DragonsHeart.wps

by test

  “Damage control? If my hunch is right, it’s even too late for that.”

  Screams of panic rent the air, followed by a sound they both recognized. “Make that damn car fly! I’ll take care of whatever is coming our way. Go!” Grania shouted, moving into battle mode.

  He gave her one last fleeting glance. People ran toward her. She didn’t know DRAGON’S HEART Marly Mathews 170

  what to do … why had Dylan’s people abandoned the humans? They were going to get pulverized out here.

  “Get behind me!” she yelled her order, earning a few looks of disapproval,

  especially from the men. There were about twenty of them.

  “What the bloody hell do you think you can do? We’ve just been invaded by

  flipping dungeons and dragons!” The man yelling the remark had a gaping wound in his side. He looked as white as a sheet, he needed medical attention, sooner rather than later.

  “Just do it! Whatever is coming this way, I can stop it.” She pulled out her sword from its scabbard.

  “Do you hear her, Hugh? She can stop it.” The man with the wound turned to his friend and chuckled, then grimaced with pain.

  “Maybe she’s like that witch that tried helping us,” Hugh suggested hopefully.

  “Tried?” Her stomach sank.

  “She got knocked out by a car. That was a wicked sight to be sure. I don’t know why she didn’t get crushed.”

  “Knocked out? That would have killed her.”

  “Not so.” A man that stood at about six feet four came striding into view, holding an unconscious witch in his arms. “She’s my fighting partner. I was going to stay and fight another round, but I couldn’t leave her in harm’s way. Our medics are doing what they can, but ....”

  “I understand. You just wanted her safe.” She smiled.

  “Are you friend or foe?” Suddenly, the warrior wizard’s eyes started glowing. “I know what you are. I can smell it.” His eyes widened, he reached for his wand, when Dylan shouted something. In the next instant, the man’s wand turned rubbery in his hand. “What the ruddy hell?”

  “Just try using that sort of magic on my wife, and there will be fucking hell to pay!” Dylan strode into view. “I’ve rigged the car. It’s ready to go.”

  “Dylan?” The wizard looked shocked.

  “I should have known it was you, Leo. What the hell do you think you were

  doing? She’s on our side! Just like so many other dragon shifters are. I catch you pulling another fast one like that, and I will forget that I even know you! I will not hesitate to blow you from here to bloody kingdom come!”

  “My apologies, then. I didn’t realize that she was who she was. I would never hurt a Lightfoot. Not in a million years. Now then, since we’ve cleared the air could we please move on? I’d appreciate it if you could possibly take the bloody jinx you put on my wand off?”

  “Course,” Dylan said. The wand straightened and hardened before her eyes.

  “What’s going on in Tewkesbury?” she asked. She watched as Dylan moved over

  to the injured man and put a magical bandage on his side.

  “I’ve never seen the likes of it before. Most of them are trying to make their way to London. Before we know it, the capital will be streaming with hordes of the bloody buggers. Don’t worry though, we were giving as good as we got before Kayla was injured.”

  “My family.” She felt the need to sit. Vertigo ripped at her being, nearly pulling her asunder.

  “Your family must be somewhere safe.” Dylan gave her a reassuring smile. Her

  DRAGON’S HEART Marly Mathews 170

  stomach clenched. She could feel a sense of deep foreboding in the air.

  “What’s this about your family?” Leo looked between them.

  “The king and queen of Dragonia,” Dylan whispered.

  “I heard someone say they were dead.” Leo looked crestfallen. “I am sorry, I

  hadn’t realized that they had any relations here on Earth.”

  “Dead?” Hollowness invaded her heart. She swallowed past the thick lump

  emerging in her throat.

  A bright light illuminated the space behind them. Sounds of a dragon’s battle cry came to them from ahead. It made the hairs on the nape of her neck prickle with dread.

  The dread was quickly replaced by a bloodlust the likes of which she’d never

  experienced before. If her family had been among the many that had been slain that day, she would bloody well avenge their deaths. The best way to do that was to kill as many of her father’s dragon shifters as she could manage.

  “Hey, Dylan! I don’t have all day. We should have the entire facility in

  lockdown mode, but I persuaded Bonnie to open it up when these humans wandered by.

  Aine said that there were bunkers created for the humans all over England. I don’t understand why this bunch didn’t get caught by one of our agents.” Aurora looked magnificent. Light glowed around her, as her magic literally haloed her in a protective cocoon.

  “Aye, that’s right.” Leo nodded. “Unfortunately, they forgot to put one in this bloody area of town. Hats off to whoever decided on that. We can’t go back, we have to go forward until we can find the next closest bunker.”

  “How badly injured is she?” Aurora moved forward to lend her assistance.

  “I think she’s coming round. Before the car hit her, she’d managed to put up a shield but then a tremor hit, and her concentration wavered … just enough for her to get her blinking lights knocked out.”

  “I’ll take her with me,” Aurora offered. “The rest of the humans can come as

  well.”

  The mortals clustered around Aurora. Something about her intrigued them

  greatly. It had to be the light she was throwing off. “It’s just the sort of affect I have on humans. I have no idea why.” She smiled at Grania. “Do you two still want to forge on ahead? It looks like everything has gone to the dogs out here.”

  “To the dragon shifters more like,” Leo scoffed. “I’m staying out here to fight.

  You can take Kayla back with you.”

  “No …,” Kayla coughed, finally coming round. “I’m not going back with

  Aurora. I’m trained for this. I have to fight. There’s no other way.”

  “You had yourself knocked out ....” Leo’s forehead creased. Grania recognized the way that Leo looked at Kayla; he was giving her the same irritated look that Dylan gave her more frequently than she preferred.

  “That’s happened to me plenty of times. I’m a walking disaster, remember,

  Leo?” He put her cautiously down on her wobbly feet. “Whoa. I’m good. Give me a few more seconds and I’ll be back in top form.” She gave Leo a wane smile. Grania had to admire Kayla’s tenacity under great odds.

  Grania stepped forward. Kayla’s eyes widened. “Oh, boy. You’re her! I

  recognize you from our intelligence reports. I’m honored to meet you.” She bowed her head to Grania in a show of respect.

  DRAGON’S HEART Marly Mathews 170

  “Obviously, Leo missed the memo, since he tried to kill her when he first laid eyes on her,” Dylan said wryly, narrowing his eyes at Leo.

  “How was I to know? She’s not wearing the royalist insignia … I thought she

  was one of Draco’s little hellions.”

  “It’s okay, Dylan. You stopped him in time.”

  “You bet I did. I better not catch you pointing that thing at her again.”

  “I don’t think we really have time to stand out here arguing. I’m getting the humans to safety.” Aurora sounded determined.

  “Humans? We all have names, you know!” The same loudmouth that had opened

  his trap before when Grania had told them to take cover behind her, had gone done it again. She would be relieved when Aurora finally got them out of her hair.

  “What the hell is going on here? I’m just minding my own business walking

>   toward my car when a lorry flies through the air and lands on top of it. Had it not been for some bloke wielding a wand, I would have been dead. Those dragons are dangerous!

  And then, there are the ones that aren’t dragons, but they aren’t humans either! What the bloody hell is going on? I want some answers!”

  “We are at war.” Dylan’s voice remained impassive.

  “Well now, call me stupid. I didn’t realize that! What I want to know is what the ruddy hell we are at war with!”

  “Dragon shifters that want to take back this world.” This time she supplied the rude man with his answer.

  The man’s eyes boggled out of his head. “Dragons, you mean?”

  “No … dragon shifters are all human. They only shape shift into a dragon

  form.…” Leo cut into her explanation.

  “They are not really all human.” Leo’s contradiction made her want to slap him.

  “They are human.” Dylan looked over at Leo. The hard look he gave him quieted Leo. She didn’t have to be a telepath to realize that Dylan held command over Leo.

  “Aurora, you have to get the humans out of sight. She’s coming,” Grania said, the hair prickling on the back of her neck.

  “She? That thing was a bloody she? How the hell do you tell the difference?”

  Leo’s eyes almost crossed.

  She ignored Leo. “She’s brought company with her. Get them out of here, now!”

  Just as Aurora disappeared with the group of humans, the ground shook again.

  Dylan stood on her right side. Kayla moved to flank the other side.

  “Dylan, I might do something surprising. Please, I hope you won’t be revolted.”

  “How could anything you do make me want to revile you?”

  She didn’t have time to reply. They all braced themselves for the sight unfolding before them. The dragon shifter in front of them flying at a breakneck pace was all dragon. She was green with a black mane. Her wings were huge—Grania recognized her.

  As many dragon shifters as there were in existence, especially those on her

  father’s side, why did she have to meet her right now, at this moment? Another dragon shifter flew beside her, except this dragon shifter hadn’t completed the shape shift from human form into dragon form. She wondered if Dylan had ever seen a dragon shifter in this half transformed shape before.

  “What is that?” Dylan spoke in a hushed voice.

  DRAGON’S HEART Marly Mathews 170

  “It’s a dragon shifter in our half form.” She looked over at him. “Faeries have wings … why can’t we?”

  He gave her an uncertain gaze. “I’ve never seen .…”

  “How do you think we fly when we need to engage in combat with each other?

  Not all of us prefer fighting in our dragon skin. I know I don’t like to—it’s far too easy to give into the animalistic side of us. Our passions are riled, and we sometimes lose our head.”

  “The royalists never fight in their full dragon form. At least, not from my

  minimal experience seeing them locked in combat with their own kind.” Leo nodded.

  “It’s magnificent and slightly disconcerting at the same time, isn’t it?”

  He looked at Kayla to agree with him. “I think it’s a beautiful sight to behold.

  The good ones take my breath away ... the bad ones ... not so much.” She smiled grimly.

  The dragon shifter in the dragon form opened her mouth. Fire spewed forth.

  “Oh, damn, here we go again. Good times.” She heard Leo’s sarcastic quip, but instead of giving him any attention, she transformed so she, too, would have a pair of dragon wings. As the fire came toward her, she altered its temperature so it turned to a sheet of ice. She stopped, suddenly sensing more of the enemy coming toward them.

  “There’s more coming! Get ready!” she shouted, hoping her message would be

  heard. She was now airborne. “Well, well, Desdemona, fancy meeting you here.” She looked at the black haired dragon shifter in front of her. Desdemona was in the same form as Grania was in, except Grania's wings were white and Desdemona's wings were black.

  “You should be groveling for your father’s forgiveness. You have broken his

  heart,” Desdemona said snidely, smoke billowing out of her nostrils. Was she going to breath fire at her in her human form?

  “Dragon shit. I haven’t broken his heart; he knew I would go down this path, as soon as he strayed from the righteous path.”

  “Righteous? Some would say you are speaking blasphemy. Our kind is taking

  back what originally belonged to us. You have already lost. It will only be a matter of time before all of the continents on Earth fall to our might.”

  “I’m not listening to your twisted sense of propaganda anymore, Desdemona.”

  “I guess I’ll have to regretfully tell your father that I was forced to slay you.

  Then, I will kill your little lover boy down there. The rumors circulating that you had found your mate made your father smile, but when he found out that your mate was a lowly wizard, it made him nearly weep. You have indeed shattered his heart.”

  “My father isn’t the weeping sort of dragon shifter. As for his heart, I highly doubt he even knows how to unfreeze that anymore. He keeps all of those tears bottled up inside … that’s probably why he’s got such terrible anger management issues.”

  They both had their swords drawn. “Did they tell you that your dear auntie and uncle are no more?” Desdemona laughed with glee. “Your father had a difficult time bringing himself to kill your aunt, but your uncle, he killed with a relish I’ve never seen him possess before.”

  “Stop it. You don’t have much time left to gloat. I’ll be shortening your rather long lifeline soon. Get ready to meet the fires of hell!”

  “You don’t have it in your heart to kill me.”

  “You can tell that to the other assassins I killed when they came for Dylan. You DRAGON’S HEART Marly Mathews 170

  are on the wrong side, Desdemona, and now, the evils of your past are coming to bite you right on the ass!”

  “You are the greatest failure to ever grace our kind. You will have half-breeds as children, your father is enraged that his bloodline will be muddied by that filth.”

  Anger surged through her. She couldn’t listen to her any longer ... her patience was straining. Soon, it would buckle beneath the effort.

  “You can’t fight me. We were once the best of friends,” Desdemona stated in a matter of fact tone.

  “I’ve found that many of my so-called best of friends aren’t very friendly toward me anymore. You can’t go all dovish on me. The lines have been drawn between us.

  We can’t go back, sentimentality is dead when it concerns us.”

  “Is it? I was there when you mother died ....”

  “Stop it. Just stop trying to play on my sympathies. We aren’t friends anymore.

  No friend of mine would even contemplate hurting the man I love, even if he is a wizard.

  You should know that.” She looked behind Desdemona at the dozen or so dragon shifters quickly closing the distance between them.

  While she was distracted, Desdemona lunged toward her. She made a fireball

  explode in front of her, momentarily rendering her blind. She lost her concentration, and started plummeting to the ground.

  DRAGON’S HEART Marly Mathews 170

  Chapter Twelve

  Dylan looked up. They’d just defeated the wild dragon and were now preparing to meet what from his estimation seemed to be a dozen more. Even with battle magic on their side, taking out a fully formed dragon shifter with evil intentions had been a grueling task.

  “They just seem to multiply out of thin bloody air!” Leo shuddered.

  “Well, that just means we’ll have to work twice as hard to bring them down,”

  Dylan shouted over the roars of dragons.

  “We have to get back to Tewkesbury. Your
mother wanted us to stop them in

  their tracks there. She didn’t want them getting a foothold in any other city.”

  “Any idea where the second and third wave will be coming in?” Dylan asked, all the while shooting off energy balls at the incoming dragon shifters.

  “We think North America. We can’t be sure though. Our offices in North

  America are gearing up for a battle like we have on our hands here. Once they take England, they’ll take Europe, if they station themselves in North America and get a foothold there, the rest of the world will be easy to conquer. It will all be downhill from there on in. The world will be irrevocably changed for the worse.” Kayla nodded. “We must stop them here, we don’t have a choice.” A burst of light exploded in the sky. He looked up at the same time that Kayla and Leo gazed up at the sky.

  “No! I knew she was too distracted. Bloody hell!” He moved to intervene with his magic when Kayla reached for his arm.

  “Leave her be. If she doesn’t pull a rabbit out of her hat by the time she gets too close to going splat then you can ride to her rescue then. But she’s supposed to be protecting you. Let her prove that she’s worthy of that position. We have to cut her some slack. She’s fighting against her own. What would you do if you suddenly had to face off against Leo and me? We all went to school together, and though you and Leo almost always rubbed each other the wrong way, we do share that scholarly bond. Leo might have words with you at times, but I know he’d be hard pressed to kill you.”

  “Don’t bet on it,” Leo joked. “You can bloody well be a right and proper prick.

  You’ve mellowed out a bit though in the short time since you’ve known that lovely lady.”

  “A few minutes ago, you were ready to attack said lovely lady.” Dylan snorted.

  “Not now. But if you don’t help her soon, she’s going to be a flipping pancake on the sidewalk!”

  “No. Give her time. Sometimes you men just don’t give us ladies enough time.

  We aren’t always the screaming damsel in distress, you know.” Kayla pulled on his arm, holding him back. He was inclined to push her away, when Grania’s velocity started to slow. Her white dragon wings started to pull her up. She looked down at him, gave him a soft smile, and saluted him with her free arm. The other arm lifted the beautiful sword that she held. She looked like an avenging angel, with her flaming red hair and glorious white wings.