Nikolai knelt down and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Daniil and I stayed until first light to make sure you’re safely on your way home.”
“He is my home now. Doesn’t that mean anything to anyone but me?”
He looked ashamed. “Oh, Marina, my dove. I’m sorry. I really thought he would take you with him.”
“So did I,” she choked and covered her face with her hands as her shoulders shook.
Nikolai gathered her in his arms and stroked her back in comfort. His limbs were gangly in comparison to Koen, but already overly long and too big to be considered normal in this world.
Daniil shuffled over, the corners of his eyes tightened when he saw her. “Don’t cry,” he murmured. “You were wonderful. You tried your best.” He sat down on the already crowed bedroll and Nikolai handed her over. She buried her head into his chest and sobbed harder.
She sat crying with two of the most handsome and noble men she had even seen or probably would ever see, and yet she felt nothing. Her heart was breaking, because neither of them was Koen.
“How could he just up and leave me?” The sobs were fewer and more far between. Marina felt the first stirrings of anger. How could he just up and leave her like that? That wasn’t fair. She specifically told him she could handle Aver and he disregarded her wishes entirely. What gave him the right? Effectively, he was choosing one of those other women over her.
How dare he.
You don’t connect with someone on a spiritual level then run off because you’re afraid things might not go the right way.
If love were easy to find and keep it wouldn’t be special. If it were so commonplace, she would just shrug her shoulders and find another love.
Pig head, stupid, foolish man.
Marina wasn’t having any of it. She lifted her head from Daniil’s chest and stared at him. She grabbed fistfuls off his tunic and shook him gently. “I’m his mate.”
“No,” he replied and pried her hands off his tunic.
She blinked, and lost some of the wildness in her gaze. “No?”
“I am sorry Marina, but it’s not that simple.”
“I know. He told me all about Aver and the hunt. Honestly, it’s sick what’d done to him, but I do get it, and I’ll do what needs to be done. Koen is mine.” She huffed. “Why is no one hearing me?”
“The one who wears the Blood Crown or the Frost Wreath is Koen’s true mate. You must respect this tradition.”
“Tradition can blow me. That Drackai queen has trouble up head.”
Nikolai frowned. “Why?”
“Because I’ve decided I’m Koen’s mate, therefore, her crown is mine. I’m going to take it from her.”
“You may be a princess of our realm, but you don’t simply get the Crown or Wreath. You earn them. If you are born from a bloodline that can withstand the dragon flame you complete the trials with the other maids named Chosen and fight for your dragons hand in marriage.”
She nodded. “Alrighty.”
Nikolai burst out laughing.
Daniil mashed a hand into his face to push him aside. “No you are not listening to me, Marina. The Chosen are warriors trained from birth. The First Chosen are born to be queens. These women are ruthless. Koen Raad has not mated because none have yet to catch him during the hunt. He evades them. He kills them when necessary to avoid capture.”
“I know. It’s past time he stops suffering because of it. He must become Emperor.”
Daniil looked relived at her enlightenment. “Yes. It’s his right to demand the fiercest bride. It is a great risk few women wish to take.”
Marina pointed at her chest. “Woman. Risk. Willing. I am his mate. He can’t become Emperor until he is claimed, and I am going to be the one to do it.”
Daniil and Nikolai shared a look then studied her with speculative expressions. “The quests of Aver require years of training,” Daniil said. “Anastasia of House Zar is the fiercest dragon mate I have ever seen. You will fighting her for Koen, she is a First Chosen, queen of the Drackai.”
Marina stilled. “She’s the one who nearly claimed Koen. She hurt him.”
Nikolai, still sprawled on the floor, nodded. “Her ancestor was one of the first phoenixes. It’s her obsession to become Empress. Last time she came too close.” His face darkened. “I hate her.”
Daniil winced. “That is not fair, Nikolai.”
Marina wondered exactly what the woman had done to deserve such hatred from the young Raad brother yet loyalty from Daniil.
“Take me with you,” she pleaded. “I can do this.”
Nikolai shrugged. “I say we take her. My brother’s dragon has chosen her, and they are compatible enough in human form. He’s letting his fear get the best of him. He’ll thank us once their happily married and the kingdoms are once again at peace.”
“Koen will be furious,” Daniil argued. “Chosen die during Aver, and she is so small. Untrained.”
He shrugged. “We’ll teach her ourselves.”
“We have responsibilities we cannot ignore for an entire season.”
He rolled his eyes. “The Wyvrae won’t declare war. They just need to rant for a bit then they’ll crawl back to their ice pools like they always do.”
“You continue to underestimate my court.”
“You’re not Drackai?” Marina asked.
“You’ve seen my dragon. I’m a lord of the Ice Realm, but I have known the sons of House Raad since I was a boy.” Daniil rubbed his head. “You’re sure you want to do this. Once you pledge a vow to compete in Aver you cannot change your mind. The lists have already been called so we shall have to travel to Ash Mount, home of the dragon Council and appeal for a special consideration as soon as we reach Tzion.”
Marina was sick of repeating herself. “I’m sure.”
“Maybe you should think about it for more than a heartbeat,” he said dryly.
“I don’t need to. You’re not leaving me behind.”
“Your mother was brought here by her dragon to live a normal life. Away from the constant struggles dragon mates suffer. Are you sure?”
She took his head in her hands. “What would you do if you were me?”
Daniil’s mouth twitched, and a reluctant smile curved his lips. “I would follow my mate.”
She kissed his cheek and hugged him. “Damn right you would.”
Marina turned to Nikolai and he was already in dragon form, his big head angled down at her, eyes sparkling impishly. He lowered his neck, and Marina jumped off Daniil. She skipped over to Nikolai and started to climb using his scales. He made a chuffing noise low in his throat, and used his tail to help set her firmly on his back.
Chapter 11
The dragons ambled out of the cave, and Marina clung to Nikolai’s back, burying her nose into his soft hair, preparing. She was going to fly in the sky on the back of a dragon without a harness.
Of all the stupid shit she’d done in life, this ranked up there with petting a dragon (expecting not be eaten) and having hot sex with the dragon’s human form (expecting not to fall madly in lust with the diabolical mess that was him).
The dragons stomped to the top of the hill where she had met Koen, and breathed deep. Stood high above the heather, Marina smiled at the sight they must have made.
Daniil’s scales were as mesmerizing as Koen’s. A blue so intense it was like looking into a tropical ocean. He had no spikes running up and down his spine, though his horns and speared tail were a lot larger and more deadly looking than the fire breather’s. His body was sleeker too, and his claws wider in relation to his body.
Nikolai’s dragon had bronze scales. Like Koen, he had spikes climbing up his back, and two black horns atop his head. She rubbed him happily, knowing if he were in human form, he would tease her mercilessly for touching him so intimately.
His tail brushed against Marina’s back, and she knew he was trying to comfort her as best he could. His solid weight was comforting beneath her, but she felt so sad.
Daniil moved slightly ahead, and his wings extended. The massive limbs were the same cobalt as his body with an even darker color filling the membrane that made up the main body of his wing. He pushed up onto his hind legs, and grumbled gently, his deep voice rising and falling in a rousing symphony of low notes.
A fission of power rolled over Marina’s skin.
The crickets stopped singing. The wind ceased blowing, the frogs stopped croaking and there was … nothing. Marina heard the high-pitched ringing in her ear, only much louder than before.
The clouds above the lake started to churn, deepening from cool blue to fiery red as they twisted and lowered.
Fear shot down her spine as she remembered the fire Koen had flown from. It made sense that they would have to fly into a maelstrom similar to cross over, but would she survive it?
Lightning cracked, a jagged strike from the apex of the clouds to hit the lake. The water bubbled. Heat rippled through the air, and the silence burst with a heart-stopping crack, and was followed by explosions under the water. The lake was crammed with flashing lights in dramatic colors.
The hairs on Marina’s arms lifted as the electric current ran over the surface of her skin.
She lowered her head, gathered herself as Nikolai’s heartbeat quickened beneath her. His energy amplified as he prepared to take off. She made sure she had a good hold on his hair, and squeezed her thighs together.
Daniil’s legs bunched. His wings lifted then in one giant bound, he jumped, and his wings rushed down to propel him high into the air above her head. She was so taken by the sight of the ice dragon taking off, she yelped as Nikolai did the same a few moments later, and the force of the wind pushed down on her head.
The higher they climbed, the lighter the space between her ears felt. Marina had been deep sea diving, and it felt similar to when you descended into the bottomless deep. The constant pressure pushing on her body was frightening, but after a few seconds of irrational panic, she knew these dragons would never let anything happen to her.
She lifted her head from the warmth of Nikolai’s hair and peeked. The rocky terrain rushed by, and the air stung her eyes. She straightened jerkily, and watched as the horizon rocked from side to side in a stomach churning motion.
They flew under the red clouds, and Daniil angled his body up, warning Marina to lower her torso and cling on a moment before Nikolai did the same. The dragons climbed until Marina was vertical.
She glanced down and gasped.
The lake flashed in a myriad of vivid colors, spinning in a whirlpool.
The air got hotter.
Marina braced herself, knowing they opened a tear between worlds so they could pass through. Her heart fired like a piston, and she flexed her fingers in Nikolai’s hair. The tension was unbearable. She was ready to face her future … now!
She opened her eyes and wished she’d had the sense to keep them closed.
Crimson clouds filled with lightning and edged with blue sparks surrounded them.
The portal receded.
The dragons flew faster; dodging black holes that appeared whilst avoiding what seemed an inevitable brush with the sides of the red clouds.
The tempest cracked dead in the centre, and widened into a slash of nothing. The edges erupted into golden flames, but the dragons flew on, heading straight for it, sleek bodies agilely streaking towards their target.
Her heart stalled, and the inhalation of breath clogged in her throat. She attached herself to Nikolai’s back so tightly she feared she would rip the scales from his back.
Daniil accelerated, and his wings snapped shut as he dived through the fire and was swallowed by the shrinking void.
Marina screamed as Nikolai’s wings closed and they were consumed by flame.
Crossing dimensions was like flying into Armageddon. The dragon lords had forgotten to mention that.
Booming claps of thunder were trapped in the vortex and amplified until she feared her eardrums would burst. The pressure was bone crushing. Squeezing her until she was certain her head would implode. The lights were so bright they blinded her, sending hot darts of pain through her eyeballs to her brain. The deafening roar of the dragons drowned her shrill screams, and she was convinced they roared in pain, so she allowed her body to go into panic overload.
They exploded out the other side into the brilliant skies of Tzion, and plummeted towards a bubbling pool of lava in the mouth of a volcano.
As her eyes drooped, she saw mountains and crystal pools. A hot yellow sun burned in a clear white sky. The shimmery crescent of a grey moon glinted in the distance over the rich green tangle of a jungle. She saw the glinting of what must be the sea, because surely, there could never be so much ice so far from the arctic.
Marina’s body went limp, her limbs strangely weak, and she slipped from Nikolai’s back, just missing the downward thrust of his gargantuan wing.
Weightless, her mind went into a spiral of panic as it tried to exclaim she was falling to her death, but the numbness spread, and Marina passed out as the world rushed passed her.
***
Marina was afraid of how still everything was.
She had fallen!
Was she dead?
Shit, fuck.
Koen Raad, her beautiful dragon, would be so angry if he found her splattered remains. He would be so mad to learn she followed him. Worse, he would take a piece out of Daniil and Nikolai, and all they had done was help her in her madness.
Marina slowly became more lucid, but her eyes remained scrunched closed. She used her other senses to figure out what was going on, satisfied to lie there, no longer wondering if she was dead, and instinctively knowing she wasn’t now her head had stopped spinning and the blood rushing in her ears had eased.
Her nose was tickled with the spicy smell of saffron, and the not so pleasant smell of sulfur.
The heat was intense, smothering when she dragged in a breath, and sweat trickled down her back.
She could hear a constant low rumbling, the ground beneath her trembling lightly.
Something cold nudged her leg, and icy air gushed over her, making her shiver it was such a stark contrast to the sweltering heat.
Marina’s lashes fluttered open, and she came face to snout with a blue dragon. His sapphire eyes studied at her unblinkingly, watching for the faintest of movements. He nudged her again, and she sat up rubbing her head.
“The angel lives,” a voice cried jubilantly. “Oh my dove, I was so worried.”
Daniil snorted loudly then drew his long, serpentine neck back, reclining as he waited for her to regain her composure.
No sooner had she stumbled up a big pair of arms scooped her up into a spine snapping embrace. He squeezed and she squeaked, patting his rock like shoulders.
“Down, Nikolai, down,” she wheezed, relieved she was in on piece when he did finally set her back on her two feet.
The young dragon lord beamed at her and rubbed her arms. A lock of his dark hair fell onto his forehead becomingly, and his soulful eyes started at her lovingly.
“Dearest, I am beside myself. You should have told me you were so delicate of disposition. I would have made sure you were strapped to my back. If you had fainted whilst we crossed over you would have been lost to us,” he paused for dramatic effect, “forever,” he breathed.
Marina would have laughed if she didn’t feel so sick. “Do you know, I totally overestimated what crossing dimensions would feel like? Next time, strap me down baby.” She managed a stilted laugh at the idea of Nikolai tying her down anywhere, and exhaled sharply, pulling herself together. “No matter, I’m alive and kicking, and,” she glanced around, “standing in Tzion, land of dragons. I’m feeling pretty epic about now.”
“Home,” Nikolai crowed and grabbed her hand to pull her after him up the rocky slope. His large strides ate the ground, and Marina had to skip to keep up.
He chattered away, explai
ning how horrified he had been once Daniil had roared and swooped down to snatch her from the jaws of death. Marina had the visual of her free falling, and a dragon’s claw with razor sharp talons plucking her limp body from the sky before impact.
She shuddered.
Nikolai came to a halt and spun her around by the shoulders.
“Look!” he said excitedly. “We’re standing on Ash Mount, the mountain of the dragon Council, a dead volcano that has a few active lava pools, but down there, everything you see is home to the Drackai, ruled by the wearer of the Blood Crown, and the home of House Raad. Isn’t it beautiful?”
Marina looked out over half the Empire of Tzion, and agreed it was the most spectacular and dissimilar terrain she’d ever beheld. Wherever they stood was higher than the land below. She could see for hundreds of miles in any direction barring the one behind her.
Breathtaking.
The sky of Tzion was the same bright white of freshly fallen snow with wispy clouds.
Using his grip on her shoulders, Nikolai shifted her to the left. “The Westland’s, and known to us as the Barren.”
Marina looked at a desolate wilderness of harsh black sand, and prayed she never had the pleasure of spending any prolonged period in it. The world seemed dimmer over there, the air murkier, and obscured somehow. It made her quiver just looking at it. The sand shimmered under the sun, and the longer she looked the stranger and more sinister it became.
She was swung to the right. “The Red Citadel,” Nikolai all but sang.
Now facing east, as far as Marina could see was a dense jungle, but what was mind-blowing was the fat cluster of volcanoes – fused together at the base then pulling apart into separate craters – that loomed high in the sky. The russet stone sprung from the trees and cut an imposing outline in the bleached sky. And carved into the volcanoes, hewn from the natural rock formations, were hundreds of conical bastions flanking one giant fortress in the centre.
What astounded her, left her shaking with exhilaration, were the creatures soaring around the zeniths of the volcanoes.
Dragons.
Dragons of all colors, shapes and sizes. The glided, and swooped, and howled and roared. Some dipped out of sight to land in the tropical rainforest whilst others landed inside the volcanoes themselves. Others flew off to distant lands in unknown places.
Smolder (Dragon Souls) Page 11