Fire Heart: A Dragon Fantasy Romance (The Dragon of Umbra Book 1)

by Emma Hamm

  The King didn’t wait for his response. Instead, Zander wandered from the cave with too much confidence. Too much bravado.

  Abraxas sank down onto his knees in front of the eggs. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I’m so sorry, my children.”

  Chapter 24

  Lore

  “The dragon has one thing in his hoard that I want you to bring back more than anything else,” the King called out to his brides. “It is the only thing that my heart desires, but I want to see what you choose to return with. There are a great many treasures in his trove. But I must warn you, he will not make this easy on any of you. The dragon will do everything he can to stop you from taking a single thing from the cave.”

  The whispers started already. Some women clustered together in groups. Each one of them already had trusted individuals who would help each other. There were only fifteen of them left now. They were bound to form friendships.

  Lore straightened her shoulders and clasped her hands behind her back. If the King wanted her to steal from the dragon, then she would. It would give her a chance to converse with the foolish man, anyway.

  She shouldn’t even consider this. The dragon would turn into a man and focus on her while all these other women stole from him. And she remembered the stories about dragons who lost bits of their hoard.

  Beauty leaned over to her and whispered out of the side of her mouth, “Don’t dragons kill people for stealing from them?”

  “One has to assume that this is a different circumstance,” Lore responded, although she wasn’t very confident in her words. “I assume he has warned the dragon we are coming to his cave and trying to steal from him.”

  “And if he hasn’t warned the creature?”

  Lore didn’t know what to say. The dragon could kill them all if he wanted to. It would be so easy for him to breathe fire upon the entire lot of brides that entered his cavern, and then this whole thing ended in flame.

  The King would shrug. He didn’t care if they all died in this insane attempt to entertain himself. He’d find more young women from other towns until someone captured his attention for more than a few heartbeats.

  How Lore herself remained here was a miracle. She hadn’t returned until the middle of the night and Agatha had sent a message to the King explaining the situation. Obviously Lore had dallied with a young man or someone other than the King.

  Lore didn’t know what the King’s response was, but it had made Agatha’s face pinch even more. She hadn’t thought that was possible.

  “You have a few hours to prepare, my flowers!” the King shouted.

  Why was he shouting, anyway? They were all in the same room. A small sitting room, really, with no reason for him to yell. They could hear him just fine, but instead, he was a grand showman, gesturing wildly with his arms and crying out for everyone to hear him.

  She didn’t like this man. He went out of his way to be a git.

  But she had a little time, and that meant she got to wear her own clothing. Clothing that would let her sink into the shadows and find herself a path that the others wouldn’t see. The tension in her shoulders eased with the thought of donning her own armor, her own clothing that she’d worn for ages. It would be a bit like coming back to herself after a long adventure.

  Beauty clutched Lorelei’s arm as she tried to move away. “I have no idea how to steal from a dragon,” the young woman muttered. “I don’t even know how to climb a cliff.”

  Damn it.

  Lore couldn’t leave this little thing on her own or the dragon would eat her. And as much as Lore didn’t care who fell in this journey... She didn’t want Beauty to die.

  “Come on,” she said with a long sigh. Lore tucked Beauty underneath her arm and guided her toward the pink painted room. “We’re going to prepare together, then. Stay close to me, and I’ll make sure you find a treasure to bring back to the King.”

  “Thank goodness. I think I might die if you don’t help me with this one.”

  Like all the other challenges, but Lore didn’t mind. She did like Beauty. A lot.

  “All right. First thing you need to know about stealing from any magical creature is that you don’t want to be seen,” she started as soon as the door closed behind them. “What do you have?”

  Beauty blinked at her. “What do you mean?”

  “What clothing do you have that will give you some way to hide from the dragon if he looks at you?”

  “Um...” Beauty bit her lip, looked at the wardrobe, and then back to Lore. “I might need to get back to you on that. You go get ready, and then meet me back here?”

  She supposed they both needed to hurry, and it made sense for Lore to get ready at the same time as Beauty. “All right, but be ready by the time I get back! Remember, the whole idea is to hide.”

  As if that was going to be easy. The dragon saw everything. That was part of what made dragons so difficult to fight. Their eyes were like that of an eagle or a hawk. Hiding from a creature like that was next to impossible.

  Thankfully, Lore had prepared for this. Or at least for having to hide.

  She knew the exact outfit she wanted to wear, and she knew Goliath would pack it because it was his favorite of her looks. The dark leather leggings slid over her limbs like a second skin. Countless buckles and straps roped down her legs, ready for knives, darts, and arrows to slide into their holders. The leather corset allowed her to move swiftly, and the long dark sleeves underneath kept her arms mobile.

  Lore twisted her hair up on top of her head, the blonde strands slick to her skull. The best part about this outfit was that it had come from her mother. The elves of Silverfell knew how to disappear into the shadows when they needed to. And they knew when to glimmer like moonlight to entice their enemies closer. But this elven garb would keep her safe. She was certain of that.

  Thankfully, very few people remembered what a real elf looked like.

  Lore looked at herself in the mirror and sighed. Her ears were too visible. She couldn’t keep her hair up like this. So she spent too long trying to figure out the best way to keep her hair out of her face, but also hold down the pointed tips of her ears.

  Finally, she settled on a much lower twist at the base of her neck. Though it would get in the way if she had to look up for a long period. It was the best she could do.

  With one last glance in the mirror to make sure everything was in place, Lore firmly nodded. This would do. She could steal from the dragon and she could find her way through whatever hoard he had mustered in this place.

  If he looked at her, or if he decided they needed another conversation about herself and her mother, Lore would deal with it. She wasn’t some fainting young woman who couldn’t face the tragedy of her own past. Even if that meant looking her mother’s killer in the eye and not attempting to do the same to him.

  “You have a job to do,” she told her reflection. “You are going to kill the King, and with him, you will release the dragon into the rebellion’s control. The kingdom will be better for it.”

  The guilt trip didn’t help. Some part of her mind still wanted to run from all this and disappear. Too bad that was definitely off the table.

  Time to plunder a dragon’s hoard. She never thought she’d do this.

  Lore ducked her head out of the room, watching for a moment when the Umbral Knights looked a different way so she could dart across the hall and down to the pale pink room. She didn’t knock or hesitate. She opened Beauty’s door and stepped in, closing it behind her so there wasn’t even the click of a latch.

  “There,” she sighed. “Are you ready, Beauty?”

  Lore did not expect to turn around and find a blindingly horrible coin standing behind her. Or not a coin, although the dress made Beauty even more round than she already was.

  The metallic fabric was ridiculously painful to look at. A single beam of sunlight could blind someone if they weren’t careful. The full skirt had a built in hoop that billowed out from the bodice, right under
neath her breasts. It made the entire dress... well. Round. Beauty looked miserable standing in the middle of the room with her arms held out at her sides.

  “What in the world are you wearing?” Lore asked, trying not to laugh.

  “You said something I could easily hide in! The dragon must have a ton of gold coins, so I thought if I was in the middle of it and hunkered down, like this, then he wouldn’t see me.” Beauty sank into the skirt.

  Literally.

  She bent down and the skirt just swallowed her up. It rose to her shoulders, past her neck, until just her head could be seen over the top of that horrible, horrible fabric.

  Lore couldn’t help herself. She burst into laughter so loudly that it hurt her stomach. She pressed a hand to her sides and sank onto her own knees. “What... What... Where did you get a dress like that?” she gasped.

  “My father,” Beauty replied. The poor thing was miserable and looked a bit like she might be sick. “He said it would even out my complexion, but it just made me look more fat!”

  Oh, that was horrible. It didn’t... actually, yes. It made her look as round as a ball.

  Lore struggled to stand and then staggered over to the young woman. “Let me help you get up. This dress is horrible, and I hope you get to use it as camouflage so you never have to wear it again. Maybe the dragon will burn it for you.”

  “It would be ever so kind if he would.” Beauty let Lore haul her up to her feet. “You’re quite strong for a woman, you know?”

  “I’m really not that much stronger than the average person, Beauty.” She’d leave it at that, but she knew what the young woman was implying.

  Someone, at some point in her life, had told her she was too heavy to be lifted. Beauty implied that an elf must be stronger than the average mortal if Lore could help her friend stand.

  She wasn’t any stronger. And anyone who claimed that Beauty was difficult to lift clearly needed to get their head on straight. Or perhaps they needed to get away from their desks and pick up items heavier than a pen.

  Thundering footsteps echoed down the hall, heralding the arrival of the Umbral Knights who prepared to bring the brides to their next trial.

  She nodded at Beauty. “You’re ready for this, you know. I promise you that. Just stay close to me, find whatever you think the King might like, and then get out of the lair. Is that understood?”

  “Whatever the King wants will be buried deep inside the dragon’s hoard,” Beauty replied. Her expression turned fierce and prepared. “I’m ready to do whatever it takes to find what he said he wanted above all else. I understand it will be dangerous.”

  Lore groaned. “I don’t know what it is about that man that makes you so determined! He has nothing in the dragon’s hoard he wants, Beauty. This is all a game to see what we’ll find. He’ll make up some lie about how one of us found what he wanted, but there were no hints, no clues. He doesn’t care what we get, only that we played his stupid little game.”

  The door slammed open and the Umbral Knight on the other side reached out his metal clad hand. If he noticed that there were two brides in the room, then he didn’t seem surprised. If there was a way to tell if an Umbral Knight was surprised.

  “Time to go,” Lore said. She reached out her hand for Beauty’s. “Remember what I said. I can only look after you for so long.”

  “Why does it sound like you’re going to leave me to retreat on my own?” Beauty asked, her eyes narrowing. “You’re planning something, too.”

  “I’m not.” Lore marched after the Umbral Knight and dragged the young woman with her. But, as they joined the others, she bent down and whispered in Beauty’s ear, “I’m more curious about the dragon himself. I’ll let you know what I find.”

  “You shouldn’t meddle with creatures more powerful than yourself,” Beauty scolded.

  “Perhaps not. But I need to speak with the beast, and I think it will be utterly important that I hear what he has to say.” Sure, that sounded likely. At least now it appeared Lore intended to meet the dragon, not that she already knew the beast.

  She had to talk with Abraxas at some point, and she needed him on her side. Margaret was right about one thing. Losing the dragon’s regard could easily mean he returned his allegiance to the King and told the man what she was.

  Lore couldn’t afford that happening. She had to do whatever it took to get inside the dragon’s lair, and bring Abraxas back underneath her spell.

  Chapter 25

  Abraxas

  Abraxas went along with the King’s plan only because he had to. He stood in front of those eggs for countless hours, even though the King had only given him one. But they were so close that he could still sense their dragon souls wiggling underneath the crystals.

  Innocents. They slept and lay dormant until the world was ready for them, and that was how it worked with dragons. The eggs wouldn’t hatch until an elder dragon told them they were ready.

  The sapphire egg was female. He could feel her heart deep inside the egg. That beautiful mind already radiated with kindness and a ferocity that would destroy this city once she hatched. The emerald egg was male. He had a sense of honor to him that rivaled Abraxas, and a beautiful determination to grow and learn. They would be a fearsome pair once they hatched, although he still didn’t know if they could save dragon kind.

  Their children would be the last, potentially. But at least the world had a chance to see dragons one last time. And three generations was a long time to find others. He’d have time to find more eggs that could hatch and prepare them for a second coming.

  A bell tolled, and he knew that was the last chance for him to turn back into a dragon. Abraxas sighed. He could have spent a century staring at the little ones as they gently twitched inside their eggs. He could see them through the wood, their glow so bright it burned his eyes. But he had to perform his duties or they would never hatch at all.

  With a blast of magic that rocked through the cave, he stretched his wings wide and let out a roar so loud one coin mountain tumbled and fell.

  Let the brides come. They thought they could easily steal from him, and the King wanted a story for later tonight. Abraxas would give him hours of screams.

  They started in the lower part of the cave, just as the King claimed they would. The first ones were brave, but that bravado would get them nowhere. He heard them a mile away and coiled himself around a larger pile. The first girl, a young woman with dark hair who still had her baby cheeks, picked up a single coin. Her movements were hesitant, as they should be.

  She should fear what the dragon would do. Because he didn’t plan on being kind.

  His tail slithered through the coils behind the young girl and then slammed down on the mountain behind her. She screamed and tried to run from the tumbling coins, but they caught up with her. She was swept out of the cave and into the waters below before she had a chance to even look at what caused the avalanche.

  Another potential bride lifted a helmet in her hand. He’d gotten that a long time ago from a warrior who thought he could rob Abraxas. Obviously, the man had ended up here. The last time he’d looked at it, the helmet still had the man’s skull in it.

  He remembered that at the same time the young woman discovered there was indeed a mortal skull inside the metal. She looked into the holes where the eyes once were, screamed, and dropped the helmet. He supposed that one would run soon enough.

  Abraxas shifted his long neck and drew his head out of the shadows, looming above her. All it took was a single drop of saliva to fall onto the coins in front of her. She didn’t even look up. The young woman let out another scream and ran from the cavern.

  And so it went. Many of the young ladies were afraid to see his shadow. They ran away from his lair without even trying to find something to steal. A few of them were a little more brave. Particularly the young brunette who had captured the King’s attention early on. She had won him in the forest, after all, but he still didn’t think she held a candle to Lorelei’
s beauty.

  She was sneakier than the others, though. It took him a while to track her down, as she’d used the commotion from another young woman to slip past him. It was hard to find all the rats when he had to take another one out of a trap.

  The brunette had beaten him, fair and square. He found himself curious what she would find in his hoard and think the King wanted. It wasn’t like the eggs were all that hidden. They were at the highest point of the coins, so high up that only a crazed person would dare the climb.

  The brunette already knew what she wanted. He found her digging through the coins and jewelry, tossing bits and pieces aside until she lifted a crown that was so encrusted with gemstones that it looked ridiculous. But that was her plan all along, it seemed. She let out a hissed, “Yes,” before plopping onto her bottom and sliding down the mountain of coins.

  He supposed that was good enough for her. A crown. The King had a hundred crowns that he could trade whenever he wanted. Why would he desire another one? Especially from the hoard of a dragon from whom he could take anything he wanted whenever he wanted. But if that was what the young woman thought...

  Dumb. Abraxas reminded himself. So many of them were ridiculously young and foolish, and they saw nothing wrong with living so shallowly.

  He turned his attention to one of the last young women who were still in the cavern. Little Beauty, with her heart of gold and laughter that lit up a room. He’d noticed her the moment she walked into the cave, sparkling like a coin to add to his collection. The dress was hideous, but it was quite amusing to watch her shuffle a few steps and then slouch down until the entire gown enveloped her body. If this had really been his hoard, he might have let her live simply because she was such a delight to watch.

  Abraxas slithered down his mountain of coins and used his wing to block her passage. Same as before, she crouched down like a bullfrog and froze.