Married to a Dragon (No Such Thing as Dragons Book 4)

by Lauren Lively

  Uldor was tall, a head taller than me, and had long dark hair. With his broad shoulders, powerful arms and a thick, wide chest, he radiated power and strength. I wondered how I would fare against him in hand to hand combat. Wondered if I even stood a chance against him in our dragon forms.

  Klont and half a dozen other warriors arrived on the ramparts, still armored, carrying spears and swords. I held my hand up to stop them from advancing.

  “Lower your weapons,” I said.

  My men did as they were told, but Klont stepped up beside me, sheathing his sword. He gave me a look that told me he wanted to say something, but he wisely held his tongue.

  “What is it you want, Commander?” I asked. “Why do you come to my castle alone? Especially after your raiding party killed two of my men. Your raiders were wiped out, by the way.”

  He sighed and looked to the ground, shaking his head. “They were instructed to relay my message,” he said. “I had heard they did not do that and acted on their own – which is why I am here of my own accord.”

  “You Sands have killed a lot of our brothers and sisters,” Klont hissed. “Give me one reason why we should not strike you down where you stand.”

  Uldor looked up and I saw the flash of anger and defiance in his eyes. “We've killed no less than you of the Fire Clan have,” he said. “War is a terrible, terrible thing that costs many lives. Far too many of them. But let us not compound that tragedy or dishonor our dead with hypocrisy.”

  Klont looked to me but fell silent. I looked at the man before me, my curiosity only growing stronger. It was quite a risk for an enemy to show up uninvited – and alone. The fact that he was one of the Sand's key commanders only compounded that risk. It made me wonder what was his real agenda.

  “Speak,” I said. “What is it you want?”

  “I am taking the risk I am because some things are more important than our living or dying,” he said.

  I smirked. “I can't think of anything more important to me than living, Uldor,” I said.

  He eyed me carefully, his expression inscrutable. Unreadable. I found myself intensely curious about what the man was thinking.

  “Is your life more important than the lives of all of the dragonborn living in Chondelai?”

  I cocked my head and looked at him. “What are you talking about?”

  “King Wotul,” he said. “He's gone mad. He's going to break our world if he is not stopped.”

  I cocked my head and stared at the man, not sure what he was going on about. Wotul had been the one who'd started the war and had taken to killing the other dragonborn with such zeal. I knew his greed and lust for power were insatiable – but breaking the world?

  “I don't even know what that means, Uldor,” I admitted.

  The man looked at me with an urgency that bordered on madness himself. His entire body was tense – though not like he was about to strike. His madness was born of fear. But what could he possibly fear so badly?

  “The Shongtal,” Uldor said, his voice low, intense. “He's speaking of releasing the Shongtal to aid him in his fight.”

  I felt a knot form in my stomach and constrict painfully as he spoke. I looked to Klont who stared back at me with wide eyes, reflecting the fear I was sure were in my own.

  “A – are you certain of this?” I asked.

  Uldor nodded and then looked away, hesitant to speak for a moment. But then I saw his jaw tighten and his hands clench into fists at his sides.

  “I know this because I accompanied my King to a meeting with Wotul,” he said. “An alliance was discussed for the purposes of defeating you.”

  I chuckled and shook my head, though Klont tensed up beside me and placed his hand on the palm of his sword. I clapped him on the shoulder giving him a look of fierce pride.

  “I shall take that as a badge of honor, Commander,” I said. “That the Ice and Sand Clans would need to marshal their forces together to defeat us. I think that speaks very well of my army – and its commanders.”

  Klont gave me a grim smile, but I could see him puff up just a bit. It was indeed a mark of honor that we had stood against the attacks of our enemies and had repelled them all. That they would need to combine their forces to defeat us spoke very well of my soldiers.

  But I had to let that moment of pride pass by quickly. There were more important – and more disastrous – questions to be answered yet.

  “What of the Shongtal?” I asked. “How do they factor into this?”

  “Wotul believes that he can harness their powers,” he said. “He believes that he can control them, bend them to his will. That he can augment his army with them.”

  “That's madness,” I said. “Lunacy.”

  “It's an act of desperation, my lord,” Uldor said. “Wotul knows he cannot win this war on his own.”

  “A war of his creation,” I seethed.

  Uldor nodded. “Be that as it may, if he does what he believes he can do, it will be the ruin of us all.”

  “Madness,” I said again. “Nobody controls the Shongtal. Nobody. It's why we sealed them away in the first place, so long ago.”

  Uldor nodded. “My King agrees with you, my lord,” he said. “It's why he is asking for your help. Wotul must be stopped before he can destroy Chondelai. Time is short and we must get to the Ice Castle before he can complete the ritual.”

  I turned and looked at Klont – who looked every bit as suspicious as I felt. My guards stepped forward, tense and alert, keeping their eye on the man as Klont and I stepped away to speak.

  “You realize this very well could be a trap,” Klont said. “He already said he was colluding with Wotul. This rush to get you onto a battlefield of their choosing? It stinks to me.”

  I nodded. “The thought had crossed my mind, yes,” I said. “There are many questions yet unanswered.”

  “You can't seriously be considering this?”

  I sighed. “If I do not, and Wotul truly is going to release the Shongtal, we're all going to be dead anyway and Chondelai will be destroyed. You know this as well as I do.”

  “My lord –”

  I shook my head. “We cannot sit by and do nothing, Klont,” I said. “Not if the fate of Chondelai truly is at stake. I am going to lead the army. You are to stay here with a detachment. In case this goes – wrong – you are to assume the throne, Klont.”

  He gripped my arm and looked at me earnestly. “No, my lord,” he said. “You are the rightful King of the Fire Clan. Our people need you. If this is to be done, it will be my honor to lead the army.”

  I gave him a small smile. “It is my duty to our people to ensure that the Shongtal are never released upon this world. My duty,” I said. “And you are the best man I've ever known. I know that with you in charge, the Fire Clan will continue to live on and flourish.”

  “Jyta, no,” he said. “You can't –”

  I gripped his forearm and gave him a smile. “I can. I have decided,” he said. “Protect our people. That is your duty. And if I fail to return, sit the throne and lead us back to glory.”

  He looked stricken as I stepped away and turned to Uldor. I looked around at the land one more time, reinforcing my decision. The world was on fire, but if the Shongtal were released, it would be so much worse. Klont had been but a child the last time they walked free, so he didn't remember who – and what – they were. Didn't remember how purely evil they were – and couldn't quite understand that, that kind of evil must never be allowed to be free.

  I was young, but I was there. I remembered. And I vowed, on that day, that if I had to give my life to ensure it, the Shongtal would never see the light of day again.

  ~ooo000ooo~

  I swooped in low, opening my jaws, and delivered a massive fireball straight to the gates of the Ice Castle. The wood and steel, weakened by the barrage of our combined forces – Fire and Sand – shattered. The gates exploded, sending shrapnel into the sky.

  The way was open.

  For having had such
a depleted army, the Ice Clan had put up a fierce resistance. But they were overwhelmed by the combined strength we threw at them. With battles between dragonborn still raging in the sky, I landed before the ruined gate – half a dozen of my warriors behind me. Uldor and his small contingent landed twenty yards away and we all shifted back into our human forms.

  Our supply dragons, backs loaded with massive packs, landed on the field of ice, allowing my men and I to armor ourselves and claim our weapons. We could not go into the depths of the castle in our dragon forms – we had to go in our human skins.

  Armored and ready, our supply dragons lifted off and flew away to their place of cover to wait for us to need them again.

  “Are you ready?” Uldor called out to me.

  I nodded grimly. “Let us be done with this.”

  Uldor and I led our men into the castle, all Clan loyalties temporarily set aside. If we were successful in defeating Wotul and keeping the Shongtal sealed within their prison, there was going to be much work to do to rebuild Chondelai.

  I had spoken with the King of the Sands and he had assured me that once this was over and Wotul was deposed, we would work hard to restore Chondelai to its former splendor. That we would end the war and find a way back to the peace and harmony that had ruled our world for millennia. Then find a way to deal with the greed and unchecked aggression of those like Wotul.

  But first, we needed to end the threat to our world. Decisively. For, if we failed in that endeavor, everything else was moot.

  Perhaps it was a sign of just how depleted Wotul's forces were that we encountered very little resistance as we strode through the castle. In fact, we hadn't seen a single soldier after we'd set foot within the stone and ice walls.

  Tapestries depicting great victories and scenes of battles hung upon the walls. I had never been inside the Ice Castle and found it to be quite a beautiful place. The ice blocks within the walls glowed with an inner light that shone blue. It was elegant without being overdone.

  The Ice Castle emitted a soothing quality, its vibration within the air one of tranquility – which was so at odds with the reason we were there. The Fire Clan was known for its hot temper and intense passions. The Ice Clan was supposedly the Clan of intellect and reason, the Clan who were more deliberate and thoughtful.

  Waging a destructive war for personal gain seemed so out of character for the King Wotul I'd known long ago. I had to wonder what it was that had driven him to the precipice we found ourselves standing upon. What had changed within him?

  At the end of a long corridor stood four armed and armored soldiers. Seeing us coming, the drew their swords and walked toward us. The soldiers who'd accompanied Uldor and I rushed past, the metallic sound of them drawing their own blades echoing in the empty corridor.

  As the battle was engaged in front of us, I sensed the movement behind. Moving in unison, Uldor and I spun around, drawing our blades in one smooth motion. Four of Wotul's soldiers moved in, blades at the ready. Uldor and I separated, to give ourselves space to move as well as to split up the soldiers. Two followed him and two followed me.

  I could see that they were young. Probably not very well trained yet. But I could see that maniacal zeal in their eyes that said they would lay down their life for their king in a heartbeat – which was about as much time as they had left in our world.

  As the two soldiers rushed at me, I pointed at the torch on the wall and then at the soldier rushing at me, his sword raised high over his head. A fireball erupted from the torch, catching the soldier square in the chest, igniting him instantly. His sword fell to the stone floor with a clatter as the flames consumed his body, his agonized screams echoing up and down the corridor.

  The second soldier, with an angry scream, brought his sword down in a murderous arc. I got my own blade up at the very last instant, barely avoiding having my skull split open, steel meeting steel with a high-pitched ring. The soldier foolishly tried to press his advantage, tried to drive the edge of his blade into my face – and left himself completely vulnerable to attack.

  My breathing was labored and I gritted my teeth – the young dragonborn was strong – as I tried to fend off his attack. Using my free hand, I grabbed the long, curved dagger that hung at my belt and drove it upward, the point of my blade slicing through his armor like it was nothing. The young man's eyes grew wide and his mouth fell open – the strength in his sword arm vanishing instantly.

  Blood streamed from his mouth, spilling upon my armor as his body grew limp, his lifeforce leaving him. I pushed his lifeless husk backwards, where he fell upon the burning corpse of his companion. I looked at the two bodies, said a silent word for each of them, and then turned at the sound of ringing steel.

  Uldor had already dispatched one of the Ice warriors, his body lying on the floor in a pool of his own blood. But the second soldier was proving more difficult. Blood streamed down Uldor's cheek from a gash that had been inflicted during the course of his fight.

  The Ice warrior hacked and slashed, pressed his advantage, and had Uldor backing up, giving up ground. But he looked determined. Had that glint in his eye that marked him as a true warrior – he was enjoying the challenge this young dragonborn was giving him.

  I considered stepping in and ending the fight, but knew that Uldor would see it as a sign of disrespect. He was a warrior. A fighter. If he was going to die, he wanted to do it with a blade in his hand or on the field of battle somewhere. He would not take kindly to my interfering with his fight.

  Our other soldiers had concluded their skirmish and a quick count showed me that two Sand fighters had been lost as well as one of my own. They stood gathered around the steel doors, waiting for us. I could see they were enjoying the spectacle of Uldor and the Ice warrior locked in mortal combat.

  The Ice soldier hacked at Uldor's blade again and again, driving the man to his knees. I feared that he was about to lose his fight when he looked up at me, shooting me a wink. A ruse, then. With the younger soldier continuing to wail on the blade Uldor kept above his head for protection, he slipped a dagger off his belt and drove it straight through the younger warrior's foot. The Ice warrior threw his head back and howled in pain, ceasing his attack.

  Getting back to his feet, Uldor drove the point of his sword into the other man's throat, cutting off his screaming with a wet, gurgling sound. Blood came rushing out of the wound like a river and he fell to his knees before pitching forward onto his face, the pool of blood spreading out beneath him. It was over.

  His breathing labored, Uldor looked at me and grinned. “Tough little bugger, that one.”

  I nodded. “Well done,” I said. “You're a crafty fighter. I'll have to keep that in mind.”

  He shrugged. “Hope you'll never have to use that bit of knowledge.”

  “Me too.”

  We strode up the corridor and our men pushed open the steel doors, leading us into a large, circular stone chamber. In the center stood one of the Dragon Doors – a magical doorway that connected Chondelai to another world, allowing us to move back and forth freely.

  Though, I had never set foot into that other world in my lifetime – nor had anybody else I knew. They were antiquated and the feeling I got was that there was little of interest on the other side. Why the Doors had been constructed – or how – I never knew. They were just a relic. A historical artifact. A mystery from our past that would forever remain unsolved.

  The doorway pulsed with bright, swirling colors, hovering several inches off the ground. Off to the side of the large chamber stood King Wotul within a circle of symbols that had been carved into the stone floor. On a table before him stood a box – the box. It was known as the Blychora and was the prison for the Shongtal.

  “Wotul,” I intoned, my voice echoing around the stone chamber. “Cease what you are doing.”

  He looked up at me, a predatory grin upon his face. “And why would I do that?” he asked. “Everything I want and desire is right here before me in the Blychora.”
/>
  “The destruction of our entire world is there in the Blychora.”

  He shrugged. “Might it be the same thing?”

  I took a step forward and froze in my tracks. My eyes widened and I felt my heart racing when I saw what lurked in the shadows behind the madman. There was no mistaking it. It's tall, slender frame, it looked like a shadow – a shadow with the substance of a man. Its silver eyes sparkled and glowed with an inner fire. And when it looked at me, I could feel the intense hatred coming off it like heat off a fire.

  There was no question at all. It was one of the Shongtal.

  It all made sense to me now. Why Wotul was acting so out of character. Why he'd waged a pointless war. With the Shongtal whispering poison into his ear, of course Wotul had gone mad.

  But how? How had it escaped the Blychora?

  “You are not yourself, my lord,” Uldor called, noticing what I had. “This – creature – is making you do things you would not normally do.”

  Wotul shrugged. “Or perhaps it has helped me become who I was truly meant to be.”

  The Shongtal looked at me, daring me to attack. Though they were shadow-men, they could be killed like any other man – so long as your blade was silver.

  “Wotul, do not do this,” I said. “If you release the Shongtal, you are going to bring about the destruction of Chondelai. You know this.”

  “Yes, that is the point,” he said. “For once Chondelai is destroyed, it can be rebuilt in my image. It can be built in a way that pleases me. And you will all serve me. You will all worship me and call me the Great King.”

  I looked at Uldor and could see that he was tense. Nervous. Of course, he would have been a fool not to be. The Shongtal were nightmares. They were stories told to unruly children to keep them in line. But they were also very real. The stench of evil emanating from the shadow-man standing behind Wotul was powerful. Overwhelming.

  “Do you really think the Shongtal are going to let that happen, Wotul?” I asked. “They nearly destroyed Chondelai once – what makes you think that by setting them free, you are going to have the chance to rebuild our world?”