Hard Boiled

by T L Christianson

  I laughed, and my heart lightened. Everything about George, everything about Celine, Evgeni, and Ashe was pushed away, and it was just Aaraeth and me.

  She soared up the eastern side of the valley gliding on the currents, allowing them to take us higher and higher until I shivered with cold. She then drove down into the warmer air, soaring on the breeze above the fields. I rested my cheek against her neck, watching the trees fly by as my dragon circled above the flock of sheep grazing below.

  Suddenly, I sensed Eondian.

  He felt different... intense and dark as he flew close to us—too close. Then the giant Harrow dragon began spinning corkscrews around us. This dangerous maneuver brought him within inches of me and I gasped as his claw scraped against Aaraeth’s flank.

  I lifted my face from Aaraeth’s neck, but watched the Harrow beast cautiously. My cheek was warm and probably red from laying against her scales.

  Another pass overhead, and I saw that Eondian was alone, no rider.

  “Eondian!” I called out. “You’re scaring me. Stop it!”

  When I touched the Harrow’s mind, it felt strange, oddly focused, and intent on Aaraeth.

  What is he doing? I asked my dragon.

  But something had changed within Aaraeth. She grunted and began to curve into a slight spiral herself.

  “Aaraeth!” I yelled when she tilted sideways, almost knocking me off. “Aaraeth! Put me down! Now!”

  She ignored me as Eondian called to her in an ear splitting bugle.

  “Shit…” I whispered.

  The two dragons were playing a dangerous game, and I happened to be an unwilling participant.

  I ducked as he neared us again, gripping Aaraeth’s back with my legs and holding tight to her horns. My palms were already slick from fear when the black dragon reached out with his sharp claws to grab at his mate.

  I screamed as his talons grazed my back, slicing through my t-shirt into my skin. I didn’t think it was that bad until I felt trails of blood drip down my side.

  Then inexplicably, my fear was replaced by something else I didn’t recognize at first. Heat filled my body, pooling low in my stomach to create a dull ache. My skin flushed, and I felt almost drunk as swells of dragon emotion surged over me.

  My grip relaxed, and fear fled like the fuzzy ball of a dandelion in the wind. Unafraid, my thoughts turned to Ashe—how it felt when he held me, kissed me, and the way his hands ran the length of my body, pulling me closer.

  Understanding crept into my mind.

  I felt this before—the night of my Awakening Ceremony.

  This was the dragons!

  “Oh, no…no, no, no!” I whispered, my eyes on the black beast in the sky.

  Could dragons mate while flying?

  I did not want to find out while riding one!

  Aaraeth curved upward and to the side, arching around. Thankfully centrifugal force kept me on her back as she circled sideways to the ground.

  I slapped her neck with my hand, and screamed, “Put me down! Now!”

  Unexpectedly, several large shapes neared us, flying to match our altitude and speed. I didn’t need to reach out, I felt them—over a dozen Primes and twice as many wyverns. I wasn’t sure what scared me more, the fact that they were afraid for me, or that there were this many Primes here on the base.

  I recognized Durand and Zane, Logan’s dad, but the rest were strangers—soldiers.

  Durand flew high above us before diving down, making a J like maneuver. But Eondian was full of fury that the other Prime dragons neared his mate. He roared, and a ball of fire shot from his mouth toward my uncle. Durand’s blue beast ducked the flame which only made Eondian angrier. His roar was so loud that I let go to cover my ears, nearly falling off in the process.

  Durand’s dragon, Parmourth, bellowed back in reply but he backed off.

  A flock of wyverns neared in formation, flying above us without riders. They nearly blotted out the sun as they surrounded us from above, trying to force us to land.

  “Should I jump?”

  Not yet, came a reply from a large Eton dragon, its scales a deep burgundy. We will keep Eondian away, for now, the burgundy dragon said clear in my mind. He soared through the sky, getting the closest to Eondian. For a moment, I caught the eye of a leather clad blond haired Prime. The Eton looked young, but I felt only confidence from him.

  The Prime riders attempted to talk to both Aaraeth and Eondian, but the pair was tangled up in this heated web of hunger and longing. I tried to separate myself from their thoughts, but I struggled as wave after wave of beguiling warmth crashed over me. Their thoughts invaded my mind, seeping into my brain, making me restless and impatient.

  I sensed Ashe through the bond, our connection growing, thickening, pulling us together.

  My eyes searched Briony, and I spotted him high up on one of the alcoves in the mountain. He watched us and fear laced through our connection.

  Aaraeth dove down toward the cliff face, making me float a bit above her back until she veered off and up toward her mate. She spiraled through the air, ecstasy flooding her veins, taking away my anxiety as it overflowed into me.

  And the next thing I knew, I was tumbling limply through the air. The wind buffeted my body, drying the sweat that coated me.

  I could see the sky and hear the alarm of the dragons around me, but I didn’t care. There was no room for fear or worries or even for my own death. I felt all of the dragon’s emotions…

  Until my body jerked to an abrupt halt, stopping my descent.

  Abrupt is kind of a strong word—the blue wyvern, one I hadn’t met before, had matched my speed before grabbing one of my legs in its sharp claws and decelerating.

  The beast soared to slow it’s speed before setting me down among the trees in the forest. I lay there dazed, realizing that the Drake wyvern had no rider. Of course, wyverns were fast enough to catch a fall like that but not strong enough to carry two people.

  My mind zoned in and out of reality as wave after wave of emotion crashed over me.

  Gazing up into the calm blue sky, I was vaguely aware when a shadow blotted out the sun.

  “Don’t touch her!” This was Durand’s voice, but I couldn’t understand why he would say that. “No! Corbin! No! Grab him! Hold him down!”

  Ashe was near.

  I felt him.

  Turning my head, I met his eyes as he was forced down into the dirt by three other soldiers in black.

  “I was just trying to help…” Came an unfamiliar voice.

  Durand’s snarl vaguely entered my thoughts, “Did I say to pick him up and bring him to the girl? No. This is a dangerous situation. Look at them. They’re both wrapped up in the mating.”

  “Get off me!” Ashe roared as he clawed at the dry, pine needle covered ground toward me.

  “Hold him!” My uncle ordered again.

  A wave of ecstasy washed over me, and I moaned, shifting in the dirt.

  “Ummm…. I feel like we shouldn’t be watching this,” one of the soldiers commented.

  But I didn’t care. Nothing mattered but the pressure building inside my body.

  Then someone slapped my cheek—hard.

  My eyes flew wide when she slapped me again.

  I batted at the woman, murmuring almost as if asleep. Even to my own ears, my voice sounded slow and slurred as if drunk, “No… go away…”

  But my grandmother was persistent. She slapped me again, and I heard a deep growl come from the direction where Ashe was pinned down.

  “Sydney!” Elise said firmly. “Snap out of it!”

  I gazed lazily up into her eyes and her flushed face. Her gray-streaked hair fell in loose waves around her face. Even though I knew she was in her seventies, being a Prime had kept her younger than her years.

  “You’re so pretty,” I slurred in my haze.

  Then she poured water over me.

  I sat up, sputtering, my gaze locked on Ashe.

  He lay there on his stomach, his
face pressed sideways in the dirt, blood running from the corner of his mouth and a soldier kneeling on his back, with two others assisting.

  Ashe’s eyes were open, but he remained wrapped up in the dragon’s thrall.

  “Get off him!” I screamed, throwing command behind my words.

  The soldiers, with no choice but to obey, backed away, wary of me as if I were a wild and dangerous animal, and maybe at that moment, I was.

  As soon as Ashe was free, he bounded up, closing the space between us. His movements were so quick they were hard to follow, and before I knew what was happening, he scooped me up and threw me over his shoulder. His arm pinned me in place, and when I tried to resist, it only made him tighten his hold on my hip.

  “Dragon’s teeth!” Roared Durand. “How the hell can she use commands like that?” Then he shouted, “Go after them! Separate them!”

  “No!” Elise’s voice rang out. “Just wait. I’ve seen this before. He’s defending his mate. If we intervene now, someone will get hurt.”

  As Ashe ran, I was able to slide down his chest. My escape attempt tripped him, our legs tangling as he ran. We tumbled to the forest floor, but my soldier took the brunt of the fall, turning me around so that I’d land on top of him.

  For a second, we lay there unmoving. Our labored breathing was the only sound I heard.

  The dragon’s influence was hard to resist. It tempted me, pulled at me, sending spiraling tendrils of hedonism to invade my mind.

  Our bodies pressed together in all the right places.

  If Ashe hadn’t moved, hadn’t tumbled us so that he was on top, I might have given in. But the movement sent a flash of blinding pain from my back from where the dragon’s claw had sliced me open.

  I screamed, twisting in pain to be free.

  My mate loomed above me, but I didn’t see Ashe—I saw Eondian—cruel, mean, and determined to have his way. My heart thundered in my chest as he forced one knee between my legs, separating them. I struggled beneath him, but it only made him more determined.

  I knew that this wasn’t right, but a part of me… maybe a bigger part than I wanted to admit, liked this, wanted this.

  Thankfully, the logical part of me was in charge. I knew that if I allowed whatever this was to go any further, that both Ashe and I would deeply regret it. I had to stop this. I forced all my pain and fear into him.

  He pushed away from me, and gazed down at me, his eyes clearing. But when I tried to escape it caused us to roll down the slope, sliding in the dry dirt and leaves. Then we landed hard—a fallen tree stopped us from tumbling any farther.

  Exhausted, I rested my forehead against his and whispered, “Ashe. I know you’re in there. Talk to me. Fight them.”

  Whether it was my words or emotions through the bond, Ashe broke free of the dragon trance.

  He breathed out a sigh and loosened his hold, allowing me to fall beside him.

  “Oh my god,” I breathed.

  It was over.

  Ashe lifted himself up on his elbow and met my gaze.

  “Are you okay?” he asked me in a gravelly voice, through his busted lower lip.

  I nodded.

  “Thank the ancestors,” he whispered in relief before falling onto his back.

  I laid my head on his chest, and he draped one arm around me, kissing my hair.

  We lay there in the dirt, just holding each other, too exhausted to move.

  In the background, I heard Durand’s vague commands, ordering everyone to clear out except two—Taya and… Corbin-Choryth, the beast told me.

  Fatigue weighed me down, and even as I tried to keep my eyes open, blackness consumed me, pulling me into a deep, deep sleep.

  15

  Ashe

  The haze of sleep clouded my mind as I awoke to something sharp digging into my back. Shifting, I found my arm caught beneath something warm and soft.

  Lazily, I opened my eyes, then nearly shot straight up when memories of the dragons came flooding in. I'd only ever seen a coupling between wyverns. The Dragonborn pair had been nowhere to be seen, which now I completely understood.

  The dragons had been magnificent. The flight had been like an intricate dance in the sky as they spiraled around each other in dizzying feats of strength and agility.

  I pulled my arm from beneath Sydney and her lashes fluttered open. She stared up at me—her eyes reflecting the moon.

  "Get a good nap there, buddy?" Came Corbin's snarky comment from the dark.

  Without even looking his way, I flipped him the bird.

  "Where are we?" I asked, searching around for some kind of landmark to identify our location.

  "Western rim, one quarter down," Taya's voice answered.

  I turned to find the two soldiers leaning against a thick pine about three meters away. They looked as if they'd been there for a while, which made me check my watch.

  "What time is it?" Sydney asked, then cleared her throat as she sat.

  "Twenty till ten," I replied, reaching over to pick pine needles out of her hair.

  My body ached, and my shoulder stung from my arm being twisted behind my back. My uniform was shredded, the buttons were pulled off, and the seams were ripped. I pushed the collar of my t-shirt back to reveal a small bite mark in my skin.

  "Sydney? Did you… did you bite me?"

  Both Corbin and Taya laughed at my question, but not my bondmate. She looked up at me with wide innocent eyes.

  "I had to. You were completely out of it and going crazy," she breathed as she stood.

  "If by going crazy—you mean horny AF," Corbin commented.

  Taya laughed.

  "Your mouth is going to be the death of you," I warned.

  He barked out a laugh as he stood, an arrogant smile still plastered across his face.

  "That was like in the cave," Sydney whispered, reaching out to hold my arm for balance as she tried to sweep dirt and gravel from her backside and bare legs.

  I shook my head in disbelief at what we’d just gone through. "I'm pretty sure that was a coupling. We're out of our depth here. We need answers from someone who knows what’s happening, and I don't trust your grandparents to be straight with us. We need to talk to Evgeni."

  Staring down at Syd, I had this compulsion to pick her up and take her away to someplace safe—to a place where it would just be the two of us—not to do anything, but to protect her.

  She shivered from the cool mountain air, and I pulled her against my chest and kissed her hair. It was weird that she smelled like the Dragonborn soap instead of whatever human soap she usually used, but I liked it.

  When she cried out, I released her and stepped back. "What's wrong?"

  "Ugh! Eondian clawed me,” she said, reaching around to touch her back.

  "Turn around, let me see," I told her.

  When I saw it, I sucked in a breath.

  "What? Is it bad?” she asked, trying to touch the wound.

  "I don't think so, but your shirt has dried into the wound. We need to get you to the medical ward."

  I searched the skies for Eondian and called him several times, but there was no response.

  "We're stranded," I told the group.

  "Nah, I’ll take you both on Choryth," Corbin said, still grinning like the Cheshire cat as he called on his dragon. The beast appeared like a dark shape in the clearing before lumbering over to us.

  "Sydney, you first," he said, holding his hand out to my bondmate to lift her up.

  I nearly rolled my eyes at my friend.

  "Wait, let me call on Aaraeth,” she said, not taking his hand—which gave me a small amount of pleasure.

  "Do you even know where your dragon is?” he asked.

  She gazed off into the distance, searching for the beast. I knew what she'd find. She'd sense our dragons together in the forest. Thankfully they'd fallen asleep.

  Her eyes searched mine, and something passed between us, an understanding that we couldn't disturb them.

  "Are they…
still…?" Corbin paused, meeting my eye.

  "They're sleeping," Syd said, her voice soft and a slight smile curving her pink lips.

  "Okay, let's go, Sydney, you go on first, then me and then Ashe," he ordered.

  "Nope. You go first," I told him.

  He shook his head. "Ashe Carrick, micro-managing as usual. But whatever."

  I nearly groaned. Instead, I called over to Taya, "Change of plans, you need to head back to the Lamberts and I’ll bring Sydney home later."

  Her brows lifted. "What? You? I thought you were going to the medical ward?"

  My mind swirled back to when Sydney healed me. We sat beneath the bridge with her small hands on my skin, burning me as heat flowed through them, mending my arm where I'd been shot.

  I met Taya's eyes. "I can heal her," I said before taking my bondmate's hand and helping her up onto Choryth's back.

  The dark-haired guard shook her head. "What do you mean you can heal her?"

  "We’ve done it before. Just go! I promise, I’ll be fine," Sydney said, climbing up onto Choryth. She’d used such subtle compulsion on her guard that not even Corbin felt it—but I did.

  It was always strange riding someone else's dragon, kind of like wearing someone else's shoes—it just didn't feel quite right. Dragons were like us, with different bodies and different personalities. Choryth was about the same size as Eondian, but with different head spikes and flatter shoulders.

  The beast crouched before bolting into the sky, his wings pumping at the air for purchase. Once he was inflight, it took only moments to get back to the base.

  All eyes flew to us as Corbin landed outside the gathering hall. There was little doubt that word about what happened had already spread through the community. Giving the onlookers a friendly nod, I turned to grab Syd by the waist to help her down from Choryth.

  Dirty, bloody, and bruised, my mate still looked like a queen. She gave Corbin a small smile and thanked him before turning to me.

  I cleared my throat and met my friend's eye. "Thanks, man," I told Corbin as we clasped arms. Before I could say anything else, he took off again into the night.