by L M Lacee
The new ride and games were big hits. The dunking tank was a very big hit with all the older family members taking a turn as well as several of the younger males. Ace and Storm had come in for a turn, each being dunked by their shadows much to the young ones laughter.
When the sun was leaning towards setting, Edith found Verity sitting alone at a table, despair filled her soul. Verity’s heart was broken and she did not know what to do about it.
Edith sat down next to her. “So what has happened to cause you to be upset?”
“I do not understand why we have not transformed into our dragons. We have everything, right! The sun and moon dragons, the key and lock. Both sane and unencumbered by emotions. They are all here. Why Edee? What have we not done?”
“I…I don’t know Verity. I just don’t know?” Edith said as she shook her head in sorrow. “I don’t understand it either.”
“Is it because I have not been a good enough dragon? Maybe I did not do everything I was meant to?”
“Or maybe…” Ocean said as she and Ciana each took a hand of Verity’s and drew her from her chair.
“Maybe you have been too good a dragon.” Ciana said as they walked through the party leading a startled compliant Verity as people parted to allow them to pass while leaving in their wake silence as people realized something momentous was about to happen.
They arrived at the open field that had been left for landing and take-off of dragons. “I don’t understand?” Verity finally cried again.
“We know!” Ciana told her. “But you will.”
Ocean looked into Verity’s confused and hurt eyes and said. “You are such a good female dragon. You held your females together since your Rene` took office and then afterwards when Reighn became Dragon Lord. You held them through it all. Showed them how they could rise above heartache. Believing and accepting what you were, never trusting that there could be more. So I Ocean Towers as the Lock.”
“And I Ciana Moonwalker as the Key.”
Together they said. “We ask you to believe!”
Ocean told her. “Your belief holds you human, let go. Believe in your dragon. Listen to her, she will lead you to the skies. If you will only believe.”
Ciana and Ocean both kissed her cheek and then stepped away. Verity closed her eyes as she thought. Was it really that simple? Could it be?
You will never know dear one unless you believe! Oh my dear dragon I so want to believe.
Then do so, do not hold to the ground any longer, let us soar among the clouds.
Then within a blink of an eye. Verity the human became Verity the dragon.
“If one believes all will believe!” Ocean quoted.
“He was right!”
Rene` moved slowly towards the dragon who was his shadow with tears in his eyes. “Oh my dear, you are lovely, my shadow. I always knew you would be a delightfully beautiful dragon and now I am proved right!”
Verity stood in all her forty foot glory. A beautiful bronze dragon with golden eye ridges and golden bands around her legs that looked like rings.
“Oh wow mama Verity you are a gorgeous she dragon.” Edith called out to her.
“You should take her for a flight.” Reighn told his father as he and all his brothers came to see their mother for the first time as dragon. “Mama you are beautiful.” Each one of her sons told her as they caressed her hide. Ocean nudged Rene` “Don’t you think she needs to fly?”
Sage agreed, “Papa take her flying!”
Rene `grinned. “What a wonderful idea. I know the perfect place for your first flight. Come my dear.”
Instantly Rene` transformed into his emerald green dragon and with a thought he gently lifted from the ground. Verity cocked her large head and watched him. Then she too lifted and reached for the skies.
Within seconds they were but a speck on the horizon as Reighn looked around him with a quietly weeping shadow in his arms. He watched as female after female transformed into a dragon and with wonder and awe at long last they lifted from the ground and flew.
“Look!” Someone called and they all lifted eyes to the sky as Keeper hovered nearby with a small, barely thirty foot female beside him. “Ella!” Charlie called out. “You are beautiful.” There was no denying Charlie’s statement. The female dragon was indeed delightful. She was grey with bronze rings around her legs and tail. Reighn inclined his head towards her and within seconds she and her shadow were gone.
Reighn looked down into his shadows tearful eyes. “Why do you cry my love, we are witnessing a prophesy come to life.”
“Happy tears my shadow. Our young, if they are female can look forward to transforming now. These are happy tears.”
He looked at the softly crying Ocean as she was held in her mate’s arms as Ciana was held in Thorns, while she too shed tears. “I thank you cousins. We all of dragon kind, thank you. Without you, this could never have happened. You have every dragons’ eternal gratitude.” He bowed his head to them both.
As Ciana replied. “We thank you cousin but in truth we did nothing more than be here.”
“Will you not shift?” Conor asked Ocean and Ciana.
They looked at each other and shook their heads no. Ciana quietly said. “Another time for us. Maybe tomorrow, this is more than enough for now.”
They stayed like that for what seemed like hours but was no more than thirty minutes as dragons flew the skies in victory.
Eventually, Edith wiping the tears from her eyes, walked to Reighn. “It is time my Lord.”
He looked around and saw all his brothers. All his friends and their shadows, faeries, elves, shifters and their loved ones held in loving arms. His father and mother, Keeper and a glowing Ella returned. Happiness surrounded them as they moved to stand within the circle of his family.
“Time for what?” Sage asked him as she clutched his jacket. Reighn kissed her and put her from him.
“Wait my shadow.”
Mystified she stood with Grace and Patrycc who stood arms clasping Molly and Ava. For once neither of them reached for their father as he walked to the middle of the field and looked at his family, friends and all the young ones present. All the while dragons landed and transformed around them.
For the first time since he had received the mantel of the Dragon Lord he felt complete. Standing tall and strong with the power of the Dragon Lord wrapping around him, he called the mantle forward as his dragon surfaced.
His eyes elongated as his body became covered in red scales, he kept his human form and on his shoulders a short cloak of seven colors appeared including gold and silver.
In that instance the mantel of Dragon’s Gap came into existence. Not since the time of Kato Kingslayer had the mantel been seen. Reighn spoke with his dragon in his voice as the ancients sang from the ground.
“I, Dragon Lord Reighn Kingsley.
Holder of the mantel for Dragons.
Holder of the mantle for the world.
Release Dragon’s Gap from behind the veil of my illusion.
From this day forward we are part of the world as the world is a part of us.
Welcome to our future!”
THE END
Here ends the series of Dragon’s Gap. I hope you enjoyed reading each adventure as much as I did writing the series. It will be hard to say goodbye to all the characters but I must as so many others clamour for their stories to be told.
So for now we wish the people of Dragon’s Gap happiness.
Goodbye and let love enter your days...
Following “A Christmas Surprise”
A Christmas Surprise
Table of Contents
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
; CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Other Books by L. M. Lacee
A Christmas surprise for Dragon’s Gap.
CHAPTER ONE
E dith walked into Sage’s office leaned her hands on the desk and her body towards a startled wary Sage who sat back in her chair. “What! I have not done anything lately.”
Edith sniffed dramatically before saying. “It is November the twenty-eighth.”
“Ahh! Okay sooo…”
Edith backed up and sat in the visitors chair as she drawled. “Tweenteee - eighthh!”
A crease appeared between Sage’s eyes. “I don’t get what you are implying. Is it someone’s birthday? Oh dear Goddess, is it yours?”
“No…and how do you not know when my birthday is?”
“Well do you know mine?”
“Yes, of course.”
Sage looked blankly at her for a moment then hurriedly asked. “Oh! So the twenty- eighth, what is so important about that date?’
Edith smirked at the obvious attempt to side-track her. “Don’t think I won’t remember Lady Sage, now there is of itself nothing remarkable about the twenty-eighth of November.”
“So why are you here yelling at me?”
“Sage!”
“What already?”
“Think…Christmas.”
“Well not until December the twenty-fifth, you should know that. Miss I know dates of all things.”
At Edith’s raised eyebrows, Sage’s forehead creased more, then as the realization came to her it cleared and her eyes widened. “Oh dear, Dragon’s Gap does not celebrate Christmas.”
“Until now no.”
“What do you mean? Until now?”
Edith sighed and asked. “Seriously! You are not normally this scatter brained!”
“I know, Ella said it is baby brain.”
“Oh, I call bull. I am pregnant and don’t have it.”
“Are you as far along as me? And carrying twins. No, I don’t think so.”
It was Edith’s turn to stare blankly at her as she wrestled her mind around that. “Shoot… well, okay moving on, we need to decide what is happening for Christmas. Sage…” Edith’s voice softened. “We all need this. Home has not been the happiest of places for the last few months. Christmas will show we are on our way to making a community, a family for us all. Some of us need that more than others and truthfully it would be nice to have something fun and happy to look forward too.”
“Wow! You are right, there are some young ones, mine included that have never celebrated Christmas. And there are some like Paige, Kadee and Joy who will be without their birth families for the first time through Christmas.” Sage stood up. “Christmas at Dragon’s Gap is officially on!”
Edith grinned. “Good, so now we just have to work out how to accomplish this and get everyone on board the Christmas train. Which could be difficult for the dragons.”
Sage smiled and it was Edith who was the one to look wary now. “What have you thought of?”
“I will talk to Reighn about Christmas.”
“You know he will say that dragons don’t celebrate Christmas.”
“And I am saying they do now.”
CHAPTER TWO
R eighn stood on his balcony looking over the meadow, early the morning of the thirtieth of November. Sage stood beside him. “Any minute now.”
“My shadow, do you think sending scrolls in the form of exploding messages is the way to announce that we need a special meeting?”
“Oh yes it is the Christmas way.”
“Is this to become a tradition like the hanging of stockings and tinsel?”
Sage had spent the better part of the last two days explaining Christmas to Reighn, with the help of movies and books. He had not been impressed until she pulled out the big guns by saying how it would be their first Christmas as a family. Then she had him read a Christmas story to Molly and Ava, who had become excited about Santa visiting them. She had then explained how much his daughters would love Christmas with their new family, all the family. He seemed to embrace the idea, once she assured him all his brothers would have to participate in the holiday as well.
So now they stood waiting for Sage’s spell to unfold or in actuality unroll the scrolls which she had magically sent to each house of their families. They were to announce the family meeting this morning. Excited she smiled up at Reighn as she started her count down. “Five…four…three…two… one!”
BANG! BANG! BANG!
“Oh my!” Sage wide eyed looked at the other apartment balconies, where several people were running on to, with screaming, crying young in their arms and some were even brandishing weapons.
“Oops! Maybe a little to much juice. I think being pregnant is throwing my spells off a little.”
Reighn’s face was red, either with suppressed laughter or anger it was hard to say. He did not leave her in doubt of what emotion he was feeling as he said. “A little Sage really! Hatchlings are crying, young are screaming, dragons as well as their shadows are armed looking for danger.”
Sage’s bottom lip started to quiver as he stated each fact in a deep voice. She said sadly. “It was only meant to be a little bang, enough to grab their attention, not like a bomb!” Then she started to cry, Reighn opened and closed his mouth several times before taking her in his arms as Molly came out and asked.
“Why is mama crying? Did mama make bang noise?”
Reighn looked down into the fierce eyes of his daughter and sighed. She was definitely spending too much time with Paige and the others in their little pride. “Yes Molly.”
Sage hiccupped as she said. “I did. I made the bang noise it was not meant to be that loud.”
“It funny.” Molly laughed. Sage lifted her head from Reighn’s shirt front as she looked at her daughter. “It was?”
“Yep.”
Reighn nodded. “It sort of was, now I think about it.” Sage looked up at him with tear drenched eyes. “You are not mad?”
“No, I like this tradition and it is Christmas, but my shadow, no more magic until the twins are hatched. Safer for all of us.” He muttered as he scooped a giggling Molly into his arms. “Let us go get Ava. We have to eat breakfast and then dress. We are going to a family meeting. Well, mama and I are, you two are going on a play date.”
Molly clapped her hands and yelled. “Yippee!” As Sage dashed the tears from her eyes and smiled.
I so love Christmas!
CHAPTER THREE
S age and Reighn entered the family room of the castle. “Good morning family, we hope you all slept well.” Boomed out Reighn as he saw Sage to her seat. “Seriously! The sleeping was good, the waking not so much.” Charlie snarled as Harper scowled at Sage who shrugged slightly and gave the room a hesitant smile. “Yes well a minor miscalculation.”
“The girls enjoyed it.” Ocean told her as she tapped a quick irritated tattoo on the table. Conor covered her fingers, as he drawled in his calm way. “Little Parker threw up!”
Sage’s eyes filled with tears. “Oh, I am so very sorry. It was meant to make an announcement, not scare everyone.”
“Well, it did not scare everyone. All the young liked it. I thought it was hysterical.” Edith told her but as she had not received an announcement, that observation was biased.
Grace nodded. “I too thought it was funny.”
“You were already awake.” Grumbled Patrycc.
Smiling she nodded. “Well, that is true.”
“At least you didn’t leap into your bear skin, like some.” Krista scowled at her mate. George shrugged as he explained. “I thought we were under attack. What can I say?”
“That you will buy me new sheets.”
He gave his frowning unamused mate a side long look and nodded. “Yes dear, as soon as we are finished here.” The quick exchange eased the atmosphere and took the focus of Sage which she was thankful for.
Frankie laughed. “Well, I loved it, especially the part where Johner rolled out of bed and roared. Now that was funny!”
Johner grinned. “I aim to amuse.”
“You two are warped.” Harper muttered as Frankie gave her a narrowed eyed look. Reighn cut in before an argument ensued. “Sage will no longer do any magic until the hatchlings are here. So let us move on we are gathered here today…”
“Dear Goddess, that sounds ominous.” Olinda murmured as she yawned. Reighn’s eyebrows rose as he stared around him before he could clarify what he meant. Storm growled. “Why are we here?”
“Christmas!” Reighn stated with a growl in his tones.
Ace asked. “What is crssmiss?”
With a soft smile Olinda said. “Not crssmiss Ace, it is pronounced Christmas.”
“I don’t get the point of this.” Storm rumbled out.
Reighn said. “My point brother, if you would give me five minutes to explain…”
“Do hurry dear it is still early.” His Dam stated.
Reighn said as he bit back a retort. “As I was saying, our females and our young demand Dragon’s Gap celebrate Christmas.”
By silent consensus everyone who was not dragon remained silent and listened as the dragons tried to get their collective minds around the concept of Christmas. With a confused look in his eyes and a frown on his face, Ark asked. “What does that mean?”
Ace grinned and stated. “Big trees that have stuff on them.”
“Apparently it means presents.” Storm said with a resigned look in his eyes, he just knew this was going to be made into a big deal. His thoughts of whisking his family away for the holiday, flew out the window as his dragon rumbled happily in his mind. “Decorations.” Sharm nodded wisely.
“Snow.” Ash mumbled, with delight lightening his eyes, his dragon liked the coldness of snow.
“Strings of lights.” Scarlett said.