by S. E. Smith
In the end, their time on these worlds had given them a chance to see and do things most warriors would have missed. They had heard about the Great War between the Curizan and Sarafin, but never fought in it. The few Curizan and Sarafin they had met had been like them, nomads.
This time they had transported down, leaving their spaceship above.
“My dragon itches to be released,” Brogan muttered, rubbing at his arm where the scales were rippling up and down.
“Mine as well,” Barrack quietly responded.
His brother looked around the courtyard as they crossed to another building in the palace. Their symbiots trotted behind them, reflecting the brilliant colors of the plants and sky in their excitement.
“It feels good to be back,” Brogan softly admitted.
Barrack gave a brief nod. They followed Zoran and Creon up the steps. He resisted the urge to look over his shoulder at the other two brothers who followed silently behind them. Only the one called Trelon had remained in space.
The small group paused and turned when the sound of happy squeals came from behind them. Barrack watched as two small dragons, one red with pink accents, the other pink with red accents, darted out from under a low hedge. A moment later, a small blue one emerged.
“Jabir,” Mandra Reykill suddenly called.
The small, plump dragonling stopped so quickly that he tripped over his front feet and did a roll in the grass. Barrack watched in fascination as the huge prince hurried down the steps they had just climbed to the little dragonling.
“Are you alright?” Mandra asked, bending and lifting up the dragonling.
The dragonling growled down at the other two dragonlings who had darted back into the bushes and were now peering through at him. A moment later, the dragonling shimmered and shifted. The small, slightly chubby boy was the spitting image of the huge Valdier prince. The boy wiped his nose before he leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Mandra’s neck.
“We are playing tags,” Jabir stated. “Mommy and Aunt Carmen is looking for us,” he added, looking over at Barrack.
“Does you have dragonlings? They can plays with us,” Jabir said with a smile.
“No, we have no younglings,” Barrack replied.
“Mandra,” a woman’s breathless voice called.
“Barrack,” Brogan murmured, stepping closer to his twin.
Barrack absently nodded his head. His gaze was focused on the same thing his brother’s was – the woman running toward them. Her white-gold hair was pulled back from her unusual face, and swung behind her as she jogged up to them.
“Sorry about that,” she laughed, reaching her arms out for the little boy.
“Aw, Daddy. You got me tagged,” Jabir complained, giggling when the woman tickled him.
“Now you get to tag me,” she teased, lifting him into her arms.
Barrack stiffened in surprise when she drew back and smiled up at him and Brogan. The woman’s eyes danced with mirth and a hint of curiosity. He could feel his brother’s confusion as well. Every person they had met for the first time from the time they were younglings had looked at them with caution or fear. There was neither in this woman’s gaze.
“Hi, I’m Ariel Reykill. This little guy is Jabir,” she greeted.
“She’s my mate,” Mandra added, a hint of a growl in his voice.
“Yes, I am. By the way, I just tagged you, too, so you get to cook dinner with Jabir tonight,” she teased.
“Yay!! I wants worms!” Jabir exclaimed in delight.
“Not again,” Mandra groaned. “We had worms last night.”
“If it helps, we’ve had something called macaroni and cheese for three nights in a row,” Kelan chuckled.
“Better than the stuff called peanut butter and jelly," Zoran muttered. “I have banned Cara from replicating any more of that disgusting mixture.”
“Are you serious? The girls and I love the stuff!” Creon exclaimed, surprising the other men and causing everyone to laugh.
“You might as well forget it, Zoran. You’d have a rebellion on your hands,” Ariel chuckled as she bent to set the little boy down on the ground.
Jabir immediately shifted and took off after the two little dragonlings who had been watching them from the bushes. Barrack’s gaze moved back to the woman when she sighed, and reached up to brush a lingering kiss against Mandra’s lips. Barrack was captivated by the sight.
“I’d better go. Amber and Jade have been constructing booby-traps throughout the garden. Abby and Trisha are finding them while Carmen and I chase the kids. I’ll see you later, big guy,” she murmured, her eyes flashing with an emotion that Barrack didn’t understand until he saw desire burning in the other warrior’s eyes. She glanced back at him and Brogan as she said, “It was nice to meet both of you.”
Barrack’s gaze followed the woman as she took off after the squealing children. His mind was still trying to process the fact that this female appeared unconcerned that she had been in the presence of twin dragons. He started when he sensed the others turning to continue to their destination. Brogan caught his attention with a silent message, and Barrack nodded. They did have a lot to learn.
An hour later, he and Brogan stood in the empty conference room staring out at the garden. Their conversation had been brief. Zoran had not asked many questions, which had surprised both of them, but there had been genuine sincerity in the other man’s eyes that had been reassuring.
“Do you believe him?” Brogan asked.
Barrack’s mouth tightened for a moment before he shrugged. “We know it is possible,” he replied. “I don’t remember seeing women such as them before. They are not Valdier, yet they can shift into a dragon.”
Brogan shrugged. “Lord Kelan called them ‘human’. I have not heard of the species before. Perhaps they are dragon-shifters as well. Do you want a drink?” he asked, turning away from the window.
Barrack shook his head. He could feel his brother’s impatience. Although Barrack was anxious to retrieve his and Brogan’s true mate, he was also curious about the scene he could see through the window. His lips twitched when one of the women suddenly shifted and began chasing two dragonlings. One was white, while the other was black. There was something different about the black dragonling. Her wings and tail reminded him more of a bird than a dragon. Both dragonlings squealed in delight and took off running with the female behind them.
“Brogan, look!” Barrack hissed with bated breath.
Brogan looked up and walked over, then swiftly inhaled a breath. As the black dragonling passed through shadows, she completely disappeared.
“The white one, Barrack,” Brogan pointed out.
Ripping his eyes away from the black dragonling, he watched as the white dragonling began digging with incredible speed. One moment she was there, the next she was gone. The female dragon pounced on the hole and looked down, then suddenly rolled to the side when a large black dragon appeared behind her. The female snapped at the male and they circled each other.
“She needs help,” Brogan growled, setting his glass down on a table near the window.
Suddenly the female turned, wrapped her tail around the male’s front legs, and pulled him off balance. “I don’t think she does,” Barrack said. Brogan stilled at her speed and skill. The move had caught the larger dragon unawares and he was flipped, landing on his back with his wings spread out. In a flash, the female was on top of him, her mouth wrapped around his throat.
“The younglings,” Brogan muttered in concern when he saw the tiny black dragonling appear out of the shadows.
“She isn’t hurting him and he isn’t fighter her,” Barrack said as the dragons started nuzzling. The white dragonling popped out of the hole, grabbed the ear of the huge male dragon, and yanked on it. Barrack smiled. “They are family,” he said.
Unexpected pleasure washed through him when he heard Brogan chuckling. Long forgotten memories of themselves wrestling with their father returned. Along with those m
emories came a wave of regret.
“It is one of the Princes,” Brogan murmured.
Before their eyes, they watched the family of dragons shift.
“Lord Creon. That must be his mate and younglings," Barrack stated.
The two dragonlings transformed into sisters who were clearly the same age. One had the black hair of her father while the other had the white gold hair of her mother. Two things hit the twin dragons at the same time, leaving them both shaken as they watched what could only be a miracle. First, there were two females – a rare sight when they were growing up. The second was the knowledge that they were staring at twin dragons – female twin dragons.
“We have been gone far too long, brother,” Barrack murmured. “I could use that drink after all.”
Chapter Four
Several hours later, Barrack stood next to his brother at the edge of the forest. Excitement was building inside him along with an uncharacteristic nervousness. After centuries of waiting, they would finally meet their mate. He and Brogan had done nothing but talk about what they would do on the entire trip here.
“She’ll probably be less frightened of you,” Brogan had said. “I think you should approach her first. You can explain to her that she is our mate, introduce her to me, and then we claim her.”
“Aikaterina said she must accept us of her own free will,” Barrack reminded his brother.
Brogan shrugged. “Once she sees your unmarked face, she will be fine. If I remember, you didn’t have any trouble finding an interested woman,” he remarked.
“I’d rather not remember,” Barrack grumbled, thinking of some of the females who had propositioned him with a shudder.
“We can wait on the claim – for a day or two. You are right, she might be frightened at first,” Brogan muttered with a frown.
“That warrior looks like the one Zoran told us about,” Barrack commented, looking at the man who was quietly talking with another beautiful human woman, this one with sun-kissed golden hair.
“You’d better do the talking,” Brogan grunted, eyeing the warrior. “I’ll cover your back.”
Barrack nodded. Rolling his shoulders, he stepped out of the woods and walked toward the warrior and the woman. They turned toward him and Brogan, and Barrack’s dragon woke with an intense awareness, eager to see his mate.
“You are the one called Jaguin?” Barrack called in a loud voice.
The man they suspected to be Jaguin moved until he was slightly in front of the woman.
“Yes. Who are you?” Jaguin replied, his jaw tightening when he saw Brogan following slightly to the left.
The woman must be Sara. He studied her for a moment, noting hints of pride and fear. Zoran had warned him to be careful around Sara, explaining that she had been through things that would have broken the strongest warrior.
“I will personally slit both of your throats if you upset her,” Zoran had warned.
Barrack had no doubt that the Valdier King meant what he said. Shame swept through him as he remembered their behavior toward Mula. Never again would they cause such a look of fear to appear in a woman’s eyes.
He bowed his head. “I am Barrack. This is my brother, Brogan. We have need of a tracker.” Barrack quietly said in greeting.
“Why?” he demanded, his eyes narrowing.
Barrack wanted to groan when his brother stepped forward. “To find our true mate,” Brogan impatiently stated.
A touch of unexpected humor caused Jaguin’s lips to twitch. “You have lost her?” Jaguin asked with a raised eyebrow.
“We have never found her,” Barrack finally confessed.
Jaguin stared incredulously at them. “How do you expect me to find her if you don’t even know who she is?” he asked.
Barrack’s gaze moved over Jaguin’s shoulder to the woman quietly standing behind him. He could sense her hesitation and agitation before he heard her draw in a deep breath. The man in front of her turned slightly toward her.
“Her name is Delilah. She was… is my best friend,” she quietly said.
Barrack stiffened. Hope flared inside him. A quick look warned his brother that they needed to proceed with extreme caution. If their mate meant a lot to this woman, she would be very protective and careful of what she shared. He breathed through his nose to calm his dragon who was clawing to get out.
“Do you know where she is?” he asked, keeping his voice gentle.
She shook her head. “Not for sure. I know that she is on my world. I heard her say that she was heading for a ranch in Wyoming. She is looking for me.”
“Wyoming?” Jaguin said, turning to look at her. “Paul has a ranch in this place. We were at the ranch before I found you.”
“You will take us there,” Brogan ordered, stepping forward.
“Please,” Barrack added with a sharp glance at his brother. “Please, we do not have much time.”
“Jaguin, we have to take them. They….” She looked at Barrack and his brother with a worried expression. “…they are telling the truth. They don’t have much time and neither does Delilah,” she said, her voice breaking up on Delilah’s name.
“Sara,” Jaguin started to protest before he looked at Barrack, then at Brogan. The warrior turned back to his mate. “You are sure?”
She nodded and stepped closer to her mate, lifting her hand to touch his chest. “Look into my mind. I can see and remember things about Delilah that I shouldn’t. It is foggy, like I’m not sure it is real, but I have memories of us together and those memories are becoming clearer than before, as if the past is rewriting itself,” she murmured.
Barrack reached out and gripped Brogan’s arm when his brother growled in frustration. He shook his head, breathing a sigh of relief when the warrior’s shoulders relaxed and a small rueful smile curved Jaguin’s lips as he wound his arm around his mate. Jaguin turned to look back at him and Brogan with a glimmer of determination in his eyes.
“We will need a ship. I think it is time I called in an old favor,” he chuckled.
“Favor?” Barrack asked with a raised eyebrow.
Jaguin nodded. “I hope you like the Curizans,” he replied with a wry grin.
Ten days later:
“I hate that female,” Brogan groaned.
Barrack rolled over and tried to glare at him, but Brogan could tell that even that simple task hurt too much. As far as Brogan was concerned, he and Barrack had been subjected to ten days of torture far worse than anything the Marastin Dow or Antrox could ever inflict.
“Remember Rule Number One, and for Goddess’s sake... don’t let her hear you say that you hate her!” Barrack choked, his eyes still closed.
“Why did we swear off killing females?” Brogan muttered, forcing his aching body to sit up.
“Because of Rule Number One,” Barrack snapped. “Use your head, Brogan. If you keep mouthing off, the only thing that will happen is that we will still be lying here a month from now. The Curizan Adalard has agreed to take us and we had passed the last lesson until you opened your mouth. When will you learn to keep your mouth shut? I swear, if you frighten our mate, I will beat the shit out of you.”
Brogan leaned forward and rested his forehead on his knees. His stomach clenched at the idea of frightening their mate. If there were any way to spare his brother and their mate the heartache of having to deal with him, he would have granted them that reprieve. He touched the scars running down his cheek. The words of the boys who had attacked him still echoed in his mind – monster, murderer, freak of nature. Those were the kinds of words they had used to describe him as they beat him centuries ago. How could any female love someone like him?
“I will not frighten her, Barrack. I swear on my life that I will not frighten her,” Brogan promised, pushing up off the ground with difficulty. “I will be back.”
“Brogan,” Barrack called, struggling to sit up.
Brogan ignored his brother, and stumbled outside. He ignored the old Valdier warrior, Asim, who was tuto
ring them. He also ignored Asim’s mate, Pearl. The human woman had been torturing them in the guise of trying to help them. He couldn’t imagine why Aikaterina thought their mate would be anything like Pearl. Their mate would be gentle. She would never knock them on their asses like Pearl had!
Turning the corner, he called to his dragon. The beast was almost as weak as he was from the debilitating shock he’d received from Pearl’s small device.
We must fly, he ordered.
You fly. You know everything, his dragon snapped.
Please, Brogan said.
I like Pearl’s rules. You listen and we not feel this way, his dragon growled.
Enough! Brogan angrily replied. Sleep, then.
Gripping the thin band of gold hanging around his neck, he called to his symbiot. The creature appeared immediately. It sensed that he was close to the breaking point.
“Give me a skimmer,” he ordered.
The symbiot shimmered and shifted into a long skimmer that hovered above the ground. Sliding his leg over to straddle it, he clung to the symbiot and bowed his head. He didn’t care where they went, as long as he found solitude away from everyone else – including his brother.
“Go,” he murmured.
The symbiot rose higher and took off. He would have slipped from the side if not for the golden bands that wrapped around his legs and waist. The symbiot skimmed through the forest before cutting through a deep mountain pass. Brogan quickly lost track of time and their location. In all honesty, he didn’t care any longer. The farther he flew, the more he wondered if he should just keep going.
Finally, his symbiot stopped near a long river. It settled down on the ground and released the straps holding him to it. Stronger now, he slid his leg over the side and stood up. Immediately, his symbiot transformed into a Werecat and walked over to lie in the shade.
Brogan frowned in irritation when he realized that his symbiot had brought him to a quiet place, but it was not deserted like he wanted. Near the river stood an old warrior, fishing in the shallow, rushing waters. He turned when he heard a sound behind him.