Rohan didn't bother with his car. It didn't sound like Nhor and his soldiers were making any effort to hide from them. Maybe Nhor was forcing a confrontation. Rohan snarled. He was going to kill Nhor with his bare hands and avenge his father.
Rohan would never forget the sadistic pleasure in Nhor's eyes when he looked up at Rohan's ship seconds after slitting King Rykor's throat. Even as his father crumpled to the ground, his father had smiled at him. His father knew that he would get his people to safety and he died with a smile on his face as he watched his son pilot the ship away from the smoldering wreckage of their home planet.
Swooping down, Rohan scanned the forest bordering the town and made a note of the human dwellings. There were a few houses along the border of the town but they were spaced far apart.
Rohan finally saw Zul. Zul was facing five Slayors. but Rohan didn't have time to dwell on the fact that General Nhor wasn't among them.
One of the Slayors was holding a pregnant woman hostage. The woman was crying and begging as another Slayor emerged from the house with a small child.
The woman was a Dracan female. Her parents were both Dracans, and Rohan sensed the woman's dragon rising within her. Her rage and pain was waking her dragon, and Rohan wondered briefly if some of the Dracans might still be able to shift.
The woman's husband was human, and Rohan scented human blood all over the woman's nightdress.
The Slayors had killed the woman's husband in front of her before dragging her out of the house so she could see them skin her young child alive.
The Slayors weren't just killing Dracans. They were killing their families, their human mates and children.
The toddler was wailing and struggling furiously as the Slayor held her by the scruff of her neck. Giving the kid a hard shake, the Slayor unsheathed his blade and held it to the little girl's face. He smiled as he prepared to slice off her ear.
“No!” the woman screamed. “My baby! No, please, no!”
Rohan shifted as he dived towards the frightened child. He dropped out of the air and smashed into the Slayor. Growling and grunting, they rolled away from the child, their hands around each other's throats.
The Slayors all turned their heads to stare at Rohan. Taking advantage of the distraction, Zul made his move. In a flash, he lunged and grabbed the Slayor's arm. As he held the Slayor back, Zul yelled to the pregnant woman, “Go! Take your child and run!”
The woman was crying so hard she could hardly see. Sobbing and screaming, she stumbled to her daughter and picked the toddler up. Without looking back, she fled the scene, clutching her child tightly to her chest.
With the woman and child out of the way, Zul and Rohan got on with the business of dispatching the Slayors in the quickest and bloodiest way possible.
Black blood flowed across the ground and seeped into cracks and drains. Rohan yanked his dagger out from a Slayor's chest and spun round to stab another Slayor in the neck as the bastard came at him. Two down, four to go.
Zul was surrounded by three Slayors. He plunged his blade into a Slayor's throat just before the other two Slayors charged him. Zul lowered himself to a crouch and bared his teeth at them.
“That's right. Pick on someone your own size,” Zul snarled. “Don't go after the women, children and humans.”
From the corner of his eye, Rohan saw the last Slayor slinking into the shadows. He turned and gave chase. He wasn't going to let a single Slayor get away. He would hunt them down the same way they hunted his people. Relentlessly and mercilessly.
The Slayor ran towards the woods and disappeared between the trees. Rohan lost sight of the bastard momentarily before catching a sudden movement to his right.
He charged deeper into the woods, determined not to let his enemy get away.
Rohan skidded to an abrupt stop when he saw the Slayor standing just a few feet away. Something wasn't right.
A slow smile was spreading across the Slayor's face.
His limbs seemed to have disappeared, and his body was elongating, twisting and changing into the shape of a snake.
He was shifting into a serpent.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Rohan took a step back, cursing under his breath. His suspicions were finally confirmed. Some of the Slayors had retained their shifting abilities. They weren't invincible but it made them harder to kill.
A giant serpent was now coiled at the base of the tree, its forked tongue flicking out of its black mouth.
Rohan yanked out the knife from his ankle holster just before the snake widened its jaws and aimed its venom at him.
The large serpent lurched towards him, its venom hitting Rohan on the cheek. Rohan bellowed at the searing pain and slashed viciously with his knife. The serpent swiftly coiled around his legs, holding him in place.
Rohan stabbed his blade into the serpent's side, but the monster kept tightening its coils around Rohan's body.
Rohan's arms were pinned to his sides and he couldn't even breathe. Rohan struggled and roared in fury as the serpent hissed and prepared to plunge its fangs into his neck.
There was an answering roar of pure rage just before a long glinting blade flashed through the air.
The snake's head separated from its body and Rohan saw Zul's red, contorted face.
“Go to hell, and stay there!” Zul screamed and twisted his blade into the snake's dead eyes.
Rohan stared at the carcass of the dead Slayor and realized that he had grossly underestimated the enemy. And he had nearly paid for his oversight with his life.
Zul wrenched his dagger out of the snake's skull and spat. “I've never seen the Slayors shift into their snake forms on Earth. When did they learn to do that?”
“I should have foreseen this. The Slayors are highly trained soldiers. They are used to brutal discipline and harsh conditions. Those who didn't learn fast enough were killed. It makes the rest of them learn in a hurry,” Rohan said.
“Doesn't matter if they're in snake form or human form,” Zul snarled. “I'll lop off all their fucking heads!”
Rohan's eyes widened suddenly. “Where's Nhor? You said you saw General Nhor.”
“I did.” Zul frowned.. “I followed the car all the way here. Those Slayors got out and swarmed into the house. I heard screams and I ran straight towards the house. My only thought was to save the woman and her kid. Oh fuck! Oh shit!” Zul slapped his forehead. “Nhor must have slipped away! I'm sorry, Rohan...”
“You did your job. You saved the woman and her kid.”
“But...”
“I'll hunt Nhor down myself,” Rohan said. “Incinerate the bodies before you leave.”
Zul nodded but just as he turned to go, Rohan called him back.
“Is Edriq covering your area?”
Zul froze. “No. I forgot to tell him. I had my eye on Nhor and I just...”
Rohan stopped breathing. “So nobody is watching the house right now.”
Zul shook his head and yanked his phone out.
But Rohan had already taken to the air. He had to get home right now.
Shit! He had walked right into General Nhor's trap.
This was a decoy.
General Nhor had made sure that Zul saw him and followed him. He wanted to lure Zul away and distract them with a battle.
An innocent civilian had been killed tonight, but to Nhor, that was just an insignificant, disposable life.
General Nhor was after something else. Something very precious to Rohan.
There was a deafening, anguished roar in his ears as Rohan cut through the cold night air. His dragon let out a stream of fire, wanting to raze everything in its path.
Rohan shifted back to human form as he landed on his lawn. He charged across the grass and ran straight to the house. The front door was ajar, and when he slammed into the house, he saw fragments of broken glass littering the floor.
There were drops of blood on the marble floor.
; Tessa's blood.
A light was on in the kitchen and Rohan rushed in to see Mrs Vomae huddled on the floor with her hands and feet tightly bound. There was a rag in her mouth but physically she was unhurt. She stared up at Rohan with red, puffy eyes and began to shake.
Once Rohan pulled the rag out of her mouth, the poor woman began blubbering uncontrollably. She flung herself at Rohan's feet and cried, “Your Highness! Forgive me!”
“Mrs Vomae, stop...”
“I deserve death!” She was speaking rapidly, almost incoherently in the old Dracan language. “Oh, Your Highness, they took the princess! I couldn't stop them. I failed you, Your Highness! I failed...”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Amelia stood at the window and watched the night sky, her mind whirling with a million thoughts. She thought about everything that had happened, and the pieces all fell into place.
Rohan had told her about the Slayors. He told her what they looked like and how they killed.
The monsters in her mind—were real.
They were Slayors.
“My parents,” she whispered, hugging herself tighter as she stared at the shadows around the street corner. “My parents were killed by Slayors.”
But why? Why would Slayors target her parents?
They wouldn't, unless…
Amelia was jolted from her troubled thoughts by the buzzing of her doorbell. Frowning, Amelia scrambled to the door and peered through the peephole.
“Oh!” she gasped in surprise, hastily unlocking the door.
“Norbert, what are you doing here?” she asked, her frown deepening in confusion.
“I'm sorry, Amelia. I know it's very late,” Norbert said sheepishly. “But I needed to talk to you.” He looked around and gulped. “Um, may I come in? It's cold out here.”
“Oh, I...” Amelia unlatched the door and opened it. “Yeah, sure.”
A thought suddenly struck Amelia and she tried to close the door but Norbert was already in her apartment. “Nice place,” he said, looking around. “So where's your friend?”
“Huh?”
“You told me you live with a friend.”
“Oh. He...ah, he just left. He had an urgent call.”
Norbert's smile made her uneasy.
“How did you know where I live?” she asked casually.
“You told me.”
No I didn't. A chill ran down her spine.
“Maybe we should talk tomorrow.” Amelia feigned a yawn and held the door open. “It's really very late. And I'm tired. I'll call you, okay?”
“No you won't.”
Moving so quickly she didn't have time to scream, he slammed the door shut and grabbed her by the throat. “Don't make a sound, Amelia,” he warned. “I don't want to hurt you. Yet.” He laughed and his tongue slid out between his thin lips.
Amelia watched in horror as his tongue extended towards her. His tongue was unnaturally thin and long, and the ends of it was forked. No, she wasn't imagining it. Norbert did have a forked tongue.
“Wh-what...” she choked out as his grip tightened around her neck. She tried to jerk away as Norbert licked down her cheek. His tongue felt cold against her skin and she struggled and gagged as he forced her mouth open and pushed his tongue in.
She tried to bite him but Norbert threw her to the floor roughly and put his foot on her throat. Leaning down, he hissed in her ear, “I can taste and smell Rohan Draek on you. Perfect. Thissss...is perfect.”
With one hand, he picked her up as if she weighed no more than a feather and flung her towards the coffee table. Her temple connected with the corner of the table and for a moment, everything went black. Stars exploded behind her eyelids and when she opened her eyes, all she saw was a viscous curtain of red.
Amelia raised her hand to her head and felt something wet and warm. She blinked hard, but her vision refused to clear. Something was dripping into her eyes, and her head hurt. There was blood on her hands, a lot of blood.
“No...” Amelia groaned, clutching her head. The blood continued dripping into her eyes. Amelia felt terribly nauseous but she knew she had to get up.
Norbert was standing over her, watching her with glowing yellow eyes. His eyes no longer looked human. They never were, Amelia realized with chilling clarity. He managed to hide his vertical slitted pupils only for a short period of time. Norbert wasn't human.
“You're a Slayor,” she whispered.
Norbert laughed. Or she thought he laughed. The sound he made was harsh, grating and filled with contempt.
“No, Amelia, I'm not just a Slayor. I'm a Slayor General.” He gave a stiff, mocking bow. “General Nhor at your service.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Rohan threw on his leather jacket, hiding his arsenal of weapons from view. He was armed to the teeth, with an assortment of deadly weapons strapped and holstered to his body.
He was met at the door by Edriq and Zul. Both warriors stepped forward and formed a solid wall in front of him.
“Move,” Rohan snapped.
“No. You're not doing this. You'll be walking into a trap, Rohan,” Edriq said.
“Tessa is my daughter,” Rohan said, stepping up to Edriq. “Get out of my way. It's an order.”
Edriq didn't back down. “My duty overrides any order from you, Your Highness,” Edriq answered in the old Dracan language. “My duty is to protect the life of the King of Draca. I will not let you walk into a Slayor's lair and get killed.”
“I am going to get Tessa,” Rohan said evenly, but his eyes flashed dangerously.
“I will stop you, using any means necessary,” Edriq answered.
“You can try to stop me.”
Before Zul could move, Rohan pressed a blade against Edriq's neck and snarled, “I order you to move.”
“Rohan! Don't...” Zul yelled.
“My life is yours,” Edriq said. “But your life belongs to your people. Your people need you, King Rohan.”
“My daughter needs me!” Rohan roared.
“We'll rescue the princess,” Edriq said. The warrior didn't flinch in the face of his king's wrath. “Zul and I will get the Princess back. I swear...”
“We'll protect Rohan,” Zul spoke up and stood behind Rohan. “You can't stop him, Edriq.” When Edriq glared at him, Zul rolled his eyes and said, “What are you going to do, Edriq? Chain him up?”
Edriq canted his head and appeared to be giving the suggestion some thought.
“Seriously, Edriq!” Zul shouted. “You're thinking of chaining your king up? You have a death wish or what?”
Rohan sheathed his blade and pushed Zul and Edriq apart. “Stop. Both of you.”
Rohan stepped up to Edriq and gripped his brother's shoulder. “I know you mean well. I'm sorry, my brother. I...”
“Your Highness...”
“I'm not 'Your Highness'. I'm a warrior like you. Draca is no more. As such, there is no King of Draca. My father, King Rykor, was the last King of Draca. But the Dracans are still here. And I am a Dracan. A Dracan warrior, like you. I will fight with you, bleed with you, and I will be honored to die with you.”
Rohan put his fist out and said, “Let's go. I have a date with General Nhor.”
Edriq looked Rohan in the eye and gave a sharp nod. He pressed his fist against Rohan's and said, “May Draca's Dragons prevail.”
Zul pounded both their fists and let out a war cry.
Rohan started running out to the vast lawn. Edriq and Zul were right behind him, and the three of them shifted and soared into the sky together.
Rohan could hear the beat of powerful wings behind him. Edriq and Zul were flying in battle formation behind him. This was war.
As Rohan flew, the scene of the final battle on Korra flashed before his eyes.
He could see the Dracan soldiers fighting valiantly, trying to drive the Slayors back but they were vastly outnumbered. King Rykor ordered Rohan to gather as many civili
ans as he could.
The Dracan army would try to hold the enemy off while the civilians escaped from the planet Korra. There was nowhere else for them to go on their home planet. Both continents were now overrun by Slayors. They had to find another planet, another home.
The civilians crammed into thirteen ships. Three Dracan soldiers were assigned to each ship. That was all they could spare. Rohan was a Lieutenant General in the Dracan army, and the Crown Prince of Draca. He wanted to stay and fight with his men, but his father ordered him to board the last ship.
“Lead our people to safety, Rohan,” his father said, his eyes shining with pride and love. “You are their king.”
Thirteen ships took off as the battle raged in Draca. One by one, the ships were shot down.
Rohan saw the fiery explosions as the twelve ships exploded, killing all the civilians and guards on board. Only one ship made it out.
The Slayors pursued them across space until Rohan took out the last Slayor squadron with one well-timed shot.
The war wasn't over, Rohan realized grimly. It might never be over.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Amelia mumbled an incoherent curse as the Slayor dragged her forward. She shuffled along, blinking rapidly to get her vision to clear and adjust to the darkness. This looked like a humongous cave and she was thankful for the slivers of moonlight piercing through the holes in the roof of the cave.
She was feeling weak and dizzy from blood loss, and there was dried blood and dirt caking her face.
Instead of struggling and screaming, Amelia decided that it was better to conserve as much energy as she could. No one would hear her screams here. No one but Slayors.
This place was crawling with Slayors. This must be their hidey-hole. Many of the Slayors were in their snake forms, their scaly bodies slithering and writhing in a massive heap. One by one, the Slayors shifted and pushed themselves up from the cave floor on two legs. They turned to stare at her with their slitted snake eyes and their tongues darted out to taste her scent.
To Date A Dragon: BBW Dragon Shifter Romance (Weredragon Warriors Book 1) Page 6
