Black Moon Dragon

by Shelley Munro

  Her right hand fluttered as she hesitated. Jessalyn was unsure of what to do to help him. Cold water. They needed to get cold water on the burns. The relic floated before her, nudging her hand, and the sudden coolness coming from the pendant gave her an idea. Obeying her instinct, she pressed the relic to his burned skin. Manu moaned, and she feared the worst, but when she lifted the pendant, the blisters had vanished. Quickly, she repeated the move, doctoring Manu’s burns, even as she marveled at this miracle. With the process completed and reassured by the lack of pain on his face, she hung the relic around her neck and rose slowly to face Nelson.

  An edgy, twitchy sensation crawled through her mind, her vision narrowing in on the green dragon until it was as if she stared through a tunnel. Confidence and strength had her standing tall. If Nelson wanted a fight, she’d play dirty too. Her pulse raced and heat roared through her. She flung off her jacket and stomped over to the green dragon.

  Following instinct, she summoned her fire and let rip.

  Her flames shot into the green dragon’s face. Everyone froze. A glance at the main group of taniwha showed their clear astonishment at her abilities. Shock, intrigue, and curiosity collectively etched into their features.

  From the corner of her eye, she spotted another dragon. A green one. Hika Waaka.

  Jessalyn backed up a wary step. Her party trick might work once but her ability to spit fire weakened the more she did it. She required rest between her fire-breathing sessions. And for her next trick…

  Heat crawled across her skin, burning her from the inside.

  “Let’s do this!” her taniwha shouted.

  Before Jessalyn could scold her dragon, the pressure on her skin increased. Her body seemed to swell and panic flooded her mind when her clothes ripped at the seams.

  Her taniwha whooped. “Never fear, taniwha is here!”

  Before Jessalyn could ask, her bones cracked. The sounds had a croak of disbelief escaping while panic had her squeezing her eyes shut and hoping for the best. Her rapid breaths came close to hyperventilation as her garments tore under the stress, falling to the ground and leaving her naked.

  Unexpectedly, the pressure gave. The murmur of voices, the amazement and shock had her eyes opening. She glanced down from a greater height than normal and spied pale limbs, lustrous scales the color of the moon.

  “OMG!” a voice blasted through her mind. “We’re gorgeous!”

  Jessalyn turned her body, all sleek elegance despite her larger size. She stretched out her arms—wings. She had wings!

  What the heck did she do now?

  “We fly. We attack. We punish,” her taniwha stated.

  “For Danny,” Jessalyn thought.

  The two green dragons flew at her, their talons outstretched. She dodged one, but the other gouged her shoulder. Temper rushed through her ears, and she let instinct and her taniwha take over.

  Jessalyn flapped her wings and lifted off. She did a slow circle to maneuver and started when she discovered five other dragons flying at her back. A red dragon. Two blacks. A gray and a royal-blue.

  “Friend,” her taniwha stated. “Attack!”

  Despite the fear stalking her mind, she darted at the two green dragons, trumpeting her fury at their audacity in trying to claim her and the relic. Determination had her holding her course. She inhaled and released the breath in a roar of fire. Instead of pulling back, she flew through the flames and smoke, attacking with her claws. She collided, the body contact rattling her teeth.

  One of the green dragons toppled, and the other issued a keening cry. It flew after the falling dragon.

  Jessalyn hovered, waiting for the smoke to clear and any other dragons to decide to attack. Not a single strike came. She continued to hang in the air, the tiring exertion making her muscles shudder with fatigue.

  A black dragon glided from the group of taniwha who had joined the battle. Jessalyn tensed, but the taniwha didn’t attack. He approached with caution.

  Jessalyn felt her eyes blink. Her eyelashes flutter.

  “There’s my sexy black beast!”

  Jessalyn cringed, but the black dragon opened its maw and trumpeted out a roar. He flew to her and gently nudged her with his head, silently directing her back to the land. “Time to rest now, sweetheart.”

  Instinct had her flapping her tired wings and gliding after him. Her landing was more stumble than anything, but at least she managed not to face-plant. Reaction set in and a tremor slid through her massive body.

  “We’re so pretty,” her taniwha crowed. “In both forms.”

  “I’m glad you’re pleased with us, but we have no clothes. You ruined our new outfit.”

  Manu shifted back to human form, apparently unconcerned with his naked state. The other dragons who had flown with her settled on the open space near them. They also shifted while she hesitated.

  “You don’t expect her to shift with all these men gawking at her,” Cassie’s voice said from her right. “Find her some clothes and go and have a cup of tea or something to calm your nerves.”

  Kahurangi chuckled, unfazed by the invisible voice ordering them around. “A beer might hit the spot.”

  “I could do with something stronger than tea,” Jason Hohepa said. “If I hadn’t seen that with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed it. Wait until I tell my tribe.”

  He and Kahurangi drifted toward the building to the right of the meeting house and most of the other men followed.

  “Move along,” Cassie snapped. “Nothing to see here.”

  The rest of the men peered around uneasily, and when Cassie growled, they moved with alacrity until Hone and Manu remained.

  “Why didn’t you tell me you could shift?” Manu asked. He sounded hurt she’d keep this from him.

  Jessalyn rubbed his shoulder with her head. “I had no idea.”

  Manu’s hand smoothed over her shoulder. Her scales tingled beneath his touch. “Jess, you’ll set tongues wagging amongst the taniwha tribes. Not only are you a rare white and the same color as the original taniwha, but you have skills and powers no one has ever witnessed.”

  “Get the girl some clothes,” Cassie ordered. “And the pair of you should cover up. All this male goodness is too much for a pregnant woman.”

  “Cassie!” Hone said, but there was laughter in his tone.

  “You’re pregnant?” Manu asked. At Hone’s broad grin, Manu drew him in for a man-hug. “Congratulations to both of you. Emma must be excited she’ll have playmates for her kids.”

  “You’re the first ones to know after Hone,” Cassie said. “We’ll tell Emma and Jack tomorrow.”

  “I have gym gear in my vehicle,” Hone said. “It will be big on you, but it is clean.”

  “I can guarantee that,” Cassie said. “I cured him of stinky gym clothes.”

  Um. Okay. She had clothes, but how the devil did she get back to her normal size so she could wear them? “How do I get back to a human form?”

  Manu laughed, the joyous chortle of a happy man and her taniwha purred in reply. Jessalyn smooched his shoulder and his hand caressed her scales. Her taniwha purred even louder.

  “When the pair of you have finished.” Cassie cleared her throat. “Jessalyn, you still have work to do.”

  A reminder that her problem remained—the tribes fighting over her like a group of determined women during a sale at a designer store.

  Jessalyn backed away from Manu. “Tell me how to shift! I require a nap. I am tired!”

  She cringed. “Inside voice,” she reminded her taniwha. Maybe soon, they’d become comfortable in their working relationship, but some days Jessalyn struggled to deal with her toddler of a dragon.

  Cassie giggled while Manu and Hone shared a grin.

  “The shifting process is easy. Think of seeing yourself in a mirror,” Manu said. “Imagine your reflection and what you look like and keep focusing on it. We’d better step back. Cassie, stay next to Hone so we know where you are. Jess, are you imagining tha
t? You’ll find once you fix the image in your mind, your taniwha will pay attention and help you focus on your task.”

  A pain streaked along her spine and the image in her mind fractured.

  “Keep concentrating. Push away the discomfort,” Manu ordered.

  Discomfort? Had kiwis pecked his brain? It was bloody agony. Jessalyn nodded her taniwha head and got sidetracked when she and her taniwha studied her moonglow-white scales. They were so pretty.

  “Jess! Focus. As Cassie pointed out, you have things to do.”

  Hearing the urgency in him, Jessalyn pulled up a vision of herself again and attempted to breathe through the beginning twinges and the fiery aches that soon followed. Then—to her great relief—the cracks and reshaping started. Her transformation was much slower than Manu’s and Hone’s, the aches and throbbing soreness lingering.

  Finally, she stood in front of Manu, naked and trembling from the shift.

  “Please tell me that gets easier,” she said.

  Manu folded his arms around her trembling body. “It gets easier.”

  She frowned at him. “I’m unsure if I should believe you or not.”

  “Here are the clothes,” Hone said.

  Jessalyn gratefully pulled a green T-shirt over her head and stepped into a gray pair of sweatpants.

  Cassie started laughing.

  “What?”

  “Hone, you couldn’t have picked a better T-shirt for Jessalyn.”

  Jessalyn pulled the shirt away from her chest and read, I’m not in a bad mood. Everyone is just annoying. “Works for me,” she said. “Let’s do this.”

  The chatter coming from the smaller building next to the biggest meeting house was louder and more natural. Men shooting the breeze.

  “Hold the door for me,” Cassie whispered at her side. “I’ve got to witness whatever happens next so I can report back to Emma.”

  “Stand against the wall, so no one tries to walk through you,” Jessalyn murmured back.

  Most men sat with members of their own tribes, but a few mingled, taking seats at several of the long tables with the bench seats. Huge platters held sandwiches and most taniwha had a beer bottle clasped in their hands. Conversation ceased when she entered after Manu and Hone.

  A loud groan—the sound of a man in pain had Jessalyn turning in that direction. Hika Waaka lay on the ground, one of his legs bent in an unnatural position. His chest bore scrapes and cuts, one on his right shoulder deep and oozing blood. She strode over to the groaning man.

  “This is your fault, woman.” Nelson Waaka fired the words at her like Maori spears intended to wound the enemy. He flung out his hand as if he intended to stop her coming closer to him and his son.

  The relic cooled against her skin, and she lifted the cord over her head. She walked around Nelson and crouched by his son. “Let me try to heal some of your wounds.”

  “Why would you help me?” Hika asked, his words strained. “I’ve always treated you with disdain because of your mixed blood.”

  “I am the guardian. I care for all my people,” Jessalyn said. “Let me help.”

  Hika’s head jerked in assent, but every muscle in his body tensed as if he feared she’d injure him further. She laid the relic over the worst of his wounds—the one on his shoulder—and held it there. To her awe and amazement, the flesh knitted together. Healing Manu hadn’t been a fluke. Once the injury transformed from an angry red to a healthier pink, she moved on to the next wound. Finally, she tackled his damaged leg.

  “My taniwha is healing us but his exhaustion means it’s a slow process,” Hika explained, less confrontational now.

  “You’ll need someone to hold the limb in the correct position,” Manu said from behind her. “Will you let me help?”

  “Here’s what I want to do,” she said to Manu and Wiremu, one of Hika’s friends. “I’ll use the relic to numb the pain a fraction. You must pull his leg into the correct position, and I’ll attempt to heal it.”

  Jessalyn made no mention of the extreme lethargy that had crept into her, sinking to her bones. The healing sapped her strength. Still, Hika was in pain. She could rest and hopefully recover soon.

  The relic settled on the site of the break and cooled beneath her fingers. Hika let out a sigh that turned to a groan when Manu and Wiremu carefully repositioned the bone. It took long minutes before the tension left Hika and his muscles relaxed.

  Jessalyn nodded at Manu and Wiremu and concentrated on holding herself upright. It was obvious the healing weakened her body. A problem. If the taniwha leaders learned of this limitation, it gave them a weapon.

  “Sugar,” her taniwha whispered.

  Excellent idea. “Could I have a pot of tea, please? I’d like tea with milk and plenty of sugar.”

  “I’ll make you tea,” Wiremu said and hurried to the kitchen area at the end of the long room.

  Jessalyn walked around the scowling Nelson and sank onto the nearest empty seat, unsure if her knees would continue to hold her upright.

  “Thank you,” Hika said, sounding genuine and grateful. “The discomfort is minimal now.”

  Jessalyn slipped the cord of the pendant back over her head. Wiremu returned in an impossibly quick time with a tray. He’d made a pot of tea and added a milk jug and a rose-patterned cup and saucer—the type grandmas produced from their china cabinets. He’d also included a matching plate of chocolate biscuits.

  “The tea won’t be ready yet,” he said. “I can get you a can of L & P meantime.”

  The citrus-flavored soda made in the New Zealand town of Paeroa appealed to Jessalyn. The lemon tang along with the sugar content might help to cure this pervading weakness. “That sounds perfect.”

  As soon as Wiremu produced the glass of soda, she swallowed the contents, the tart sweetness soothing and just the thing. It didn’t take her long to finish the entire can.

  “Are you intending to heal my hands?” Nelson Waaka shouted into the low murmur of male voices.

  “Dad!” Hika protested.

  “Can’t you see she’s exhausted?” another of the nearby men said.

  “She injured me. She should fix it,” Nelson countered, his jaw sticking out in a pugnacious manner.

  Jessalyn glowered at the man with dislike. If he’d ever seen her and her father in Piha, he’d crossed the street to avoid them. Unplanned meetings between her and Nelson had always ended with rudeness on his side. She’d done her best to avoid the man and the other family members. In a small community that hadn’t always been possible.

  “More sugar,” her taniwha said.

  Jessalyn picked up one of the chocolate biscuits and popped it into her mouth. She swallowed, almost moaning at the energy hit. “Is my tea ready?”

  Wiremu added a dash of milk to the cup and topped it up with strong tea. He added three spoons of sugar and stirred the liquid before handing it over. Jessalyn took a sip and then another.

  “Thank you.” She finished the cup and smiled her thanks when Wiremu produced the teapot. Praying her legs would hold her upright, she rose and walked over to Nelson where he stood by himself near a smaller table for four. Her right leg ached, and she focused on even strides and concealing her limp.

  “Show me your wounds,” she said.

  The sneer on Nelson’s face never shifted as he held out his hand for her to observe. Unease slid through her seconds before Nelson grabbed her and produced a knife. He held it to her neck, hauling her toward the door with easy strength.

  “Dad!” Hika shouted. “Don’t be stupid.”

  Several of the other men shot to their feet while Hone and Manu advanced on her and Nelson.

  “Stay where you are,” he warned and thankfully his knife-hand lowered a fraction. “If you come any closer, I’ll slit her neck.”

  Jessalyn froze, fear pumping through her muscles. A warm breath near her ear had her twitching.

  “He’s flipped. I’ll jab him in his knife-hand and hope he drops it,” Cassie whispered. “Best I can
do. Be ready.”

  Jessalyn agreed with Cassie’s assessment. The man bore a crazed glint in his eyes. Either he hadn’t considered the consequences or he didn’t care. She let him tug her toward the door because, with his concentration split, he’d shifted the knife downward.

  An unearthly howl rippled from him. Blood spurted from his right arm and the knife clattered to the ground. Jessalyn stomped on his bare foot, pleased to propel another pained shout from the man. Manu, Hone, and Wiremu rushed to restrain Nelson while Jessalyn beat a quick retreat.

  “Sugar,” her taniwha whined.

  “More tea,” she announced and hustled back to her tray. She shoved a chocolate biscuit into her mouth and washed it down with hot tea. She glanced up on hearing a whoosh. A glowing sword floated past her and toward the chair where Hika now sat. To her right, Nelson threw back his head and an anguished howl emerged. Manu and Hone had released him and now Hika’s friends kept him prisoner. Nelson fought the three taniwha restraining him, struggling to follow the weapon.

  “No. No!” Nelson screeched.

  She and the other taniwha watched the sword press against Hika’s chest and melt into his flesh.

  A sob burst from Nelson and the fight seeped from him.

  “Heal his hand,” her taniwha ordered. “Show him mercy.”

  The second cup of sweet tea and a biscuit had helped. Jessalyn’s energy levels were stronger and her strides measured as she wove in and out of the tables to reach him.

  “Let me see your hand,” she ordered.

  When he stared at her, one of the taniwha holding him forced him to extend his hand. His flesh on the back looked as if someone had pounded it full of nails and then removed the iron spikes. Jessalyn hurriedly laid the relic on it and coolness spread up her arm. When she lifted the relic, his hand was no longer a bloody mess, but the newly healed skin bore the same manaia as her pendant.

  Nelson never spoke, but she glimpsed the respect in the eyes of the two taniwha who held him prisoner.

  Jessalyn returned to her tea and drank another cup.

  “It is time,” her taniwha said. “I need sleep.”

  “All right.” Jessalyn set her cup down with a clink. She stood. “I am going home now, but before I leave, I have something to say.” She waited until she was the center of attention. “I am the guardian of the relic. Although I come from the area of the Northern tribe, I claim allegiance to no tribe and no one tribe may rule over me. Instead, I belong to all five tribes in New Zealand. Even if I marry—whether I marry a human or a taniwha—I will remain neutral. You cannot use me as a bargaining chip.