“I only came back because I didn’t have anywhere else to go at this time of night. I’m going to bed. You two can do what you want.”
They watched as he stomped off to his room and looked at one another. They should probably be angry about his insolent behavior, especially in light of the seriousness of the situation, but instead they had gotten a bit giddy with the absurdities that seemed to have befallen their life. They broke into a fit of laughter, only encouraged by the loud groan they heard emanating from their son’s room.
Chapter 21
After some angry days and heart-to-heart talks, Tio and Radala finally worked out the gulf that seemed to have formed between them. For Maggie, it had been easier. She was the dragon mother and could do no wrong. Tio could not help but draw the parallels from his younger life when he worshiped his mother, even in her absence. How it must have frustrated his father to play second-fiddle to someone who wasn’t even there with them.
Radala had been right about one thing. He had seemed to know since he was just a small boy that Angelica was the one woman for him. Unlike Tio, who had hesitated to tell his secret and almost lost Maggie in the process, Radala told Angelica almost immediately upon understanding what he was himself.
At first, she had been upset about it, knowing that it was something her family would not accept, and something forbidden. Eventually, she had realized that Radala meant more to her than anything they could do or say to prevent her love for him from continuing. With their secret intact, the pair married a mere two years later, in the exact spot where Tio and Maggie had taken their own vows over two decades before.
“I am proud of you, son,” Tio had said at the small gathering that attended the wedding. “Your grandfather would have been proud of you, too.”
“And my grandmother? Your mother?” Radala had asked.
“I have no doubt that she sees you and loves you just as much as I do,” Tio told him.
“Will you ever tell her about me?” Radala asked.
“Eventually, I will tell you everything you need to know. Until then, you will have to trust me, when I say it is for the best that it remains in the depths, where it has been buried. One day, you will understand. I promise you that.”
“I hope so, Father. I truly hope so.”
“You will. You will see why it had to be this way.”
One lifetime seemed to lead into the next, as Maggie and Tio sat on their front porch some five years later and watched their grandchildren playing in the yard. Both were girls, both were dragons, and Tio wondered if the tiger line would end with Radala since there was no son to take over his family name. It was only several years later, when Angelica announced that she was again expecting, that they had a son, the next in a long line of secret tigers.
It was a mixed blessing for both Tio and Radala. On one hand, they would be the last of their kind, but on the other, if the line ended, there would be no more to suffer their dark secret. No one else would have to bear the burden of being a tiger in a dragon’s world. Instead, the line continued on a warm summer’s day with the birth of a fine, young son, who came into the world running.
Year after year, the Sheaver family grew, eventually becoming one of the largest families in a village that was no longer split into three separate areas, but a large tract served by Cassi’s village in the center and expanding outward to encompass the two that surrounded it. These were dark days for Cassi, as those who had once been in her life seems to pass, while she carried on.
“We are so sorry about your father,” Tio told her as they attended the largely attended funeral at his passing.
“Thank you, Tio. You know we were not close, but he was always my father. Despite his harsh ways and choices that he forced upon me, I still loved him.”
“I know you did, Cassi. Still, I know it must be difficult, especially with the recent passing of Mr. Baker.”
“Yes. I will miss Mr. Baker. We were good friends,” she replied with a slow smile.
“I would say you were more than just good friends. You did marry him,” Tio laughed.
“Remember what I told you, Tio. Things aren’t always as they appear. We make choices, whether on our own or at the hands of others. I’ve lived a comfortable life with Mr. Baker, and he has left me the restaurant, which he knew I loved. We fulfilled our agreement the way we arranged it. Still, he was a friend, and I do miss him.”
Tio looked at her, searching her face for an answer he knew he’d never receive. He did not know what the situation might be between her and Mr. Baker, but he suspected that she kept more secrets than any one person should be forced to withhold from those they loved. Of course, he was hardly one to speak of such things.
On a cold winter’s day in early January, she sat by the fire, listening to Maggie read to her many grandchildren, some great-grandchildren many times over. It seemed like yesterday that they were both much younger women, but today, they had seen decades pass in which life had changed for each of them quite a bit since the first day Tio had brought Maggie to meet Cassi at her pub.
“Nanna, tell us about the Great Tio!” one of the older ones called out to her.
“Ah, Tio! You know he is my favorite subject. Did you know that he loved to run? He loved to run so much that he came into this world feet first!”
“So did I!” came several voices.
“That is right. Some of you came into this world with your feet ready to chase down life itself, and others came in head first so you could punch your way through any mountain. I wish that the Great Tio could be here today to see your happy little faces. He would be so proud to know each and every one of you,” she told them. “Now, in the spirit of him, why don’t you all go run around the yard for a bit?”
She and Cassi watched as they all went screaming out of the room and began chasing one another across the great field that now stood barren between the house Maggie and Tio had once shared and the former home of Maggie’s parents, which now was inhabited by Radala and Angelica’s family. She glanced sadly at a sketch of Tio that a merchant had made for her in the village a long time ago and let a single tear fall.
“Why did you have to leave me so soon?” she said softly.
“Oh, love. He’s never left you. Tio once told me that when a man dies, his soul returns to the place where the one he loved is found. I’ve no doubt that he is very much still a part of this house, that he looks down upon all of you with that glorious smile of his.”
“I hope so. I miss him more than I know how to put into words.”
“There aren’t enough words in the world to express such a loss,” Cassi said knowingly.
Decades later, Cassi attended the funeral of her old friend Maggie. A throng of loved ones surrounded Cassi. She counted herself lucky that, despite having no living relatives left, she had so many people in her life that considered her family. There was no way she could have ever told Tio and Maggie just how much their friendship had meant to her during all those years, what a huge hole they had filled with their presence.
With each passing generation, Tio’s tiger clan grew within their hidden recesses in the dragon community, each not knowing their origins until the journals of their fore fathers passed to them upon the death of their fathers. The time had not yet come when they could reveal themselves. When it did, they would know the story of how they came to be, so that they could pass it down openly and honestly from one generation to the next.
A small hand tugged at Cassi’s coat, pulling her back in from her thoughts as she stood at yet another funeral, this one was for a former dragon shifter that had been killed by an unknown assailant. It was a horrible crime, for which she hoped they would eventually find resolution to so that his family could have some justice and some peace.
“Yes, honey?”
“Daddy said that I could come with you to the diner today and help you if you want me to,” the little girl told her.
“Of course, Kara. You are always my best help,” Cassi told
her.
The truth was that Kara was no help at all. She chattered constantly and ate more sweets than she carried out to customers. However, she was the youngest of Tio Sheaver’s descendants, most of which had long ago perished, at least the male line. It was a marvel, that only the females in his family seemed to survive for the typical lifespan of dragon shifters. Cassi could only attribute it to bad luck. Hopefully, this would at least mean she would have Kara around to keep her young for a very long time.
“Did I tell you that I caught a butterfly yesterday?” Kara asked her, her tiny face looking up at her happily.
“No. What did you do with it?”
“I let it go. My father says that there are things meant to run and things meant to fly, and we should never stop either from doing what they were born to do.”
“Your father is a wise man.”
“I don’t know. He also said that I need to find a man and get married, so that I always have someone to take care of me. But I think I can take care of myself, Cassi. I think I can go to school and become something useful that people need, not just someone’s old mother.”
“Don’t you think people need a mother, Kara?”
“I suppose, but there are plenty of women out there to be dragon mothers. I will let them do it. I’d rather do something that doesn’t make me clean up poop or throw up,” she replied, wrinkling her nose.
Cassi laughed loudly. The girl might be a bit overactive and possibly too friendly for some folks’ taste, but she was always a ray of sunshine, and sunshine was one thing always in short demand in Ireland.
***THE END***
Cole (Bonus)
Dragons of Umora Book 1
Sarah J. Stone
Chapter 1
You are not my son.
Those were the most devastating words he could think of. He would rather hear that his parents were dead, that his older brothers, the Crown Prince and the Duke, had disowned him. Anything but the fact that he was not who he thought he was.
His blood boiled in his veins as he stood in the middle of the grand hall, the gleaming thrones mocking him. Cole had been born the third Prince of Umora, a planet so advanced in civilization that there was no pain, no suffering, and virtual immortality through science. Everyone on Umora was some sort of shifter, some sort of magical creature – whether it be wolf, lion, or otherwise. The dragon shifters, however, had always been the royal family, ruling over those beneath them. The witches, the werewolves, and the lions all bowed down to the dragon shifters.
Cole always believed his place in the world was at the top with everyone bowing down to him. He knew that his magic was better than the rest of his family's, but he never thought anything of it. It was a gift, after all.
What he didn’t know, however, was that he was a half-breed witch and dragon shifter – a bastard orphan left on the door steps. He claimed potential royal blood from both sides or neither. He was everything and nothing at the same time.
He should have inherited the richness of the witches and the power of the dragons.
Instead, he lost it all when his father admitted the truth.
There would be no throne for Cole on Umora, no happy ending here. He had been cheated out of everything by matters of his birth.
Cole saw only red as he spun around, looking at the murals on the walls.
This explained so much about his life, about his feelings, and about why he felt like he never fit in. Growing up, it became apparent that he was different than the rest of his family. His magic did not come in the same way theirs did. He could not focus in the same way, could not create the same things. Cole needed to eat more than the rest of them, and more frequently. Alexander seemed to only nibble twice a week, and Nicholas took great pride in large feasts and social meals. But Cole was always ravenous, always strong, and always a moment away from rage.
His rage was so different than Nicholas's rage. Nicholas was simply a kind soul and fiercely loyal, but also ready to destroy anyone who came near those whom he loved. Cole seemed to rage out for no reason, and he himself admitted that he threw tantrums when he didn't get his way.
Everyone was unfair to him. His brothers were allowed to do things that he wasn't. His parents let them lead wars and lash out. But Cole was punished unfairly, even by his brothers. They always treated him like a mischievous child who didn't know how to handle himself.
Death was nothing to him. Feeding for the sake of something to do was nothing to him. He loved the attention, loved the power, but hated how they scolded him.
And now, it was clear that this was not the place he belonged. All these years of trying to fit in, and he wasn't really one of them anyways. They didn't want him; that much was clear.
He continued spinning, barely seeing, barely thinking. His anger was uncontrollable, and his rage lay in front of him. He wanted power. He wanted control. He wanted to show them what he was capable of. He was not a child to be scolded, nor was he someone to be put aside.
And that is when he spotted Earth – painted blue, small, and fragile – in the upper corner of the wall.
If he could not have Umora, if they thought he didn't belong here, he would show them where he did. He would find his own Kingdom; he would make his own throne.
He knew how to take control of a planet. That was nothing foreign to his family. They kept peace and ruled over several planets in the system. One simply needed to purge the planet, control its people, and make them fear you. Only then would they bow down.
Cole turned on his heel and stalked out of the throne room and into the records hall. The records hall contained scrolls of all nature, including rules for unlocking magic on each planet. The Gods who had created the planets, millenniums ago, had written down the secrets to unlocking each one, in the ancient tongue of each planet.
"Cole," a not-so distant voice called.
The unexpected sound startled him; he had thought he was alone in the hall. But his brother, Alexander, was standing there, looking majestic and comfortable. But then again, why wouldn’t he be? He belonged here.
"We've been looking everywhere for you."
Cole smirked.
"And why would that be? Seeing as how I don't belong here? Do you want to lock me up, too? Toss me out of the only home I've ever known?"
"Cole," Alexander took a step further. "I know we've had our differences. But there was no reason for the tantrum you threw."
"Tantrum?" Cole sputtered. "Tantrum? Is that what you call a reaction to finding out your whole life is a lie?"
When his father had finally told him the truth, Cole barely remembered what he had done. All he remembered is rage; all he remembered was his dragon brain taking over.
It was only after coming back to his human form that he heard about the destruction he had caused. He had flown – flown until his wings hurt – and killed whatever had lay in his path. The reports said that he went to neighboring planets, breathing fire, tearing up villages, and leaving civilians dead in his wake.
They had trembled in fear when they saw him coming, bowing to their knees and begging for mercy. But he didn't care about their pleas, nor did he care about their tears.
If his family was going to tell him that he was some half-breed monster that didn't belong, he would show them how he didn't belong.
Let them say he was a criminal; let them say he was a monster with a black soul.
"That is what I call it when it was followed by the amount of destruction you caused, yes," Alexander replied. "Cole...the people..."
"You and father have done much worse in your so-called 'peace keeping missions,'" Cole spat. "Following in his footsteps, as if he's always been around to encourage us."
He knew it wasn't much of an excuse, but there was no excuse that mattered, really. If Alexander was questioning him, then he would not see reason. Alexander was always calm, controlled, logical, and frankly, in Cole’s eyes, boring. He thought carefully about every word that exited his mouth.
"He is not the kind of King I want to be," Alexander growled.
“Poor, poor Alexander,” Cole teased him. “Heavy is the head that wears the crown. Always acting as the martyr. Had Finneas still been alive, your life would be so easy, wouldn't it?”
Alexander's eyes flashed at the mention of their oldest brother. Finneas was supposed to be King, and Alexander would have been his second in command. But Finneas struggled with his own identity, trying to come to terms with what his life's purpose was, and it was never meant to be. It had been two years since Finneas vanished, flitting into the black magic world that was simply known as the Other. No one had ever returned from the Other, and the weight fell heavily on Alexander's shoulders. He had lost his confidant, his mentor, and his best friend. And suddenly, he would rule the land when their father perished.
“Don't you mention him,” Alexander said, although his voice trembled with emotion. “Finneas fought a fight he could not win. But the rest of us are still here. And it does not change the fact that–”
"The fact that I am no longer your brother, just some bastard orphan," Cole cut him off, standing tall.
"That your rage may have killed people," Alexander answered. "You know that when we transform, control is harder..."
Cole simply smirked.
"So, you intend to rule passively? Kill them with kindness, is that it? And be nice to your bastard brother, who was born into a terrible life, but go lucky."
"Cole..."
"Forget it." Cole had found the scroll he needed. "Forget all of you. I was born to rule, and if you won't accept me here, I’ll find another kingdom!"
Alexander's eyes widened.
"Where are you going?"
Cole smirked, drawing the magic around him.
"It's a magic trick, brother," he said, and snapped his fingers.
He felt the familiar magic swirl around him. Magic was always his comfort zone, his safe place that he could go to – a place that baffled his brothers.
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