Dragon Equinox

by Ophelia Bell

  “You are a creature of certain needs,” Meri said. “The nymphs will be defeated soon. Any who stand against me will die. I am merely offering an infinitely abundant substitute if you grant me my request. Taste for yourself.”

  With only the barest exertion of her will, the three men beside her stepped into the water and swam toward the Diviner. Halfway there, one man let out a harsh yell and disappeared beneath the surface, only to reappear a moment later, gasping for breath, his body wrapped in one of the Diviner’s tentacles. Within seconds, the Diviner had bound the other two in her tentacles. They struggled in her grip.

  Meri knew well how inescapable those tentacles were if the Diviner didn’t wish to let go, but she also knew the one driving need the ancient creature possessed.

  The three men looked terrified for only a moment before their eyelids fluttered or widened and they all began to moan in pleasure. With only their shoulders above the surface of the water, Meri couldn’t see what the Diviner was doing, but she had no doubt they were enjoying it.

  The power this creature possessed surpassed even the Dionarchs, and yet the Diviner had been trapped inside this cave for as long as Meri had been alive. Her only sustenance came from the nymphs and satyrs who visited to request blessings of their matings or seek the wisdom of this immortal creature who served as an oracle to their race.

  The Diviner’s attention to the three Hunters continued, and all the while her gentle caresses of the nymph held close to her body persisted. The nymph’s eyes opened and widened at first in fear, then in fascination when she caught sight of the men the Diviner held in her grip, pleasuring to greater heights than they had ever experienced, Meri was certain.

  The nymph twisted her body and turned to gain a better view, the tentacles that supported her adjusting to continue cradling her. The need that swirled in her eyes was something Meri knew well. That ache to be filled and fucked into oblivion was something not even a human body had dulled in all her eons walking among that lesser race and wearing their skins.

  As if sensing the nymph’s requirements, the Diviner adjusted her hold on the woman until the nymph’s back was pressed flush against the Diviner’s torso, her legs spread and her glistening core visible. The nymph’s potent scent reached Meri from across the room, and her human vessel’s libido raged in response. This was one acute drawback of taking a male human’s body in a place like this. Their urges could be overwhelming, but with effort, she channeled their carnal desires into blood rage to urge them to kill rather than fuck. The killing could be every bit as satisfying and conditioned them to want it more, the more she encouraged it. But a willing nymph opening herself like that to a roomful of naked men could override any other urge they possessed.

  The Diviner turned the three captive Hunters to face the nymph, and they all struggled and clawed at their bindings in the effort to reach the prize.

  “She is yoursss if you wisssh,” the Diviner crooned. “Come and ssshow me how much esssence that human body can feed me.”

  The cravings of Meri’s vessel grew too strong to deny, but this could be the opportunity she needed to prove her point. She walked into the water, intent on showing the Diviner how much delicious energy the humans possessed. It would be at her disposal, were she to leave this place.

  Meri reached the center and found tentacles arranged in short steps that gave her access to the nymph, whose pussy was spread wide and slick with readiness to be filled. The mere scent of the nymph had her virile male vessel’s blood heated to the point she had no doubt he’d have long since lost control of his reactions and buried his cock into the nymph, had she not been in control of him. Meri took her time, however, knowing that due to the Diviner’s part-dragon nature, she reveled in the delay of gratification. The longer she drew out the pleasure, the greater her reward at the end.

  This would be a first for Meri, however. She had inhabited her hunters when they coupled with each other while under her control, but had never bothered riding along or even taking the wheel when they fucked a female. Still, she knew how to use the body she was in, and as she sank the man’s thick cock into the nymph’s eager, molten depths, she made use of that knowledge to her advantage.

  The nymph wrapped her legs around the Hunter’s hips as he fucked her, her hands tangling into his short hair and pulling him down into a deep, hungry kiss.

  It wasn’t until the Hunter’s orgasm hit that Meri realized her mistake. The flood of orgasmic bliss dulled her senses, and she was sluggish as the nymph’s grip tightened. Her kiss grew fierce and brutal as she bit down and drew blood from the Hunter’s lip. The nymph was at full power now, having been healed by the Diviner’s magic, and despite being strong and healthy, the Hunter Meri possessed was no match for a nymph in full primal shift with just as strong a hunger for blood and sex.

  The other three hunters yelled out in pleasure behind her, but a second later came the sickening snaps of breaking bones as the Diviner crushed them in her python-like grip.

  The immense creature’s eyes were a disorienting maelstrom of power as she peered down at Meri, trapped within the embrace of the nymph, her vessel’s cock still pulsing inside her snatch. The Diviner’s voice was chilling in its power, and her fingertips just as icy when they reached down and ran a caress over Meri’s cheek.

  “You pressume to know what will pleassse me, little nymph? Freedom is not my greatessst dessire, nor even is ssseeeing you perish for your betrayals of the higher racesss. But you have a purpose to ssserve yet, and one I will happily bear witnesss to. Do your worssst, but know you will never be able to influence the godsss.”

  The mist closed in around her, and the nymph who held her captive tightened her grip and writhed her hips, clenching her muscles tighter around the Hunter’s cock.

  Enraged by the Diviner’s taunts, Meri split herself from the mind of the man she’d taken over, and realized it was none too soon. Without Meri’s spirit to maintain control, the nymph who held him forced another climax from his captive body, and at the very peak, gripped his head in both her hands and twisted.

  With the snap of the Hunter’s neck it was as though an elastic tether had yanked Meri back into her own broken body. She howled furiously into the emptiness she now inhabited, her impulsive plan an utter failure. Once she won this war, she would find a way to make the Diviner pay. But for now, she had to make sure no others could reach her lair, friend or foe.

  Still hot with anger, she sent a command to the Hunters nearest the Diviner’s lair. They responded instantly, heading to the waterfall and venturing inside, but only to set the charges that would collapse the opening of the cave, blocking off both entry and escape.

  Once that task was complete, she flew back to the temporal bubble in the Sanctuary. With fresh fervor, she attacked the barrier again, more determined than ever to break through.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Zorion rematerialized in the middle of a forest, his skin tingling from the released grips of all his companions’ hands. It was just the five of them, with Neela’s barely contained fire glowing just beneath the surface of her skin, hot enough to tickle his craving for her, but not enough to set him ablaze. He moved into the circle of stones and tested the center. An invisible barrier bounced back against his hand when he pushed.

  “This is the portal,” he said. “But we can’t enter the Sanctuary as we are. Zil, are you ready? The other three of you, hold onto me once more so you’re with us when we stop time.”

  Neela moved to stand at his left, clutching his hand while Naaz and Asha both clung to his other hand. Zil faced him, his dark eyes filled with the half of their shared power that would create the frozen interlude once they joined again. He and his darker half had practiced this several times while in Nikhil and their mother’s presence, demonstrating the uses of the power and trying to determine how best to take advantage of it. Their hope was that with time halted, they could pass throu
gh the Sanctuary’s magical barrier without harming the security of it, similar to how they’d breached the shield surrounding the army’s dragon temple base. Once inside the Sanctuary, they would be able to reach the Haven to lend their aid. They’d barely discovered how to stretch their time in the stillness, but hopefully, they would only need the few seconds it would take to pass through the barrier.

  All Zil had to do was step into the field of Zorion’s shape and the pair merged instantly. The merging sent an icy chill through Zorion’s body as though the flow of his fiery power had been snuffed. He still couldn’t get used to the coldness of it, and beside him, Asha’s teeth began to chatter. Stillness was freezing, but the temperature shift was a good gauge for how long they had.

  “Hurry,” he said, and the five of them stepped forward as a unit, aiming for the barrier that had taken on the appearance of frozen molasses struck through with ripples.

  Leading the way, he stepped forward, and the portal flowed around them like fog, leaving him feeling sticky on the other side. He kept a tight hold on the hands that held his and they all passed through behind him, faces scrunched like they were passing through a barrier of spider webs.

  “We’ll try to stretch this as long as possible, but let’s make use of the stillness quickly,” he said, holding onto them all and ignoring the beginning of Zil’s protest. He pushed his power to the south, in the direction they knew his aunt and uncle would be. If they couldn’t lend their power to the opening of a sky portal, they would go straight into the battle itself and do what they could there.

  They landed outside yet another barrier that looked similar to the first, only this time, it seemed to flow in a direction that was disconcerting to view.

  “Once more, brace yourselves,” he said, and they passed through, once again succumbing to the urge to wipe the sticky residue off their faces upon passing.

  The frigid sensation began to warm, and he readied himself for the surge of motion that would grasp them all when time started again.

  “Something’s up there,” Asha said, frowning at the way they’d come. “What is that?”

  They all turned to look, and Zorion had to tilt his head to make sense of what seemed to be a trick of light playing across the barrier of the temporal bubble they’d passed through, but then it moved ever so slightly.

  ‘Ugh, what is that?” Neela asked. “Looks like a snake stuck to the dome.

  “Zil, try to hold onto the moment with me,” Zorion said, and the dark presence in his mind agreed. What they had caught sight of certainly didn’t belong.

  He manifested Zil’s wings and rose, flying up to get a better look at the huge, twisting shape that clung to the membrane of the bubble like a lamprey. The chill grew inside him once more and the creature slowed, then stopped moving.

  “I can’t push my power much harder,” Zil said.

  “No need…” Zorion shot his hand into the barrier and grabbed the slithering creature, but he couldn’t yank it through. Its fangs were buried deep into the membrane itself, and it was fixed there as though a part of it. But though he couldn’t budge the creature, he could read it as easily as his own mother had read his shame, and understood.

  This abhorrent creature was none other than the spirit of the beast that had imprisoned and tortured his love. He squeezed as hard as he could, but it did no good.

  “Fuck! I can’t kill it while we’re frozen. It has to fucking breathe in order to suffocate.”

  “What is it?” Neela called.

  “The enemy,” he growled. “Meri herself is leeching the power from this barrier somehow. She is after …” He could only read the frozen moment of thought in the creature’s mind. “The child…” he whispered.

  Rage gripped him then, and Zil let out a mental curse inside his head. “Hold on to that filthy thing,” he bit. “It’s going to get hot.”

  With the flood of heat coursing through their body again, time surged into motion once more. A piercing screech echoed through the air, bouncing off the barrier. The creature wriggled and thrashed in Zorion’s hand, and he pushed fire through his palm in as much force as he could, his teeth clenched hard as he tried to hold on. But the barrier snapped tight and his reflexes simply obeyed the constricting force. His hand flew open and the creature hurtled away in the other direction.

  “Fuck!” he bellowed, pulling his hand back through the barrier. “I had her!”

  Neela looked stricken when he landed again. “It was her, wasn’t it? What was she doing?”

  “Sucking power from the barrier, from the looks of things. We need to warn the others, but more importantly, we need to get to your daughter. Protect her.”

  Neela’s blue eyes flashed wide. “My … my daughter?” she said in a weak voice filled with cautious hope.

  “That creature had one thought in its mind when I grabbed it … to get to the child. Nikhil confirmed that the child existed and was saved by the ursa who mated my uncle. That must be the child Meri wants. Come, we don’t have time to waste.”

  He didn’t bother splitting from Zil again this time, and his shadow made an unholy sound in his head when he let the fire burn to transport them into the lodge itself. Once they landed, Zil forcefully pushed him out, sputtering loud curses, his dark eyes blazing hot enough to make Zorion think he’d kept some of the fire for himself.

  “Don’t you ever fucking do that again! I can handle fire from the outside, not the inside!”

  “You’ll live,” Zorion snapped and headed for the nearest staircase, aiming for the familiar white aura of his uncle on the second floor.

  They’d only made it up to the first landing when a voice called from below. “Hey! Who the fuck are you, and how did you get in?”

  Zorion’s first instinct was to subdue the intruder with a mental shackle, but he remembered that he and the others were the actual intruders. They were among friends here, or should be, and he needed to keep it that way. He turned and stepped back down, giving Neela’s hand a comforting squeeze on the way past.

  “I am Zorion, and I come at Nikhil’s command to aid the fight. But first, my mate wishes to see her child.”

  The blond-haired man who stared him down had an aura of wind about him and his eyes were the color of summer storms. His gaze lifted to the group on the staircase behind Zorion and he studied each face in turn, his brows gradually easing.

  Still looking past Zorion at Neela and Naaz, the newcomer said, “Oh, thank the Winds, you two finished your mission. I take it these are the so-called Wildcards Nikhil sent you after?”

  “That was a secret,” Naaz said, his eyes narrowing.

  The man shrugged. “Not much gets past a turul. Whispers carry. What I’m not privy to is how the fuck you five got past the barrier.”

  “We have ways,” Zorion said. “Zil and I can stop time. None of the boundaries hold us back when they are only so much frozen mist. But you should know your temporal bubble is doomed. Meri has discovered it. We caught her leeching power from it when we came through, I tried to strangle the … thing that held her essence, but it fled. She will no doubt return once she recovers from the burn I gave her. If you are the guardian of this place, you would do well to increase your patrols. Watch the barrier for signs of her.”

  The man winced and rubbed the back of his neck. “We are a little light on security, but I will see what I can do. I’m Ozzie West, by the way. You, I know by reputation … Zorion, is it? Or…” He shot an uncertain look at Zil.

  “I am Zorion. Zil is my brother, you could say. And my sister, Asha.” He gestured between the other two dragons. “I presume you are acquainted with Naaz and my mate, Neela?”

  Ozzie nodded. “You guys have quite a history.”

  Neela slipped her hand into Zorion’s and said, “I’m more concerned about our future, which is somewhere in this lodge. Do you know Vrishti? Nikhil said she was the
one Meri implanted our baby into. Is she here?”

  Ozzie’s eyebrows rose and his mouth opened, then closed again. “Yeah, it’s been an interesting day for us all, especially for her. She’s upstairs. Come, I’m sure she’d like to meet you, but there’s something you ought to know first.”

  Zorion and the others stood aside to allow Ozzie to climb the stairs and lead the way.

  “What is it?” Neela asked. “Are she and the baby all right?”

  “She is fine, and so is Deva … the baby … who she gave birth to this morning. Actually it’s been almost twenty-four hours since she was born. It’s tricky to keep track of time inside this damn bubble.”

  “That … can’t be. It’s barely been five months since she was conceived,” Neela said, her fingers tightening in Zorion’s hand. “Are you sure she’s all right?”

  Ozzie refused to say more as he led them around the wide arc of a corridor that circumscribed the lodge. Up above were roof lanterns that gave a clear view of the sky outside, which shimmered oddly, distorting the morning sun. There was other potent energy infusing this place, the scents of fertile power everywhere.

  They passed by one big door that barely contained the sounds of a female’s pleasure beyond. With a glance, Zorion identified a powerful green dragon’s aura inside, along with two other creatures who shared a body, their potent male auras superimposed atop each other as they pleasured the female.

  He paused and frowned at the door, trying to place the familiar green of the aura.

  “Ah, she isn’t in there,” Ozzie said. “That’s Numa, completing round two of her contest to find a mate. We need to avoid interrupting—she’s going as fast as she can.”

  Zorion’s lips twitched in understanding. “My aunt has made a great sacrifice today. Are you a contestant? I can see from your aura that you have affection for her.”

  Ozzie shook his head sharply. “No. I’m fated for someone else. All turul know their mate on sight, and she isn’t mine, or you can bet the contest never would have been necessary.”