by Caris Roane
Liam had served as both warrior and caravan driver for most of his adult life. He’d seen a variety of weapons during his years of service. But he’d never seen anything that could amplify fire the way this device could.
Five hundred warriors served in the Blue Lake South District of the Arranfar Defense Force. But less than twenty percent participated in air battle. The rest worked on the training fields as battle partners for those equipped for flight work.
There were no massive standing armies on Dusane. The nature of the winds helped to contain those dragons of an aggressive and psychopathic nature. But over the years, the Magi had slowly claimed more and more lands and enslaved those they captured, drawing them to the interior of their province usually never to be seen again.
The Magi were an extremely patient and equally aggressive species of dragon. Now they’d developed a weapon of unusual and terrifying power.
“The answer to the unasked question is simple,” Santos said. “We don’t have a response to this weapon. It will be up to those of you who take to the air to discover the nature of it and to figure out a way to counteract its deadly power. That it is a machine and not a natural evolution of dragon ability is what’s going for us.
“We don’t know if it can amplify other abilities, like force. But machines can be destroyed and that is our goal here, to find a way to get close enough to disable it. We also don’t know if they’re bringing six machines or one or a hundred.
“What seems logical, however, given the nature of the fire used to decimate this village, is for those of you who are fire dragons to be on the front lines. You will be able to tolerate the heat while the rest of us can’t.”
Santos met Liam’s gaze then Emma’s. “Liam and Emma will take lead on this. I will be on the com and will keep all the teams informed with technical support. But I expect Liam’s or Emma’s orders to be obeyed. Are we clear?”
The regiment responded as one. “Yes, Sir.”
Liam stood up, faced the ranks then took over. “Fire dragons select your riders. Once you’ve made your choices, the rest of the warriors will do the same. I want everyone fully armed. Those riders with rocket-launching capacity will mount up armed and connect telepathically with Emma and with the Field Marshall. Both coms and telepathy will be used as needed.”
The various section leaders took charge and within minutes every shifting dragon warrior had his rider selected.
“Take the next two hours to get a good meal, hydrate, then meet at your respective gathering points for launch. Pay particular attention to your coms. It won’t do any good to be in the air but to end up deaf or blind. Is that clear?”
Again, the group responded in unison, “Yes, Sir.” The warriors who shifted had ear implants designed to work for dragon or human hearing that never failed to endure a shift intact.
“Dismissed.”
Santos had already left the room.
Liam had to think, to plan, to figure this damn thing out. If the Magi could successfully wipe out Blue Lake South, Liam had no doubt they were prepared to strike additional targets in quick succession. They were militarized, organized and intent on conquering Arranfar.
The village had been a test and a serious warning to the rest of the province: submit or die.
Taking Blue Lake South, even if the entire area had been evacuated, would be a coup of no small magnitude, like opening floodgates that couldn’t be closed.
As the building emptied, he was about to suggest to Emma that they head to her place for a meal when he realized she was unusually silent. She’d also sat back down.
She was his battle partner, a well-trained rider, but she hadn’t seen a lot of action.
He resumed his seat as well then took her hand and held it in both of his. “We’ll get through this. You’re ready. We’ll figure it out. I know we can do this.”
She met his gaze, but her eyes bore a stricken expression. “It’s not that. I’m a soldier and I’m ready.” She huffed a sigh. “But there’s something you need to know.” She rose suddenly to her feet. “Not here. Let’s eat first.”
He nodded and led the way to the east exit where they took to the air and headed up the cliff to her home.
~ ~ ~
Emma tried to talk herself out of telling Liam. But every instinct, including what emanated from the dragon life inside her, said now was the time.
In fact, it was critical he know of the pregnancy, but she had no idea why.
Once on the landing of her home, the sound of the sirens became a much softer peal given the higher elevation.
Evacuation drills involving fifty-thousand people were conducted three times a year. Blue Lake South had more roads leading out of the city than most places in Arranfar.
By the time the Magi arrived, only the dragon warriors and critical HQ staff would be inside the city limits.
She went directly to the kitchen and prepared bacon, scrambled eggs and toast. Liam tried to ask her what she needed to tell him, but she smiled and suggested he make some coffee for them.
“It’s just that you seemed so serious earlier.”
“It is important, but so is this meal.” When the meal was ready, she brought the laden plates over to the table. “Let’s eat.”
In case he felt inclined to bring the subject up again, she decided to introduce the other important, more critical issue. “Do you have any idea why they’ve created a weapon that can amplify fire?”
At that, he held his mug in both hands and planted his elbows firmly on the table. His gaze, however, drifted outside to the lake. She could hear the churners start up in preparation for another heavy dust storm. The grit of a Konbrack wind would take an extra toll on the machines that kept the lake oxygenated and the fish healthy.
He addressed her question. “Fire can do tremendous damage and cause terrible pain and scarring to its victims. My best guess is that their purpose is to terrorize the population, fire being a more visceral weapon than the cleaner use of bullets.”
“We’re dealing with psychopaths.”
“You won’t get a disagreement here.” He brought the mug to his lips and drank, but his gaze was still fixed elsewhere. She knew him. Liam was thinking hard.
Emma wanted to suggest ways she and Liam could face this weapon in battle, but nothing came to mind. Whenever she thought of a potential Magi attack, she had always supposed the enemy would finally use dragon-riders as the ADF does and improve the more traditional weaponry.
No one expected an amplification device of unknown potential. The video showed how the weapon expanded a dragon’s natural production of fire. But what else could it do? What other damage could it inflict?
All her training at the range with her telekinetic loading ability wouldn’t have much effect on the new weapon.
Was Santos expecting them to perform a miracle like making it rain?
If the ADF couldn’t repulse the Magi, the invader could lay claim to the region by the simple fact they couldn’t be ousted.
Later, when she’d put the dishes in the dishwasher, her heartrate spiked. She knew it was time to reveal her news. She was sure that what she was about to tell Liam was the last thing he ever wanted to hear.
As she returned to the dining table, she watched him check the clock on the wall then shift his gaze to her. “So, what is it you wanted to tell me?”
“Right.” She sat down adjacent to him with the distant view of the lake in front of her. “Liam, there’s no other way to say this than straight up. I’m pregnant. My birth control failed though I have no idea why. Pregnancy is rare, but it does happen.”
His mouth was agape as he stared at her. “What?”
Her words probably sounded like she’d spoken them in a foreign tongue.
“I’m pregnant. I’ve been having symptoms for several days now and I’m certain I’m with dragon.”
His eyes narrowed as he tilted his head. His cheeks took on a drawn look. He didn’t say anything for a long time. Finally, h
is voice was very low and quiet as he said, “You’re serious. But…I mean…how is this possible? I don’t understand. You’re certain?”
“There’s no doubt. I can feel this life. I felt it for the first time last night when I showered. I’m sorry, Liam. I know this must be a shock. But beyond that, I won’t apologize further. This child happened.”
With the truth out in the open, Emma leaned back in her chair. Something inside her began to open and to ease down, something she’d held tight for a very long time, maybe since the deaths of her parents.
All these years, she’d been afraid of life, even though she’d embraced the warrior profession. It seemed so odd. Odder still that a life growing inside her would have changed her attitude about what it was to be alive, to experience a world where, though long-lived, one day even she would leave Dusane forever.
On the other hand, she couldn’t begin to imagine what this would feel like for Liam.
His voice sounded thin. “I don’t want to go through this again.”
In her old life, she might have been flippant in order to drive a wedge between them, the way she’d been brutality curt when she’d spoken of his wife not so long ago. But now, she held back. She knew what this child would come to mean for her, in fact what she already meant to her. She felt it in every cell of her body, that this was her dragon to love, to cherish, to nurture, to raise with every hope all the mothers before her had ever experienced toward their offspring.
Without knowing this child, she loved her.
But as she stared at Liam’s bowed head and at the tension in the muscles of his shoulders, she asked the dragon gods of old if there was anything she could say to him. She knew the kind of man he was, the level of responsibility he would feel toward any child of his. She had no concerns on that score.
“I know this is a lot to take in, right before a battle. Yet my heart told me you needed to know. Don’t ask me why. You just did. I don’t want secrets between us, nothing like that ever.”
As she searched her heart, however, she knew the rest lay with Liam, how he would process this unexpected revelation. What it would mean to him right now and in the future. These were things she couldn’t control.
When he lifted his head, he met her gaze squarely. “You should go south right now. I’ll get another battle partner. I’ll see if Charlotte’s available or maybe Beth. But you can’t stay here and you sure as hell can’t take part in whatever is going to happen in the next couple of hours.”
For whatever reason, this was the last thing she’d expected him to say. She had an immediate and quick response which she did not hold back. “Sorry to disappoint, but like hell I’m going anywhere.”
At that, he rose from his chair scowling. “You could die and the baby with you. Have you thought of that?”
“And I wish my parents hadn’t died either. But it’s part of life and a big possibility for a dragon-rider anyway. I’ve accepted that.”
“You’re being selfish. You’re carrying a child. My child.”
She left her seat as well. She still had to look up at him to meet his gaze, but she did so with her shoulders as straight as possible. “I’m a dragon-rider, Liam. Period. And today, more than at any other moment in Dusane’s history, I’m needed. The last thing I would ever do to my child is walk away from my duty.”
~ ~ ~
Liam felt like he’d been clobbered by a two-by-four. About a hundred times.
Emma was pregnant.
He would have argued with her about the truth of it since she hadn’t seen a doctor, but like her, he knew it was true. He could sense the life inside her as though it was already calling to him.
He wanted to blame her. To yell at her for being irresponsible and letting this thing happen. But he knew that wasn’t true either. She was like him. They were both on the obsessive side when it came to being responsible. Her birth control had failed and that had been outside her control.
Which begged the question: Why hadn’t he used condoms to be safe? Where had his obsessiveness been when he’d been sexing her up? If anyone was to blame, it was him.
Yet here they were with child and facing the most dangerous battle of their lives. In fact, the moment he’d seen the video, he thought the odds were high he wouldn’t survive the day. Nor Emma as his partner. They’d be taking lead. How much more dangerous could their situation get?
But now they had a child to consider. “You haven’t thought this through, Emma, what we’re facing when the Magi make lake-fall.”
“I have, actually.” She seemed oddly sure of herself and very calm which felt new somehow. “When you and I first got together a year ago, and yes, I know I was drunk and you were as well, but I had this unshakeable sense we had something. And I don’t just mean sexually. Like I felt certain that I would become a better dragon-rider if I had the opportunity to work with you and I believe that is true. Santos obviously believed something similar because he paired us when that was never the ADF policy.
“My point is that now is the time, more than ever before, that you and I join forces to figure out what we can do together for Dusane.”
“But we have this to consider.” He waved his hand at her abdomen. “He or she should be our priority.”
“I guess I didn’t say which, did I? Liam, we’re having a daughter.” Her eyes filled with tears. “That much I know.”
Damn. This was real. They were having a girl dragon. Together. He and this beautiful, gifted, and supremely stubborn dragon-rider were having a baby.
He turned away from her and forced himself to breathe. The muscles in his arms kept flexing involuntarily. He took another breath. Then another.
He had to think.
Images of his wife sluiced through his mind. They took over his thoughts so quickly that he almost groaned aloud. As had happened so many times over the years, all his grief bunched up on him in a sudden onslaught.
As he headed toward the patio landing, he called over his shoulder. “I’m going to Dragonslip to get changed. But I’ll be back. I won’t be long.”
“Take as much time as you need.”
With one deft launch of his feet, he was in the air. He had to be away from Emma, to think things through. His chest felt like it was cracking wide open.
He flew higher than he needed to. His nostrils flared. He could smell the grit of the Konbrack wind coming toward Blue Lake South. It would be a powerful blow when it hit, and he had to be ready.
As he crossed above the training grounds heading southeast toward Dragonslip Gorge, he couldn’t keep old tears from streaming from his eyes. He wiped at them, but they continued to come. Emma’s revelations had reminded him of what he’d lost when his wife died and how much he’d grieved for the past eighteen years.
Now he was facing a new, potential loss. What if Emma died? Was he supposed to mourn all over again? He’d just found her. He was barely getting used to the idea of a woman in his life, of feeling all those profound sensations of love and connection, of wanting to be with someone, when she said she was pregnant. So, if she died, he’d have two more deaths to grieve.
He flew fast, which made his heart work hard. The sensation eased some of the pain. So, he flew faster still and was huffing and puffing by the time he landed hard on his patio.
He threw open the doors and levitated in a quick streak to the shower. When he got in, he made the spray as cold as possible even though his fire dragon rebelled. Cold water hurt. Hoping his grief would subside, however, he took the physical pain.
Somehow it didn’t help at all, so he gradually added hot water and let his feelings do their worst. More tears followed as he thought about his wife and little boy and as he thought about losing Emma and their daughter.
He gave himself to the intensity of all these feelings, letting them flow until the tough sensations passed.
After a few minutes, he was surprised to find that the pain had dissipated. Breathing was easier.
He shut off the water and took
his time toweling dry. He finally began to understand that so long as he lived, he would always feel sad about losing Vinia and their son. Always. Nothing could change that, not now, not ever.
Grief was part of life, of having things taken away that were treasured and necessary to his happiness. Only a hole could remain. In their long-lived dragon world, maybe grief was even more profound because it would mean centuries of feeling sad.
But sadness wasn’t the only thing he could feel. Emma had showed him that. She’d come into his life and he’d fallen hard for her. The sensations of love he now felt for her were as real as what he’d known with Vinia. And no less powerful, which meant that should he outlive Emma, he would grieve her loss whether it was today or hundreds of years from now.
This was the real risk he’d taken when he’d invited her back to Dragonslip Gorge and brought her into his bed. He’d risked the pain of losing her as well.
Worse, she now carried their child and that baby was as real to him as his son had been.
It dawned on him that the pain he’d been feeling about Vinia was also about Emma. He’d just opened up his life to her, and the Magi were on the way with a weapon of mass destruction.
Emma could die in the forthcoming battle.
A few powerful curses sliced through his head. Odd how much it helped.
When he was in his sleek black flight suit, he closed-up his house and headed into the air once more. He took his time returning to the cliffs above HQ where Emma lived.
Despite that he knew she was right about her role as his partner in the upcoming battle, he felt he had to make one final plea. She could still go south.
But when he saw the light in her eye as she braided her ponytail, he knew it was useless, and something more. “You’ve had an idea.”
“Yes. I’ve already called Jane to set it up. I think I should take along the modified rocket launcher. Between my kinetic ability and the fact that I work out, I’m sure I can manage it. I’ve practiced quite a bit in training.”
