by Amelia Jade
They were making full use of everything as his massive wings pumped, the dark blue membranes working feverishly to give him yet more speed as they headed first for the Academy to warn the others, and then toward the border as they chased Garviel down.
Dominick was ready for the fight to come. Garviel and his friends were Wards, the trained equivalent of the Guardians. It would be the first time they tested all of their newfound skills out in true combat, together as a team.
Yet none of it mattered if he couldn’t get Rhynne back. She was all that he could think of. Images of her, from times past, to possible visions of the future all flitted through his head.
He had to rescue her.
“Did anyone else see that?” Asher asked from his right flank.
Dom shook his head, pulling himself back to the present. “See what?”
Then he saw it. Up ahead in the darkness, the sun now hidden behind the mountains, there was a blast of what looked like lightning.
“There’s no clouds in the sky,” he muttered, double checking with a quick glance upward just to make sure he wasn’t losing his mind. “Was that a burst of Electrofire?” he asked.
“Sure looked like it,” Zeke said in agreement.
Another blast shot forward, followed this time by a streaking red ball of flame.
“That was Dragonfire,” Asher hissed. “What the hell is going on?”
“I’m not sure,” Dom said, “but keep your eyes on the sky as well. It could just be the instructors up to something.”
They all made affirmative noises, but it was clear that neither of them believed what he was saying any more than he did. The bursts of various dragon weapons were all directed downward. Even as they watched, two fireballs burst into appearance and headed downward.
This time they were close enough to see just where they landed, and Dom growled in anger as the fireballs burst up against a clearly artificial structure. Out there, at that location in Cadia, there was only one thing it could be.
They were attacking the Academy.
“We need to stop them,” Asher said.
“Absolutely,” Dom agreed. “Obviously the instructors aren’t there, or they’d be chasing them off. Which means it’s up to us to save the Academy.”
The trio exchanged nervous glances, but none of them slowed. In fact, they all gained speed, driving themselves harder as flames began to lick at the stone building. The light glinted off some scales, illuminating two of the three dragons they knew to be nearby.
“Garviel is a Frost Dragon,” Dom said, indicating the brilliant white-scaled beast lining up to make another attack run. “He’s mine.”
“I’ll take the sparkler on the right,” Asher said, using the derogatory term other dragons had for Fire Dragons.
“Guess I’ve got the last one, wherever he is,” Zeke said, his head scanning for a target.
“Good luck,” Dom said. “And thank you.”
They were above the other dragons now, and he began to execute the attack. Dom tucked his right wing in tight, and at the same time lifted his left. This had the effect of spinning him over onto his back, where he let his head fall and take him into a nosedive toward the ground. With both wings flush against his side he hurtled down from the heavens like a spear thrown by the gods as he arrowed in on Garviel. At this close range, he wasn’t going to lose the tundra-colored shifter in the dark.
Inhaling deeply, he felt the familiar crackle of power as lightning built in his throat. He let it build, compressing it down through sheer force of will until he could feel it shaking, a super-condensed bolt. With less than two hundred feet to go he hurled the jagged bolt of pure power at his target.
Garviel’s head snapped around as the superheated weapon zipped through the air, but it was too late by then. It hit him square in the flank, leaving a gaping wound and eliciting a howl of pain from Garviel. At the same time he heard more roars as the cadets dove into battle, desperate to protect their home.
“Where is she?” Dom thundered as he snapped his wings open following his lightning attack.
Talons dug deep as he slammed into Garviel’s side before the Ward could complete his roll. White scales glittered in the firelight as they tumbled to the ground below, awash in thick red dragon blood. Dom’s head snapped around and he ripped a huge chunk of Garviel’s neck free before launching him from the shifter.
A blast of super-cooled ice hit his wing and pierced it like a knife, leaving a two-foot-wide hole in the membrane.
Dom grimaced but did not cry out as he sent another bolt at Garviel’s head. The Fenris shifter ducked swiftly, leaving only a grazing black mark across his scales. But the bolt had served to both turn Garviel’s head away so he couldn’t return fire, and forced the Frost Dragon to roll, exposing his belly to Dom.
The Electro Dragon dove for him again, talons extended straight downward to pierce as deep into his foe as he could.
But as Garviel rolled, Dom noted that his belly was not full of white scales, but was instead blotted out by something tied to him. Some sort of blanket, wrapped around a—
Rhynne!
Dominick frantically pulled up on his attack, yanking his talons away as he practically threw himself sideways in the air as best he could. The two dragons collided, and Garviel’s paws on his right side tore huge strips off of Dom’s back, ripping scales free as they dug deep.
This time he did cry out in pain. The attack had hit deep, and he was wounded. Not fatally, but he could feel the blood flowing out, coating his scales. It was going to be a while before he recovered, that was for sure. And if he couldn’t end the fight soon, the loss of blood might seriously hinder him.
The ground was rushing up at them now though, and Garviel pushed off of Dom, righting himself and beating his wings frantically as they both tried to stop themselves before they hit the ground hard.
“I’m going to kill you!” Dom raged as Garviel landed nearby, both dragons out of breath.
“Come and get it, pup,” Garviel taunted, white mist rising up to eclipse his form.
Dom followed suit, shifting back to his human form in a blur of black clouds and bursts of sheet lightning. When they cleared he threw himself to the side immediately to avoid the oncoming fist from Garviel, who had gotten the jump on him. He dropped onto a shoulder and rolled to his side, the impact jolting him enough to let Dom know it was going to bruise and stiffen up badly.
But none of that even occurred to him right then. All he cared about was getting to the wrapped-up blanket Garviel had left behind. He could see the black knee-high boots that Rhynne always wore sticking out from where part of the blanket had rolled up.
The confirmation that it was his mate—and he didn’t hesitate at all in using the term—simply fueled Dom’s temper. A curtain of red descended over him and he rose up from his roll with a sense of calm enveloping him. As he turned to face Garviel, the other shifter hesitated, obviously seeing something in Dom’s face that he didn’t like.
But Garviel was a Ward of Fenris, trained and ready for situations like this. He didn’t back down, and certainly not from what he surely considered a lesser foe. Dominick knew this, and planned to use his overconfidence against him.
Garviel came forward, and suddenly Dominick realized that there was a mighty difference between the pair. Hand-to-hand combat had not been a major component of Top Scale’s training program.
Evidently it was at the Hawk’s Nest, and Garviel put that to good work. He blocked all of Dom’s blows, delivering carefully timed punches that rocked Dominick back again and again. His face was a mash of bruises and opened cuts, and his ribs ached, likely broken in at least one place.
His dragon roared with impotence, begging to be let loose, to use him, but Dom couldn’t find the focus. Besides, even if he shifted back, he was still weakened and wasn’t sure how much of a fight he could put up.
Another powerful blow sent Dom flying, splitting his cheek open as he tumbled across the ground, until he
hit something that stopped him.
It was Rhynne’s body. She didn’t respond to the impact, and he feared the worst, but there was no time. Garviel was closing in. Dom got to his feet once more as his opponent sneered at him in contempt.
“Worthless,” he spat. “You don’t deserve her.”
“Maybe you’re right,” he shouted. “Maybe I don’t deserve her. But neither do you. And at least she chose me. You failed so miserably that she had to punch you to drive it home that she wasn’t attracted to your pathetic excuse for life.”
Garviel roared in anger and came at Dom.
Dominick, knowing he had no other choice, let down his guard, and let his dragon in, the burst of electricity infusing his body as it shot forward.
But the expectant clouds and lightning never appeared. Instead, his skin began to crackle and snap as miniature bolts of power leapt up and out from his flesh, only to curl back in and dive into his body once more. As he watched in shock, his skin, normally a dark tan color, began to alter until it was blue, and then it hardened into miniature-sized scales that ran from his fingers up to his elbow. His face scaled over as well, and suddenly there was a burst of energy in his throat.
Dominick inhaled, feeling the familiar charge build there.
His head came up, making eye contact with Garviel, who had stopped in his tracks.
“What the hell?” the other shifter said in stunned surprise.
Dominick gave him a full, teeth-baring smile, and opened his mouth.
A bolt of lightning shot forth and took Garviel in the arm. The Frost Dragon roared in anger, the attack seeming to have brought him out of his shock. He charged at Dominick, who unleashed blast after blast into his foe.
But Garviel was no weakling, and though they burned deep, blackened flesh dotting his body where he had seared deep into the muscle, the Ward still came on.
Dominick strode forward to meet him.
Garviel wound up and threw a fist at him with everything he had.
Dominick closed the scaled fingers of his right hand, and sent his own punch right back at Garviel.
The two fists met.
Blue scales, hardened beyond anything even a dragon shifter’s skin could take, blew through Garviel, crushing his bones into powder and driving all the way up to his wrist before he stopped.
Garviel screamed, holding his arm as he fell to the ground. His entire hand looked like a sack of skin filled with rocks as it hung limply from partway up his forearm, all the bones simply crushed by the power of Dom’s blow.
Dom loomed up over him, and Garviel looked up, terror in his eyes.
“Welcome to Cadia,” he ground out, and slammed his sapphire scale-covered fist into Garviel’s face.
Bone shattered and the man collapsed to the ground, instantly unconscious. Dom hoped he hadn’t killed him, because he wanted him to stand trial and be punished for his sins, but he knew he wouldn’t shed a tear if the other man was dead.
The ground shook under him, tumbling Dominick to the ground. He rolled to his feet, looking for the source.
As it turned out, it was the body—no, the corpse, based on the amount of blood pouring from the neck wound—of one of the Fire Dragons. Looking to the sky, he saw Asher wheel and dive to help out Zeke, who was in tough against the other Fire Dragon.
“I’ve got this,” Asher roared. “Get Rhynne.”
Nodding, Dom rushed over to the blanket and began to rip it off. The first thing he saw was Rhynne’s hair, looking more reddish than normal in the firelight from the burning building. More ripping finally exposed her face, and an ugly-looking bruise that started near her left temple and extended back around her head.
That must be what happened. They hit her extremely hard and knocked her unconscious.
It took a lot to knock out a shifter, especially a tough one like Rhynne, but it was still possible. He could only hope she hadn’t suffered any permanent damage from it. Dragons healed from just about every wound, but Dominick didn’t have much experience with massive head trauma. He only hoped it hadn’t affected the tiny spark of life she was carrying within her.
“Rhynne,” he said, touching her shoulder. “Rhynne wake up.”
She didn’t stir.
“Shit,” he swore, looking around, unsure of what to do next.
Nearby, he saw Zeke and Asher forcing the other Fire Dragon to the ground. He shifted and lay sullenly under guard from Zeke, who remained in his dragon form, one claw pinning the man’s chest to the ground.
“Come on, Rhynne, please,” he whispered into her ear.
Taking a chance, he bent down and kissed her on the lips, hoping like the fairy tales he’d been told as a child that she would wake up from the kiss of her mate.
But she didn’t move.
The flapping of wings from above had Dominick on his feet, and he felt his dragon’s energy ready itself within him for whatever it might be called upon to provide.
Out of the darkness came a giant black dragon, escorting a smaller, but no less frail red dragon. There was only one coupling of a red and black dragon that he was aware of. The only question Dominick had is how the hell they knew to come to the Academy.
“What is going on here?” Klara Nova said, as behind them Asher used his Frostfire to douse the flames licking up the side of the Academy building before they could do any further damage.
“Rhynne?” Zoltan spoke, as he noticed the limp form of his daughter lying next to Dominick.
“What have you done?” Klara hissed as she shifted and ran to her daughter’s side.
Zoltan loomed up over Dominick, the Blast Dragon’s fierce, protective glare driving Dominick away from his mate’s side. He grudgingly backed away.
“What are you doing here?” he asked.
“We got word that you were in town searching for Rhynne. Several people called to ask us if we knew that she was supposedly missing. We didn’t, because she was supposed to be here. But just in case, we decided to come pay a visit to see what the heck was going on. As it turns out, we got here just in time to stop you,” Zoltan said angrily.
Dominick stopped backing up and stood his ground, trying to glance around the matte-black dragon as he did. “I didn’t do anything,” he said firmly, his posture, voice and eyes all but challenging the Blast Dragon.
“He saved your daughter,” Asher said, ambling over, still in his dragon form.
“Garviel tried to kidnap her, and take her back to Fenris,” Dominick explained. “He decided to stop by the Academy, I guess to destroy it as a message to me. Unfortunately for him, we arrived in time to answer.” Dominick pointed to the dead dragon, and the unconscious form of Garviel half-concealed in the long grass.
“Rhynne! Z, she’s awake!” Klara said from behind him.
Dominick, ignoring Zoltan, darted past him, though he stopped short as the large dragon moved past him with ease and curled up around his daughter and mate.
“Dominick?” came the weak, fuzzy question in the unmistaken voice of his mate.
Dominick’s heart soared.
“No dear, it’s your mother and father. We’re here for you.”
And just like that, his spirits plummeted.
“Where’s Dominick?” Rhynne asked again, her voice sounding stronger.
“Shhh,” Klara said.
The bulk of Zoltan’s body was blocking Dominick from view, and he didn’t want to anger her parents any further by shouting over them to make himself heard, but he was getting irritated at their refusal to admit he was right there.
“Is Dominick okay?” Rhynne asked. “Ow, my head.”
“Take it easy, dear. We’re going to take you home now.”
“Mother,” Rhynne said, in the same tone that Dominick had heard her speak to him and the others. It was her command voice, that of an instructor from Top Scale, or a Guardian of Cadia. “Where. Is. Dominick?”
“We’ll get him later, dear. First, let’s get you home and looked at.”
“Mother!” Rhynne’s voice rang out in the night. “Enough.”
“I’m here,” Dominick said, speaking aloud, though he never moved.
“Father,” Rhynne said when Zoltan looked over at Dominick but refused to budge. “Move.”
Grudgingly, the black dragon shuffled out of the way to reveal Dominick in his battered, bruised, and bleeding glory.
He strode forward, and as gently as he could wrapped his arms around her, holding her close to him.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered in her ear.
“For what?”
“For not getting to you sooner. For letting him do this to you,” he said, his words coming so quickly they began to run together.
“Shh,” Rhynne said, putting a finger to his lips. “You couldn’t have known.” She looked over his shoulder, seeing the carnage that had been wreaked. “What is all this?”
He quickly filled her in on their rescue mission.
“You saved me?” she asked, looking at him with a loving vulnerability he never thought she even possessed.
“Uh, I guess so?” he said sheepishly, not overly comfortable with taking the credit for that. He’d simply done what had to be done for the one he loved.
“Come here,” she said with a wink and a grin, and pulled him close so she could kiss him.
Chapter Fourteen
Rhynne
“Rhynne!”
She heard her mother shout in shock and anger, and something else snapped inside of Rhynne. Pulling back from Dominick, she looked him in the eyes, seeing the worry and depth of his emotion contained within him.
“I’ll be right back,” she promised and turned. It was a slow spin, because her head still throbbed and she didn’t want to make herself dizzy.
“What are you doing, daughter of mine?” Klara said, her eyes filled with disgust.
“Klara Morgan Nova,” Rhynne said, striding forward, letting her mother’s glare slide off her like so much water. “You may be my mother, but you are not my boss,” she said firmly.
