by D. R. Rosier
I didn’t belong here, my senses screamed at me that it was so. Maybe I could compare it to humidity. Earth felt like forty percent. The Demon world was richer in magic, it felt like ninety percent humidity. I really didn’t have to feed there either, but it wasn’t uncomfortable.
This felt like I was in a pool, no… not a pool. Like I was deep sea diving, and I was at the diving limit in terms of pressure. I could live here, I would get used to it, but it would never feel natural. I looked over at Rafe and wondered if he had felt starved on my world. I really got good vibes off of him, and I was obviously attracted, but this difference seemed like a reason not to become a mate.
The good part was my succubus wouldn’t be pushing me or influencing me toward sex. That didn’t mean that I still wasn’t drawn to him in a major way.
I snorted at the thought maybe we could meet somewhere in the middle.
Rafe sounded concerned, “You alright?”
I nodded slowly, “I think so. It’s… not natural. But I don’t think I’m in danger.”
He grunted, “Do you trust me?”
I… did.
“Yes.”
I watched as his magic formed into a spell I couldn’t decipher and then he settled it over me. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I couldn’t understand how it was doing it, but the spell was actually repelling a good percentage of the magic. Back to my earlier comparison it felt like I was now swimming in the pool. There was a ton of magic, but it wasn’t crushing me anymore.
There was no way I’d be able to cast it though, it was more dragon magic. There could possibly be a way for me to do the same with my magic, but I wasn’t sure where I’d even start. At least, not yet, I’m sure I’d figure it out eventually.
I said, “Thank you,” as I looked around, now comfortable enough to check out my surroundings.
We were in a field of tall grass up to my knees. It was cool and breezy and the sun was shining almost directly overhead. As I turned I could see forest, a large lake, a fortified keep of sorts, and more forest. There was something missing and I couldn’t put my finger on it for a minute.
I looked over to the lake and there were dragons floating on the water, I even saw a few smaller ones playing. There were some lying out by the shore absorbing sunlight. It reminded me of a lizard laying out on a hot rock.
Roads. There were no roads. Of course, when your other form is a dragon that flies, why would you need them? There were no gates either, in the wall. The only way in must be flying.
The keep or stronghold had a wall about twenty feet high. That is where the design was similar to a human keep or castle. There were a number of towers with spikes and what looked like ballista, most of the fortifications obviously went toward defending from the sky. There were also a large number of very strong enchantments and protections that I could feel with my magic.
It was very surreal, like something out of a book.
“Rafe, is there a difference with the colors?”
He smiled, “Yes. Not all dragons have spell magic, only silver and gold dragons can cast spells and create enchantments. The others just have the flying magics, which is done instinctually, they also have different breath weapons.”
I raised an eyebrow and he started laughing again. I was pretty sure he wasn’t laughing at me so I smiled back and waited for him to expand on that.
He said, “Gold and red dragons can breathe fire. Silver and black dragons lightning. Green dragons have poisonous breath, Blues ice.”
It was almost like legends on my Earth, I had to wonder if dragons ever visited there before. I can’t imagine them wanting to stay long, our magic concentration must feel feeble to them, to the point they may not survive staying there so long.
Rafe asked, “We should go in, you can meet my brother, our mates, and my brother’s advisor before we get something to eat. I assume you can start once I get you settled in a room?”
I nodded slowly, “I’ll need six items to lay the enchantments on. We used diamond on my world, it holds magic the best, but I’ll leave that up to you.”
He nodded and rose up a few feet and waited. I wrapped my magic around me and rose up and followed, pushing down the absurd disappointment when he didn’t take me with his. We halted at the wall and he did something with his magic that rippled out and modified all the wards.
He turned, “It’s safe for you to come and go now.”
We flew down into the courtyard. There was a very large aerie, large enough to house dragons, they also had a large building to accommodate their other forms. I couldn’t help but gawk a little as we moved around. I was expecting something medieval and in a way the fortifications were. Without tech I wasn’t expecting modern conveniences but the tour he gave me proved me wrong.
I had forgotten they had magic to burn, so of course they used some of it for the nicer things like hot and cold running water, lighting, communication devices, heating, cooling, refrigeration, stoves and other luxuries. I got my bag put up in the guest suite, not room, suite. Apparently I had my own bedroom, living room and even a tiny kitchen.
Rafe asked, “Hungry? I know my brother is looking forward to meeting you as well.”
I smiled and had to resist reaching out and brushing his arm. Light touches and flirting went hand and hand with being a succubus. I hadn’t realized how much I did it, especially with people I liked, until I had to not do it.
It was really hard not to. I wasn’t sure exactly why we were mates, but I knew chemistry was definitely a part of it.
“Sounds good.”
Chapter 5
His brother Caph, short for Caphlindris was glad to see me, as was Caph’s mate Cary, short for Carylindria. I also discovered Rafe was short for Raphorindris. However that’s where the welcome fell off the cliff. Rafe’s mate Rubylindria and Talindris, the family advisor, were most certainly not happy to see me. They were coldly polite however and it wasn’t until halfway through lunch I figured out why.
It wasn’t about the mate thing. Apparently dragons are only possessive and slightly insane about their hoards. Relationships are very open and free, even among bonded mates. So much so that it wouldn’t even occur to them that there might be an issue.
In retrospect it was obvious what the problem was; except since I’m not a backstabbing evil bitch, it never even occurred to me what they were afraid of. I could feel the animosity pour off of them, mixed in with not a little bit of fear. That surprised me, because I was pretty sure they could take me. Then again, maybe not, with this much magic available to me it was possible I could create a gravity well so strong it would turn into a singularity.
Assuming they didn’t step on me first.
We were on the third course, which was like the first two, meat barely cooked, this time venison. Again… dragons. Not omnivores. I liked meat well enough, but there weren’t any veggies in sight.
Advisor Talindris, who I assumed was a gold dragon based on his golden hair and gorgeous blue eyes growled, “This is foolish, you are merely creating another enemy.”
Cary shook her head. She was short for a dragon at only six foot two, the rest of them were approaching seven feet. She had long black hair and green eyes, I was guessing black dragon based on the hair color thing.
Cary said sternly, “No Tal. Everything we discovered about their world says the witches there are benevolent for the most part. Even their enemies are simply banished and not killed if it can be avoided.”
Ruby snorted, “They haven’t met that much temptation before.”
I was still confused at this point, until Tal pointed out the obvious.
“Perhaps this one, but what about the rest. It will not take long for them to figure out what they could do with our blood.”
Oh. I guess that made sense. One magical race hunting them for their blood, I could understand why inviting a second one, with even less access to plentiful magic, would be a concern. I took a minute to think about it. I imagine encasing one drop of
dragon blood in one of my diamond enchantments would increase it’s ability to hold magic by… a whole bunch.
Stunning spell enchantments would be so powerful no one could resist it. Even beneficial things, like healers having a huge reservoir of magic to draw on if they run out internally. The possibilities were virtually endless. Still, so what? Witches were already the most powerful supernatural on our Earth, and recharging spell stones wasn’t that great a chore. Plus, recharging the new blood stones would be much more difficult.
Crap… unless we gated here to do it.
Still, the idea was absurd, no witch I knew would even contemplate actually doing any of that. Of course, I doubted I could convince Tal and Ruby of it. Honestly I was a little offended by it, but I wasn’t all that angry either. Compared to the human bigotry and protests back home their suspicion and mistrust paled in contrast. At least in their case the fear actually made sense, after all, they didn’t know me.
Rafe’s input made me feel warm inside, “Dawn wouldn’t do that. I doubt she even considered it until you said something.”
I so wanted to take him back to my suite and show him exactly what I had been considering. The bond wasn’t looking so bad right now anyway, I just wondered how much of that was simple hormones in the moment. No, I wasn’t in love with him. I’d just met him less than a day ago. But I did know we were compatible, and I did like him. Probably most importantly, I already trusted him.
But… not yet. It would have more consequences than physical pleasure and I wouldn’t rush it, even if I really wanted to right now.
They all looked at me at this point, three trusting and two glaring. What did they want me to say?
“No, I hadn’t thought of it, and I wouldn’t consider it.”
Nothing changed of course, my words wouldn’t be trusted by those who didn’t trust me. I briefly wondered if they would attack me somehow. It didn’t seem likely, from what I could tell Caph was firmly in charge, kind of like an alpha in a pack of shifters. Come to think of it, it wasn’t just like that, it was that, he was an alpha in a pack of shifters. These shifters just happened to be dragons.
That didn’t mean they wouldn’t try to prove my supposed perfidy however. I was sure that would be annoying. I shrugged and ate another bite. It might have been just venison, but it was really good venison…
After lunch Rafe walked me back to my suite. There were six crystal objects in the room there, they looked like obsidian, but weren’t. I wasn’t sure what it was exactly. He told me they would hold more magic than diamonds however so I didn’t worry about it. When he left I got started.
The enchantment was extremely easy, yet there were millions of threads to create the sequence and wave of graviton particles to destabilize a world gate. It would only take six hours of real time to create, yet I knew I was in for some heavy boredom, it would be weeks, possibly months, of subjective time for each one.
I picked up the object and reached for my witch magic. The world around me seemed to still, as if time slowed to a crawl and even stopped. Witch magic was complicated, but our minds perceived much while wielding our magic and time seemed to slow. Even the most complicated spells took less than a second once we embraced our magic.
Of course, this one wasn’t complicated, but in essence I had to set millions of enchantments on each one that cascaded. The first subjective day seemed to drag but I just kept at it. I was definitely earning my one percent of Caph’s and Rafe’s hoard. It took concentration and a particular focus. I was about half done when I looked up at the clock. Close to a month of subjective time had gone by. I was almost startled out of the spell but managed to hold it.
Only ten minutes had passed in real time. I had been expecting at least two hours, if not three. I didn’t really have time to focus on it, but it was obvious that the intensity in the surrounding magic had made a difference. I wondered if it wasn’t for Rafe’s spell, and I had the full effect of this world, it probably would have been a mere handful of seconds.
I didn’t have time to work out all the implications, I had an enchantment to build, but I couldn’t see a very practical advantage to the difference. It was still a couple of months of subjective time, just faster real time.
When I finished another ten minutes had passed. That was only twenty minutes of real time. Yet, I shuddered at the idea of starting the next one. I’d essentially been awake for two months in mind if not in body. I’d need a break between them, at least a day, before starting the next. In fact, I decided to take a quick nap. I hadn’t really slept last night, and at least to my mind I’d been awake way too long.
I put the object aside and lay down in the bed. It was so comfortable, and the perfect temperature. I embraced my magic long enough to see the enchantments on the bed that made it so before I drifted off to sleep…
I startled awake at a loud siren. I reached out with my senses and magic, the defenses were active. I shivered a moment. Maybe I should have asked more questions. I’d assumed Caph was like a king here, Rafe had called him sovereign. But perhaps he is just one sovereign, or alpha, of many on this world. Rafe had already told me the human magic users don’t attack their main fortifications, so what did that leave?
Other dragons of course.
I felt a twinge of worry, both for Rafe who I was coming to care for, and maybe a little selfishly I was worried about myself. What if there are other… packs? I doubt that’s the right description but I didn’t know what a group of dragons were called. What if three or four other alphas decide I was a risk that needed to be cancelled.
Not that it wasn’t too late already, I hadn’t told them about the communication necklaces yet. My family was quite aware where I was and what I was doing.
Of course, I was probably jumping to conclusions. Given the protections over this place it was probably common to raid others.
I jogged out of my room and down the corridor toward the exit into the courtyard. I felt a little nervous and wondered if I should just stay out of it. It probably wasn’t about me. Did I really want to get involved in local… politics?
I could feel the familiar auras of Caph, Rafe, Ruby, Tal, and Cary, but when I stepped through the door they were all dragons. The courtyard was huge, bigger than a football field, but it looked too small with all the dragons currently in it. I recognized a few more auras from the servants as well as a couple from the lake. There were at least thirty dragons here, ranging in size from a minivan to a doublewide trailer. That didn’t include the tail, wings, and heads.
I froze, a little in awe at their fierce beauty. Their scales gleamed.
I looked up and saw a number of dragons approaching from high up and not too far away. My head snapped back down and I looked at the large silver dragon that roared at me. It was Rafe. There were no words, but his meaning was clear to me.
Get the hell back inside.
The idea of not helping him bothered me. But I didn’t know enough, I wasn’t sure what the rules of their society were. If I tried to put my hand in I might make it worse. I had a ton of new questions to ask and I was mad at myself for not asking earlier instead of just being focused on the job I needed to do and Rafe.
I pursed my lips unhappily, glanced up one more time before I turned around and went inside.
I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I could hardly avoid it. Their voices, and minds, were extremely loud. Although I suppose I could have blocked their surface thoughts with a little effort.
An angry voice called out from above, “Caphlindris, how dare you take this action without the approval of the other sovereigns.”
Caph roared, “Aralindris! It was approved in the last council. Every effort was to be made to block our world from the blood stealers.”
Damn, so it was about me after all.
Another voice from above, this one female, “Yes, for us to do whatever we could. Not to invite another magical race to this world.”
Caph snorted, “Tellindria, every effort means every effort.
There are no limits inherit in those words.”
Huh, dragons are word lawyers, I never saw that coming.
I touched the doors wanting to go back out, but I didn’t dare.
Aralindris replied with contempt, “You place us in even more danger, how are we to know if this witch will not betray us. How are we to know another witch later on won’t, even if she doesn’t. How do we know this enchantment won’t become a cage for us instead of a fence for others. You are a fool. You should kill the witch now, before she can report back on our world and its coordinates.”
I snickered softly. Too late for that. Not that it matters.
I heard a roar of rage. Oops. I guess he heard me laughing. I bit my lip and took my hand off the door. Yeah, that will help. No longer touching the door so I was clearly safe…
His wasn’t the only roar of rage, I heard Caph’s too. I was hoping however it was because Ara called him a fool, not because I’m an idiot.
I could hope.
Aralindris voice held poisonous contempt, “You dare mock me witch? I challenge you to a fight to the death. I assure you, dragons are quite beyond your magic.”
Shit. I frowned as I heard several gasps. Who knew a dragon could gasp?
I spoke lightly, “I do not know your customs, but I will warn you this. If I die here, more will come, and not to help, but to destroy. I am here for a simple job and to go home, we are a peaceful species, but the death of one of our own would not go unanswered. If you were worried about us becoming another of your enemies, you have a funny way of showing it.”
Fucking dragons. I was angry now, more at myself for laughing than anyone else, but his superior attitude was rubbing me wrong.
I leaned my head against the door and closed my eyes. I knew he was right, I was sure dragons were extremely resistant to magic. Direct magic anyway. What he probably doesn’t know is Witch magic at its strongest affects nature. Most would think of healing, or life, or growing a tree. However nature also encompasses natural laws, such as gravity, conservation, thermodynamics, and motion.
