Azlo

by Maia Starr

  “Son! Don’t!” my father shouted at me. He knew that I was filled with rage and reckless.

  “Greia! Greia!” I shouted over and over again as I flew in and out of the battle searching for him.

  “I am here, you traitor! Come and get me!” I shouted.

  Bam! I was hit hard. It knocked me unconscious for a second, and I found myself sinking into the ocean. I came too and swam for the surface. I burst through the water and into the air. There I found the green dragon flying in circles over where I had landed.

  “You coward! Face me!” I shouted to him. The green dragon turned and charged for me. My brother was stronger than I was. He was a fierce dragon and skilled in combat. He was furious, and he wanted me dead. All I could do was use that hate he had for me against him.

  I flew fast and hard, straight up into the night sky. I was always faster than he was. I was lighter. He was a heavy, cumbersome beast. I used this to my advantage. I saw a ship coming in fast. I flew right in front of it but moved out of the way quickly. My brother, however, did not. The ship clipped his wing. He tumbled down, spiraling down toward the water. He landed with a hard crash and began to sink. I swam straight toward him, diving at a high speed. I could no longer see him. I did not know if he flew off or swam away. I got closer to the surface.

  Whoosh! He shot up from the surface and rammed into me. I fell onto the sand. We rolled across the sand together. Then he shifted into his male form. He stood up and faced me. His face was red with anger.

  “Why are you doing this, brother? This is not you,” I said.

  “Yes, this is. This is me! This has always been me. I have wanted your death and the death of your kind since you were born” he said.

  “Why? I am your brother. We are blood,” I said. I looked around and realized that we had fallen on the island of Kila. Shit. Melody was there, and if she came out of hiding, then Greia would kill her for sure. Knowing this fact made it hard for me to focus. But for the moment I was facing my brother, the male Draqua, and not my brother the dragon.

  “No, you are not my brother. You should have never been born. Now I am going to do that for you. I am going to take away your life, and then I am going to take the life of all the hybrids on Kelon, and all the human females.”

  “No, you will not!” I shouted as I charged him. He shouted back and soon we were punching each other. Bam! I hit him in the belly. Boom! He hit me across the jaw. We wrestled across the sand. Whoosh! He shifted back to dragon. His tail knocked me off my feet. But I recovered quickly and flew straight into the air. I wanted to get him away from Melody as soon as I could.

  “Come and get me, brother!” I shouted at him. He followed fast and without thought. I did not mean for it to happen this time, but it did. I flew hard and fast straight up with one purpose: get him away from Kila and from Melody. But as I did so, Greia did not see the ship that I narrowly dodged. Boom! It hit him straight in the chest. Greia went tumbling down once more. He was unconscious as he fell. He landed on the sand on Kila with a loud crash. He did not get up. He shifted back into male Draqua form, which is what happens when a dragon dies. I knew then that he was gone. I flew down and stood next to him. Baca came to my side.

  “This is it. This is what I saw,” he said. “I am sorry Cylo.”

  “I am sorry too. I loved him. He was my brother,” I said.

  “Cylo! Baca! We have won! We have crushed the opposition. The remaining forces just surrendered the rest are too wounded to do anything but lie in the sand!” Jix said.

  I smiled, but I did not feel like this was a victory. It was just one big mess. It was awful.”

  “Cylo!” Melody shouted as she ran toward me.

  “Did not I tell you to stay put until I came for you?” I said holding her close to me.

  “I couldn’t wait. I had to hold you,” she said. I kissed her. Baca looked at her and went silent. Then he said, “You are going to have a very strong son.”

  Both my eyes and Melody’s eyes went wide. Then we laughed.

  “How did he?” she asked.

  “I will tell you another time. Come, let’s get you home, both of you,” I said as I scooped her into my arms. I flew into the air and straight home. There was a lot of damage and carnage on the beaches below, but the palace was unharmed. I knew that was my brother’s doing. Since he planned to take the throne, he would order the opposition to leave the palace alone. I flew into my father’s chambers. He was sitting with his head in his hands on the bench.

  “Father,” I said.

  “Cylo! My son! I thought I lost both of my sons to this madness!” he shouted as he jumped up.

  “No. I am alive,” I said as I put Melody down on one of the benches. My father nodded a hello to her.

  “I am glad that you found your love,” he said.

  “Father… Greia…” I said. “He came after me. He tried to kill me. He confessed to me that it was always his plan.”

  “Where is he now?” he asked.

  “There was an accident. A ship hit him while he was chasing me. He is lying on the beach of Kila,” I said.

  “I see,” he said sadly.

  “I am sorry for your loss. Both of you,” Melody said.

  My father walked over to her and put her hand in his. “Welcome back to Kelon, Melody. I am glad that you have returned. My son has not been the same in your absence. We need a big, strong family now more than ever,” he said.

  “Then I have good news,” she said. She looked at me. I nodded to her. I figured my father could use the good news after such a shit show that was my brother and this unnecessary war of his.

  “I carry Cylon’s offspring,” she said.

  “Is this so?!” my father said excitedly.

  “Yes, it is true,” I said.

  “That is great, hopeful news. I am happy to hear it. It will make us stronger, not just our family, but the entire village as we heal from this. Now I will go see to what is to be done,” he said.

  “I will join you, father,” I said as I kissed Melody. “You are safe here,” I said. Then I moved with my father to see to the business of rebuilding after the war.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  MELODY REEVES

  Watching Cylo battle his brother, Greia, the massive dragon was frightening. I thought that Cylo would not live. I stuck my head out of the cave little by little until I found myself hiding in the thick brush behind the rocks. I watched as blow after blow, the hybrid and the dragon fought. I thought I was going to lose the father of my unborn child to the beast. It was a heart-stopping thing to witness. So when Cylo emerged the victor, I could not help but to run to him. I was so happy that he was alive.

  Now I sat in the palace. I was in the king’s chambers waiting for my love to return to me. I did not like being simply with the guards outside the door when no one was sure if this war was really over or not. It was a very strange thing to not know what was going on after such an epic battle. Finally, there was some noise outside the door.

  “Cylo, are you finally back? I’m tired of waiting here,” I said. But he did not answer. Boom! The room trembled. I knew that feeling. A chill went up my spine. I had felt that feeling once before. I felt it when Greia had landed on the bridge in dragon form to torment me. I should have known then just how evil he was. Who in their right mind would do that? But right now I felt the same vibrations that I felt on that bridge. I turned to the veranda. There was a large, red dragon standing there. I screamed. But no one came. There were no guards outside my door anymore. Then something happened that I was not expecting.

  “You, you human female. You should be dead. We shot you down, you and your prince,” the dragon roared the words at me. I did not know that the full dragons could speak, but this one could. It looked different than the others too. It looked more prehistoric, with horns on the top of its head and spiny ridges going down the creature’s back. It was ferocious looking.

  “What? Who are you? Why are you here?” I asked.

&n
bsp; “I am called Veiras,” he roared. I was shaking at this point. Then he continued, “I am here, looking for your king. I am here to kill him. It was the perfect plan. I’ve even taken care of the guards outside. No one would be able to come help him, and he would be forced to fight me. But since he is not here, you will do.”

  My eyes widened, and I ran off to the side of the room. I was so scared and looking for cover but how could I hide? I tried to open the door, but it was locked. I looked back at the dragon. The belly of the beast was growing a warm yellow color and then white. I knew what was coming. I banged on the door, “Help! Help me!” I screamed. But there was no one there to help me. Then the dragon opened its mouth to shoot flames at me. I closed my eyes waiting for my burning fate to arrive.

  WHOOSH! I felt the wind hit me, but it was not hot wind. The squealing roar of pain hit the air. I opened my eyes to see a massive blue dragon standing between the fire and I. It was being burned. I was in complete shock. It squirmed and cried out in pain, but it took the flame. I ran to the side of the room outside of the target of the flame. The blue dragon screamed and charged straight to the flame and rammed the red dragon. The red dragon screamed, and they both toppled off the edge of the chambers into the dark of the night. I ran to the rail. I saw the blue dragon on top of the red dragon just as the red dragon hit the ground.

  “Noooo!” Cylo shouted as he ran to my side. I could barely see what was happening, but I could see that the red dragon and blue dragon had transformed back into the their male Draqua forms.

  “Are they?” I asked.

  “Dead. That is what happens when a full dragon dies. It shifts automatically back to human-like form,” he said. He was completely distraught, and tears were beginning to roll down his face.

  “Cylo, what is it?” I asked.

  “The blue dragon, that is my father,” he said.

  “No. No, no,” I said. I couldn’t believe it. The king was dead. Cylo was in despair. This was the worst night on Kelon in history, and it was my first night returning. I felt so much guilt that Cylo was off getting me on Earth instead of being here. Perhaps he could have prevented it if he had stayed.

  “He saved me. Your father saved me,” I said.

  “What? What happened?” Cylo asked.

  “I was here, just where you left me, and the red dragon landed on the outside. He said his name is Veiras then he said he was searching for the king to kill him. Since the king was not here, he said I would do. He shot fire at me, and I closed my eyes, expecting to die. But then it did not happen. I looked up to see the blue dragon standing in the way of the fire, protecting me from it. Then the blue dragon rammed the red dragon over the rail,” I said.

  Cylo smiled. He was suddenly better as he said, “That sounds like my father. I would have done the same for you. He was doing it for you and our child. He died protecting the future of this house,” he said.

  “I am so sorry, Cylo,” I said.

  “I am too. I have lost my brother and my father. This is unlike any pain I have ever felt,” he said.

  “Come, let’s go down. I cannot leave you again. You will remain at my side. The battle is over, but the opposition still has secret support, and its assassins like Veiras,” he said as he picked me up into his arms. He spread his wings wide, and we flew down to his father.

  It was a sad night, and no one got any sleep with so much work to be done and so much melancholy around. It was a night that I was glad to be at Cylo’s side. He was showing such bravery, and he was keeping the order of the village, and watching him do it was breathtaking. But I also knew that being at his side during his time of need was helping him as well. It was a tough night to get through. “I am glad you are here at my side. I need you. I need your strength, Melody,” Cylo whispered to me throughout the night as he dealt with blow after blow of the aftermath of the battle and the death of the king. It was good to hear it from him. I wanted to be there for him, and I knew that we could get through this together; we had to for our unborn child. But as much as I understood his position as prince, nothing prepared me for the next morning.

  “With this sunrise on this new day, we crown Cylo Hydros the new king of Kelon!” the advisor shouted as I watched him place a gold crown with shells on it onto Cylo’s head. My lover and alien dragon shifter warrior was now the king. It was a lot to take in. He raised his fist in the air, and the entire village gathered on the beach saluted him. It was a very powerful moment, and I looked at Cylo with new eyes. He was brave, strong, and he was going to be a damn good king. His heart was in the right place. I had to admit that watching him get crowned was a big turn on and I could not be more excited to see what great things he would do with his crown’s power.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CYLO HYDROS

  Four months after the battle, the village was rebuilt. There wasn’t a lot of structural damage to deal with but there was a spirit that seemed to be broken. There was now a mistrust in the air that had not been there before the opposition invaded. But I was doing what I could keep on top of any problems.

  “I can’t believe this is where you were sleeping the whole time that I was in that small hut,” Melody teased.

  “Yes, you said so when you first came into my chambers. And you’ve said it again every night since,” I teased her back.

  “Well, I’m just saying,” she said. She winked at me and then blew me a kiss. “That one is just for you, husband,” she said.

  “Thank you, wife,” I said.

  We had been married for more than three months now. After the battle and so many deaths, we decided to wait a month to be married, and we’d had a grand celebration that lifted the spirits of the Draqua warriors.

  “I must be going now, wife,” I said as I got up and moved to the veranda. I shifted, and my wings curled out from behind me.

  “Yes, my king,” she said. Then she stood up and rubbed her belly. It was now a bump that was not easy to hide. “We will be waiting for you when you return.”

  “Yes, my queen. I shall return,” I said.

  “You always do as promised,” she said.

  I kissed her belly and then I flew off the veranda and out to sea. I had a destination: Kila. I landed on the sand where my brother had died for his beliefs. “Baca! Jix! Tell me the news,” I said as I landed.

  We were still using the island to meet. It was our private place where we could speak freely.

  “It was just as you said. There are remnants of the opposition party alive and well. We tracked them to a planet that I had never heard of before. Jix and I went there to see for ourselves,” Baca said.

  “What is the name of the planet?” I asked.

  “It is Tiok,” Baca said arching a brow at me.

  “That is where I was shot down,” I said.

  “Exactly. There is something going on there. We need to stay on top of it,” Jix said.

  “Yes, exactly. Tell no one what you have found. It is better that they don’t know we are on to them,” I said. “Good work, you two.”

  “Here is the list of those that we saw or heard were on the planet Tiok,” Baca said as he handed me the list.

  “We must hope that the numbers do not grow beyond this,” I said.

  “Now what should we do?” Jix said.

  “We keep an eye out, and if there is evidence of activity, then we strike. I do not want to wait around. That was not a good thing last time.”

  “We will inform you as soon as we know,” Baca said.

  “And also if you see any visions,” I said, making it clear I wanted to know what he saw even if he did not think it was significant.

  “Yes, now go enjoy your queen,” Baca teased. I left their side and flew back to the village to continue my duties as king. I don’t know why I ever gave my father a hard time in doing my responsibilities. I rather liked taking care of the Draqua. It was something that I took great pride and honor in.

  But when I finally looked at the list, there was a name on ther
e that sunk my heart. I could not believe it, and I knew that I would have to deal with this in person.

  “But you promised not to leave me again,” Melody said as I told her that I had to leave Kelon for a few days.

  “I know, but this is very important. If I don’t take care of this now, there will be another uprising, and I can’t have that. I need to take care of it now while the opposition is in recovery mode. I don’t want you and our child to ever be in danger again,” I said to her.

  “I am leaving you with, Jix; there is no one that I trust more. I promise that he will watch over you. If you are frightened while I’m gone, stay in the chambers. I will be back. I promise. Don’t I always come back to you?” I said.

  “Yes, but now you are leaving the planet,” she said.