The Captain's Dragon

by Bianca D’Arc

  The pleasurable peaks began to blur together as he increased the power and frequency of his thrusts. He was like a man possessed as he drove them to the pinnacle of desire. The highest peak she had ever reached.

  She shattered around him, and this time, he came with her. Groaning deep in his chest, he held himself tight within her, his hips grinding the last bit of pleasure out of them both. At length, when they were still both breathing hard and the planet seemed to begin rotating again beneath them, he drew back. He didn’t go far. Liam bent to place a tender kiss on her forehead, the gesture bringing tears to her eyes.

  He disengaged and lay down beside her, tucking her into his arms. He draped his own cloak over them both, considerate to the last. That was all she remembered before she fell fast asleep.

  If she woke in the night, Liam was always there. Twice more, he joined with her body, taking her from behind and once on their sides. He was an inventive lover, with what she took to be vast experience. He knew just how to touch her to make her fly to the heavens, and just what to do to keep her there as long as he wished.

  Rivka had never known another night like it. Intimate and full of pleasure the likes of which she had never experienced before. They barely spoke, and that seemed appropriate. The night was dark, and in this one small private space, it held no terrors. Only passion and acceptance. Desire and fulfillment.

  And, when the dawn came, the rain had stopped, and Rivka wasn’t surprised to find herself alone. Liam was gone from the tent, leaving no trace of himself behind, except one very satisfied woman and a memory that would linger for the rest of her life.

  When Rivka emerged from the tent a bit after sunrise, Liam almost dreaded what might come next. He’d forgotten himself last night. He’d forgotten all the vows he had made and the quest he had yet to fulfill. For a few stolen hours, he had been just a man. A man, in the gloomy night, with a beautiful woman.

  Nature had taken its course, in a way he had not allowed in far, far too long. He felt a bit of guilt this morning, but not as much as he had expected. The specter of his lost wife didn’t haunt him with regret. No, it was as if something had shaken loose last night. Something that had been closed off within his own soul. He didn’t know what it was. He hadn’t even known it existed. But something had definitely changed in the darkest hours of the night.

  Liam didn’t yet know if these changes would be good or bad. He was confused, to say the least.

  He feared he had hurt Rivka last night. Not physically—he’d been careful with her—but emotionally. He would hate to see pain in her eyes that he had put there. It would hurt him, as well.

  But he needn’t have feared she would face him with recriminations. When Rivka finally got up, she was nonchalant. He was surprised by the reaction, but grateful for it. Perhaps their encounter hadn’t meant much to her. Perhaps she was one of those females who took her pleasure wherever and whenever they found it and didn’t think about the future.

  Liam had little experience with such women, but he knew they existed. Olivia hadn’t been like that at all. She’d been a virgin when they married and had never been with a man other than Liam. He’d been true to her since their marriage… Until last night.

  Liam shook his head. No use dwelling on the guilt he didn’t feel, right now. Not when Rivka was packing up the tent and starting her day.

  “You were up early,” she commented, her tone light as she joined him by the small fire he’d lit using some dry sticks he had found, the folded tent in her hands. Thankfully, the Elderland silk had not picked up much moisture from the storm and still fit easily within its little carrying pouch.

  “Ella woke just at dawn and wanted to go out,” he told her, trying to match her casual tone. “I made breakfast,” he told her, offering her the small pot they’d picked up in Waymeet that held cooked grains.

  Although they had to get back on the trail as quickly as possible, Liam had reasoned that, after the night they’d just spent together, the least he could do was make a hot breakfast for Rivka. Her gaze lit up when she saw the cooked oats to which he had added the last of the berries. She took the warm pot from his hands with a greedy grin and grabbed the polished wooden spoon he’d used to stir the concoction while it cooked.

  She took her treasure over to the sea dragon-sized dry spot on the ground, her brows rising as she looked around. “He didn’t budge all night, did he?” she commented.

  “That’s where I got the dry sticks for this fire,” Liam told her. “He was already gone when I woke, but he hadn’t been gone long.”

  “He’s probably hunting up breakfast for himself, though he had a really good feed in Waymeet,” Rivka said pensively, between bites of her hot cereal.

  “Is that him?” Liam asked, pointing into the distance. The sea dragon—if that speck in the sky really was him—was coming out of the sun, making it difficult to see. At least for Liam. For all he knew, Rivka had dragon vision even in her human form and could probably see a lot better than he could.

  “It is,” Rivka said, licking the spoon of the last remnants of her breakfast. “And he’s got company. Another dragon. One of ours,” she reported. “With a knight on top.” She scraped the pot before stowing it and smiled up at Liam. “Looks like the cavalry has arrived. Or at least a small part of it.”

  Liam and Rivka continued working to pack their gear while the dragons came in for a landing. There was just enough room in the clearing to accommodate both large dragons, and the man on the back of the newcomer hopped down easily while Skelaroth made the introductions.

  “I went out to scout ahead and crossed paths with Findlror and Stevan,” Skelaroth said to all of them. “This is Lady Rivka, Captain Liam O’Dare and Mistress Ella,” Skelaroth concluded, introducing them each in turn.

  “I’m Stevan, in case that wasn’t completely obvious,” said the young man, striding forward and holding out his hand to shake hands with Liam, since he was closest, then doing the same for Rivka. Liam had instinctively put himself between her and the newcomers, even though he knew she was half-dragon. Old habits died hard.

  “I’m Liam,” he told the other man. Rivka gave her name, as well. Then, Liam pointed to the low-hanging tree branch where Ella had perched. “That is Ella,” Liam added helpfully, noting the knight’s surprise.

  Stevan was game, though. He went over to Ella and smiled at her. “Pleased to make your acquaintance, Misstress Ella,” he said to the virkin.

  Ella stopped preening long enough to look at the young man, then said, very deliberately in all their minds. “Nice to meet you, too.”

  The periwinkle blue colored dragon seemed shocked by Ella’s words. He craned his neck closer. “Greetings. I am Findlror,” the strange dragon said to the little virkin, ignoring the people for now.

  Ella blinked up at the giant dragon. “Hi,” she said, sounding a bit shy. “You’re a pretty color.”

  The dragon chuckled at that, sending smoke rings skyward with his mirth. “Thank you, my lady. You have a beautiful mix of colors yourself.”

  “Lord Findlror, if you are heading anywhere near the capital, we have urgent news,” Rivka broke into the mutual admiration, and the blue dragon refocused its gaze on her. Liam caught the way the dragon’s eyes widened when he got a good look at Rivka.

  “What is it you wish of us, my lady?” The dragon was very respectful of Rivka, bowing its head in her direction.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  “The crown needs to know what has happened in Waymeet and about our current quest. We don’t have much time, so both of you—” Rivka motioned to the knight and his dragon “—had better listen carefully.” She then launched into an account of the pirate Fisk and his group and what they had done to the village of Waymeet. Liam put in a few details when warranted but otherwise let her make the report.

  Stevan and Findlror both listened with grave intent, speaking only to ask pertinent questions. They were as serious as Liam could wish and seemed to know what to do without bei
ng told. Liam had never interacted with knights or dragons much before recent times, but he was starting to understand that the men who were chosen as knights were not just fighters, they were thinkers, as well. Which, he supposed, was a good thing, considering they were agents of the crown authorized to mete out justice when warranted. They had great authority and near-autonomy to act in the king’s stead. It was important to have an intelligent man in such a position.

  Liam had never thought much about it before, but now that his daughter had married into the Southern Lair, Liam supposed he would have to learn to live with it. And with the men who now held his daughter’s future happiness in their hands. Both of them. Liam shook his head, preferring not to think about that aspect too closely.

  “We probably flew right over them,” Stevan said, disgust clear in his tone. “We thought we saw a large party of men on horseback, making haste to the north, but only from a distance. When we neared, they seemed to have vanished. I assumed they had gone off the road while they were momentarily obscured by a hilltop.”

  “More likely, it was magic,” Rivka told the knight. “We know Fisk has some ability to hide his trail by magical means. We don’t know how he does it, but we have it on good authority that he does.”

  “I didn’t know such things were possible,” Stevan replied, shock evident on his young face. Liam thought the knight was no older than his daughter—if that. He was quite a young person to have such responsibility, but he seemed to be handling it well.

  “Fisk has traveled widely,” Liam put in. “He has the knowledge of many lands, and the men with him are from all over. No doubt, they know of many things that are foreign to this land.”

  Stevan nodded, as did his dragon, who had seemed to be in conversation with Skelaroth until this point. Both dragons were now watching the trio of humans talking.

  “We should make haste to the north where Sirs Findlror and Stevan saw the party of pirates,” Skelaroth declared.

  “While we go to the capital with all possible haste to carry your message,” Findlror added.

  Stevan turned to his fighting partner, his mouth open in clear surprise. “I thought we would help them with the fight,” the knight objected.

  Findlror shook his head. “The news is too important. And I pity any party of pirates with two dragons and a man-o-war on their trail. We will send help, but we cannot delay getting this news to the king.”

  “Two dragons?” Stevan looked confused. “But I thought you said we were going to the capital.”

  “We are,” Findlror replied, his gaze moving to Rivka.

  She sighed. “He means me,” she said. “I am of the Black Dragon Clan.”

  Stevan’s eyes widened, and he seemed to regard Rivka in a new light. From his reaction, Liam supposed that the knights had been let in on the secrets of the Jinn black dragons, though they seemed unable to recognize them in their human form. Not so, the dragon. Findlror had clearly understood what Rivka was the moment they met.

  Whether or not the knight understood Rivka’s claim of being part of the Black Dragon Clan actually meant that she could turn into a dragon or not, Liam wasn’t sure. Still, the young knight seemed content with her words and quickly took his leave, promising to deliver their news to the king.

  Stevan climbed onto the handy knee the dragon bent for him to use as a step. Findlror walked a bit away for some room to take off. A running start and a few flaps of his enormous wings, and they were in the air, winging straight for the capital.

  “How long do you suppose it will take them to get word to the king?” Skelaroth asked as they watched the other dragon fly away.

  “By nightfall, I should think,” Rivka replied, also watching the knight and dragon fade away into the sunny sky. When they were out of sight, she turned to Skelaroth and Liam. “Now, my friends, we have a clear target. With what Stevan and Findlror told us, we should be able to locate Fisk and his men within an hour or two. The question is, how do we approach?”

  “Head on,” Skelaroth said immediately. “They will not expect attack from the sky.”

  Rivka looked like she wanted to object but held her peace. Finally, she shrugged. “I don’t know of a better way to make our attempt at stopping them, so I guess that’ll be the plan.” She held up one hand as Skelaroth nodded his head in approval of her words. “I will hang back, though. Just in case. I think you should make the first run over their heads, once we locate them, and see what happens.”

  Skelaroth’s large eyes narrowed, and he nodded more slowly this time. “That is, perhaps, wise. However, you, Liam, will be on my back unless I stop to let you off first. I don’t think that would be wise, though. I’d have to stop well away from Fisk in order not to be seen, and you would probably not be able to catch up on foot.”

  “If it’s all the same,” Liam said at once, “I’d prefer to stay with you, Lord Skelaroth, no matter the danger. I’ve been chasing Fisk a long time, and I’m the only one of us three who knows what the man actually looks like. We need to know for certain that we have him, and not some imposter decoy.”

  “A good point,” Rivka allowed.

  “You are a fine and brave man, Captain O’Dare,” Skelaroth complimented him. “It would be my honor to carry you into battle with me.”

  “The honor is mine, I assure you,” Liam replied with formality. Dragons were big on tradition and courtesy, and while he was dealing with Lord Skelaroth, he would do everything he could to be as gracious as possible under these extraordinary circumstances.

  “Good,” Rivka cut in, her tone eager. “Now that’s settled, we should be on our way without delay.”

  “Agreed.” Skelaroth’s tone was laced with a grim sort of finality. They all knew their quest might soon be at an end. How it would end, exactly, they couldn’t be quite sure, but they all hoped for the best.

  Liam mounted up, using the knee Skelaroth bent for him to use as a sort of ladder after having seen the knight and his partner do the same. Liam had to admit it was much easier to get aboard with the small movement. He’d been climbing onto Skelaroth’s back in a very haphazard way until now. It just goes to show, Liam thought, you can take the swabbie off his boat and stick him on a dragon’s back, but that doesn’t necessarily make him a knight.

  They flew cautiously for the first hour and even more carefully the second. They stopped frequently to scout from the ground, growing ever closer to their quarry. Rivka and Skelaroth flew low to the treetops, doing their best to skim the ground. It was dangerous flying, but Skelaroth surprised Rivka at his agility. After all, she knew, he hadn’t been flying over land much in his life. He was more at home under the waves, which was why he was so much more muscular than land dragons.

  Oh, they were all strong and lithely muscled, but the sea dragons had greater resistance in the water than their counterparts who only flew in air. As a result, they were a bit bulkier in the shoulder area, not that most regular people would notice. Lair folk might. And other dragons, of course, but Rivka was a dragon herself, as well as human. She appreciated the subtle color patterns on the sea dragons’ hides that she’d seen. They weren’t colored the same as land dragons, but the differences weren’t just skin deep. There were other subtle differences that set them apart from their land cousins.

  They flew and landed several more times before Rivka realized they were very close, indeed, to their prey. So close, in fact, that she could hear their horses’ hooves in the distance.

  “You hear that?” she asked, not bothering to shift from her dragon form. “That is the sound of hooves pounding along this dirt road,” she said, mainly for Skelaroth’s benefit. The sea dragon was a fast learner, but there were many things he had yet to encounter on land. “We are very close. But they’ll have to slow to a walk to make it over that rocky pass on the next hill. We can confront them there.”

  “Even if we cannot see them?” Skelaroth asked. The fact that Fisk and his party were using some sort of magic to hide them from being seen from t
he air had been a problem all along, but especially now that they were closing in on their prey.

  “I would bet that once we’re close enough, whatever magic they’re using will fail,” Liam put in. “I have seen much in my travels, including a great deal of magic that is unknown to this land. Most of it falls apart once uncovered. I’d bet this is something of that sort.”

  “I hope you are correct,” Skelaroth said, shaking his head. “For you will be with me as we swoop down on our prey. Say so now if you wish me to leave you here.”

  “I haven’t changed my mind, but thanks for the offer,” Liam assured the sea dragon.

  “Good, then.” Rivka backed up to get a running start. “Hear the change in the hoofbeats? They’re slowing down to crest the hill. Let’s fly.”

  As they flew closer to their target, Rivka dropped back to observe, as they have agreed. She was much smaller than the sea dragon. If Skelaroth was ineffective against the pirate group, Rivka wouldn’t be able to do much better. The only difference between herself and Skelaroth was that she had flame. If he ran into trouble, she could at least try to run interference, so he could get away.

  They flew closer, low to the treetops to give them the stealthiest possible approach. As they’d hoped, once they got close enough, the men on horseback were all too easy to see. Skelaroth winged upward so as to perform a swooping dive. Rivka hung back, watching from a reasonably safe distance.

  Skelaroth’s skydance was a thing of beauty. He rose and then dove, feet first, roaring defiance. The horses screamed and scattered, some dumping their riders before racing off, others taking their hapless riders with them into a frenzied flight as they saw a dragon descending on them, claws out for the kill.

  It was an awesome sight, except for the tickle of magic that came from one of the riders who had not moved too far. His horse stood beneath him, as if nothing in particular was happening. That was odd enough. No horse, no matter how well trained, wouldn’t show at least some kind of reaction to Skelaroth’s display. The beast had to be under some kind of spell. One of control or compulsion. If such a thing existed.