Relics and Runes Anthology

by Heather Marie Adkins

  When I set us down near the lavender tree, Rock looked around and released a warbling whistle.

  I merely closed my eyes and visualized myself mortal, a humanoid, and within seconds, I shifted back to Dark Verité, the girl, just as he met me.

  “There, that was easy. We must move quickly and with swift dispatch,” I said as Rock turned back to me.

  “All the Lords of Mercy, Verité, that is off-setting! But I am glad you are back. I am not sure my father would approve of my love for a four-legged winged lizard. I think he would approve of this visage more rapidly with less explanation from me.”

  “Have you seen Carmontoff? Or more of his minions?”

  “I have not. I think Father and Bruwyn must be in the safe hold. If not, I fear them dead.”

  “Let’s check. But I can tell you, we must be quick. I hear the approach of men and voices.”

  “At what distance, can you tell with your mystical ears?”

  “I do not have external ears, but holes where they should be that translate sensatory vibrations. Over centuries, we have evolved out of necessity. We are equipped with an internal mechanism that makes our entire bodies ‘sense’ or detect sounds. It has proven that much more useful in combat. What I feel on my back while I look to my front allows me to hear or feel danger behind me and avoid it. But that matters not now. I can also tell you that I smell the approach of the infidels. They came through the dells and the peat. I can distinguish them from your loyalists because the smoldering peat moss exudes an acrid gas. Those who approach now are not friendly.”

  “Amazing. My brother, there! And there’s Father. My brother’s holding him up, both safe. Come, we must help them and secure their safety.”

  “…and yours.”

  We ran to their sides as we gathered speed. The voices behind us became more audible. They were closing in, but they had not as yet seen us. We darted behind the hedgerow that hid the entrance to the safe hold from which they just emerged.

  “Go, go inside and barricade the entrance behind you. I will remove the traitors with quick dispatch. It is imperative that your safety be total and secured. You have subjects, family, loyalists fighting hard to protect your throne, the Crown, and your lives. You must protect your father and the throne.”

  “We will fight to the death that our father lives. Help Father into the safe hold, Bruwyn, and get him safely settled. I’ll be but moments.”

  “What? Who is the waif? You can’t seriously be going to put our lives in the hands of this…this tiny urchin?”

  “I can and I will, Bruwyn. This woman has an arsenal of weapons superior to all. You must trust me in this. It is your safety and Father’s that is most important. I will see it secured at all costs. Now, take Father. I must give Verité orders.”

  “Orders…?” I mumbled to Rock.

  The two men entered the safe hold, ready to depart when Rock joined them, but that wouldn’t be necessary. Somehow, I needed to separate the loyalists from the traitors and this I told Rock.

  “That is easy enough, Verité, but dangerous. I can sound the retreat. My forces will fall back to the last line of defense to await further orders.”

  “That could work. Can you draw Carmontoff and his cronies into the clearing? And then secure your safety without delay?”

  “Certainly. Carmontoff wants me dead, too. He will take me first, if he thinks he can, and then look for my brother and the King with his murderous intent.”

  I leaned in to kiss my love as he bent to embrace me. His heart raced and his palms were wet. He looked calm, but flush. He worried for my safety but I was at my best in my mammalian-like form. He must hurry.

  “Hurry, you must hurry. Do not worry for me. You may not see me, but think only of your own safety. Do not deviate from our plan. I am relying upon you to trust me.”

  “I do. Implicitly, Verité. You must do the same. You must trust me.”

  “Without question, Rock. Now, go! Bring me the quarry. We must restore peace and order so that confidence in the Crown continues and your enemies be dispatched without mercy for their traitorous perversions.”

  “I love you, Verité. Be safe.”

  “I will; you as well, beloved.”

  Rock ran across the dell to the bottom of the palace wall and I watched as his figure got smaller and smaller. When he approached the bottom of the back stairs, he pulled a long ram’s horn from his waistband and put it to his lips. His breast swelled as he pulled air into his lungs and then blew. His face blossomed red against the pressure. The ram’s horn bellowed the call to retreat. I could hear it echo in the moors and through the spires of the palace and further. A quiet calm fell on the early morning as this man I loved made so much noise, it would surely draw the attention of his enemy, Carmontoff. And that it did.

  The ring of metal against metal faded as the loyalist men did as ordered and retreated to the last stronghold. The sun inched up ever so slightly, but I did not need the light. The dragon eye amulet I gave to Rock to wear next to his heart was my mother’s eye. The eye of a dragon is in the shape similar to a cat—eye, thin with a vertical pupil. While the cat’s eye expands to absorb more light so it can see at night or in dark areas, a dragon’s eye does not. The expansion of a dragon’s pupil allows primordial energy to flow into our bloodstream to emanate from our pupil. This infinitesimal seepage of magic grants a dragon its night or darkvision. It is how I can see while others flounder under the shroud of midnight. It will be particularly useful to me now, in the early morning hours before the sun has fully shown itself.

  I felt my body change and writhe into my familiar wyrm form. I could almost feel each scale find itself and my horns and claws return to their original strength and fortification. My pupils widened, releasing the miniscule vapor I needed to see clearly and accurately in the darkness and I spied the men on the battlements above, holding the sheathes of their weapons tightly against their bodies to muffle any noise. But I heard them clearly and their deception screamed at me in the silent surroundings.

  Rock must have heard them, too, and he waited until the very last moment to dart out from under the protection of the barbican and start his run across the clearing. I knew he could not see me at this distance so I sprung into flight. I rose high above the open field and watched as Rock ran as fast as he could towards the safe hold. My sight focused on the men who followed. At the rear was the coward, Carmontoff, where I expected to find his skinny, lily-livered ass. He, the scoundrel, the thief, the traitor, would not live to see another day, not here. His next vision would be of me as I brought the fires of Hell to his feet and those of his conspirators.

  He does not deserve to share the air my love breathes.

  With all the men chasing Rock, who led them by a clear and comfortable margin of a furlong or so, their concentration was on him. It was perfect. I winged my way higher and behind the men that I might pick the Lord Coward himself off first in defense of this hallowed, royal ground.

  I set down directly behind Carmontoff and screeched his name with an eerie pitch that made him freeze, panting, while drawing huge lungfuls of air into his heaving chest.

  I sucked in his air, starving him of his last breath, and I blew a blast of Hell’s sulfuric revenge with an accuracy so keen, I impressed myself. The men he led, but from behind, turned and drew their futile weapons from protective sheaths. I saw them as brave warriors who were but seduced by a persuasive man and gave them that they were proud and loyal, although their loyalty was misplaced and must be punished. But, I allowed them their pride that they may die in battle, even though weapons were quite futile.

  Their armament drawn and ready for battle, they turned to eliminate the threat—me.

  My heart, the source and strength of all my power, beat only for one man, the man I loved and served. These infidels would spend eternity in Hell alongside their leader whose folly it was of theirs to follow.

  I would feel sad for them if I didn’t feel righteous. I inhaled, accepted
the power from my heart, and rose with a bounce, flying above them. One flank at a time, I vaporized their bodies and their treachery. I sent them straight to Hell for their crimes.

  While I did feel good and just, I reflected on how Rock might respond to me after he watched me systematically annihilate his enemy. I’m sure it didn’t appear very lady-like, but…well, at the moment, I was no lady, was I? I was a fierce shifter that lived my youth as a dragonette in the company of my family, all of whom were dragons, though of royal blood as well. I now entered a time in my life where I could shift, as need be, from dragoness to humanoid of the female type and back. It would prove to add dimension to my life and interest to my bed. All with my father’s blessing. Could anything be sweeter? I was loved and adored by two of the most important men in my world—my father who gave me life, and wings, and Rock, a man of royal lineage who picked me, quite by accident, above all others while knowing there was something very curiously special about me.

  Now, all I had to do was persuade my beloved to leave royal hearth, home, and family—all he has ever known—to live with me in the land of my ancestor…dragons. What could be easier? I looked in the direction of the safe hold. I saw no movement, had one of the treasonous bastards slipped by my view and foiled my defeat of all their brothers? Had someone breached the safe hold? My heart, which was the source of my power, spiked into a race which was only surpassed by my reaction to the threat. Blood flushed into my pectoral muscles and with sweeping speed, I flew with a panic to secure the safety of my charges. I landed with a resounding thud, my wings arced swiftly and collapsed to my body. The magnificent force of wind that burst forth from restoring my wings to their comfort wing-base bent most of the surrounding foliage to the ground.

  I was unsure of what, exactly, I should do in my panic. My superior strength was most effective as a mammalian dragon. I lost time and speed as a human. If I was ambushed, I could recover but the delay may be deadly for Rock or his father and brother. But…in a split second, thoughts raced through my mind…I fell back on my confidence and trust. He said he would do exactly as I said. If he did, he’ll be safe.

  I trusted Rock. In a moment, I was adjusting the sash knotted above my breasts. I called out to Rock. I had not seen exactly where the safe hold was but I knew it was by the lavender tree.

  “Rock…Rock, where are you?” I turned my head towards the rustle in the hedgerow.

  “Here, ladylove, here I am.”

  I rushed into his arms and jumped around his body, wrapping my slender, strong legs around his waist. I covered his face with kisses. He was laughing. His hands were linked behind my back and I leaned back against them, my hands cupped his cheeks.

  “You are so beautiful, Rock. When I didn’t see you, I was afraid, panicked by a fear so ferocious and gripping, my usually steady heart exploded. I couldn’t think, I just reacted and sped here with all my might. I was afraid you and your brother and father had been…were…”

  “But we hadn’t and we weren’t, see? I’m fine and I can promise you that they are too.”

  “Where are they? Are they still in the safe hold?”

  “No, they started back to the palace by the tunnel.”

  “Oh, there’s an underground tunnel. That makes sense. Your brother could manage your father himself?”

  “Yes, my father’s man was with him. He’s practically one of the family, so we consider him royalty, too. He practically raised Bruwyn and me like a big brother and his father raised my father. The lineage is undetermined.” I loved to see him laugh, as he did now, at his joke and the obvious relief he felt. I felt it too. I wore his joy and wrapped myself in it from head to toe.

  “So, they both helped him back to the palace. That’s wonderful. I’d feel just terrible if you stayed to wait for me at the expense of helping your father. I hope he can rest and recuperate in peace now, without fear or threat.”

  “Well, I would have made them both wait until you returned, until I was quite sure you were safe. So, no one would have left, until we were all safe and sound, especially you. By the by, you made quite an impression on my father. He is still at a loss as to how you were able to defeat Carmontoff and his band of thieves. But, being a wise man, he accepts it as the gift it is and praises you in your infinite skill.”

  “Your father is a very smart man. I liked that immediately about you. So, there is reason to assume that you are your father’s son.”

  “Yes, but I am at a loss as to what to do about you, Verité.”

  This seemed a serious turn in the conversation so I unlocked my ankles at his back and slid them down his sides, planting them firmly on the ground. I looked into Rock’s eyes, searching for answers.

  “I had no idea I was a problem to you.”

  “Oh, please don’t get me wrong. You are a problem to me—don’t frown—in the very best of ways. It is a perplexing problem and I am in search of an answer. Come, let’s begin back to the castle.”

  “By the tunnel?”

  “No, let’s breathe the fresh early morning air of freedom…and peace. I cannot thank you enough. I am indebted to you, you know that, don’t you?”

  “Don’t be silly, Rock. You don’t owe me anything. You would’ve done the same for me, that is…if you were a dragon with a breath weapon and an array of supernatural abilities, both magical and mystical, including an aura that induces overwhelming fear.”

  “Oh, I didn’t know about the aura thing. That’s interesting…so you could actually use all these powers on anyone?”

  “Yes, of course, but a responsible dragon uses his or her powers with discretion. Isn’t that the point? As opposed to holding someone hostage through fear based on easy retaliation?”

  “I was dallying with you, Verité. In stark contrast to that joke, I feel very safe in your presence. I trust you implicitly.”

  “And I you, Rock.”

  “But what am I to do with you, Verité? My father hasn’t even met you and already I want to whisk you away and spend my life in your company and in your bed.”

  “How you do flatter, Rock. Well, first things first…shouldn’t I meet your father?”

  “I suppose so. I can hardly expect my father to approve of me wanting to spend my life with a girl I woke on the beach just yesterday.”

  “Has it only been since yesterday? It seems a lifetime ago, as though I have known you forever.”

  “That can be arranged, milady. But, first things first. Let’s go and check on my father. If I know him at all, he will be ravenous, as I am sure you are as well, and I will introduce you to him.”

  “Sounds perfect. I am famished, really, I am! I did work up quite an appetite, you know.”

  “Yes, you did, and I cannot wait until my father sees you eat and enjoy your food!”

  “Oh, how you make me laugh, Rock.”

  “I want to make you happy, Verité, not just laugh.”

  They approached the north wall, still cloaked in the shadows. It seemed the perfect spot to rest and lean against the wall.

  “You may regret that, Rock. I’m impertinent, bull-headed, and impatient. I don’t need long locks or stylish cuts, girlie long gowns or sparkling tiaras and gems to be a woman. I am a lithe, tough bad ass and I wear the expression that makes it clear. Vixen and virgin, tomboy and coquette; I am not your normal run of the kill girl. Life with me is bound to be very different than you have ever experienced. But, I’ll always keep my promises and hold you dear.”

  “I will always take care of you, Verité, and you can trust me to always keep my promises to you and love you.”

  “That reminds me, Rock, I saved you yesterday so that you may live to love another day. Remember?”

  “Hummm, I seem to remember something like that, Verité.”

  “Correct me, if you dare, but I also seem to remember an exchange that went something like: You said: ‘I will love you again and again—perhaps even tonight—fierce, Verité. You must prepare yourself!’

  “And then
I said, showing deference to your royal blood: ‘Perhaps, sire, it is you that needs rest in preparation for me, Dark Verité—fierce, ravenous, deadly.’ Which I believe I have proven beyond immeasurable doubt.”

  “And I believe I replied, ‘You sound insatiable’. That’s accurate, or close, is it not?”

  “Yes, yes and I was generous enough to warn you, as I recall. ‘Be warned. Be very warned, sire.’”

  “Then we had better eat a hearty breakfast. I can see it is going to be a very long day into night. You, while you are a fierce little urchin, as my father was keen to observe, may need to eat frequently and rest often.”

  “Is that what they call ‘throwing down the gauntlet?’”

  “That is what I love about you! You are impertinent and smart!”

  “Then let me repeat, be warned, sire, be very, very warned.”

  “Let’s go eat and I’ll properly introduce you to my father and Bruwyn. They will be enchanted by your many charms, as I am. Then we can discuss our future in bed while I work tirelessly to keep my promises.”

  ~ The End ~

  About the Author

  Muffy Wilson is a USA Today Bestselling and 2017 SWFRW Joyce Henderson First Place Paranormal Award-Winning author of provocative, paranormal, and fantasy romance. An American author of the popular Shadow Seduction Series, The Heart Series, and Ribbons of Moonlight Series, she has penned dozens of other books and anthology collections.

  Muffy’s father was a career Colonel and pilot in the U.S. Air Force which required the family to travel extensively. Muffy spent her formative years in Europe and 'came of age' in France forging her joie de vivre and love for books and writing. Married and living in the tropical paradise of SW Florida along the Gulf Coast, Muffy writes and enjoys life in the sun with her husband and wee Havanese pups, Buddy and CoCo Chanel while volunteering as a foster mom to rescued Havanese dogs and puppies through HALO and HRI, both 501c nonprofit charitable organizations.

  Website: http://MuffyWilson.com