by K L Rymer
There’s no bond stronger than a rider and their dragon.
Chapter 19 - Bryn
We leave Greece the next day and proceed to our next destination— Scandinavia.
Thomas had a gut feeling that we would find our next dragon eggs in this cold, northern region of the world.
Once again we camp like nomads, and immediately, I miss the warmth of Greece.
It’s too cold. I miss the comfort of a cozy bed and soft sheets as we’ve been on the road for weeks now.
But at least we have more than half of our dragon army now. Four down and three more to go. And not to forget Gwyneira’s secret bun in the oven too.
Well, not so secret anymore...
I had an inkling something was going on between those two dragons as I’ve been observing their behavior very closely (I study animals in the wild, so it’s only natural).
The she-dragon has looked tired and beaten down lately, and then there’s her heavenly glow and her vomiting too. Not to mention the mood swings.
Brynmawr has also been extra fatherly around the babies, especially Sparkle Hearts and Zelina – his favorite girls.
It just means we will have one more dragon to add to our army.
Once again, Thomas, Zahara, and Angelina make it a competition on who will find the next egg.
The latter has vehemently expressed that she doesn’t desire the bond between a rider and a dragon; she’s only in it for the win.
The bitch hates to lose, see.
However, Thomas and Zahara are eager to have that beautiful bond with their very own dragon.
Why not? It’s the best thing ever.
I trek through the forest with the trio, deciding to join them on their egg hunt. It beats lounging around camp doing nothing, so I may as well make myself useful in this war against the Humphreys.
I walk side by side with Thomas as the bitches march ahead of us.
It’s effing freezing as I try to stand as close as possible to the wolf shifter— shifters have very high body temperatures.
I just hope Thomas doesn’t get the wrong idea; he already has an Unseelie flirting with him nonstop.
Speaking of said fae, she keeps stealing glances at the nerdy shifter, licking her black lips.
Thomas sets his jaw in place. “I really wish she’d stop. I have a girlfriend...”
I think about Katie the cat shifter then, wondering who'd win in a fight for Thomas's affection.
Zahara without a doubt. The bitch is lethal.
I laugh. “Take it as a compliment. She thinks you’re hot.”
Hell, I think he’s hot—metaphorically and physically speaking.
“Still... she’s creeping me out. You can just tell she’s a freak under the sheets.”
My eyes pop from my skull as his cheeks blush red, and I point a finger at him. “You like her too!”
The shifter stumbles. “N-no I don’t! She’s not my type! She’s too dark.”
I slap my sides, and his eyes burn bright gold. “Bryn, stop!”
“Your glasses are steaming up, Wolf Boy...”
Alarmed, he pulls his glasses off, and fuck is he hot without them. He’s like the cute shy one in the boy band who you just know has the biggest dick...
“Ha, made you look!” I taunt when Thomas inspects his glasses.
They’re steam-free.
He clenches his straight teeth, slipping them back onto his aquiline nose. “You’re really immature. Let’s just focus. We have an egg to find.”
“Don’t worry. I will make sure you find yours before Barbie and Morticia. I always root for the underdog...”
Thomas throws me a reproachful look. “Underdog? Is that supposed to be a joke? Because it’s not a very funny one.”
I smirk. “Now that you mention it, yes. Loosen up, Thomas, you’re always so tense.”
“I can’t help it. It’s my wolf. His senses are on overdrive.”
At that, a real wolf howls in the distance (or it could be a shifter, who knows), and Thomas’s hackles rise.
I just know he’s going to do the howl.
I’m like that fox from Zootopia...
Zahara skips over. “Ooh, it seems your pack is calling for you, Tom.”
Another wolf howls and soon they break into a chorus. I savor the sound.
I love wolves... I know they tend to be the bad guys in fairy tales and literature, but they’re just so beautiful and majestic.
Thomas’s body convulses as he resists the urge to howl. They probably are just your average, run of the mill wolves (you know, ones that don’t revert back to human form), yet the shifter still wants to join in the howl.
Thomas throws his head back, releasing a long, haunting howl as he lets his alpha have full reign of his vocal chords.
Yes, the nerd is an alpha. Not an omega.
Who knew...
The wolves stop. No canine answers back, too afraid of the intruder creeping onto their territory.
I’ve seen his wolf form after all; he makes Jon Snow’s Direwolf look like a Pomeranian.
Zahara croons. “So hot... You can howl like that for me again when you join me in my tent tonight.”
The Unseelie stalks over and takes his arm, but he wrenches it free and stomps ahead of us. He passes Angelina, and the vampire watches him mildly interested.
The two have somewhat become secret best friends ever since they joined forces last year to help me wake Brynmawr the lazy dragon. They’re the smartest people in our group after all, being Ingenious and all, so they’ve spent a lot of time in the library.
I always wondered if they kissed or anything, but they’re really not each other’s type. They’re both just so attractive, like everyone else at the school.
“What’s wrong with you, Goldburn?” the vampire asks.
The shifter stops beside her, turning back to glare at Zahara. “Why don’t you ask her?”
Confused, Angelina peers back at me and Zahara. “Which her?”
I pull a face. And she’s supposed to be bright?
Thomas growls, storming off again. “Ugh, forget it.”
Now he takes the lead. It’s best none of us split up. Despite the full moon tonight, none of us want to get lost.
It’s creepy out here.
Angelina joins me and Zahara, and now I stand between those two bitches.
“Not that I have any place telling you what to do, but if you really want to get the shifter’s attention, Zee, you need to start playing hard to get. Men don’t like easy women. I should know...”
I whirl around, ogling the vampire. Is she really giving Zahara dating advice? I suppose they have become friends now.
“Please...” the Unseelie denies. “I only want his hairy dick. Nothing more.”
Angie’s brow pulls up. “You sure? I see the way you look at him. You want a little more than his hairy dick, Zee...”
“Ugh, can we stop saying hairy dick, please?” I complain, sick to my stomach.
It’s really not a good image.
The Unseelie scowls at the vampire. “What would you know? You’re just as heartless as me after all. Love is alien to you.”
A smirk grows over Angie’s lips. “So you admit it? You love him?”
Zahara scoffs. “As if...”
The vamp sighs. “A shame he’s with the cat.”
I gape as Zahara’s eyes spark at the mention of Thomas’s cat shifter, and I don’t believe it. Does she really like Thomas in that way?
Ah, shit. The last thing our house needs is another couple arguing all the time.
We already have Damien and Felicity for that.
Jack and Nora better not get any ideas...
“Thomas deserves better than that snooty bitch,” the Unseelie confesses next.
I have no idea what to make of this new revelation.
Thomas stops ahead of us, and we all watch as he sniffs the air like a dog.
“What is it, boy?” Zahara jokes.
Thomas
straightens, meeting the Unseelie’s eyes, and now its pitch black against gold. “I sense something... It sounds and feels like humming.”
All three of us stop to listen. We don’t hear or feel anything.
The shifter gets back to work, letting his nose lead the way again. We rush after him, weaving between the tall pine trees as he picks up the pace. I can just about keep up.
Before long he stops before the black mouth of a cave, sniffing at the entrance. He directs his hand, and he reminds me of a German pointer when it finds game. “In there...”
All four of us stare into the dark abyss.
I back away. “Yeah, I’m not brave enough to go in there.”
Angelina yanks me by the arm. “Too bad we need your red flames, Bryn. Come on.”
I have no other choice but to go down that cave as the vampire drags me by the arm, and now I summon my flames.
We crawl inside the tight space, and at once I’m claustrophobic. Screw this shit. Luckily for me, the tunnel soon expands, and I can breathe once again.
We finally come to the end of the cave, meeting a stark rock face. Thomas stops by the stone wall, sniffing at a golden rock inside.
Holy fuck... has he sniffed out gold? We’ll be rich.
Well, not this day and age. Gold’s worthless now, yet still... I’ve never seen treasure like it. The only thing that comes close is a dragon egg.
Wait...
Thomas shifts into his wolf arms and starts digging at the rock with his long claws, and it chips away.
I knew he was strong but damn.
As you can imagine, Zahara looks just as enamored. Angelina helps him out, kicking and punching at the rock as it crumbles away, and soon the golden egg rolls free.
Thomas catches it like a baby in his arms as he cradles it to his chest, a broad smile on his wolfish face.
He looks up as none of us speaks. We don’t need too.
There’s no doubt in my mind that we’ve just found our fifth egg.
Unfortunately, that leaves Angelina and Zahara as the last two without a dragon egg, and already I can feel the rift between the two.
Let the war begin.
Chapter 20 - Bryn
Once again we stand around a campfire to summon a baby dragon.
Well, it sure feels like we’re summoning. But really we’re just cracking eggs open like we’re making breakfast.
Thomas’s eyes glow like a pair of miniature suns as he clutches his golden egg as if it’s valuable treasure.
I guess it kind of is. It is a baby dragon, one of the rarest beasts of all. Judging by its shiny, yellow carapace too, it’s going to be a golden dragon...
Brynmawr said that golden dragons are very rare, and Thomas has been a smug bastard ever since. Zahara and Angelina stare him daggers, and I gulp when I think about the mini-war that is about to blow up between the two.
Who will be the next to find a dragon egg?
If you asked me two years ago, I would have pined for Zahara (only because she was my first bestie at the academy). But if you ask me now, I’d probably pick Angelina. We have a complicated history, but the girl has really grown on me, becoming my friend in the process.
Zahara has become a bitch, but who knows... Maybe she’s always been a bitch.
Still, I want them both to find their dragon. Even though she openly expressed no interest, I know Angelina’s lying.
Vampire Barbie wants herself a little baby dragon.
Brynmawr steps toward the fire and people make way. He’s the mother fucking Red Dragon. They should.
His golden eyes meet Thomas’s. “You ready, Thomas?”
The light dances upon Thomas’s glasses as he gives a nod, and now the dragon stretches his neck back.
He blows air onto the fire, and it rises up immediately. The babies squirm with excitement.
Damien whistles, “Nice.”
Brynmawr looks smug. “Well, what can I say?”
Thomas steps up to the fire, raising the egg like Rafiki raised Simba over Pride Rock.
“Everyone, move back. I am about to drop the egg onto the flames!”
We all do as he asks, and I hear Zahara mutter, “So hot...”
She really needs to stop. It’s bordering on harassment now.
The shifter gulps a mouthful of air, letting it all back out again, and now he lets go of that beautiful, shining egg.
Like the four eggs before it, it starts to crackle and pop, and soon the flames change color. They flicker bright gold, the same metallic glow of Thomas’s eyes, and I close my eyelids when I hear that tiny dragon wail.
Nothing sweeter; it’s even cuter than a human baby crying.
The golden dragon pops its head out of the flames, locking its gaze onto Thomas immediately.
I’m not surprised; all the others said that their dragons called to them too when in egg form. Thomas said he could feel humming.
A little creepy, but beautiful at the same time.
I wish Brynmawr hummed to me. Instead, he burned my dragon tattoo.
We watch as the fifth member of our budding dragon army makes his way to his new rider with pride, and already I can see he possesses a similar smugness to Thomas.
Not that you could blame him with those solid, golden scales. That dragon’s going to have a tough hide for sure when he comes of age; he’s already built like a tiny war dragon.
Thomas, still looking as serious as ever, kneels down to pick up his new dragon. “His name shall be... Maximus!”
I jump. “Yes! Finally. One of you picked a roman name!”
Everyone stares at my outburst.
Shit... did I say that out loud?
I hide my face. “Sorry.”
The shifter offers me a lopsided grin, then lets Maximus go so he can play with the others.
The golden dragon saunters toward his new playmates like he’s the bee’s knees, and Sparkle Hearts and Zelina are impressed by his scales. Buddy offers him a solemn nod.
Funny how everyone’s dragon matches their personalities.
Shadow Stalker remains on Damien’s shoulder, eyeballing the newcomer as if he’s a threat. Nothing new there.
The little golden dragon even has the audacity to look down his snout when he stops by Brynmawr and Gwyneira, even though the pair could gobble him in one go.
The Red and White dragons exchange nervous glances while that tiny asshole sizes them up.
“H-hello, Maximus... I’m Brynmawr and this is Gwyneira. We will be your substitute parents until you come of age... We will show you the ways of the dragon.”
The miniature dragon sharpens his eyes, and he really has got a nerve. You’d think he shits gold with the way he carries himself.
“You needn’t bother, Mother and Father... I can teach myself how to be a dragon, thank you very much.”
The silence next is deafening.
Did... did that hatchling just talk? He’s five minutes old.
Brynmawr and Gwyneira stare horrified. The she-dragon even pales. I can see by their shocked expressions that a talking baby dragon is not the norm in their world.
It must be like meeting a talking newborn baby. Shiver...
He has the voice of a pompous eight-year-old boy. It’s hard to explain. He sounds like a child but talks like an adult.
Seems he’s a child genius then.
He’s definitely the Sheldon Cooper of the dragon world. Acts like him too.
Brynmawr blinks. “If... if you say so...”
Maximus turns to Thomas. “Let us retire and leave these imbeciles. We must get some rest, new rider.”
Thomas offers him a clipped bow. “At once, Maximus.”
They both leave for Thomas’s tent, and now we watch them in complete silence. The shifter zips his tent down, and the two soon fall asleep.
Zahara’s the first to speak. “What an arsehole...”
She’s right. Thomas’s dragon really is an asshole.
A golden asshole.
; I look up at my dragon. “Did you really have no idea hatchlings could talk?”
Both adult dragons still look as if they’ve seen a ghost. “As... as I said,” Brynmawr answers. “Golden dragons are rare...”
Gwyneira shivers. “I’m going to have nightmares for weeks.”
We’re all still in a little shock. All is quiet as no one moves for some time, so when a stick snaps in the woods behind us, we all jump, turning to meet a pair of lingering shadows in the trees.
My heart races as I ready my flames. Everyone else falls into their own battle stance.
The first figure steps forth, and I drop my hands when that familiar, bearded face stares back at me.
He spreads his arms wide. “Bryn! Long-time no see!”
Tears fill my eyes as I dart forward, throwing my arms around Myrddin. “Myrddin! Where... where have you been?!”
The wizard chuckles, patting my head softly as I hold onto him for dear life.
I’ve been so worried, thinking he was dead or something. We’ve heard nothing from him.
“Not to worry, I’m fine now. Ah, and what have we here? New babies?”
The baby dragons crawl toward him, wagging their tails, and it’s like they’re drawn to his magic.
I let him go then, peering absentmindedly behind his shoulder. A gasp leaves my lips, and I turn white all over.
It’s... it’s Mattie...
Chapter 21 - Bryn
I summon my red flames, seeing that I’m not the only one channeling their powers. Some even shift theirs into weapons; Zahara has her crossbow and Angelina her blue shotgun. Damien has his pitchfork, looking particularly very demonic with that hissing piece of shit hanging from his shoulder.
The wyvern flares his wings at Matthew, thriving off all the negative energy that has just developed in camp.
Who can blame us all for being so tense? The last time we saw this mother fucker, he trapped us in a tower. The only way we could escape was through Damien’s portal to Hell. And now here he stands beside Myrddin as if they’re old friends.
Yet I can’t deny that a huge part of me is relieved to see his handsome, chiseled face again. A really, really big part of me. My body reacts to his glorious presence as my lady parts cry out for him.
