Caress of Fire (Dawn of Dragons Book 2)

by Mary Auclair

  “How I love you, little firebrand,” Fedryc whispered against her hair. “And what an honor it is to give my life for yours.”

  The words made her cry even more and as he began to get back to his feet, she held on so tightly that he pulled her up with him.

  “Please come back.” Marielle held on to Fedryc’s fingers hard, not caring about betraying the depth of her fear. “I can’t live without you.”

  Fedryc pushed her firmly away, then lifted her face to him. He smiled but it was filled with sadness. Sadness and iron resolve.

  “Yes, you will.” His hand left her face and she felt the loss all the way to her bones. “You are the strongest woman I’ve ever known. You will live, and you will care for the child I gave you. You will love him like I was never loved. Give him all I never had. Promise me, little firebrand, that you will live. No matter what.”

  “I can’t.” Marielle almost choked on her tears. “I can’t go on without you.”

  Fedryc reached for her cheek, wiping the tears away, his sad smile stabbing her heart deeper with each passing second. “Loving you, having you. It was the gift I never deserved. In all my long, lonely life, I never deserved this much happiness. Now, promise me you will leave Aalstad and live.”

  “I promise.” Marielle said the words even though everything inside her rebelled. “But only if you promise to return to me. Don’t you dare die, Fedryc Haal.”

  Fedryc bent and Marielle closed her eyes. His warm lips sealed on hers, and his mouth kissed the tears away.

  “If I die today, I will die a happy man.”

  Fedryc pulled away, and Marielle watched him leave. So tall and strong, so honorable. He could save himself, fly so far away with her no one would ever find them, but he didn’t.

  The sobs shook her as he disappeared behind the door of the medical suite. Her arms were too empty, her heart bled too much. She’d thought she could live without him.

  How wrong she had been.

  Chapter 26

  They needed her and Marielle wasn’t going to let them down. It didn’t matter that her heart was in bloody shreds. She had a job to do.

  She moved between rows of people in tattered clothing—sitting on the ground under heavy wool blankets, clutching a loaf of bread or a few vegetables between their hands—giving orders to guards and directing people to the large transport ships. They all looked at her with fear, but also with trust that she would do what it took to keep them safe.

  A trust she did not feel. Because she felt nothing. Not since Fedryc had left with his men, death in their eyes. They’d all followed Fedryc out of the castle gate, climbing into hovering transports in silence.

  Every one of them left loved ones behind. Loved ones entrusted to Marielle’s care.

  “The women and children have all been secured in the transports, Lady Marielle.” A guard whose name she didn’t know bowed to her as he spoke. “We await your order to evacuate them in order of priority.”

  “Of course.” Marielle looked at the black, shiny metal of the transport. Devan and Rela were in there, along with Dr. Ylco, whom she’d had to physically threaten to push inside. “Have you received word from Lord Aldric?”

  “Yes. Lord Aldric confirmed the alliance stands and is on his way with Rhyl, his white dragon. He cannot be expected for another half a day—if the winds are not against him. The Darragon castle awaits us, Lady Marielle.” The guard looked up at her, fear in his eyes. He, too, would climb into a transport, but not before all the others were far away and safe. “But to ensure their safety, they have to leave now.”

  “I know.”

  Marielle tried to smile, but from the look in the guard’s eyes, she’d made a pitiful attempt at it. She knew they had to leave but there was still one more person she needed to put in that first transport. “You still haven’t found the Lady Silva?” She turned to see the guard shoot a glance at the transport with envy in his eyes.

  “Not a trace.” The guard shook his head. “She’s nowhere to be found. The Lady Isobel swears she hasn’t visited her in the dungeon either.”

  Another glance at the transport had Marielle move to stand between the young man and the door.

  “What’s your name?” Marielle spoke loudly enough to rattle him a little. Good, she had his full attention.

  “Beral, my Lady.” The young guard straightened, then swallowed. He knew she had noticed his glances.

  “Do you have a family, Beral?” She stared at him as he put his weight first on one foot, then the other. For better or worse, she was the Lady of the castle and she had to keep control of the situation, or panic would follow, and more innocents would die.

  “Yes, my Lady.” Beral nodded. “A wife and a daughter. They are in the first transport.”

  Marielle nodded. “So do I. My brother and his future wife are in that transport.” Her words seemed to surprise the young guard. “If you care for them, you will settle the rest of these people in the next transports as fast as you can. I want all these people evacuated in the next hour. Now, give the lift-off order for the first transport.”

  “You have to get in, Lady.” The guard inclined his head to her. “Those were Lord Fedryc’s orders.”

  “I’m not going anywhere.” Marielle shook her head and the young guard almost dropped to the ground with surprise. “Give the order for take-off.”

  “But Lord Fedryc…” The guard seemed more and more confused, more and more scared by the second. “You are with child.”

  “I am the Lady of Aalstad.” Marielle lifted her chin and her voice, making sure everyone around could hear her. “My place is here.”

  “Lady.” The guard’s tone was careful and he looked at her as if she was insane. As if he was about to manhandle her into the transport. “Lord Fedryc is not coming back.”

  Marielle swallowed and despair encroached but she rebelled against it. She turned her eyes to the people around them. A hope against all hope still shone in their eyes, just waiting to be found. Because Aalstad was all they knew. Because even if the castle was evacuated, all the people in the kingdom were lost if the Knat-Kanassis prevailed.

  They needed her to be that hope. To give it a voice.

  They all stared at her like she was some beacon of safety. She wasn’t. All she wanted was to hide somewhere and wait for Fedryc’s return—against all odds. But life was no fairytale, and Fedryc was going to war in a hopeless, uneven battle from which he could never come back.

  No. I won’t accept it. He’s coming back.

  “Hear me. All is not lost.” Marielle spoke to them all, loud and clear. Her voice didn’t shake despite the flutters in her stomach. “Lord Fedryc might still prevail. Nyra is still out there, in the desert. She will answer his call.” Then, much lower, but with a strength that surprised even herself, “All is not lost, and the Lady of Aalstad will stay where she belongs. Now leave, and be prepared to come back with your loved ones once this threat is gone. Give the order.” Marielle turned to the guard who now stared at her with respectful awe. “The transports leave as soon as they are filled. Leave no one behind.”

  “Lady Marielle.”

  The fear lessened in the guard’s eyes and he nodded to her again, but this time, it was more meaningful. He admired her for not saving her life at the expense of others. He thought she was strong. He thought she was honorable.

  How wrong he was. She wasn’t strong, or honorable. She was scared and weak. But she had a job to do, and she would do it if it was the last thing she did.

  “The staff and your men go in the last one.” The words left her mouth and her resolve strengthened. “Leave no one behind.”

  The guard inclined his head, then turned, bellowing orders far and wide. Marielle stared at the black transport containing Devan, Rela and the others. It vibrated, starting to hover above the stone of the courtyard.

  She stared as the transport flew higher and higher until it shot through the desert sky and far away from her reach. Off into safety.

/>   Around her, people moved with a silent purpose. They weren’t exactly reassured, but the undercurrent of panic from before was gone.

  As she looked around at the castle, she knew she would never leave Fedryc behind.

  His men were silent as the transport slid through the air under the setting sun, toward a battle none would survive. Fedryc had no illusions. He had lost Nyra, had lost half of his very soul, and he was only too aware that whatever time he gained fighting Lord Anion and his army, it wouldn’t be to survive but to give Marielle the time she needed to escape with all those she could save from the castle.

  The rest of his kingdom, of his father’s legacy, would fall under the order’s evil. He had failed.

  As the transport stopped, Fedryc got to his feet. It was his role as High Lord to lead his men into battle, to show them the way to die honorably to protect those they loved.

  For die they would. All of them.

  He got out in the blazing red and orange of the setting sun and ten of his transports soon followed, flooding the sands of the desert with souls destined for death.

  In front of them was the army of Lord Anion, spreading far and wide, hooded figures wrapped in gray cloaks. Knat-Kanassis, all of them. It shouldn’t surprise him. They didn’t outnumber his men, but the fear they inspired traveled through Fedryc’s army from man to man as the name spread on everyone’s lips.

  We’ve lost this battle before it’s even begun.

  This was a truth of war Fedryc had learned a long time ago, when he was a boy in the Imperial castle. He knew the fights he was going to win and those he was going to lose before drawing his blade. And he was going to lose this one, along with his life and the lives of those who looked up to him.

  It was worth it. He would do it all again if he had the choice. Because touching Marielle Jansen’s skin had made his life worth living. Had made his life worth giving.

  A large gray form invaded the sky and landed in the swath of sand between the two armies. On top of the gray dragon was Lord Anion, ready for a battle that would be more a massacre than anything else. The gray beast, smaller and weaker than Nyra by a good measure, lifted his head and shook the fabric of the desert with a deafening roar. His talons dug into the sand and he scratched impatiently, anxious to shed blood and violence.

  Lord Anion looked down at Fedryc and his men, an expression of triumph on his face.

  Fedryc could feel the fear of his men like a smell in the air. Packed tight behind him, they all stared at the dragon, and each one of them knew just what Fedryc had known even before stepping onto the sand.

  They needed Nyra like they needed blood in their veins.

  But Nyra was gone, and he still needed these men to fight to the death to save Marielle and the others. With the fear he could practically taste in the air, Fedryc knew the men were close to breaking out in a panic and he couldn’t afford to let that happen.

  He turned his back on Lord Anion to face his men.

  They looked at him briefly, but their eyes all went back to the gray dragon after a few seconds. They were mesmerized. Most of them had never fought, as Aalstad had been at peace for over a century, and none of them had ever fought a dragon.

  “Men of Aalstad.” Fedryc spoke loudly and didn’t have to wait long for their eyes to return to him. “We are not here today to win a fight.”

  He paused and more and more men stared at him steadily, their faces closed off, fear brimming in their eyes as their Lord told them exactly what they feared.

  “We are here today to give up our lives so that the lives of those we love can go on.” His words traveled over the men, hardening their faces, loosening the grip of fear in their eyes. “Each of you has loved ones he left behind in Aalstad castle. They will be gone now, far away to a safer land. Far from the land of your fathers, far from the graves of your mothers. All because the Order of Evil has come back from its lair in the cesspit of the Night Lands. Fight bravely today so that our allies don’t forget us. So that the order of the Knat-Kanassis is sent back to oblivion once more.”

  The men’s faces changed at his words and grunts of approval answered him. His new Captain of the Guard, Captain Brandlo, stepped in front of the line.

  “For Lord Haal!” the man shouted, lifting his sword high above his head. “For Aalstad!”

  One after the other, the men shouted, repeating the rallying cry for battle. Hearing his men filled him with pride and Fedryc turned around to face his enemies.

  Lord Anion atop his gray beast stared down at Fedryc with a grim face. His sensitive Draekon hearing meant he’d heard Fedryc speak and he heard the men behind answer to his call. Lord Anion’s eyes were full of anger and hate and behind him, the rows of Knat-Kanassis soldiers stayed unmoving, silent as ghosts.

  “To battle!” Fedryc roared, his dragon-forged sword held high.

  Lord Anion’s dragon roared in answer, fire spewing from his open mouth and into the sky, readying for the charge.

  Then the sky unleashed a fury of red scales and a hiss resonated against the fabric of Fedryc’s very soul. Nyra landed in the sand between Lord Anion’s dragon and Fedryc, and a rain of fire flew from her mouth in warning as her sapphire eyes locked with the red, angry eyes of the gray dragon.

  “Nyra!” Fedryc shouted her name and it was echoed a thousand fold behind him as his men shouted and hooted, relief mixing with a fierce taste for blood as they understood they had a fighting chance now that Nyra was back.

  A split second of pure bliss invaded Fedryc’s mind as Marielle’s face shot in front of his eyes. With Nyra back, he would hold her again.

  And he would destroy Lord Anion and the Knat-Kanassis once and for all.

  The red dragoness was as savage and bloodthirsty as any male, larger and more powerful than the gray dragon as she faced him dead on, her wings open in pure challenge. The gray dragon puffed out his chest then opened his wings in response but stayed put.

  Fedryc ran.

  He ran for his bond like he’d never run in his life. As he ran for Nyra, the gray dragon bent his head, then Lord Anion screamed, sounding the attack. The gray dragon charged, running straight for Nyra, his mouth gaping, white fangs at the ready. Behind the gray dragon, the army of hooded figures moved in a single, synchronized movement, silent as death as they ran.

  Behind Fedryc, his men shouted, their war cries as fierce and deafening as the Knat-Kanassis army’s silence.

  After a few hundred yards, Fedryc understood that he wasn’t going to reach Nyra in time. He locked gazes with Nyra’s jewel eyes, then the dragoness lifted her gaze to the sky. The dragoness extended her neck, lifting her mouth high, then a high-pitched whine made her throat vibrate under the fading light.

  Fedryc kept running. He was but a hundred yards from her now and his entire body screamed for the contact with the dragoness, for the bond that sustained both their lives.

  A wail answered Nyra’s call; deeper, richer than her female cry. The army of hooded figures in front of him stopped running, slowing their pace to a jog, then a walk, then stood still altogether. The gray dragon stopped dead in his tracks.

  Behind him, Fedryc’s army went silent and the sound of their feet stopped.

  A wide shadow covered the desert sand and terror spread throughout the bodies of the hooded men, running across their shoulders and their legs in taut lines of tension.

  The brown dragon landed beside Nyra, and Fedryc almost dropped at the shock. He stood, as still as the rest of them, staring at the feral, his body dwarfing even Nyra’s. The brown roared into the sky, opening his wings wide, showing all around that he was the superior beast.

  Behind him, Fedryc’s men stared at the feral with a fear so primitive, Fedryc knew they wouldn’t fight. Turning to see the hooded men of Lord Anion’s army, he realized they were similarly struck with numbing terror, most of them having drawn back their hoods, staring with wide, glassy eyes at the nightmare that had landed in front of them.

  The brown dragon was b
ig and powerful enough to annihilate both armies if he chose to.

  Fedryc looked at Nyra, who stared down at him, waiting for him to make the first move. He took a step toward her, ignoring the brown dragon, then stopped when the beast hissed. Fedryc didn’t look at the brown. He had eyes only for Nyra.

  A moment passed, then Fedryc kept going, ignoring the louder and louder hisses of the brown beast until he stood right in front of his Bound. Nyra looked at him for a long time, then she bent her head, bringing her muzzle all the way down to just above the ground.

  Fedryc bent down, bracing both hands on Nyra’s wide head, then rested his forehead against hers. The strength of the flow of vitalem between them almost made him stop but he knew she needed it as much as he did. Emotions flowed from Nyra to him, along with that life-force that kept them both locked together from their first day to their last.

  Then Fedryc pulled back and jumped on Nyra’s back. He turned to face the brown dragon and his heart almost stopped beating, deep shock spreading through his body.

  Marielle was right.

  Because atop the brown feral dragon was his friend, Henron, who looked down at him with pure silver eyes. Fedryc locked gazes with Henron and knew something had happened to him. Something that shook the very fabric of what the Draekons knew about their link to the dragons.

  Henron had found a Bound in the brown feral and now, both he and Nyra were coming to his aid. There was a lot Fedryc wanted to ask his friend, but there was no time. First, they had to destroy Lord Anion and his Knat-Kanassis army.

  His hand flat against Nyra’s neck, Fedryc turned to the gray dragon, Nyra following his lead. The brown dragon followed his mate’s lead and turned on Lord Anion and his gray dragon.

  Lord Anion’s face was twisted with anger, but also with a religious kind of terror.

  “Attack!” Lord Anion shouted without looking back at his men. When no sound came, he turned his head to stare at his men, still locked in their terrified stupor.