Dragon's Treasure (Dragons Awaken Book 1)

by Maya Starling

  Delilah gulped; she knew what that look meant so she forced herself to pay attention.

  “Good.” Lilith nodded her approval as she turned to stir the contents in the cauldron. “As I was saying, since fertility potions seem to be in demand, you need to learn how to make one properly. I already mentioned that you have to use…” She looked over her shoulder at Delilah and raised her eyebrow.

  “Two small spoons of lizard’s blood.” Delilah finished her mother’s sentence.

  “Finally I have your attention. I’ll be right back. You make sure you have everything written down correctly; wouldn’t want to make someone infertile again.” Lilith walked to the kitchen to gather their next ingredients, while Delilah stuck her tongue out at her mother’s back.

  “I felt that!” her mother yelled from the kitchen; Delilah rolled her eyes.

  She started writing down the recipe but to fight boredom she decided to make it more interesting. Instead of writing the word lizard, she decided to draw a lizard, and since the recipe called for two, she added another lizard to keep the first one company. These lizards were known to love basking in the sunlight, so a sun was needed on that page as well. Of course, some greenery was added, too, and she didn’t forget pretty flowers. Soon enough, Delilah was once again lost in her doodles and the life of her imaginary lizard family.

  She wished she was a lizard; life might be simpler then, instead of being stuck doing all the potion brewing, spell weaving, making up new ones, planting and gardening (the last two of which she actually enjoyed). There would also be no animal slaughtering, no bartering with other people, no threatening those who didn’t want to cooperate. She didn’t consider her mother to be a good role model, but she was her mother. Nothing she could do about it but forge on.

  She would never be able to get away, and she had absolutely no talent or patience for the witchery while her mother thrived on the power and wanted more. For what purpose? Delilah had no idea, but she knew that her mother wanted Delilah to be just as powerful.

  Still, despite Delilah’s failed attempts, Lilith persisted. Delilah was her only daughter and she could not throw that away. Witches didn’t reproduce easily. The stronger the witch, the harder it was for them to be with child. It was all about the magic fluctuating through their bodies… Delilah hadn’t really been paying attention that time when her mother had explained the reproductive life of witches, the near-desperate attempts to conceive and the reasons why witches were so few.

  Lilith was afraid she would never be able to have a child; she desired one even more after her twin sister’s death. This desire drove her to push her daughter, to try to make her fill her aunt’s shoes, no matter what the cost. To this end Lilith had decided to find a way to prolong her life, thus giving herself more time, more opportunities to bear a child. Or at least that was the story she told Delilah.

  Lilith had managed to find her own fountain of youth, in the form of a curse she had bound to herself as a consequence of her twin sister’s death. She probably had to sell her soul to the demon gods along the way. Delilah smirked at her own pun.

  A cloying, fetid smell reached her nostrils. She looked up to see her mother glaring at her now doodle-filled page as she held a handful of black cohosh flowers in her hands. The notebook took flight and bounced off the cauldron before falling down into the fire, instantly vaporizing with a little help from her mother.

  “Make – the – extract, Delilah.” Lilith slammed the flowers down on the table in front of her daughter. “I have been nothing but patient with you, daughter. Raising you on my own, keeping you safe and protected from the outside world and the greedy men who live there. I feed you, clothe you, give you a roof over your head. I teach you the Art so that one day you will be able to at least take care of yourself since it’s hopeless, making a powerful witch out of you. I even allow you to sneak out with those books of yours. And how do you repay me?” By the end of her speech, Lilith’s eyes had darkened, her voice lowered, hair wisped around her head. “I guess playing nice won’t do anymore… I’ll just have to—”

  A scream burst from Lilith’s mouth as she fell to her knees, clutching at her pounding heart. It had stopped for a few beats before continuing at a galloping speed.

  “Mother!” Delilah exclaimed in alarm as she jumped off the chair; it fell back with a thud as she hurried to her mother. She might not like the old woman much, but she had no one else. “Mother!” She grasped at her mother’s shoulders.

  Lilith slowly let go of the tight grip she had on her dress, over her fast beating heart, as she looked up into her daughter’s eyes. Delilah had never witnessed before such fear and panic in her mother’s eyes.

  “He broke the curse!” Lilith said as she tried to get back up on her trembling feet.

  “Which curse?” Delilah’s question was well placed since her mother had dabbled with more than one.

  “The Dragon curse, the most important one!” When Lilith was steady on her feet she swatted her daughter’s hands away. “I never thought he’d figure it out. I thought he would either get killed or be cursed forever!”

  Delilah knew her mother was now worried with her sudden mortality. She was not used to being vulnerable to aging. “Oh!” was Delilah’s clever reply.

  “ ‘Oh’? ‘OH’?!?! That’s all you have to say?”

  “Well… I’m just as shocked as you are, Mother.” Delilah started following her mother around like a lost puppy as she went about packing. “What if he’s just dead?”

  “He’s not ‘just dead’… I felt the curse break, felt his heart stop beating.” A shudder of dread made Lilith pause in her frantic packing.

  A confused frown appeared on Delilah’s face. “Wait. First you said you thought he’d die before he broke the curse, or be killed… then you felt his heart stop beating, so he is dead… so – I don’t understand! Now you’re saying he’s alive? How can you be sure he’s alive? Mother, what are you doing?”

  Lilith glared at her. “I’m packing, obviously. We leave first thing in the morning. Now where’s my… ah… there it is…” Lilith walked across the room. “The condition of the curse was that to break it, he had to die in a certain way. For a very particular reason. And I know he’s alive because the curse had to have one redeeming quality. A prize, if you will, to balance it out.”

  “Which is?”

  “Life… His prize is his life.”

  Excerpt from Dragon’s Prize, Book 2 in Dragons Awaken Trilogy

  CHAPTER 1

  Kaden’s eyes popped wide open. He jerked up, sucking in an excruciating breath. Tremors racked his body, a burning ache spreading through his limbs. Shallow, labored breaths filled his lungs with air. At the sudden movement and sound, the wolf cub at his side jumped back and crouched in a defensive position.

  Kaden’s heart beat erratically as he sat looking around in a daze. The trees blurred, the grass soft beneath him. Memories dissolved as he tried to grasp them. What happened, where was he?

  A whine to his right. A wolf. Pup! He remembered then… He recalled the day the curse was cast upon him. And the night he had saved Olivia, his love, from wolves in the forest. Olivia! His chest tightened at the thought of the young noblewoman who had stumbled into his treasure cave and changed the course of his destiny. Brave and beautiful, she was the one to offer him friendship, the one to bring light to his darkness. She reminded him how it felt to care for someone, and taught him to love again. And just as he’d started to live once more, he had to die to save her freedom. Damnation! Why had that damned prince found them?!

  He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, gathering his thoughts. The pain hit him then, the like of which he had never felt before. Getting wounded hurt a lot. Dying hurt even worse. But being alive again hurt the worst. He gasped as the pain spread from his core, up his spine, over his shoulders to the tips of his fingers. He shivered. His ring finger throbbed, dripping warm wetness. Sucking in another deep breath through gritted teeth, he raised the h
and to inspect it.

  “Shit!” It came out as a croak. One of his fingers was missing! And all of his claws! He examined the rest of his naked body. His human body. Human form. Two legs, two hands, no wings! No scales, only soft skin, not as damaged. He had managed to heal some before becoming a man again. The deep cuts Prince Magnus had left when piercing his wing were just shallow wounds on his human back, although they still hurt.

  Kaden let out a laugh, his eyes moistened with tears of joy, and of pain. Soon, he no longer shook with laughter, but with sobs. Joy blended with pain, overwhelming him. The pain in his missing finger brought him back. Blood was oozing out to the rhythm of his fast heartbeat.

  A lick to his finger focused his attention. He needed to stop the bleeding. He groaned.

  Another lick. Pup was watching him with concerned eyes. The little wolf whimpered, licking the finger in need of dressing. Kaden took the rope that was still hanging around the wolf cub’s neck, and petted the animal.

  “Thank you!” he croaked, unused to a human throat. The wolf sat down behind him. Kaden reached for a piece of branch nearby, fighting against every twitch that tried to ravage his body with onslaughts of pain. He wrapped one end of the thin rope around the wood, and the other end around the stub that was left of his ring finger. Deep breaths! Deep breaths! He put the wood into his mouth and pulled tight. Finger burning and jaw aching, he tightened the rope as hard as he could. Pup’s howl of sympathy joined his muffled scream.

  Taking a couple of deep breaths to calm himself, Kaden then tied up the rope, stopping the bleeding. Exhausted, he leaned back against Pup. The little wolf lay down, serving as a pillow. Kaden closed his eyes and let numbness take over.

  A sharp pain burst in the back of his head, and a thud resounded in his ear. He groaned as his head met the hard ground. Turning to the side, he caught a glimpse of Pup dashing into the forest. The setting sun was turning the sky a darker shade of blue. Pain pulsed through his stump. I have to get moving.

  He rolled over to his knees and paused to let out a breath he hadn’t noticed he had been holding. Teeth gritted, Kaden stood up. As soon as he took his first step, he stumbled forward, and crashed face first into the dirt. He groaned, half in pain, half in frustration. Remember, Kaden, you’re human again. You need to move like one. Only two legs, no tail, no wings.

  He turned onto his back again, and stared through the trees at the darkening sky. He would need to learn how to walk before he could do anything. How am I going to do this? Kaden brushed his uninjured hand down his face, hoping the motion would also wipe away the agony and depression settling deep inside him. Thoughts of Olivia eased his inner pain. Now, he could finally tell her the truth about being cursed to live forever as a scaled monster that cannot stop stealing, incurring the wrath, fear and hate of all intelligent beings, sentenced to a life of misery and loneliness. The tri-fold curse cast by Lilith, whom he once considered a friend… The curse had vanished with his dragon body. Olivia would understand.

  The last thought brought a fleeting smile. Feeling a gentle nudge against his hand, Kaden looked to the left. “You’re back. Not planning on leaving me anytime soon, eh boy?” Kaden reached out, stroked Pup’s fur and tried to cough out the scratching in his throat. He realized how thirsty he was.

  Pup got closer and nudged Kaden’s side.

  He grabbed the wolf’s fur again and held on tight, helping himself roll onto his knees. Pup endured, emitting an occasional whimper.

  With Pup’s help, Kaden crawled to the nearest tree. He used it as support to stand up on shaky feet. Once he found his footing, he held tightly onto the trunk. Fighting the dizziness, he pressed his face against the rough bark, much like Olivia used to press her face against his scales for comfort. The thought of her was just the motivation he needed. I have to find her. I have to make sure she is safe.

  The wolf cub sat next to his feet, waiting.

  Kaden cautiously pried himself from the tree. He now held onto it only to keep his balance. The pain, he was slowly getting used to. It was still there, throbbing in the background, but it was easier to push through now. Braced for another failure, Kaden took a step, and stumbled to the next tree.

  Stumbling from tree to tree with Pup leading the way and occasionally helping him not to fall face first into the ground again, Kaden relearned to walk. He had no idea where he was or how to get to his cave. He let Pup show him.

  By nightfall, a heavenly sound reached his ears; water murmuring, cascading over the rocks down the mountain. Their stream. He could barely restrain himself from speeding up, knowing he would surely fall on his face again. He did not reach the stream as fast as its sounds reached him. Huh! Some dragon must still reside in me. Or did I completely forget what it’s like to be human?

  When he finally fell to his knees next to the water, he lapped at it. He washed his face, scrubbing some of the blood and dirt from his bare body. Once done, he lay on the soft grass, panting and exhausted. He studied the stars, and with the stream next to him, he knew where he should be headed next - downstream, to reach the spot where Olivia had taken her bath. Once he was there, getting back to the cave shouldn’t be a problem. That was, if he lived through the night. He had to go back and see if Prince Magnus and his men were there. If Olivia had managed to get away.

  “Olivia…” Her name rolling off his tongue sounded like a prayer.

  Kaden turned to lie on his stomach, enjoying the feel of soft grass beneath him. He tucked his right hand under his head, while his left rested next to his face. Even though it was spring, this high up in the mountain the temperature dropped during the night. A chill breeze caressed his skin. He shivered. He couldn’t even move to curl up into himself. He fought to stay awake, afraid of falling asleep. Thankfully, Pup had other ideas. The little wolf laid next to Kaden’s shivering body, offering his own heat to help Kaden make it through the night.

  CHAPTER 2

  “Don't be such a prude, Delilah!” Lilith said when she saw her daughter sitting at the table, blushing profusely at the sight of a shirtless man following behind her mother. “It’s just sex.” The witch shrugged.

  Delilah had spent the last half hour sitting at the table of the small cabin, while her mother “entertained” the ranger in the other room. It was payment for their stay in his cabin, although Delilah suspected her mother hadn’t minded that sort of payment one bit. Lilith was usually able to persuade people to her cause quite quickly, either with her charming ways or with the help of some magic. Delilah knew her mother was saving her magic, garnering it for something bigger. She wasn’t willing to waste it on someone as unimportant as this ranger.

  “Maybe I can teach her a thing or two, have some fun, eh?” the man winked at Delilah as he paused in buttoning up his shirt. Even though she appeared tired, with dark circles under her eyes, he was sure some time with him would make her feel better.

  “No!” Lilith was fast to respond, saving Delilah the embarrassment of answering the lusting ranger. “I’m saving her for someone special, going to mix some royal blood into the family line. She is going to bear me a granddaughter someday, hopefully soon. She’ll be named Lucia.”

  Delilah’s eyes widened in shock. She had no idea her mother had made such plans for her, even going as far as choosing the name of her future child and naming it after Lilith’s dead twin sister. Delilah was not ready for that. She was barely growing into her womanhood and the thought of bearing a child frightened her. And the conception part… Delilah shivered. She was afraid she wouldn’t be a good mother. She knew the way Lilith had raised her was not a good example to follow.

  “Don’t give me that look, daughter. We’ll talk about our plans later, now is not the time. Go on and get some sleep. We leave early in the morning.” Lilith shooed Delilah into the room she and the ranger had just vacated.

  When Delilah stepped inside with her belongings, the door shut behind her. She jumped at the sound. She studied the room, which was as simple and as bare as t
he rest of the cabin. Looking at the bed as if it were the bearer of the plague, Delilah made her way toward the window, setting her backpack on the floor underneath it. Outside, she only saw darkness and her own reflection in the windowpane. The trip was taking its toll on her. Diverting her attention from the window, she pulled the curtains closed, afraid of what might jump out from the darkness. This forest wasn’t the one she knew and had grown up in, and she feared the unknown. It was all her mother’s fault.

  Delilah turned around with a sigh. The room was illuminated by a lonely lamp. On the bed against the right wall, the sheets were still rumpled. It was a disgusting thought, having to sleep on a bed where her mother had just… Delilah raised her hand, pointed at the sheets and they levitated towards the fireplace. She checked the door, which was on her left and still shut. Good! Her mother wouldn’t see her practicing magic, even though levitating light objects was among the basic things she had learned from Lilith, and actually mastered. She snapped her fingers and the sheets were aflame in the fireplace. Delilah then added a few logs and the fire burned steadily.

  She eyed the bed with distaste; she would not sleep on it tonight. Walking over to the closet which was next to the door, Delilah found some blankets inside, folded on the bottom shelf.

  After she finished arranging her makeshift bed in front of the fireplace, she settled in for the night. There was only one thing left to do. She listened for the sounds from the other room and when she heard none, she took out her lucky charm. At least that was what she told her mother it was. It was a piece of wood with an intricate sign etched into it; a sign that had come to her in her sleep.

  Grasping it in her hand she spoke, “Shanaya Tok.” The piece of wood disappeared and in its place there was a beautifully crafted journal, also used as a spell book, with the same sign protruding from the leather cover. If her mother were to find out about it, Deliliah would be in a world of trouble.