Suddenly a huge blast of lava shot up into the air and I fell back. The heat became so intense I wasn’t sure I could bear it. I scrambled back to Kira, who stared up at it in awe. As I followed her gaze, I saw why.
From the crater rose a colossal dragon made of shifting, sliding lava, with bright bursts of fire for eyes. Most of his body remained inside the volcano, but his head and long neck towered over us, while his talons grasped the edge of the crater with an impact that shook the ground under us.
When his massive wings spread out behind him, sending lava flying into the air, I dropped to my knees in awe. The Fire God looked different from when he’d visited me before, but he was even more impressive and terrifying in his true form. Like the other Gods, no one knew his name. It was said the Gods’ names were in a language that couldn’t be understood by humans, and when I looked upon him now, I believed it. He was alien and incomprehensible and yet familiar at the same time, like this magic inside me recognized that it had once belonged to him.
“You have done well, my children,” a huge voice boomed from his molten mouth, which was covered in large, sharp fangs dripping with lava. “But your journey is far from over.”
No one would ever call me a humble man, but for the first time in my life I felt it, along with a sense of pride at being called his child. I bowed my head. “What do you wish of us?”
His fiery eyes burned into mine. “You are the new Crimson Dragon, my representative in this world. Serve me well and prove I have chosen wisely.”
I swallowed and nodded slowly, feeling the huge weight of responsibility on my shoulders. “What must I do?”
“The others will look to you for leadership and guidance, and you must help them find balance. None of the elements exist alone. Even now, I am surrounded by my brothers. The air above me. The earth below me. The water beside me. Remember that.”
That wouldn’t be easy, especially when I was the one getting into fights half the time. Not to mention, we still didn’t know where Reven had run off to, or if he would ever return. “I will try. But I have to ask, why did you choose me?”
His great wings fluttered, sending sparks flying into the air. “Each of the Gods values different attributes. I look for bravery, passion, and energy.”
“There must be dozens of men who represent those qualities much better than I do.”
“You misunderstand.” His long, reptilian head lowered as his eyes focused on Kira. “We find the mate who will best bring out those qualities in her.”
Kira’s face paled as the God’s talons inched toward her. “Did you choose me too?” she asked, though I heard fear in her voice. I was impressed she’d made it this close with her fear of fire, but she was handling it well, all things considered.
“No.” His head tilted as he studied her. “Do not be frightened.”
She bowed her head, as sweat ran down her temple. “I’m sorry. I’ve been afraid of fire ever since my parents were killed by the Crimson Dragon.”
“In a way they were, and in a way, they were not.”
Kira cast me a confused look. “They weren’t killed by him?”
“The people who raised you were killed. The people who created you still live.”
Kira’s hand went to her throat. “They’re alive?” she whispered. “Who are they?”
“This journey will lead you to them, but you may not like what you find.” He suddenly reared up, his great flaming wings spreading wide. “Only together can you stop the Black Dragon and her mates. Now go. Your companions need you.”
Before we could react, the Fire God descended into the lava again and vanished. The sky immediately darkened and the heat returned to a more bearable level. I wiped sweat off my forehead and shakily rose to my feet, then turned toward Kira. She looked like she was about to ask me something, but then a distant scream and a huge rumble drew our attention. The Fire God’s words rang in my mind as we burst into a run back toward the temple’s doors.
In the front hall, a battle had clearly been fought and lost. Numerous Onyx Army soldiers filled the room, and the dragon statue—which I now realized represented the Fire God and not Sark—had toppled over. Auric and Slade had been captured by soldiers and were on their knees with their hands bound behind them and swords at their throats. Calla lay on the ground bleeding from a gash on her chest, while her four priests hovered over her glaring at the man who pointed his large sword at them. General Voor.
As we entered, every single person in the room turned toward us. “There they are,” the General said. “Surrender, and we’ll let the priests live.”
Rage exploded in me at the sight of Calla’s blood, the toppled statue, and my friends being held captive. How dare they come into this sacred place and attack the priests here. These soldiers had once been men I’d fought beside, but now I only saw them as the enemy. The Fire God wanted passion and bravery? I’d give him that.
The heat flared inside me and I embraced it, letting it wash over me until I was burning alive. Blood red scales rippled over my skin as my entire body expanded and shifted and became more. My fingers turned to talons. My teeth became fangs. Fire burned in my throat as my long tail flickered. With a great roar, I spread my large wings.
I was a Dragon.
42
Kira
Every soldier in the room fell to their knees except for the General, all of them gasping and crying out. “The Crimson Dragon!” some of them shouted, while others asked, “How?”
Jasin’s new form was terrifying and awe-inspiring, and I felt a flicker of fear until he looked at me and his eyes were the same warm brown as when he was a human. And though he looked a lot like Sark, who had haunted my nightmares for so long, he was still Jasin, the man I had given my heart and body to only minutes earlier.
I rested my hand on his side, feeling the smooth, warm scales under my fingers, before turning to the General. “The Fire God has chosen a new Crimson Dragon. Leave now or feel his wrath.”
“That’s impossible,” General Voor said. “Sark is the Crimson Dragon.”
“Not for much longer,” Jasin growled, with a voice I barely recognized. “Let them go.”
The soldiers seemed hesitant, glancing between Jasin and the General, unsure of who to follow. The General pointed his sword at us. “We serve the true Dragons, not these imposters. Kill them. Kill them all!”
Two soldiers charged at Jasin, but he swiped them away with his massive talons. Others raised their swords to Auric and Slade and panic swelled inside my heart. Without thinking I reached out toward them and flames shot from my palms, setting both soldiers on fire. The men screamed, while I stared at my hands in wonder. I’d done it. I’d used fire. And I wasn’t scared at all.
Jasin had given me both his magic and his courage.
Slade and Auric jumped to their feet and moved to protect the priests, though their hands were still bound. I prepared to launch more fire at the other soldiers, but then felt a blade bite into my neck and a large presence behind me.
General Voor gripped my arm tight, holding me against his chest with his sword at my throat. Blood dripped down my neck, and he was strong enough that I didn’t dare move. Everyone in the room froze, with my three mates staring at me and the General. Auric looked worried, Slade had a stony expression, and Jasin, well it was hard to tell with his new reptilian face, but I knew he was furious from the bond shining bright between us.
“Surrender, or I kill her,” the General called out.
“Get your hands off her,” a cool voice said behind us.
General Voor cried out as a spurt of blood washed over me. It took me a second to realize it wasn’t my own. He let me go and stumbled back, while my heart pounded in my chest as I spun away to face the man I so desperately hoped was my savior.
Reven held one of his swords in his hand and had murder in his icy blue eyes. He stabbed Voor a second time in the chest, then watched him fall to the ground. As soon as the General hit the ground, I rushed to
ward Reven and threw my arms around him, burying my face in his chest.
“You returned,” I said, while my heart nearly burst with relief and happiness.
With his free hand he clutched me tight against him and gazed down at me. “I did.”
“Why?”
He shrugged. “I knew you would need my help. Looks like I was right.”
“Is that the only reason?” I whispered.
He took my chin in his hand and brushed his lips across mine ever so softly. “There may have been other reasons too.”
With their General dead and a large dragon glaring at them, the soldiers all surrendered. Jasin shifted back into human form with a great slithering of scales and a rush of heat. He strode toward me and Reven. “Are you okay?” he asked me.
“I’m fine,” I said, touching my neck. It didn’t hurt anymore, and I had a feeling the wound was already healing itself.
He gave Reven a sharp look and I expected him to say something rude or angry, but instead he said, “Glad you’re back. Don’t do anything like that again.” Reven only nodded in return.
The three of us rushed over to Auric and Slade, who had already removed the ties around their hands. Auric pulled me close for a kiss, whispering, “I’m so relieved you’re safe.” I turned to Slade, who wrapped his muscular arms around me in a protective, close embrace. He pressed a soft kiss to the top of my head, before releasing me.
Calla moaned, and I dropped to her side, my panic returning. She was covered in blood, as were the priests who were trying to tend to her wounds with worried looks on their faces. They were her mates, just like my men were mine.
I took Calla’s hand in mine. “You’re going to be okay.”
She coughed and clutched her bloody chest. “No, I won’t. But it doesn’t matter. I fulfilled my purpose. Twenty years ago the Fire God chose me to be his High Priestess, just like he chose you, Jasin.” Her eyes shifted to him, before going back to mine. “He told me I must come to the Fire Temple to prepare for the next Dragons. I’ve waited for this day for most of my life, and it is an honor to know I could help you both.”
Jasin kneeled beside her and took her other hand. “You’ve served the Fire God well.”
Her eyes fluttered shut. “Thank you.”
As she faded away, my heart clenched and something burned in me like an ember. Through our touch I felt a kinship with her, like a twin fire flaring bright inside of both of us. I took Jasin’s other hand in mine, forming a circle between us, and felt it within him too.
The gift of the Fire God was inside all of us.
While drawing strength from Jasin, I willed it into Calla, praying for the Fire God to help us heal his chosen priestess. Our hands began to glow with the same unearthly orange light from the volcano, as if lava flowed underneath our skin, and the heat became so intense I nearly let go. But I held on, and a second later Calla gasped and opened her eyes. The four priests around us cried out and rushed to her side.
“You healed her,” Blane said, while the others praised both me and the Fire God.
“With Jasin’s help,” I said.
“The Fire God has truly blessed us all,” Derel said.
“Thank you,” another one said, whose name I had forgotten.
“It seems the Fire God still has more work for you,” Jasin said to Calla.
“Thank you both,” Calla said, as she sat up with a smile. She cupped my cheek and then did the same to Jasin. “I will cherish your gift and do whatever I can to help you.”
“If everyone’s good now, we need to get out of here,” Reven said, with his lazy drawl. “The Crimson Dragon—the other one—is heading this way.”
Fear gripped my throat, but Jasin wrapped an arm around me. “We can fight him,” he said. “I can face him as a Dragon now too.”
“No, we can’t,” Auric said. “He’s immune to fire, just like you are. We don’t stand a chance until more of us can shift too.”
“He’s right, we need to run,” Slade said.
Calla got to her feet, with the help of two of her men. “You must hurry. Go out the back by the crater, then head down that side of the volcano. It leads to the ocean, to a dock where a ship is waiting for you. You can take that to the Air Realm and the next Temple.”
She truly had prepared for our arrival, anticipating everything we might need. “Thank you,” I said, hugging her quickly. “I hope we meet again.”
“We will.”
“What about our horses?” Auric asked. “And everything with them?”
“We’ll bring them here and take care of them for you,” the fourth priest said. “When it’s safe, we’ll make sure they are brought to you.”
“Now go, quickly,” Calla said. “There’s no time.”
43
Kira
We grabbed our few belongings and rushed through the temple, past the bed where Jasin and I had made love, and out through the doors to the volcano’s summit. It still glowed from the lava deep in its pit, but the Fire God was nowhere to be seen this time. We rounded the large crater and battled through the heat that threatened to suffocate us, but I wasn’t afraid of it. Not anymore.
That was, until I saw the lava flowing down the side of the mountain. It bubbled and churned and slowly slid toward the base of the volcano, where it met the ocean with a burst of smoke and slowly hardened into new land. A mix of all the elements, I thought, remembering what the Fire God had told us.
“This is where Calla told us to go,” I said. “But how do we get down?
“I might be able to fly us down,” Jasin said. “Although I don’t really know how yet.”
“That sounds like a good way to get us all killed,” Reven said.
Auric’s brows furrowed. “There must be a way down.”
Slade ran a hand over his beard as he considered. “Maybe I can shift the rock…”
“That’s it,” Jasin said. “The Fire God said we had to work together if we wanted to succeed. Slade and Reven will form a path for us, Kira and I will keep the fire and heat away, and Auric will protect us from the fumes.”
All the men nodded and pride swelled inside me as they made a plan to work together. We moved to the edge of the lava, where Reven sprayed water in a stream, which Slade used to solidify a path of earth. Jasin kept the rest of the flames away and we rushed along the new stretch of land, sweat dripping down all of our faces, and began to descend.
As Slade and Reven continued to create the path going down the mountain, Auric kept a bubble of clean, cool air around us. I did my best to keep the lava and flames back, but I wasn’t sure how to use my new powers yet, and I suspected Jasin was doing most of the work.
The dock at the base of the volcano was made of the same obsidian as the Temple and somehow remained completely untouched by the lava, which flowed away from it. By the time we reached it we were all exhausted, sweating profusely, and covered in soot, even despite our best efforts. We stumbled forward toward the boat anchored at the end, its black sails already raised, like it had been waiting for us all this time.
“Anyone know how to sail?” Jasin asked, as we stepped onto the wooden deck of the ship.
“I know a little,” Reven said, glancing up at the sails.
Auric looked up at the sails as he wiped sweat off his brow. “I’ve never been on a boat, but I think Reven and I can use our magic to steer it.”
“Then let’s get out of here,” Slade said, as he cut through the ties holding the boat to the dock and used his magic to lift the anchor out of the water.
Reven shifted the current around us and Auric filled the sails with wind, pointing us north. To the Air Realm.
The boat began moving away from the dock thanks to their magic, and in a few minutes, we were out on the cool water under the endless night sky, leaving the volcano behind. I glanced behind us at the glowing summit and spotted a large dragon flying over it, his blood-red wings flapping once as he descended to the Temple. Sark.
This time I
was certain he was looking for me. For us.
And soon we’d be ready to face him.
Kiss The Sky
Her Elemental Dragons Book Two
1
Kira
Fire burst into life inside my open palm, and with it came the fear. I forced myself to keep the flame going and to stare at the ball of light and heat in my hand, even as cold terror washed over me and sent shivers down my spine. For much of my life fire had been my torment and my terror, a reminder of my past and a deadly threat to my future, but not anymore. Now I was going to learn to control it—and my fear with it.
“Are you trying to kill us all?” a cold voice asked behind me.
I turned toward Reven, squinting against the bright sun behind him. “I need to practice if I ever want to get better with fire.”
“Not on this boat.” My black-haired assassin gestured around us. “This entire thing is made of wood. One stray spark and we’ll all go up in flames.”
He did have a point. I closed my hand over the ball of fire, immediately dousing it. “It’s a good thing we have you then, isn’t it?”
He scowled, but it didn’t make him any less handsome. If anything, quite the opposite. “Nice to know my role in this group is to keep you and Jasin from burning the world down.”
He shot a glare at Jasin, who stood on the other side of the boat talking with Auric while making flying gestures with his hands. Auric’s golden hair caught the sunlight while he crossed his arms and furrowed his brow at whatever Jasin was saying. My fourth mate, Slade, sat nearby, ignoring the two of them as he sharpened his axe. He had the rich, dark skin common in the Earth Realm, along with a short beard and a large, impressive body that was all muscle.
“Your role in this group can be whatever you wish,” I said. “Assuming you actually want to be one of us, that is.”
Her Elemental Dragons: The Complete Series Page 18