Azlo

by Maia Starr

  “Good.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Celeste

  We gathered in a stark room. It made me think of the term ‘war room’. There was a large table gathered in the middle with laser visuals showing where the rebel base camp was going to be.

  It was a struggle getting Caridan in without eyes on him. Many dragons spotted him on the way in and their eyes passed with recognition, perhaps aware they knew him from somewhere but not entirely remembering the details. It was when some spotted Ariella that the recognition dawned. He wasn’t dead after all.

  Galsthenn, the leader of the Koth, took this as a good sign.

  We’d been worried that he would mark us all as traitors for bringing a banished Weredragon back to Udora, but instead, he used Caridan’s return to boost morale.

  Back from the dead.

  The son of Brenem, the dragon Caridan had killed, was also in the war room, along with Caridan’s two children.

  Sigisvult worried that he would be violent, look to exact revenge for his father’s death, but he seemed more excited to meet his aunt than anything else. His mother was Ariella’s sister, after all. The two embraced warmly, and he and Caridan shook hands.

  The shifters present looked at Fhalanae with shock and awe, fascinated by her movements and the female features on a Weredragon. I looked to Sigisvult and watched as his eyes moved away from her over to me, smiling as he did so.

  Ikar rallied the group of Weres together at the war table and instructed exactly how the pack would head into the rebel base.

  Today would be the day the struck; they wanted to get the jump on the rebels in case anyone got word that Caridan had returned from the grave. Returned to wipe them out.

  Sigisvult was going out with them, along with an army of hundreds of Weredragon soldiers. The mass of them was amazing and unnerving to see in the same breath. I couldn’t imagine what it was going to look like seeing them fight against a flock of like rebels.

  I stood in the room at the back near the dark maroon walls, leaning against the plaster and listening intently to the plan. There were only a few mates allowed in the room, myself, Rosalyn, and Ariella included.

  It was only when the dragons began to file out that my soul felt like it was being crushed under an unseen weight. It all became real then.

  They were heading out to war. To fight their final fight against the rebels, to decide the fate of their planet. And my shifter was going with them.

  Everything we had worked for was coming under fire, literally. Our relationship, our journey to Chavatov… our child.

  I watched as the room grew empty, the men readying themselves for battle by strapping on leathers and Ariella finding mysterious Marraflowers for the dragons and creating a paste for them. She was the one who had originally studied the flower, thought it would help heal the glands that had been damaged over time and evolution that prevented the dragons from breathing fire.

  Anything might help, she offered.

  Galsthenn had, of course, granted the couple and their children immunity on the planet. Un-banished. Forgiveness. I wondered if that would hold up even if they lost.

  I was the only one left in the room. I walked out into the hallway and saw Sigisvult standing there, waiting for me. I smiled at him and drew a ‘come hither’ motion to trap him back in the board room with me.

  He followed slowly, his scales vibrant and his eyes wide with information and emotion as he approached me.

  “This is it!” I said excitedly.

  He gave a single nod, quiet today. He looked down at me with his beautiful face and crooked nose and kissed me, lip to lip, our passions dancing against one another with heat and breath.

  I pressed my body against his and reached down to feel the hardness prodding in his pants. I grabbed it and stroked it with the base of my hand, grinning wickedly.

  I pressed into him and let his hand explore under my shirt, my skin cold even under my clothes. I set my hands on his face and brushed his hair back over and over. “Nervous?” I whispered.

  To my surprise, he nodded and kissed my forehead, watched me search his eyes and halt to a stare. “You?”

  “Yeah,” I said and tried my hardest to grind against him, breathing raggedly as he kissed me. “You just have to have faith in the legend,” I cautioned through kisses.

  He chuckled at the sentiment and kissed me passionately, his lips lingering on mine with ever disconnect, ghosting hot air over my mouth and leaving me begging for him to continue. The way he kissed me now was so… different.

  “Weren’t you the one who told me the legend was for the rebels?” he teased.

  “The legend is a legend for anybody to believe,” I scoffed. “I want to take back this planet.”

  “So you can rule over it, right, Princess?”

  I grinned and shook my head. “I want to bring it back to be the place that you loved.”

  He looked down at me, his strong and confident veneer suddenly cracking as he traced his eyes over my body.

  “Celeste,” he said lowly. “I want you to know…” He shifted uncomfortably. I continued to grind against him and paw at his body until he became unresponsive: until I felt him shaking.

  “These months with you…” He pursed his lips unsurely. “What you’ve done for me,” he began to correct. “You’re a pain, but…”

  “What is this?” I asked, backing away from him suddenly, my voice relenting to a choke as he thumbed over my small arms.

  There was an affinity in the air that was overwhelming me with sickness, a feeling as though everything was irreversibly wrong. My eyes followed his lips carefully, and I felt an overwhelming urge to run, to follow.

  “A goodbye, maybe,” he said with a breath. He smiled, despite himself. Neither of us could believe the words.

  “I’ll be right there,” I said assuredly, grabbing his face in my hands and reaching up to place gentle kisses on his mouth, trying my hardest to act ladylike, to be what he wanted.

  He closed his eyes and pressed his cheek into my hand, cupping my fingers with his palm. “Not this time. I mean it.”

  His tone was his usual self, firm and annoyed, but the way he was looking at me sent a shiver down my spine. His eyes terrified me.

  “Bullshit,” I spat. “I’m going with you. We’re in this, whether you like it or not.”

  “Why?” he gave me another stern look and gave a miserable laugh. “Why would you do that?” he pressed. “Think about it. What can you do out there? All you will do is get in the way.”

  “That’s charming.”

  “I’m serious,” he forced. “We have fire-breathers. We have weapons. We have our claws and our strength. What do you have? All I’ll be able to do is worry about you and wonder if you’re alright when I should be fighting alongside my people. Please, let me do that.”

  I pushed away from him. “No. No way.”

  “Celeste, I am begging you.”

  “And I’m saying no.”

  With a deep inhale, he grabbed my shoulders and pressed his forehead against mine, our breaths mingling together as he began to tremble at my stubbornness. His blue eyes opened slowly, and he couldn’t have sounded anymore sincere as he whispered, “Please.”

  I swallowed and began shaking my head absent-mindedly.

  “No.”

  He pushed away from me and stormed to the other end of the room, punching the wall as he got to the doorway. “I won’t do this again!” he screamed, a roar deep within shadowing over his voice as he yelled. “I won’t lose you,” he said, storming toward me with his finger pointed.

  I set my jaw, unshaken as he stood before me.

  “Don’t you understand?” he asked.

  I shrugged helplessly at him, and he reached out and grabbed my arm, encouraged me to touch him. Reaching out numbly, I touched his arm, and his whole body lit up with a wild glow, his scales shimmering with warmth.

  My eyes went wide, and I looked up at him in surprise.

>   “You’re…” I stammered. “I’m…”

  “You’re the one,” he said simply. “Please, don’t take that away from me.”

  I gave him a disobedient glare, and he shook his head at me. He leaned in and kissed me sweetly and then nodded as if to say that was final. My heart sank, and I burst into tears, his neck growing wet as I cried into it. He gripped my fingers hard, my one hand against his shoulder and the other wedged between our embrace. He wrapped his arms around me and rubbed my back, tickled the flat plains above my waistband for only a minute before the contact quieted my sobs into rigid breaths.

  “Can I say something that,” he began to laugh, “if we survive…you can’t use against me?”

  “Alright,” I whimpered.

  “I think I love you.”

  I went breathless. “You think, or you know?” I echoed his response from weeks earlier.

  “I know,” he smiled, brushing the tears from my eyes. “I knew it as soon as you jumped in the crater after me, and maybe even before that.”

  “Are…” I stuttered and then laughed as a blush overwhelmed my face. “Are you just saying what I said or, do you mean it?”

  “I mean it.”

  “And you’re not just saying that to make me stay?”

  He shook his head, relenting to his own feelings.

  I nodded slowly. “Alright then.”

  “Then you’ll stay?”

  “I’ll stay,” I said begrudgingly. “But I’m expecting you to come back.”

  He laughed, but the smile fell from his face as he ran his hands up my waist and then glided over my stomach. “I love you,” he whispered.

  “I love you, too.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Sigisvult

  My last moments with Celeste were just perfect.

  A kiss, a goodbye, me leaving her company in a wholly different way than I had entered it. Respectable, something she could really love.

  My last day, however, was proving difficult. The walls of the rebel citadel were taller than I remembered, towering over the area with a great shadow, and shading over what trees were left around the erupting mines. The rocks were uneven, though most provided adequate footing to climb the intimidating path. I took an uneasy step up the hill, steadying myself by grabbing the rocks around me.

  I left the rest of the troops just outside the rebel city and now made my way through a long, narrow cave with Caridan, Bozaldras, and Fhalanae, guiding us by luck alone in the pitch darkness. I could hear footsteps nearing me and pressed myself thin against the rocks behind me, willing my tired breath to go unheard.

  My fingers cut against the rocks, sending sharp pains through my hands as the source of the footsteps easily passed me by. “They don’t know we’re here yet,” Caridan mumbled, his tone indicating he didn’t know whether to be patient or panicked.

  The rebel arena spanned long across the land, begging the question of how big this explosive was, exactly. I stood easily with Caridan at my side. We were just embarking on the entrance to the base.

  Getting in hadn’t been a problem. We peered out through the rocks. The citadel was full of reels; it was their very last hideout.

  I could hear laser weapons fire off from within the base; they spotted the Weredragons outside their walls. It would be an excellent distraction.

  We peered through the opening of the underground tunnel and watched as the rebels flooded in with various weapons, standing there like obedient dogs, hundreds of them.

  Within the large pack of rebels were bundles of highly corrosive bombs, the kind used to attack Earth embassy years ago, caked across every available surface.

  I’d never used one himself, but time and again I saw the damage just one could do.

  We heard the cry of Weredragons off in the distance, and a sick pain rushed through my stomach.

  “Ready?” Caridan asked, his sharp eyes digging into mine and before I could say anything, Fhalanae was already rushing out the door.

  We raced out in in flight, our bodies taking to the air. Caridan spread his oil slick stained wings with strength and determination as he took off from me.

  I followed suit, surefooted, even as a black dragon came out of nowhere and batted me with his tail.

  The blow sent me shooting to the ground. I grabbed his leg and swung him around to try and regain my balance, digging my claws into him in the meantime.

  Another shifter came from my left, swooping down and roaring with rage, but seemed to stop short as he caught sight of Caridan. The shifter looked horrified as fear crept over his every feature.

  “It’s… it’s…!” he began to scream as he backed away quickly with a single gust of his wings.

  I smiled at this, as did Caridan.

  We made our way further into the base: a stone citadel encased by walls and surrounded by a great moat. The waters shook and waved as the mass of dragons flew in.

  We darkened the sky with our colors, streaming against one another in a fury of numbers. The dragons were so staggering, I could barely tell who was friend or foe.

  Great cries could be heard coming from every direction on the battlefield.

  It was only when I saw our men start surfacing high into the sky did I start to feel nervous, feel the rush of battle take its true form.

  Our troops headed for the sky as quick as lightening, knowing the great fire was about to begin. I looked over at Caridan, ready to make my ascent until I saw the black dragon, Haden, grab hold of him and claw him to the ground.

  “We looked for you!” the dragon screamed as Caridan went careening into the stone below.

  My eyes widened with terror as our savior crashed to the ground. Looking up, I could see his children were oblivious. They were readying themselves to spread fire across every acre of the citadel, and they didn’t even know we were left behind.

  I raced down to Caridan and grabbed the black dragon on top of him, ripping my claws into his flesh and throwing Haden across the arena.

  He turned to me, hissing wildly at the blood the pooled at his back and ran at me, ripping his teeth into my shoulder and splitting my flesh with his thick fangs.

  I screamed in tortured agony, and Caridan whipped his tail at the shifter. Haden fell to the ground, and others seemed to jump in, ready to help him. Ready to be the ones who took down the great purple dragon.

  I could feel the dragons tearing away at us like wild animals to a feast. I shielded myself with my wings until all at once, they stopped.

  “Fire! Fire! Fire!” one began to shriek, and they flooded to the sky, raced to attack Fhalanae and Bozaldras.

  I looked up and could see the white dragon flying in half circles back and forth. Her grace and beauty was everything the legend made her out to be. I didn’t know her, but I could already feel her sense of justice radiating through the wide sky.

  One by one the rebels could see her take form, half great white dragon and half beautiful saint. My eyes traced her as I coughed for breath.

  They must have thought she was coming to save them. Believed their legend.

  But we knew better.

  I looked at Caridan and he looked back at me, each resigned to our fate as the fire began to fill the sky with its blaze.

  Blood pooled around him, and I could feel he wasn’t alone as the hot liquid flowed from my sides. I breathed raggedly, and my eyes darted around the arena, and I realized it was just him and I now.

  With one echoing breath, Fhalanae parted her sweet lips and out flooded a hot, red flame that cast a red burning across the land in one sweeping blow. Her cry was earthshaking. Bozaldras followed quickly, his deep azure fire spreading through the sky and bursting whatever it came into contact with.

  As I looked up at her and saw the fire sweeping down, I couldn’t help but think of my beautiful chosen. Celeste.

  Her name warmed my soul faster than the heat ever could… and I began to feel the strangest sensation.

  Caridan’s eyes widened as the flames billow
ed down the stone walls and began to encase us with a blistering heat.

  And I began to glow.

  I breathed in an obstructed breath and felt my scales light up with a deep navy glow, and I could see the water streaming in around us, calling to my soul. My dragon’s cry.

  The water flooded in, coming up over the high stone walls guarding the rebel’s citadel. They crashed in and made a forceful barrier above Caridan and I, beckoning to my call.

  The elder dragon looked over at me with puzzlement and then burst into laughter.

  “What is this?!” he called to me, water droplets falling on us as the wall of water protected us from the blinding heat.

  “Water,” I said stupidly and laughed despite myself, despite the fear that was coursing through my veins.

  He looked at my glowing scutes with a strange acknowledgment.

  “Your chosen,” he stated, struggling for an even breath.

  I nodded, but wasn’t sure how to explain myself.

  He looked stunned and then all at once touched. “I’ve never seen a chosen succeed in restoring a dragon’s powers before.”

  “I guess mine is special.”

  The battle was lost to us as we lay under my force field of water. It held there until there were no more flames to combat and suddenly crawled away from us, up and over the rebel walls in a supernatural way until it splashed back into the moat below with a thunderous crash.

  Days went by of scanning the citadel, making sure no rebels had survived before the lot of us were taken directly in by on-site medics, hastily bandaged and stitched and sent back into the city to celebrate our victory.

  Caridan and family were reunited with tearful cries and instated as Udorian citizens. Whether they would stay was a mystery, but having them here made me feel whole somehow. Made Udora feel whole.

  We were to meet the Koth and council back at the mossy fields, and for once, we walked in as heroes.

  Civilians and chosens were waiting in the vast mossy fields for confirmation of victory. Cheers overpowered the crowd, the deep sky shadowing over the field, glow stones illuminating every inch of the natural beauty. I looked through the crowds of familiar faces, cheering for our return and the peace that was now restored to Udora.