He charged forward then his eyes widened as the leg buckled out from under him. Another lesson. In the heat of battle, an enemy may not even feel the blow you dealt.
He groaned and hauled himself to his feet, his weight all on one leg. I danced toward him, staying on his bad side so he was forced to hop in a circle to keep me in view. But I was smaller and faster. I watched for my opening then whirled around behind him and buried my knife to the hilt in his back.
He let out a scream that froze my blood then collapsed face-down on the ground.
Never let your guard down, even when the enemy lies at your feet, mortally wounded. Every battle is a battle to the death. Show no mercy.
It was easy to nod and pretend to lop off Henry’s head while Pieter watched approvingly. But the blood pooling at my feet was real. The body twitching and moaning that of another living soul. Enemy or no, I couldn’t kill him while he lay helpless. I murmured a prayer, leaving his fate to the Goddess, and pried the sword from his hand.
Not a moment too soon. Half a dozen men swarmed over the boulders, blades drawn. “You never prepared me for this, Pieter,” I muttered, backing away.
They saw the body of their fallen comrade and rushed at me all at once. I took up my stance. Feet planted, sword arm steady, eyes roving from side to side as I tried to figure out which one would reach me first.
They all stopped dead in their tracks when the dragon swooped down and landed between us. He reared up on his hind legs, wings unfurled.
One idiot let out a wild cry and charged him. The dragon opened his mouth and let out a terrible roar then sent a bolt of fire shooting out. The man screamed and fell to the ground with his clothes aflame.
The others took one look at him and scrambled back up the boulders, disappearing into the night. I didn’t blame them. I’d never seen my dragon shoot fire before. It was truly a terrifying sight.
“Thank the Goddess you’re here,” I breathed. “I didn’t know how long I could hold out.”
The dragon turned and faced me, clutching a flask in its front claws. Flames spouted from it. I met his eyes and shivered despite the heat of the lava bubbling up far above us. My tender lover was gone. I was staring into the eyes of a beast, hot and red, without a trace of humanity.
I wanted to turn my back and run, but I had to try and reach Drayke, had to believe he was still there somewhere inside. I forced myself to speak as I would to a wild thing, my voice low and soothing. “Good. You found the flask, just like I knew you would. And you brought it here.”
He didn’t make a move, so I went on. “Yes. So good,” I crooned. “Now give it to me. The flask must be destroyed. Remember? We can’t let the dark lord use it to hurt anyone.”
I reached out my hand.
He roared at me. Opened his huge mouth, lunged forward, and let out a thunderous cry. I saw the flicker of fire deep in his throat and acted on instinct. Summoned the forces of light from the Seven Stars and shielded myself.
The flames hit an invisible wall between us, shot back, and enveloped the beast. The flask ignited then exploded in a huge ball of flame. I watched in horror as the inferno consumed it – along with the great red dragon.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Drayke
My dragon had spied the flask and headed straight for it, like a beacon. But the moment he bent his head and breathed in the flames, I felt my human self burning away. The dark lord’s seductive whisper became louder, until it filled my head, drowning out every other sound. Every thought.
I took the flask and flew, guided by his voice. Guard the flask. Bring it to me and almighty power will be yours. Destroy all who try to stop you.
I landed in the clearing just as a ragtag band of soldiers rushed forward, swords drawn. My dragon acted instinctively to the threat. Shot a firebolt and incinerated the first to charge at him.
Then I turned and faced the woman. She, too, had a sword, but she laid it on the ground. I heard her speaking, but I couldn’t make out the words over the voice of the dark lord. Guard the flask. Destroy all who try to stop you.
She reached out her hand, threatening to take the flask from my grip. I opened my mouth and roared, prepared to reduce her to a pile of ash.
Then, as I looked into her eyes, another voice appeared in my head. A soft whisper.
I love you, Drayke.
My human self battled the dragon within me. Wrenched his head away at the last second and incinerated the flask instead.
When the ball of fire died away, I stepped out in human form. The shield of light had disappeared. Melisandre lay on the ground, sobbing.
I went to her, gathered her in my arms. “Sssh. It’s all right, my love. I’m here. We succeeded.”
She pulled away. Stared at me in shock as though I was a ghost. “No! It cannot be. I saw you die!”
“Fire can’t kill a dragon,” I said gently. “We thrive on fire.”
I tried again to pull her into my arms, but she resisted. I saw terror in her eyes.
“You were going to kill me.”
I sighed. “You’re right. My dragon was. You tried to take the flask from him.”
She started to cry again. “Why? I trusted you. I believed you. You promised you’d never hurt me. You said I had nothing to fear from you, whether in human or dragon form.” She wrapped her arms around herself defensively and huddled into a ball.
I sat beside her on the ground. “I’m sorry I frightened you, my love. I frightened myself, too,” I admitted. “What I told you before – it was a lie. I didn’t want you to fear me. I thought I could control the beast within. I hoped I could. But I’d never been tested. Until tonight.
“The Lord of Darkness is far more dangerous than I ever dreamed he’d be,” I went on. “I heard his voice tonight. He promised me unimaginable power, unlimited wealth. Showed me a future where I was king. Sitting on the throne, ruling the world of Seven Stars as both man and dragon. All the while, he fed the thirst of my beast with fire from the flask, until I was drunk on it. Every time I breathed it in, my human self slipped away a little more. Near the end, all that remained was the dragon. A wild, fierce, untamed creature.”
“But you’re here, now. How?”
“It was you, Meli,” I said simply. “You brought my human self back. At the last moment, I looked into your eyes and heard your voice whispering the words you said to me when you lay in my arms last night. ‘I love you, Drayke.’ My human self forced the dragon to turn his head and destroy the flask. The moment I did, the voice of the dark lord disappeared.”
I lifted her chin and kissed away her tears. “I know now I can control my dragon – with a power greater than the power of fire or the power of the dark lord. The power of love.”
She looked at me then. Looked deep into my eyes, as she’d done before.
I stood and extended my hand. “Will you trust me one more time?”
She rose and came into my arms. I kissed her. A kiss that held all the emotion mere words could not express. Her arms tightened around my neck and she returned the kiss.
I stepped back. Summoned my dragon. She climbed on, and we soared away.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Melisandre
In the past, I’d seen the red spark of dragon fire in his eyes when he looked at me. Simmering just below the surface, waiting to emerge. Even when he took me to bed.
This time, I saw only tenderness and love.
I took his hand. Trusted the man to rule his beast. We flew away into the night. Away from the mountain, away from its fiery embrace. The lure of the dark lord was gone from this place. But I knew now my struggle to defeat the forces of evil had just begun. Four elements remained. Four more battles to wage. And if the Oracle’s prophecy rang true, as each source was taken away, the remaining powers would become stronger.
We flew back to the fortress. I caught sight of the golden dome, bathed in the first rays of dawn. Instead of the dread I’d felt
when I first came to this place, I was filled with a sense of peace. In the fortress, built deep within the womb of Mt. Jarazal, I’d be safe.
My dragon steed alighted on the terrace atop the steps of the temple, as he’d done in the past. I went inside to wait for him to shift back into human form. Though he said it grew less difficult each time, I knew the process was still painful, and I couldn’t bear to watch.
Something was different. I didn’t realize at first what it was until I drew near the dais. The throne was gone. In its place stood a stone altar. Two objects lay on it, side by side.
I moved closer. Ventured up the steps of the dais for the first time. Around me, I fancied I heard echoes of the chant the Oracle had sung the night she revealed the Prophecy.
I picked up the object nearest me. It was a diamond, the largest I’d ever seen, fashioned with an intricate multi-faceted design. When I lifted it from the table, the facets caught the light streaming in from the opening in the dome above. Glittering rays danced around the room, and for the first time I saw symbols carved in a relief running at the top of the walls. The same figures repeated over and over. A stylized dragon, breathing fire. A wave cresting. A spiral that seemed to whirl as I watched, like a tornado. A winged upright figure. But it was the last that drew my eye. A chunk of rough, dark rock, protruding from the wall, with a diamond at its center, as big as the one in my hand.
It caught the sparkle of light from the one I held, sent it shooting around the room. Picking up the reflection, sending it from wall to wall until the entire ceiling was filled with dazzling rays of sun, illuminating the golden dome.
I gasped. Every rock in the frieze held a huge diamond within it.
Power so great it can turn a lump of coal into a priceless jewel. The power of the earth. The second source the Lord of Darkness seeks.
I heard the voice of the Oracle so clearly, I whirled around, certain she was somewhere in the shadows. But the temple was empty.
I put the diamond down, and the sparkling rays disappeared.
The second item was a scroll, so old and fragile it crumbled in my hands as I unrolled it. But not before I read the words inscribed there.
Fate whispers to the warrior,
“You cannot defeat the storm.”
The warrior whispers back,
“I am the storm.”
I heard footsteps and turned around with a smile. But it wasn’t Drayke coming toward me.
The stranger looked like a character stepped from the pages of an epic tale. Broad chest, bare and glistening with a fine sheen of sweat. A dark half-tunic slung around his narrow hips, sandals held on by thick leather thongs that crisscrossed up his calves. He had a long blue cloak over his shoulders, and gold cuffs as wide as the palm of his hand circled his thick wrists. A huge sword hung from the belt around his waist, and I saw the hilt of a dagger protruding on his other side.
He stood head and shoulders above the average man in our kingdom. A rough stubble couldn’t hide the square jawline and chiseled planes of his face. The faint line of a scar on one cheek didn’t detract from his looks but rather added a dash of bravado, though he cut such an imposing figure, he didn’t need it. He had a high forehead and thick, dark hair down to his shoulders.
As he drew nearer, I saw a medallion around his neck. A metal disc on a silver chain, surrounding a hunk of black rock with a glittering diamond in its center, as big as the one I’d held in my hand moments ago.
He came up the steps to where I stood, towering above me. Took a knee but didn’t incline his head. Instead, his deep blue eyes looked straight at me, unfazed by my royal title. I knew instantly this man bowed to no one.
His gaze traveled up and down my body, lingering on my breasts, before returning to my face. I glanced down and realized my nipples were visible under the thin white shirt I wore, standing out in hard little peaks from the cold wind hitting me when I rode on the dragon’s back.
He raised one eyebrow and gave me a wicked smile. In the past, my virginal self would have called his behavior arrogant. Insolent. Now, after experiencing Drayke’s passionate lovemaking, I saw it as dominant. And the wanton wench my dragon lord had awakened inside me responded with a shiver of raw lust.
“Forgive my appearance, my queen. My journey was arduous.”
I didn’t recognize his voice, or his face. But I knew those deep blue eyes. I’d seen them before. Here in this very temple. They were the eyes of a shadowy figure the Oracle showed me that night. The eyes of the warrior.
The One the Goddess decreed would join me in my mission – and in my bed.
Turn the page for a sneak peek at
Chaos Born
Queen of the Seven Stars Book 2
Prologue
Magnus
Water.
I needed water. Craved it with every desiccated cell in my body.
“You bitch!” I croaked, my throat too parched to shout out loud. “I can’t go any farther. I know you can hear me. I’m dying! I need water!”
“Keep climbing.”
Her voice floated down to me. I looked up, saw her dangling a flask over the edge of the cliff. “There’s water aplenty here. Come and get it.”
With a roar, I forced my weary arms to reach up. Found a crevice so tiny only my fingertips fit in it. Blind rage gave me the will to contract the muscles in my trembling legs one more time, pushing me up and gaining another precious foot. By the Goddess, I vowed I’d get to the top, rip that flask from her bony fingers and drain it, then wring her scrawny neck.
I’d already trudged miles through a barren wasteland. Two full days and nights without rest, except when my shaking legs refused to carry me any farther and I collapsed in a heap on the ground. But, eventually, I staggered to my feet and went on.
My meager supply of water ran out early on. There were no lakes or streams flowing here. No wells. No trees or plants. Not even a sign life had ever existed, except the skeletons of doomed creatures lying in the dust. Creatures that had ventured too far into this gods-forsaken place. It was the sight of those that gave me the determination to go on. If I didn’t, my own bones would soon be bleaching in the sun beside them.
I knew my only hope for survival was to find her. I headed east, navigating by the sun and the stars. Go east. That was all she’d told me before dumping me here.
Once, I’d been in the lap of luxury. Well fed, well rested. The pampered only son of indulgent parents, with older sisters who doted on me. One day, I’d take over my father’s holdings. Live the life of a lord.
But I wanted more. I read the tales penned by our forefathers and dreamed of glory. Of fighting epic battles, like the heroes of old. Of winning fame and adulation. With the arrogance of youth, I sent my wish out into the Universe. Not so much a wish, perhaps, as a demand.
“I will be the greatest warrior alive. The greatest warrior in the history of the World of the Seven Stars.”
The Universe blessed me and granted my wish. And I learned why the ancients used the same symbol for curse and blessing, only reversed.
I’d met the Oracle for the first time right before she dumped me in the wilderness. At sixteen, I’d convinced my parents to let me take a trip to the city for a few days. Alone. I was eager to venture out. Explore the world. With a purse full of coins and the confidence of one who knows nothing of life, I was sure no harm could come to me. After all, I was already the size of a grown man, with years of training in sword and staff.
I rode into the city, stabled my horse, and went out to see the sights. The streets were jammed. Elegantly dressed ladies trailed by servants laden with packages, laborers hauling materials to dozens of new building sites, well-dressed men striding along two by two with their heads together, planning their next business deal.
And everywhere, shops and stalls piled with a dazzling array of goods. I stopped at one, set up outdoors under an awning to shade it from the sun.
“How much is that sil
k scarf?” I wanted to surprise my mother with a gift.
“Ah, for you, young sir, I make a special price.” The old crone behind the counter picked it up, put it in my hands. “Just feel. So soft. And so colorful! Your lady love will cherish it.”
“I don’t have a lady love,” I said. “It’s for my mother.”
“What a fine son to give a gift like this! Your mother must be proud to have such a thoughtful and kind young man.” She gave me a wink. “Better buy another. A lad as handsome as you will soon have his pick of fair maidens.”
I shook my head. “I have no time for dalliances. I’m in training to become a warrior.”
“A warrior!” Her wrinkled face lit up with a smile, showing a few missing teeth. “A worthy goal and a brave one. Tell me, my lad, what sort of training do you do?”
“I spar twice weekly with the best swordsman in the county. He says I’m his best student. And I work out every day. Strength training, endurance.”
“Strength and endurance for the body. Those are necessary. And swordsmanship a must.” She looked me up and down, as though appraising horseflesh. “And how do you train your heart and soul?”
“Heart and soul?” I shrugged and pulled out some coins. What did an old woman know of the ways of a warrior? I was raised to be polite to the elderly but the sooner I paid her, the sooner I could be on my way to adventure.
Fire Born_Reverse Harem Fantasy Romance Page 10
