“I know for a fact that it will be crucial to your bounty, David. You have to understand that dragons are wily creatures. They have thousands of years of natural selection on their side. Like any other creature, they’re made to adapt. Unlike most, they have the aid of magic to help them.” Jacob paused, considering the document a moment longer.
David threw his arms up, tempted to grab the other man and shake him until he provided some sort of answer.
“Please, just tell me what it means,” David pleaded, his thoughts turning to the man he’d abandoned in the field. While he knew in his heart that Ethan would have taken the helicopter back to the fairgrounds once David had left him, David couldn’t help worrying about his tender and kind lover.
“A glamour, among dragons, is the ability to present an illusion to obscure their identity. In most cases, it can be for other large animals. It specifies in the case of your dragon, however, that it possesses a human glamor. David, your dragon can mask itself as a human. It could be anywhere in the city, mingling with the citizens. And then, when it’s ready to strike, nothing can stop it.”
David’s eyes bulged at the explanation, and before Jacob could say anything further, David turned his back to bolt from the building.
Fear lanced through David’s heart, the steady pounding of his heartbeat hammering in his ears. How could he have been so foolish? If Ethan came across what appeared to be an innocent person in danger, he had no doubt that Ethan would put his life on the line. He wouldn’t even realize he was in danger until he was clutched in the dragon’s talons.
Tears spilled down David’s cheeks as he rushed in the direction of the city, toward Ethan’s apartment complex. Thousands of thoughts were twisting through his mind with all the force of a whirlwind. The one thought that made itself most obvious was one that haunted him to his very core.
He hoped he wasn’t too late.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Ethan breathed a sigh, bracing himself on the railing of his balcony. Since David had abandoned him in the field, he could only wonder just what had shaken the other man in such a way.
Ethan was beginning to grow suspicious as to what ties the mysterious, dark haired man had to the field he called his own. Surely David couldn’t know about the reptilian creatures that so often called the place home. Yet, it seemed as if David was certainly searching for something. The desperate look in David’s eyes haunted Ethan, from his helicopter ride from the field to the fairgrounds, to the walk back to his apartment. If there was any chance that David had an inkling of what was truly contained within the bounds of this city, he would have to do his best to see that David didn’t endanger himself. It was for his own good, Ethan reasoned, as he stepped back from the railing and pensively glanced in the direction of the field.
Flexing his hands, he closed his eyes and began to concentrate. He had to concentrate as deeply as one could fathom. His hands shook from the force of his intense thought process, and he parted his lips in a silent cry of pain as his arms elongated, gripping the outer edge of the rail. His teeth, which already formed slight points, began to grow in his mouth, too large and too sharp. The skin of his jaw tore as his face contorted, the bones shifting and cracking. It was a painful process, it always had been. It had been agonizing from the day he’d first unleashed his powers, escaping the crash that claimed his parents’ lives. At least now he had some semblance of control over how to initiate the process; when he was a child, it was instinct alone the kicked his transformation into gear.
A soft whine drew itself from his torn lips, where the flesh of his face was beginning to harden, shifting into patterned rivets of a stone-like material along his body. Claws burst from his fingertips, and he nearly doubled over from the pain of his ruined fingers. His handles formed into gnarled talons, and his mind began to cloud over slightly when it seemed the pain could grow no greater. He had long learned better, however. His back snapped in four different places, in a way that should have sent him plummeting to the ground but instead only seemed to strengthen his resolve. His body began to grow, lengthening as his skin tore where the scales weren’t forming quickly enough. The scales shone a brilliant opalescent shade of white in the moonlight, and he likened his transformation to that of a werewolf—if only it were so easy. His skull split in two, forming into two distinct horns while the remainder of his face finally settled into its transformation of a reptilian snout. His brain felt scattered, a clear result from the shifting of its protective outer shell.
Suddenly, as if the pain had not been great enough, his shoulders began to lengthen, forming a solid structure along that seemed to serve no purpose until a cloak of leather skin descended from the bone, covering it entirely. The one soft spot on his body, the thick yet pliable skin of his now-formed wings, fluttered in the open air of the night. As his transformation neared completion, he launched himself from the balcony and finished shifting in midair, his massive form having grown too large for the balcony he was confined to.
Now that the pain was fading, a certain sense of euphoria washed over him. He trilled into the night, wings beating against the open air as he soared high above the cover of clouds. He swore he could hear a shout from behind him, but dismissed it as the wind roaring in his ear holes. He was too happy, too unbridled to worry about human issues. For now, he could freely entertain the beast that he contained within himself for so long.
A sound akin to laughter burbled past his scaled approximation of lips, and he turned in a wide loop under the light of the stars. His eyes locked on the moon, and in a mockery of his situation, he made a soft howling noise. What did a werewolf have on a dragon shifter, after all? He rose higher in the sky, the humidity of the clouds he passed through forming in drops on the inside of his gaping maw. For a brief moment, he allowed himself to escape the mediocrity of his human life. He set himself free from his concerns about David, and what might happen were the human to cross paths with another dragon. He was the master of his own destiny, the king of the night skies.
Soon, however, the reality of the situation became clear in his mind once more. His lips turned downward, and he fought the desire to roll his eyes at how careless he had been. It was normal for typical mortals to be curious creatures, and he might have known that David would want to know what had caused the disarray in the field. It was clear to anyone with a bit of sense that it was more than the occasional bear that munched on its dinner in the clearing. Most of the folks in the city, fortunately, didn’t have that bit of sense. Perhaps they were too close-minded to entertain the thought of anything beyond their realm of knowledge.
What would they do if they knew a strange amalgam of man and dragon was in their midst? It was strange enough to consider that such a large creature had gone unseen for years, lost to the ages of fairy tales. Yet stranger still was the idea that a man and dragon could be one and the same. He had heard the tales of dragons, who could glamour themselves into disguises. He had heard of feral beasts taking the form of a human. That was not him, however. He was not just putting on a human suit. There was a part of his soul that was distinctly human; after all, his parents had been human.
The circumstances of how he came into his mysterious powers had plagued him for years, but now was scarcely the time to think about his past. He had the future to look forward to, and if he wanted to spend his life with David, he would have to make this area a clear no-dragon zone. At least for long enough to appease any suspicions the other man might have held on to. If David knew the secrets that truly lay behind the mysterious field, there was no question that he would tell everyone what he knew. If David were to spread the news, there was a small but impossible to ignore chance that the dragon slayers would come.
He had known about the dragon slayers since he was young, when he was first trying to find someone like himself. He’d met dragons, creatures thousands of years old who could speak in human tongue and treat him like their own. They had warned him to be wary of humans, that humans were unwilling to
accept anything beyond the realm of what they conceived to be natural. Then, as soon as he had gotten to know the ancient beings, they had disappeared without a trace. He didn’t know if he could attribute it to the slayers, he knew that the creatures could have made off to move on with their extended lives. Yet, he had his suspicions…
Just as well, he had no desire to meet the slayers they’d spoken of. If Ethan and a slayer were to cross paths, it would be a matter of life or death for man and dragon alike.
Steeling himself as he grew nearer the field, he braced himself for the presence of another dragon. In his time among them, he had learned an approximation of their language, enough that he would be able to warn them. It was well known among them that man was the most fearsome creature on the planet. While dragons had size and power on their side, humans had adaptability and ingenuity. If he mentioned that a human could catch sight of them, any other dragons would quickly make themselves scarce.
Finding the field empty, he was met with a sense of relief, as well as a sense of melancholy. He knew that once his job disposing of the evidence was done, he would have to give up his dragon for the rest of his life. He had made the decision before he had even departed toward the field. He knew that he wanted to spend his life alongside mankind, alongside a certain, specific man. If he wanted to pursue a relationship with David, he knew he could never let the other man know his dark secret. It would tear them apart.
Looking toward the sky, he considered the freedom that he would be giving up. The chance to fly high above the clouds to his heart’s content, the opportunity to be something beyond the realm of nature. At least, what most conceived as “natural.” He would be giving up everything he had known for the last twenty some odd years. Yet, he knew in his heart, somehow, that it would be worth it. A life alongside David was worth forsaking the life he knew. He had known the man for such a short time, but already his heart was filled to the brim with affection, and, dare he say it? Love, it was filled with love for the other man. David’s toothy little grin, the mischief that shone in his eyes when he was making a point to fluster Ethan. Ethan loved everything from his brilliant green eyes, to the warm scent of his arousal when they were near, so near.
Slowly but surely, he resolved that he would be content with his decision. He could no longer fathom a life alone, not when the chance of a partner had been thrust before him. Being a dragon had been great, and he would always be that strange mishmash of truth and what people believed to be myth. Just as well, he knew that pursuing a life with David would be all the sweeter.
Decision made, he began busying himself with clearing away evidence of his presence. He knew some measure of magic from the time he had lived among the elders, and he would use such magic to cast a glamour across the entire field. The evidence of dragons would be absent, from the sight of their footprints to the very scent of sulfur that accompanied the creatures. It would be a monumental task, one that would take nearly all of his energy. He could only hope he could make it back to his apartment before he collapsed altogether.
Rising up on his haunches, he began to murmur in his draconic tongue. It sounded much like soft growls and trills, but meant so much more than a human ear could fathom. Fortunately, there were no such humans to hear. As Ethan cast his spell across the field, he became aware of the sensation of something watching him. Dismissing it at as one of the nocturnal creatures that had grown comfortable with his presence, he carried on.
Yet something nagged at him, the sense that something was terribly wrong. Something seemed out of place, but he couldn’t quite place it. He glanced across the field, tail twitching as he caught the faint scent of human.
He might have dismissed it as someone wandering through the field earlier that day, but there was something acrid to the scent, something more fearsome. He could sense the fear, the terror the human felt.
Moreover, he could sense the rage.
CHAPTER NINE
Adrenaline rushed through David’s veins as he made his way up the stairs to Ethan’s apartment. He resisted the desire to scream Ethan’s name, not wanting to alarm him in the case that everything was okay. He felt in his heart, however, that something about the situation was distinctly the opposite. David didn’t know if it was instinct, or the faint scent of sulfur that wafted under his nose as he drew nearer Ethan’s apartment, but blind panic began to fuel his movement as he kicked the door open in one smooth motion. As he lurched inside, the scent of sulfur became nearly overwhelming.
He heard the sounds of wings beating in the open air, and he shot through the apartment just in time to see the Opal dragon he sought rising above the clouds. His heart leapt into his throat, and he could only wonder what the hell he had gotten Ethan into.
“Ethan!” he screamed after the dragon, seeing the spatters of blood and hunks of flesh littering the balcony. Anguish ripped its way from his throat, and he could only wonder if the man he had come to adore had been ripped from his grasp so quickly. He had lost his parents to the dragons, when he was a young boy. He had learned to live with that loss, even if it meant dedicating his life to slaying the creatures.
The thought of losing Ethan in the same manner, however, ripped his heart into shreds. Something in David’s mind cracked, and with superhuman speed, he rushed out of the apartment and leaped down the stairs three at a time. On the ground floor, he stared in the direction the dragon had gone.
If he had only acted sooner, maybe the situation could have been prevented. If he had killed the damn dragon the first moment he lay eyes upon it, Ethan could be in his arms right then. Now, however, they could only suffer the consequences of his foolhardiness. He could only suffer the thought of losing the one person he’d allowed close enough to love. An almost bestial roar tore itself from deep inside his chest, and he sprinted in the direction he knew the dragon would be going.
Even if he couldn’t save Ethan, he could at least retrieve the man’s corpse. Burying his parents was something he had never gotten the closure from being able to do. Though he knew closure would do little to soothe his decimated heart in this situation, he wouldn’t allow the brutish creature to take everything!
Pure fury rushed through him, thoughts of his parents charred to a crisp flashing before his very eyes. Thoughts of losing his first mentor, and friends he had seen chomped between a dragon’s deadly teeth raced through his mind, but more than anything, the sight of Ethan’s blood on the balcony sent a jolt of electricity through David like nothing else.
He was more than grateful that he had been able to borrow a weapon from one of the elder slayers before he left the society, the weight of the axe that had seemed to bear down agonizingly upon him seemed to fade away as the power of the dragon souls captured within the augmented weapon fueled him.
His feet barely touched the ground as he ran, nearly gliding above the surface of the worn dirt path that he knew led to the dragon’s domain.
The smell of sulfur was growing strong again, and he could hear a distant growling that sounded nothing short of murderous.
That was fine. He was more than prepared to show his murderous side as well. The moment he laid eyes on the dragon, he knew that this had the potential to be his last battle.
The dragon was breathtaking in the moonlight. It was a shame that something so beautiful would also be so deadly and evil.
In spite of the low threat level the dragon had been assigned, indicating that the dragon had yet to claim a human life, Ethan’s remains were nowhere to be seen. Not even a scattered piece of bone, nothing to indicate that any piece of the man he loved remained. David stared at the dragon, noticing that it seemed somewhat unsettled. Good.
“Hey! You son of a bitch! What did you do with my boyfriend?” he shouted, waves of power flowing from the axe clutched in his hands.
The dragon lurched around to face him, eyes narrowing upon him in something akin to recognition. “Yeah, you’re looking at the last human you’ll ever see,” he shouted, rushing toward the cr
eature.
The Opalescent dragon screeched, making an attempt to stumble away. Whatever it had been doing in the field previously had obviously drained it of its energy, making the bastard incapable of flying away.
A thrill shot through David at the thought of seeing the dragon’s corpse spread across the field, torn to bits with every scale ripped from its hide. “What! You’re afraid now? You can’t get away from me,” David roared.
He moved with a speed that even he hadn’t known he was capable of, leaping into the air and swinging the axe toward the clumsily retreating creature. It howled in agony as the axe pierced its skin, sickly green flames erupting from the wound and spreading along its hide. David watched in awe as the infectious looking energy continued to spread across the dragon’s body, scorching its scales until they fell uselessly to the ground.
What power the axe had! He had come in with the intent to kill as swiftly as possible to avenge his lover’s life. However, with the ability he had been granted by the weapon clutched in his hand, he intended to make every last moment of this creature’s life filled with pain unlike any it could have ever known. He intended to make it suffer, just as it had caused him to suffer.
The dragon ceased its movements to slap out the spreading flames on its hide, desperate squeals erupting from its throat as it turned wide eyes upon David. The plea for mercy in its eyes was almost human, but he wouldn’t make the mistake of allowing this monster to escape again. If it had killed Ethan, it would certainly kill again. The only choice was to put the thing down.
Lurching toward the dragon again, he lobbed the axe forward and chopped off the tip of the dragon’s tail. Flames shot up the length of the stubby remains, and it shrilly cried out, desperately trying to smother the flames. The scales were being ruined in the process of killing the beast, but David no longer cared for the riches he could claim for seeing this beast slain. He only cared about revenge.
The Dragon’s Flight: Gay Paranormal Romance Page 5
