Prince Verrian: Dragon Echoes Compilation (Return of the Dragons Book 4)

by Rinelle Grey

  She was right. Verrian just didn’t want to admit it.

  Lisa stopped walking, her breathing heavy.

  Verrian frowned. She’d been walking just fine a few minutes ago. “I need a break,” she said out loud. “Walking on this sand is difficult.”

  She was making an excuse for him. Helping him hide the fact that he didn’t know where he was going. He’d never had anyone to do that for him before, and it felt good. Like he wasn’t alone in the world. Lisa had his back. Verrian’s heart warmed. How did she always know the right thing to do?

  Bruce heaved a sigh of relief, and collapsed onto the sand. His obvious exhaustion diverted Verrian for a moment, and he studied the man, wondering if he was up to this.

  Bruce pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket, and wiped his brow. He really did sweat a lot, even for a human.

  It wasn’t like Lyrian was going to mate with him forever. Just because that had happened for both Taurian and Verrian, didn’t mean it would happen for Lyrian. He just had to wake her. Even this pale, pasty human would be capable of that.

  Of course, first they had to find her Mesmer chamber.

  Verrian stared around, wondering how they were going to do that. There were no landmarks out here in the dunes. Nothing at all to indicate which pile of windblown sand hid Lyrian’s resting place. For all Verrian knew, it was miles from here.

  “I need to be in the air,” he said to Lisa. “Then I have a chance of pinpointing the location, a little closer at least.”

  He could sense Lisa’s hesitation.

  Flying was risky. He knew that. He’d experienced all the problems that could arise from a hasty flight. Ultrima and the humans were both, hopefully, busy dealing with each other, but Lyrian’s Mesmer chamber was closer to Ultrima’s lair than any of his other brothers and sisters. Only thirty kilometres away.

  But he couldn’t think of any other way.

  Neither could Lisa, apparently. “Well, I suppose we are a fair way from Ultrima’s Lair, and hopefully that’s where any searches will be taking place. It’s dark too, so less likely to be noticed.” Still she hesitated.

  “We flew up to our lair without any problems,” Verrian reminded her.

  Lisa heaved a sigh. “All right,” she allowed. “But I’m coming with you.”

  “I’m not sure that’s such a good idea.”

  Lisa put her hands on her hips and glared at him. Verrian saw Narrian glance their way. She would guess that the two were talking. Arguing even. Verrian felt a little in the spotlight.

  “You brought me along so I could help, so why not let me? Are you trying to protect me? Cause if so, given the fact that if you die, I do, there’s pretty much no way to do that.”

  She had a very good point Verrian had to concede. He bit back a sigh. In truth, he’d rather have her with him anyway.

  “Let’s go then.”

  He began to undress, and as he did so, he felt a weight in his pocket.

  He hesitated, then pulled Lyrian’s medallion out and handed it to Bruce. “This is the key to Lyrian’s Mesmer chamber.”

  Bruce took it and stared at it for a moment. Lyrian’s leaves blowing in the wind made a pleasing pattern on the stone.

  Then Bruce looked around the dunes. “Where do I use it?”

  “Lisa and I are going to find out. Wait here, and we’ll be back in a few minutes.”

  Bruce nodded, and seemed more than happy for a chance to rest for longer. He didn’t sit down again though.

  Verrian didn’t care what the man did. He had other priorities. He finished stripping off, ignoring how Bruce hurriedly switched his gaze away.

  He handed his clothes to Lisa, not minding how her gaze roamed over him appreciatively as she tucked them into her backpack.

  Verrian scanned the area one last time, listening carefully for any hint that anyone, human or otherwise, was nearby, then when he found nothing, he let himself shift.

  He heard Lisa’s half gasp. Her hand settled on his rump, even before he’d finished transforming, her fingers stroking his scales. Verrian would have loved to stand there and let her stroke him, but now wasn’t the time.

  He bent his front leg. “We don’t have a lot of time,” he reminded her.

  Nodding, Lisa shouldered her backpack and climbed on, and Verrian launched them into the air.

  He gained altitude quickly, just high enough for a good look, then scanned the area.

  It had changed more than he’d expected. Once he could line up his position with some larger landmarks in the distance, including Ultrima’s distant mountain, he could estimate that the treeline had been pushed back several kilometres by the encroaching sand dunes. And they were further south than they should be as well.

  Verrian’s eyes scanned the moonlit dunes, pinpointing the general area of Lyrian’s Mesmer chamber. It would take them roughly twenty minutes to walk to the general area. Thirty at Bruce’s speed, he amended. Once they’d made it that far, he’d still have to search for the specific spot.

  Verrian glanced towards the east, but there was no sign of sunrise yet. They’d have time.

  A loud screech filled the night air, causing the scales down Verrian’s back to raise.

  He twisted his head back, locating the sound.

  The Trima dragon rose out of the dunes near the spot he’d pinpointed, his scales gleaming in the moonlight. Verrian half suspected he’d been napping, buried in the sand.

  Verrian’s muscles stiffened, slowing his wings enough that he sunk a few metres. Even though the wind still blew as hot as ever, he suddenly felt cold. This was it.

  Now he knew where the Mesmer chamber was.

  He just had to get everyone there.

  Chapter 56

  When the dragon screech filled the air, Lisa almost fell off Verrian’s back. She clutched around his neck, hoping she wasn’t strangling him.

  The dragon flew towards them at tremendous speed, closing the distance quickly.

  Lisa felt all the blood drain from her face, and probably the rest of her body too. For a moment, she couldn’t hear anything over the blood rushing in her ears. She gulped in rapid, shallow breaths, feeling faint.

  She should have stayed on the ground. Now what were they going to do? Verrian couldn’t fight the Trima dragon with her on his back.

  Could he?

  Obviously Verrian was thinking the same thing. He dipped into almost a nose dive, and Lisa clung on, squeezing her eyes shut for the first time ever on his back.

  “Lyrian’s chamber is at the spot where he came from,” Verrian said urgently. “You need to get the others there while I distract this dragon.”

  Lisa nodded frantically, not opening her eyes until she felt Verrian’s feet touch the sand. Then, much as she wanted to cling to him, to keep him safely on the ground too, she slid off his back. She couldn’t help letting her hand linger on his scales though, hoping that they wouldn’t get too scratched up.

  “Come back to us quickly,” she told him.

  Verrian inclined his head once, then launched into the air again.

  Bruce stared at her, his mouth gaping. Narrian watched through narrowed eyes.

  “A Trima dragon is on his way. Verrian will take care of him. We need to get to the Mesmer chamber,” she told them.

  Bruce stared up into the sky. Lisa couldn’t help looking as well. It was hard to see much. Dark shadows flashing, the occasional reflection of moonlight off shining scales. She didn’t know what was going on.

  After the Trima dragon’s first, loud screech, neither dragon was making much noise at all. The rustle of wings, the occasional grunt of pain.

  Lisa couldn’t tear her eyes away though. That was her mate up there. And she could do nothing to help him.

  “We need to move,” Narrian said firmly. “Where are we going?”

  That’s right, the Mesmer chamber. That’s what they were here for. With a great effort, Lisa tore her eyes away from the fight above them. She stared at Narrian and Bruce.<
br />
  It was a long walk to the Mesmer chamber. She’d have to leave Verrian far behind. With no one to help him.

  She couldn’t do it.

  She understood that waking the princess was important. But to her, it wasn’t more important than being there to help her mate.

  And it shouldn’t be.

  “It’s that way,” she pointed in the direction. “You need to walk about twenty minutes. Verrian and I will meet you there.”

  “You’re not coming?” Narrian’s expression was unreadable.

  Lisa half felt like the dragon warrior was judging her.

  She didn’t care. “No, my place is here with my mate. Taurian sent you to protect Bruce, and now you get to do that. Get him to that Mesmer chamber.”

  Lisa tried to make her voice sound commanding, like Verrian and Taurian sounded when they were talking to the clan.

  Not something she was good at.

  But she must have achieved it, at least a little bit, because Narrian nodded. “Yes, Princess.” She turned away, and began to lope in the direction Lisa had indicated.

  Bruce though, stared at Lisa for a long moment.

  “Go on,” Lisa urged. “Your job is to wake Lyrian.” She hoped he couldn’t hear the shaking in her voice.

  She wished it would stop. She didn’t have time to be afraid. It would only get in her way.

  He nodded. “Of course.” Finally, he turned, and began to stumble after Narrian. Belatedly, Lisa realised it was going to take him a lot longer than twenty minutes to reach the place Verrian had indicated.

  She’d have to worry about that later though. If this battle went well, she and Verrian could catch up with them, and be there in time to help as they opened the Mesmer chamber.

  If it didn’t, well, it wasn’t going to matter to her, was it?

  *****

  By the time Verrian dropped Lisa off, the Trima dragon was almost on him. He had to bank and climb sharply to draw his enemy away from his mate.

  There was no chance to get the distance he needed to use his sound boom to take the other dragon down. Verrian was a little disappointed he wouldn’t get a chance to try it out.

  He was more upset that the dragon’s proximity meant he’d have to fight him tooth and claw.

  His flank twitched uncontrollably, a reminder of a claw wound long healed. Verrian gritted his teeth, and tried to convince himself he wasn’t afraid. But his heart pounding in his chest said otherwise.

  This wasn’t his forte. He’d managed to fight off the other dragon, near the ruined house, but only with Lisa’s help. Her distraction had saved his life.

  This time, he was going to have to do it on his own.

  He’d learned a little since then, but Verrian wasn’t sure it was enough.

  The Trima dragon swiped a claw at his wing. Verrian dodged back just in time. He swung at the other dragon’s head, not having much expectation of his blow connecting. He wasn’t surprised when the other dragon dodged just as well.

  They were evenly matched. This fight seemed like an elaborate dance, as if they were deliberately choreographing their moves to look dangerous, but never to connect.

  It could go on for a while. Maybe even until daylight.

  If neither of them made a mistake, it could go on forever. Verrian certainly wasn’t going to give up, and he suspected the lightning dragon wouldn’t either. The only way this fight was going to be won would be if one of them made a mistake.

  Probably it would be him, Verrian thought glumly. This dragon probably had a lot more experience fighting than he did.

  At least if he could hold him off for a while, it would give Lisa and the others a chance to get to Lyrian’s Mesmer chamber and wake her. A flicker of hope ignited in Verrian’s heart. Once Lyrian was awake, surely she would come and help him.

  Together they would have no trouble defeating this dragon.

  He just had to hold him off until then.

  An hour or so. He could do that.

  Even as he thought it, Verrian knew that the fight wouldn’t last that long. Flying with this sort of precision was exhausting. One of them would make a mistake long before then.

  Verrian just hoped it wasn’t him.

  *****

  Lisa stared up into the sky, trying to follow what was happening. From down here, it looked like the two dragons were just dancing around each other, not even connecting.

  Looks could be deceiving. The moonlight turned everything silver, even Verrian’s purple scales just looked like a darker silver than the Trima dragon’s. If there was blood, she wouldn’t be able to see it.

  Her heart was hammering in her chest. She wished she could sprout wings and claws, like Verrian had, and fly up there and help him. If there were two of them, she was sure this fight wouldn’t last long.

  Why, oh why had she sent away the only other dragon?

  At least there wasn’t a whole clan here, like there had been when she’d woken Verrian. Either they’d managed to sneak in under Ultrima’s radar, or he was, indeed, being kept busy by the police that Lisa had given his location to.

  Lisa didn’t mind which one it was, so long as he stayed away.

  Verrian faltered for a second, and the Trima dragon’s claws connected with him. But he didn’t make a sound.

  Not physically anyway. Lisa could almost feel his mental howl of pain.

  He didn’t retreat though. In fact, he closed in on the other dragon, swinging around and trying to sink his teeth into his enemy’s wing.

  From down here, Lisa couldn’t tell if his bite was successful or not. If it was, he didn’t hang on for long. The two dragons separated by a metre or two, staring at each other, as though assessing each other.

  Then they closed in again.

  Lisa felt completely helpless, down here on the ground. There wasn’t even any point wishing she’d brought her bow and arrows. Shooting them would mean she would risk hitting Verrian, even if she could see well enough.

  Yet, she couldn’t bring herself to go after Bruce and Narrian.

  She couldn’t bring herself to leave Verrian.

  They were a team now. If one of them died, they both would.

  Lisa suppressed a shiver. Thinking like that wasn’t going to help her one little bit. She needed to shift gears, and think like a dragon princess.

  Like Karla. What would Karla do if she were in Lisa’s position? She was brave, and inventive, she’d think of something to do to help her mate, wouldn’t she?

  No point making excuses about not being able to fly. There must be something she could do.

  What Verrian needed was a distraction, like she’d given him back at the ruined house. But how?

  She could call out, but somehow she suspected that the other dragon wouldn’t be paying attention. Verrian though, would. And she didn’t want to distract him.

  What else did she have?

  Lisa mentally ran through the list of things they’d brought with them. Items Karla had thought might help them with finding Lyrian.

  None of them were weapons.

  But one of them might just be perfect for this situation.

  Lisa pulled off her backpack and rummaged through it, pushing aside Verrian’s clothes to find what she was looking for. Pulling out the torch, she stared at it.

  She’d had one like this as a kid. It was powerful enough to light up the clouds.

  If it hit someone in the eyes on a dark night like this, it would cause temporary blindness, like a flash grenade. With the dragon’s better night vision, it might even be worse than for a human.

  It would only last for a few seconds, but hopefully that would be all Verrian needed. If he got a good hold on the Trima dragon, he could wound him enough to end this fight.

  She just had to be careful not to hit the wrong dragon.

  *****

  “Verrian?”

  Lisa’s mental words echoed in Verrian’s head. It took all his willpower not to shift his gaze from his enemy, to search for his
mate.

  He dodged the Trima dragon’s teeth, concern for his lifemate overwhelming concern for his own wellbeing.

  She was supposed to be safe, moving away from this fight with Narrian and Bruce.

  Somehow, her voice didn’t seem that far away.

  How could he tell that? It wasn’t that her voice was distant or soft—like all dragon speech it sounded just as loud until the other dragon was out of range. Something else was allowing him to locate her.

  Maybe this mate bond speech was different somehow?

  Or maybe fear and adrenaline were playing tricks on him.

  Verrian ducked under the Trima dragon, reaching up for his neck with his teeth, knowing it was futile.

  He was rewarded with a claw across his face as the enemy dragon back-peddled. Pain sliced through Verrian’s cheek and jaw for an instant, then he ignored it. It wasn’t his eye. He could still see. Anything else he would deal with later.

  He swung around, not looking down, sparing just enough mental energy to say back to Lisa, “You’re supposed to be with the others.”

  He almost heard Lisa’s harrumph in his mind. “Do you want help or not, pigheaded dragon?”

  Help? How could she help from down there on the ground?

  Then again, this was Lisa. She probably had a plan.

  Verrian let out a deep breath. She’d help him. He didn’t have to do this alone. It was no weakness to receive help from a lifemate. He didn’t need to hold out until Lyrian woke up.

  He had Lisa. His mate.

  “Of course I want your help. What’s the plan?”

  Chapter 57

  Lisa braced herself, her finger on the switch to the torch. Her eyes, not as good at Verrian’s in the dark, scanned the area ahead of her.

  She needed to wait for just the right minute.

  A dragon flew straight for her, the size and speed at which he approached making her knees weak. Lisa had to fight the inclination to throw the torch and run, reminding herself that this one was Verrian. She had nothing to fear from him.