by Ashley Meira
I rolled away from the green dragon’s claw swipe and tried to make sense of the situation. Why were these dragons attacking me? This hadn’t been a problem before. Yes, the dragon by the water had attacked Adam, but she hadn’t been hostile toward me. None of the dragons had been. We were technically kin—
My blood ran cold.
Damn it.
No.
We had been kin. But we weren’t anymore.
Because I was no longer Fireborn.
“Shit,” I mumbled.
The green dragon raised its claw once more. I rushed away but wasn’t quick enough. The shockwave caused by its claw slamming into the earth knocked me off my feet. I went flying, feeling the air above me heat up as the black dragon let out a breath of fire. Small, sharp rocks dug into my shoulder when I hit the ground. I tumbled over a few times before a pair of hands stopped me.
Fiona helped me up and dusted the debris off my skin. “I’m guessing your dragon whisperer powers are gone, too?”
“I couldn’t actually speak to them—” A hot burst of flame split us up. “Yes, it’s gone!”
“Fight or flight?” she called back, her hands glowing pink. “I’m leaning towards flight!”
Easy for her to say. She could fly. Then again, so could those dragons. But her magic wouldn’t do much against a dragon’s magic-resistant hide — and neither would my sword. Still, trying to escape from two pissed off dragons?
My eyes landed on the dagger strapped to her hip. The Fairy Court had given it to her in case Trixie was resurrected. Hadn’t Romam told her it would “serve her well against most enemies”?
“Does that dagger work on dragons?” I yelled, ducking under a spiked tail.
“How would I know?” she cried. “I’ve never had to use it!”
“Try!” Adam called. Bright cracks had spread across his skin like molten lava. He was getting ready to shift. “We won’t be able to outrun them while they’re at full strength.”
I’d protested Adam’s violence toward the lake-dwelling dragon before, but I couldn’t find it in me to do so here. Sure, dragons were endangered, but right now so were we. The question was, what could I do?
Before I could think of an answer, more fire was throw my way, followed by a swipe that nearly tore my face off. The black dragon’s claws were much longer than the green one’s, and I didn’t even want to think what caused the red stains splattered across them.
More heat splashed against my face, causing a layer of sweat to drench my entire body. I scrambled away, ignoring everything in favor of getting away from the deadly heat. Familiar hands gripped mine as we rushed away. Once the heat became tolerable, we stopped. Fiona pulled out her dagger and flicked her wrist, causing it to extend into a full-fledged blade.
“As cool as it is,” she said, “I hate when he shifts.”
Realization hit me as I turned back to the battlefield. A giant phoenix flew above the battlefield. Its body was made entirely of flame, and its claws rivaled the black dragon’s in sharpness. I never realized how hot Adam got when he shifted. All I’d ever focused on was avoiding contact. His flame was pure magic and touching it sent me on a high so intense I’d spend hours hurling my guts out when I came down from it.
I wasn’t sure which was worse, though: spending an evening with my head in the toilet or suffering under the withering heat he was currently exuding. Probably the vomiting. At least air conditioning would help there. Right now, I was so sweaty I couldn’t even keep a grip on my sword. An entire blizzard wouldn’t help this situation.
We watched as Adam began fighting the two dragons. His magic wouldn’t do much against them, but his size and strength allowed him to hold his own. They fought in the sky, but Adam kept himself close to the ground. With the nearby trees flattened, he didn’t have to worry as much about setting everything on fire.
The black dragon played the aggressor, lunging at Adam and keeping up his assault of fang and fire. He realized soon enough that attacking a phoenix with flames wasn’t the best idea and switched to using his claws and spiked tail. I’d seen dragons swoop gracefully toward the sky, but it still surprised me to see something so gigantic move so smoothly.
While the black dragon continued his barrage, never letting up for a second, the green one kept its attacks strategic. It let the black dragon occupy Adam’s attention and struck during moments of weakness. I jerked forward as its sharp teeth dug into Adam’s side, the explosive heat not fazing it in the least. Spurts of shining liquid spewed from the wound as Adam forced the dragon away with his talons. Shimmering drops splattered across the ground, thick plumes of steam rising from them. I’d never seen him injured in phoenix form before, but that molten liquid must’ve been his blood.
Fiona moved forward a couple of times, the dagger clenched tight in her hand. Unlike me, Fiona wore fingerless gloves on the job, so she had no problem keeping a grip on her weapon. What she did have a problem with was getting any closer. Every step forward was replaced with two steps back and a swear that was barely audible through the screeches of the three colossi before us. The dragons were too close to Adam, and his body was too hot for her to approach.
My vision turned red as frustration heated my body further. If I still had my powers, I could charge into the fray. Granted, I’d be of little use — and I doubted a non-fairy could use Fiona’s dagger to any effect — but it was better than sitting here impotently. I was completely useless.
“Damn it,” Fiona growled as she was forced back again. “We need to find Bane. Now.”
“We can’t leave him,” I said, immediately regretting the words. I sounded like an unreasonable damsel unwilling to abandon her loved ones. I hated those kind of people, the ones who knew they couldn’t do anything here but refused to go somewhere they could be of use.
“He can hold his own,” she said. “Bane can stop these things, so we need to find him.”
I nodded, my eyes glued to the fight before me. “Which way?”
“Adam said north-west, right?” She scanned the area. “Shit. I lost our bearings.”
“They came up from behind us, so….” I looked around, trying to remember if that path ahead was where we’d been. “Can you fly up and see?”
She shrunk down in reply. Some fairies had the ability to make their magic oscillate around them, allowing them to fly. The smaller they were, the higher they could go, because the waves of magic could push them farther. I stared at her rapidly rising form, trying to catch a glimpse of the magic that had been so clear to me before. When Fiona flew, ripples of magic trailed after her. They were mesmerizing to watch, though I rarely had the chance since we were usually in combat. Of course, now that I had the time, I couldn’t see a damn thing.
She landed beside me a few moments later, fully-grown once more. “I think I see it. Let’s go.”
“Adam!” I yelled, looking for a sign he heard me. “We’re going to Bane’s house so he can help us. Try to follow behind so you’re close by!”
“That way we won’t have to run all the way back. Good idea,” Fiona said, eyeing the rampaging dragons warily. “I think.”
“Hopefully, they won’t turn on us.”
“Hopefully?”
“If you were them, which would you attack first? The giant flaming bird harassing you or the two small targets running away?”
She shot me a hard look. “If my goal was to kill them all, I’d go after the weaker targets before the bigger threat since they’re quick, easy kills.”
“Yeah, so would I. That’s why I said ‘hopefully’.”
“I hate you,” she hissed, pulling me to the left. “Now, follow me!”
The forest flew by us in a blur as we rushed toward Bane’s house. The fight above us was hard to ignore, and I lost my footing a few times because I was too distracted watching out for Adam.
He was holding his own well enough, but Fiona had to toss her jacket away because his blood had splattered onto it and nearly burned through to h
er skin. I looked over my shoulder at the melting remains of her leather jacket and forced myself to run faster. I didn’t know how much blood a phoenix could lose, but I decided he’d been injured enough.
Bane had built the majority of his home within the side of a mountain so it would be hard to discover, but he did keep a small garden like area near the entrance. It was impossible to notice unless you knew what you were looking for, and even then it was difficult. Case in point, I’d run right past it — and Fiona — in my worry for Adam.
My arm nearly popped out of its socket when she pulled me back, but I kept my complaints to myself. “Damn it.”
“Don’t worry,” she panted, wiping the sweat from her brow. “I nearly missed it, too.”
“Bane!” I called, stepping past the cluster of rocks where we’d spoken my last night here. “Bane, help!”
“Bane!” Fiona joined me. “Dragons are trying to kill us! Get the hell out here! I swear if he’s out picking herbs or something—”
A crash caused a wave of dust to wash over us. Adam was on top of the black dragon, whose form had left a deep hole in the ground. Adam’s sharp beak dug into the dragon’s neck, but before he could deliver a more damaging blow, the green dragon bit into his right wing. He shrieked and clawed at his attacker before swooping toward us.
It felt like my eyes were about to melt as Fiona and I rushed into Bane’s home. The doors swung open without resistance, and we tumbled into the stone foyer. Fire blocked our view of the outside, but we cared more about escaping the heat than seeing anything.
It wasn’t until we were halfway up the nearby staircase that we could breath again — and see that Adam hadn’t moved. I rushed forward before the heat stopped me, though part of me wanted to suffer through it anyway. Was he okay? Why wasn’t he moving?
As I opened my mouth to ask, a bright light flowed into the room. I heard the door slam but couldn’t see anything past the light. Once it faded, I saw Adam leaning against the closed front door, clutching his right side. I whipped off my jacket and hurried toward him.
I had the cotton clothing pressed against the gash on his side before my knees hit the ground. Blood soaked through the fabric at a hurried pace. I pulled my jacket back enough to see the extent of the damage. The green dragon’s teeth had left holes along the side of his rib cage. They appeared deep enough for me to dig my fingers into. I wasn’t eager to test that theory, however, so I pressed the jacket back firmly against him and surveyed the rest of his injuries.
His arm was the most obvious one. The green dragon had taken a chunk out of his wing, and the injury translated onto his human form seamlessly. These teeth marks were even deeper than the ones along his side. Blood covered the entire area to the point where I couldn’t see a hint of skin underneath.
My free hand hovered the limb, unsure how to help. The rest of his injuries were mostly scrapes and bruises that he was already beginning to heal. I watched the golden glow of his healing spells close up wounds and took a moment to breathe before figuring out what to do next.
“Sophia.” Adam’s eyes were clenched shut and his breaths came out in short puffs. “I’m fine. Relax.”
If he wasn’t soaked in blood, I’d have hit him. “You are literally bleeding to death.”
“She’s right.” Fiona knelt by his other side and sheathed her dagger. “What can we do?”
“Relax—” He cut off with a sharp exhale. “Let me focus on healing. Go find Bane.”
“Where?” I said more harshly than intended. I couldn’t help it. Blood was coming out of everywhere, and he was acting like it was no big deal. “If he was here, he’d have come out by now.”
A loud roar interrupted his reply, followed by stomping. We froze, waiting to see what would happen, but nothing came. Why weren’t they attacking? Was Bane calming them?
Mindful of Adam’s body, I pulled the door open an inch and peeked outside. The dragons were still out there, glaring at us and baring their teeth. They danced around a few feet from the entryway, but didn’t come closer. Bane was nowhere in sight, and considering how focused on us the dragons were, I doubted he was anywhere nearby.
“They refuse to move any closer,” Adam breathed out. His smaller injuries were healed, and the healing light had moved to his blood-drenched side.
I closed the door and pulled my jacket away to place on his arm. “Why?”
“Don’t know. Don’t care. As long as they don’t come in.”
“Too respectful of Bane’s space?” Fiona asked. “Wait.”
Her worried expression sharpened and she pulled her dagger out again. She glanced around the empty foyer, craning her neck to peer into the side rooms, the hallway, and up the stairs. Then, she brushed me aside and fiddled with the door, opening and closing it slowly before checking the lock.
“Guys,” she said slowly. “This door wasn’t locked when we burst in, and we didn’t break it.”
Adam opened his eyes. He tilted his head back and examined the lock. “She’s right. What are the chances Bane doesn’t lock his door before going out?”
I shook my head. “As likely as him not coming to investigate two rampaging dragons. If he’d been on his way, I’d understand, but we probably would have passed him as we were coming here.”
“We should look around,” Fiona said, keeping her voice low. “Carefully.”
Adam nodded. “Give me a second to finish healing.”
“I’ll go on ahead,” I told them.
“Are you insane?” Fiona hissed. “Have you forgotten every single horror movie ever?”
“It’s too dangerous,” Adam said. “Wait for me.”
My temper flared. He wouldn’t have said that if I still had my magic. Adam was always overprotective, true, but I knew what this was about. Honestly, it was why I volunteered to go ahead. I wanted to prove I could handle myself without my gift.
It was stupid. I had no need to prove anything. I’d gone eight years without using magic and survived years of Guild work with just my sword. But it felt like my entire slate had been wiped clean, and I couldn’t help wanting to live up to whatever impossible new standards I’d set for myself.
Admitting that to myself felt like swallowing nails, but admitting it to them? I’d sooner die. Fortunately, I was good at conjuring up excuses. “Look, this place is huge. We’ll need to split up if we’re going to cover everything quickly. Besides, if something did happen, it could’ve been recently. Do you really want to risk losing the trail because you think I can’t—”
I bit my lip so hard I tasted blood. Fuck. I may have been good at giving excuses, but I was shit at handling my temper.
Adam sat up with a wince of pain. “That isn’t what I—”
“Stop that,” Fiona forced him back down and looked at me from the corner of her eye. She may not have been a mind reader, but she’d picked up on what was bothering me right now — or at least part of it. “Take the second floor. I’ll stay with Adam and keep an eye out around here. Just be careful.”
I stood and pulled my sword out of sheath, giving it a twirl for good measure. “I will.”
Chapter Nine
A disturbing silence followed me up the stairs and down the hallway. Bane’s home had always carried an air of stillness, but this felt like walking through a graveyard.
I pressed my ear to the first door in the hallway, straining to pick up any sounds. When I heard nothing, I pushed the door open and peered inside. This was the room Fiona had stayed in when we were here. Because of our fight, I’d never seen the inside, but I imagine it hadn’t changed. Nothing seemed out of place in here. The green duvet was pulled primly across the bed, and the fireplace was long dead. I looked around anyway, checking under the bed and inside the bathroom. Well, that was one out four rooms cleared.
The next room had been Charlotte’s, and it was locked. I pulled out my trusty lockpick and got to work. Any worries I had about being out of practice — with this at least — were quelled when the
lock clicked open with minimal effort. I may not be able to hurl fireballs anymore, but I could still break into people’s rooms.
Fortunately — or unfortunately — Charlotte’s room was also untouched. I took a quick look around anyway, but there was nothing that made me suspect foul play.
The next two rooms proved just as clean. Almost disturbingly so. Fiona and I could barely keep our small house tidy. How did Bane single-handedly keep this place spotless?
Disappointed and relieved, I made my way downstairs. The giant blood stain by the doorway set my heart racing. Realizing it was Adam’s and not Bane’s didn’t calm me down, but it was better than seeing my boy— partner’s body laying there.
Deciding against calling out, I crept down the main hallway. My ears were primed for the slightest sound, but the same deathly silence from upstairs filled the space.
Unlike the second floor, there were signs of a struggle all around here. The sitting room was a complete mess. Shards of once priceless antiques were scattered across the floor, the ornate tapestries that once hung on the stone walls were either torn or laying in a crumpled mess, and the furniture was knocked over.
Blood was splattered against the far wall, right under a royal blue tapestry that was hanging on its last corner. I stepped closer, mindful of the glass. There wasn’t enough for me to think the injury was fatal, but there was also no trail for me to follow. Well, no trail of blood. There was plenty of destroyed furniture to mark my path.
I walked past the overturned love seat and over the splintered coffee table toward the kitchen. It, too, had seen better days. The bay window that made absolutely no sense in a home built into bedrock was still there, hidden under a pair of upended chairs. Cooking utensils littered the floor, and the coffee pot laid shattered on the counter. I noted the blood stained steak knife in the middle of the room. There was a thin streak leading from it toward the dining room, telling me it had slid over here, possibly after being knocked from someone’s hand.
