“The colors are the same as my brothers’ dragons—sapphire blue, for Kyr’s iridescent scales, and emerald green for Ash.” I stepped closer while the information transformed in my brain. “It is some sort of tell-tale sign from their bodies, so other Drayvok know who they are mated to, isn’t it?” Father nodded, pleased by my deduction. “Wait! If that is true, then our dragon selves can recognize it. Our dragon sight should be able to see it.”
Kyr’s head spun towards Gabriella and his eyes glowed, shock painted his features when he finally noticed the green glow of her hair. Ash laughed, amazed, as he reached for Avrielle’s blue shimmering tresses.
“And Avrielle has always been tall, fitting my older brother’s form perfectly, but Gabriella is human, not only a normally smaller race, but she is tiny to begin with. So she is growing, adapting to Ash. Like Vampires turning their partners into their species, we make our women adapt to us.” I said, astonished, and relieved that my intellect hadn’t abandoned me after all. Everything began to make sense.
“Wow. And here I thought my clothes were shrinking.” Gabriella chuckled in amazement.
Ash’s gaze widened as he stepped closer, finally realizing that she reached his shoulders now, when before, she had barely reached his chest. “Damn, we spend so much time laying down, I didn’t even realize. Ouch!” He rubbed his rib after her elbow connected with it.
“That is not all that has changed,” Mother added, and her fist suddenly flew towards Avrielle’s chest.
We all froze at the image of our queen hitting her son’s wife, but her hand stopped an inch away from Avrielle’s body, yet it was enough to cause the intended reaction. A rush of iridescent scales erupted from Avrielle’s skin, forming a corset of armor that extended over her chest and the top of her shoulders, protecting her from the blast, and leaving the delicate silk of her dress shredded in its path.
She gasped, staggering back, while her hands flew to the shimmering layer of white scales that now covered her chest. It changed to sapphire blue under the magical flames of the chandeliers above her as she moved.
“Hell’s sweaty balls!” Gabriella gasped, looking at her sister-in-law while my heart thundered.
“Extraordinary,” I whispered, moving closer.
“Hit me,” Gabriella ordered Ash and he frowned. “Hit me! I want a badass scale corset too. So hit me!”
“Are you insane, woman?” he complained. “I’m not going to hit you!” His mate’s knee connected with his groin. I grimaced as my brother doubled over. “Ouch!”
“Hit me!”
A flying plate spun towards Gabriella then, and Ora jumped, clapping excitedly. Gabriella’s arms crisscrossed over her face to stop the blow, and emerald green scales erupted along her arms, instantly forming armor gauntlets that expanded from her elbows to her fingers. The plate shattered against the scales, pulverized, without leaving so much as a scratch on her skin.
“Holy flying pigs! This is awesome!” She screeched and began jumping with Ora, who had clearly thrown the plate at her. “Do it again!”
Father laughed. “That’s enough, children!” His eyes twinkled. “I always wanted to say that.” My brothers and I chuckled. “Drayvok mates are strong, we do not believe in a weaker sex, and as such, our nature gives them the tools they need to protect themselves and fight alongside us, if needed. After we have fully bonded, the change begins for them.”
“Fully bonded, meaning after making them ours more than once?” Ash asked, and Father nodded. “Damn it, Gaby, you just became even hotter.”
She grinned. “Now we know how to fight, and we have a scales armor too. This is awesome! I’m finally a superhero, now I only need a cool name.”
“What do you mean, you know how to fight?” Kyr voiced the question on Ash’s lips.
Gabriella cringed. “Sorry, I wasn’t supposed to say.”
“I’ve been training them to fight.” Mother answered. “We’ve practiced every day, all day, while you boys trained your dragon selves with your father.”
“You know how to fight?” I questioned, perplexed. All I had ever done was picture Mother frail and weak. It was how I knew her. The woman that stood before me now was full of life and remarkable surprises.
A proud smile curved her lips. “Of course I know how to fight. My father was a warrior, protector of the Druid Court.”
“Speaking of which,” Grandmother interrupted. “I brought gifts.” She walked towards the entrance of the hall, while my brothers and I exchanged stunned gazes, and she carried a leather bag back with her. “These are for you.”
She pulled three swords from the bag and handed them to Avrielle, Mother and Gabriella. The swords were broad, the blades sharp, and engraved with ancient writing that seemed to glow blue under the chandelier’s light. The hilt depicted the head of a dragon with wide wings sprouting from its back. The girls gripped the swords with familiarity, and our eyes widened when they suddenly turned and squared off to each other. The clash of metal against metal reverberated through the space as Gabriella and Avrielle landed blows against the other. Their hair flying around them while their bodies turned in a deadly, mesmerizing, and precise dance.
“Thank you,” Avrielle said breathless, stepping back and admiring the blade as their impromptu duel ended. “These are perfect.”
My brothers and I looked at each other, baffled by the display. “Who have you become?” Ash asked Gabriella, and pulled her to his arms.
She chuckled, kissing him. “Whomever I need to, in order to be with you.”
Cupping her neck, he claimed her lips as his, for all of us to witness. “Ash…” She whispered on his mouth hesitantly.
“Yes, Star?”
“Do you think you’ll ever want to get married?”
His distinctive smirk returned. “If you think bringing you here, and claiming you as mine meant anything other than forever, then you are sorely mistaken. You are mine, Star, and I’m yours for as long as we both shall live.” He kissed her again, claiming the smile on her lips, while a tear escaped her eyes.
Everyone smiled around them while emptiness spread in me, my scales pulsed more intensely, my dragon self’s way of reminding me of her.
“Perhaps, this will help.”
Selenia moved towards them, sliding a ring off her finger and handing it to Ash. It was a simple silver band, yet beautiful, with small flowers engraved around it. Her gaze settled on Gabriella.
“It is not our custom to use rings to bind our union. We simply come together and our magic and love binds us,” she explained. “Those with a need for formality, perform the Mating Ceremony, which you have witnessed here tonight. But my husband, like you, was human, so he gave this ring to me, and I want you two to have it. I know this will help you confirm your marriage.”
“I wish Uncle Rob was here.” Gabriella whispered, not quite able to speak.
“He is,” our grandmother assured her. Gabriella’s tears began to fall freely as she nodded, and hugged the woman before her.
“You belong to no one but one another,” Kyr declared and the Goddess’s light suddenly shone from above once again. Ash’s eyes shone with emotion as he took his love’s hand in his, and slipped the band onto her left ring finger. “You shall love no one but the other, and exist only for your bond. Gabriella’s every pain and happiness shall now be yours, and Ash’s purpose will become your purpose.”
I stepped closer, placing my hands on their shoulders as they looked into each other’s eyes. “You will find strength in each other, and be from now on, one in peace, one in power, one in love.”
“You are now tied to one another as Prince Ash, Duke of the Winter Court & his Dutchess.” Father announced with a brilliant smile. “The Goddess, your brothers, and I have blessed this union. No one shall ever tear it apart.”
A tear fell from my brother’s eyes as he cupped Gabriella’s cheeks and pulled her to him, claiming her lips.
NYX
*
Th
e blue flames of the magical sconces on the wall cast strange shadows on the ceiling while I continued to numbingly observe them.
Numb, that was exactly what I was.
Sleep eluded me well into the night, while I went over everything that had occurred to us since this all began. The choices we had made and those still to be made. My gaze briefly shifted to the empty bed beside me, and my dragon self stirred along my skin, pulsing, and reminding me of the choice he had made. A choice he expected me to honor.
Letting out a ragged breath, I stood, and walked towards the mirror. Slipping my hands into the cold water of the washbasin, I splashed the refreshing liquid onto my face and stared at myself.
“My choice is Kahina.” I ordered, obstinately. “Kah. Learn to live with it!”
An enraged roar came from inside me, and yellow scales erupted along my arms, forming sleeves of armor. They were almost painful as they violently shifted over me, my dragon self becoming agitated. Claws protruded from my fingers and I felt the push against my skin, the transformation forcing itself upon me.
“Damn it.” I cursed, trying to contain the change. My heart slammed against my chest violently, while my dragon became more distressed, and I feared what would happen if I was incapable of controlling it. Was this because of Aura? What had I just done?
My lips were forced open, a menacing roar thundering out of me. It echoed through the empty room at the same time that the temple around me shook.
“We are under attack!” Father’s voice shouted through our bond, pushing me into action. I realized then that my dragon’s war was not entirely with me, he was warning me of the danger.
I burst out of the room, running as fast as I could muster while I felt my scales spread over my body—tearing my pants to shreds in the process—until a full suit of golden armor engulfed my man form. It stretched over my calves and feet, becoming a hard, smooth stony texture over the pad of my feet. Ash’s door flew open as he barged into the corridor beside me, his muscles covered in an emerald suit of scales.
Gabriella ran behind us, the scales slowly covering her chest in a corset of armor, she held her sword. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as we stopped at the entrance of the temple to find Kyr in his white suit with a sapphire gleam to it, Avrielle stood beside him with her sword in hand, white shimmering scales protected her, while Father faced the main wall of the cavern, with his eyes closed.
No scales shielded him, however, and the sight frightened me.
The cavernous wall suddenly disappeared and I knew he had dropped the physical illusion. My brothers and I stepped closer to the windows, looking at the moonless midnight sky, trying to decipher what could cause such a powerful attack to make the temple quake. Nothing could be seen until a stream of red and orange suddenly came towards us, the wall reappeared. Father fell to his knees as the ball of fire crashed against his magic.
“Impossible!” He stumbled up, and dropped the wall once again. His gaze focused on me. “I can’t see that far anymore, use your dragon sight and tell me what is out there.”
My eyes glowed as they flew to the skies. Black shadows danced in the night and I gasped. “Drayvok!”
My brothers came closer, their glowing eyes on the sky. “There are eighteen—”
“No, twenty black dragons circling the mountain, they all have fire breath.” Kyr corrected Ash’s previous assessment.
“They are big, but not as large as our dragon selves.” Ash added.
“He was dead,” Father whispered, the illusion forming once more just before another fireball hit us. “I killed him, this cannot be true.”
I walked to him and held his arms, seeing something in his eyes I had never seen before. Fear. “We can do this, Father. We know how to fight, and we are dragons, the Holy Dragons. We will win.”
His unfocused eyes gazed around me as he shook his head. “Not without great consequence, I’m afraid. You don’t understand, son. It is too soon, you are not ready to fight him. Not him. He was the most powerful of the Drayvok outside of the temple. It was what started this fight. He wanted to be one of us, he thought he deserved a seat among the Holy Dragons, but he was too blinded by greed to understand that this is a birthright. We don’t choose it. It is born inside us. It chooses us.”
We stumbled to the side as another hit shook the temple.
Father turned, looking at the women. “Avrielle, you will fight with your king, Gabriella, you will stay here in the temple with Serene and I, to help us protect it and Ora. I’m too weak to fight Revyr, and I’m afraid I can no longer transform into my dragon.”
Father avoided my brothers’ shocked gazes as dread seeped into me.
“Kahina! Alert the Golden Prince that his army is needed now, and return at once! We are under attack!” Father bellowed through his mind, including us in it. He faced us again. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about my condition before, but there is no time for questions. Revyr is more powerful than you realize.” He added nervously. “He can become invisible, which means the only way to stop him is to hurt him the first opportunity you have. Unlike us, he can only use one ability at a time, so he’ll need to reappear to use his fire breath against you.”
Avra looked into my eyes, the urgency in his words pulled me closer to him. “If Revyr’s sons are new born—first-shifted—that will give you an advantage over them, but I have no way of knowing other than the energy I can feel radiating from their beings. It is not as strong as that of fully formed Drayvok, like yours.”
Kah materialized then, rushing towards us. I froze. “What is she doing here?!” I bellowed at the sight of Aura next to her. “Protect!” I growled. This wasn’t the time.
“I came to fight. To defend this realm that is also mine. I won’t let it go down in flames.” Aura announced, her body was clad in a gold and black leather suit, her hands engulfed in pink tendrils of energy.
I gripped her arm and pulled her aside. “It is too dangerous for you to be here. You have no idea what we are going against. Ancient dragons are out there, Drayvok, beings more powerful and dangerous than you can ever imagine. Same as we are. You shouldn’t be here.”
Her eyes filled with understanding as they roamed my scaled armor. She blinked the surprise away, regaining her resolve. Nothing had changed for her, no matter what I was. “If you are out there, then I’m out there, fighting by your side. I love you, Nyx, and if I die tonight, so be it. I don’t want to live without you.”
“Claim!”
Damn it!
I took a settling breath when every part of me wanted to kiss her, make her mine. “Can you fight?”
Aura nodded. “Yes, I’ve trained with the warriors of my court since I was child. I can hold my own.” Her gaze suddenly became pained. “I spoke with my mother. I told her you were going against the Dark King, that you and your brothers would end him, that you wanted peace, but she didn’t believe me. She said I was blinded by your tricks. I’m sorry I failed you. I asked her to help us, but she refused. She won’t fight with us tonight.”
“Don’t be sorry. It was to be expected,” I answered logically. “How did you know about the battle?”
“I was next to Kahina when she was contacted, she told me everything.”
My eyes went to my friend, the woman I had believed to be my fated, and her eyes connected with mine, but she swiftly looked away. The traces of pain in her gaze seeped into me. My chest constricted. Did she know of my betrayal? My attention returned to Aura. “Come, we need to plan a strategy with my brothers.”
“If I’m right about this,” Father continued as I returned to his side. “It means, they will be sloppy, and their reflexes won’t be as honed as yours are. Take gain of that. You can beat them, regardless of their numbers. Use your breaths against them only in close proximity, and remember, it takes more than one hit to kill a Drayvok.”
Kyr nodded once and looked at us. “Let’s go!” We turned to follow.
“Wait! There is something else,”
Father called and we faced him once again. “I didn’t tell you before. I thought I had more time, I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay, Father.” Ash reassured. “We have seen many battles as brothers, this one is just in the sky.
Avra nodded. “The Bond of Three, use it. It will give you the greatest lead over Revyr, allowing you to kill him with one blow, but in order to do that, you must combine your powers.”
“And how do we do that?” Ash questioned, before Kyr or I could.
“It is up to you, son. You are the only one who can do it.” He grasped Ash’s head and a memory played through our linked minds.
Three blue dragons engaged in battle took to the skies, they flew together—mimicking each other’s moves—wings completely in sync as they gained altitude. Suddenly, they turned and they began to free-fall as their wings stopped their thrusts, folding behind them. The middle dragon swooped over the other two and their bodies connected as though they were magnets. The next second, their forms shimmered, and merged into one. My eyes widened at what I was seeing. One large dragon, three heads.
The memory faded and I gasped, stepping back. “The symbol! The one I saw carved onto the gates that led to the garden. One dragon, three heads. The Bond of Three.”
Father’s eyes bored into Ash. “It is up to you, son. You hold the energy that calls your brothers to you. You can do this. I have always believed in you. Now, go!”
Ash nodded, but I could sense the weight that had fallen onto his shoulders. Exchanging one last glance, we ran through the temple towards the opening of the cave. Kah, Avrielle, and Aura ran behind us.
*
The scene that greeted us outside was horrifying. The camp the Dark Army had set last night in support of my brother—their king—was in flames, but that wasn’t the only thing. The Dark King hovered over the ground a few yards away, his true nature visible to my eyes as the Shadow Curse coursed through him. Eyes fully black and ribbons of black poisoned energy whirled around him. The army of two thousand men that waited behind him on foot and horses—armed with their weapons of choice—bore black orbs for eyes, the dark magic oozing out of them too.
Everlasting Kingdom (The Winter Court Chronicles Book 3) Page 20
