“Violet,” he said. His voice was husky, and her name on his lips sounded almost like a prayer. She gulped, and waited for him to say more.
“You have no idea how happy I am to hear you tell me everything you just did. You’ve just described exactly the way I feel, too. And, more importantly, you’ve described the lifemate bond.”
“Lifemate bond?”
“Shifters believe in what is known as a lifemate bond,” Weston explained. “We believe that every person has someone whom they are destined to be with, and that person is their lifemate. From the moment we are born, destiny works to bring us together with that person. It’s similar to the human concept of a soul mate, although I’m not sure that wizards have any analogous beliefs.”
“Well, I’ve heard people talk about soul mates,” Violet said. “But I always just thought it was people being a bit overdramatic about falling in love.”
Weston smiled. “Sometimes, it is. People tend to use the word soul mate somewhat lightly. But finding a lifemate is even more serious than finding a soul mate. Once a lifemate bond is formed, it’s unbreakable. The only thing that can break it is death.”
“And how is that bond formed?” Violet asked. “How do you know when it’s happened?”
“It’s formed the first time two destined lifemates make love,” Weston said. “The act of making love seals the connection, and usually the two lifemates will feel a hot warmth in their core. They’ll have the sensation that they’re now ‘connected,’ as you said.”
Violet could feel her heart thumping in her chest. “That’s what I felt! I felt so hot, right in the very core of my stomach. And I just knew that I was connected to you. After we made love, I couldn’t imagine ever being with anyone else. It felt like we were meant to be.”
Weston walked over and pulled her into his arms. “It’s because we are meant to be, Violet. You’re my destiny. My lifemate.”
Violet tilted her head up to look at him. Her heart was filled with a deep sense of wonder and gratitude. “How did I get so lucky? How did I end up as the destined lifemate of a mighty dragon, the most wonderful, handsome man I’ve ever met?”
But Weston shook his head at her.
“No,” he said as he bent down to kiss her. “I’m the lucky one.”
Violet wanted to argue that point, but she couldn’t speak when his lips were covering hers. So she closed her eyes and melted into his kiss, the kiss of destiny.
* * *
Three hours later, Weston stood nervously in front of Knox, Peter, Violet, and Holden. He had just finished presenting his plan to break into Saul’s headquarters and break out the large group of prisoners being held there. Violet and Holden were both looking at him with encouraging smiles, but Peter and Knox, as usual, did not allow their faces to reveal their thoughts. Their expressions were as stoic as ever, and for what felt like an eternity, neither one of them said anything. Then, finally, Peter spoke.
“How many prisoners do you think we’re talking about here? I know you said it was impossible to tell, but can you at least give a rough estimate? A minimum number perhaps?”
“It’s extremely hard to say,” Weston said, earning him a frown from Peter. The old wizard wanted hard numbers, but Weston hadn’t been able to see in the dark how deep the cave was, or how big the group inside it might have been. He could only tell Peter how many prisoners he had actually seen, so that’s what he decided to do. “At a minimum, there were thirty prisoners. But keep in mind that’s just what I could see. It’s possible the number is much larger.”
“I see,” Peter said, leaning back in his chair and twirling the end of his long white beard around his right pointer finger. “I’m just worried that if there are too many of them, we won’t be able to find a place to fit them all in Falcon Cross.”
“We have to try, Peter,” Violet said, speaking up for the first time since the meeting had started. Weston and Peter both looked over at her in surprise. Weston felt his heart filling with gratitude. Even though they had argued in the last meeting, she was supporting him now, when it really counted. He thought she had never looked so beautiful as when she stood up, the gold thread in her Falcon Cross uniform shimmering in the late afternoon sunlight that streamed in through the window.
“What makes you say that, Violet?” Peter asked, drumming his fingers together as he turned to face her. Weston held his breath and hoped that Violet’s response would be persuasive to Peter. Weston thought the issue was clear, but he had long ago learned that wizards didn’t think like dragons, and sometimes things that seemed obvious to him weren’t so obvious to wizards.
“I know that Falcon Cross is stretched to the limit right now,” Violet said. “We have most of the Redwood Dragons clan living there since their home has been captured by Saul’s army. And everyone is on edge from the constant threat of an attack by Saul. But we cannot allow our discomforts or fears to keep us from reaching out to help those in need. These prisoners have no one else to help them. We don’t know exactly what Saul’s army is doing to them, but we know it isn’t good. We are fighting this war to keep Saul’s evil at bay. We can’t turn a blind eye away from that evil when it’s right in front of us. Falcon Cross is a safe haven in these times of uncertainty and distress. We should welcome the prisoners there, even if it’s not the easiest thing to do. We should do it simply because it is the right thing to do. And who knows, those prisoners might have seen or heard things that will help us in our fight. You never know what inside information they might have. We’re sitting here talking about whether to help them, when they very well might be the ones who end up helping us.”
Weston watched as Peter pondered Violet’s words. He continued to drum his fingers, his expression just as unreadable as before. Weston looked at Knox, who was also watching Peter intently. Knox’s face remained unreadable, too, but Weston would have bet his life on the fact that Knox thought rescuing the prisoners was a good idea. Knox did not like to leave innocent people in the hands of evil men, and had often risked his life to protect others. But Knox was the leader of the Redwood Dragons, not Falcon Cross. Peter, as the head wizard in Falcon Cross, would have to be the one to make the final decision about whether to bring an undetermined number of prisoners there. Weston held his breath, waiting. He looked over at Violet for a moment, but she was too busy watching Peter to notice. Peter drummed his fingers together and thought about the situation for what felt like an hour. In reality, it was probably only two or three minutes. Finally, the old wizard stood and addressed the room.
“Violet speaks the truth,” Peter said. “Falcon Cross has always prided itself on being a place of safety for all wizards. Now that the shifters are our allies, it should be a safe place for shifters as well. And, although it is unusual for us to welcome full humans into our city, we will welcome any humans who have been mistreated by Saul’s army. It would be good for them to see that not all wizards and shifters are evil.”
Weston felt like his heart was soaring in his chest. He had wished for a response like this, but he hadn’t wanted to get his hopes up too high, just in case Peter or Knox disagreed with him. Now, though, all his hard work in preparing a plan was going to pay off. As if Peter could read Weston’s mind, he continued speaking.
“And Weston,” Peter said, a smile spreading across his face. “You deserve special thanks for putting together such a thorough plan of attack. The strategy you’ve presented is a sound one, and I think if our soldiers here follow it carefully, we will be able to strike down Saul’s headquarters in Sandview completely, as well as free the prisoners.”
“Thank you, sir,” Weston said.
“How soon do you think our army here can be ready to attack?” Knox asked, speaking up for the first time. “I think the sooner we can attack, the better. Saul is vulnerable now, thanks to his losses in the last two battles. The longer we give him to recover, the harder our task will be, and the more time his anger will have had to fester.”
“I agree,”
Weston said. “I think our armies could be ready by tomorrow night.”
“Definitely by tomorrow night,” Holden said in agreement. “If we start preparing everything now, we should be able to strike just over twenty-four hours from now.”
“Alright then,” Knox said, standing to his feet. “Let’s get this ball rolling.”
Weston grinned as he looked back and forth from Violet to Holden. He was about to launch the offensive of a lifetime with his lifemate and his best friend. There were always risks to battle, of course, but he felt confident that, with a group like this, their chances of failure were slim.
“Let’s do this,” Weston said. Holden nodded, and led the way out of the room. Weston followed, taking Violet’s hand in his as he did. They hadn’t made any sort of official announcement yet that they were together now, but this felt like as good a time as any to Weston to show the world that Violet was his. Feeling her palm against his made him feel like he could do anything. And maybe, just maybe, he could. It was time to find out.
Chapter Eleven
Early the following evening, while the town of Blackstone went about its normal business unaware, a group of three dragon shifters entered the secret tunnel on the outskirts of town. An army of wizards followed the dragon shifters into the cave, all holding broomsticks, which they would be using to zoom through the tunnel toward the outskirts of Sandview.
Weston was, of course, one of those dragons. On his right walked his clan leader Knox, and on his left, his best friend Holden. Behind him walked Violet and Peter, two of the most powerful wizards to currently walk the earth. Weston had never felt so alive. Adrenaline sent his blood racing through his body at record speed. This was going to be the biggest offensive attack that had been launched against Saul since the war had begun. Sure, there had been bigger battles, but they had all been instigated by Saul. Until now, the good shifters and wizards had been focusing mainly on defense, and on finding the dragon stones. Now, it was time for an all-out attack. Saul was about to get a taste of his own medicine, and to see just how fearsome the forces of good could be.
“Everyone ready?” Knox asked, looking back and forth among the group at the front of the battle lines. Weston nodded, along with the others. Knox nodded back at them, and then gestured to the two wizard soldiers who would be giving Knox and Holden a lift on their broomsticks. Weston would be riding with Violet, just as he had done last time he was in this cave. She would be leading the group, since she’d already successful navigated the tunnel at full speed. With her guidance, the wizard army would have no trouble making it to the other end safely.
“Mount your broomsticks!” Violet called out. A chorus of magic spells sounded off in the area as each of the wizard soldiers cast a flying spell on their broom. The brooms all hovered a few feet above the ground, and the wizards jumped on. Weston jumped on behind Violet, who looked over her shoulder to make sure the army was ready. As soon as the last stragglers were on their brooms, she turned forward again.
“Hold on, Weston,” she said, even though he already had his arms wrapped tightly around her waist. He’d seen how fast she could fly, so he was making sure his grip was strong and secure. He felt her chest expand as she took a deep breath, and then, she was off. She zoomed full speed ahead into the tunnel, the rest of the army falling into place behind her.
Weston heard the now familiar sound of wind whipping against his ears as he flew. He rather liked the feeling of flying on a broomstick. Since he was usually in his giant dragon form when he flew, he almost felt like a feather when he was zooming forward so quickly in his comparably light human form.
Weston leaned close against Violet to keep their combined shape as aerodynamic as possible. As he had the last time, he began to lose track of time and space. When he wasn’t the one actually flying, it was difficult for him to stay on top of where in the tunnel they were, or how long they’d been flying. He had to stay alert, though. Last time, he had known as soon as Violet decreased her speed that they were approaching the end of the tunnel. This time, however, there would be no slowing down as they neared the exit. Instead of worrying about going slowly and staying undetected for as long as possible—a difficult feat with an army this size—the soldiers were all going to continue flying at breakneck speed straight into Saul’s camp. With any luck, they’d be able to do some damage before Saul’s army knew what hit them. If they weren’t so lucky and Saul’s army was prepared for them, well, then they’d just have to deal with a rougher beginning to their mission.
Weston could feel his heart pounding in his chest. He loved the excitement that filled him on the cusp of battle. There was nothing quite like the moments right before two sides collided into a fight for the death. He knew some people thought he was crazy for being such an adrenaline junkie, but he couldn’t help himself. The thirst for adventure was in his blood.
The tunnel seemed to go on forever, but finally, Weston thought he could smell the air getting fresher. He breathed in deeply, trying to see if he’d been imagining things, or whether he’d really smelled outside air. His next breath definitely did not smell like tunnel air, and Weston tightened his grip on Violet even more. In a minute or two, they’d be hurtling straight into Saul’s headquarters.
Weston wondered whether Saul himself was there tonight. He knew the evil dragon wizard had been in and out of headquarters. One of Weston’s clanmates had actually seen Saul flying above Sandview at one point, taunting the townspeople. But Saul himself seemed to stay far away from any battles. Weston thought this was a cowardly way to act. So what if Saul was the leader? Knox and Peter were the leaders of the good wizards and shifters, and they were always bravely flying on the front lines. They didn’t ask their soldiers to go into battles that they themselves weren’t willing to fight.
Weston’s thoughts about Saul were cut short when he saw Violet raise her magic ring and send sparks flying into the air. This was her signal that the exit to the tunnel was less than thirty seconds away, and Weston knew that all the wizards behind him would be setting up sparks from their rings as well. All the way to the back of the army, each wizard would warn those behind him or her that the battle was beginning in mere seconds. Weston’s heart thundered in his ears, and he prepared to shift into dragon form as soon as Violet was clear of the tunnel. He knew that right behind him, Holden and Knox would be shifting as well.
“Steady,” Weston told himself. Keeping steady in the face of impending action had always been the hardest part of war for him, but he had to time this correctly. If he jumped the gun and started shifting too soon, his large dragon form would block up the tunnel’s passageway. He might even get stuck. Weston forced himself to be patient, taking a few deep breaths to calm himself as the tunnel’s exit became clearly visible in front of him.
“Steady, steady,” Weston said through gritted teeth. And then, he yelled out “Now!”
He roared, and let his inner dragon begin to take over. He covered his head with his hands as he rolled off Violet’s broomstick. She never slowed down, but his rapidly thickening dragon hide kept him safe from injury as he landed on the ground with a rolling thud. Knox and Holden landed beside him moments later, both of them in between dragon and human form, just as Weston was. Weston watched the rest of the wizard army zooming over him as his hands turned to dragon hands, his wings sprouted, and his body grew a tail and horns. He started running forward impatiently before his transformation was even fully complete. He didn’t want to end up at the very back of the army. He wanted to be on the front lines, fighting alongside Violet.
When his wings had finally fully grown out, Weston began flapping them, and his dragon form rose high into the air. The wizards above him parted ranks to let him through, and then he flew a few yards above their heads as they all swarmed into Saul’s headquarters. From his vantage point, Weston had a clear view of the chaos of battle.
It appeared that they had taken Saul’s soldiers by surprise, much as they’d hoped they would. The moon was
not very bright tonight, but torches were lit all over the place to give light to Saul’s soldiers, and Weston could make out frantic enemy wizards running back and forth, waving their magic rings but unsure of even which direction they should be aiming their attacks. Enemy shifters were in the process of shifting into animal form, and several half-human half-animals were racing around in the frenzied army below as well.
Many of the Falcon Cross wizards had started to break off now, heading down to start attacking the enemy wizards and shifters. The scene below Weston quickly became a mass of colliding bodies, but Weston wasn’t going to stop to fight until he reached the cave where the prisoners were held.
Up ahead of him, he could see Violet once again. He saw her veer downward and to the right, and he knew she must be right above the prisoner’s cave. He strained his eyes to see it, but he wasn’t able to quite yet. He could see the bat cave off to his left. A small cloud of bat shifters was rising from it, but the bat shifters didn’t worry him much. He knew none of them had been trained to fight all that well yet, and besides, their numbers had been seriously decreased by the last two battles. And, of course, thanks to the master bat being destroyed, the number of bat shifters would continue to decrease. Saul wouldn’t be able to clone new bats to replace the ones who were destroyed.
Weston adjusted his flight course slightly to the right, and then the prisoners’ cave came into view. Violet was zooming above the guards on her broomstick, launching off magic attacks at them as quickly as she could. There were a lot of wizard guards, though, and they seemed to have strong protective shields in place. The lion shifters and bear shifters fell relatively quickly, but the wizards were clearly proving much harder to take down.
Weston dove toward the ground, already taking a deep breath as he zoomed toward the front of the cave. He breathed in as deeply as he possibly could, until he felt like his lungs were going to burst. He waited until he was swooping directly over the top of the wizard guards, and then let out the breath in one long streak of fire.
Fury and the Dragon (Redwood Dragons Book 8) Page 9