by Dahlia Rose
He found a clearing where the trees and brush had to have been cleared by her in dragon form or by her mother. The trees were pulled from the ground and tossed aside like simple shrubs. No human or machine could do that. He landed easily and placed her on the ground before shifting to his human form. He picked her up and threw her over his shoulder and walked toward the houseboat. The thing looked like it would fall apart on the outside, and he wondered how the boat kept afloat. The shutters hung off rusty hinges, peeling paint adorned the exterior, and the wooden deck didn’t seem stable. Mursi hoped when he stepped on the deck that it didn’t cave in under his feet. He certainly didn’t look forward to wrestling a gator for her unconscious body. Luckily it held firm under his feet and he turned the knob of the door to find it unlocked.
I guess being this far from civilization you don’t need to think about security, he thought. When he stepped inside a difference scene greeted him. The place was surprisingly neat. The walls were a warm cream color and hints of her womanly style were everywhere. A large picture hung on the wall over her small sofa. He could tell the young child in the picture was Michelle and the tall regal woman had to be Vatryn. Her sharp eyes seem to bore into him from the picture as if to say, “Stay away from my daughter.” Then why the hell did you leave her in a human world alone, he mentally snapped as if she could hear him. He lay Michelle on the sofa and went into her small bedroom to look for something to wear.
The pair of old gray sweat pants would have to suffice and he put them on with a long suffering sigh before sitting across from her. While waiting for her to awaken the hours passed and the rest of the night gave way to daylight. He studied her face, skin that seemed to glow as the sun filtered across it. Long, lean ebony thighs and a toned body that showed she was a warrior. Her face was innocent in sleep, almond-shaped eyes covered by eyelids that held thick dark lashes. Her mouth was slightly parted, dusty pink and tempting. She was amazingly beautiful. She lay so still he almost thought she was dead. Usually in the midst of a Shen bite a human could die easily and a dragon could shake with fevers even after the antidote was given.
The more potent venom of the new deadlier Shen who were force-mating kidnapped Paladin females was even worse. But she didn’t suffer from the gripping pain or the hallucinations. Mursi wondered how many times she’d been bitten to make her so resistant to the venom. She suddenly took a deep, gasping breath and sat up on the sofa looking around as if wondering how she got there. He watched as her gaze finally rested on him and watched the play of emotion cross her face. Surprise, happiness, and then wariness, all while Mursi looked at her calmly.
“I thought I dreamt you,” she said.
“As you can see I’m very much here,” Mursi answered.
“Wearing my old sweats,” she said glancing down at his legs. “Thank goodness I like them loose and buy men’s sizes. How long was I out?”
“I’d say about seven to eight hours,” he answered.
“You sat there and watched me all this time?” Michelle asked.
“What else did I have to do? Besides, you had twelve bites,” Mursi pointed out.
“I usually can burn it off without passing out.” She ran her hand through her long dark hair that was now unruly.
“I guess you do this regularly,” he said.
“When you’re alone you do what you can,” Michelle answered. “From the time I did my first shift my mother injected me with small amount of Shen venom to make sure I built an immunity. She knew she’d die and leave me alone.”
“In this world you’re alone, but she never told you about Paladin?” Mursi asked.
“She said the Shen destroyed it and we barely made it out here,” Michelle answered. “She kept me in egg form for a hundred and fifty years.”
Mursi made a sound of disbelief. “And you believed that.”
Michelle pointed an angry finger at him. “What other information did I have but from her? God, you are a sarcastic asshole, please tell me the other dragons are not like you.”
“Your mother was consort to the king, she thought he’d pick her as queen but he picked another. In shame, your mother went through the portal with his seed in her belly and you were the product,” Mursi said coldly. “Maybe she thought she could use you as leverage and failed.”
“Fuck you,” Michelle whispered angrily, and he saw tears sheen in her eyes. “My mother was not an evil whore looking for a payday. She was an artist by day and each damn penny we didn’t use she saved for me. She taught me how to fight, explained about the Shen when they made a reemergence, and told me by all means humans were to be protected.” One tear dropped and Mursi felt like crap. “She looked up in the night sky when she thought I was asleep and wailed for her people, her kin. Does that sound like a woman who wanted to use me for leverage? She found her way here, if she wanted to go home she could’ve found her way back.”
“Listen…” Mursi began.
Michelle stood, her hands clenched in rage. “No you listen, if you came because my so-called kin thinks I want his lineage or what he has you can go back and tell him I’m good where I am. If he or anyone in Paladin are anything like you I’d prefer to never know any of you, go back to thinking I’m alone. I can at least die an honorable death and be with my mother again. Get out of my home.”
“Michelle…”
She sliced her hand to silence him and in one quick move she was crouched near the bedroom door. She hit a wooden slat and it moved, from inside it she pulled a sword that gleamed in the sunlight. It had to be Vatryn’s weapon, and it was perfect, showing that both mother and daughter meticulously cared for it.
“I said to leave my home, dragon,” she said through gritted teeth. “I don’t know you nor do I want to. Go willingly or I will tear this place apart as I fight you.”
“You’d destroy your home,” Mursi pointed out.
She cast a cold glance around. “It’s temporary, the only thing of value is what I hold in my hand.”
He could see by the look on her face that the female dragon was dead serious and she wanted to hear nothing he said. He’d royally fucked up this first meeting, and it was only right to do her bidding. He was barely out the door before he heard it slam and the lock turn. He could rip it off the hinges if he wanted, but he had no doubt she would attack him for that.
Mursi retraced his steps back to the clearing. Before shifting he took off her sweats and folded them neatly and put them on a stump. Mursi took to the skies and found the portal, using it to go back to Paladin. He refused the cloak from the caretaker on the other end and walked toward the palace naked, ignoring the adoring looks from the females he passed. He walked in to the court where Orin sat on the throne, with Hawke close by. Mursi grabbed a cloak that was by the door and put it on. He knelt silently until Orin was finished talking.
“Hell, Mursi can you please get off your knees?” Orin asked. “You’re back quickly, did you find my sister?”
“Yes I did,” Mursi answered.
“And?” Orin prompted.
“I kind of insulted her and she kicked me out of her house and said not to come back,” Mursi explained.
“Damn, what did you say to her?” Hawke asked.
Mursi sighed. “I said her mother was basically your father’s consort and she left in shame. I think I also inferred her mother had her to use for some kind of gold digger purpose. Yes I know, I fucked up.”
Orin was silent, and when Mursi looked at him his eyes were angry. He could see by Orin’s clenched fist he was trying to hold on to his temper.
“My utmost apologies, your highness,” Mursi said.
“Shut the hell up before I come off this damn chair and beat you senseless,” Orin said. “The your highness crap will get you thrown all around this room. By the gods, Mursi, we all loved Larissa, but if you let your grief and anger stop you from fulfilling your oath there will be two empty seats in the warrior court.”
Mursi’s eyes widened at Orin. Never would he thi
nk he’d lose that part of his life. If he was not a warrior what else did he have with Larissa gone?
“I’ll go back to her, I’ll beg for her forgiveness,” Mursi made a turn to leave.
“No. You’ve mucked this up nicely, I’m going this time as well,” Orin said. “Hawke you stay here, I’ll take Biar and Aki with me. We may need the calming force of Aki on this one to smooth things over with my sister.”
“Larissa said he had to do it,” Hawke pointed out.
“Obviously, she or the gods didn’t factor in his anger and self destructive behavior,” Orin snapped. He called a caretaker and the man bowed. Orin directed, “Summon Biar and Aki here immediately.”
“Yes, your highness.” The caretaker scurried off to do Orin’s bidding while they waited.
“We’ll try to be back before the last meal of the night,” Orin said to Hawke. “If not, please see that the families are safe.”
“You know I will protect them all with my life,” Hawke said. “Be careful, Orin, and Mursi don’t make me have to punch you upside your head. Protect our king.”
“As if you’d ever have to tell me that,” Mursi snarled.
“Before I’d say no but I don’t know where your head’s at lately,” Hawke answered.
Mursi couldn’t respond, he knew they were all right. He’d been so steeped in anger and grief that he forgot the bigger picture, the betterment of the entire of Paladin, Michelle, and the war against The Shen. He needed to start straightening up. They left through the portal again, and he almost made a joke about portal frequent flyer miles. But that was the old Mursi and that place in him where he loved life, fun, and children…. Children. His heart ached knowing that he’d never have them with his mate. Larissa, why did you have to make this so hard, why couldn’t you convince the gods to leave me to my grief?
* * * *
Michelle looked out the window of her houseboat at the men coming toward her. She scented them way before she saw them break the clearing where her home was moored. She made out Mursi easily, his scent and his face, he was wonderful to look at and she wanted to touch him but his attitude needed an adjustment. She was willing to do so with a fist to his face, still, she was more curious about the other men-dragons and a world she thought was lost. They stood outside her houseboat, not even bothering to step on the patio, in a perfect line silently waiting for her to come out.
Michelle did so and looked at them warily. “What can I do for you?”
One bowed, his hair was shorter than the others but he wore an air of dignity. His eyes were green and his cloak held together by a massive emerald pin that was the color of his eyes and twisted in intricate gold. His eyes reminded her of her own except hers were a light brown with flecks of green and his were startling emerald green even from a few feet away. There was one who wore a bored expression, and his long brown hair blew in the wind. Another had a black braid down his back, she could see the glint of steel braided into the tips and thought it was a formidable weapon.
“I’m Orin, King of Paladin, and your half brother.” The one with the shorter dark hair bowed.
“I told your man over there you don’t have to worry, I want nothing from you or your throne,” Michelle snapped. “By the way he’s an asshole, I suggest flogging.”
The one with the long braid’s lips twitched. “We don’t do that but for him I’d consider it.”
“Thanks for that,” Mursi said sarcastically.
“You caused this,” the bored one said mildly.
“Be quiet all of you,” Orin said. “May we come inside and speak with you?”
“I don’t know any of you and the one you sent is just plain rude,” Michelle retorted.
“He will apologize, won’t you Mursi?” Orin said.
“I already did,” Mursi said.
“You’ll do it again,” Orin said. “I’ve told you who I am, this is Aki.” He pointed to the man with the long braid. “Next to him is Bior.” Michelle glanced at a bored faced. “And you’ve met Mursi. Now that you know us, may we enter your home?”
“Fine, let’s get this over with so I can go back to what I was doing.”
She turned and went inside not looking to see if they would follow. She was sitting on her well-worn sofa when they stepped inside. The space was definitely smaller with four large dragons in her house.
“I’d say take a seat but there aren’t many,” Michelle said.
“I’m fine with the floor.” Aki made a fluid move and sat cross-legged on the floor. Bior sat leaned against the wall and propped his hands on his knees. Mursi leaned against the wall close to the door and didn’t even meet her eyes. Coward, she thought mercilessly.
“So talk,” Michelle said to Orin. “Or do you need some kind of scroll to say I don’t want your kingly crap.”
“Certainly talks like an American,” Bior commented.
She gave him a cold look. “I was raised as one, if you don’t like it get out.”
“Well, you put a burr in her saddle,” Bior said. “You’ve lost your people skills.”
“Enough,” Orin sighed. “Sometimes you are like children. Michelle, there is nothing to sign nor do I believe you want my throne. What I do want is for you to come see your home.”
‘Why?” she asked bluntly. “I honestly don’t understand. You never met me but want me to go to where you’re from.”
“We didn’t know about you until Mursi’s wife told us,” Orin said.
“How would she know about me?” Michelle asked.
Orin sighed. “Let me explain. We are in a war with the Shen, and in this war Mursi’s wife Larissa was killed. Her spirit came back from the land of our honorable dead to tell us to find you, that you will be needed, that we need each other.”
“I’ve been fighting just fine on my own,” she answered.
“You were bitten twelve times by the new Shen abominations with more potent venom, I don’t count that as fine.”
“But I survived it while you would be dead as a dog with twelve bites,” Michelle snapped. “My mother made sure I could survive, and trust me, after those twelve bites my body is stronger.”
“Do you not want to know your home and where your mother was from?” Aki asked. “As dragons we are stronger together than apart, living here without coming back to the bonds of Paladin shortens your life.”
“My mother died of a human illness. So you mean if my mother had gone back to Paladin she would still be alive?” Michelle asked.
“Yes, many hundreds of years of her life were lost and she was losing her immortality without telling you,” Orin explained. “We are not susceptible to human diseases and if you stay here without coming home you too will lose that part of yourself. Isn’t it hard for you to shift, and don’t you need to sleep to regain your strength?”
“I do, after an unusually long time in my dragon form I need to sleep like a full day and eat a bunch of food,” Michelle admitted.
“Michelle, I would like to know you as a person and a sister in time,” Orin said. “More than that, I would like to see you regain your strength. You will feel it as soon as you go through the portal, you will feel the connection with our home in your blood, the blood of your mother that courses through your veins. You are a Paladin warrior.”
“Is there stuff about my mother there?” Michelle asked doubtfully. Her heart leapt at being a stronger dragon and seeing the home of her mother, but more so she wanted to learn about her family, the people that her mother cried for when she was alone at night. She thought she was with them and that gave her some comfort. But knowing her mother left everyone to live alone because of some shame made her feel like crap.
“There are many books you can go through to learn of Paladin and your mother’s life there,” Orin said. “The war that we fight is changing and the Shen we fight are becoming stronger. Until we find the King and root him out there is not an ending.”
“Even if you kill him the Shen I’ve been fighting lately seem more i
ntelligent and are formulating methodical plans,” Michelle explained. “They have a social structure now, lesser Shen are sent out like foot soldiers and test vulnerabilities, sacrificing themselves to do so. One of the Shen always seems to escape to report back and a second wave of the stronger Shen come in. There are some humans who know what’s going on and have formed an underground militia. There are now groups across the United States and many of them are losing bodies fast trying to thwart the Shen.”
“Humans have no business fighting what they don’t understand,” Mursi said coldly.
“So they’re supposed to leave it up to you and pretend the threat isn’t there?” Michelle threw back at him. “You can’t be everywhere at once, and while you’re chilling in Paladin people are dying and your war is becoming more known. They need to fight for their survival because if you can’t stop the king this world will burn and my mother and I were the front line to that for a long time.”
“I wonder how come we’ve never come across you before,” Bior murmured looking her up and down approvingly. “I’d of remembered you, I’m certain of it.”
Michelle smiled slowly at him. “I think I’d remember you too, big guy.”
He winked, she laughed, and Mursi growled. She barely flicked an uncaring glance over him. She was a female dragon in her prime looking for a mate and Bior was certainly an exceptional looking male.
“If all the men look like you, I’m game,” Michelle kept her eyes on Bior. “When are we going?”
“It’s best to go in dragon form for you, you will have no difficulty since you are one of us,” Orin said. “I believe Hawke told me that your mother’s home is still there and it is yours now that your mother has passed away. Her lands and possessions are passed down to her blood daughter.”
