Landon sank to his knees. Except for Gillespie’s tunic wrapped around his waist, he was naked. “I—I was never told.”
“You wear your grandmother’s medallion. Our crest.”
Gillespie’s face was still red, as though he debated the fact that his ruler and friend was one of the enemy.
“My grandmother gave it to me before she died. My mother never told me any of this before she died. Once, my grandmother said I must travel outside of our lands to find my purpose,” he swallowed as if the words stuck in his throat, “and my mate.”
“Aye. Now we’ve found you, peace will return. A proper mate chosen and you’ll marry within the hour.”
His head shook before the words left his mouth. “Nay, I cannot stay here.”
“This is your home. Your ancestor abused her freedom to live among the humans.” The dragon spoke the last word as if it were a curse.
“Do you know of nothing of the world? I’ve a kingdom among my people—humans. A kingdom that is threatened. I’ve vowed an oath to protect them. I’ll not let my words be useless.”
“You may watch over them, but reign here.”
Mirhana frowned. “Does the scent of evil not reach you in your lofty lands? A horrible Warloc and his progeny threaten to overtake the world. They grant mercy and peace to no one.”
The dragon waved a wing. “All are safe here.”
Landon’s mind swam. His grandmother was a dragon? Yet, they did not see his importance against the war.
Brock cleared his throat as he took a step forward. A silver dragon swatted down his tail to block his path. “Perhaps if you read the prophecies of my people. They speak of the Son of the Dragons and the danger.”
The elder dragon nodded.
“Our packs? We had a copy of the prophecies inside one of them,” Mirhana said.
As if reading Landon’s mind, five dragons flung themselves over the side of the sky. What he thought of earlier as a marble floor was an enormous cloud, but it was solid. He could just make out the mountains’ peaks below them.
Landon saw they hurled themselves at the ground as if they knew no fear.
While they waited for them to return with the packs, Celeste healed Melwyn. As if grateful, he raked his tongue across her face until she shooed him away. Then she motioned for Landon to turn around. He had forgotten the dragon’s graze across his back.
“You are healed already; it must be from the dragon blood in you.” She turned to Brock who had a wound down his arm. After she healed him she said, “But you, my love, will have a scar.” She kissed the flesh exposed from the dragon’s attack. “But how many say they battled a dragon and lived?” She winked at his grin.
Barreling up, the dragons carried the packs in their talons. They dropped the tattered bloody packs at Landon’s feet.
He dug through the third pack before he found the scroll.
“Here.” He thrust them at the dragons to show them.
The elder squinted as Landon read them aloud. He was glad Brock had written out the translations in the human language. While they waited, the other dragons frowned at them as though they’d rather eat them than not.
“With the healing of the land at Beltane, rejoice not. Evil breeds for renewal within one year.
Bring together the four to Cape Seyechell. The dark one—Vaer and the Key. Join the sacrifice with the Son of the Dragons at the prism of the abyss—the Forgotten Lands. Remember the fourth and the abandoned one.
Only then will the evil be extinguished. Else, it will darken the land, and nowhere, not in the dragon’s lairs, Elvin trees, or human lands will any find refuge. Lost is the dragons’ treasure. Only the Son of the Dragons can find it.” Landon handed the scroll back to Brock.
“Still, Elvin prophecies hold no sway over us. We rule the skies, while your kind rules the trees.” He pointed to Drong’ka with his grey skin and violet eyes. “And his rule the caves.”
“If I were not important to this cause, then why do they refer to me several times?” Landon rolled up the scrolls.
“Master Ad’yra.” A small copper color dragon inched forward. His scales were like pieces of tarnished tronce. “I smell dragon’s teeth in a pack.”
All heads swung to Landon. Even though he did not move, he felt as if he plummeted a thousand feet.
Chapter Thirty-five
Landon’s tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth as if he’d swallowed tree sap. They said he was their treasure, but he wondered what the price would be if he killed one of them.
Their claws and teeth snatched the pack from Brock’s fingers. They tore the remaining pieces apart in seconds until the dragon’s teeth and coins spilled out of the pouch.
“Execute them!” Master Ad’yra, the elder dragon roared.
“Wait.” Brock stepped forward, blocking their access to Celeste.
“Let us speak.” Mirhana moved closer, ignoring the danger.
“Listen to them,” Landon said.
They grumbled, but obeyed.
“What frightens you so?” Mirhana knelt and picked up the teeth. “All are safe here, are they not?”
Instead of answering, some of their eyes shifted as if to prepare to attack.
“Weigh these then.” She held out her hand. “And know that we did not do this. We’ve a common enemy.”
“No human can oppose us.”
“Really? Then work your magic here on these. Let them show you how this mighty dragon was slain. Bones do not lie.”
Roars vibrated around them.
“Give the teeth to me.” Master Ad’yra held out a russet paw.
Mirhana walked forward and then dropped the remaining dragon teeth avoiding his outstretched talons.
His eyes closed, then his scales glowed as if a flame were lit inside him. The others crept closer. Would they attack despite their elder and his orders? One emerald dragon snarled.
“Enough.” Master Ad’yra shook his wings out. “They speak truth. His jewel of power was chiseled out of his skull by the Warloc. After that, the Warloc ate his heart to gain his strength and knowledge. It was then that he learned our Treasure was not made of trinkets, but our heir. Then the dragon’s body was used to resurrect deadwalkers who not only obeyed commands, but had minds of their own and a fraction of the strength of our fallen brother.”
The dragons murmured.
“But they have forbidden teeth. We should eat them.” The emerald dragon clawed closer.
“Nay.” He grimaced as if the magic he used exhausted him. “The Warloc did this. When we helped the humans, we knew him then as the Bringer of Sorrow.”
Silence hung in the air.
Then Master Ad’yra rumbled, “we’ll grant you safe journey as far as the forest of Everlang. To pass farther will be too dangerous for us.” He bowed forward until his head was level with Celeste, Brock, and Mirhana. “Return our treasure, or nothing will save you.”
Mirhana nodded.
“If I may intrude.” Drong’ka bowed. “I cannot delay here, for I must return to my Queen before she notices my absence. Besides, Mirhana promised my death from her hand if she saw me again.”
“You will be flown safely back to your land.” A saffron dragon stepped forward.
Drong’ka climbed on his back, and they spiraled down the clouds until Landon could no longer watch them without becoming dizzy.
“Just hold your medallion and think of me,” Master Ad’yra said. “You will summon me, or all of us with a thought. But tonight, we celebrate your return. Tomorrow, we leave. Only take care of your dragon form. Each time you change, you’ll lose a little more of your human side until only the dragon is left.” He cleared his throat. “For now, we’ll escort you to your rooms to prepare for the festivities.”
As they followed two rose colored dragons inside the palace, Landon wondered what this Warloc had done so long ago to these creatures to earn the title Bringer of Sorrow.
He could not tell if they were female or male, but he gu
essed female by the way they swished their tails and kept glancing back at him.
“Do your colors mean anything?” Mirhana asked. “A ranking or—”
“Yes,” Landon added, “I wondered that as well. I see a few shades of blues, reds, purples, but no other black like … mine.”
“Because you are all of the colors and none of them. Each color represents not only a dragon’s personality but our abilities and gifts. We will find you a mate who will complement you as rule over us all.”
His fingers clenched at his sides. It was a lot to take in to realize he wasn’t entirely human. Even more so to realize a forced engagement to another dragon, one that had no human form.
Mirhana frowned as she followed. Landon noticed Brock slowed his pace to match hers.
“Give him some time. It’s a lot to deal with.”
“I know, but how do I compete with this?”
Palaces made of crystal and clouds towered before them. The largest had a rainbow circling around the main keep.
Inside, the walls appeared as if someone captured clouds within crystal. Landon ran his fingers along them, amazed that the clouds shifted, but did not reveal what was beyond.
“Each of you will have your own chambers while the festivity is prepared.” One of the rose dragons swept her tail down a darkened corridor. At her approach, a glow within the clouded crystal illuminated the path.
“How long before the celebration?” Landon asked.
One of the rose dragons stopped. “Within an aon.”
“When is that?”
“When the sun sets.”
• • •
Inside his chambers, Landon paced. How much time had passed? It seemed as if hours had gone by.
When he attempted to creep across to Mirhana, guards blocked his path. Even though he was ruler here, they didn’t trust him.
Already he had been brought a change of clothes. When he asked where the garments came from, the dragon snarled that the females had woven each of them new clothing for the festival.
From his attitude, Landon didn’t dare ask how they managed to make outfits so quickly.
In the center of the room was a bath carved in silver. It was the size of a lake. But he guessed it’d have to be in order for a dragon to bathe here.
After bathing, he dressed in the tan trousers and cream silk tunic woven by dragons. The material was soft like velvet, but sturdy like leather.
Even his hair dried as he paced. Would the damn sun never set?
• • •
The meal and merriment seemed to last an eternity. Perhaps his patience wore away.
Individually, all of the dragons spoke with Landon. Each gave their advice from how to swim over lava from a volcano, to camouflaging scales to blend in. One, a female, wanted to show him how to kiss another dragon without chipping teeth.
Mirhana stomped out of the chambers at that remark. Jeslyn mumbled to Celeste who nodded. Then she rose and followed her out.
“Where is she going?” Landon asked.
Celeste smiled. “To do as she promised. Beg for Mirhana’s forgiveness and give her the other jewel chip she cut out.”
They retired to their chambers, but Landon still had uneasiness about the assassin. He lay across the bed with his arm over his eyes after the celebration was over.
Questions chased each other in his mind. Why had his mother or grandmother not told him that he was a dragon? Or prepared him for this battle against this Warloc that he now was a part of?
His door scraped open, and he propped up on his elbows. Mirhana entered and closed the door behind her. “I missed you.”
“You saw me only an hour ago.”
“I know. Just feels as if I’ve been away for days. Who knows what those female dragons have planned for you.” She crept onto the bed beside him. Her fingers playing along the edge of his tunic quickened his breath. “And, we’ve not had a moment alone for so very long.”
Chapter Thirty-six
Mirhana’s desire grew more when she saw Landon’s eyes fill with passion as she played with the edge of his tunic.
When the dragon had torn into her flesh, she thought she was dead. The only thought in her mind was Landon, her voice raw when she shouted his name. The next words on her lips were to tell him she was in love with him when she saw him shift into the dragon and the words stuck in her throat.
She had known she was falling for him for a while, but she refused to admit it. Facing her death, when she thought all hope was lost, made her crave him and his love even more.
Who was she to believe she was immune to love?
For years, she had believed loving a human would bring heartbreak as it had in the past. She hadn’t thought about her own death and mortality.
Now, here among the dragons and without holding back, she kissed him. She put all the longing and stirrings of love she had pushed aside into her kiss. After a few moments, he pulled back and stared at her.
“Are you sure?”
“I’m unsure about a lot of things.” She took off her tunic and then wiggled out of her trousers before pressing him back down unto the bed. “But this is the first time I’m sure of right here and now with you.”
• • •
Dawn sparkled through the clouded crystal walls. Landon untangled from Mirhana; he would have let her sleep, but she rose with him. After they bathed and dressed, they left his chambers.
He clasped her hand and smiled that she didn’t move to let go of him.
“It is time,” a silver dragon said.
Rather than change into his dragon form, Landon nodded and then climbed upon her back.
Tears in Mirhana’s eyes made them greener than the Wodever leaves around them. But he knew she would not cry, no matter how much this hurt them both.
“Master Ad’yra invites you all to witness the marriage of our Treasure to one of our kind.”
Gillespie frowned. “I-I’ll pass. I must find a horse in the next village and go home.”
“Very well,” Landon answered. “I’ll see you again when I return to Fafniron.”
“Perhaps,” he whispered as he stomped off, bringing chills to Landon’s skin.
Five other dragons waited.
“I don’t think I’ll go either.” Mirhana didn’t show a hint of her tears from earlier.
“Nay, the rest of us, including you, will go.” Instead of listening to her protests, Celeste pushed Mirhana toward a crimson colored dragon. “Can you carry Melwyn and Shadowdancer also?” She had flown down with a dragon earlier to gather up her horse.
The dragon snorted at her request as if she had insulted him by suggesting he could not carry such a load.
Within moments, they soared through the air. Brock’s hands clutched the sides of the dragon’s bronze scales. Even though this was his second trip through the sky with a dragon, it seemed that his fear of falling had not gotten any better.
Celeste laughed and held her arms out as her turquoise dragon looped through clouds.
As if gravity was a toy, the dragon swooped up sharply, avoiding hitting the crystal floor, and they landed without a sound.
After Landon leapt off the dragon, he spoke with Master Ad’yra.
Brock had requested his ancestor, Nivel be brought up to help. The elder Elvin had pursued all the dragons asking them numerous questions, but only giving riddles instead of answers when they asked him anything about the Warloc or prophecies.
“Have you ever seen so many?” Nivel, suddenly at his elbow, startled him. “Not since the war have I seen so many. And such subtle hues distinguish them from each other even within the same colors.”
Landon noticed Celeste stood close to Mirhana’s side as if to offer her support. If Celeste knew how difficult this was for Mirhana to witness, then why had she insisted they come for this dragon wedding? He swallowed back bile at the thought. He’d rather marry Kavith than a dragon even though he didn’t love her. He wasn’t raised to be or think like a dragon.
Master Ad’yra cleared his throat, which sounded like rocks grating over each other. “Join us for the banquet where we’ll present the bride to our Treasure.”
Mirhana’s legs appeared rooted to the ground as the crowd moved forward. But Celeste whispered something to her and she took a step.
Nivel was behind him shooing him towards the banquet hall. “Hurry, I’ve never had a chance to eat with dragons, and as long as we’re not dessert, I don’t want to miss anything.”
Melwyn and Shadowdancer stood where they left them in the open. An amethyst dragon with large eyes brought fresh meat for Mirhana’s cat and hay for Celeste’s horse. Landon dismissed his visions of where the meat might have come from.
Inside, the crystal walls with captured clouds brought sounds of awe from Nivel.
They stood at floating tables filled with oddly colored fruits and bread. Celeste, as though famished, ate eagerly. Landon’s own stomach clenched at the thought of food.
Nivel, too, seemed to enjoy the meal.
The only other one besides him appearing not to enjoy the food was Mirhana. Her dark hair hung down loosely and hid her face.
Even though she and Brock were twins, her features and even her ears were more humanlike. Her green eyes, so similar to Brock’s, appeared to be cut from jewels.
“Now,” Master Ad’yra nodded, “we have selected your bride.”
When would he be able to choose whom he would marry? First his father and country, and now his dragon ancestors. The curse of Kings is too many unwanted brides forced upon you without any chance for refusal.
Invisible cymbals crashed, and horns sounded even though Landon saw no instruments or dragons doing anything but eating and watching.
Through the archway, a rose-colored dragon sauntered in. Her scales glistened as if they had pieces of the sun across them. Even her eyes were the same color as her scales.
“Treasure, your bride.” Master Ad’yra bowed his head. “Mistress Felonia.”
Landon felt his skin grow clammy. “W-what of her human form?”
Some of the dragons spit, others grumbled among themselves.
“I’ve have only in the last day found that I am a dragon.” Landon cleared his throat. “How am I to judge your offering when I’ve no comparison that makes sense to me?”
Son of Dragons Page 17
