by Noah Harris
“It once wasn’t so,” he said mildly, lifting their joined hands to the stone, hovering close. He closed his eyes, lifting his chin as he felt the hum of power surround them. When he spoke again, his voice was soft, almost a murmur to himself. “Once, we could and did, unite in packs as other shifters do. An Alpha to rule and Elders to guide.”
She scoffed, but her tone was sad. “That was when our kind was powerful and plentiful. When we were powerful. We are no longer seen as the king and queen we once were.”
“Perhaps, it is time to reclaim that title.”
“Perhaps ...”
Together, they reached forward, palms touching the surface of the lodestone. Sparks of power arced toward their flesh, electricity running up their arms. The low hum of power around the room intensified, and Arulean felt his own aura spread. He felt it surging out from him, mixing and mingling with Lyphnia’s familiar power. For once, he didn’t shy away from it. He embraced her aura, letting it combine with his own to increase their influence. He felt it spread outward, catching on the faded presence of their ancestors and kin, amplified by the lodestone, pushing outward. Beyond the cavern, beyond the mountain, beyond their castle, and beyond their valley home. A flair, big and bright, shooting out and calling, blood to blood.
He knew the others would feel it, wherever they were. With every dragon who felt it, it would surge through them, renewing and reinvigorating, and move on to the next. It would crackle and spark through all of them, like a net of lightning connecting their kind, invisible to the naked eye but powerful all the same.
They would answer the call. He had once been a king, chosen by the Elders. They may not bow to him anymore, if they ever did, but they would come. The last of the influential Elders was dead.
For better or worse, it was the dawn of a new age.
Chapter Two
Rajiah was an impatient yet patient man. When it came to arrogance and violence and fear-mongering, he had little patience. When it came to alphas and elders, he had little patience. He didn’t like being told what to do, especially when it went against everything he believed to be right. He hated waiting for changes to be made. Perhaps that was why he had never really gotten along with his own kind. With a lifespan of several millennia, dragons were notorious for being stuck in their ways, allowing stubbornness to carry them through until everything crumbled around them. As it had.
When it came to children and the nature of continuously and persistently asked questions driven by a healthy curiosity, Rajiah had all the patience in the world.
“What’s the castle like?” the young girl asked.
Marli sat on his shoulders, her small chubby hands buried in his hair. She couldn’t be much older than eight. So young and so innocent, barely a seedling in this world. She had grown on him in the weeks he’d spent traveling with her pack. It had been ages since he had seen a dragon so young. They aged normally in adolescence and then their metabolism slowed greatly in young adulthood, creeping forward with such sluggishness that it looked as if they never aged for centuries. That, combined with their dwindling birthrate, meant he hadn’t seen a dragon child in several hundred years.
“It’s big,” he said, gesturing grandly with one hand. “Huge! Carved right into the side of the mountain, with a whole village and a lake in the valley below.”
“Is it pretty?” she asked, voice hushed in awe.
“Very,” He said with more certainty than he felt.
Truth be told, it had been years since he had been there. Years and years and years. Almost five hundred to be exact. The last time he had been there, he had gone to visit his older sister after presenting as an omega. He hadn’t wanted to, but his mother had insisted. It was their effort to showcase him to the world as an eligible young omega. He had hated it. He had spent most of that time hiding, running from his responsibilities, and causing enough general mayhem that no alpha in his right mind would want him.
Much as he had spent most of his life, if he were being honest.
“Will we see dragons?”
“Am I not dragon enough?”
She scoffed. “You’re not a dragon, dragon,” she said in that matter-of-fact way that only children can.
“Is that so?”
“Nope.”
“And why is that?”
He felt her shrug on his shoulders. “Because you’re always down here with us. You’re not up there!” He tilted his head back in time to see her waving a hand in the air.
“I prefer it down here.”
“Why? You have wings!”
“Because I’d rather spend time with you.”
She giggled.
“Why don’t you fly though?” asked her older brother. Regge was a young man trapped in the gangly phase of post-adolescence: limbs and hair too long, awkwardly skinny, and looking like he was trying to fill shoes that didn’t quite fit yet. He walked beside them, hands behind his head and fingers laced together, stride casual and confident. He had recently presented as an omega and was still coming to terms with how his role in his pack had shifted. He put on a strong front, a brave and cocky demeanor, to hide his uncertainty at seeing his alpha peers beginning to treat him differently. Lately, Regge had taken to spending the traveling days with Rajiah and Marli.
“Don’t you like flying?” Regge continued. “If I could fly, I don’t think I’d ever want to walk again.”
Rajiah shrugged, jostling Marli and making her screech with joy. “I do. Flying is an amazing experience. I’ve spent months in near constant flight. But... it’s dangerous now. Humans aren’t afraid to hunt us. We have to be careful.” He glanced sideways, giving the young man a sad smile. “Besides, flying can be lonely.”
Regge looked away, teenage face scrunched up in thought.
Marli bounced on his shoulders, tugging at his hair. “I wanna see a dragon fly!”
“You’ve seen me fly.”
“I wanna see more!”
He chuckled. “You will.” He understood her awe. It wasn’t common to see his kind anymore. Considering the much shorter lifespan of other shifters, most of them had spent their entire lives without ever seeing a dragon. It was a sad thought. Still, at The Summit, Marli would be able to see plenty of weredragons. Not nearly as many as there once had been, but definitely more than she would have ever seen otherwise. “The Summit brings dragons from all over the world. You will see many scales and shapes and sizes.”
“What is The Summit?” Regge asked, side-eyeing him. “I’ve heard you talk to the pack leaders about it. What’s the big deal? A bunch of dragons meet up?”
Rajiah eyed him, an eyebrow raised in mild amusement. “The big deal is that we are mostly solitary creatures. We do not live in packs as you do. Our kind lives spread out across the world, and it is only during a Summit that we all gather. Summits are only called after the death of an Elder or in times of great need. It is when all important decisions about our kind are made.”
He still remembered the call. It had come several days after his mother died. No doubt Lyphnia had felt their mother’s passing. Blood called to blood, and the immediate blood between parent and child was strong. Rajiah had been with her when she passed. It had felt like a part of him had been ripped away, leaving something cold and hollow in his chest. He wouldn’t have been surprised if all of dragon-kind had felt something wrong that day, but her children would have felt it more deeply. Lyphnia would have known exactly what it had meant.
That was probably why The Summit had been called so soon after her death. The last time an Elder died, it had taken weeks for a Summit to be called. News had to travel by word of mouth and messages. This time, there was no need.
Lyphnia and her mate had been the ones to send the call, as they had been for the past several Summits. He had felt it like a wave of lightning, singing through his blood and crackling across his skin. He had felt the pressure of their combined aura flood through him, a wave of power and demand, a call that only dragon-kind could hear.
>
He had resisted the call for years and avoided The Summit. He had no reason to believe that he could make a difference. Dragon-kind were obstinate and set in their ways. They had been at an impasse since the Great Purge, and they would continue to be so. Going to a Summit meant being around his kind. It meant seeing the dwindled numbers and feeling the pressure of his secondary sex. As an omega, he had a duty to breed, to keep his kind alive. Or at least that was what his mother had believed. He didn’t want that duty and had never asked for it. The best way to evade the alphas that would try to claim him was to eschew The Summit altogether.
Unfortunately, this time, he had to go. The call was a song of home and family. He couldn’t have resisted the call even if he tried. Besides, he had been the only dragon kin with his mother when she passed, and as such, he had to deliver her ashes to the burial chamber.
“What is it this time?” Regge asked, drawing him out of his thoughts.
“Hmm?”
“The death of an Elder or a time of great need?”
Rajiah felt his expression darken as he whispered, “Both, I’m afraid...”
“Will they really be able to give us shelter?” the boy asked, voice quiet and uncertain.
Rajiah gave him a sharp nod, eyes fixed on the horizon ahead. “They will.” Packs and shifters of so many species had been flocking to Arulean and Lyphnia’s kingdom for years, especially recently, with the increasing expansion of humans, the evolution of their weapons, and the inflated self-righteousness they had about purging anything considered inhuman. He knew of his sister’s stance on lesser shifters, but he also knew that she had yet to turn them away when they came to live in the valley beneath her castle. He wasn’t sure if that was because of her own need to rule over people, or Arulean’s influence. He didn’t know much of the man anymore or where he stood. He supposed he’d find out. “They will,” he repeated with more conviction. “I’ll make sure of it.”
They were close to the valley when the sickness struck. A mere three days by foot winding through the mountain range, and they would have been safe in the haven that offered food, clean water, and most importantly--healers.
The sickness came on fast, manifesting as a sudden fever in the night. Regge was the victim. He was left in a cart to sleep through the day, his mother watching over him as they attempted to sweat out his fever. By the end of the day, he was much, much worse. Sweat coated his skin, a fever that left his flesh far too hot to the touch. He was flushed, patches of red blotches that blazed with heat all over his torso, arms, and legs. It might have been written off as any ordinary fever had it not been for the massively swollen glands in his neck and wrists.
It was the omega fever. A sickness that wasn’t uncommon among young omegas, when their bodies were still changing. Some called the condition a heat gone wrong, the body fighting with itself. It had once been far more severe than it was now. Now healers knew how to cure the sickness quite easily. Without aid, however, there was a less than fifty percent chance the omega would live.
There were several problems. The first and foremost being that the sickness was known to act fast, flaring through the omega’s body far too quickly and causing far too much damage if left untreated. They didn’t have much time before the damage to Regge’s body became irreversible or mortal.
The second problem was that the pack’s healer wasn’t knowledgeable in treating the omega fever. She was a new healer, having learned what she could from her grandmother before the woman’s recent death. The pack was small, a mere twenty-seven weretigers, most of whom were young. They knew how to treat and handle normal fevers, but there was nothing ordinary about this.
The third problem was that they were still a three-day walk from the valley and any possible help. That time could perhaps be cut down to a day and a half if one ran in their beast form and took minimum breaks for rest. But Regge wouldn’t survive the journey, and even if a messenger managed to reach the valley, there was no guarantee when aid would arrive.
The fourth problem was one that Rajiah was willing to ignore. However, the pack leaders were not so reckless.
“Rajiah, you can’t,” the Alpha said, placing a heavy hand on Rajiah’s shoulder to hold him back. Physically, the man was much bigger than him, but only in human form, and as a dragon, Rajiah always seemed taller than he really was.
He rounded on the man, slapping off his hand and meeting his eyes with a steady glare. “I can, and I will.”
The Alpha didn’t budge, eyes narrowing at the corners. “We cannot allow it,” he said, pain evident in his voice under the hard edge of stubbornness.
“It’s not your decision to make,” Rajiah challenged him, standing to his full height, amber eyes blazing as he squared his shoulders. He might have been an omega, and his human form might have appeared younger than the alpha weretiger, but his aura burned brighter and stronger, and they both knew it.
The man flinched. “Please,” he whispered, changing tactics, expression pleading. “You cannot.”
“If I don’t, Regge will die.” Rajiah bit out, causing the tigers around him to flinch. He glared at each and every one of them, but none would meet his gaze.
The pack leaders consisted of the Alpha, his mate, and two elders. They all gathered around him, blocking him from entering the tent in which Regge lay suffering. Regge’s mother was inside along with Marli, but the rest of the pack hovered a good distance away, pretending they weren’t avidly listening to Rajiah argue with their leaders.
“I can’t let Regge die,” he said, more kindly. “He’s still so young. I can save him. I have to.”
“But who will save you?” asked the elderly woman. Despite her age, which had wrinkled her skin and grayed her hair, she still stood strong and empowered. Both hands on her walking stick, she met Rajiah’s gaze steadily and refused to look away.
“I won’t need saving.”
“You will, and you know it.”
“We don’t know if I’ll get it—”
“It is known that the fever is only contagious to male omegas. Her voice grew quiet, but no less sharp. She wasn’t cruel or unkind, merely stating facts. “It is also known that the sickness is even more deadly in adult omegas. Even with healers, the mortality rate in mature omegas is not favorable.”
“That’s a risk I’m willing to take,” he said firmly, without hesitation. There was no guarantee that he would get the sickness. It would latch onto any omega who handled Regge, yes, but Rajiah was a dragon. He was centuries old and made of stronger stuff than a weretiger. Surely a sickness born in a lesser shifter would have no effect on him. “It’s never been proven that the omega sickness from earthly shifters can affect dragons.” he continued. “I’ve only ever heard of it manifesting and spreading from young dragon omegas.”
“It’s not a risk we are willing to take.” It was the Alpha who spoke.
“So you’re going to sacrifice Regge for what? For me? You barely know me!” Rajiah lashed out. Every moment they spent arguing was a moment that Regge’s condition was worsening. He pointed to the mountain peaks along the path. “This is a three-day journey by foot if you follow the paths. I can make it in hours if I fly. I can take Regge to the valley and get him to a healer. I can save him.”
“It is not a risk we are willing to take--“
“That makes no sense!”
“Young dragon,” the old woman said, voice calming and commanding respect. Rajiah glared at her, but she didn’t back down. He wondered how much of him she could see. Her dark eyes had a milky film over them. “You cannot say with certainty that you will not catch the illness. And if you do, and if you should come to any harm, what do you think will befall us?” She tilted her chin down, keeping her eyes fixed firmly on him. Her tone darkened. “The scarlet dragon’s view on earthly shifters is well-known. We do not pretend to have her love. If her brother were to come to harm because of something we allowed, how do you think she would react?”
It was a rhetorical questio
n that didn’t need answering. He knew exactly how Lyphnia would react, and he repressed a shiver. “You can tell her that I gave you no choice.”
“Do you honestly think that would make a difference?” He stayed silent, and she took that as her answer. She shook her head, face suddenly crestfallen and sorrow in her voice. “We cannot risk everyone. If we keep him in good health, there is a chance that Regge’s fever will pass. It is a slim chance, but still a chance.”
“We have no choice.” The Alpha whispered, wrapping an arm around his mate and pulling her to his side.
Rajiah bit the inside of his lip until he tasted blood on his tongue. It wasn’t fair. He couldn’t stand idly by while Regge fought for his life, not if there was something he could do about it. He understood their reasoning. He knew exactly what fate would befall them if a member of their pack were to give him the omega fever. Still, it was a difficult thing to swallow.
His hands curled into fists, nails biting into his palms. He turned his head to stare out over the mountains, in the direction of the valley. He could clear those tops easily, fly over them and straight for the valley. He could--
“No,” he said suddenly, turning to face them once again. His voice must have been louder than intended because they all jumped and stared at him with wide eyes. “I’ll go get help.” Hope sparked in their faces. He was already pushing past them, heading for the open clearing. He tugged his shirt over his head, casting it to the ground. “I’ll go and find a healer and bring one back.” He shimmied out of his pants, kicking off his boots, and began pulling off the chains and bracelets and pendants that decorated his neck and wrists. He put them carefully atop the pile.
