“Are you hurt?” Sharpe added.
“I have no idea. To either of those questions. What did I just do?”
“We’ll explain when we’re not on an imperial ship trailing charred corpses. M’kay?” Brynn put a hand on her nose and stroked it gently.
“Alora, I need you to do exactly as I say.” Argon’s dominant tone cut into Alora’s crying, and she gazed over at him. In her dragon form, she was really mesmerizing.
“Yes?”
“Close your eyes and see yourself getting smaller. Don’t just imagine it, but see it. Feel it. Remember the sensation of having fingers and toes. And no tail.”
“It’s not—owwwww!” Alora’s words turned into a cry of pain as, before Brynn’s eyes, she transformed slowly back into her humanoid shape.
“Yes. Just like that. You’ll get faster with practice,” Argon remarked. “Now, get into my pouch, we’re taking you back to our ship.”
Alora stepped in front of Argon, and Brynn’s chest flared with jealousy as he watched the silver dragon pick her up and slide her into his pouch.
“Canavan, Brynn, get this transport on self-destruct. It will make it harder for anyone to figure out what happened. Sharpe, accompany me back to our ship.”
Brynn nodded and turned towards the prow, intending to open a door and walk to where all the serious controls would be. He stopped dead when he realized there was a hole between the cargo bay and cockpit, and he was far too big to fit through it.
“Gonna have to shift,” he told Canavan.
A moment later, in their naked human forms, they climbed through the melted steel and picked their way to the front of the ship. There were two opulent leather recliners positioned behind an array of flat panels with no labels.
“This might take a while,” Canavan exclaimed, looking over the systems. “I wonder if there’s a manual.”
Brynn’s eyes fell on a big red kill switch under a glassy flip-up cover. He lifted the protective cover and pulled the switch.
A computerized voice seemed to speak from all around them.
“Self-destruct activated. Warning: This ship will self-destruct in sixty seconds...”
“Or that,” Canavan remarked.
“C’mon, let’s get outta here.” Brynn climbed through the hole and shifted into his dragon form. Checking over his shoulder, he saw Canavan was right behind him. He pushed himself away from the ship and began flying through space toward the dragon ship.
***
Alora stared out of the window at the other ship. Sharpe had wrapped her in a warm blanket and found her a big mug of hot chocolate.
“I don’t understand. How could I be a dragon and not know it?” Alora shook her head in disbelief.
“Beats me. Didn’t you ever have any accidents as a child?” Sharpe asked.
“Yeah, I burned my house down every week,” she replied scathingly.
“Now, now, Sharpe is only trying to help,” Argon warned her. She sighed but put a lid on the snark. She didn’t want to get in trouble again.
“Is there anything that can be done to prevent a dragon from shifting?” Sharpe asked Argon. “I mean, the elves don’t imprison full-size dragons, or we’d keep escaping. How do they contain us?”
“Conundrium carbide.” Argon’s words sounded foreign to her.
“Ohhhh,” Sharpe said as though the sounds had made sense to him.
“What’s... what you said?” Alora asked.
“It’s a substance that dampens dragon abilities,” Sharpe translated.
“How would you know what it looked like?” Alora asked.
“It’s almost ceramic in texture. Like a catalyst... but it does the opposite. I’ve heard of it being ground up and put into food for dragon inmates.”
Alora stared at them in horror. “How much of it would I need to take?”
“Probably not a lot. It would sit in your system for about twenty-four hours.”
“My medication!” She shook her head in disbelief. “Would my father really do that? Would our physician? I’ve been taking it every day of my life until the explosion on Nidia.”
“Sounds about right.”
“It was supposed to be for... for... hyperactivity. Oh my gosh. I haven’t been taking it! And I’m not bouncing all over the place.”
“So someone on Nidia must have known you’re a dragon.”
“Presumably her father knew,” Argon pointed out.
“The palace doctor would have known as well.” Alora thought back to all her appointments with him. He’d never said anything about it. But every time, she’d left with another big bag of the same pills. “Did they really think this is the sort of thing I’d just never notice? I mean, it’s my species.”
“If your father was in on it, isn’t it possible he’s also a dragon?” Sharpe’s tone was gentle, but Alora wasn’t sure if she was ready to think about that, yet.
“I don’t know. I don’t know anything. I just want to sleep. Those men... they wanted to do horrible things to me. They put me in a cage with a water bottle like I was an animal. And they talked of selling me. They wanted to hurt my father.”
“You’re safe now,” Sharpe said comfortingly. “You have your daddies, and we will take good care of you.”
“What happens now? I killed them. They deserved it, but... no one’s going to see it that way, are they?” She stared out of the window again. Everything had been so simple before that stupid explosion.
“Now, as much as it pains me to say it, we need to take you back to Nidia.” Argon’s words were surprising.
Alora frowned. “Why?”
“Because regardless of what you want, you are the daughter of the emperor-paramount. Anywhere we go, you’ll be found. And you need to tell your father what just happened.”
It made sense, but she didn’t like it. She nodded.
“Will... will you four come with me? Off the ship, I mean?” She hardly dared to hope.
“Yes, I will ensure it,” Argon said gently, and for a moment, Alora saw past his grumpy exterior of authority into his heart.
There was a long silence as she regarded him with new eyes.
“...” Argon opened his mouth, and Alora thought he was about to say something, but Brynn and Canavan suddenly burst in.
“We did it,” Canavan said.
“Now it’s time to blow this joint,” Brynn added.
“Buckle up, everyone, there’s about to be a shockwave.”
Alora sat down, and the four dragons busied themselves with making the ship move while she sat still and tried not to interrupt or get in the way.
***
It was several hours later while the ship was en route to Nidia, and Sharpe and Brynn were flying it by themselves, that someone knocked on the door of the cabin Alora had claimed for herself. Her hair was still a little damp from showering, but she’d found an old shirt that came to her knees and was happily wearing it as a dress, so she didn’t feel completely lazy. She picked her way over discarded boxes and old pieces of furniture to open the door.
Argon stood outside, looking overdressed in a pair of black pants, and if Alora didn’t know better, she’d say he was nervous. But this was Argon, he was never nervous.
“May we speak—what in the world is your cabin full of?” He interrupted himself as he peered around Alora and looked into her room. She sighed.
“It was like that when I got here. I guess you guys were using it as a junk room or something.”
“Not with my knowledge. I think perhaps my cabin would be more appropriate for this conversation.”
Alora stared when he held out a hand. It took her a full two seconds to figure out he wanted her to hold it. Tentatively, she reached out to him. When her fingers touched his, an electric thrill ran through her body. She looked up to see if he’d felt it, too.
He certainly looked less composed than she’d seen him in the past, but she couldn’t put her finger on what, exactly, was different about him. He certainl
y seemed like his usual self as he led her down the walkway to his cabin. Inside, he guided her to the big, wide bed.
“Sit,” he told her.
Nervously, she perched on the edge of the bed. He sat down beside her and took her hand.
“I didn’t want to say this in front of the others because I didn’t want you to feel pressured, but you are a pearl dragon.”
“I know. And you totally already said that.”
“Please don’t interrupt. It’s not polite. You are a pearl dragon, possibly the last one in the entire galaxy. Unless you choose dragon mates, your sub-species will die out.”
Alora waited for him to continue. He seemed to be having trouble getting to the point.
“Even if you have a clutch of eggs—that’s three to six—each year, there is no guarantee those infants will survive. By the time Brynn, Canavan, Sharpe, and I were born, only one of our fathers was left alive. The others had been hunted and it would be a matter of time before the elves killed our mother, who was hiding.”
Alora stared at him in horror. She hadn’t realized quite how urgent the situation had become. Nothing Sharpe, Brynn, or Canavan had told her compared to this one, dark, terrible fact. They hadn’t known three of their four fathers or their mother. At this rate, dragons would be extinct within a few years.
Her eyes filled with tears as she imagined the baby dragons wondering where the rest of their family was. A single father looking after four young boys by himself. It was impossibly sad... and so preventable if the elves would just stop trying to wipe them out, or if the dragons would fight back.
“What can be done?” she asked.
“The others have probably already mentioned there’s another planet. The Interplanetary Alliance named it Telia I, because it’s closer to our sun than Telia II. The temperature there is hotter, so only dragons would be able to comfortably live there. We need to find out if it’s habitable, and if it is, we need to move the remaining dragons there at once.”
“Would they go?” Alora raised a brow.
“Of course... I mean... why wouldn’t they?” Argon frowned.
Alora hid a smile. The silver dragon always saw the answers, but he didn’t necessarily understand the way other people did things.
“Well, some people might not want to leave their homes even if they are in danger. With the un-terraforming wars, entire species got wiped out because, even though their planets were being destroyed, they couldn’t comprehend leaving their planet—their entire way of life—behind.”
“The bigger threat is getting the elves to stop obliterating us long enough to allow spaceships to land and help all the dragons to leave the planet.”
“Wait.” Alora frowned as she tried to make sense of something. “If you’re all able to fly through space, why can’t the dragons on Telia II just fly away?”
“We can move slowly through space, but we have to hold our breath. Even a very athletic dragon would struggle to hold his breath for longer than two hours. With the distances involved that wouldn’t even enable a dragon to fly to any of Telia II’s moons.”
“How many dragons are we talking? Does anyone even know how many are left?” Alora’s understanding of galaxy-wide matters kicked in as she tried to assess what was needed to make this work.
“We don’t know. They’re scattered, and most of them are in hiding.”
“An added problem is going to be convincing them we’re telling the truth, and that this isn’t just a trick from the elves to round up the dragons. And we need the elves to promise a cease-fire. But it all depends on Telia I being a suitable planet.”
“That is the biggest problem.”
“Turn the ship around.” Alora suddenly jumped to her feet and headed for the door.
“Now, wait a minute, young lady, you can’t just—”
“Turn this ship around. We need to investigate Telia I before we can go to my father and demand assistance evacuating the dragons. He has a habit of giving people exactly what they ask for and nothing more.”
“Wait... assistance?” Argon stared at her as though she’d grown a second head. It seemed a bit ridiculous since he hadn’t been especially shocked she could change into a gigantic dragon.
“Yes.” Alora decided to spell it out for him. “My father is the Emperor-Paramount of the entire galaxy. That means whatever the elves are doing, they have to stop if he intervenes. Usually, he lets planets self-govern so we will need a clear and compelling argument for why the Interplanetary Alliance should get involved. They can then provide ships, medical aid, peacekeeping troops, and possibly other things like food to enable the dragons to resettle on their new planet. Isn’t that what you wanted when you sat me down for this little talk?”
Argon stared at her in amazement for a moment, then he nodded. “...Yes. That would—ahem. That would do nicely.”
Alora wondered at his strange response, but she stood up and opened the door. “C’mon, we need to turn this ship around. We can’t go to my father half-cocked. If we don’t have strong evidence Telia I is the perfect place for dragons, he won’t help!”
Chapter 15:
The journey to Telia I didn’t take long. They passed Telia II, heading closer toward the sun, and Telia I came into view on the screen.
“It’s beautiful!” Alora gasped. “Look at the oceans! So purple!”
“Indeed.” Sharpe stood behind her and encircled his arms around her waist. “But not as beautiful as you, princess.”
She smiled and looked up at him over her shoulder. He leaned down and kissed her.
“Hey! Hands above the blanket!” Brynn admonished. “We need to focus on flying the damn ship when we’re in the cockpit.”
Alora giggled and covered Sharpe’s hands with her own. Having four hot dragons around was so much sexier than she’d ever imagined.
“Everyone needs to be seated for atmospheric entry,” Argon announced.
Reluctantly, Alora disentangled herself from Sharpe and sat down. Before she could get too disappointed about having to be apart from him, he chose to forego his usual spot beside Canavan and pulled down the seat beside hers. When he put one hand on her leg, she couldn’t help smiling with joy.
They slowly entered the atmosphere, and Alora closed her eyes. She hated this part of space travel. Sharpe gave her leg a squeeze, and she felt reassured.
“Don’t worry, little one. Your daddies know how to fly a ship.”
She nodded. “I’ll be fine.”
When they were near the surface, she gazed out at the blue mountains and luscious, deep green trees.
“It’s all so unspoiled and fresh!” she exclaimed. “Is the whole planet like this?”
“Not quite,” Sharpe replied. “Two-thirds of the planet is desert, and a lot of the rest is sea. This is the north pole we’re landing on. Coldest place on the planet.”
“So... no snow? Anywhere?” Alora took in the landscape once more.
“Maybe a little sprinkling of snow. In winter.”
She was pretty sure Sharpe was only saying it to spare her feelings.
***
When the ship landed, they opened the cargo bay door and disembarked together.
“How do we know if there are any dinosaurs here? Like, there are planets with dinosaurs and other dangerous predators, I learned about them in school.” Alora looked around in case any of the trees were actually dinosaurs.
To her shock, Argon burst out laughing heartily, and the others joined him a split-second later.
“Alora, we’re dragons. We’re at the top of the food chain. And so are you. Even if a Nastysaurus Rex lived here... he’d be toast before we broke a sweat.”
“Yikes. Remind me never to piss you guys off.”
“Which reminds me, young lady, we need to talk.” Argon snapped his fingers and pointed to a low, flat rock. Alora trudged over to him, feeling like a naughty child.
“Yeah?” She couldn’t help it, his demeanor was making her regress.
“Sit down.”
She sat. Now he was taller than her, and she felt smaller than ever.
“Consent and limits,” he barked. She frowned and shook her head.
“I’ve already covered that with the others—” she began.
“Mine,” he barked. “You’re not the only one who has to consent.”
“Yes, sir,” she found herself saying.
“First, I will not consent to be in a relationship with anyone who lies. You are not to ever call yourself fat, ugly, useless, or anything like that because it’s a lie. Second, I will not consent to be in a relationship with anyone who does not accept discipline if they misbehave. If you refuse to submit to me when I attempt to correct your behavior, I don’t want to be in a relationship with you. Some people feel that strongly about monogamy, I suppose, but discipline is my biggest deal breaker. Third, I will not consent to be in a relationship with anyone who tries to control or manipulate me. Those are my hard limits. Can you accept them?”
His forthright manner left her taken aback. She opened her mouth, and it took several seconds before she was able to say, “Yes, sir.”
She’d always known he was the strict disciplinarian of the four dragons. Truthfully, she hadn’t thought he was interested in her, and now he was talking limits and consent as though it were a given fact that he wanted her. Would her fantasy of being taken by all four dragons at the same time finally come true? How difficult would it be to follow his rules? What would happen if she broke one? She was pretty sure he was about to tell her.
“Those are my limits. Here are my rules: Young ladies do not swear. You will always obey an instruction when it is given. You will always be respectful to all four of us. And you will keep your cavern tidy when you have one.”
She thought through the list of rules. It didn’t sound too bad. Except the swearing part. But then again, when had she ever been permitted to swear in the palace? It seemed fitting.
“What happens when I break the rules?” she asked.
“You will be spanked. Or possibly caned. I may use other means of discipline from time to time, too.”
“Uh, why are we talking about this now?”
“You’re not in any immediate danger, and you’re not about to be whisked back to Nidia to rule the galaxy since we all now know your father is alive.”
Flame Daddies Page 11