“Where’s Anna?”
A blast of heat seared Nik’s face. He stepped back as people screamed and ran from the entrance, where bright orange and yellow flames spewed into the room from the human doorway like someone pointed a flamethrower through the small opening.
Blankets blazed to life. Smoke fogged the chamber. A child wailed.
Nik squinted in the chaos, backing away from the heat, but Anna’s long, dark hair was absent from the scrambling Maori. Finding the girl, though, was the least of their worries at the moment.
“Get down!” Nik yelled over the commotion. “Lay on the floor. The smoke will rise.”
His grandmother ran past him. “The cathedral, it will be ruined.”
What she thought she could do about it, he didn’t know. He grabbed her and tugged her back. The wind wafted from his lungs as she landed atop him.
“The sacred lights,” she cried.
“They’re just worms, Nanna.” They weren’t just worms to her, and he knew that. But right now they had the lives of human beings to worry about. A couple thousand blinking larvae would have to wait.
Nikau, help me! Puff’s voice exploded in his mind. Nik scanned the scrambling people, and found a Joe-shaped silhouette within the thickening smoke. He worked with a few other people, pulling at the rocks that had collapsed, blocking the human entrance. He still had trouble connecting the dragon’s inner voice to the platinum-haired man before him, but he needed to contain his awe. If they didn’t unblock the exit, everyone hiding in this cavern would die.
“Stay down. You’ll be able to breathe better closer to the floor,” Nik told Nanna, before stumbling toward the piled stone.
He winced from the heat coming off the rocks, but the flames had stopped, thank goodness. With dozens of uncontained fires still burning throughout the room, though, the smoke had thickened like a murky blanket, hiding everyone’s movement until Nik was nearly atop them. One of the men at the door was wrapping a torn, red cloth around his hands, while Joe and Connor grabbed boulders no human could lift alone and threw them to the side.
“Cover your hands,” Connor told Nik, before grabbing another stone.
The first man tied off the red cloth and handed Nik the rest of the fabric. The thick gray cloud burned Nik’s eyes and stung his lungs. He coughed, but it only seemed to deepen the pain.
Hands covered, Nik grabbed a side of a steaming boulder and helped shift the weight so it could be rolled. A few people tried to get through the narrow opening, but they pushed and shoved, allowing no one exit.
A child fell, lost in the smoke.
A woman called out for someone named Stephen. No one answered her.
From every direction, the sound of panic and coughing bounced off the columns of smoke.
They had to work faster.
A vision of Anna laughing filled his mind before winking out. Shame struggled against a wrathful despair that cut deeper than the searing smoke. Joe fought alongside them, helping to widen the opening, but the only human he wanted, no— needed to save was no longer among them.
The certainty of Anna’s absence overwhelmed Nik. Somehow, even through the commotion, he could feel the lack of her presence. The knowledge tore holes through Joe deeper than the smoke and fire ever could. Anna was his to protect, and he’d lost her.
A whoosh of cool air filtered into the chamber as Joe and Connor rolled the largest free boulder from the entrance. Coughing people and crying children ambled past Nik and through the opening they’d created.
Joe stumbled, but Nik and Connor grabbed him, easing him to the ground outside the cave.
The smoke still rolled over their heads. Rags and boxes that had once been beds lay charred and smoldering inside. Several bodies littered the cavern floor. Such a senseless loss.
Joe held his head, staring at the ground. “I told her I’d keep her safe. Why did she go outside?”
Nik didn’t question how Joe knew she’d left. He barely understood the Kotahi link, but it was the most powerful connection he’d ever felt. He couldn’t even imagine what the bond would be like between a dragon and his intended mate.
Nik wished he could think of something to say that could actually help. ‘I’m sorry’ sounded so trite, so obvious. Joe hadn’t just lost a girl, but handed her into the talons of a creature that would most likely rip her to shreds once he was done with her.
“I can’t let that happen,” Joe said.
Nik eyed the red stain dripping down the pale man’s side. With a wound like that, now worse from the exertion of widening the entrance, there wasn’t much Joe would be able to do about Gale taking Anna, and they both knew it. “We need Tyler.”
“He won’t be joining us.” Connor eased down beside them. “There are two badly-burned bodies out here. I’m fairly certain one is him. The other is a young female.”
No, it couldn’t be. “Has anyone found Anna?” Nik asked, as Pops approached.
“It’s not her,” Joe whispered. “I can feel her terror. She’s hurt. She’s alone.” He grunted, standing slowly. “I need to help her.”
Pops pushed Joe back down with a two-fingered shove. “You are still the Great One, but not so great in health at the moment. You won’t be saving anyone.”
Joe winced, holding his side as he stood again. “I can’t leave her there.”
“But going to help her is suicide, and you know it,” Connor said.
Joe grunted through clenched teeth, shoving Connor with what looked like all this strength, but the older dragon barely moved.
Joe fell back to the rock behind him. “You’ve never chosen a female for more than an hour of pleasure. You have no idea what I’m going through.”
Connor pursed his lips. “I don’t know, I just might.” He lowered his eyes. “It seems I may have paid a few too many visits to my Queen’s sister’s bed.”
“Sybil?” Joe asked.
Connor nodded. “I noticed a strange sensation the second time I went to her. After the third, I started to sense her.” He rubbed his eyes. “Last night she went to bed upset because I hadn’t come to her like I’d promised. Her emotions hit me worse than if I’d been staring into her beautiful eyes.”
Joe glanced at Nik, then back to Connor. “Then you understand, this isn’t a choice for me. I have to go after Anna.”
A stiff silence hung between them as the Maori threw partially-charred blankets over the dead. Dragons in movies were thrilling and fantastical. Dragons in real-life were the makings of a modern-day horror. Except for the two seated here, in their human form, talking about their human girlfriends.
Nik fingered the charred edge of his shirt. No one would believe any of this if he ever found the courage to tell someone.
Connor sighed. “I’ll help retrieve the queen.”
Wait. What?
Nik stood. “Are you two out of your minds? Neither of you can shift.” He pointed at Joe. “He’s bleeding again, and we’ve lost the closest thing we had to a doctor.”
Pops moved between them and jabbed a silver pole into the ground. The gleaming metal hummed with the effort.
“Even your odds,” Pops said, folding his arms.
Connor inched back from the dragon spear. “Neither of us can touch that.”
Nik stared at his reflection in the shiny metal. How many times had he stared at the head of this spear when mounted on their family room wall, and dreamed of being a dragon slayer like in the movies? In his childhood fantasies, though, the spear was never this long, and he was a muscular, accomplished hero, not an unemployed factory worker.
Joe stirred, pulling himself to his feet. He seemed to steel himself, before reaching for the spear.
“Wait.” Nik held up his arm, keeping Joe from the spear.
What was the legend?
The spear had been forged with normal metal, but mixed with ground-up talons and the venom from an amethyst dragon, which was acidic, especially to other dragons. Exactly how they’d been forged so long ago
, without technology, was lost to time— part of the reason Nik always considered the relic a fraud. From the looks on Joe and Connor’s faces, however, it seems he was surely mistaken.
Nik drew his fingertips along the cool metal, before seizing the etched grip and yanking the spear from the ground.
Joe gaped, his eyes lowering to Nik’s hand.
No, boss, there is no pain. Nik considered the silence hanging in the air. Connor and Joe exchanged a glance.
Yes, the Kotahi stood among them, human and weak, holding the only manmade weapon that the two of them knew could harm a dragon.
What he wouldn’t have given for a gun, or a goddamn rocket launcher. Not that he knew how to use either.
Anyway, here he was, weapon in-hand with a damsel in distress hidden somewhere in the mountains. In his fantasies, the beautiful girl was always his, and he’d never failed to save her.
Anna belonged to Joe, but the trickle of need sparking across the Kotahi bond itched into Nik’s soul. As insane as this all was, he needed to save her as much as Joe did.
The pressure in his chest lightened as his shoulders relaxed, but his heart still managed to pummel his ribcage. He took a steadying breath. “I’ll carry the spear. I’m going with you.”
23
The Maori helped stuff backpacks for each of the three men while Pops trained, or tried to train, Nik on how to throw an ancient javelin. They made it look so easy in the movies, but it took a good hour before the shaft of the spear didn’t tilt and bang Joe in the back of the head.
What was he thinking, volunteering for this insanity?
Across the clearing, two women rubbed Shun’s dragon venom over Joe’s wounds. One of them gave him the second potion by mouth before placing both jars in Joe’s backpack.
Connor stood beside his younger friend, arms folded, but the large dragon’s gaze was centered on Nik, undoubtedly gauging the puny human’s progress with the art of the spear throwing, or lack thereof.
The only positive from the past few hours seemed to be Joe’s rapid healing. While still wounded, he was no longer limping, and the sense of pain ambling across the Kotahi bond had lessened. If neither Joe nor Connor could shift by the time they reached the mountaintop, though, their chances were still slim.
Nanna approached, smiling. “Everyone has gathered. It is time for the ceremony.”
Of course it was.
Nanna and Pops had ceremonies for everything. The thought of waving goodbye and wishing people luck wasn’t enough for them.
Joe’s voice bubbled into his mind. *Be courteous. Maori traditions have carried your ancestors through the centuries.*
Nik cringed, glancing across the clearing to where Joe slipped his white t-shirt back on. Nik’s thoughts might never be private again. He’d have to learn to control his inner as snark as well as he controlled what he said aloud.
Connor left Joe’s side and approached Nik and Pops. “We need to go or we won’t make it by nightfall.”
Pops waved him off. “A short blessing won’t make or break you, Mighty One. Your king has agreed, and so should you.”
Connor grunted his disapproval, but still strode alongside them to the front of the cavern. The dead lay piled beside the opening, covered with blankets and towels.
Nik couldn’t imagine what they were going to tell the authorities, or how they would get all the bodies back down the mountain.
Nanna and Pops bowed to the dead, before turning to the semicircle of Maori gathered to see them off. A row of children sat at their parents’ feet as if ready to hear a story.
This wasn’t a fairytale, though. Nik glanced back to the bodies. The horrors of this tale were all too true.
Pops elevated his staff. “Our histories tell us that when the gray dragons took power, they broke the treaties humans and dragons placed in effect to protect these islands. All life was hunted nearly to extinction, until we fought back with this.” He lifted the dragon spear in the air. “The fight was hard. Dragons were few, but mighty. We nearly destroyed both our races in the struggle.” Pops glanced around the gaping onlookers.
Nanna placed her hand on Joe’s shoulder. “The previous rulers, the wise crystal dragons, made a pact between the ruling grays and the Maori to end the bloodshed.” Her eyes lingered over them. “The dragons would recede into the mountain, and the Maori would raise livestock along the ridges. The dragons would take no more than 25 percent to feed their kind.”
Nik balked. He’d been taught in school that 25 percent of the livestock along the mountain pastures disappeared yearly. Investors pushed the Maori to move their herds elsewhere to decrease the risk and increase profits, but his people always refused. Now he knew why.
Pops stepped forward. “But the grays found new ways to abuse their power, subjugating the Draconi to their merciless rule.” Pops turned to Joe. “But the rebirth of the crystal dragons is at hand, and the Maori support our new king, by offering one of our own.”
Nanna coaxed Nik forward.
As all eyes fell on him, he couldn’t help but feel like a piece of meat— a sacrifice, just like the girls up on the podium a few days ago. However, seeing the sparkle in the eyes of the children, the look of absolute awe, he couldn’t help but feel pride in representing his people in what had become almost a holy venture.
The adults in the circle, though, wore a countenance of skepticism. He was, after all, Nanna and Pops’ freeloading grandson, the one who couldn’t hold down a job. The one who counted on old people to keep him off the streets. None of them expected him to come back, let alone succeed, but their expressions were clear: better him than me.
Pops sprinkled water on Nik, Connor, and then Joe. “Take with you the blessing of the Maori. May our futures see the day when dragons and man walk the Earth together once more.”
Nanna kissed each of them on the cheeks. She hovered over Nik, holding his face in both hands as their gazes locked. Pride beamed from her eyes, filling him. He gulped down the ball building in his throat. If it was in his power to help Connor and Joe see this through to the crystal dragon’s coronation, he would do it. If not for them, then for her.
Two men helped disassemble the dragon spear and placed the pieces into Nik’s backpack. “Reassembly is easy,” one said. “they fit together in any order. Just keep the pointy end at the front.”
Pointy end.
Front.
Got it.
Nik seriously needed to see a psychiatrist when this was all over.
Pops held up his staff again. “And now, my final gift to you, Great One, until we meet again.”
The crowd parted to reveal golden-haired Pijeth in human form, and his younger brothers, Takata and Shun. They each bowed to Joe.
“How did you get here?” Connor asked.
Pijeth’s lips thinned. “Apparently the ancient Maori ties to the Dranoni are still strong among the gold. We were,” he glanced at Pops. “Summoned.” His emphasis on the last word betrayed he wasn’t quite happy with the idea.
Pops smiled. “And your king appreciates your swift arrival.”
“Leaving was not easy.” Pijeth turned to Connor. “Gale plans to solidify his rule tonight after the lights of Brigham Solstice go dim. We can’t take you closer than a mile to the entrance. I won’t risk being seen with the dissenters.” He bowed to Joe again. “No offense, my king.”
Joe crossed his arms. “None taken.” But a touch of anger trickled across the bond. They referred to him as king, but he wasn’t a king. Not really. Not yet. No one could make that claim until Gale was removed from power, and grays weren’t much on giving up anything they held dear.
Pijeth held out a hand to Joe. “Are you ready?”
“I suppose.” He adjusted the strap of his backpack. “I guess you didn’t bring a saddle.”
A what?
Behind the oldest gold, Shun shifted into dragon form and arched his shimmering wings to the sun.
They had to be kidding.
He looked at
Pops. “You can’t actually expect me to ride one of those things.”
Takata approached. “No gold would lower themselves to let a human ride them.”
Shun took flight and hovered over Connor. The little gold was half the size of Connor in his natural form.
“This should be interesting.” Connor raised his arms. “Ready.”
Fluttering, Shun wrapped his talons around Connor’s shoulders. Connor grabbed the dragon’s legs before they rose into the sky.
Nik gulped. “You have to be shitting me.”
Joe shrugged. “The flying part is actually fun. I can’t say I’ve ever been carried before, but it shouldn’t be much different.” He nodded to Pijeth. “Let’s go.”
The oldest gold backed into an empty space and shifted. He was probably double the size of his brothers.
Mimicking Connor’s actions, Joe raised his hands. Pijeth snatched him without ceremony and then rose into the sky.
“I suppose that leaves us,” Takata said.
“I am not letting you carry me.”
“Did you expect to walk to Dragonmount, human?”
“Not exactly.” He glanced down the hill to the SUV that they’d called in to take Anna down the mountain. Nik had assumed they’d be driving.
Takata arched an annoyingly golden-blond brow.
Why did he have to end up with the cocky S.O.B. dragon?
No matter. “Let’s just get this over with.” He shoved his arms into the air.
“Do try not to scream, and for Brigham’s sake, don’t thrash or squirm.” Takata backed into the clearing, smiling. “I wouldn’t want to accidentally drop you.”
The air around him shimmered as the dragon began to shift. Nik closed his eyes and took a deep breath as the creature’s talons wrapped around him. A breeze kicked the musty smell of dry soil into the air as Takata took flight.
Choking down the bile that leapt into his throat, Nik followed Connor’s lead by grabbing the dragon’s legs as the ground dropped out from beneath his feet. Nik clamped his jaw shut against the scream begging to release, and did his best to remain still while every reflex in his body begged to twist, thrash, and escape the mythical creature carrying him toward certain death.
Sirens and Scales Page 372
