by Loki Renard
“Fuck,” she growled to herself. “Fuck this.” She reached up to tug at the damn collar. The moment her fingers touched it, it shattered like glass. A thousand little shards burst in a cascade of sharp shatters, landing on the soft carpet in a pile of gleaming twisted metal.
“Oh… fuck…” She looked at the broken pieces, feeling a sudden rush of elation and guilt at the very same time. That had been the last remnant of her captivity and now it was gone, utterly destroyed. She had dreamed of this moment for so long and now it was here she was suddenly unable to think of anything besides Vitomir.
“He’s gonna be pissed,” she murmured under her breath.
She found herself reaching toward some of the larger pieces with some vain childish hope that she might be able to put it back together, but of course there was no chance. The first piece she touched made her bleed almost instantly, a long cut appearing on her finger.
“Fuck!” She stuck her finger in her mouth and sucked on it. Okay, so touching the collar shards wasn’t a good idea.
Thump!
The door of the office flew open, heralding the arrival of a new problem.
“Lilly!” Vitomir called her name, his tone already sounding furious. Oh, god.
She froze in place, still hidden behind and beneath his desk. Maybe he wouldn’t come in. Maybe he wouldn’t walk around…
She saw his feet approaching slowly and then… he crouched down, golden eyes sweeping over the scene with surprise and concern.
“Don’t move,” he said. “Those shards are very sharp. They could cut you to bone in an instant. Stay exactly where you are.”
She sat very still, doing as she was told. He went away for a moment and then she felt him move the desk away from her. He reached out and plucked her from the floor. Left in her wake was a small gleaming circular sea of dangerous dragonsbane shards.
“Well,” he said, setting her down away from the danger. “That finger will need a bandage.”
* * *
“You’re not mad at me?”
She looked at him with large eyes. The truth was, Vitomir was incredibly, almost unspeakably proud of her. With only a few hours of instruction under her belt, she had sought out the charm needed to unlock her dragonsbane collar, and she had managed to speak it well enough to weaken it. Spoken properly, the collar would have come off neatly in two parts. She had mangled the charm and the collar, but still, it was impressive.
He could not, for a second, let her know that. Her disobedience had just escalated in the extreme, and she had put herself at risk in the process. He was not mad, but that didn’t mean she was going to get away with this.
“I will be mad at you when you are no longer bleeding and I am sure you are otherwise unharmed,” he said. “Come on.”
He took her to the bedroom, where he had a small supply of bandages and antiseptics and other medicinal substances. She sat naked on the bed, looking guilty and worried as he tended to her finger. The cut was actually quite deep, as he had suspected it would be, but it was very narrow and had not gone to the bone and he thought it should heal nicely with a salve and a bandage. He applied both carefully, wrapping her thumb down to the palm of her hand to ensure that she did not forget the wound and start banging it around in her careless manner.
“So,” he said dryly as he worked. “I see you put your dragon language lessons to good use.”
“I wanted… I…” she stammered something incoherent and fell silent. She was almost adorably guilty.
“Refrain from using any more charms you might find, pet. With dragon spells, how they are spoken matters. Intonation, timing, rhythm. As with dragon breath, it is all about control. You have no idea how to control your voice. You’re lucky you didn’t sever an artery in your neck.”
“I didn’t think it would do anything,” she said. “I just read the first couple of lines and then…”
“And then performed a ritual only the most highly talented and educated dragons can pull off,” he said with a short laugh. “There is no doubt your father’s blood runs in your veins.”
She risked a smile at that. “I know you hate him,” she said. “But I’m going to take that as sort of a compliment.”
“I don’t hate him,” Vitomir corrected. “Nobody was pleased to see him go into exile, and there were quite a number of people who not only agreed with his actions in trying to remove human blood from the royal lineage, but who believed his exile was a great mistake. He was an integral part of our political landscape. There has been a great deal of unrest since his departure, and Casimer’s rightful focus on his new family is only exacerbating that. There are lower lords who are thinking of trying their hands…” He broke off, realizing the heavy politics would probably be boring to her.
“No, tell me, please…”
“My lands are secure,” he said, “but there are two other high lords and their lands are falling into slow chaos by degrees. Lazarus, your father, he held enough sway, and led enough missions against rebels to put down any in his time. Since then, the high lords of those lands have lost strength. That was the reason I was there on the night you came through that portal. I was there to negotiate some kind of peace.”
“But I ruined that for you,” she said perceptively. “Another half-blood dragoness comes and disrupts the realm’s rulers.”
“I took you as the priority,” he agreed. “And a son was being born. Prince Vadim may only be a few months old, but it was thought having an heir to Casimer’s line would settle the rebellions. It usually does.”
“…but it hasn’t this time, has it?”
“Vadim has human blood. Quite a bit of it. More than you do, really. His great-grandmother was human, his grandmother was human, his mother, Princess Mika, was close to three quarters human. And even with the powerful blood Casimer brings to the mix, it remains to be seen how much dragon will be in the prince. He may not even have a flight form. It is far too soon to tell. There are those calling for the royal union to be annulled and for Casimer to take a full dragon bride, ensure that the realm is not led by one who will be more human than dragon.”
“Huh,” Lilly said. “I guess I can understand that. It makes sense.”
“It’s also possible… though a matter of rumor, that there may be bastard sons hiding in the lands of the other high lords. Casimer was young once. They say he gave in to mating calls. It is possible that the next king of this realm does not reside in the palace, but in one of the provinces, biding his time.”
“Wow,” Lilly said, hanging on his every word. “That’s going to be a clusterfuck.”
“Yes,” Vitomir agreed. “It is. Dragon blood is a powerful thing. Thus far everyone born of a mix of human and dragon has had a flight form. You, my pet, are far more dragon than most. It explains your fiery temper, your rebelliousness, your willingness to do battle with a king at an age when most young women would cower at the notion… but it is something we would do well to think on. Any offspring we have will be a quarter dragon at most. That will leave them vulnerable and perhaps even hated in this world. I worry for the future of human blood in the dragon realm. The peasants will not be ruled by a human, and I do not see how Vadim can help but be human. His bloodline is diluted three times over. I do not see him ever taking the throne. Exile would be the wisest choice when he reaches majority, or he will likely face a war against foes much more powerful than he, and in the end, I believe even the loyal royal guard will side with those of the dragon blood.”
Lilly bit her lower lip and fell silent. Vitomir reached out and brushed hair from her eyes. “Have I troubled you, pet? Was this too much for you?”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “It’s good to know. My father told me some of these things, but he always got too angry and started ranting and…” She shrugged.
“His anger was not his alone. It is near treachery to say, but Vadim would be better born a girl,” Vitomir sighed. “A beautiful human princess could be married to a strong full-bloode
d dragon warrior, and he could take the throne. We would have peace for a few more centuries at least.”
“It’s going to be a long time before anything happens,” Lilly said. “Casimer looked pretty strong to me when I saw him. Doesn’t look like he’s planning on dying any time soon.”
“No,” Vitomir agreed. “And we have more pressing matters to worry about. Like what to do with young ladies who steal charms, destroy collars, and free themselves very much against orders.” He stood back, his hands on his hips as Lilly bowed her head and put her hands in her lap.
“Sorry?” She tried the word to see if it would work, looking up at him under those long lashes.
“I’m not sure sorry covers it, but I’m also not sure I can see my way to punishing you for this either. I taught you the language and left the charm in your reach, in a manner of speaking. I underestimated you, pet.”
He pretended not to see her satisfied smile.
“You no longer wear the dragonsbane shackles, so you can take your flight form,” he said. “I’m going to order you not to. Those priests who took you are not alone in their beliefs. If you are seen flying in the sky, you can be sure that wherever you land there will be those waiting to shackle you to a slab.”
“I’m not really… what they say, right? I’m not some omen of bad tidings? I’m not going to destroy the world?”
“No.” Vitomir chuckled at the thought. “Of course not. That is superstition, and you happen to match the description by a genetic quirk thanks to your human blood. That will not stop more simple-minded folk from coming after you though.”
“But don’t they know…”
“What?”
“Don’t they know what you did to those priests?”
“It will dissuade some of them,” he said. “And others it will only teach to be more careful. Your life could be in real danger, pet. So please, unless it is entirely necessary, and I do mean under threat of imminent death, do not take your flight form.”
“Okay,” she said, nodding. “I won’t.”
“Good,” he nodded. “Now, for your punishment…”
“What! Why would you punish me? You just said you wouldn’t!”
“I said I wasn’t sure. But you destroyed an ancient artifact and un-collared yourself without permission. Pick a reason, if it helps make this any easier,” he said, taking hold of her with intent to tip her over his knee.
“No!” she gasped as the curve of her rear came into appealing view. “Please!”
Her cries did nothing to save her, but a soft cough in the direction of the doorway made him stop.
“Sir,” his doorman said, attempting to be discreet. “There are two gentlemen to see you on King Casimer’s business.”
“You’re fortunate,” Vitomir said, patting Lilly’s bottom. “And you’ll keep, pet. Stay close. I will deal with you as soon as my business with them is complete.”
Chapter Fifteen
Relieved that she had at least received some kind of reprieve, Lilly followed Vitomir downstairs to the foyer. Two dragons were at the door. She did not recognize them, though Vitomir obviously did. One was blond, blue-eyed, carried himself with a haughty air. The other was dark-haired and dark-eyed, so broad he could have carried an ox on his shoulders. They were both dressed in military leathers, dark plated suits that covered them from neck to toe, so clearly they were there on some kind of business.
She felt a pang of panic that they might be there to take her away. Glancing over at Vitomir, she could see by the expression on his face that he had a similar thought.
“High Lord Vitomir,” the blond said after they had dipped into a near synchronized bow. “We must speak with you on a matter of extreme urgency.”
“Go up to the bedroom, pet,” Vitomir said. “Wait for me there.”
Lilly nodded and slipped up the stairs, but of course she did not go anywhere near the bedroom. She camped out near the top of the stairs and kept an eye and ear out for the conversation below.
“Valkimer, Chaksley, what is it that brings you to me?”
“We’ve detected significant instability out this way,” the blond named Valkimer said. “You have recently taken the daughter of Lazarus as your pet. It may be she is attempting to open a portal back to her world.”
Lilly put her hand over her mouth to prevent herself from yelling out that it wasn’t true.
“I don’t believe so,” Vitomir said. “I have not given her much in the way of free time, and certainly I have not given her any access to anything which would open a portal.”
“She has her father’s blood. Anything is possible.”
“Not in my presence,” Vitomir replied.
“She is not in your presence at this moment,” Chak pointed out reasonably. “And we know more than most how hard a human female can be to control.”
“Ah, yes, your lovely mate, how is she? And your sons?”
“All are well,” Valkimer said, his tone short. He had clearly not come to swap social niceties.
“I can tell you, I have seen no sign of Lilly opening any kind of portal. I don’t believe she has the knowledge, or the interest. If there are signs of instability here, they are not coming from this house,” Vitomir repeated, his tone becoming equally as short as Valkimer’s.
“They are centered almost directly upon it,” Valkimer interrupted. “I am sorry to contradict you, High Lord Vitomir, but there is almost certainly a portal either recently opened, or about to. If it is not your pet’s doing…”
Lilly stopped listening and ran to the bedroom. The upper window had a good view out over the fields surrounding Vitomir’s country estate. When she reached the window and looked out, she saw that the clouds and sky had taken on a distinct violet hue. She knew that color. Had seen it before. That was the color the sky had been in images taken just before the first great portal ever opened.
Smaller portals like the one she’d come through distorted space and time, but in such relatively small ways that no visible spectrum shift occurred. Larger ones… they changed everything.
She ran from the window, downstairs, past the dragons. “Something is coming! Outside the walls!”
They followed her out into the garden and through the garden gate. She pelted into the field and then stopped at a point where the world was beginning to shimmer.
“There!” she shouted and pointed. “There!”
The ground rumbled beneath her feet. The world tore open and through the breach more than a dozen jet black tanks poured through, two abreast, one after the other.
Everything after that happened so quickly she could barely stand it. The armor fell from Valkimer and Chak’s bodies and they rose into the air as two dragons, one black and gold, the other yellow and blue.
Vitomir grabbed Lilly and looked her in the eye with the same ferocity she had seen before. The ferocity that heralded death.
“Fly!” he hissed. “Fly as far as you can and do not come back. I will find you.”
There was no time to argue. Tank cannons started firing, frightening her terribly. Her dragon form flowed without thought and she took to the sky as the army attacked, smoke and flashing fire and booming discharges. She heard a dragon cry out and knew to the very core of her being that one of the men had been badly wounded… her wings stalled, the tip flicked and then she whirled back around and came down with a ferocity and will like none other.
The battle raged, almost twenty tanks against Vitomir, Valkimer, and Chak… and her obsidian form flashing through the smoke and flames. In the midst of it all, she saw Valkimer’s large form swoop down next to the portal. He had something in his talons, something he dropped when he took his walking form, then picked up and started working with. She could not tell what he was doing, but she did see the cannon of a nearby tank sweep toward him and she knew that he was about to become so much splatter across the field. She swung down from the sky, grabbed the cannon in her talons, and wrenched it with all the force she could muster. It came
off the top of the tank like a tin of sardines, peeling it open and exposing the humans inside. She did not know what happened to them, for she was rising out of the way of fire and when she came around for another pass, she saw that the portal had been closed, and Valkimer’s blue and gold flight form had once more risen into the sky.
With the portal sealed, no more reinforcements could arrive. The tanks already present had their escape cut off and from there it was only a matter of time. Their cannons blazed to the end, but when the dragons’ war frenzy settled, there was nothing left of the tanks. They had been ripped apart like tin cans, their inhabitants meeting fiery ends. If they had been fortified against the radiation of the dragon realm, it had made no difference against several thousand degrees of pure concentrated fire and fury.
Landing outside the field of battle to avoid seeing any of it directly, Lilly took her walking form and immediately vomited copiously from the stench. She was entirely naked and shaking with the force of adrenaline and fear and horror. In her flight form, she had acted on instinct, and now that she was back in her fragile female flesh, she was shocked at what she had been capable of. The training she had received from her father had been theoretical and even the practical exercises he’d put her through, drills with a sword, and the occasional breath of fire, lacked any real effect or consequence.
She fell to her knees, hearing someone sobbing and wailing nearby. It wasn’t until her hands clapped over her mouth and the sound stopped that she realized she was the one crying out.
“Lilly!”
Vitomir came charging across the field and scooped her up from the ground. “Oh, Lilly, I told you to fly. I told you to flee,” he said, brushing her hair back from her face. He was entirely naked, just as she was, just as all the warriors were.
