by Rinelle Grey
Narrian shook her head. “I don’t think so. He can’t be making too big a storm. And I think the dunes will be making it pool rather than rush everywhere. It’s worth a try.”
Bruce’s face was pale, but he nodded determinedly. “If we can get out, he’s not going to be looking for us there. You might be able to surprise him from behind.”
That was just what she was hoping for. And she was glad Bruce agreed with her.
He released her, and for a moment, Narrian was sad at the loss. But if this went well, then they’d be able to continue this later.
That thought gave her the strength to step up to the wall, and let her fist transform.
Her metal scales gave her the strength and protection she was going to need. Narrian took a deep breath, and punched the wall as hard as she could.
The cracks widened, and a chunk of rock fell out, falling into the water with a plop. A shower of sand followed it.
Narrian pulled her arm back to punch again, but Bruce’s hand on hers stopped her.
“Give it a minute,” he said. “See if any water comes in.”
It was a good suggestion. Narrian nodded, and watched the small hole for a few moments, but nothing happened.
Bruce nodded. “Try again.”
It felt good, to be working together as a team. Like they really could make this work.
Narrian’s spirits were high as she punched the wall again, slightly to the left of the hole.
This time, there was a loud cracking. The stone split, and started to fall away in large chunks.
“Watch out.” Bruce pulled her back, a large chunk of rock narrowly missing her shoulder.
The ground rumbled around them, and sand cascaded in where the rock had fallen out.
Followed by water. It poured in, splashing all over them, wetting them through.
Narrian caught hold of Bruce as it threatened to pull her under, and he stood like a rock, pulling her back up and setting her on her feet, his arms around her waist.
Even his presence didn’t help Narrian this time. She couldn’t see anything but the water, all around them, rising quickly.
She’d made it worse. Now they’d lost the precious window of time they’d had.
“It’s stopping.”
Bruce’s words penetrated her fog of hopelessness, and Narrian turned to look.
The water was slowing to a trickle, then stopping altogether.
Her heart pounded. Was that it?
It seemed she had been right. There had been a pocket of water above them, but that was all.
“We need to move quickly, before there’s more,” she said firmly.
Bruce nodded. “You first.”
He bent a little in the water, and linked his hands together to give her a leg up.
Narrian stepped onto his hands, resting her hand on his head as much to say thanks as for balance.
Bruce hoisted her up into the hole she’d made.
The sand falling and the water rushing in had widened it enough that she had no trouble fitting through. The problem was getting a hand or foothold on the edge to climb out.
Narrian stepped onto the edge of the wall, hoping that would get her high enough, but it crumbled under her feet, sending another shower of sand down.
Bruce didn’t budge though.
Narrian took a deep breath, and tried again. This time, she made it out, rolling over on the sand, away from the edge.
She caught her breath, then scrambled back to the hole on her stomach, reaching down a hand for Bruce. “Come on.”
He reached up, and his hand gripped hers. Narrian pulled as hard as she could. Bruce scrambled on the stone, and she could hear it falling down into the water below.
Then he was out, rolling on the sand next to her, gasping for breath.
Narrian felt an urge to celebrate with him. They’d escaped from a watery death. But they weren’t safe yet. She sat up, her eyes scanning the area.
The rain pelted down, and lighting flashed through the dark clouds. But as she’d said to Bruce, the area was very concentrated. They were almost on the edge of the storm, the rain lighter here.
That had probably save them, as had the small dune between them and the official entrance.
It not only protected them from the water, but it also hid them from the dragon. She hesitated, then said quietly, “He doesn’t know we’ve made it out. We could probably just leave, and he’ll still be there, staring at the entrance.”
Bruce’s eyes met hers. “He is already wounded. This is a different situation to you risking your life rushing up the stairs when the chances of making it were slim.”
She knew that.
Then she’d thought she had something to prove. That chip on her shoulder had been so big, she’d been willing to risk her life to prove she wasn’t a coward.
Now she knew that courage came in many forms, and that using common sense wasn’t cowardice. Bruce had shown her that.
She smiled, and reached out to put a hand on his arm.
He winced, and reached his hand up to his injured arm. His fingers came away bloody, and he grimaced. “Must have opened it up again.”
Narrian frowned. “That settles it,” she said firmly. “We need to get you back to the lair so someone can see to that.”
He searched her face. “Are you sure?”
Narrian nodded. “I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.”
Her eyes met his, and she could see the uncertainty and hope in them. He felt the same way she did. About more than just this.
She wanted to explore that more with him, but right now, they needed to get out of here.
Narrian hesitated, but she was pretty sure this situation could be called an emergency. She began to pull her clothes off.
Bruce blushed, but he didn’t turn away. So Narrian got to see his eyes widen as she transformed, her body softening and melding into its true dragon shape. She bent one leg, saying into Bruce’s mind, “Let’s get out of here.”
He was more than ready to oblige, scrambling onto her back and hanging on.
Narrian cast one last look in the Trima dragon’s direction, but he was still hidden from them by the rain and clouds of his own making. She lifted into the air, and headed for Rian clan lair as fast as her wings would take her.
Chapter 11
Even though he could tell she was flying as carefully as she could, by the time Narrian landed at the entrance to the lair, Bruce’s whole body was aching. In reality, opening up the wound on his arm was minor compared to all the things that could have happened today.
That didn’t stop it hurting though.
When Narrian touched down on the sand, he was more than happy to slide off her back.
Karla and Taurian came running. With Lisa and Verrian not far behind them.
Bruce was so relieved to see Verrian and Lisa still alive, he wasn’t even very annoyed that they hadn’t come back for him.
“Are you okay?” Karla asked, her voice concerned. She saw the blood on his arm, and motioned to Mesrian.
“Where’s the princess?” Taurian asked. Bruce forgave him, because his tone was more concerned than accusing.
Narrian, not so much. She put her hands on her hips and glared at Verrian and Taurian. “We’re fine, thank you very much. No thanks to any of you. You didn’t think to come looking for us?”
“We’ve been a little busy,” Taurian said wryly.
That was when Bruce saw her. The white haired young woman who stepped out from the crowd. “Here, let me look at that,” she said, gesturing to Bruce’s arm.
He stared at her, gaping in surprise.
The Trima life dragon. Their enemy. Right in the middle of the Rian clan lair. What was she doing here? He stared around, but everyone seemed normal, not terrified or out to attack him.
Something had to be wrong though. This was the very woman who was responsible for him having a gunshot wound in the first place.
“What’s she doing h
ere?” Narrian demanded.
Ignoring Narrian, the life dragon reached for Bruce’s arm.
Instinctively he pulled it back, frowning. “Why would you want to help me? It’s your fault I’m wounded in the first place.”
Karla put a hand on his arm. “It’s okay,” she told him. “Latrima is working with us. We’ve agreed to a truce, while we wake the rest of the princes and princesses. Then we’re going to ask Sarian if she loves Ultrima.”
Bruce stared at Karla, trying to figure out what was going on. What she was saying seemed fantastical. Could he trust any of this? It was hard to know, with a life dragon around.
Narrian seemed to have already decided not to. She crossed her arms, and said flatly, “If there is a truce, someone should have told the Trima dragon who tried to drown us.”
“Where is the princess?” Taurian asked, his voice raised.
Everyone looked at Bruce, waiting for his answer.
“She wasn’t there,” he said quietly. “The Mesmer chamber was empty.”
There was a hush over the room. Then everyone started talking at once.
“What do you mean, empty?” Verrian demanded.
“Did you know about this?” Taurian asked the life dragon.
“Are you sure?” Karla asked Bruce.
Bruce gave them a quick run down on the events of the night, and everyone listened silently. He glossed over a bit, like the Mesmer ritual, and completely left out the bit about that kiss in the flooded Mesmer chamber, but even so, Narrian’s hand reached out to hold his when he mentioned that they thought they were trapped there.
Karla’s sharp eyes saw it, and she gave Bruce a smile.
The life dragon listened without a word, her expression concerned. “I should go and see if he needs help, and tell him that we are no longer at war.”
There was just one thing that was confusing Bruce about all this. “What about Ultrima? Did he agree to this truce?”
Lisa and the life dragon exchanged a look. “Not exactly,” Lisa explained. “Latrima is speaking for him, since he was arrested.”
Bruce’s eyes widened, and he whistled. “Sounds like a lot has happened while we were gone.”
“We’re sorry we didn’t make it back to help you,” Karla said solemnly. “We were actually about to come and find you, but… well… you can see that we’ve been dealing with things here too.”
Bruce nodded. “It’s okay,” he told her. “All’s well that ends well.”
“It hasn’t completely ended well,” Taurian said, his frown concerned. “We still don’t know what happened to Princess Lyrian.” He turned to the life dragon. “Was your clan aware she wasn’t there? Did you have anything to do with it?”
“No, it was not of our doing.” The life dragon’s face was as concerned as Taurian’s. “It does leave me concerned that we may find the same with other Mesmer chambers.”
Taurian looked concerned too. “The only way to find out is to go and look,” he said firmly.
He turned to Bruce. “At this point, we might as well skip ahead to waking my eldest sister, Sarian. The job is yours if you want. You’ve more than proved yourself capable.”
His offer surprised Bruce, and he wasn’t quite sure what to say. The offer Taurian made him was a high honour, and he wasn’t quite sure how to say no.
Narrian squeezed his hand, then released it. “I think Bruce will do a wonderful job of waking Princess Sarian,” she said loudly. “He has earned my respect, and my thanks.”
“A high honour, coming from you,” Taurian said, inclining his head.
Bruce felt backed into a corner. Everyone was looking at him expectantly.
He cleared his throat. “Um…”
He turned and looked at Narrian, seeing the barriers she’d raised on her face.
He reached for her hand again, and she let him take it, even though she didn’t relax her expression. “I think it might be someone else’s turn. I’ve spent enough time in Mesmer chambers for a while. Besides, I wouldn’t want Raven to miss out on the excitement.”
Narrian’s smile was hesitant and uncertain.
Karla looked from one to the other, and said with a grin. “I think Bruce may have other plans.”
Lisa giggled, and reached for Verrian’s hand. Both of them smiled at each other.
Bruce felt himself blushing, as a few other dragons laughed as well. His inclination was to withdraw, to escape from the laughs and comments. But they were all good natured, and done with a knowledge of how it felt. So he forced a smile, and said, “If you don’t mind, I may be hanging around for a while. Returning to England doesn’t look quite so exciting as it did a few days ago.”
Taurian clapped him on the back. “Stay as long as you like. You’ve earned a place here in Rian clan.”
His words filled Bruce with a warm glow, as did the look Narrian shot him.
It was probably crazy, thinking he could find a way to make something work with Narrian. But after all they’d been through together, he owed it to himself to give it a chance.
Chapter 12
All the questions and explanations seemed to take forever. Narrian tried to suffer through them with good grace. Especially the life dragon healing Bruce.
She kept a close eye on her, not quite ready to trust her as the others seemed to.
In the case of healing though, there was no denying her skill. Bruce’s arm looked as though it had never been wounded.
“Everyone needs to rest,” Taurian announced, once the healing was done. “Even though we won’t face opposition from the Trima clan when waking Sarian, we still need to be careful of the humans. They’ll be watching our every move for a while. We don’t want to make any mistakes.”
For the first time in her life, Narrian heard his words without any guilt. She knew, without being told, that they weren’t referencing her father’s death, or her own recent mistakes.
Every dragon made mistakes. Rian clan was more than ready to forgive. Hell, apparently they were even willing to forgive Trima clan, and that was saying something.
Besides, she also had something else on her mind. She took Bruce’s hand, and whispered, “Want to come rest in my room?”
He squeezed her hand. “Good idea. I don’t think I should be on my own, just in case there was anything strange about that life dragon’s magic.” His voice was solemn, but his eyes twinkled.
Narrian bit back a giggle. “It would be downright rude of me not to watch over you,” she teased.
“It would,” Bruce said promptly. Then he ruined his pretence by leaning forwards and kissing her on the nose.
Right in front of everyone.
And Narrian didn’t even mind.
Nor did she mind the looks they got as they left the room, hand in hand.
Once they were alone in her room though, she suddenly felt shy.
This was crazy. She’d only really known Bruce for a day. This couldn’t be love, could it? They barely knew each other.
Bruce was looking a little uncomfortable too. “Look, I know this is pretty out of the blue,” he said quietly. “And I don’t want to put any pressure on you or anything. I hope my deciding to stay here isn’t making you feel uncomfortable.”
Narrian shook her head. “I’m glad you’re staying,” she said quietly. “I’d be…” The words choked in her throat for a moment, but she forced them out. “I’d miss you if you left.”
Bruce smiled then, and the discomfort melted away.
He leaned forward and kissed her, on the lips this time. His kiss was warm and undemanding. It asked nothing of her, and offered everything.
It relaxed Narrian’s fears. She didn’t have to be afraid of making a mistake with Bruce. They could figure this out together.
She was looking forward to it.
The End
Do you want to know what happened to the princess? Find out in Lyrian!
It's been a year since he's seen her—a year since Lyrian broke his heart. But the secr
et she's been keeping from him, his baby daughter, will turn his life upside down. And that's not the only secret. Lyrian's a dragon princess on a mission. She must find her brothers and sisters so her infant daughter won't grow up without a clan.
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She may not be a dragon, but it was her humanity they needed right now.
With time running out before his clan’s prince is discovered by mining or killed by enemy dragons, dragon shifter Jayrian needs to convince the elders to accept help from the humans. He hopes that the clever librarian, Gretchen, might be able to help him with that. He didn’t count on falling for her—that wasn’t part of his plan at all.
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About the Author
If you read a Rinelle Grey story, you can trust in a happy ending. Love will always triumph, even if it seems impossible… Rinelle Grey writes feel-good romance usually in science fiction or fantasy settings. Her heroines are independent and headstrong, and her stories are hard to put down.
She grew up in a remote area of Australia, without power, hot water, or a phone, but now lives with all of those and her (happily ever after) husband, daughter, chooks, ducks and veggie garden.
She also writes fantasy under the name Rin Grey.
She loves to receive e-mails at [email protected], or follow her on facebook or twitter.
