. It shouldn’t be spewing lava.

  Several other of his earth dragon kin formed up with Jax, and they landed on the mountainside, talons digging deep as they quested into the earth itself, trying to determine just what was going on.

  It didn’t take long.

  “Magic,” one of his kin hissed in the Drakon tongue.

  The mages had summoned the volcano.

  “We must stop it,” he commanded, and together they reached out to the volcano, touching its heart, trying to soothe the angered beast.

  But they were too late.

  “Warn the others,” Jax ordered, sending away the youngest of his kin. The dragons would have to protect the others, while he and his fellows worked to block the magic, to keep the pending eruption from being catastrophic.

  There was no stopping it; the mages had spent too long preparing, their spells strong. But they could mute it, prevent it from being a disaster that wiped out much of the nearby shifters, and miles beyond them, the human settlements that would suffer too.

  Sensing the danger, more earth dragons peeled off from the assault on the mages and rushed to the side of the mountain, lending their strength to the efforts started by Jax and the others.

  One way or another, he knew, this was the final battle of the centuries-long Shifter-Mage war. If he and his kind could just ease the explosion, they would come out victorious…

  Light pierced his vision, interrupting the dream.

  He could hear voices nearby, talking hurriedly. The words were familiar, yet foreign all at the same time.

  “Jax Drakon.” The voice was spoken in perfect Drakon, the ancient tongue of dragons.

  A shiver ran down the length of his spine, vibrating his spikes as he stirred. Faint resistance to his movements crumbled and Jax became aware of the sounds of debris hitting the ground around him, even as his body was freed from the prison that had held it.

  Awareness came with the movement. He had been asleep. All of the dragons had entered deep sleep, passing away the years until—

  Until we are needed again.

  “I am needed,” he rumbled in Drakon, eyes still working to focus on the speaker before him.

  “Yes,” the voice replied.

  A female voice spoke up. He didn’t make out the words, but he could tell the speaker was confused just by her tone. The male, the same one who had spoken to him replied in that same language, then addressed Jax again.

  “The time has come. The world needs us, now more than ever.”

  Jax snarled, shaking his mighty head free of the last of the stone that would have covered his body as he entered the deep sleep of his kind. “The mages have once more struck out for us, have they?” he rumbled.

  The cavern around him quivered slightly as his angered pulsed out into the very earth itself. Dust drifted down from the ceiling far overhead.

  “No, my brother.”

  Jax frowned, and peeled back the last of his eyelids, focusing on the speaker. He was tall, thick of muscle, with bright electric blue eyes. Next to him stood a diminutive female, short hair curled and dyed a dark red. By their stance, it was obvious they were mates. A spike of jealousy flowed through Jax at that, but he shunted the emotion aside quickly, labelling it as unneeded.

  “What then, have we been awoken for?” he wondered, looking around the cavern as his vision returned.

  Dragon statues lay everywhere. Some alone, others paired up. But there were a great many of them. Jax frowned. “Why are none of the others awake? What is the meaning of this?”

  His eyes focused on the dragon in front of him. He was a dragon, Jax knew it immediately, despite his human form. A form that Jax often disdained, though he was forced to take it.

  “The magic hasn’t awoken us as was foretold,” the dragon with blue eyes said. “I do not know why. None of us does. You are the fourth to awaken, and dare I say it, perhaps the most important.”

  The dragon’s name finally came to Jax. “Valla,” he rumbled in Drakon. “What is going on?”

  “The vampires have returned,” the ice dragon said quietly. “They have returned, and they have changed. They can shift now as if they have absorbed our blood into their bodies. They are back, and they mean to rule us all. If we are to defeat them, then we must unite all the shifter races as one.”

  “Vampires,” he growled, his mighty form stretching wide, wings unfurling. “You are certain?”

  “I have fought them,” Valla stated. “We all have.”

  “Four of us, you say.” Jax was beginning to get a picture of what was going on, and it wasn’t pretty.

  “Yes,” Valla agreed. “We are too few in numbers to fight them alone. That is
why we have awoken you. You must forge an alliance. Before it’s too late.”

  Chapter 2

  Ding.

  Sarah frowned at the unexpected popup on her computer, notifying her of a new email. That wasn’t all that unusual. She got several dozen a day, after all. What grabbed her immediate attention, however, was who it was from.

  Charles Thurminger.

  A moment later, she became aware that the rest of her team was also getting an email.

  “What the fuck is this shit?”

  She ignored the outburst, clicking instead on her email inbox. The title of the email had read ‘Urgent – Please Read’.

  So typical of corporate types. Can’t let us know what the subject is about without opening the email. Probably another non-urgent morale-boosting waste of our time.

  That would be par for the course with Charles. Though he was the owner of Logi-Net Systems, he was also a useless executive, in her opinion at least.

  “Wow, what an informative, urgent email,” she muttered to herself, reading the short text within.

  Staff Meeting. All hands, Boardroom. Eleven.

  - Charles

  “Budget meeting?”

  She turned to see Jane leaning back in her chair, a silly look on her face. Sarah laughed, remembering the commercial. “I doubt we’ll be lucky enough to have such delicious food. In fact, there’s probably no food. You know how big of a penny pincher Charles is.”

  Jane shuddered. “Yeah. You’re right. Wonder what’s up?”

  “No idea, but we don’t have to wait for long,” she pointed out, getting up. It was only ten minutes until the meeting time. “Wanna make a bet that it’s a morale booster, urging us to work even harder, for the same amount of money?”

  “No bet,” Jane said, shaking her head. “You’re right, I can feel it. Another huge waste of time. We actually have to work harder because of these stupid meetings, just to make up for the time wasted on them. Talk about irony.”