“I’m right behind you, Alita. You are not alone,” Yackros reassures me right before I move forward.
“Ah, yes,” a deep voice says. That very voice that gave me nightmares. The one that ruined everything. “The girl without wings.” He chuckles.
I step into the light and face Ruxsiu. Séraphin stands beside him, wielding a staff, and wearing the crown carrying the dragon’s pearl. I can see Fyazum’s large form on the ground between the trees. I look between both enemies and make a calculated assumption.
Yackros, I say in my mind, hoping our connection is strong enough for this now. Will you follow my lead?
I can feel the smirk on his face. I’m already ahead of you.
Stepping over the ledge, a clear marker for the distinction between places in this land and walk toward Ruxsiu and Séraphin. Trying not to go too fast. But picking up speed.
Both of them laugh, watching me as though I’m there only to entertain them. Merely for sport.
“I have wings.” I say, knowing they can hear me.
Each of them watches, clearly unafraid. I pick up the speed, barely jogging, ready to fly.
“Dragon wings.” The words escape me barely louder than a mutter beneath my breath.
Before either monster can react, Yackros bursts from the cave, throwing rock into the air as he charges forward, creating a storm of wind that pushes me forward.
Yackros barrels into Ruxsiu, creating enough of a distraction for me to run at full speed, straight for Séraphin. The man looks up just in time to step out of my path, but not before my foot catches onto his staff, knocking it out of his hands and hitting the crown and displacing it from his oversized head.
“That’s your plan?” He barks a laugh. Bending over, he reaches for the jewels.
I kick my foot up, throwing the end of the staff into the air. Turning, I grab it with one hand, barely grasping it tight enough before clenching my other hand around it. Using it like a bat, I go for a homerun.
Séraphin is still leaning over, though turned to look at me, and sees the oncoming blow. He slips, falling to the ground.
The long piece of wood makes contact with my target. Not the man gaping at me in horror as he realized now what I’m truly doing, but the crown itself. Aimed directly at the pearl.
The shimmering cobalt blue teardrop shatters, turning to dust, the crown broken to pieces around the powder, nearly lost in the tall grass.
Shockwaves force me back, knocking me over. And the world goes quiet.
I remain on the ground, waiting for the breath that was knocked out of me to come back. There’s no noise, no fighting, no roaring or thundering of dragons.
I didn’t know it was possible to hurt so much. I thought I had already reached my capacity for pain. Apparently not. I can feel thick, wet blood running down my lip from my nose. Dripping into the grass from my ears.
Slowly, sound returns, but there’s still nothing. Breathing becomes a thing again. My lungs burn as I take a gasp of air. I try to move, but it takes a moment for feeling to return to the rest of my body.
When I can, I force myself to my feet, looking around. Destruction. So much of it. The forest is nearly destroyed. What hasn’t been rained down on by debris is burning. Not just the forest of Runavelius, but the entire mountain is lit.
Ruxsiu flies over head, swooping down in front of me and scooping up Séraphin’s motionless body. His eyes glower at me. “I will kill you for this, Alita Drake. It is the deadliest mistake you’ve ever made,” he sneers.
“What are you waiting for?” I ask, perhaps not able to physically fight, but surely not willing to give up.
“Your endless suffering. I already took away my son. That won’t be the last thing I take from you before I take away your life.” He flaps his wings, getting higher and higher.
It seems the adrenaline has worn off. All feeling has—I’m numb. His threat takes no toll on me. “Why not just kill me now and get it over with?” I yell, genuinely wanting an answer.
But either he’s already too far to hear me, or he chooses to ignore me before disappearing into the night sky.
I move as fast as I can, which isn’t speedily at all, falling to my knees at Yackros’ side. “Don’t leave me now, Sparkles. We’ve come too far for that.”
“What you did, Alita—” He turns his head and looks at me, but lowers it to the ground again before saying more.
“Yackros?” I shake him, needing him to be okay.
“It was dangerous. Nearly impossible. And while it saved us, it may also be our doom.” Fyazum towers over me, sadness etched into his features.
“I’m sorry,” I say in a whimper while trying to get any response from Yackros.
“Alita.” Fyazum says my name, demanding my attention.
“What?”
“He will be okay. He simply needs to heal. Given what he’s been through in that cave, he will need time to be whole again.”
“How can I help him? I need him back!” I throw my arms around his neck, just needing to be closer.
Fyazum leans down and brushes his wing along Yackros’ cheek. “Go home. The both of you. Rest. It is going to be a long journey ahead of all of us now.”
“What do you mean?” I sniffle, trying to pay closer attention. I’ve been on a long journey. Too long.
“The world knows about dragons now, Alita Drake. You succeeded in that mission. And now we’re going to have to rebuild everything we had before with your kind. I don’t think we can afford to go into hiding again.”
25
The scales on Yackros’ back are warm and comfortable against my cheek. I remain flat, letting all of my emotions free. Truly, completely free. Sobbing the entire two-minute flight home. He lands in the front yard, extending his wings like Fyazum and allowing me to slide off.
Mom and Dad are standing on the front porch, jaws slack, eyes wide, staring in disbelief at the scene before them.
Everyone is standing outside, all staring at the mountain. Or what’s visible from here. I’m sure that when the battle first broke out, everything was clear, but when the fire began, it was only a matter of time before the smoke became too thick to make out more than shadows.
I don’t say anything. Words escape me. I lean into my parents’ embrace, grateful they aren’t asking questions, though I’m sure they have many.
“What happened?” Mom asks quietly.
Unable to form words, I shake my head.
I have no semblance of how much time has passed before there’s a light tap on my shoulder. I lift my head and look, greeted by the worrisome, still-hopeful glance of Sherri. She opens her mouth to speak, but makes no sound.
I shake my head ever so slightly and wrap my arms around her. We sob on each other’s shoulders for a long while, drying out anything I had left in me. “I’m so sorry, Sherri,” I whisper, still holding her, supporting more of her weight than before as she breaks down all over again.
I don’t know what to tell her. Would it be better for her to believe Max is gone for good? Or should I give her an inkling of hope, knowing she still may never see him again?
In the end, I can’t lie. If our roles were reversed, I would want to know the truth. And when she glances up at me, I know that’s what she’s asking me for.
“He’s alive, but he’s not the Max we know and love,” I say, trying not to lose it.
Sherri takes a moment, letting this sink in. And it’s almost like before now she didn’t see Yackros. A squeal escapes her as she jumps back.
“This is Yackros. My dragon.” I want to say “best friend,” but I know how much that could hurt Sherri right now, so I refrain. “He’s one of the good ones. And if there is any chance of getting Max back, he will help me do it.”
The End
Alita and Yackros will return in Dragon Fire (The Dragon’s Pearl, Book Two)
coming soon.
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About the Author
Konstanz Silverbow is a creator of jewelry, player of violins, and student of medieval weaponry. She discovered a love for writing by accident, and it became her passion. Her nights are now filled with getting words on the page and keeping her pet dragons tamed.
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Stones of Dracontias
N.D. Jones
Stones of Dracontias © 2018 N.D. Jones
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Stones of Dracontias
A life without love, forbidden or not, is a life unlived…
For generations the worlds of man and dragon have lived peacefully side-by-side. Harmonious and yet wholly separate, there is much unknown between them--but that is all about to change. For love knows no color nor creed, and where there is passion, heat, and desire, it will spark.
So begins the story of Kya the Bloodstone Dragon and Armstrong Knight, the unwitting victims of love’s impervious pull. For when a dragon-shifter walks amongst the humans, the wheels of fate begin to turn and what was once separate worlds collide in the throes of young love. Their bonds will be tested by fate and the greedy, cruel hearts of wicked men. When their very lives, and the secret they share, are threatened, Kya and Armstrong must defy the odds and do what they can to protect the human and dragon worlds. In the chaos, a love story unfolds between two unlikely heroes and the lengths we all go to for the ones we love.
1
Sixty-Seven Years Ago
Kya flew beside her oldest sister. Ledisi, a mature green dragon with random specks of gold, contrasted to Kya, a gold dragon who’d inherited her father’s coloring over most of her body. Ledisi set a moderate pace, for which the young dragon was grateful. She wasn’t yet used to long flights from their island home and to the large populated land of humans. When she’d been a small Dracontias, her four legs good for running around their forest home and not yet capable of flight, she’d flown to places like China, New Zealand and Ethiopia carried in the protective tail of one of her parents.
Now, size and age meant Kya could no longer rely on her parents to ferry her about. Although, with how fatigued she felt a mere two thousand miles from Buto, Kya wouldn’t mind taking hold of her sister’s tail and allowing Ledisi to tug Kya along in her wake.
She inched closer to her sister, near enough to share the draft of air Ledisi’s magic created.
“Tired already, little Bloodstone?” An array of green scales, with a smooth surface and oblong shape arranged in rows along the length of her dorsal, were beautiful in their unmarred perfection. The overlapped scales fluttered up, a sail opening to the wind currents. Purple wisps of magic floated from the slots in Ledisi’s scales. The drafts of Amethyst magic floated to and under Kya, supporting her Bloodstone magic. “I will always be there for you, little Bloodstone, even when you grow to maturity and choose a mate.”
Kya had no interest in choosing a mate, and she disliked how all Dracontias now referred to her by the name of the stone in her skull. She’d reached her scale year three months ago, which coincided with the first of these flights with her eldest sister.
For a Dracontias, Kya was still quite young. Years from maturity but no longer a babe in need of watching and coddling. After the Fire of Nyah ritual, her father, ruler of Buto, had anointed her with the title of the Bloodstone Dragon.
Foregoing shame in exchange for a sister’s comfort, Kya settled her smaller dragon’s body against Ledisi’s. Soul Stone Dragon, her sister was known throughout Buto. Her Amethyst healing magic reduced fear and anxiety, protected against psychic attack and promoted trust. She bestowed her purple healing on those worthy of her gift, as was the ancient way of Dracontias.
“In the sky, away from Buto and Father, call me Kya.”
“It’s an honor to serve as the Bloodstone Dragon. There hasn’t been a Dracontias born with the Bloodstone in a thousand years. Your gem is rare and a powerful healing stone.”
Supported by Ledisi’s magic, the sisters cut through the air at an amazing quickness, now that her sister wasn’t moderating her speed to accommodate Kya.
“Your stone cleanses and purifies the blood.” Ledisi’s snout, cold to Kya’s hot, poked her in the neck, playing. “Your stone also allows you to restore courage, strength, and creativity to those who’ve lost their way. Your magic has the wonderful power to renew love and friendship.” Another playful poke. “Would you rather be the Sunstone Dragon?”
They approached the East Coast of the United States.
Gasira, Kya’s older and only brother, despite his ultraviolet green scales, the tip of his tail the only gold on his body, possessed a reddish-brown Dracontias healing stone. His stone had the dubious power of increasing one’s sexual energy. Older human males, invariably, prayed to the Sunstone Dragon to help them increase their vitality.
Kya and Ledisi glided to a halt miles above the country’s capital.
Her brother’s Sunstone helped to alleviate stress and fears. It also had the power to promote independence in the recipient of his healing magic. Despite the other properties of his Dracontias stone, Ledisi, Kya and the rest of the family took much pleasure in teasing Gasira.
“This is where we part.”
Kya knew, but she didn’t enjoy the thought. Ledisi would continue north to Canada, while she was expected to land, transform and then find a human who could broaden her understanding of them.
“Perhaps, this once, you’ll permit me to travel with you.”
Before she’d completed her sentence, Ledisi’s tail had snapped out and pushed against Kya’s side. Not hard and malicious but with enough force to remind the young dragon of her responsibility.
“The Fire of Nyah ritual,” Ledisi began, “reminds us of our intention and purpose in life. We possess healing stones for a reason, Bloodstone Dragon. But how can we, who claim the sky and the ground, understand humans and their nature if we have never lived their experiences?”
“We know their nature. They’re violent and selfish. They pray without thought. They offer only to receive. And they understand us even less than Father thinks we understand them.”
Kya would never utter such words of opposition in front of her parents. With Ledisi, however, there was no emotion or thought she couldn’t share freely with her eldest sister.
“Not all humans are as you describe. Don’t judge the many by the actions of the few. We heal the worthy. We cast off our hard dragon scales in exchange for soft human flesh to remind ourselves of the fragility of life.”
Ledisi sounded too much like their father. Of her siblings, only Gasira shared her skepticism of humans.
“Father is a wise dragon.” Ledisi reached out to Kya with her soothing magic. “He doesn’t trust blindly. Our ability to transform is a secret no one beyond our island home is aware. Now that you’re of age, you must shift and learn how to walk among humans, your mind no longer in the clouds.”
“I much prefer the safety of the sky than the dangers found on the ground of humans.”
Kya lowered her eyes to the bustling city below. Hundreds of feet in the air, she could see
them, specks of entitlement and short lifespans. They were loud, smelled, and polluted the oceans from which she drank and the air she marveled in flying through.
“Meet me here in a week. Father will expect a report, and I don’t wish to lie to him again. You must shift this time. Find a human worthy of your trust and make a friend. Maybe you’ll find a diata in this City of Magnificent Intentions.”
A human as brave as a dragon? She doubted that but argued no more with her sister. Ledisi had indulged Kya’s bout of ideological rebellion, she wouldn’t repay her patience with obstinacy.
Kya watched her sister fly away, stunning green scales twinkling in the midday sun.
She flew toward Washington, D.C. The smell of garbage and sweat worsened the closer she drew to the ground. Landing with a soft thud, Kya glanced around. An alley, dirty and empty. She supposed it was a perfect location for her change. Private, if not sanitary. She could conjure human clothing after her transformation, although she didn’t relish the idea of confining her dragon’s soul in such a tiny form.
Despite the sun high in the sky, the alley held little light. A ten-foot locked metal fence lay at one end of the alley, behind Kya. The other end led to the street, where she could hear everything from disgruntled workers in the building across the street to rats scurrying in the sewers below.
She should shift now, but something kept her from doing so. Instead, she settled behind a dumpster, her four legs tucked under her, her snout to the disgusting ground. Kya would rest for a few minutes, shift and then go in search of a creature more mythical than dragons—an honorable human.
“Please, let me go.”
Kya awoke at the soft, desperate plea. She hadn’t meant to fall asleep. The sun, once warm and bright, had given way to a crescent moon.
Sirens and Scales Page 305
