Stroke The Flame

by Elizabeth Briggs

  Kira

  I had the first dream that night.

  A roguishly handsome man with hair the color of autumn leaves drew a large sword, then lunged at an opponent. Both of them wore the black-scaled armor of the Onyx Army with the red shoulder markings of the Fire Realm division. A small crowd had gathered around them as they sparred, but the auburn-haired man was the only one I could see clearly. Even though I hated the Black Dragon’s soldiers, I found I couldn’t tear my eyes away from him, nor banish the unexpected desire he stirred inside me. As I watched, he dodged, parried, and swiftly disarmed his opponent, winning the training match without breaking a sweat. He bowed to his opponent, and when he rose up, I caught a flash of flame in his brown eyes.

  When I woke my skin was so hot I had to throw the blanket off me. I was certain I’d never seen him before in my life—I would have remembered a man that attractive. I wasn’t sure what the fire in his eyes meant either. The only man who could control flame was Sark, the Crimson Dragon, and that wasn’t him. I’d never forget that monster’s face.

  I brushed it off as merely a strange dream, a result of my loneliness and nothing more, and forced myself to go back to sleep. But the next night, I had another dream. This one featured a different man who stood in a library wearing some of the finest clothes I’d ever seen. Clearly a nobleman of some sort, with golden hair, fair skin, and a finely sculpted face I wouldn’t mind staring at for hours. He was extremely tall, but as he reached for a book on a very high shelf, his fingers barely touched it. A burst of wind suddenly swirled around him, and the book dropped into his hand.

  Impossible. I’d never seen the Golden Dragon before, but somehow I knew this wasn’t him. But if not, how could this man control the element of air? Only the Dragons, the representatives of the elemental Gods, were blessed with such power. Including the Black Dragon, of course—their wife and our supreme ruler.

  It was nonsense, I told myself. Simply my dream brain coming up with strange images because I’d been worried about the Dragons coming for me. That was all.

  But the dreams continued.

  One night I encountered a ruggedly handsome green-eyed man with dark skin, a trim beard, and a broad chest. With muscular arms he hammered a sword, but when he raised it up I swore the metal bent by nothing more than the power of his mind. I had the strongest urge to run to him and bury my face in his strong chest, knowing he would protect me with his every breath.

  In the next dream, I saw a black-haired man who exuded danger slip through the forest like a wraith. Rain battered against the leaves, yet somehow left him untouched. He pulled down his hood, and I caught a flash of sharp, deadly beauty. Upon awakening, my entire body was doused in cold sweat. Like the others, he filled me with a strange sense of desire and longing I couldn’t understand or explain.

  Every night I was visited by one of my strange elemental dream men, although they never seemed to know I was there spying on them. Soon they all began to travel, though I couldn’t tell where they were headed or why. All I got were brief glimpses into their lives without any real context. Or whatever lives my mind was inventing for them, anyway—none of them were real, of course. Even if I began to secretly wish they were.

  The traveling dreams were clearly a sign I should be on my way as well, yet I hesitated. A month passed. I told myself I needed more time. Time to gather my coins. Time to learn more about the Dragons’ intentions. Time to make sure Tash would be okay.

  But I was only delaying the inevitable.

  “Heard there’s a Fire Realm soldier in the tavern,” the fletcher said, as I handed him my coins in exchange for more arrows.

  My fingers clenched around my bow. “A Fire Realm soldier? Here?”

  “That’s what Brant said when he dropped off the wood. Seems like the soldier’s looking for someone. Searching for Resistance members maybe?” He shrugged.

  I stiffened. “None of us have anything to do with them. Everyone knows we all serve the Black Dragon loyally.”

  “I’m sure he’s just passing through.” He frowned and glanced at the door warily, where two Earth Realm soldiers could be seen patrolling the town. “Still, I’ll be glad when he’s on his way.”

  “Me too.”

  It had to be a coincidence. Soldiers from the Fire Realm didn’t often come to Stoneham, but nothing about the fletcher’s story implied the man would be the same one as in my dreams. Still, it couldn’t hurt to get a look at him, just to ease my mind. I needed to head into the forest and bring back some game for Roark, but first I had to be sure.

  I slipped into the back of the inn, where I found Tash and her mother Launa working in the kitchen, their eyes worried and their hands frantic, as if they needed to be doing something. Usually a clue that Roark was drinking again, although I didn’t see any sign of him.

  “Is everything all right?” I asked, as I removed my cloak and hung it by the door.

  “There’s a Fire Realm soldier in the tavern making everyone nervous.” Tash tugged on her braid and gave me a concerned look. “And he’s looking for someone who sounds a lot like you.”

  “Me?” I blinked. “What would a soldier want with me?”

  “I don’t know, but I don’t like it.”

  “Perhaps you should hide,” Launa said, her voice as soft as a dove’s. “We’ll tell him you left town.”

  I seriously considered it, or grabbing my things and running, like I should have done a month ago. But if this was the soldier I saw in my dreams, I had to meet him. It was the only way to find out more about this strange connection between us.

  I touched Launa’s arm gently. “I’ll be okay.”

  She nodded, though her face was lined with concern. Tash gave me a hug and whispered for me to be careful, before I stepped out of the kitchen and into the tavern.

  The soldier’s back was to me, and the first thing I saw was his dark auburn hair, the same shade as it was in my dream. I swore my heart stopped beating as I took a step toward him, and then another. He must have heard me behind him, because he rose to his feet and turned around, his brown eyes meeting mine.

  “You’re her,” he said.

  Recognition slammed into me and I had a hard time speaking. Everything about him—from his perfectly tousled hair to his broad shoulders in a black and red military uniform—was familiar to me. I felt like I knew him already, even though we’d never met. But how was that possible? How could this man from my dreams be standing in front of me?

  And did that mean the other men were real as well?

  4

  Jasin

  A month ago I’d been on patrol in the forest and had stopped to take a piss on a tree when the Fire God, in all his blazing glory, appeared out of thin air and told me to find a woman. And trust me, when a giant made out of flames tells you to do something, you do it. Especially when he wraps a scorching hand around your neck. Except instead of burning me alive, his power became absorbed into my body, branding me as the next Crimson Dragon.

  The Fire God told me my duty and gave me a name—Kira—along with a split-second glimpse of her image and one month to find her. No directions. No hints. Not even a vague idea of what Realm she was in. Just an order to find her, serve her, and protect her. Then he vanished.

  It took me a day or two to wrap my head around his demand and to believe it all really happened. The Fire God didn’t just appear to people, especially ordinary guys like me. Don’t get me wrong, I was a damn fine soldier, but that was it. Up until that point, I wasn’t even sure the Gods were real. No one had heard from them in hundreds of years, after all. Now I’d been chosen by one of them to be his representative in this world and to take the place of the current Crimson Dragon, who wasn’t going to be happy about being kicked out of the role.

  I’d spent the last two weeks traveling from the Fire Realm, following the persistent urge that guided me northwest, into the farthest depths of the Earth Realm. Now the woman the Fire God sent me to find stood in front of me, and she was
so gorgeous it made my blood heat like never before. Her shiny red hair was tied back in a tight ponytail, and I had the strongest urge to free it and let it fall about her shoulders. Her sharp eyes were an intriguing hazel color, as if many different shades danced within them. And her body, with those fit arms, full breasts, and curvy hips…damn. Maybe being tied to one woman for the rest of my life wouldn’t be such a hardship after all.

  A slow grin spread across my mouth. “I had no idea you’d be so beautiful in person. Thank the Gods indeed.”

  “Who are you?” Kira asked, with suspicion in her voice. She stared at me as if she recognized me, but wasn’t sure how. Did she not know who I was? Or what she was?

  “Name’s Jasin,” I said. “I’ve been sent to find you.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “Sent? By whom?”

  “By the Fire God.”

  She took a step back and crashed into a chair, knocking it to the ground, as fear and confusion crossed her face. “I don’t understand.”

  Maybe she truly didn’t know. Had she not been visited by the Spirit Goddess too? Did she not know about the task in front of us?

  I glanced around, but the tavern was empty except for the two of us. I moved closer and lowered my voice anyway to be safe. “A few weeks ago I had a visit from the Fire God. He told me I was the future Crimson Dragon and that I had to find you—the next Black Dragon.”

  5

  Kira

  Everyone knew the Black Dragon and the other Dragons were immortal. They’d ruled for the last thousand years, and would rule for another thousand to come. Each one was the divine representative of the five elemental Gods, hand-picked to serve them and reign over the rest of us. This man couldn’t be one of them—and neither could I.

  “No,” I said, my head spinning. “Impossible.”

  “I’ll prove it to you,” the soldier—Jasin—said. He raised his hand and conjured a ball of flame, which danced across his fingertips.

  Even with the heat from the fire, all I felt was cold terror. I turned on my heel and ran out of the inn as fast as I could while flashbacks of my parents’ deaths filled my mind, their screams ringing in my ears even seven years later. There was no denying it anymore. Jasin truly was the Crimson Dragon—and a soldier for the Onyx Army—which meant I had to get as far away from him as possible.

  I dashed into the forest, down the hidden paths I knew like the back of my hand, crashing through the brush with my bow clutched tight in my fingers. I ran with only instinct and fear guiding me, without a firm plan in my mind other than to escape. Not just to save myself, but to save Tash and her mother too. I couldn’t let him burn them alive, like the other Crimson Dragon had done to my family.

  Jasin called out, “Wait!” He chased me into the forest, and with his long legs managed to catch up to me within minutes.

  When I glanced back, he was almost upon me. I stumbled and tripped over a fallen tree and he crashed into me from behind, tumbling to the ground with me. We landed together with him on top, pinning me down with his hard, muscular body.

  His face was close to mine and we were both breathing heavily, our chests pressed together. “I’m not going to hurt you,” he said. “It’s my duty to serve and protect you.”

  I stared into his eyes without backing down. “Why?”

  “Because you’re the Black Dragon.”

  I let out a sharp laugh. “Hardly.”

  “You are. Or you will be, once you’ve bonded with me and the other three Dragons. Then you’ll be the strongest of us all.”

  The Black Dragon was the representative of the Spirit Goddess and could control all the elements. She always had four male Dragons as her mates, each one representing the different elements of fire, water, earth, and air. If Jasin was correct—which he obviously wasn’t—then he would be one of the men bonded to me for life as my lover, my husband, and my guardian.

  The idea of sleeping with the four men in my dreams sent a rush of desire between my legs, as did the feel of Jasin on top of me. With our eyes locked together, my lips parted and raging hot lust coursed through me. Sparks of passion seemed to flare between us, and for a second I gripped his shirt and nearly pulled his mouth down to mine.

  Gods, what was wrong with me?

  “Get off me,” I said, shoving him aside before I did something stupid. I stood up and brushed the dirt and leaves off myself. “If you’re right, then where are the other three?”

  “I’m sure they’ll be here soon. We were given your name and told we would bond with you in the order in which we arrived. Even if the others tried to ignore it, the need to find you became almost overwhelming as more days passed.” He slowly stood as his dark eyes ran up and down my body like a caress. “I’m glad I was the first though.”

  I tried to ignore the way his suggestive smile made me as warm as the flame he’d conjured. “If you are the Crimson Dragon, then prove it. Shift into your other form.”

  “I can’t. I’ve been chosen to be the next Crimson Dragon, but I won’t become one truly until I bond with you in the Fire Temple. After that, you’ll be able to control fire too and I’ll be able to change into a dragon at will.” He shrugged. “Or at least, that’s what the Fire God told me.”

  “How convenient.” I crossed my arms, skeptical of everything he was telling me. Although he had summoned fire from thin air, so he wasn’t completely full of lies. “You’re a soldier in the Onyx Army. Why should I believe anything you say?”

  All traces of amusement left his eyes and he looked away with a frown. “I was before, yes. Not anymore. I had to leave my post to find you and I can’t ever return. They won’t look kindly on a deserter.”

  No, they wouldn’t. If the Onyx Army found him, they’d assume he was a traitor working with the Resistance and make an example of him. If he was telling the truth, of course. He was still wearing their uniform, after all, though his scaled armor was nowhere in sight.

  I sighed as I debated what to do. I was still wary, but something told me to listen to him. Maybe because I already felt like I knew him after seeing him in my dreams for so many nights. Years of being on my own had made it hard for me to trust anyone, but Jasin felt familiar somehow. If nothing else, I should hear more of what he had to say.

  “Let’s head back to the inn and talk about this over some food,” I finally said.

  “There’s nothing I would enjoy more.” He gestured toward the inn. “Lead the way.”

  He kept pace with me easily, and as we walked we kept sneaking glances at each other. It was hard to believe he was real, and I wondered if he felt the same way. Not to mention, he was definitely easy on the eyes. All those muscles and that cocky smile…yeah, he must be popular with the ladies.

  As we emerged from the forest, I spotted the stable boy bringing in a fine white horse with a saddle decorated with what looked like real gold. Other people who frequented the tavern were gawking at it, no doubt speculating about the nobleman it must belong to.

  “Nice horse,” Jasin said with suspicion, his hand resting on the pommel of his sword. “Wonder who the rider is.”

  I remembered my dream of the man in fine clothing reaching for a book. If what Jasin said was true, the nobleman I’d seen was likely the next Golden Dragon. Assuming any of this was real and not some kind of trick or con. I certainly didn’t feel like the Black Dragon, and I had no magic of my own. All I had were strange dreams that had started when I’d been hit by lightning.

  I stepped inside the inn with Jasin at my heels. Inside, the beautiful golden-haired man from my dream was chatting with Tash, who hung on his every word. He immediately turned toward me, as did everyone else in the tavern, but when our eyes met it was like we were the only people in the room. His face was perfectly sculpted with sharp cheekbones and intelligent eyes, and he possessed an elegance that set him apart from every other man I’d seen before in my life. My breath hitched and desire rushed through me like a hurricane, threatening to blow me away.

  “You,�
� he said, his voice full of awe.

  6

  Auric

  The woman who must be Kira stood before me clutching a bow in her hand, her eyes wide with surprise, but also something like recognition. She was so beautiful it made all other thoughts vanish from my mind, leaving only an intense curiosity about my future mate. I took a moment to study her, mentally logging everything including her worn boots, dark hunting leathers, wind-swept hair, and flushed cheeks. A single leaf was stuck to her brown cloak and, judging from her state, I guessed she had just come from the forest in a bit of a hurry.

  Another man stood beside her wearing the black uniform of the Onyx Army, right down to a sword at his side. His eyes ran over me in a quick, suspicious appraisal. I held my breath, waiting for him to recognize me, but all he did was touch the pommel of his sword as he moved closer to Kira, silently warning me he would protect her with his life. He must be one of the other Dragons. One of the men I would have to share her with. But which one, I wondered?

  “Who are you?” Kira asked me.

  A tricky question indeed. I gazed around the tavern to take in the townsfolk who were all staring at us, including the cheerful waitress. They were intrigued by me, for sure, but no one gasped or shouted my name or kneeled before me. None of them realized who I truly was.

  “Can we speak alone?” I asked Kira, keeping my voice low. I was sure she had a million questions, as did I. Questions that would be better answered without the entire town listening in.

  She nodded, then turned to the waitress. “Tash, is the private dining room free?”

  Tash’s eyebrows practically shot through the roof as she glanced between me and Kira. “It’s not booked tonight. Go on in and I’ll bring you three something to eat.” She brushed past Kira and said, “And you better tell me everything later.”