Scales and Flames

by Catherine Banks

  “Are you here to try to prepare for the demons’ return?” Yorick asked me.

  “I didn’t even know about the demons until I got here,” I admitted.

  His eyes widened. “She didn’t tell you anything?”

  I shook my head. “She trained me to fight and how to use basic magic, but that was it.”

  “You have to find a way to protect us from the demons,” Yorick said. “Queen Shelene was the only one with the power to send them back to their realm, but with her dead, the seal is bound to be weakened. It’s a hereditary power, which means you must have it too. She was our only hope then, and you’re our only hope now. You’ll have to find a way to increase your power quickly, so that when they return you can defeat them and protect our kingdom. If you don’t have enough power, you might end up killing yourself in the process. If you can’t defeat them, we will all die.”

  Three

  Flying helped ease my mind, especially when I could fly over the ocean. I sneaked out while Stian was in deep conversation with Yorick, so I could mull over all of the revelations of the day.

  Mother had left a huge responsibility for me, one I didn’t think...no, I knew, I couldn’t accomplish on my own. I needed—

  My thoughts were disrupted as a metal net tangled around me. I roared in shock and pain as I fell from the sky and into the sea.

  Humans.

  The net had strange green gems that began to glow.

  Pain seared through me, forcing me to revert to my human form. I screamed and thrashed, trying to escape the net. The net and I were dragged onto the deck of a ship. Human men leered at me and laughed maniacally.

  “You’re going to make us rich,” one of the men said.

  “I’m going to turn you to ash!” I snarled.

  Three of the men started kicking me and I curled into a small ball, protecting my face and stomach. One man touched my back, scorching me with fire that felt like it went down into my bones.

  How had I let this happen? How was I going to escape?

  The green gems continued to cause me pain and sap my strength. Soon, I would black out.

  A dragon roared nearby, followed by another. Then, a cannon fired and hit the ship I was on.

  The men panicked, rushing to return fire and protect themselves.

  My vision began to blur.

  Two dragons landed on the deck of the ship, on either side of me, and roared, spewing flames.

  Humans screamed and leapt from the boat into the sea to put themselves out.

  One of the dragons shifted, his handsome face scrunched with concern, while his blue-green eyes burned with fury. “We’ve got you,” he said, his voice tender despite his anger, obvious in his tense body. “We’ll get you to safety.”

  “Thank...you,” I managed to croak out before I fainted.

  “Miss, it’s time for you to wake up. You need to eat something,” a male voice I didn’t recognize said.

  Was it a servant? Why would they assign me a male servant? Maybe it was Stian.

  I blinked open my eyes, wiping the sleep from them, and stared at the wooden walls around me. A small window to my right showed sparkling sea water.

  Ship. I was on a ship.

  Right! The humans had caught me and dragons saved me.

  I looked at the male standing at the doorway with a bowl of soup. He wasn’t the one who had shifted to untangle me.

  “Were you the other dragon who saved me?” I asked.

  He shook his head. “Kian and Quinn rescued you from the humans. I was here, manning the cannons.”

  “What’s your name?” I asked.

  He smiled and stepped closer to me. “I’m Sean.”

  “Thank you, Sean.”

  “What’s your name?” he asked and held out the bowl to me.

  I accepted it and took a long drink before answering. “Aideen.”

  Sean set some clothes on the end of the bed I lay on. “These will be too big for you, but they’re all we have.”

  I could create clothes for myself even when not shifting with my magic, but Mother had told me not to reveal that ability. It must have had something to do with our unique powers.

  Glancing down at myself, I found a man’s t-shirt on. It was large enough to be a dress on me.

  “The doctor changed you after checking you over,” he explained. “I’ll wait outside the door for you to change,” he said and took the bowl from me.

  This room was almost bare. No decorations or items anywhere. Only a huge broadsword secured above the bed. The clothes were too big, but I was able to tie the shirt in the back and roll up the pant legs.

  Sean stood outside, like he had said he would. He smirked at the pants I held to keep them from falling. “Here.” He undid his belt and handed it to me. It worked perfectly.

  “Thanks,” I said.

  He turned and headed to a set of stairs that no doubt led to the deck above.

  Once outside, the sun shone on my face and I took a moment to let it soak into my skin and warm me.

  “Aideen,” Sean called.

  He stood on the center of the deck, near the mast, with four males. I recognized one as the male who had released me from the net. All five males were attractive, something my hormones took note of quickly. They looked like they were related by blood, but I wasn’t sure. They all had dark hair and bronzed skin, but each had different colored eyes.

  The males watched me approach with varying degrees of interest.

  I looked at the male I recognized. “Thank you for saving me.” Despite knowing Mother would flip if she had been present, I bowed to him.

  “That’s Quinn,” Sean introduced. “The broody one to his right is Kian.”

  I bowed and thanked him too. I saw his frown lift a bit on the corner of his right lip.

  “This is Dillon and Reilly,” Sean said, continuing the introductions.

  “It’s nice to meet you all. I’m Aideen.”

  “How do you feel?” Quinn asked.

  “Tired,” I admitted. “And, embarrassed.”

  All five smiled.

  “No need to be embarrassed,” Dillon said, his maroon eyes sparkling. “We’ve all been caught a time or two.”

  “Or four for you,” Kian teased.

  “Where were you headed?” Reilly asked.

  “I was just flying to clear my head,” I explained.

  “Are you from Priok?” Kian asked, his expression darkening.

  All of them stared at me expectantly. Kian didn’t seem fond of Priok why?

  “I’m not from there. I actually was raised in Semil, but came to Priok at my mother’s request. I arrived at Priok only today.”

  Their gazes softened slightly.

  “So, you aren’t royalty then,” Kian said.

  “You don’t like the royals?” I asked curiously. They had seemed nice enough to me. The people of Priok seemed to like them too.

  “The only good royal is a dead royal,” Sean said.

  The sudden change in his persona startled me. He had seemed so kind. Why did they hate the royals so much?

  “I’ll keep that in mind if I ever see them,” I whispered. I turned and looked out at the sea. No land was visible as far as I could see. “Where are we?”

  “About three days’ flight from Priok,” Quinn said.

  Shit.

  I tried to shift, but something burned down my back, making me cry out in pain and crumple to the deck.

  The males rushed to me. Quinn lifted my shirt and several of them growled.

  “When did this happen?” Sean asked.

  “What?” I panted. “I don’t know what it is.”

  “You’ve been clipped,” Dillon said.

  The world swayed. “What? Clipped? How? Will they grow back? I need to get back to Priok.”

  “Easy. Slow down,” Kian ordered me and rested one of his hands, on top of one of mine.

  Lightning passed from me to him and he gasped before yanking his hand back.

&n
bsp; “Rotted eggs!” Sean gasped. “She marked you!”

  “I didn’t do anything,” I protested and tried to get up.

  The four other males backed away, like I was disgusting.

  Kian held out his hand, showing me the rune now on the spot between his thumb and pointer finger. It was my personal rune, the one my mother had created for me. “You marked me,” he whispered, his voice soft and awe-filled. I now had my rune on my hand as well.

  “I... I don’t know what happened. I didn’t do it on purpose,” I said, fear growing within me. What would they do?

  Kian took a step towards me and I backed up, swallowing thickly. He continued until my back was pressed against the railing. I glanced at the water, considering jumping in, but Kian grabbed my hand, the one with the rune, and then knelt on one knee and bowed.

  “Wh-what are you doing?”

  “I pledge my life to you, Aideen. I will do all I can to protect you,” he said.

  “You aren’t angry?” I exhaled.

  He looked up and smirked. “Being marked is an honor.”

  “Aren’t royals supposed to be the only ones able to mark mates?” Sean asked with narrowed eyes.

  All eyes turned to me.

  “I’m not the queen. She’s a middle-aged dragon, remember? And, she didn’t have kids,” I said.

  “True,” Sean said, his gaze softening again.

  “Maybe the king had a mistress,” Reilly suggested with a smirk.

  “It doesn’t matter,” Kian said and stood, putting himself between me and the others. “I’m hers and I won’t let anyone harm her. Understood?”

  Sean and Dillon nodded. Reilly took a moment, but then nodded too.

  Quinn stared at me.

  “Quinn,” Kian growled.

  Quinn sighed and nodded. “Yeah, I’m not going to hurt our new friend.”

  “My wings,” I whispered to Kian. “When will I get them back?”

  He turned and frowned. “It takes weeks, sometimes months.”

  “How did it even happen?” I wondered out loud.

  “They must have had a mage on board,” Sean said.

  “Worthless,” I muttered and wandered away from them. “A dragon without wings is worthless.”

  “You aren’t worthless,” Kian said, startling me because I hadn’t realized he had followed me as I walked below deck.

  “You don’t even know me,” I scoffed.

  Was there a way to remove the mark?

  “So, tell me about yourself,” he said.

  “I need to get back to Priok,” I said instead of answering him.

  “Why?” he asked, scowling down at me.

  While it was impossible for him to hurt me now that we were marked, it wasn’t impossible for his friends. I couldn’t tell him the truth, not yet.

  “I’m working on a way to protect us from Hartol, the demon. It’s rumored that he will return soon,” I said. That was true.

  “The previous queen sealed him away.”

  I shook my head. “She’s dead, so the seal is weakened.”

  “What are you planning to do?” he asked.

  “Aside from sacrificing myself, I don’t know,” I answered and continued on my way down below.

  “That’s not happening,” he growled.

  I ignored him. There was no point arguing this now. There was still time to figure something else out.

  “How long will it take to get to Priok, sailing?” I asked.

  “Priok? We aren’t going there,” Reilly said.

  “I need to get back,” I said. “If my wings worked, I would fly back now, but they don’t.”

  Reilly and Kian flinched. The thought of being wingless was painful.

  “Sorry, but we have business at Dunham,” Quinn said, sounding anything but sorry.

  “We could take you back after,” Reilly offered.

  “How long will that take?” I asked. Stian was probably beside himself with worry.

  “A week.”

  “Come on, I need your help,” Reilly said and pulled Kian away. Kian looked back at me, but I ignored him.

  When they were gone from view, Quinn stepped closer to me, pinning me against the wall of the cabin. “You’re hiding something. I don’t know what it is, but I’ll find out eventually.” He looked down at my hand, the one with my rune. “And keep your cursed hand away from me. The last thing I want is to be marked by you.”

  I glared at him, undaunted by his size, and my hands balled into fists. “You’re the last being I would ever mark.” Knowing it was a low blow, but not caring in the moment, I leaned into his face and said, “I would rather mark a human than you.”

  His jaw clenched and I spun away, going into the cabin I had woken in earlier.

  Screw him.

  Something crashed outside, but I didn’t bother to investigate. It was most likely Quinn throwing a fit since I had gotten the last word.

  I stared in disbelief at my hand. Mom had mentioned marking to me, but I hadn’t realized it was so easy to do. I hadn’t meant to mark Kian, but I had. I needed to forget about it and focus on the task at hand.

  How had my mother sealed the demon away?

  She had taught me very little magic, mostly simple tricks or things to help me survive.

  Someone knocked on the door.

  I sighed softly. “Who is it?” I asked, sitting on my hands as if that could erase the rune.

  “Dillon.”

  “Come in,” I called.

  He opened the door, shut it behind him, and immediately leaned against it with folded arms across his chest. “Kian said you’re planning on sacrificing yourself,” he said.

  I rolled my eyes. “That’s not exactly true.”

  He waited for me to elaborate.

  I didn’t.

  “Where are you parents?” he asked.

  “Dead,” I replied with no emotion. “At least I’m fairly certain my father is dead. I never knew him.”

  I knew he was dead. He’d died during the battle.

  “Why were you in Semil? They hate dragons.”

  “Mom said we needed to steer clear of Priok until I was grown and capable of protecting myself. She figured Semil was the safest place away from other dragons.”

  “What was it like?”

  “What?”

  “Living there.”

  “Boring. Terrifying. Both at once,” I said and chuckled, glad it was behind me.

  “Why did you mark Kian?”

  “You’re full of questions, aren’t you?” I asked and shifted uncomfortably.

  “Why?”

  “I told you all, it wasn’t on purpose. I didn’t know I could do it, let alone how to do it.”

  He moved forward. “So, you can’t mark me?”

  “I don’t know you. One poor bastard tied to me is enough tragedy for one day, don’t you think?”

  “You think it’s a tragedy?” he asked, stopping his forward movement.

  I nodded, stood, and looked out the window. “If there was a way to remove it, I would.”

  “Being marked is a blessing.”

  “You all didn’t act that way when it happened. You leapt away,” I reminded him. “And according to Quinn, it is a curse.”

  “It’s not a curse. Quinn just hates royals more than any of us, that’s all,” Dillon said.

  I spun. “Why do you hate them? The people seemed fond of them.”

  “What do you know about them?” he asked instead of answering me.

  “That the Queen Bera was Queen Shelene’s best friend.”

  “Rumor is that Queen Shelene gave up much of her magic and part of her soul to seal the demon away. And, while she was weakened and grieving from the king’s death, Bera cast a spell that almost killed Shelene. Shelene managed to escape and hasn’t been seen since.”

  If that was true, I needed to be very careful around Bera and Afi. She could be plotting to kill me. But, her tears had seemed so real, so sincere when I told her mother had
died. Were they actually tears of joy?

  “So, you don’t hate all royals, only the current ones?” I asked.

  He shook his head. “The former queen caused a lot of destruction and misery. Had she done something sooner, had she listened to the people, hundreds of lives would have been spared. Instead, she sat on her hands and let entire villages perish at the hands of the demons. No, all royals are trash.”

  Their families must have been killed. That was the only explanation for their hatred.

  “I’m not a queen. I grew up in a tiny house in an area that hated my kind. I had no idea about this power. I haven’t lied to you about any of that.”

  He stepped closer. “I can tell you’re telling the truth. I can also tell you’re hiding something.”

  “Will you try to kill me because of this power?” I asked, not backing away or showing any fear.

  He smirked. “No. I won’t kill you. I’d rather you marked me.”

  “Why? What do you gain from it?” It didn’t make any sense. They hated royals and only royals could mark others, but they wanted to be marked.

  He paused and tilted his head. “You really don’t know anything about it, do you?”

  I shook my head, feeling exasperated.

  He chuckled humorlessly. “Read these, then come find me,” he ordered me and pulled out two books from a drawer in the cabin.

  “Wait, is this your cabin?” I asked as he turned. I wanted to tell him I couldn’t read, but I was too embarrassed.

  He glanced over his shoulder, smirking smugly. “Yes, and I quite like the sight of you in it.”

  He left before I could say anything else, leaving me gasping after him.

  The books luckily had lots of pictures, so I was able to figure out a lot. Marking another dragon created a bond between the royal and that draconian. It allowed them to share their powers and essence with each other. The more marked a royal had, the more powerful the group of them would be. There didn’t seem to be a way to remove a mark, unless you killed the draconian. Killing one of the marked weakened the royal. Killing all of the marked could kill the royal.

  That must have been why my mother had been so weak during the battle. When father died, it weakened her.