Dust and Cinder (Rise of the Dragons Trilogy Book 3)
Page 12
Tagin scoffed, his fists tight at his side. “And while we wait, deciding what to do, thousands will die in the Yango’s quest for power. They’re ripping worlds apart as we speak!”
Bosim turned to the other man, his face soft and open. He put a hand on his face, but Tagin stepped out of his reach. “No, love. You will not seduce me to see things your way.”
Bosim’s face took on an injured look. “You are mine. There is no seduction involved.”
Aleen looked at Bosim. “We do not have time for this! We have to go now before they kill more. How many more worlds will fall while we the dragon born do nothing?”
Bosim’s shoulders widened, his face rigid. “You will do as you are told, Aleen.” He turned to Tagin. “As will you.”
Before either of them could respond, Shialn and Mequen entered the room. The atmosphere was thick with tension, and both looked like they wondered what they’d just walked into.
“Are you ok, brother?” Mequen asked Tagin, while giving the side-eye to Bosim, as if he suspected the other dragon of hurting his sibling in some way.
Tagin went to stand in front of his brother. “Aleen and I are ready to end the Yango. Bosim says wait, while many more die.”
Mequen shook his head. “We three are the Dragon Lords, Tagin.” He pointed to himself, Bosim and Shialn. “And we three say wait.” His voice was hard and biting, leaving no doubt that this was a command, not a request.
Tagin hissed at him, in challenge. Mequen rose to his full height, and Bosim cleared his throat. He raised an eyebrow as he looked at Mequen. Mequen stepped back, away from Tagin, a chastened look on his face.
Shialn looked around the room. She looked from Tagin to Aleen. “You will obey. Because of who you are to us, you get away with too much, and we appear weak in front of the other dragons. You will not question our authority again. You will obey.” Her voice became fierce on that last part, and I felt a chill go through me.
Aleen looked as if she’d been sucker punched. “Sister...”
Shialn raised her hand to stop her sister before she could say more. “The only thing I see here is Dragon Lords and those who are lesser. You will do as you are told and wait.”
Bosim went to stand on Shialn’s left, while Mequen went to her right. They stared down at the other two dragons in the room, using the full benefit of their position and power to do so.
Aleen and Tagin looked at each other, then back to the three Dragon Lords in the room. They bowed their heads. “As you wish it,” they said in unison, both of their voices filled with hurt and anger.
Then the picture changed, and we were here, only thousands of years ago, as the Yango land was lush and plentiful. Aleen and Tagin came from the sky, setting the place on fire, causing floods and riptides. What they didn’t burn, they covered with ice or disintegrated with acid.
The Yango came for them, hard and tough men and women who were surrounded by the spoils from their latest battle. Bags of coins, jewelry, food, and supplies lay at their feet.
They didn’t have to steal, as their land had not yet been set barren, so they were doing it for sheer fun. Knocking worlds over and taking what they pleased had been a Yango staple for some time and many wondered why the dragons were so slow to stop them.
The dragons were biding their time. The Yango were many, and they wanted to make sure when they cut the head off the snake, three more would not rise.
My mind fed me all of this, as I continued to watch the action before me.
They converged on Aleen and Tagin, much as they’d done Reid and me. The Yango took them to the ground and stomped them to death. Then used lejet to rip their bodies into pieces. They were relentless in their attack and Aleen and Tagin never stood a chance.
Bosim, Shialn, and Mequen came too late. Aleen and Tagin had blocked them mentally, so the only thing they were able the feel was their deaths.
Anger and rage boiled in all three as a portal to Yango was opened. The three Dragon Lords came through and scorched the ground, killing every single Yango they saw.
They gathered up the pieces of Aleen and Tagin, their hearts heavy and their minds set on revenge. They opened a portal and sent them back to dragon land, and then they stripped the Yango of any chance they had to redeem and live decent lives.
They made barren their land. They drained their rivers, lakes, oceans, and ponds. They poisoned their air, and they felt self-righteous as they did so.
Then they went home and carefully and meticulously put Aleen and Tagin back together, making them statues and waiting for the day when they would rise again.
Still hurt and angry, they rose an army set to go back to Yango and take the world out completely, but the universe blocked them, from that world and every other that was not dragon land. It only open briefly when Reid and I came into our powers, and the universe saw a way to put right what the Dragon Lords had made wrong.
I opened my eyes, now understanding why the dragons had been locked out, but I’d seen the statues move, so I knew something had changed, and a wrong was ready to be righted.
Then I heard it, the flap of wings. Shocked, I looked up to see all three Dragon Lords, as well as Aleen and Tagin coming our way.
They shot fire, ice, water, and poison, and the Yango around us were no more. The only ones left standing in Yango land now were those who were dragon born.
Chapter 26
I could still feel my clan with me. They’d already known the story. I had not. I turned to Reid, and he nodded, letting me know that he’d seen it as clearly as I had.
Bosim and the others touched down before us. They looked determined, as if they knew what they had to do and just wanted to get it over with.
Kyla still lay prone, skin pale, body unmoving. Bosim put a hand to her face, while Shalin touched her stomach, and Mequen her legs. They closed their eyes, and light flowed from them to her, filling her with life.
Where they’d once taken Yango life, they now gave it. Suddenly the fields and lands became lush with green grass and flowers and plants.
The air cleared of poison and off in the distance, we saw rivers rise as rain began to fall.
My eyes went wide as I stared, and Reid put a hand around my waist as we both looked on in awe.
In seconds, confused Yango who’d probably been hiding this whole time filled the streets, their mouths open, their faces frozen in disbelief.
Kyla sprung to her feet. She looked at me and then around at her homeworld, as if she couldn’t figure out what it all meant. She looked at the Dragon Lords, then to Aleen and Tagin, whose eyes were lit with intelligence and knowledge.
She bowed her head.
Bosim held up a hand as he looked at her. “What once was put wrong.” His face softened as he looked at Aleen and Tagin who were now back among the living. His voice rose as he addressed all the Yango that surrounded us. “Has now been put right. We’ve given you back your land, your air, your water, your ability to make and raise your own food.” He pointed to Kyla. “We’ve given you back life, where we once took it.”
Mequen started to speak. “We have given you the means, but the execution is your own.” He opened a portal, to where I wasn’t sure, but it was not dragon land.
Still, a guard who’d been in dragon land while Reid and I were there came through Mequen’s portal, herding thousands of cows, chicken, geese, and pigs. Vegetables sprung up on open land as trees of apples, pears, and olives began to form.
“Your waters are filled with food from the sea. You will not go hungry again, but if you cross this new line we have set, then we will destroy you for good this time,” Shialn said.
“There will be no take-backs,” Bosim continued. “Rob, steal, and terrorize again, and your world will be obliterated, you along with it.”
Mequen spoke next. “It will come without warning or question.” He looked to Aleen and Tagin, who stood watching. “We have all been given a second chance.”
With that, he opened a portal and t
he dragons one by one began to step through. Bosim stopped before leaving and looked at me. “Go home, my child, your work here is done.”
Mequen looked to Reid. “You did good.”
With that, they were gone.
Epilogue-Six Months Later
The sun was shining as the first days of summer crept through bringing with it the smell of freshly cut grass, and a desire to cook out.
Todd and Coen were having a BBQ. Coen, Trout, Lantana, and Iago, had decided to stay here as opposed to going home. Their world had turned on them at a time when they should have banded together. They’d been sold, tortured, and set to die. Not an easy thing to forget.
Lantana sat at the table beside my sister Vonda, probably talking over their new business. They’d opened a consulting firm together, and from the numbers I’d seen, they were doing pretty good.
I cocked my head to the side and watched as Vonda bit into her hot dog, and Lantana munched on chips. Opening a consulting firm from scratch with no experience was not an easy thing to do and I wondered how many spells Lantana had cast to make it all go smoothly.
Not saying they didn’t work hard because they did. I just wondered if Lantana hadn’t paved the way a little.
Beside Vonda, sat Fletcher, deep in conversation with his sister Yemsa. They didn’t live here, but they visited a couple of times a week. Well, mostly Fletcher visited, as he and Vonda were now an item and they seemed happy enough.
Yemsa and Vonda had surprisingly become good friends, which I thought was great. Yemsa and I would never be close. She hadn’t forgiven me yet, and I didn’t blame her.
Edward had come to the BBQ, and I think we were all glad to see him. He sat talking with the twins, who were still happy and thriving under my parents’ care. Ridge’s girlfriend Atina was there as well.
Trout and Iago had decided to stay in Brad and Melinda’s house, claiming it as their own. They had an internet business going, where they sold furniture, exercise equipment, and a few other things from worlds that they sometimes traveled to. They’d taken their money with them when they’d left their homeworld, as had Coen and Lantana, so they weren’t exactly hurting for interworld cash.
Their business too, was booming because a couch from Litvan or a treadmill that burned five hundred calories in ten minutes wasn’t something that could be found here. The treadmill, kept up with your weight and general body chemistry, not working if you’d gone too far over what it deemed safe.
I’d bought one from them, and had steadily learned to pace myself, as I often felt like a wrung-out rag when stepping off the thing.
Still, they were doing well for themselves, and that’s all that mattered. They sat at the table now, side by side, talking to my parents about who knows what.
My mom and dad had been upset when I’d first come back from the Yango homeworld, but as they saw that I was alright, they’d calmed down. They were okay with all of this, for now, well as okay as they ever were going to be.
My father was still my father, and my mom was still my mom, but we were working on it.
Todd and Reid took turns watching the grill while Coen joined the conversation with my parents, Iago and Trout. They were doing well, my brother and Coen. Even more so since Coen had decided to open his own restaurant across town, away from my brother.
Once again, I wondered if Lantana or Iago had done something to get the proper documents in order, but regardless, he was doing well so far. Not that he and my brother were in competition, as they often shared dishes and customers.
Coen would scout other worlds for fresh, new ingredients and he and my brother would add it to their cooking, making new and unique meals that consumers couldn’t find anywhere else.
They were doing good together, and they were good for each other, and that made me happy. Especially since Todd had recently broken ground on what was to be his first nightclub. We were all excited about that.
I smiled at the people around the table then got up and walked to where Reid was flipping burgers, turning over hot dogs, and laying down more chicken, ribs, and steaks.
I leaned over and gave him a soft kiss on the lips. We were good too. We’d both opened our businesses back up, and with our new-found powers, I think we both found a renewed interest in our work.
We’d also opened a small detective agency together on Vilion, where people from all other worlds could hire us out, for all kinds of jobs. It was fun, and the money we made from that went to exploring and enjoying new worlds.
We still went to visit our clans, and now that the gates were partway opened again, they came here as well. Not much, though. They’d been locked out for so long, that none really had the desire to begin interacting with those outside the dragon lands.
Besides, those who were not dragon born still couldn’t open a portal to dragon land, and I for one hoped it stayed that way.
The Dragon Lords themselves had thrown a large bash in a hall that would hold millions. It stretched the size of three cities, and it was said that all who were dragon born were there. I know that Reid and I were.
Aleen and Tagin were there, as I believed the ball to be in their honor. I’d talked to them a little and could feel the power radiating off them just from a few seconds in their presence.
They’d defied the Dragon Lords and did what they’d thought to be right and I didn’t think they regretted it one bit.
Reid popped the top on a beer and took a long pull. “Six months ago, we were—”
“Right where we needed to be,” I said as I kissed him, because that’d been the end and the beginning.
It’d been a long journey. We’d learned new things, and made lots of new friends. My life was full now, every day was something new and different. I looked at Reid and smiled because I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Still not sure what it did, I took out the brown penny-shaped thing from Vilion and tossed it in the air. It exploded into silver, red, and green fireworks as everyone turned and clapped, smiles on all of their faces, just as it should be.
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Other Titles by N. R. Hairston
Magic and Mischief Series
A Magical Reckoning, Book One
A Symptom of Magic, Book Two
Chronicles of Magic and Mischief (Novellas set in the Magic and Mischief world):
Cursed Magic, Book One
World Breaker
Rogue Magic, Book One
World Breaker Beginnings (Novellas set before events in World Breaker, though you don’t have to read one to read the other.) Read this series for free when you join my mailing list, here.
Rebel Magic
Stolen Magic
Crooked Magic
Rise of the Dragons
Fire and Ash, Book One
Smoke and Flame, Book Two
Dust and Cinder, Book Three
Acknowledgements
A special thanks to my beta readers, and editors for making this book what it is. Thank You!
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About the Author
N.R. Hairston resides in Southern Virginia with her family. She enjoys writing, reading, cooking, and spending time with her loved ones.
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