Aquamarine

by Terry Bolryder

  Mercury just rolled his eyes at his opponent, imagining what his “feats” would sound like if they announced them. Even at best, they wouldn’t sound good.

  Even though he tried to kill six dragons, he didn’t actually kill any of them.

  Kidnapped a few mates, but never hurt any of them.

  A pretty good fighter.

  He looked up into the stands at Marina and saw her sitting next to the queen, watching with glittering eyes. Perhaps he did have one feat.

  Winning Marina’s heart.

  And perhaps even greater.

  Let Marina go to Lead because he knew she was too good for him.

  She deserved a man who had defeated behemoths and protected entire cities, not an attempted murderer who’d only recently had a change of heart.

  “I should be grateful to you,” Lead said, cocking his head to one side so his longish, dark hair went over his shoulder. He was wearing warrior garb as usual, some kind of leather skirt thing and just a band of leather going diagonally over his chest, emphasizing his muscles. “She will be a delicious prize. I can hardly wait to claim her tonight.”

  Mercury’s eyes flashed as rage shot through him like lightning. He needed to calm down. Lead was only trying to provoke him.

  “Marina told me you’re making her pick me after the fight. I’m just trying to make the best of it.” Lead’s smile turned cruel. “I know I’m her second choice, but maybe once we’re in bed, I can show her why I should be first.”

  Mercury felt as if metal spikes were going to shoot out all over him, impaling everyone in the area, but he suppressed the impulse. He was getting good at suppressing himself these days.

  Good at suppressing the dragon inside him who wanted badly to go to his mate.

  Good at suppressing the little boy inside him who just wanted to belong.

  Good at suppressing his heart, which belonged only to Marina and wanted to just say screw it to everything and be with her.

  But he was a different dragon now. He wasn’t going to be driven by rage and passion. He wasn’t going to live in an unthinking blur of wrath. That had already taken everything away from him.

  Just for once, he would have Lead’s stupid honor.

  “Don’t be silly,” Lead said, and Mercury realized he’d just read his mind. “You don’t know anything about my kind of honor.” His yellow eyes glinted. “Maybe I just pretend.”

  Mercury barely had time to react to that before the announcer announced the start of the fight in a booming voice, and Lead leapt forward, slamming his sword down toward Mercury.

  Mercury barely recovered in time to put his sword up, and he was driven backward into the ground from the force of Lead’s blow.

  Lead retreated, preparing to attack again, and Mercury realized this was nothing like the Lead he had fought before. This one was practically feral.

  “You think you’re the only one with a dark side?” Lead asked. “The only one who is dangerous?” He threw back his head and laughed, and Mercury looked around them, wondering if anyone else was shocked. But most weren’t even watching the match. He supposed most of them thought it was a foregone conclusion at this point that he would lose.

  “Stop it,” Mercury said, rushing forward with his sword as Lead ran to meet him in a loud clash that echoed throughout the arena. “We both know you’re a better choice for her.”

  Lead pushed his sword into Mercury’s, getting into Mercury’s space so he could whisper right into his ear. “I will be after I bed her, nice and rough so she learns to appreciate me.”

  That was it. If Lead was trying to provoke him, he’d succeeded. Mercury let out a cry of rage, and his sword tripled in size as he knocked Lead back with a wave of energy. He felt small spikes emerging out of his arms and back. The stupid, pitiful dragons here knew nothing of his strength.

  Days and days, months and years alone in the dark, practicing and practicing, and the dragon in him had become strong.

  No one was going to talk about Marina like that. About his mate like that.

  No one.

  With another unearthly shriek, he leapt forward, bringing his sword down on Lead as Lead barely evaded. Mercury attacked again and again, relentless, backing up a panting Lead until he was at the edge of the arena, just in front of the dragon guard. With a hiss, Mercury reached between their clenched swords to punch Lead in the face, once, then twice, holding him trapped against the wall.

  “The contestants will return to the center!” the announcer boomed.

  Just like them to try and tilt the fight toward their own, Mercury thought, stepping backward, still snarling at Lead, who looked bruised but amused.

  When they were in the center again, Lead said, “Really got you going, huh? What’s wrong? Not liking your little plan any longer?”

  “I thought you had honor,” Mercury spat out, lunging with his sword again, catching Lead across the shoulder.

  Lead paled slightly as he looked at his arm, where blood was dripping, and a tinge of blueish gray was moving into his skin. “You broke the rules.”

  “You broke them first,” Mercury said in a low voice. “No one talks about Marina like that.”

  “Fine,” Lead said. “Then I will take this seriously.” His mouth spread into a grin, despite the pain he must have been in. “Then I’ll take your woman.”

  Mercury shrieked, the dragon in him struggling wildly as he launched himself toward Lead again, attacking with his sword over and over, listening with satisfaction as the rate of Lead’s breathing increased.

  Sweat broke out on Lead’s forehead as they circled and chased around the arena, but Mercury was always faster. He was basically half dragon at this point, though contained in human form, and there was nowhere Lead could go that he wouldn’t be there, ready to deliver a blow or a block or a punch to the face.

  And since he was still enraged about what Lead had said about Marina, he couldn’t even enjoy it.

  Finally, Lead was panting, forced to one knee in front of him, holding up his sword with both hands, one on the handle and one on the blade, slowly bleeding.

  His shoulder was looking gray and gnarly, and though his wound wouldn’t kill him, Mercury was satisfied that it was enough to definitely make it impossible to fight.

  “I surrender,” Lead said in a low voice. “You win.”

  Mercury pulled back with a snarl, knowing Marina was watching and he couldn’t gut the man. He couldn’t risk being a monster anymore. Now that his heart wasn’t hard, he knew exactly how bad what he’d tried to do was, and he’d never think that way again.

  But that wouldn’t stop him from going as far as he needed to in order to protect what was his.

  He stood there heaving as the arena watched in stunned silence.

  Lead slumped to both knees, rocking back and holding his arm, breathing hard. “Good. I didn’t think I would be able to act dishonorable any longer.”

  Mercury raised an eyebrow. “What?” He slowly lowered his sword.

  “I… I know it is dishonorable, but I had to lie. Otherwise, you were going to hurt Marina.” He smiled ruefully. “I suppose it is funny, my first time being dishonorable and I don’t even get to enjoy it.” He fell on his side, and Mercury knelt over him, utterly confused as he turned the other man over to check that he was okay.

  Now that he thought about it, those words hadn’t sounded anything like Lead. They were obviously just a provocation. So why had he fallen for it?

  “Because you know she’s yours to protect,” Lead said dully, his eyes glazing as he looked up at him. He blinked, and Mercury put a hand to the poison, slowly withdrawing it as much as he could so Lead could stay lucid.

  The arena was still silent around them.

  “She deserves better,” Mercury said for Lead’s ears only.

  Lead shook his head and looked into Mercury’s eyes angrily. “But she wants you. So just be good enough to deserve her for once.” He sighed. “Besides, as beautiful and kind as she is, sh
e might just need a terrifying beast like you to protect her.”

  That thought hit Mercury with a thud as he looked up to the stands to see how Marina was reacting. He was strong. He knew that. And he was trying to be better. And he couldn’t stand the thought of anyone else touching her.

  Was that enough?

  His eyes narrowed as he realized she wasn’t alone on the stand. The king’s stooge, Nilo, was walking onto the platform, something long and sharp in his hand, and Mercury quickly realized it was the Dragonslayer. The sword capable of killing any dragon with even the smallest cut.

  “Marina!” Mercury shouted desperately, looking up at the stand. She turned at the same time as everyone else, and Nilo spun defensively, holding the sword out, pointed at all of them. The king, the queen, and Marina especially.

  “Don’t move,” he shouted. “I can kill any of them in an instant.” He looked down at the arena. “Thank you for distracting the dragon guard so I could have use of the Dragonslayer, but I believe this mate will be mine.” He grinned lasciviously at Marina. “My house will finally stand, and the rest of you will fall.” He glared at the king as Mercury saw dozens of men in silver tunics making their way through the arena to join Nilo in the stands.

  So this was a coup?

  “Come here,” Nilo said, looking at Marina. “I’m not going to hurt you.” She hesitated, looking down at Mercury, and Nilo pointed the sword at the king threateningly. “Hurry, before my hand gets shaky.”

  Lead struggled to his feet and looked at Mercury. “That’s your woman,” he said. “Aren’t you going to do something?”

  Mercury nodded, assessing the situation for a moment longer. “All right,” he said. “If I don’t move, don’t knock me over.”

  “What?” Lead asked, looking confused. Now that the poison was fading, he was looking a bit more lucid.

  “I’ll take care of this,” Mercury said, rolling up his sleeves and focusing deeply. There was still one power no one knew about, and he couldn’t think of a better time to use it.

  Marina was his, and after she was safe, he would make sure she knew it.

  It didn’t matter that he was bad for her, that he didn’t deserve her. He could protect her better than anyone else in the world. He would just have to dedicate himself to that for the rest of his life and hope it would be enough.

  Chapter 17

  Marina’s heart felt like it was going to jump out of her chest as Nilo beckoned once more to come over, the elegant but horrifyingly deadly blade glinting in the sun with its ethereal glow.

  When she’d seen the Dragonslayer pointed at Mercury, she feared the worst. Now, having it merely feet from her, the dragon inside her paced furiously, hating and fearing the thing all at once, fully aware of the danger it posed to her and the others around her.

  Marina glanced once more down at the arena where Mercury was just standing, watching. How could he just sit there looking calm about everything?

  “Don’t test my patience,” Nilo threatened one last time.

  Marina’s mind raced with possibilities, anything that could disarm him, but she didn’t know the true power of the Dragonslayer or Nilo’s strength. Trying to fight could just get them all killed.

  So she came forward, hoping to buy time.

  “That’s good, closer,” he beckoned. Next to her, she could see the king and queen watching angrily, surrounded by men in silver tunics that Marina assumed were fellow usurpers to the throne.

  Cobalt had mentioned once that there had been uprisings here and there over the centuries. But the last thing she ever expected was to be caught right in the middle of one just as she’d found and lost her mate all at the same time.

  And why was Mercury still just standing there?

  “You should count yourself lucky, Earth princess. You’ll get to be here, by my side, as we rewrite history,” Nilo said smugly. There had always been something about him that she didn’t like, but there had been enough things to worry about with six dragons competing for her and getting accustomed to an entirely new world all at once.

  Then, just as she was within the sword’s reach, which Nilo had lowered as his other hand gestured for her to come closer, Marina saw a dark, silver, shimmering substance rise out of the ground behind Nilo. Suddenly, Mercury was behind Nilo, who was completely unaware.

  “Surprise,” Mercury said, glowering, his eyes so bright they were like molten metal.

  Nilo whirled around, raising the sword just as Mercury caught his hand which wielded the blade.

  “I changed my mind,” Mercury said, sending Marina a quick look that made her heart leap in her chest. Did he mean what she thought he meant?

  She didn’t have time to consider it as Mercury turned his attention back to Nilo, and he knocked the Dragonslayer free of his grip. The sword clattered to the ground, and Cadmium leapt for it, snatching it as quickly as he could.

  Mercury’s hand was now on Nilo’s throat. Nilo tried to sputter something but was lifted off the ground as Mercury’s fingers dug into his neck, squeezing hard.

  Then Nilo was flying, thrown through the air and into the center of the arena. Mercury, who’d made it look as effortless as throwing a pebble into a lake, leapt off the stand, over everyone, joining the still-rolling advisor in the arena as he feebly tried to recover.

  Then she noticed that Mercury, or rather, another Mercury, was still standing next to Lead, not moving, while the Mercury she’d just seen jump into the arena was still walking intently toward Nilo, murder in his eyes.

  So the one she’d seen earlier was just a decoy? But she didn’t have time to think about that, or anything else, as the dazed silence around them erupted into all-out chaos, and everyone around her began fighting.

  The dragon guard jumped into action, knocking away the men in tunics as they fought to protect the king and queen.

  A man tried to grab Marina by the wrist, and she whirled on him, summoning a ball of water into the palm of her hand and blasting him in the face with it, sending him careening backward. Three more took his place, surrounding her, when Zinc was suddenly in the midst of them, knocking them down like flies.

  “Go to him,” Zinc said hurriedly as he turned his attention on another group charging at them.

  Marina looked back to the center of the arena and saw Mercury striding toward Nilo, who was backing up, hands up, pleading. Then she noticed with horror that from every corner, dozens and dozens of men in silver garb were rushing toward Mercury in the center of the ring, probably to the aid of their leader. Lead had recovered but still struggled to stand as he raised his sword to fend them off.

  Then there was a blast of air that shot past Marina, emanating from the center of the ring, and the ground seemed to shake for a moment, followed by a hair-raising shout from Mercury that sounded more animal than human.

  And then there was not one, but two Mercury clones. Then three, then four.

  Before Marina’s very eyes, she saw him multiply, silver liquid splitting in two to make more and more copies until there were forty or fifty Mercury copies, all standing, holding swords, facing the oncoming rebels.

  There were no words to describe what she was witnessing.

  She just knew in her heart that she needed to be there with her mate. Especially now that he seemed to know he was hers as well.

  In unison, the small army of Mercury dragons charged, carving a path through silver-clad men, many who stood agape, watching in horror. Marina saw Lead go wide-eyed for a moment. Then he joined the Mercury clones in their fight, making a powerful foe in his own right.

  Marina made her way down the stairs, but the fighting was fiercest around the stand, as several of the dragon guard repelled the attackers, fulfilling their forsworn duty to protect the king and queen. A group of men rushed up toward her and, upon seeing her, made as if to try to capture her.

  She was about to fight her way through when a giant, white-silver broadsword cut a swath through them, making them scatter. Marina loo
ked up to see Chromium, bright gray-green eyes darting back and forth, looking for danger.

  “Princess,” he said, regarding her with a quick bow.

  “You can talk!” Marina said, too focused on her purpose to linger.

  Chromium headed back up the stairs as she continued down, watching with wonder as the Mercury melee in the center continued. In the very center of it, she could see Nilo stand, drawing a sword, which was knocked away with the back of Mercury’s hand as he punched Nilo in the face with the other. Silver hair, silver eyes moved back and forth, a blur of motion as his clones fought around them.

  Several insurgents ran up the stairs, fleeing, and Marina decked one in the face, clearing a path for herself. Just then, someone bumped into her from behind, and she whirled around. At the same moment, Arsenic turned to face her as well, huge earthen sword lowering as he recognized her.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked hurriedly.

  “My job, obviously. I’m going to help Mercury and Lead. The others have the situation under control,” he replied, looking up at the stage where the other dragons stood in a protective circle around their liege.

  Marina was about to keep running when he looked at her intently, for once free of his sneer. “For what it’s worth, I think you made the right choice. He’s a lucky dragon,” Arsenic said, his eyes darting behind her to the center of the coliseum. “Now I’m off.” He hopped over a bench in front of them and headed for the arena.

  Marina reached the edge of the stands and hopped into the arena, where Arsenic had already started fighting, putting his foot through one rebel’s face and then swinging his sword at another.

  All around her, rebels that had lost to Mercury littered the ground.

  The number of clones was quickly diminishing, as one by one, they melted away into dark silvery substance, disappearing until there was just one left, thirty or so feet from her.

  He stood over Nilo, sword pointed at his chest. To her surprise, it was no longer jagged and twisted like before, now a straight edge that looked infinitely sharp and shared the same color as Mercury’s eyes, as magnificent as it was deadly.