Dragon in Distress

by Crystal Dawn

  Given time, the choice would be made for him. Each day they grew closer together as the bond grew stronger and tighter. Sophie was a kind woman, he couldn’t deny it, but what if she was influenced by another? Could her caring for him be overruled? It was a risk he wasn’t willing to take, at least not yet. His meeting with Royal would buy him the time he needed to make a well thought out decision.

  A meeting that loomed ahead with no way for him to escape it. Being the king of the dragons in this time was more responsibility than benefit. The castle his father had once had was reduced to rubble long ago. At least the part in front to of the cave it harbored. Most of his people were asleep or scattered to the four winds. His mother would be a help finding them.

  The next day, he prepared for the unwelcome meeting. He’d practiced his spells some so he would be prepared. Sophie was meeting him there, but she would be little help. She did say she would be moral support, whatever that was. Admittedly, knowing she was there made him feel better. The bond strengthens.

  Driving up to the house in one of Ram’s SUVs, he was impressed with its size. It was a mansion about the size of a hotel rather than a family home. It was made of stone, with a huge wrap around porch and a large double door made of wood and glass with a frosted design of the nearby swamp. It looked like an alligator jumping out of the water attempting to catch a low flying crane.

  He hoped Royal wouldn’t be an alligator. Of course even if he was, Knossos would be the bigger predator. His dragon rumbled and it sounded like a growl. All he needed to do for now was delay Royal’s plans for Sophie. The rest he’d worry about later.

  Walking up the stairs, he knocked on the door. A housekeeper in a uniform opened the door. “Hello, may I help you?” She asked.

  “I have an appointment with Royal.”

  “You’re Sophie’s mate?” She said as she examined him closely.

  “Yes, that’s me.”

  “Take good care of that girl. She deserves the best.”

  “I’ll try.”

  She reluctantly stood back waving him into the house. “Just wait here while I announce you.” It seemed Royal was formal. The woman came back a few minutes later. “He’ll see you now. Just follow me.”

  As he stepped into the room, he took note of Annie’s father. Royal Worthington was a large man, nearly as tall as Knossos himself but wider. He resembled a Viking with the long blond hair, deep blue eyes, and the berserker stare. Knossos wasn’t intimidated nor would back down.

  Ram had filled him in about Royal’s reputation for being ruthless when it came to business and vicious with who he perceived as an enemy. While Knossos didn’t plan to be either, he also wasn’t a boot licker not did he plan to become one.

  Royal waved at an empty chair. “Please sit. We have half an hour until lunch and the mate hates it when I’m late. Of course she expects you to stay to eat. Sophie and Annie are hanging around here somewhere and Ram will join us for the meal as well.”

  “Thank you. I accept your kind offer and understand the need to get through this quickly.” He said with a cold smile in his face. Royal might not like him, but he would respect him.

  “Are you sure you and Sophie are fated mates?” Royal asked.

  “Without a doubt, but feel free to check for yourself.”

  “What are you? I can’t tell at all which is rare.”

  “I am a mid-level mage. My blood is strong, but I’ve not stayed in touch with my family nor have I developed my powers. It wasn’t safe to do so years ago and as I got out of practice, I stopped using it completely.”

  “So what makes you think you are an acceptable mate for our Sophie?” Royal asked with his eyes narrowed.

  “We are fated mates. That has always been enough.”

  “That has changed with war hanging in the air. Can’t you scent it?” Royal jeered.

  “I know of the war waiting to explode into our world. You tell me nothing new, but how can forcing unions among those already allies help?”

  “It doesn’t seem to have done much good yet, but some of our ties aren’t as strong as they should be, Finding new allies has only happened accidently. What would you do?”

  “Maybe searching for fated mates would find those new allies and strengthen some weak alliances. The fates do what they do for a reason.”

  “Maybe.” Royal said. “How have you avoided the spells I’ve sent your way?”

  “I have strong protective spells.”

  “So it would appear. What mage family are you connected to.”

  “Alfred the Great. I’ve not followed the family to see what last name they selected.”

  “He was the greatest mage of all time. Have you any proof of your relationship?”

  “You can easily cast a spell to determine the truth of what I say.” Knossos yawned with boredom.

  “What will you give us in exchange for our wonderful Sophie?”

  “Your wonderful Sophie is a lovely lady, but a strong witch she is not. The ability is in her blood, but she was never allowed to learn. Why?”

  “We voted to protect our children by letting them be more human.” Royal admitted.

  “How’s that working for you now?”

  Royal flushed. Was it with anger or embarrassment? “It may not have been the best idea.”

  “So why not give them the education now?”

  “They would learn just enough to be dangerous. It’s too late to count on them to fight.”

  Was he stupid or was he trying to lose the battle? Knossos cast a spell and Royal dropped to the floor unconscious. Ancient letters and signs ran over him. Someone had cast an evil spell on him many years ago. Hubolla or one of his agents, it didn’t really matter. The problem was as long as he’d been under the spells influence, Knossos wasn’t sure he could safely remove it. At least not without the proper ingredients and help.

  Leaving Royal on the floor, he hurried out to find Annie and Sophie. They were waiting in the dining room speaking to Maybelle, Annie’s mother. “We have a situation. Royal has been bespelled.” Knossos announced. The witches immediately ran to the office where they gasped in surprise and Maybelle dropped to her knees to check out the visible signs of the spell.

  “How did you know?” Maybelle, hair as black as pitch and eyes an emerald green, asked. Annie, petite with red hair and whiskey colored eyes, stood in the doorway looking shocked, while Sophie, also petite with blonde hair and blue eyes, looked as if she might just cry. These women were beautiful, but were they also strong enough to do what was needed?

  “I wasn’t sure until I cast the spell. His answers made no sense, his decision were poor. Once the spell was cast, he lit up like a thunderstorm and fell unconscious to the floor. We need a list of items for the counter spell and some strong magic.”

  “Make a list, we’ll divide it up and get what you need. How strong does the magic need to be?” Maybelle asked.

  “Had we caught it right away, I could have dealt with it alone. Now it’s entrenched, we need the strongest magic you can find and all of us to give support.”

  “We need a coven?”

  “That would be best.” Knossos said.

  “That’s too bad. Royal dissolved them all. Let me call my other daughters and some of the cousins.”

  “Call the swamp witch, Mom.” Annie suggested.

  “Althea’s been so mistreated, why do you think she would come?”

  “I bet she would come.” Sophie added.

  “The need is great, maybe she will.” Knossos said.

  “I’ll make the calls while you girls round up the items.” Maybelle suggested.

  “Let’s sit down and make the list.” Knossos directed.

  He began to list common items and once he had ten, he suggested Sophie get them. “These items won’t be so easy.” Knossos told Annie once they were alone.

  There were eight items, all rare. One was a feather from a phoenix. Annie almost laughed. Until she saw the other items. “How will I get a
hair from the tail of a pegasus?”

  “Cast a spell for one and ask nicely. I would think the feather would be harder. Listen, I’ll get the hair. Are you okay with the other items?”

  “I think Ram might be able to help with the scale from a merman. The swamp flower I bet the swamp witch can get. I’d best call her before she leaves.” Annie said as she pulled out her phone. “She’ll bring one.” She said moments later. “What about the troll wart?”

  “I’ll get that too.” Knossos offered as he thought about his accountant who he desperately needed to see.

  “My mom should have this dried umbilical cord from a baby witch. She saves all of those kinds of things. I suppose you’ll have the dragon’s scale?”

  “Yes, but you’ll need to get a petal from the rare blood orchid of India.” Knossos said.

  “Okay, we’ll meet back here when we’re done.”

  “Perfect.” Knossos immediately went to see his accountant. “Rabble, you haven’t been keeping me up to date.”

  “Knossos, it’s always nice to see you. I have so many customers it’s hard to keep in constant contact. His eyes roamed around making Knossos worried. Rabble was nervous.

  “Just print off my account so I can study it later and donate a wart for a spell like a loyal accountant.”

  “Of course Knossos.” Rabble went to print off his account and pulled a wart off his skin laying it on the desk.

  Knossos grabbed a nearby napkin and wrapped the wart in it. Gross! Rabble handed him a small stack of paper. “Don’t forget I can locate you anywhere in this world or another. Everything had best be in order.” Rabble swallowed fretfully. Knossos knew he would be back soon.

  Now he flashed to his cave and grabbed one of the pegasus’ hairs out of the bag he kept magical supplies in. It was time to flash back with his treasures, if you could call a wart that.

  Traveling magically was draining. He needed some food to reenergize. Annie must have traveled the same way because she was back with the phoenix feather. He added the wart and Annie pulled a scale out of her pocket placing it next to the feather.

  “I still have to get my scale.”

  “That’s okay, I still need to get the flower petal.” They both disappeared at the same time.

  Knossos went to the swamp where Annie had first summoned him. He morphed one leg pulling a scale off it. His scales were a beautiful combination of gold, olive green, and scarlet depending on where he took it from. This one was scarlet as that was the color of his lower legs and the top of his head down the top of his nose. His cheeks and neck were olive green and changed by degrees to the gold that covered the biggest part of his body.

  Morphing his leg back, he looked at the scale. It wasn’t particularly large, but any size scale should do. Now he sent himself back to Annie’s house. Sophie was there and a bag of items were on the table.

  “Any trouble?” He asked.

  “The witch’s supply store had them all.” Sophie replied.

  “Annie went to get the last item.” Knossos explained just as she flashed in with a large flower in her hand.

  “I know we just needed a petal, but the owner wasn’t feeling helpful so I had to do a grab and run.” Annie explained.

  “How does gathering the coven go?” He wondered.

  “Most of them are here.” Sophie informed.

  “Maybe we should get started and hope the others make it in time?” He asked.

  “I’ll tell Mom.” Annie volunteered before rushing off.

  “Where should we place your uncle?” He questioned.

  “What about that couch?” Sophie suggested. They lifted him together placing him on it.

  “We’ll need a cauldron.” Knossos pointed out just as one appeared.

  “We’ll use mine.” Maybelle said as she swept in. “No point in making introductions until later. You’ll meet them all when you and Sophie mate anyway.” Knossos nodded as more women entered the room. “What do we do now?”

  “I need you to hold him. I’ll start dropping in the items if they are all here?”

  “Yes, they are all here.” Annie confirmed.

  “Let us begin. Everyone needs to join hands in a circle.” Knossos explained. “Once the items are all in the cauldron, I’ll hold Sophie and Maybelle’s hands.” Sophie moved next to him grabbing the hand of the lady by her.

  He began dropping the items in one at a time. “Dragon’s scale, pegasus’ hair, blood orchid petal, swamp flower, dried umbilical cord, phoenix feather, troll wart, and a merman’s scale are the items of power.” Next he grabbed the bag of items Sophie had brought and began to add them while he chanted in a low voice. “Is everyone here now?”

  “Yes. We have twelve.” Maybelle offered.

  Now he joined hands with Sophie and Maybelle as they repeated what he said in a chant. Over and over they chanted as they watched the signs roll over Royal faster and faster. Finally, Knossos held up his hand. “As we’ve said, mote it be.”

  A loud noise sounded like distant thunder as wind began to whirl around the room. The signs on Royal’s body broke free and went round and round like a whirlpool dropping into a hole to disappear from sight. Finally his body was free of all the writing since all of it had disappeared into the whirlpool. The sounds quieted and the whirlpool ceased. Suddenly everything was still.

  “What the hell happened?” Royal yelled. It was as if he woke from a dream. Who knew how many years he’d been under the spell?

  “You were bespelled, but we managed to break it.” Knossos said.

  “Who are you?” Royal asked.

  “You’ve lost some time. I am Sophie’s fated mate, Knossos.”

  “Congratulations.” Royal said still looking confused.

  “You’ll be alright in time. Why don’t we all see if there’s something to eat? These spells take a lot out of everyone.” Knossos admitted.

  “I’ll see to it.” Maybelle offered and ran from the room. He thought he saw tears in her eyes. It might be guilt from missing the signs or happiness that she would have a different mate now.

  Sophie clutched his arm. “Let’s go sit in the dining room.” She escorted him. Annie was leading her father there too. The poor bewildered man seemed almost helpless right now. Hopefully his wife would get him up to speed once everyone had left.

  The large table was overfilled with extra chairs pulled up as no one wanted to miss a thing. To see Royal when he wasn’t being an asshole was unbelievable. The servers began to hand out food and everyone dug in. A festival atmosphere seemed to rule as they all celebrated Royal being freed from an evil spell. He was sure they all speculated on how he would be now.

  Maybe this would help Sophie and her sisters to have an easier life. It would certainly help those who wanted magical training. He couldn’t believe they had allowed him to stop letting witches apprentice and to dissolve covens which held most of the witches’ power. Maybe Royal wasn’t the only one bespelled.

  It was mindboggling the way they had destroyed every defense they had in such a short time. Hopefully Royal would check into it and deal with it accordingly. For now, the food smelled great so he dug in. Once his plate was empty, he looked around for dessert. Dessert turned out to be a tray with three different kinds of cake. He took a piece of cherry cheesecake and a piece of chocolate cake.

  By the time he was through with both, his energy levels picked up. His beast rumbled low in satisfaction. Royal joined them still looking shocked but his appetite seemed good. Witches began to leave, some needing to get to work, some wanting to go home.

  “I didn’t introduce you to my sisters.” Annie remarked. “This is Gertie.” She pointed to a tall, blonde and blue-eyed woman. “This is Pru.” Pru looked just like Maybelle.

  “Nice to meet you ladies. I’m Knossos.”

  “You’re Sophie’s mate. Good catch on the evil spell.” Gertie said. “Too bad I didn’t see you before Sophie.” She winked and leered.

  “Nice to meet you. Don’t
mind Gertie. She’d never do that to Sophie.” Pru explained.

  Sophie stepped closer putting her arm around his waist. Seemed she wasn’t so sure of Gertie not being serious. “It’s good Uncle is clean now. He should be different.”

  “Just be patient with him. He may lose memories and have to be reminded of things.” Knossos pointed out.

  “How do you think this happened?” Annie asked.

  “Someone close to him, or at least close to him at that time. It’s hard to say when it happened.” He admitted.

  “Mom can step in and help him.” Gertie said.

  “Your dad is lucky to have a strong mate to help him.” Knossos eyes went to Sophie. Would she be strong like that some day? He saw Maybelle leading Royal up the stairs. It was probably a good idea to put him to bed. A good rest would help him, but time was the only thing that would straighten him out.

  “We probably should be going. Your mom will have her hands full.” Knossos admitted.

  “Why don’t you come to my house?” Sophie asked.

  “Your house?” Knossos said as his eyes blinked liked an owl. She’d caught him off guard and he didn’t know what to say.

  “You can follow me there. Your mom might know something about this.” Sophie suggested.

  “I suppose it’s possible.” He admitted.

  She grabbed his hand pulling him up and as everyone said goodbye, she pulled him out of the house. Since he’d never been to Sophie’s he followed her closely. He thought about all that had happened today and saw no way they would ever know exactly when it had happened or who had done it. The only thing clear was the damage it had done. A whole generation untrained and their best weapons made useless.

  Knossos was amazed because there was no way one man had full control of a whole group of people. He knew there were system controls to stop that from happening, yet it had. Now they would have to work hard to undo the damage. Could they in time to be a worthwhile ally in the upcoming fight? It would be interesting to see what Maybelle managed to do.