Pedro’s Drake was clearly looking for revenge, but he didn’t get it. He tried flaming at the other Drake, but his fire was weak—that was easy to see. It didn’t even singe the scales of the Blood Drake’s chest where it made contact.
In reply, the Blood Drake’s jaws stretched wide and a great gout of flame so hot that I could feel it across the room, suddenly shot out and enveloped the smaller beast.
Pedro’s Drake yipped like a wounded dog as his scales went from gray-green to burnt-back. He backed away, whimpering but the Blood Drake had already turned his attention to the other traitor Drakes in the room.
All the Chamberlains had all turned by now, making the room feel even more crowded. And adding to the numbers of huge, scaly beasts in the room were the Drakes that were pouring in through the shattered glass ceiling. Clearly Saint had brought reinforcements—Drakes from the Western Province where Ari’s uncle ruled, no doubt. That was why he had left me so suddenly—to go get help.
Now it was the traitors who were outnumbered and fights were breaking out everywhere. Gouts of flame were shooting in every direction and giant beasts were slashing at each other with foot-long talons and baring their knife-like teeth in challenge. Bellowing roars and black smoke filled the air.
Things were getting really dangerous and dicey for the people stuck in human form down on the ground. I looked for Ari again and saw that he was struggling with the manacles that still bound him. Not six inches from his head, the long spine of a Drake’s tail passed right by, close enough to ruffle his hair.
My heart jumped up into my throat—God, that had been too close! I had to get to him!
Now that nobody was holding on to the magical chains binding me, I was finally able to shrug them off. The one around my neck was the hardest, I finally managed to unwind it and leave it like a discarded necklace on the floor beside me. Then, feeling immensely lighter, I began edging my way around the angry, growling, fire-breathing Drakes as I made my way to Ari.
He looked up gratefully as I snapped the manacles that held him the same way I might snap a toothpick. A broad grin split his face and he nodded at me.
“Your Drake is beautiful, L’lorna! Get Jalli!” he shouted. “And my mother. And break my Sire’s manacles as well.”
Then he changed and instead of Ari it was his Drake standing there—ready to fight. He snorted smoke at me and I understood his message—Take care of those I love.
I swear it! I promised him. Then, as he joined the battle, I made my way carefully to the table where the rest of Ari’s family were chained.
I snapped his Sire’s manacles first and watched as he got quickly out from beneath the table before he changed as rapidly as Ari had. The enormous scarlet Drake nosed me briefly, sending thanks, and then he, too, joined the fight.
Ari’s mom and Jalli were left. His mother was crouching under the giant table, holding her daughter close to her, trying to shield Jalli with her body as much as she could.
I bent down and looked into her eyes. My voice was slow in coming in this new form and speaking felt like finding a memory of another life and somehow translating it to the present.
“I’m…Kaitlyn,” I managed to get out. My voice sounded deeper but somehow still feminine…still me. Then I realized that she probably knew who I was—she and Jalli had no doubt seen me change in The Fire.
She nodded and looked at me.
“I see you, my daughter,” she said and I knew she meant me—she was calling me her daughter, just as she had during the banquet that night. It pleased me immensely—I liked Ari’s mom a lot. Almost as much as I liked Jalli. And I still felt a powerful urge to protect them both.
“Take…you…to safety,” I managed to tell her.
She nodded. “If you’ll unchain us, we’ll come with you.”
Oh, of course—they were chained as well, though they weren’t manacled the way Ari and his father had been.
It was the work of a moment to snap the cruel-looking ankle irons holding Ari’s mom and sister to the massive Drake table. Then I extended a taloned forehand to them, remembering that I was a hundred times bigger and probably terrifying-looking now.
But they were both used to living with Drakes. They stepped into my hand with no hesitation at all and Jalli even looked up at me with wide, wondering eyes and said, “Kaitlyn, you’re beautiful!”
I snorted in appreciation of her compliment and placed the two of them carefully on my back, where they settled themselves between the ridges of the new spines running down my neck. I would have to be careful not to let them fall, I thought, because we were going a long way up. The only way out of the Feasting Hall, now that I was so huge, was through the smashed ceiling, hundreds of feet above.
Taking a deep breath which seemed to fill my new, much-larger lungs to capacity, I leapt into the air and flapped my gorgeous new bronze and rose wings.
For the first time, I was going to fly and it felt amazing.
98
Kaitlyn
All my life I’d read about how mother birds have to push the chicks out of the nest to teach them to fly but it wasn’t like that for me. There was no uncertainty—no worry that I was doing it wrong. Flying was, quite simply, as natural as breathing. My wings bore me up effortlessly, high above the fray.
Looking down, I saw the Blood Drake wreaking havoc on every traitorous dragon he could find. Ari was in a pitched battle with two of the Chamberlain Drakes and his father was trading flames with two more. The numbers were more even now that Saint had brought reinforcements and the battle looked like it could go on for some time.
I felt a sudden, surprising rush of blood-lust—the wish to dive down and breathe flame of my own—though I had no idea if I could breathe fire or not—at the evil ones who had started this in the first place. But I remembered that I had vulnerable human passengers on my back—people who were dear to Ari and to me and who must be protected at all costs.
Reluctantly, I left the battle to the males, flying up and up to a dizzying height until I reached the shattered apex of the domed ceiling. Being careful of my new wings around the jagged shards of glass, still sticking out like sharp teeth, I maneuvered through the hole and out into the dark, delicious coolness of the night.
Once I was clear of the palace, I twisted my head around, making certain Ari’s mom and sister were all right. Jalli put out one tiny hand and patted my nose, her little face lit up with wonder.
“Oh, Kaitlyn—you were amazing!” she breathed. “You saved us!”
“Jalli is right—we owe you our lives,” Ari’s mother said, also reaching out to pat my nose. “Thank you, my daughter. And forgive me for doubting my son’s choice. You are, indeed, the perfect female to be his L’lorna.”
My heart swelled and I wanted to demure and tell her I couldn’t have done anything if Saint hadn’t come back at just the right moment with more Drakes to join the battle. But again words didn’t come easily in this form.
“Wel-come,” I rumbled and snorted gently at both of them.
Then I cupped the air currents with my wings and glided into the night, knowing that all would be well. Already I could feel Ari’s triumph as the traitors fell beneath his claws and jaws. They were winning the battle below and the attempted coup had ended in defeat.
I would land a safe distance from the palace, just to be sure and shelter Ari’s mother and Jalli with my wings until the dawn came and we got definite word the battle was over. Then I would fly them back and return to my human form. Though I wasn’t quite sure how to go about this, I knew instinctively it was possible—and Ari and I would start our new lives together.
Our new lives might not look too different from our old lives from the outside—unless someone saw us both change into Drakes, of course.
We would probably go back to Nocturne Academy, because I didn’t feel ready to leave there yet. And we would sit in class and take notes and tests and worry about final exams and moan over the awful food at the Dining Hall and I
would sleep in the Norm Dorm and be with my Coven-mates. But on the inside, there was a deep and fundamental change and it wasn’t just the fact that I could now turn into a Drake at will.
Drake Flame cannot Harm her
Drake Fire will but warm her.
She cannot be Burned
When her Lesson is Learned
The words of the Blind Crone returned to me. My lesson had been learned and it wasn’t anything to do with becoming a Drake—it was about loving myself and letting Ari love me in turn. For only in those last desperate moments when I was sure I would lose him had I understood how very much he cared for me and allowed myself to open and receive his love.
I had been changed completely by my time in the Sky Lands and I would never be the same—but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Sometimes change hurts but sometimes it heals. In the past hour the wounds of my past had finally been burned away as my scars turned to scales. I still missed my parents and my old life—I always would. But I wouldn’t let what I had lost define me anymore. From now on, I was looking towards the future.
With a loud roar, I cupped the cool wind in my wings and flew onwards into the night, a new creature…a new Kaitlyn, forever.
Kaitlyn
Epilogue
“So…let me get this straight. You’re not a Vampire anymore—now you’re a Drake?” Emma looked at me uncertainly as she sat beside me at our table in the Dining Hall. Ari and I had come back from the Sky Lands sooner than expected and hadn’t even missed a single day of class. It was kind of incredible to think how fast things had happened—I felt so different inside and yet seemingly hardly anything had changed at Nocturne Academy.
“Yup, I’m a Drake. Can’t you tell?” Proudly, I shook back my hair, displaying the left side of my face.
My scars were gone—they had been replaced by the gorgeous bronze-rose scales of my new form.
I would call it “my Drake” the way Ari and the other Drakes did, except my new form wasn’t really a separate personality sharing my body like it was with them—it was just me when I shifted into a dragon. Which was why Ari had told me he was positive I was going to get burned alive during the Trial of Flame. He’d never heard of anyone just being able to shift into a dragon form without having a whole different personality to go with it.
Of course, nobody had ever heard of a female Drake either, so I was kind of making things up as I went along.
The gorgeous, gleaming scales that covered everywhere I had once had scars proclaimed my new status. I no longer had to drink blood to survive—though Ari had confessed he kind of missed me biting him. I could eat normal human food—well, Drake food, anyway—which consisted of a lot more red meat than the usual daily recommended allowance called for.
My left eye and ear, which had been melted by The Fire that took my parents, were also healed—although the left eye was a different color from my turquoise right eye. The left was golden now—the same color as my eyes in Drake form—the same color as Ari’s Drake. It was fitting, since we were a Blood-Bonded couple.
The mismatched colors were odd but lovely, as were my new gleaming, fingernail-sized scales that were somehow softer than my other skin. I wasn’t a bit ashamed to show my new differences off either—for the first time in a long time I felt beautiful inside and out. I didn’t care that I didn’t look like everyone else—conformity is overrated, at least according to Megan. I was something completely different and I loved it.
“You’re gorgeous, Katydid,” Avery said frankly. “A real knock-out.”
“Thank you, Avery.” I smiled and blushed, loving the fact that I could push my hair out of my face and see everyone at the table clearly now.
“I just don’t understand how it happened, though.” Emma sounded bewildered. “I mean, how do you go from human, to Nocturne, to Drake just like that?” She snapped her fingers to illustrate.
“It’s because Kaitlyn was never really fully human to begin with,” Megan explained, much to my surprise.
“I wasn’t?” I asked—this was news to me.
“Huh-uh.” She shook her head. “Avery and I did some digging in the Spell Library and found some records about humans who have turned into Others. I mean, other than Made Nocturnes, which any human can be made into with enough bites from a Vampire.”
“I suppose the Vampire in question must find a human worth biting so many times,” Griffin murmured, smiling at her.
“Not now.” Megan blushed and slapped him playfully on the arm. “Anyway, humans who can be changed are called Mutatios. But they’re really rare. You have to have the Semina Magnitudine—the Seeds of Greatness—inside you to begin with or it can never happen.”
“And then the seeds have to be activated,” Avery went on, picking up where Megan had left off. “Usually by some traumatic event in your life.” He looked at me. “In your case, the fire that took your parents.”
“But then why didn’t she turn into a Drake right away?” Emma asked. “Why did she have to become a Made Nocturne first?”
“I don’t believe Kaitlyn could have become a Drake without being a Nocturne first,” Megan said thoughtfully. “She needed that period of time where she was living exclusively off a Drake’s blood to help complete her transformation from human to Nocturne to Drake. It was the only way her body could make such a drastic change.”
“That’s also why you couldn’t heal her scars—even with your Blood Magic,” Avery pointed out to Megan. “Because they were marks of transition—they weren’t meant to be healed, they were meant to be changed.”
“Your theory would certainly explain why my Drake was so instantly attracted to Kaitlyn,” Ari said thoughtfully. He had been sitting quietly beside me, holding my hand as I talked to my Coven-mates. “He sensed these ‘seeds of greatness’ in you.” He smiled at me. “Of course, he couldn’t put that into words. And all I knew was that there was something special about you, L’lorna—though I couldn’t put my finger on it. But you stole my heart completely and never gave it back.”
“Ari…” I blushed and smiled at him, squeezing his hand under the table.
“So are you going to go back and be the Queen of the Drakes?” Emma asked curiously.
I shook my head.
“Not right away. Ari’s father is still ruling. He just had to crush a coup attempt so it’s not a good time for him to hand the throne over.”
“Not that I want it, yet,” Ari said, shrugging. “I am quite happy and content to spend a few more years here at Nocturne Academy. Besides, I have to look after my cousin and my little sister, Jalli.”
As if mentioning her had called her to us, Jalli herself appeared carrying a tray and right behind her was Saint, making certain she didn’t trip or fall. Jalli still had her odd, hopping way of walking so the contents of her tray were in constant jeopardy, but it wouldn’t be a problem much longer…
The morning after the Battle of the Feasting Hall, as it was being called, Ari’s father had called both me and Saint before him in the Audience Chamber.
“You have both had a hand in saving the Sky Lands from a base usurper,” he said, formally nodding to Saint and me as he stood on the golden dais. “Santiago, you brought my brother and his Drakes to save us from Sanchez and the traitorous Chamberlains who followed him in his treachery. And you, Kaitlyn,” he said, looking at me, “Persevered the lives of my lovely queen and of my most beloved daughter, Jalissa.”
Saint and I both bowed and I had thought the ceremony of thanks was over. But the Alpha Drake had surprised me by speaking again.
“It is my wish to grant you both a boon,” he said to us. “You may have anything you ask as long as it is within my power to grant it. Now, name your desire. Kaitlyn, you may speak first.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to say that I didn’t want or need anything. My scars had been replaced by the lovely bronze scales and I was Blood-Bonded to the love of my life. But then a movement in the shadows happened to catch my eye.
L
ittle Jalli was hiding behind a tall curtain behind the dais, peeking out. The look on her face was so wistful it made my heart squeeze in my chest. Without giving myself time to think about it, I said,
“Your Majesty, for my boon, I would like to take your daughter Jalli back to the human world with me for a little while. She can attend Nocturne Academy where Ari and I can keep an eye on her and she can have the surgery on her foot that she needs to walk without limping.” I bowed to him again. “That is what I wish for, with all my heart and there is nothing else I want from you.”
When I came up from the bow, I saw a strange mix of emotions on Ari’s father’s face. There was anger there but also wonder and surprise. He seemed to take a moment to master himself. Finally, he said,
“You use your one boon for another, Kaitlyn? You might have asked for half my kingdom or to be crowned queen immediately.”
“I don’t want any of that,” I said firmly. “I just want Jalli to be healed. I know…” I cleared my throat. “I know what it’s like to live with a…problem. I’ve been healed since being here in the Sky Lands—I want to take Jalli back with me so she can have the same experience in the human world.”
The Alpha Drake frowned.
“We have never held with human practices or believed in human medicine here in the Sky Lands. It often does more harm than good.”
“You’re thinking of the state of human medicine back when your people came through the rift in Spain hundreds of years ago,” I said earnestly. “Please believe me, Your Majesty—it’s changed a lot. There are doctors and surgeons who specialize only in curing club foot, which is what Jalli’s condition is called. They can heal her and she’ll be able to walk and run normally the rest of her life.”
At that moment, Jalli apparently couldn’t contain herself any longer. She came hobbling out from behind the curtain and stumbled into her father’s arms.
Fang and Claw: Nocturne Academy, Book 2 Page 39