Four Bonds

by Kelsey Soliz

Ronnie was really sweating now, and I took the chance to slyly glance around the room to take note of any other guards that looked nervous. Julian’s second in command Alex kept darting glances towards Ronnie, my dragon detected that he had an accelerated heartbeat as well. A few others had similar symptoms so I herded them to the far corner of the room, away from the door.

  “Atticus, how much do we trust these guards? There's no way Ronnie got all of your parents down to the caves by himself. “

  Atticus walked up beside me, throwing his arm around my shoulders. “Well I’d have said they’re all loyal to the crown, but clearly that’s not the case.”

  I suspect these guards might have been in on it, who knows how many others. They’re all a little beady eyed and their heart rates are beating a little too fast. Any way to subdue them so they can’t transform temporarily? I don’t want to deal with a full-on dragon battle in this castle.

  I felt him pull the others into our mental chat, and I leaned into the comfort their presence offered.

  Atticus-Lander, can you go to the vault and get some silium cuffs?

  Me- That won’t permanently damage them, will it? I don’t want to hurt anyone if we’re wrong.

  Atticus- It is only painful and permanent if ingested. On the body it only acts as a barrier.

  Me- Okay good.

  Lander-Yeah I can grab some. How many you want?

  Atticus- Enough for all of these idiots here sweating, maybe one or two extra.

  Lander- Sure thing, brother.

  Lander walked to the back of the room where there was a closet and I heard some shifting around and a door opening.

  “Now, you all are over here because my dragon seems to think that you all are a little bit too nervous about the situation to be fully innocent. Anyone want to ‘fess up now before we bring out the big guns?”

  One younger female guard broke down in tears, collapsing on the floor and blubbering the words ‘I’m so sorry’ over and over. We all glared at the others remaining but I could see we were getting to them.

  Me- Aside from traipsing all the way to the cells where Adyson was kept, is there any other secure places we can put these people while we sort everything out? I don’t want to worry about them while we wait on the verdict for your parents and then track down Adyson.

  Declan- Yeah, there are a couple cells in the wing across from here, only one key that we can hold onto. It’s not as barbaric as the other cells but it’s a lot closer.

  Maalik- I’ll start ferrying them in there as soon as these cuffs are on them.

  Lander walked back in and started locking the cuffs onto ankles, much to the consternation of the guards involved.

  “Oh quit. You think this is bad? Once we get time to question all of you and discover your level of involvement you’re going to wish this is all you’ll have to deal with. I’m not sure if it’s come to your treasonous hearts yet, but you’ve all aided in the capture and harming of our country’s monarchs. A highly punishable offense. You better start praying that my parents pull out of this in one piece or you’ll all be facing whatever it is they are.”

  Maallik finished his little tirade and pulled Julian in to help him get the prisoners out.

  We’re sure we can trust Julian? Maalik, don’t close the link. Stay with us the whole time you’re gone, I don’t want anything to happen to you. Stay alert, we don’t know who else is involved.

  Julian’s good. I can feel his dedication, dragon sense. We’ve known him since we were kids, he’s like an uncle. I’ll keep it open babe, don’t worry.

  Once all the suspects were gone and Maalik was back we heard footsteps running up the stairs and we all braced ourselves until we realized it was only the doctor. He had brought a whole mess of stuff with him and started barking orders at the remaining guards to aid him and get him whatever else he needed.

  A short while later, after he had run all sorts of tests, he looked at us mournfully.

  “What is it doc?”

  All my men circled around me as we faced their parents, our backs to the windows so we could keep an eye on the rest of the room.

  “Health wise, I think they should wake up sometime today or tomorrow. Their vital signs are weak but steady, I can’t find anything outwardly wrong with them.”

  “Then why are they unconscious? And why do you look so upset?”

  “It is as you feared, your majesties. Silium has been administered and unlike when I intervened with Isla, it has already run it’s course through their bodies.”

  Declan fell to his knees and we all pulled in close, lending each other support.

  “You mean…”

  “Yes, your Majesty. They will make a full recovery but their shifting magic has been depleted.”

  I grew nauseous at the statement, clutching my stomach as I understood what he said. They were no longer dragons.

  “How the fuck is she getting silium?!” I had never seen Maalik so enraged and everyone aside from me and mine shrank away from him, they could feel how close to the surface his dragon was.

  “I will of course stay on until they wake up, I’d like to run tests on a schedule to ensure they recover as I expect. They might have lost something dear, but we intervened before more could be taken from them. We are grateful you all trusted your gut and returned here early.”

  “You think she meant to go further once the silium completed it’s transformation?” I shook my head at the thought, thinking of how much worse it could have been had we not gotten here when we did.

  “I think it very likely, given that they were so hidden and that they have so much dried blood on their clothing. If Adyson is anything like her mother, we have every reason to expect her capable of the worst.”

  My stomach was really cramping now so I politely but quickly excused myself, running across the room to find the nearest bathroom. The stress from the situation was eating its way straight through my nerves. I barely made it to the bathroom in time before I vomited several times, shaking in the aftermath of everything we were now up against.

  Strong arms pulled me into a strong chest and I wept at what had just been taken from my new family. Half of their essence had just been stolen from them and there was no way to get it back. The act of one selfish asshole and their lives were forever altered. Now I was on a warpath.

  Lander pulled back from me to reach for a washcloth, wetting it and wiping my face off for me.

  “We’ll get through this babe. We still have them, that’s the important thing. She didn’t take them from us.”

  “I know, I’m just sick over this whole situation though! Why is this happening now?!”

  “Because Adyson felt threatened when she realized you were going to shake things up around here. Please don’t take that personally, do not blame yourself. We will get Adyson and she will pay for all the trouble she’s wrought upon our family.”

  “This ends tonight. Lets get your brothers and take off. We can fly there to make it happen faster.”

  “You feel up to shifting right now?”

  “I have to regardless. How far from here is her mother’s cottage?”

  “I’m not really sure, but it can’t be too far. Pretty sure she lived no the outskirts of town which shouldn’t take too long to get to.”

  Fourteen

  We walked back to the room where everyone was still huddled and we poked our heads in and motioned to my other mates that we needed them. Once they all were walking out, I followed Lander as he led us down the hall, around some corners, and out to an enormous stone balcony that overlooked the kingdom.

  “We’re going after Adyson. Isla wants to shift so we can get to her faster.”

  “Probably the best option, won’t even be a fight with five dragons on her.”

  “My dragon says she wants to eat her. Is that allowed? If so, dibs.”

  Despite the solemn situation, Maalik managed a slight smirk and nodded his head at me.

  “She was already going to be tried for
murder for your grandmother, and punished for the capture of you. We know she’s at least guilty of those things, and the fact that she personally injured you means I don’t give a fuck what happens to her. She needs to be eradicated and I don’t care if we go through the proper channels to do so.”

  Declan looked contemplative for a second before shrugging and agreeing. “Even if we could never prove she was behind the administration and capture of our parents, we have enough dirt on her to execute her anyway. The only thing we’d lose is her confession and possible other plans, but if we have already captured her accomplices and eradicate her, her plans won’t matter. The sooner she’s gone, the better.”

  None of us could argue with that logic so we began stripping, and Lander showed me how I could pick up my clothing once in dragon form so that I could cover myself up when we landed in case I needed to shift back.

  Once all of us had collected our clothes into a neat pile, the guys one by one shifted as they jumped off the banister, which looked scary as hell, and then Maalik told me it was my turn.

  “Don’t worry, you can shift here and then take off. No need to be dramatic like them.”

  I breathed easier then invited my dragon forth, and she was ready to be let loose so she could seek out vengeance. Once we were all in the air, my senses heightened even more and it was easy to figure out where Adyson was hiding out. Coward. She had to know that her plan was half-assed and liable to utter failure. I’d be sure to tell her before I roasted her alive.

  We flew over the village, people that were outside stopping to stare at us in awe.

  They’re staring at you, Isla. It’s likely none of them have ever seen a purple dragon before. They’re kind of mythical around here.

  My dragon huffed in contentment at the attention, of course, and let out a roar to let our enemy know we were coming for her. We all honed in on the lone cottage set against the forest, landing gracefully and surrounding the house. I could hear the bitch’s heartbeat so I knew she was there, and I could tell she was alone so there was no need to be careful of any innocents.

  A crowd had gathered behind us, wondering what could possibly be going on.

  Me-Do you think the Nogalians know that the Kings and Queen have been missing?

  Declan- Probably not. It’s protocol to keep stuff about the royals under wraps, we have pretty strict privacy laws and with us all being out of country, I’m sure Julian wanted everything to be kept under wraps so there were no mobs or anything crazy.

  Me- can we start torching?

  Atticus- Isla, please, do the honors.

  My dragon let out her loudest roar yet and I could feel the pride emanating off of my mates as she did so. Ever the diva, she took off and did a few spirals above the house to show off for the audience before hovering above the cottage and fully letting loose.

  Our flame let out what felt like a giant shockwave, making even my mates fall back a little as we poured all of our anger into the attack. The house was incinerated instantly and then we caught the silver-haired demon trying to creep out through the back but we pounced immediately, catching her in our talons.

  She cried out in fear, realizing she had been had, and we enjoyed her screams for a moment or two. My dragon took over completely, protecting my human side from the punishment she needed to dole out. It would be helpful if dragons could talk so I could tell her exactly what I thought of her, but maybe it was better this way because she didn’t deserve my words. She deserved pain.

  Flying high again, we carried our prize to the cloud level, then opened up our claw to let her fall. Seems my dragon was really enjoying seeing her suffer a bit before we ended things.

  Enjoying the show guys?

  Yeah, what are you doing exactly?

  All her. Oh, I think she means to catch her…yep. Incoming.

  We swooped down, grabbing Adyson right before she smashed to smithereens, then repeated the process a few more times. My dragon chuffed out laughter everytime Adyson fell, ascending higher each time and reveling in her screams.

  You should tell your dragon to stop playing with her food.

  Hey, tell me you aren’t enjoying her screams.

  I felt all my guys rumble with amusement, and I sensed that my dragon was ready for her final act. Grasping Adyson in our talons one more time, we took off straight up, slingshotting her the highest distance yet and torching her on the way down before catching her and swallowing her whole.

  I felt kind of icky with the knowledge I had a human in my stomach, seemed cannibalistic. But then again, I wasn’t a human and my dragon’s body worked much differently than mine. I might be sick later, but it would probably still be worth it to hear those irritating screams on replay as we took payment for all that had been lost.

  You want to shift back and say anything, Isla? Probably best so your new subjects don’t think you’re a big scary tyrant lizard.

  I giggled at Declan’s words and with a final flourish, walked behind the wall of flames that was once the cottage and swapped places with my dragon. The shift hurt less and less each time and came easier to boot. I darted forth to gather the clothing I had thankfully carried with me, walking over to where Maalik-Dragon was and burying myself in his chest. He wrapped his wings around me, comforting me as we accepted that Adyson couldn’t hurt us or our family anymore.

  I love you, Maalik.

  You crazy girl. I love you. You doing alright?

  Better now that that bitch is taken care of.

  Maalik chuckled at that and then nudged me forward to face the people. Declan-Dragon walked forward and helped me climb on his back so that I could see everyone and so they could easily see me, then we stood in front of them, searching their faces for any resentment or fear. We found none.

  “I’m sure you’ve surmised by now who I am, but for those of you still in the dark, my name is Isla Damani. I have vowed to protect you and someday lead you, and today my promised role needed to be demonstrated. The woman whom we just executed was not only responsible for the death of my grandmother last month, but also kidnapped and injured my sister and myself.

  She is the daughter of the mage that cursed you all and had admitted to having plans to finish her mother’s work. She was of course locked up but managed to sweet talk some guards into release. Those guards are now locked up themselves and have been cuffed to prevent shifting while we ascertain their involvement.

  We were on our honeymoon but opted to return early when we couldn’t get in touch with your Kings and Queen. We were worried that something had befallen them, and we are relieved that we returned when we did. Not only had they been missing a couple days, but we found them locked up in a small room underneath the castle amongst our sacred bonding caves.

  Their persons are recovering and are expected to recover fully, however, Adyson had already successfully administered silium, something I have first-hand experience with. I was fortunate enough to receive reversing serum shortly after I fell to it, but my in-laws had been locked away too long and will not be so fortunate.”

  Everyone looked in various states of shock and outrage at this point, realizing what I was saying.

  “They are receiving all the medical care they require, but in the meantime my husbands and I are here to serve and protect you. Eliminating the threat that Adyson presented was a necessity, and taking my grandmother’s life, nearly costing me my mate-bond, and taking the dragons away from your rulers, she could not be allowed to continue on.

  I regret that this had to happen in such a public setting, but we couldn’t risk her escaping again. We must return to the palace to update the guards and check on our family, but please don’t hesitate to reach out if any of you have any concerns.

  We understand this is a difficult time, and we will do all that we can to keep our kingdom running smoothly and make it safe again for all of you.”

  The townspeople took a knee at my words, offering us their condolences and respect as I dipped my head back at them and the fou
r dragons took off, Declan-Dragon carrying me back to the balcony we took off from. We were quick to update everyone that needed it, and upon hearing that their parents were still resting, we decided to make our captives sweat it out for a bit before addressing them.

  We all walked together to the front of the castle, instructing Julian to keep the palace on lockdown otherwise. We got a ride back to our home and it was a relief to be back in our quiet sanctuary. We raided the fridge for some food, getting out all the trappings for sandwiches before we retreated upstairs to bathe and collapse. I hardly had the mental stamina to appreciate our renovated master bedroom, just accepting how perfect the giant shower and even larger bed was. We all fit snuggly without anyone falling or being pushed off the edge, and I called that a win.

  ✽✽✽

  By the time we had all woken up and slept off the residual bad energies from the day before, it was past lunchtime the next day. We were anxious to go and check on their parents again but we took personal cars this time so we didn’t have to bother anybody during the lockdown.

  It didn’t take long for us to verify we were who we said we were, and we were relieved to find all three of their parents sitting up in bed and attempting to eat when we walked in. My husbands all rushed to their sides, speaking over each other as they tried to ascertain how they were feeling. They seemed in good enough spirits considering, but there was a certain level of melancholy in their eyes that spoke of their loss. We all felt the need to apologize, even knowing that it was not even remotely our fault that they lost all that they did.

  Their fathers gave us a watered down smile and their mother just assured us that it was only because of us that they were able to speak with us at all.

  “Enough talk about what we can no longer fix. I want to hear some happy. How was the honeymoon? How did the shift go Isla?”

  I walked forward to sit on the edge of the bed, grasping Alina’s outstretched hand.

  “You should have seen her yesterday mom, she was badass.”

  “Lander! Language!”

  “Sorry. She is able to sustain half-shifts. She called upon her fire without even shifting her body, melted the hinges right off the door when we found you all. She’s already flying acrobatics and shifting back without even stumbling. She’s amazing.”