by Kate Rudolph
“The fire in your eyes makes me ache,” he said from where he stood, his voice low and husky.
It rippled across my skin and made me shiver. If I could bottle up the way that sound made me feel and sell it I’d make a fortune. “It’s not exactly hard to look at you,” I admitted.
“Isn’t it?” He grinned back at me.
Yes, my eyes darted down, and my cheeks flamed when I saw just what he meant by hard. Not that his pants gave everything away, but there was a bulge and it just gave me more questions. Questions I could have had answered half an hour ago if I wasn’t such a coward.
“You said something about flying?” If we were going to do this, I wanted it done. A dragon was going to let me fly with him, how cool was that? Even if I went home, this would be an experience that I remembered forever.
If? No, when. I was going to spend two weeks letting the dragon flirt with me and slaking this seemingly unquenchable lust and then I was going to walk through that portal without a backward glance. To do anything else would be madness. No matter what the healers said, I wasn’t supposed to be a dragon. Maybe I had alien blood in my ancestry, maybe that ability to shift did live somewhere in me, but I didn’t have to embrace it, didn’t have to change my life to accommodate it. This was basically just an unexpected vacation and I wasn’t going to let it change my life.
Drikal wouldn’t stop looking at me, and though that lust I’d been spying hadn’t dimmed, there was another questioning look in his eyes, one that was too knowing, too astute. I didn’t want to know what he’d do if he found out I’d already made up my mind to go home.
And I did want to ride a dragon.
“Stay back until the transformation is complete,” he warned. “I won’t be able to speak with you, but I will understand what you say.”
And just like that it was real. I took a step back, even though I had no idea what size Drikal would end up being. This was so unreal. Two days ago I’d been at home on Earth and thinking I had friends. I had never considered there could be a planet where people who looked human had the ability to turn into dragons. And the idea that I’d be riding one of them? Possible in more ways than one? There was a good chance this was all some drug and coma induced dream, but I wasn’t ready to wake up yet. And in case it was, I was going to throw myself fully into the experience. Even if it wasn’t real it felt that way, and I wanted to enjoy the damn ride.
I didn’t know what to expect, so when the air began to shimmer and ripple around the alpha I didn’t realize what was happening at first. It seemed like it should take time, that it should be painful to go from man to beast, but in two blinks the man was gone and a giant monster lay on the grass in front of me. I opened my mouth, but there was nothing to say. He was a dragon, everything I’d expected and yet so much more.
He couldn’t have fit in the quarters I’d been given; his wings would be cramped by those walls, and he’d be unable to stand up to his full height. He was bigger than one of the heli-jets I sometimes saw flying back home, but not as big as a plane. How did a man expand like that? It didn’t seem possible.
Well, the whole concept of transforming from man to dragon defied belief, so the size thing shouldn’t have mattered.
His body was covered in black scales that gave a small shimmer in the light as if precious gems were embedded deep inside his skin. His legs and arms ended in wicked claws that were each as big as my entire arm and looked like they could cut through solid steel. I should have been scared, especially when he let out a little puff of flame, almost like he was clearing his throat. But I couldn’t stop myself from stepping closer.
“Beautiful.” And suddenly I was right there next to him with my hand pressed up against a hard scale. For some reason I expected him to be cold, but it was almost too hot to touch, like a shower just a second before the steam tipped from perfect to unbearable. “Amazing.” I was in awe and I couldn’t keep from saying anything. It was easier to speak when I knew he couldn’t respond, even though he said he’d understood me. I felt less vulnerable to his sharp mind, and absolutely invulnerable to anything that might move against me. There was a giant dragon at my side, how could anything harm me?
“Okay, pal, how are we supposed to do this?” He was taller than me and though I’d seen people ride horses, I didn’t think the same concept applied to a freaking dragon. Not to mention that there wasn’t a saddle in sight. I was crazy to want to do this. He was going to take me high into the sky without a parachute and I had to hold on and hope I didn’t fall. That wasn’t the kind of trust I had in anyone.
And yet, when he stretched out one arm so I could use it to clamber up onto his back, I didn’t hesitate. Everything about this planet was surreal and I just needed to go with it. I was going to ride a dragon. How could I turn that chance down?
Up on top of him there was enough space for a dozen people with room to spare. At first I felt a little anxious about walking all over him, and when he made a noise I froze before realizing that it sounded more pleased than disgruntled. Maybe walking around on him felt like a really weird massage? I almost asked before I remembered that he couldn’t respond. I didn’t know if he’d be able to hear me when we were up in the air and that was another reason this entire idea was madness.
And yet I settled down onto the most secure looking spot, nestled right between his shoulders where she was able to find a handhold.
“Let’s do this.” And we were off.
Chapter Ten
Drikal
I’d never taken a rider before and I flew lower than I normally would, cautious not to dislodge her from my back. I’d expected her to feel like an intruder, someone trying to control me, cage the dragon and use me at her will. And yet there was nothing I wanted more in the moment.
There was a danger to what we were doing. There was no easy way to secure a human to a dragon, and my claws were both too sharp and too small to safely clutch Kristen in my hands. But as we climbed slowly into the sky she let out a whoop of joy and my heart lightened. I could show her the good things about my world, show her why she might want to stay, show her why she might want to keep me.
I hadn’t expected rejection earlier, and I feared that I’d scared her with my actions. It seemed only sensible to start our courtship in her bed and decide if we suited, but flying through the sky with her glued to my back was just as exhilarating. The wind whipped my face and I hoped that my body shielded my would-be mate from the worst of it.
Normally I didn’t care that I lost my ability to speak in this form, but now I wanted to know what Kristen was thinking, wanted to ask her what she liked, what she wanted more of. Did she want to climb higher? Had she had enough? Did she want to do tricks? As an alpha I could make a hundred decisions with little concern for another’s input, but now I was wary of making a wrong move lest I push her away.
That wouldn’t do. Caution was only sensible, but hesitation got an alpha killed.
I beat my wings fast, climbing higher before swooping down in a controlled dive. Kristen’s laugh echoed around me even as she let out a little screech of terror, but something told me that the fear was the kind you embraced rather than being truly terrified of.
If she were better secured I would have flipped over and swooped more, but there was only so much I was willing to risk. And while my tricks were fun, the true reason I’d brought her up here was to show her my lands, my home, the place I had given my blood and sweat to and would never forsake.
If she stood at my side, these lands would be hers and once she came into her dragon form she’d be an alpha as well, I was certain. Power roiled within her. But no one had told her that yet. The healers were almost certain she would shift, given the tests they’d run when she was sick, but it was not something that could be so easily predicted.
I could feel her power, I knew it would happen, but whether it would take hours, or days, or weeks, there was no way to tell. She’d given me two weeks to convince her to become mine. Would she know h
er true self by then?
She pressed herself against me, hugging the back of my neck and saying something that got caught in the wind. I turned us back towards the keep. I could fly all day without tiring, but the wind had to be cold against human skin and the longer we stayed airborne, the more Kristen was at risk of falling.
A keening screech in the distance froze my blood. I’d recognize a call like that anywhere.
Wyverns.
I jerked my head around to try and spot them and saw that they were too close for us to make it back to the keep safely. If I flew at my top speed I could make it, but there was no way that Kristen would be able to stay put. The wyverns were smaller than dragons, but much faster, and what they lacked in size they made up for in skill. I could make out at least three closing in on us, and more could be coming.
Why were the wyverns here? This was deep into my territory and our treaties were clear. This kind of breach could shatter the peace between us and I’d thought their alpha was smart enough to stave off war.
With no other choice I dove for the ground as quickly as I could manage while keeping Kristen in place. I didn’t want to waste time, but I needed to shift back to give her directions. The shift ripped through me, a moment of excruciating pain that disappeared before my body could scream in agony.
“Make for the keep,” I commanded. Her eyes were bright and she’d been smiling until I bit out the order. There was no time to dwell on the flight. We only had minutes and if they saw her on the ground, she’d be easy prey. “Tell the first guard you see that we have wyverns incoming. And try to stay below the cover of trees. I’ll hold them off for as long as I can.”
Her mouth dropped open and she made a sound of protest, but I was already leaping back into the sky to engage the enemy.
I spared a glance to make sure she was on the move and once she was I put her out of my mind. The only way to keep her safe was to throw myself in front of the wyverns before they noticed her. Neither wyverns nor dragons made prey out of humans for sport, but if this was war they’d rain fire down on her in the name of their sick idea of justice.
I let out a burst of flame long before they came into range. It was a warning, and a chance. If they came in peace they could drop out of the sky and take their human forms to communicate their intent. But when the wyvern in the center answered my flame with one of his own, it was clear that this was no diplomatic mission.
Running at top speed, it would still take Kristen several minutes to make it back to the keep, and by then the scouts were likely to have already spotted the danger. I only had to stand my ground for a little while, but even as an alpha, three on one odds were not great.
I put those doubts out of my mind. These beasts had come into my lands and dared to engage me with no provocation. They had no right to be here, no right to fly in my skies, and certainly no right to challenge me.
But whether they had the right or not, they didn’t seem to care. A burst of flame would have scorched me if I hadn’t dove at the last minute, coming up under the outermost wyvern and blasting him with flame of my own. It was only a glancing blow. Flame was harder to produce than the legends said and wasting it on thickly scaled skin would only exhaust me before it served its use. It was best to attack at weak points, eyes, mouths, torn flesh, but that involved getting close.
The red striped wyvern scored first blood, one of its claws nicking me as I got too close. I beat my wings back and bellowed, not out of pain, but for intimidation. A dragon’s howl was a thing of fury and might, and lesser beings cowered. But these wyverns were either fearless or stupid. Probably both, if they were fighting me.
The green wyvern let out a long stream of fire that heated the air but missed me by dozens of meters. It petered out into nothing and he coughed a cloud of dense smoke. It would take him time to reignite his fire, but red stripes and his dark blue companion were both there to pick up his slack.
I had no hope of winning, not against three of them, and certainly not in the air. I probably could have handled two, but three would overwhelm even the most powerful of alphas. My only hope was to use their numbers against them, and that meant this was going to hurt.
I dove into the fray and howled again as claws raked my side, ripping through scales and sending hot blood pouring out of me. It wasn’t fatal, wasn’t even vital, but it hurt all the more with every beat of my wings. I pushed the pain aside. Now wasn’t the time to dwell on it.
When I was close in to the wyverns, batting at them, swatting, and sending out controlled bursts of flame, their only hope was to fight me with claws. Firing on me now would hit their compatriots and only family or a true mate was immune to a dragon or wyvern’s flame. The wyverns figured out what I was doing quickly enough—these were trained soldiers, not just youths up to mischief in hostile lands. And I stuck myself beside the closest wyvern and stayed on him like we were bound by the strongest chains.
That plan almost proved fatal when he managed to maneuver me around so the other wyverns were at his back. He let out a blast of flame that burned my wing and sent me spinning down towards the ground. I recovered, but the wyverns used their advantage. They were higher in the air and presented a united front.
I didn’t give up, I couldn’t, but the soldier in me knew this fight was over and there was only one way it could go. They had every advantage, and I just hoped that Kristen had gotten away safely. I’d promised to protect her and I was keeping that word to my death. It had to be enough.
And then the miracle happened.
A dragon’s howl roared through the sky quickly followed by two more. The wyverns let out another burst of flame and even as I flew to evade I knew there was no hope. The flame roared over me and my world went white before my wings lost their strength and I was sent plummeting to the ground.
Chapter Eleven
Kristen
My lungs heaved, but by the time I got to the keep there were already soldiers taking to the sky and heading towards where the wyverns were fighting with Drikal. I thought I saw Veyne among them, but I wasn’t sure. I definitely didn’t recognize anyone else.
My hands were shaking. Though he’d told me to run as fast as I could, at first I’d been rooted in place. I’d seen the first wave of the attack, watched as one of the wyverns tore into Drikal and heard that blood-curdling howl that ripped out of him and made the wyverns cower even as they flew.
My heart stopped and blood turned to ice in my veins. It was the sound of a primordial creature, something best left to genetic memory and legend. And Drikal had made it. I’d just been riding him, I knew he was a dragon, but somehow the wonder of our flight had made the reality of the situation get fuzzy. He wasn’t some playful creature that took women on magical adventures when his seduction plans fell through. He was a being made for war.
That thought spurred me on and I made it back to the keep, staying under the cover of trees as best I could the entire way there. When I made it to the gate they let me in without question and I collapsed against a wall, breathing hard. Drikal hadn’t said anything about a possible attack before we left, which seemed like an important thing to leave out. Were the dragons at war? He’d called the other beasts wyverns, but I wasn’t sure what the difference was. From what I’d seen before fleeing in terror they had scales and wings and breathed fire just like Drikal. Maybe it was a territorial thing. I’d have to ask.
It didn’t occur to me that this would be the perfect time to break for the gate again. I’d given Drikal my word that I’d stay for two weeks, but it wasn’t like I’d never lied before. But it wasn’t the fighting dragons outside that kept me in the keep.
No, I needed to know that Drikal would be okay.
I didn’t plan to marry the guy, but this wasn’t just lust talking either. He’d gone out of his way to make sure I was alright when I got sick and then he’d taken me flying, something I’d never forget. It would be a dirty trick to take off when he was fighting and had put my safety first, even then. I didn�
��t know how fast a dragon could fly, but I bet they flew faster when they didn’t have to deal with a human sitting on their back. If I hadn’t been there he could have made it home without engaging, he could have gone out with backup rather than fighting three beasts on his own.
What if he died?
That shouldn’t have hurt as much as it did, considering I’d known the guy for less than two days. But they’d been the two most eventful days of my life.
Another roar rocked the keep. We were a few kilometers away from the fight, but sound traveled just fine. And this time more roars joined the first. Backup had arrived.
No one bothered me in my little corner of the courtyard; I wasn’t sure anyone even realized I was there. I knew I should move, either to find a way to help or to get out of the way, but I was frozen. If I went inside I feared that I wouldn’t know what happened to Drikal for hours, if ever.
Everything happened quickly, but I couldn’t have said whether I stood there for hours or minutes. Finally the outer doors were being opened and Veyne and two women had a smoking Drikal clutched between them. The warriors shot me a warning look as I ran towards them, but something deep inside me pushed me forward. Maybe it was compassion or guilt, or maybe it was something I couldn’t yet grasp, but I could feel deep inside me that I needed to be near Drikal right now.
Veyne looked as if he was going to send me away, but Drikal made a noise and one of his eyes cracked open. He looked bruised and a bit bloody, but I didn’t know why there was smoke coming off his body and why he couldn’t stand on his own. Obviously the fight had taken it out of him, but he was alive for now.
Drikal leaned in towards me and Veyne let go of him so I could get my shoulder under Drikal’s arm. I was afraid to hurt him further, but he didn’t make a sound of protest.
“Get him to his rooms,” Veyne commanded. “I’ll get the healer.”
I thought the infirmary was closer, but now wasn’t the time to argue. The two other warriors helped me with Drikal and we got him upstairs and situated in his bed before Healer Gerin burst into the room. I couldn’t have described Drikal’s quarters to save my life, I was so focused on his injured form lying in his sumptuous bed. He looked small, and I didn’t know if that was because he was barely conscious and unmoving or if it was because the bed could fit a small dragon.