by test
Nicholas looked at her in expectation. “I thought you knew what the sound of a dragon shifter roaring was like .…” Grania muttered.
“Of course. I meant are we expecting to be met by friend or foe?”
“If my father’s standard is any indication it looks as if this building has already fallen to the enemy.”
“Then, we have no choice. We’ll simply have to drive them back.”
“How?” She hated her self-doubt, but she hadn’t been expecting this when she’d asked to be taken to Dylan. Where was he? And how near death would he be? If he had the spell, he had to use it and quickly. He couldn’t think about harming one of her kind, not when Draco was this close to winning such a decisive victory.
“Come with me.” She didn’t know what was possessing Nicholas, but he’d taken
her hand and she didn’t feel like drawing away from him. Hand in hand, they walked toward the door that they’d find Dylan and his mother behind. Reaching out with her senses, she wasn’t surprised to be met with several dragon shifter psyches.
“Get your wand out, and be ready.” She released his hand and reached for her
bow and an arrow. Priming it for action, she nodded at him to open the door. The sight that awaited them made them both gasp in shock.
DRAGON’S HEART Marly Mathews 170
Chapter Twenty
“Get away from him!” Grania screamed.
Denys stood over a bloody Dylan. “Ah, Grania. I was just about to finish off a job I started about a week ago. Thanks to you it’s only dragged out. The last few days have been quite vexing for me. You know how frustrated I get when I can’t finish something I started.”
“Bully for you. Step away from Dylan and I’ll reconsider killing you.”
Denys’s laugh was short and harsh. “Kill me with that measly mortal weapon?
You have become addled in your pitifully short time as this wizard’s wife. My heart bleeds for the way you have turned from the path of righteousness. You are a blight upon your father’s line.”
“I don’t have time to quibble with you over your stupid ideology. Where is
Aine?”
“She has been taken to your father. I think he’s in the mood for witch for dinner.”
Dylan let out a roar of rage. ‘ Use the spell.’
Her telepathic plea made Dylan shift on the floor. ‘ Never.’
His telepathic voice was weak.
She didn’t like the way he sounded, not at all. The situation was grave, and this serious of a situation called for drastic measures.
‘ Just do it.’
She hesitated using the weapon she held against Denys. She would far rather
leave it to Dylan to finish him off. Dylan needed this, he’d already gotten after her once for fighting his battles for him, she’d be damned if she’d make the same mistake again.
‘ Use the damn spell! NOW! Do it! ’
‘ Not when youÕre in the area. I will not risk accidentally taking you out as well! ’
Her heart was frozen.
Denys sniffed at the air, and turned to her. Cocking his head, he smiled.
“I smell telepathy at work, here. You shouldn’t be cheating, boy and girl.” He conjured a fireball. “I think I’m ready to see you burn now, wizard.”
“No!” Without thinking, she fired the arrow off at him. It struck him in the leg.
He laughed maniacally.
“Do you honestly think that will do the trick of killing a dragon shifter as
powerful as me? You truly are pathetic, Grania.”
“And you are as good as dead. Farewell.”
Dawning horror glistened across his face, as the arrow started to wreak its killing magic. The curse ran through his bloodstream like wildfire.
“Damn you, Grania!” His eyes bulged out of his head. She drew in her breath
sharply and held it, waiting for what was to come. Just before he exploded, she turned her gaze away.
Nicholas whistled. “Now that did a body good. Thank you, Grania.”
Dylan was still on the ground.
DRAGON’S HEART Marly Mathews 170
“Are you hurt terribly?”
She rushed to his side. “I’m fine as long as you’re okay … why the hell did you do that to me? You nearly gave me a fit when you sent me back through the portal alone.
Don’t ever do that again!”
“Is that an order?”
“Yes.”
“Well, for once I’ll listen to it. But remember, this is an equal marriage we have going on here.”
“I remember. As long as you’ll stop molly coddling me, I’ll stop ordering you around. Now give a chap a hand.”
She helped him to his feet. “I thought you’d be able to take Denys.”
“So did I. Until they used my mother as a bartering tool. I still don’t know how they managed to get past our lines of defense. That black magic your father is using is more than we initially bargained for. Our witches and wizards are having a time of it, I can tell you.”
“That’s because Draco has no scruples. Moral high ground for him is no man’s
land.” Nicholas grunted. “What happened to Merdwyn?”
“He’s still out there, doing his best to even the playing ground. I told him I had to find my mother and father. Father has returned to our hidden headquarters to rally more troops, mother would not leave her post, unless of course, she was taken kicking and screaming ... which, she was.” Pain flashed in his bright blue eyes.
“We’ll find her, Dylan.”
“The first step of me getting my hope back was seeing you.”
“Thank you. I rescued Bronwyn and several other prisoners that have boosted our ranks considerably. Victory is still in our sight.”
“I hope you’re right. I never thought I’d see us brought to our knees this way.
Even during the last war between dragon shifters and wizards, the damage never reached this colossal height. Your father has no boundaries. His crusade will end in our deaths.”
“We’ll rebuild,” Grania murmured.
“The humans have been irrevocably scarred. I don’t think my mother and her
agents will be able to do damage control on the last few days. The veil of innocence has been lifted. Mortal life as they know it will never be the same. They’ve seen what we are, and they’ve seen the sort of destruction we can cause when we are fighting a war they didn’t ask for. They could end up reviling us, and calling us abominations.”
“Do you honestly think they aren’t rooting for our side? They have no other
hope. They can either accept us for what we are ... a blessing, or they can rot in hell as far as I’m concerned. We’re the only things standing between them and utter chaos. You have to use that spell! Dylan, please," she implored.
“I can’t. It’s too risky.” His face paled.
“You’ve already used it, haven’t you?” She crinkled her eyebrow, watching a
multitude of emotions cross his face. He raked his hand nervously through his hair.
“I did.” He sighed heavily.
“And?”
“And, I killed about ten dragon shifters … three of them were on our side. The spell is a disaster. It sees no difference between good and evil.” He swallowed hard. She could see the hellish emotions that he was struggling with. He had done the unthinkable DRAGON’S HEART Marly Mathews 170
and he was having a hard time coming to terms with it. “The spell seems to have a radius of damage. Anyone within about fifty feet of me when I use the incantation is affected.
Fortunately, I didn’t take out more of your kind since they were far enough away. That’s why I couldn’t cast it when you were around. You would have been killed as well.”
“A risk I would welcome when it comes to your life. I won’t have you die
because of me. My father has to be stopped. I’m completely willing to die for our cause, Dylan.”
“I’m not completely willing to let you die, my love.”
“I know how he feels, Grania. I know too well, since I’ve met Brianna. The
dragon shifters Dylan accidentally killed probably had the same mindset you did. You took out some evildoers, my friend … and it’s tragic that you killed some of the ones working on our side, but this is war and you have to buck up until we’ve grasped victory.
We can’t let anything blindside us, not even your guilt. And on that note, we should get moving. We have to get out there and try to help out.” Nicholas walked toward the door.
“No … I’m going to Draco’s. I have to save my mother. I know he’s out for her blood. I’m not going to let him spill it.”
“I’m with Dylan. You can go out and join Merdwyn in the battle, but our place is with Aine.”
“Good luck you two. May fortune smile down on you tonight.” With that
blessing, Nicholas took his leave.
Her hand felt so good clasped in Dylan’s.
“You want to tell me anything else about your little trip to your father’s inner sanctum?” His question was whispered, but with the edge in his voice, he could have shouted it and wouldn’t have been any more startling.
She didn’t know how he’d known she’d been at the manor house. It didn’t
surprise her though, since their bond was growing stronger by the hour.
“I found out just how he feels about me. We’re on the same wavelength. He was going to give me back to Denys … now that definitely can’t happen. I’m going to kill my father.”
“No. You said you’d released all of his prisoners. You get my mother out when we get there. I’m going to stay behind and duel with your father until he ends up blown from here to kingdom come. It ends, now. I’ve farted around long enough watching while your father wreaks his destruction against me and mine. The spell works, you get out with my mother and I’ll be able to take care of the rest.”
“Out of the question.”
“No. You will listen to me, Grania! In this, I will not be dissuaded.”
“I told you already that I won’t listen to your orders. You don’t rule over me with an iron magical fist, Dylan.”
“I know that. But my plan is better. I stay behind. I take out your father and as many of his followers as I can. Presto Gizmo and everything is honky dory.”
She stopped, yanking him back with her. “Is that really what you want to do?”
He nodded. “Then, you will be known as the scourge that saved my people, your people and humanity. I think I like it.” She was careful to not give him her pledge to leave with his mother. She was going to stay with him until the end. She knew that he faced great odds in getting out of the battle with her father alive. He was probably thinking he’d cast the spell if it was the last thing he did, and if he was going to do his DRAGON’S HEART Marly Mathews 170
last thing ... so would she.
“I’m going to transport us there magically. We don’t have any time to lose.”
“Good idea. As always you’re full of golden ones.”
She held onto him as he snapped his fingers. The familiar jolting sensation
rippled over her, making her dizzy. She’d done far too much magical traveling in one day to last her a lifetime.
When they emerged outside of the manor house, the sight of the lands made her
blood curdle.
“And darkness will reign.” Her whispered words, made Dylan squeeze her hand.
“It’s four o’clock in the afternoon, and the sun is eclipsed. We weren’t due for an eclipse which can only mean ....”
“Dark magic, used in all of its terrible glory. Not even the moon lights our way, he’s taken out all of the objects of nature that feed white magic.”
“Indeed.” Dylan’s nostrils flared. “I can sense mother in there. We need to get to her.”
She gasped. “O’Malley is here. Can you feel him?”
He looked to the sky. “I can’t feel him, but I can see him.” He pointed to the dark sky.
She followed his finger. “NO! He has been swallowed up by his beastly nature
.,.. he has transformed into a demonic dragon. This is bad, the worst.”
“Demonic Dragon? I really don’t like the sound of that, my love.”
“Love isn’t anything he knows or feels anymore. He is made up of pure hatred.
There is no reasoning with him, now. I don’t even think my father will be able to control him. He has lost himself. He is only set upon a path of destruction, one of his own making. If you think my father fights dirty, you ain’t seen nothing yet.”
Dylan heaved a shattering breath. “I must go for my mother.”
“You can’t fight O’Malley even if you wanted to ... his power has grown too
strong. It’s all encompassing. Can’t you feel the static electricity of fallout dark magic rippling in the air?” She handed him the bow and strapped the quiver of arrows to his back. “Take this, and if the spell doesn’t work ... if he’s found a counter agent, use the arrows to kill him.”
“What about you?”
“I can handle O’Malley on my own. I’ll have to shape shift and fight him in my dragon form. It’s the only way ... fight beast with beast.”
“Are you insane? You need this more than I do ....” He tried pressing the weapon into her hands. She breathed in a large gust of air, calling upon her dragon shifter side.
She envisioned the way she looked in dragon form and felt searing pain slice through her.
Her knees were going to buckle beneath the extreme pressure. She gasped for air.
“I can’t transform. I’ve never run into this before.” She leaned on him,
discouraged by her latest discovery. “I don’t understand ....” She fell silent. Perhaps, she did have an inkling of understanding, but she wasn’t about to tell him what she suspected. He’d flip, and if she knew him as well as she did, he’d run to transport her to the other side of the world.
O’Malley had seen them. He centered his attention squarely on them. Dylan was slowly regaining his strength. He lunged toward her and pushed her to the ground. She landed with a thud. He blasted a bolt of magical energy at O’Malley. The bolt simply DRAGON’S HEART Marly Mathews 170
bounced off O’Malley and swerved right back at them.
“Oh, shit!” He covered her body with his and erected a shield. The brunt of his attack blast hit her making them both grunt with the impact. “Are you okay? I didn’t break anything did I?”
“I’m not that fragile. I’m not as delicate as you seem to think I am.” He helped her to her shaky feet. She didn’t want to show her vulnerability to him, but the events of the last few days were wearing hard on her.
“Well, I’m not as small as you think. My weight combined with my backfiring
magic … I just thought you might have been injured. In the future, I won’t jump to worrying about you.”
“I’m fine. Thank you for your concern." She smiled at him wistfully. "I’ll have to try to get an arrow to pierce him. With his dark magic, I don’t know ....”
“I thought you had your own magic,” Dylan said.
“Dragon shifters have magic, aye, but we don’t readily use it, nor is it as
formidable as the magic you wield.”
“You have to tap into it now … we’ll merge our powers, and when we do, we
might just be able to destroy him. If we don’t stop him now, Earth won’t even have a hope.”
“I agree. Give me your hand, I don’t know how great of an idea this is since no dragon shifter and wizard have ever merged their powers before. What if we create some sort of combustion?”
“As long as it affects O’Malley, I don’t see a problem with that.” He flashed her a weak yet still cheeky grin.
Closing her eyes, she drew on her magic, the untapped source took a while to call forth.
Finally, she felt her fingertips start to warm. He felt
it too, for his hand twitched beneath hers. “I’m getting stoked.”
She smiled at his pun. The air almost crackled around them. She could smell the scent of dragon shifter magic. She hadn’t lost her touch after all. Her power was coalescing around them. A reddish bubble formed around them.
“Now it’s my turn.” She watched as he called upon his own magic. Blue energy
mingled with red magic energy.
O’Malley’s animalistic dragon roar literally shook the ground. She shivered.
“Let’s hope this is enough to make him stagger long enough for me to use an
arrow on him.
“It might not come to that, if we’re lucky our magic just might take him out.”
“I wouldn’t count on that, but I’ll hold onto that hope for your sake.”
“Fire! Now!” Dylan ordered. They merged minds, their magic blasted forth in a huge stream. It connected with O’Malley. He let out a scream, which made her ears feel like they were going to bleed.
“This is it!” she shouted.
O’Malley staggered. His wings gave way, and started plummeting to the ground.
She had to act now or they just might not get a second chance.
The arrow zoomed toward him. It hit him in his thick hide. He let out another scream. A fireball the size of a car flew out of his mouth and arced toward them.
She stepped in front of Dylan. Her magic whirled around them. As the fireball DRAGON’S HEART Marly Mathews 170
drew near her ice fire magic wrapped around it freezing it. The large ice ball landed harmlessly at her feet.
“Do you think we could use this to make a grand entrance?” she asked.
He smiled. Her stomach twisted at O’Malley’s final agonized shriek.
“What I don’t understand is how he broke out of the cell your kind had him in.”
“During the chaos, I’m certain someone could have been lax in their
guardianship,” Dylan groaned
“They should be slapped silly for making such a mistake.”
“You corrected their mistake, so I see no reason to hunt down the person
responsible.”
“Unless ... unless, that person is one of my father’s spies.”
Dylan raised his eyebrow at her. “I ... our protective enchantments would stop anything like that from happening.”