by Julia Mills
The Scars of Her Dragon
Dragon Guard Series #14
by
Julia Mills
There Are No Coincidences.
The Universe Does Not Make Mistakes.
Fate Will Not Be Denied.
Copyright © 2016 Julia Mills
All Rights Reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictional manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
NOTICE: This is an adult erotic paranormal romance with love scenes and mature situations. It is only intended for adult readers over the age of 18.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
DEDICATION
Index of the Original Language of the Dragon Kin
Also by Julia Mills
The Dragon Guard
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Epilogue | Two Months Later
HER DRAGON TO SLAY
ROMAN: Fury of Her King ~ Kings of the Blood ~ Book 2 | AVAILABLE SUMMER 2016!
VIKTOR: Heart of Her King ~ Kings of the Blood ~ Book1 | AVAILABLE NOW!
Phoebe: A ‘Not-Quite’ Phoenix Love Story | AVAILABLE NOW
About Julia
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Edited by Lisa Miller, Angel Editing Services
Proofread by Tammy Payne with Book Nook Nuts
Cover Designed by Linda Boulanger with Tell Tale Book Covers
Cover Model Nick Bennett
Photographer Golden Czermak with FuriousFotog
Formatted by Charlene Bauer with Wickedly Bold
DEDICATION
Dare to Dream! Find the Strength to Act! Never Look Back!
Thank you, God.
To my girls, Liz and Em, I Love You. Every day, every way, always.
Index of the Original Language of the Dragon Kin
THE SCARS OF HER DRAGON
Mo chroi’..........My Heart
Mo ghra’..........My Love
Ta’ mo chroi istigh ionat..........My Heart is Within You
Mo stór..........My Treasure
Beidh mé grá duit go deo..........I will love you forever
Tá tú níos áille ó lá go lá..........You’re more beautiful every day
Mo chol beag.........My little dove
Do maité..........My mate
Lig dom a bheith ar do rud..........Let me be your everything
Tú, mo maité, tá gach beidh mé dhíth riamh..........You, my mate, are all I’ll ever need
Is brae liom tú le gach go bhfuil mé..........I love you with all that I am
Mo Dragon..........My dragon
Mo bheannacht..........My blessing
Céadsearc..........Sweetheart
Also by Julia Mills
*****
The Dragon Guard Series
Her Dragon to Slay, Dragon Guard Series #1
Her Dragon’s Fire, Dragon Guard Series #2
Haunted by Her Dragon, Dragon Guard Series #3
For the Love of Her Dragon, Dragon Guard Series #4
Saved by Her Dragon, Dragon Guard #5
Only for Her Dragon, Dragon Guard #6
Fighting for Her Dragon, Dragon Guard #7
Her Dragon’s Heart, Dragon Guard #8
Her Dragon’s Soul, Dragon Guard #9
The Fate of Her Dragon, Dragon Guard #10
Her Dragon’s No Angel, Dragon Guard #11
Her Dragon, His Demon, Dragon Guard #12
Resurrecting Her Dragon, Dragon Guard #13
Her Love, Her Dragon: The Saga Begins, A Dragon Guard Prequel
*****
The ‘Not-Quite’ Love Story Series
Vidalia: A ‘Not-Quite Vampire Love Story
Phoebe” A ‘Not-Quite’ Phoenix Love Story
Zoey: A ‘Not-Quite’ Zombie Love Story
Jax: A ‘Not-Quite’ Puma Love Story
*****
Kings of the Blood
VIKTOR: Heart of Her King ~ Kings of the Blood ~ Book 1
The Dragon Guard
We soar the skies
Free to a certain extent,
As long as we stay hidden
From prying human eyes.
Our scales differ in color
Our defensive weapons,
Tails, horns, talons and all,
Are never the same.
We are one with nature
We blend in with nature
The wind helps us soar high in the heavens
While the earth grant us healing strength in our hour of need.
We are one with the world
We are the guardians of our kin
When evil conspire to maim and hurt
We are protectors of this human race.
As majestic animals of fairytales
We share our beings with great men
They walk in honor and the grace of Fate,
Fate that we cannot deny.
Copyright © 2016 Melanie Williams
- This Poem is based on the Series, The Dragon Guard by Author Julia Mills.
Chapter One
Some years earlier... Somewhere in the desert...Fighting someone else’s war...
Counting the stars in the sky, with the heat radiating through his fatigues from the desert sand, Kellan couldn’t help but wonder if this was the calm before the storm. They’d been fighting day in and day out for so long he couldn’t remember a time his hand wasn’t wrapped around a weapon and he wasn’t dodging enemy bullets.
Being a dragon shifter, specifically one of the elite Guardsmen, meant he’d been born to defend, born to lead, born to assure the freedom of all. He’d been in one war or another for over a hundred years and would be until the day he was called to the Heavens. It was grueling but rewarding. It gave his life purpose. He was carrying on the tradition of all dragon kin, and with his brethren by his side, there was never a dull moment.
“So, I’m thinking of drinking my weight in Midletons if we ever get a few days off,” Rory, his best friend and the closest thing he’d ever had to a little brother, joked.
“Days off? We get those?” Lennox, the mad bomber of their Force, chuckled.
“Sure we do. Anybody know when Hell is scheduled to freeze over?” Brannoc, their maps man and a comedian in his own right, snickered. “We just need to call a ceasefire for a week or two. Everyone take a vacation. Chill for a while. Then if the powers that be still remember what they’re fighting about, we can pick up where we left off. Sound good?”
Speaking in the mindspeak of their kin kept their enemies from hearing their conversation as the Guardsmen all laughed and added their two cents to the conversation.
“Damn, I’d just like a shower and clean fatigues. I’ve had these on so long I’m afraid my dragon scales have turned to camouflage.” Kellan had barely gotten the words out of his mouth before the scarcely audible whir of a motor cut through the group’s laughter.
“Quiet!” Kellan hissed thro
ugh his brethren’s minds.
The sound grew louder, vibrating their enhanced senses from above. In one fluid motion, the six Guardsmen rolled to their stomachs, had their guns at the ready, and were scouting the darkness all around them for the incoming drone. Laying in their usual circle formation, feet in the center, eyes front to see from all directions, they lay motionless and silent.
Tense seconds ticked by. The hum of the drone’s engine grew louder, but even with their preternatural sight, not a one of the Guardsmen could pinpoint its location. Finally, three long minutes into their wait, a tiny red dot appeared a hundred yards west of their location.
“Three o’clock!” Kellan shouted directly into their minds just as Rory bellowed, “Six o’clock!”
Closely followed by Declan’s holler of “Ten o’clock!” Less than a second later, Lenn shouted, “They’re everywhere!”
The brilliant tan of the desert sand lit up like Times Square at Christmas with small red dots as far as the eye could see. Their enemies had gotten smart. They had planned a well-coordinated strike with more drones than Kell could imagine, so well in sync they fooled even the well-trained Guardsmen.
Firing as fast as the bullets could fly from the barrels of their automatic rifles, the dragons attempted to take out the drones before they reached the village they’d been ordered to protect. The more they fired only made more of the angry mechanical birds appear in the sky.
Running straight into the swarm, Kellan and Rory commanded in unison, “Spread out. Find the origin. Take out the source.”
Kell flanked left as Rory turned a hard right at the hundred-yard mark of their trek. Each man looked for the unit controlling the unmanned machines. Minute by minute updates came from each Guardsman detailing their findings.
“Nothing here but debris,” Brannoc called from the north.
“Same here,” Declan announced in his ‘Joe Friday’ manner from the east.
Pearce and Lennox had taken off to the south, directly opposite of Kellan and Rory, and mirrored their divide and conquer method with pretty much the same results. “Burning debris and more incoming drones is all I see,” Pearce stated.
“Nothing here,” Lennox commented, then immediately on high alert, added, “Wait, I’ve got movement at my one o’clock.”
The words were no sooner out of the mad bomber’s mouth than the buzzing of the drones turned into the loud whine of jet engines. Spinning on the balls of his feet, Kellan ran as fast as he could while roaring, “Bombers! Fully loaded! The drones were a diversion! Get back to the village!”
All but Lennox followed his command. The mad bomber’s only reply was, “Be there as soon as I throw a little fire on the rats in the hole I just found.”
Thankfully, Lenn had located the unit controlling the drones. Unfortunately, the Guardsmen had been lured far enough away from the village that Kellan wasn’t sure even their enhanced speed would get them there in time.
Using his earpiece, he called to the human marines stationed within the village, “Incoming! Evacuate! Fully loaded! Four bombers, two gunships! Evacuate now! Evacuate now!”
“Roger!” was the only answer Master Gunnery Sargent Jack Sanders gave as he bellowed, “Go! Go! Go! Snipers on the wall! Infantry on the ground! Civilians in the bunker! Go! Go! Go!”
The vision of the boys playing football in the village square floated through Kellan’s mind along with the little girls who constantly brought him wild flowers and woven bracelets when he came in for supplies. They were so small and helpless, innocently caught up in a war they didn’t understand. Most of them had already lost their fathers, uncles, and older brothers to the fighting. Some, their mothers and sisters to bombs and raids. It just wasn’t right. There seemed to be no justice even for the youngest among them. These children deserved to grow up without fear and bombs and being pulled from their beds in the middle of the night to hide from the raids.
Reaching the huge wooden doors leading to the underground bunker at the same time as Rory, Declan, and Brannoc, Kellan saw they were all carrying the villagers that were too old, too sick, or too young to get themselves to shelter. For a split second, he wondered what those people thought of the high rate of speed at which they were whipping across the village and then decided it really didn’t matter if they knew he and his men were different. All that mattered was getting them to safety.
The huge engines pushing the massive hunks of metal filled to the gills with explosives shook the ground as fear stricken screams filled the air. Searching for their origin, Kellan spotted the group of tiny girls he and his brethren had lovingly named the gigglers trapped inside their shack by a large beam that had been shaken loose from the roof of the porch by the aircraft overhead.
Racing to rescue them as Lennox’s bombs exploded somewhere in the distance and Pearce raced by with an elderly woman and her husband carefully laid over each shoulder, Kellan recognized the unmistakable whistle of guided air-to-surface missiles. Flying onto the porch, he grabbed the beam and launched it over his shoulder just before ripping the door from its hinges.
“Hurry! Hurry! Let’s go!” he ordered, trying hard not to scare them anymore than they already were but listening as five large explosives were careening directly towards them.
Unable to carry all the girls, the Guardsman scooped up the smallest, slung her over his shoulders, and yelled over the chaos, “Arms around my neck!”
With his hands once again free, he picked up the two next smallest, tucked one under each arm, and shouted, “Come on, ladies, keep up!”
Literally pushing the two whose feet remained on the ground as fast as they could run, he attempted to get them to safety with the deafening whine of the missiles dogging his every step.
We’re not going to make it!
Looking up, he saw Rory and Brannoc less than fifty feet away. Roaring into their minds, he commanded, “Ror! Brann! Heads up!”
“Close your eyes, girls,” he yelled.
From one second to the next, Rory and Brannoc spun around and lifted their arms as Kellan launched the two small girls he’d had tucked under his arms at his brethren. Relief filled his being as the Guardsmen caught the girls and disappeared into the bomb shelter.
Clouds of sand and debris whipped in every direction, leaving him all but blind as the air current from the now visible missiles made the huge Guardsman sway on his feet. Scooping up the two girls still barely on their feet, Kellan dove for the grassy area to the right.
“Where the fuck are you, Kell?” Rory roared.
“Not gonna make it. Lock it down,” Kell answered as he hit the ground.
“Kellan...” Rory growled, the rest of his words cut off by the screech of the bombs.
Tucking the girls under his massive body a split second before the world around him exploded in a fiery mass of acrid flames and shrapnel that tore through his fatigues, shredded his skin, and embedded deep within his muscles, Kellan focused on keeping the girls from harm. Explosion after explosion tore through the tiny village as the Guardsman pushed his excruciating pain aside and tucked the girls even closer to his body.
Finally, after what seemed like hours but was really only six minutes, the bombing stopped. The immediate silence was all-encompassing. Sand mixed with smoke and ash filled the air, making it impossible for the Guardsman to see even his hand in front of his face. Holding completely still, still deafened from the blasts, Kellan opened his enhanced senses wide, searching for enemies on foot.
The silver poison from the shrapnel buried deep within every inch of the side of his body made keeping his focus difficult, but he vowed to himself that there was nothing that would keep him from getting the girls, still huddled under his body, to safety. While searching for combatants, he had to wonder who their enemies really were. It had to be someone or some organization who knew they were dragons and that their only weakness was silver. And since that information was most definitely not public knowledge, he had a good idea who they were dealing with an
d that pissed off both man and dragon even more.
“Kell? You there?” Rory’s voice in his mind pulled the Guardsman from his inner grumbling.
“Yeah, I’m here. You thought a few half ton A2S’s could take me out? Come on, now, I’m not that old.” He chuckled, trying to hide the pain and weakness.
“I swear to the Heavens. One day I’m gonna...”
“Have a heart attack and die if you don’t learn to chill out,” Kellan interrupted. Changing the subject, he continued, “Looks like it’s all clear out here. We’ll be heading that way momentarily.”
“Good, cause Brann’s about to wear out the bottom of his boots. Poor SOB’s been pacing since the lock clicked with you outside.”
“Shut the hell up, Ror,” Brannoc growled.
And just to add insult to injury and because he couldn’t resist, Kellan teased, “Aww, Brann, I didn’t know you cared.”
“Just get your ass down here,” Brann grumbled and left their conversation.
“Yeah, what he said,” Rory chuckled.
“Will do. Have you heard from Lenn and Pearce?”
Right on cue, the dynamic duo answered in unison, “We’re here, boss. Hid in a handy dandy little abandoned fox hole and weathered out the storm.”
Then Lenn added, “Headed back now. All clear this way.”
“Mostly because the mad bomber here blew them all up,” Pearce snickered.
“And that’s why we love him,” Rory laughed out loud.
“All right, knuckleheads, come on in. We gotta helluva lotta people to find new homes for.” Kellan’s hearing was quickly returning despite the growing silver poison in his veins. Thankfully, the wind had cleared enough of the crap out of the air that he could see a clear path to the bomb shelter.
“We’re on our way.”
Kellan cut the connection with his brethren and focused on the girls who were just now daring to peek at him from under their scarves. Using the softest voice he could muster and working hard to tone down his natural brogue, the Guardsman asked, “How about we get you ladies to the shelter? Sound good?”
Slowly, the girls nodded but still didn’t move. Their soft brown eyes were as big as saucers and their cheeks stained from their tears. It broke his heart to know this was the norm for ones so young. These sweet little children who wanted nothing more than to play in the sun, sing songs, and make crazy colored bracelets had never known anything but war. They had suffered more loss in their short lives than most adults would in all their years combined. It was one of the many things Kellan would never understand about war.
