Anya's Dragons

by Gabriella Bradley

  “A loyal subject hastened to report it to me first thing this morning.”

  “Do you know if Sorcerer Unayus has unlocked everyone’s magick and shifting abilities? I noticed some of my magick surfacing last night.”

  “No. He only unlocked yours. He won’t unlock the magick for everyone else on the planet until you’ve been crowned queen.”

  “Good. Solina, tell Cyton to come in.”

  Cyton joined them. “What’s wrong?”

  Anya filled him in. “I need you and your warriors to put a stop to this. What can we do to banish them? Where can we banish them to?”

  “There is a planet not far from here, called Zukinon, where we have, on very rare occasions, banished one of our own. There is a spell around the planet. We can land there, but they can never leave it.”

  “I’ll leave this in your capable hands, Cyton. I’ll prepare the invitation and send it with you. You need to leave quickly.”

  “Jakea, where is this uprising taking place right now? How soon do they plan to come to the castle?”

  “They’re going from town to town trying to get people to join them. They travel in a large group. You can’t miss them.”

  “Let’s go to my offices,” Anya said and hurried out of her chambers followed by the men. Once in the official royal office, she wrote an invitation to the crowning and placed the royal seal on it. “Here. Make haste and be careful, Cyton.”

  “I’ve sent a telepathic message to Yerith to come back to the castle and bring with him any guards he’s signed on. I’ll be back soon.”

  Anya caught his look and nodded. He didn’t want to display affection in public, but his gaze told her his thoughts. So he had telepathic abilities. She wondered if she would have those as well after her magick matured.

  The flapping of wings caught her attention. She walked out onto the balcony and peered skyward. Cyton was already a speck high in the sky, but as she turned her gaze downward, toward the courtyard, she saw Yerith land and change into man. He hurried into the castle and joined them in seconds.

  “Cyton told me what’s happening. I found some of the former royal guards and I signed on quite a few eager young men.” He handed her a scroll. “Here are their names.”

  “They’ll need to be trained.”

  “Several of the royal guards who managed to escape the clutches of the aliens are officers. They’ll be able to train them.”

  “With the protection spell in place, the aliens can’t get near our planet. They won’t even see it on their radar. We need to find out if our scientists survived and see if our space technology buildings are still whole. I want a fleet. My father sorely neglected to stay with the times. Once we get rid of the usurpers, our planet should be one of peace, I hope for many years to come.”

  “I knew last night that Sorlos would cause trouble.”

  “I know you both did. I should have listened to you. It might not have come to this. Sorlos must have been up all night gathering followers.”

  “Princess Anya, what happened last night?”

  “Councilman Jakea, Sorlos tried to rape the princess.”

  “That requires the death penalty. Banishment to another planet is too soft a punishment.”

  “I wasn’t raped. He tried, but Cyton and Yerith saved me from him. Therefore the death penalty is out of the question.”

  “He laid hands on a royal princess.”

  “He did. I made him very angry when I told him I would not be joined in marriage with him.”

  “That is no excuse, Princess.”

  “No, it’s not. Banishment is a good punishment. He’ll never set foot on our world again.”

  “The seamstresses will be coming to measure you for your crowning gown and mantle. We haven’t had a female crowning for many generations so there are no official robes for you. Maybe we should postpone the crowning, Princess.”

  “No. We need to do it tomorrow, as planned. I’ve issued an invitation to the dragon people. I hope they can all be here. From what I learned during my time with them, there was once friendship between my grandmother, their medicine woman and the Timeless One.”

  “Yes, there was, until—”

  “I know the story. As you heard, I told some of it during my public address, but I left out some parts. This will one day be ancient history. We will now all live in peace. We need to hire servants. The ones who survived are welcome to return, but I’m sure we need to replenish our staff. I’ll leave that in your capable hands, as well as the choice of a new council. I need your advice on that. Yerith, I need you to gather the royal guards you summoned back to the castle. How soon will they get here?”

  “On foot, they should be here in a few hours, Princess.”

  “Good. Post them on the walls and keep the gates closed. I don’t trust Sorlos.”

  Anya had not eaten breakfast and her stomach rumbled. “I’ll go and eat now. It’s almost lunchtime and I’ve not had breakfast yet.”

  “Why don’t you go to your chambers and I’ll have them send a tray to you,” Yereth said. “I’ll feel more comfortable if you stay out of the common areas.”

  “With the gates closed, no one can enter. I’ll go to my chambers if that makes you feel better.” She hastened back to her quarters and found her bed made and Solina waiting for her.

  “Princess Anya, you heard?”

  “Yes, your father told me. Yerith asked me to remain in my chambers. He’s being careful, even if the gates are closed.”

  “Princess, you don’t understand. Sorlos was close to the king. He may know other ways to get into the castle. There are the underground passages. Only a few privileged know how to get to them.”

  “Where do these passages lead?”

  “To the caves near the Sytonian Sea. That’s all I know. I’m surprised your father didn’t escape via them.”

  “I don’t think he had time. The invasion came unexpected.”

  “As does this one, Princess,” a man’s voice came from the balcony.

  Anya watched as the gauzy curtains were shoved aside and Sorlos strode into the room.

  “You will not best me, Princess. You’re not fit to sit on the throne. You’re nothing but a whore. You bring shame to this world.”

  Anya heard shouts outside drifting up from the courtyard. So her father had made Sorlos his confidante and told him about the passages. “Bastard. What do you think to accomplish by this?”

  “My dear, you’re my guarantee. I’m sure the people don’t want their princess to get hurt.”

  “You’d hold me hostage?”

  Another man entered her chambers. He quickly cornered Solina who was cowering behind the bed. “Solina, don’t be afraid. Help is coming.”

  “Right. Your mighty protectors? Where are they now? They should have anticipated this.”

  “They did. Even if you kill me, your time on this planet draws near an end. And when they find me dead, you’ll regret what you’ve done because their wrath will be worse than the punishment I meted out for you.”

  His laugh sounded satanic. “And what punishment would that be?”

  “Banishment to the planet Zukinon.”

  “Really. I look scared, don’t you think?”

  His knife was at her throat. She tried to think fast and wished she had a way to communicate with her men. “Leave Solina alone. She’s innocent.”

  “Oh, but I’m sure my men will enjoy that. A virgin is always a welcome diversion for soldiers.”

  “Your men aren’t soldiers. They’re villagers you persuaded to believe it was wrong for a woman to sit on the throne. Centuries ago, women ruled this planet.”

  “So they did. Your father was like a woman and he made a mess of his reign. It’s time a real man took over. Kill the girl.”

  “No!” Anya screamed. “Leave her alone.”

  “Will you stop arguing with me? Stand quietly and I’ll counter my order.”

  Anya tried to signal to Solina to be quiet and still. She
concentrated hard, wondering how she could draw out her dragon. Anger seethed within her, hatred, and disgust. She visualized grasping Sorlos in her mighty claws and carrying him out of the chamber, but even if she managed to call out her dragon, her rooms were too small for her wing span. She felt helpless, hopeless.

  Cyton, where are you? I need you and your people. Yerith, hear my plea, come to me.

  The flapping of wings alerted Sorlos and his minion. “What the hell is that? Check it out, Gusto.”

  Gusto ran to the balcony and returned just as fast. “There are hundreds of dragons descending on our men.”

  “Hundreds?”

  “Yes. Go see for yourself.”

  Dragging Anya with him, Sorlos went out on the balcony and looked. The sun was blocked by the army of dragons descending and picking up hapless men. He leaned over the balcony and yelled, “Stop or I’ll kill your princess! Stop!”

  One dragon, a beautiful big blue beast, approached the balcony, hovered there for a few moments, then descended. It was Cyton.

  Within seconds, the door burst open and Yerith and Cyton raced in. Sorlos still had his knife at her throat. She felt the tip piercing her skin. He and his minion looked at each other as if confused. In that split second, an axe hurled through the room and split Sorlas’ head in half while a hammer crushed his minion’s head and Solina was freed.

  “Thank the Goddess you came in time,” Anya said. “You could have done it a little neater. Look at the blood staining my gown.”

  Cyton burst out laughing. “Trust you.”

  Trying to ignore the two corpses on her floor, Anya stepped out onto the balcony and watched as the dragons carried the usurpers off. “They’ll have plenty of time to think about what they did,” she murmured.

  Cyton stood on one side of her, Yerith on the other.

  “There wasn’t much bloodshed. Most of them have been taken away into banishment,” Cyton said.

  Anya nodded. “I need breakfast. Lunch. I still haven’t eaten today.”

  Chapter Ten

  It was hard to believe that the previous day had been one of a mini-war. After the last of the usurpers was taken to banishment, the dragon people had returned to their mountain with the promise they would be back the next day to attend the crowning. Anya also looked forward to sitting in council with Yurkis who apparently knew the location of the king’s treasure, much to her surprise. She had no idea the worth of it, but presumed it was vast. Visions of cities, improvements, grants to the science laboratories and aviation plants were already on her list. Improvements to housing, schooling, and restoration of destroyed towns were uppermost on her mind. So many people had lost their homes, their loved ones, their belongings. Her father’s greed would help them all. She even had plans along with Cyton’s and Yerith’s advice to build a town for the dragon folk. They would dwell together as one nation.

  * * * *

  The crowning was held on the main balcony of the palace at the top of the steps so that all people could witness this important event. The courtyard was filled and outside the gates people craned their necks to see through the palace gates. Some even stood on the shoulders of others.

  Yurkis stood beside her council members when they placed the crown upon Anya’s head. She repeated the vows, but added a few of her own, much to everyone’s surprise. Little did everyone know—and that included both Yerith and Cyton—what she’d planned. Shortly before the crowning ceremony, she’d taken Yurkis into her confidence and told him that she’d joined with the two men and wanted them to be her consorts.

  Yurkis paused briefly to allow the cheers to fade. He held up his hands indicating he wanted silence. A hush fell over the spectators.

  “Cyton, son of Otora, step forward please.”

  Cyton looked surprised but stepped forward wearing the royal garb the seamstresses and blacksmith had delivered to him that morning.

  “Yerith, son of Yagitz, step forward.”

  Anya stood waiting, her scepter in hand, the crown heavy on her head, as they both stepped forward and knelt before her. For a moment she had to admire them. Their new clothes, befitting royal guards, made them look even more handsome than before. She liked their barbarian appearance, and when dressed like savage warriors they really turned her on, but dressed as they were now, they truly looked like royal princes. Their gold armor shone in the rays of the sun. Red velvet cloaks edged with gold trim were fastened to their shoulders with golden clasps. Swords were sheathed at their sides, though she noticed Cyton also had his axe and Yerith his hammer at their sides. She smiled inwardly and stepped toward them holding out the great royal sword.

  “Cyton, son of Otora, I dub thee Knight,” she said, and touched his shoulder with her scepter.

  “Yerith, son of Yagitz, I dub thee Knight.” She touched his shoulder with the scepter. “Now rise so I may wed you.”

  Their dumbstruck expressions were to be remembered for the rest of her life. She almost giggled, but kept a straight face. “Yurkis, please perform the joining rite.”

  “That wasn’t fair,” Cyton said, taking her into his arms while Yerith sucked her clit. He looked up for a second and nodded. “I agree.”

  “I love you both,” Anya told them. “I fell in love with you the moment I laid eyes on you.”

  Yerith left her pussy, and moving up on the bed, looked into her eyes. “I’ve loved you from when we found you.”

  “As have I,” Cyton confirmed. “I knew you were our woman.”

  “Now that the spell has been lifted completely, I want to experience sex with you as a dragon.”

  “Can you shift?”

  “Don’t know, but I’m going to try.” She concentrated, calling on her dragon and her magick. In seconds, her muscles popped, her skin changed, but she knew she couldn’t shift in her chamber. She wrestled out of their arms and stepped outside onto the balcony.

  “Anya, don’t do that, you might—”

  “Fall,” Cyton said lamely—except she didn’t fall. “Goddess, look at her.”

  Anya soared into the sky, her change a jubilant triumph. She felt so free as she somersaulted, dived, swooped up and down. It was exhilarating, it was orgasmic, it was fantastic. She couldn’t find any other words for the sensations the shift caused within her. Her blue and her green dragons soon joined her.

  “You play with your life,” Yerith grumbled in his dragon voice.

  “You could have crashed to the ground if you were unable to shift,” Cyton said.

  “I knew I could. Deep down I felt it. Oh, I love you both so much.” She tagged them, chased them, swooped and dived, until they wedged her between them and their tails entwined, their bodies entwined, and the three of them became one.

  The descent was exhilarating. Anya’s libido went into overkill as both of them entered her and she knew she’d produced an egg that day. Maybe two. Inwardly she grinned. It was up to the men to keep the eggs warm and safe. All she had to do was push them out of her body.

  Changing back to men and woman, they landed in the courtyard. “Now can we go to my chamber and make love?” she asked innocently.

  “Don’t you ever scare us like that again,” Cyton admonished.

  “I love you,” she said softly as they walked back to the castle and her chambers.

  “I love you,” the two men said in unison.

  Anya smiled. Deep within her, two eggs were waiting to mature. She already knew she’d be mother to a boy and a girl. Yet another male heir to the throne, but it didn’t matter. That king would be trained by his mother and her two dragons.

  About the Author

  Gabriella Bradley lives in beautiful British Columbia, Canada, amidst rugged mountains. She often has a grizzly in her backyard searching for food. Other critters that visit on a regular basis are cougars, coyotes, squirrels, raccoons.

  She has been a writer all of her life, though only ventured into erotic works in 2003. Her hobbies include hiking, gardening, swimming, sewing, embroidery. Favorit
e movies are old timers like Gone with the Wind, Spartacus etc. Favorite music is Abba.