by Amelia Jade
The furious rage that erupted in Klara’s eyes told her the insult had hit home.
“I’m going to rend flesh from your bones. I will skin you alive,” she spat wildly, climbing high into the sky as Miranda kept flying higher.
“Come and get me,” Miranda snarled, flipping herself around mid-air and pulling her wings in tight to her body.
She was suddenly a flesh and blood torpedo aimed directly at Klara and closing rapidly.
The Fire Dragon stalled in surprise at the sudden change in tactic, and only that saved her as Miranda unleashed her Blastfire, the wave of pure energy slamming into the right side of Klara’s torso. Ruby-red scales ripped free from her body as they warped and shattered, sparkling pieces falling from the sky mixed with blood and flesh as she tore a ragged strip out of her foe.
The hastily launched stream of fire caressed Miranda’s tail as she flashed by, and though pain assaulted her senses, she had clearly gotten the better of the exchange.
Even as she whipped by Klara, Miranda’s wings billowed out to their full extent and she halted her dive, pulling up and gaining some altitude by sheer force of momentum. Klara was hot on her tail, and fireball after fireball came sizzling her direction. Miranda careened left, right, up, and down as she frantically tried to avoid the stream of superheated attacks that threatened to knock her from the sky.
Although Klara didn’t serve with the Guardians any longer, it was clear she was no slouch in combat, and her earlier frantic actions became measured and tactical the longer the fight went on.
If Miranda was going to do something, she would have to make it unexpected. The question was…what?
A cone of blue-white fire flashed by on her right, more intense than any of the red-orange fireballs. The heat battered at her as she dove below it.
Klara was closing.
Then it came to her.
Miranda smiled internally as she looked over her shoulder, trying to appear afraid and panicked. Klara was closer than she’d expected, but the feral gleam in the Fire Dragon’s eyes told her that her plan had worked.
Her midnight-black wings slowed just enough to allow Klara to close even faster, and she watched as the talons of her front legs reached forward, trying to find Miranda, to get a grip on her to inflict the promised pain.
Almost…
Then suddenly the moment was there and she had to act.
Miranda pulled up abruptly and forced her wings as wide as they would go. The air rushing by billowed the membranes out in blinding agony so intense Miranda couldn’t help but cry out. Below her, Klara flashed by, her head twisting around in surprise.
Just in time to receive the intense burst of Blastfire right in her snout. Skin flayed from bone as the crackling force ripped the delicate skin there into shreds.
Even before she’d finished launching her attack, Miranda was already beating her wings furiously to regain speed as she angled in on Klara.
The red dragon shook furiously as blood flowed freely across her face, whipped by the wind as the two dragons tore across the sky.
It was Miranda’s turn to go on the attack and she did so expertly, using small bursts of Blastfire to force Klara to turn the way she wanted, at which point she would hit her with a slightly stronger blast.
Red scales fell from the sky like hail.
Klara screeched as a particularly powerful force of sonic energy hit almost directly where her wing joined to her body. The Fire Dragon jerked and went into a headlong spin as the membrane flapped wildly, stunned useless.
The pair had lost much of their altitude by then in their battle, and the ground was coming up at a rapid rate.
“Pull up!” she shouted at Klara, angling her own dive to get closer, so that she might be able to help. Somehow.
“Die!” Klara snarled and spat a wide stream of Dragonfire at her, the attack covering the sky as the dragon spun wildly through the air.
Miranda roared more in anger than pain and forced herself to pull up and away from the attack.
Klara’s snarl of delight at the small victory turned to a look of shock as her body impaled itself on the same tree she’d lit on fire at the start of the duel. The firm wooden stump erupted from the torso of her dragon as the energy of her fall sent the massive corpse slamming all the way to the ground, where it rebounded once, snapping the thick trunk of the tree.
Miranda settled to the ground nearby as Klara Nova let out one last gurgle, and then died.
What had she done? She’d just killed the ruler of another dragon stronghold! That was grounds for war. Miranda began to shake, still in her dragon form, her wings jittering as she realized she’d just killed another dragon for no good reason.
“Dammit!” she snarled, anger overtaking shock and sadness. She whirled to face the rest of the Council, who were also staring eerily at the body. “Does anybody else want to do anything foolish today?” she snapped. “Who else has to die for you to realize that it doesn’t have to be this way?”
The Council swayed backward, away from the fury of her voice.
But none of them spoke aloud.
“Very well,” she said. “The duel is over. Daxxton is now your King. You will submit to him, or I will show you the error of your ways,” she said, her voice deadly quiet. Her words were short and succinct, but none of them were going to make the mistake of dismissing the challenge in them either.
The Aurum Dragon looked up at her as he came close, his hand reaching out to rest against her foreleg in a calming gesture.
“There will be no more blood shed this day,” he said calmly as the Council looked on. “Will there?”
One by one, the Council nodded in agreement.
“Good,” he said wearily. “I am tired of the fighting, though I fear there will be much more to come.”
The members of the Council muttered uneasily amongst themselves at that.
“Fenris won’t stop just because of this setback in their plans,” he said, cutting off the rumblings of discontent. “If you believe they will, then renounce your Council seats now, and I will find someone willing to do what it takes to protect Cadia.”
None of them moved, though she could see that several were still prepared to resist the notion that war was coming.
“Let me be clear,” Daxxton said from her side, the burning tree still held aloft by its impaled victim in the background. “I will not advocate for war. I will not start one either.” His voice turned to steel as a hard glint entered his eyes. “But I will protect Cadia with every breath in my body, and if Fenris cannot be made to see reason, then I will ensure that they come out as the losers in any fight they might start. Do I make myself understood?”
Several spines straightened and answering looks of pride in their nation answered him.
“Good,” he said. “Now, send out the word. Recall all your inactive Guardians, those that have been put out of a job by my predecessor. Notify them that they are needed once more.” His eyes swept the crowd. “You will all open your respective Academies to any who wish to learn how to become a Guardian. We will need as many trained shifters as we can get. Fenris has been preparing for this for a long time. We must do the same, or we will not stand a chance.”
The assembled Council nodded, and Miranda could see how they were infused with a purpose at last, something that would motivate them to perform to their utter best. No matter what their goals were, each of them realized that without a Cadia free of Fenris rule they could never achieve them. So they would do what was necessary, she believed. They might grumble about it, but none would resist.
It would be enough. It had to.
Chapter Fifteen
Daxxton
“I don’t think you were this nervous even when you were going up against Corbin,” Blaine whispered from his side.
Daxxton just glared at his friend.
They were standing at the top of the steps of the Palace of Nobles in the heart of Tanith. The beige stones of the wide boulevard that led u
p to the steps were covered in a thick red fabric trimmed in gold, as were the steps themselves. A row of Tanithian Royal Guards kept the crowds at bay, magnificent in their all-black uniforms, the edges and accents covered with silver, and a stripe of deep red down the sides of their pants to mark the blood they were willing to shed in their sovereign’s defense.
Beyond the guards the populace of Tanith—and he suspected it was damn near the entire populace—was turned out. They had cheered wildly as he, Blaine, Asher, and Zander had landed at the designated circle a thousand yards distant. The noise had increased as each dragon landed, until it had become a full-fledged roar as his talons settled onto the sharply polished stonework.
He had hoped the people of Tanith would accept him, but he’d been unprepared for the sort of welcome he was getting.
“I think the story of how you won over their princess has made its way around,” Asher had commented as the four of them had walked up the boulevard together.
Now they stood in a line behind him, all of them dressed for the occasion. Daxxton had chosen a martial uniform for the occasion, to signify the events that were bringing them together.
In the month since he had become King of Cadia and formally proposed to Miranda, much had happened, though no major events had occurred. But Fenris had made it clear they were ready to make a move, and they had begun to probe the borders of Cadia. So far they had yet to make a move against Fenris, but a cadre of Cadian Guardians was even now stationed with their newfound ally, helping any way they could to prepare the Tanith population for war.
Today though, was a day for celebration.
“Ready to get married?” Zander teased, his voice easily carrying over the noise.
“I’ve been mated before,” he replied a little unsteadily. “But nothing like this. I must admit, my friends, that I am a little overwhelmed.”
“You and me both,” Asher replied.
Daxxton fixed him with an arched eyebrow.
“I mean, I’m surprised that this many people like you,” he said with a shrug. “I never thought you’d find three people willing to be your groomsmen.”
Blaine snorted with laughter at the smooth delivery of the comment, and even Daxxton had to smile. “Well, you three were the only ones dumb enough to say yes. My real friends know me well enough to have declined.”
Asher laughed outright, but the trio quieted, and Daxxton turned at a slight nod from Blaine.
The crowd hushed as a black speck appeared on the horizon, growing steadily closer. The sun was sparkling, and soon enough the crowd of shifters could make out the way it reflected from the black scales of the approaching dragon.
The instant they realized that, an audible hum arose from the assembled spectators.
Miranda came in for a landing, circling once over the crowd.
Daxxton swallowed hard, his throat suddenly dry as she touched down, and the blackness that was the trait of a Blast Dragon swept out from her wings and engulfed her.
Blaine’s hand squeezed his upper arm. “It’s all worth it, trust me,” he said, his voice speaking from experience. He and his mate had decided to have an official marriage ceremony a few weeks back, despite already having been mated for several months.
He nodded jerkily as the blackness began to condense. Soon he would see the woman who was to become his mate, and his wife.
The crowd quieted noticeably as the inky blackness prepared to evaporate.
Daxxton held his breath.
The shadows parted.
The crowd went wild.
The Aurum Dragon smiled as his love appeared in an explosion of white, her wedding dress a stark contrast to that of her dragon.
She may have been a thousand paces distant, but his eyes let him pick out the details of her beautiful flowing wedding dress. Even as he watched, a team of young shifter girls all rushed in from around the circle to pick up the train. They walked along behind Miranda with exquisite care, careful to ensure no part of her train dragged along the ground.
The strapless gown was of the purest white, cinched together with a belt of gold that gleamed in the sunlight, a metaphor for the Aurum Dragon that held her heart. Onyx earrings bounced jauntily as she walked down the long aisle, carved into the shape of a dragon curled around a sword, her house crest.
Other than that, everything was white. Her hair was swept up and held in place with a white dagger handle.
Daxxton smiled at that little detail, remembering how she’d always used a black dagger to keep her hair swept up, somehow managing not to shred her hair with it. Someone had let her get away with that on a day like today.
Or more likely she told them it was happening and didn’t back down.
His future wife was feistier than any woman he’d known before.
If the crowd had been loud for him, it was deafening as Miranda walked down past them, smiling and waving, her eyes seeming to meet each individual shifter as she passed. He’d known that her people adored her, but this was more than he’d been prepared for. The sheer adulation for her was almost overwhelming.
The two of them had been nervous about how they’d take the news that she was getting married to a Cadian, thus signaling the end of Tanith’s neutrality, but to their knowledge, there hadn’t been a single protest.
A bead of sweat worked its way down his temple as Miranda drew closer and their eyes met for the first time.
But the look of sheer joy on her face made him break out in a smile, which seemed to send the crowd into an even louder frenzy.
She ascended the steps with the grace of a thousand women, and Daxxton couldn’t stop staring.
“You look beautiful,” he said, his voice barely a whisper.
Miranda blushed, and he fell in love all over again.
She stepped up alongside him, and he extended his arm to her.
Hand in hand they climbed the remaining steps together as the crowd roared their approval.
The days ahead might promise rain, thunder, and darkness, but for that day, at that time, the future was as bright as the sun that cast its brilliance down upon him and his love.
THE END
This concludes the Dragons of Cadia series. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Although this story is over, there are more adventures to be had. To get access to my newest stories at the introductory price of just 99c, and for other exclusives, sign up for my newsletter!
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About the Author
Amelia Jade
Amelia Jade loves to write the stories of tall, growly shifter men and the women who come to love them. Living out in the backcountry near the mountains, she keeps her own alpha male close by to keep the bears away and keep her warm. In her downtime (which is rare), she loves to read science-fiction with a dash of fantasy. You can often find her curled up in front of the real wood-burning fireplace, her nose firmly buried in a book or her favorite e-reader. The cold can’t bother her there!
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Contents
Copyright
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
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About the Author
