“Now, Mahasti!” Chloe screamed.
The genie and bronze dragon vanished before the change completed, effectively ruining his plan of self-sacrifice. In the end, Saul’s honor wouldn’t allow his wife to face Brigid, although the consequences of his gallant act would have forfeited his life. He would have slain Brigid and accepted his execution from the elders.
A low murmur of discontent traveled down both sides of the field from supportive acquaintances of either lady. Saul’s uncle smirked.
“Well then. As there are no further interruptions...” The official seemed to glide from the field.
Prior to the preparations, Thor and Nefertiti gave Chloe a crash course in draconic manners and law. Honor was everything to them, at least when there were witnesses to their actions.
She turned her back to Brigid, despite her senses screaming for her to keep the predator in her field of vision, and strode ten useless paces away from her opponent. It did little good. While the monstrous dragon had taken ten steps of her own, not even a vast ocean would have provided the safety Chloe needed.
A thunderbolt split the sky to signal the start of the fight. Chloe whirled on her heels in the nick of time as Brigid bounded toward her with jaws open wide. Screaming wasn’t an option. It was too late to cry and plead, and she couldn’t depend on Saul to be her savior this time. Instead, Chloe had to rescue both of them.
The sword whistled through the air and proved Watatsumi right. It became an extension of her arm, exhibiting prowess Chloe didn’t possess prior to taking it in hand. With its guidance, courage flooded through her, creating an unnatural sense of confidence.
She didn’t need muscle to block Brigid’s attacks. The sword did all of the work for her with a blade fine as a scalpel’s edge, too sharp for Brigid to tolerate its touch. The edge parted her durable dragon hide and flayed open her snout. The backstroke cleaved across Brigid’s descending claw. It laid open the skin to the bone.
Brigid screamed, and it became apparent she’d underestimated her opponent. Within seconds, the blood glistening over the silver blade evaporated, the metal too thirsty for dragon’s blood to tolerate the presence. Chloe had no time to admire or marvel over the magical act — it prompted her to jab forward, but it missed the mark when Brigid scurried away at a limp. It wouldn’t be so easy to strike her again now that she’d felt Ascalon’s bite.
Left, right, forward and back — Chloe’s rising sword clanged against Brigid’s claw. Pieces of talon flew like wood chips in a mulcher, shattered by the enchanted weapon that had become Chloe’s defender. The dragoness snarled and lunged forward for a bite, and had Chloe not jabbed out with the sword and pierced the beast’s nose again, Brigid would have made quick work of her.
No time to think. Just move. Just move. Chloe spun and evaded every strike Brigid threw her way, using battle reflexes she’d never realized she possessed. The dragon hissed her frustration and snaked around her human prey for a rear assault. According to the rules set by the elders, flight was the one advantage Brigid had been denied. That small favor was the only reason Chloe wasn’t already a smear on the ground.
Tired of playing cat and mouse keep-away, Brigid swapped her tactics. She kept back out of the sword’s range, braced her legs, and lowered her body.
Shit, shit, shit!
A blazing inferno rushed at Chloe, faster than she expected. There was no time to dodge. No time to duck and roll. She trusted instead in instinct and raised Ascalon before her like a shield. It sliced through the fire and parted it to either side of her body, creating two blazing jets that scorched the earth around her. Her skin tightened within seconds. Ascalon may have protected her from the fire, but it couldn’t save her indefinitely from the heat.
I need to do something. I can’t just stand here until she’s out of juice. What do I do!? she panicked.
Someone sane of mind would have fled from the fire, but Chloe did the opposite. She charged into its source.
Flames hurdled past her in an unrelenting stream but Chloe pressed onward. She broke through the wall of oppressive heat and came up beneath Brigid’s chin. The dragon’s ruby eyes widened.
“No!” Brigid screamed as she scrambled back.
Chloe lacked any desire to show mercy to her opponent. She swung upward with all of her strength, and when she connected, the miraculous blow slid neatly through Brigid’s throat. A hot knife through butter wouldn’t have been as efficient as Ascalon. At the completion of her stroke, Brigid’s head tumbled through the air and struck the ground, creating a fountain arc of blood.
Absolute silence reigned over the pasture. Stunned faces, human and draconic, stared out at the limp corpse.
“Fuck yeah!”
Marcy’s outburst broke the oppressive lull. Thor joined her cheers next, followed by the rest of the ancient beings in her spectating section. Solemn faces in varying stages of grief and disbelief watched from the other side.
I can’t believe it. I did it. I did it. She repeated the victorious mantra in her head a dozen times over, unable to move and unable to accept that it was safe to sheathe the bloodstained weapon in her hand.
Mahasti and Saul appeared again. Chloe’s struggling husband broke free from his genie friend’s embrace to tear down the field.
“Chloe!”
Ascalon dropped to the blackened earth as Chloe stumbled into his arms and sobbed tears of happiness, overcome with immense relief that their ordeal had ended. The nightmare was over.
I killed a dragon.
She wept into Saul’s throat and hugged him tight. “We did it!”
“No, Chloe. No. You did it. I should have never doubted you. Not once.” As she raised her palm to his damp cheek, Saul gazed down at her and smiled. “Now you are truly Chloe Drakenstone.” And in the eyes of his prestigious Conclave, no one could ever threaten to take that away from her again.
Once, many months ago, Chloe Drakenstone was saved by a dragon. Their story ended with her rescuing him.
The End
Note from the Author: I had a blast writing Chloe’s story of discovery. She struggled, learned, and grew as a character. Readers asked me from time to time if I planned to make her kick butt in this story, and I just tittered, knowing this fight between Brigid and Chloe was coming. Some of you may be wondering if I intend to revisit dragons in the future. I do. In fact, shortly after introducing Teotihuacan to the story, I realized something. He doesn’t need a subservient mate. He needs a real woman.
Keep your eyes peeled for the next shifter tales from Vivienne Savage and sign up for news http://eepurl.com/boj0p1
Mated by the Dragon (Loved by the Dragon, #2) Page 17
