to wipe the blood from her face and something dropped to the ground. Both women stared at it in horror:
It was a horn.
Fala found her fury before Bethany had a chance to even think about what she had done. Her hand lashed out to grab Beth by her neck, squeezing tightly. "You little bitch
snarled. Between her clenched eyes Beth could see that Fala's form was shifting erratically, but in all of them, somehow, her grip never let go. Her gaze shifted to the red dragon
that was still shifting, slowly waking up. "This death is too quick for you."
I knew that no Soulmate of mine would be weak¸ Cain said proudly, perching on the ledge above them. He snapped his jaws so loudly that Gawain ducked behind the nearest
dragon to hide. Let her go, Fala. Your fight is with me.
"She took my horn!" Fala screeched like a perturbed child.
And you've been gorging on human blood. I think that it makes us a bit even in this fight, don't you? Don't make me repeat myself, Fala.
Sneering, Fala dropped Bethany. The shifted landed hard, pain shooting up through the injured side of her body. As her vision cleared she stared at her good hand, watching her
nails slowly sink back into her skin and reform themselves into humanshaped nails. Beth wrote it off as damage to her brain from the onset of asphyxiation.
Above her Fala turned, lording over her and Gawain and roaring her triumph, but her eyes were dead. Beth almost pitied her—almost. She was going into the battle knowing that
she was going to die and yet she did it anyway. The dragon shifted behind her, a large clawed hand squeezing and the back muscles rolled. Beth's hair whirled behind her as Fala
flapped her wings and lifted into the air.
We should take this outside.
We should. Cain's head turned slightly to stare down at Bethany. She felt her face flush at that gaze, wondering how such an inhuman and alien face could actually look at her with
warmth and fear. He switched from telepathy to the Soulmate link. You need to bind your bleeding and get away from those dragons now, Beth.
He spread his great, leathery wings and beat them only once to lift himself into the air, disappearing into the darkness above them. Beth found herself staring, her feet locked to
the ground as she continued to marvel at Cain.
He was beautiful. This was the first time she had gotten to see him—all of him—in his natural form. He was stunning.
She was so spellbound by the grace and the raw power of his form that for a moment, all the pain went away… and so did the knowledge that behind her a dragon was opening his
eyes.
Cain was a beautiful dragon; all the other dragons in his family had agreed that he was a fine example of what a dragon should look like. His jaw was large and muscular, his eyes
bright, shining gold under a protective wing of horn to keep them from being clawed out in battle. His wings were large and batlike, functioning them to serve at times as another
pair of arms to cling to rock walls and giving him the versatility required to perform intricate aerial acts like tumbling and diving in the air. His back was bright green, striated with
bands of brown to serve as camouflage and a softer, yellowtinged belly. His tail behind him was long, sinuous, and dexterous. It was not prehensile, but dragons had enough
control over them to use them as whips to lash and tear wings to pieces…
And, unlike Fala and the reddragon kin, his tail wasn't tipped with barbs. Though she had one horn less, Fala still possessed natural weapons that made her dangerous enough. He
would have to be careful around her and keep his tender wings free of that tail. His only consolation was that her wings were about half as small as his: it gave her less maneuverability and meant that she had to exert herself all the more just to stay in the air.
They circled each other warily over the snowcapped mountains, the trees bursting out of the snow. They looked like the ends of bristles from their height. It was cold enough that
when they breathed long jets of steam and hot air clouded the air in front of them.
Fala attacked first. She was rash and impatient. She suddenly pulled back her wings and dove, shooting a jet of fire at him as she went down. He folded his wings and rolled in the
air out of the way, shooting down a blast of blackgreen lightning at her. It missed and struck the earth far below, sending the tall pines crashing into one another.
Kaneonuskatew was much more patient. He knew how to wait to attack. He wanted to wait until he had a clear shot. It would be very hard to knock off Fala's other horn while they
were fighting in the air. He'd have to get close and use his teeth or his claws. He actually had a better chance of disemboweling Fala or simply breaking her spinal cord between his
jaws if he had to get that close to her.
She circled at his level. Her eyes were dead. That made Cain more scared than the barbs on her tail or those fierce teeth. While you're fighting me, my kin will be eating your
Soulmate, she sneered.
Would you care to know something, Fala? Fala arched her neck curiously. When I first found she was my Soulmate, I thought that Fate was laughing at us. I had always thoughts
Soulmates had to match. While the outsides may be different, the inside is not without similarity. I am a fighter, but I look it. Bethany does not look like a fighter, and fools like you
see her weaknesses rather than her strengths, tricking yourselves into thinking that she isn't a fighter because she's not like you… But she's a better fighter than you ever will be.
The red dragon laughed. Such pretty words from a pretty mouth! Cain watched as the steam Fala expelled began growing. She was about to shoot fire again. But I still know
something that you don't know Kaneonuskatew.
Beth quickly recovered her senses when she heard the dragon behind her snort. "Gawain! Where are my clothes?"
"Ah… over here…"
She stood up awkwardly. She felt dizzy. Beth latched on to the vibrating connection she felt with Cain, using it to steady herself. For some reason, the anger she felt flowing through
it made her feel better. "Cut a long strip from my shirt, will you? I need something to help close this…"
Beth felt the air move, rippling across her skin. She froze in terror, and then, coming to her senses, slowly turned to glance over her shoulder. The red dragon's head had lifted
from the ground, and he was staring at her. Slowly, his gaze slipped, and he made a move to the deer.
She ran, grabbing Gawain's hand. There wasn't any time anymore! It was obviously too late for bandages.
"Where are we going?" Gawain demanded, stumbling along behind her. She heard him curse when his feet stabbed the sharp, rocky ground. She knew that hers were already
bleeding from the rocks, but she ignored them.
Where were they going? She paused, breathing heavily. "Got your lighter?" Fumbling in the darkness, he passed it to her. She held it high in her good hand and struck it for a
second. She could see green ahead. Beth smiled. She moved at a quick pace, the lighter still glowing. She didn't have time to walk. "Cain said that his kin were enemies with Fala's.
The enemy of my enemy is my ally. We'll just wake these guys up. I'm already bleeding… a lot. When Cain's done with Fala, he can explain everything to them."
Beth was about to smile at Gawain and make some joke about how he and Mac were going to get their dragons after all, when she saw the blood.
It had been hard to see because the bic wasn't casting much light and the blood was so thick and dark it blended in with the rocky ground. She stopped so quickly Gawain nearly
walked into her. They stood in shock, and then Beth heard someone cry out, as if in tremendous pain.
Only afterwards did she realize it had come from her. She walked slowly forward, feeling her feet sink into the pooling blood. It was still sl
ightly warm. When it was fresh it must
have been so hot it could have burned. Beth's hands clenched in anger. Reaching out, she relaxed her injured hand, running her hand along the smooth, green scales of the dragon's
side.
Fala had slashed it's throat. The shredded flesh was still wet, the throat torn open for the whole world to see. Beth felt tears sting her eyes. Who was he? Cain's uncle? His father?
Maybe it was a she—a sister or an aunt. Beth turned and walked further, seeing another green shape in the dim light. It, too, had been slashed open. The tears began coming
harder.
"She's killed them… she's killed them all." Beth leaned her head over the muzzle of the dragon, throwing her arms around it and sobbing. She could have vomited at her memories,
recalling the way that she had callously accused the dragons of being monsters. These dragons weren't monsters; the thing that had slain them as they innocently slept had been a monster. These dragons had never deserved their fates.
Tentatively, she touched the Soulmate link. Did Cain know? She could feel anger, but there was no hint of sadness in her mind. He didn't know yet. He didn't know that he was the
last.
"I found one!" Gawain called.
Beth lifted her head. Pain from her hand screeched up to her shoulder as she dried her tears. She tried to think of anything but the blood on the ground. She thanked her lucky stars
for the darkness that hid her shame, and the fact that Fala hadn't cut the tendons in her wrist, and she prayed that she'd be strong enough to do whatever was needed of her. She
walked towards Gawain's voice.
Somehow, the teenager had lifted a halffallen wing of a dead dragon. He struggled to keep it lifted. Bethany peered under it. There, curled up underneath the wing, a sinuous tail
draped over his snout like a cat hid under his tail, was a sleeping dragon. Somewhere behind them in the looming darkness a dragon howled. Beth heard Gawain gulp as she knelt
by the dragon. His chest rose and fell steadily.
"I think the other dragon is done his supper…" Gawain eyed the dragon wearily. He judged it to be about the size of a school bus, half of it's body made up of the long tail. Sure,
that was large, but considering Cain was about twice that size, it seemed pretty small. He eyed the forehead. The dragon had three horns. Sure, that made it powerful, but there
was something to be said for having double the weight of your opponent in a pitched battle… "Do you think he can do it?"
Beth had hope to find an adult. This was just a child! That was why it had been held under the protected wing. Dragons may have been reptilian, but the mothers guarded their
young like birds, apparently. She shook her head. "I… I don't know." She bit her lip and stared at Gawain. "I don't want to risk it. I can't ask this dragon to risk himself. There may
be more young hidden like this, but right now…"
Gawain understood. He nodded slowly. He ducked under the wing, holding it open for Beth to follow. "Then we hide until we're ready. The baby dragon hid like this, and we're both
small. There's plenty of room for us. With all this blood, I think the dragon will have a hard time figuring out where we are, exactly."
She climbed between the dragon of the large female and the warm body of the dragon. The scales were surprisingly comfortable, and the warmth from the dragon wasn't
unpleasant, even if it was strong. Beth curled up on one side, clutching her wounded arm to her chest. Her fingers were slick with blood as she tried to slow the blood to help it clot.
Gawain's voice was barely audible. "How is it?"
"Bad… She cut it deeper—deeper than Mac did. I don't know if it will close. I don't suppose that you're a healer."
He shook his head. "I… My parents…" He stumbled and then sighed. "There's a reason I live with Mac, Beth. Let's just say that as a past, my education was sketchy. I specialize in
reading and ceremonies and stuff. I can barely even make fire, and living with a werewolf and two vampires in a wooden house—let's just say they don't exactly appreciate it when
I do try. Give me your hand. It's still worth a shot."
Beth passed her hand to Gawain. She felt his hand close around her wrist just as a pair of redscaled, very large legs came into view. Both humanoids froze, hearing the dragon
shuffling around them. Beth felt her vision growing darker. She struggled against it, but her body wasn't listening. It was tired, and the bliss that waited for her when her eyes
closed was just too inviting.
Gawain felt Beth's hand become lax. The dragon's nose bent close to their opening, sending warm breath billowing around them. It lifted and the dragon turned away. And then,
under the arm the still held Beth's limp wrist, Gawain felt the baby dragon shudder.
Kaneonuskatew had gotten in close. His teeth caught Fala's neck and she screeched in pain as Cain's sharp teeth dug into her slender neck. Furious, Fala lifted her tail and
pummeled Cain. A lucky blow landed on the delicate structure of his wings, tearing through the thin membrane. Cain suppressed his bellow of pain and rage as one side of his body
stopped functioning, sending them spiraling out of control towards the snow and tree covered mountain below them. He held on to Fala's body as they fell, refusing to let her go,
though she struggled to flap her wings and escape from his deathhold.
He bit down with all his might. Dragon bones and scales were too hard to crack by pressure alone, but he was doing his best to severe the spinal cord. The wind tore at his tattered
wing as they fell. Finally, he knew he could hold on no longer. He released Fala's body, feeling himself fall on his own. Fala lacked the speed to recover with those small wings of
hers. She twisted as she fell, trying to land on her feet, but the trees were all ready there. Cain lost what happened when she disappeared beneath the trees.
He forced himself to change as fast as he could, choosing his owl shape. The light of the closing daylight was almost painful, but the agility was worth the shape. As he fell and
changed, branches scratched at him, flaking off some of the hard, glittering scales, and then feathers, and then he was too small. He wove nimbly through the trees, catching
himself before he struck.
Circling to where he guessed Fala had fallen, he found that she was still alive, but just barely. The fall on the trees had damaged her greatly. She barely lacked the strength to lift
her head. When she saw Cain, she laughed. Dark blood leaked from the corner of her hard, reptilian mouth.
I killed them all, Cain, she told him mockingly.
Cain settled on a branch. What?
The green dragons… I killed them all. I slashed their throats before I went hunting. I wanted to make sure that her blood wouldn't wake them up as well, so I killed them all. You may have won, you may have been stronger, but you're still the last, now.
He felt numb. Glaring at her, Cain shifted back into his true form. Fala wriggled in fear, knowing what was coming next. She didn't care anymore. He might have had the decency to
kill her first, but now he wanted to cause her back every inch of pain she had caused him. He might have been merciful, but Fala had wanted to gloat. Besides, she didn't want mercy from him.
It was easier to die hating him believing that he was a heartless bastard.
She was too weak to even protest when Cain opened his jaws, bent his graceful neck, and pulled a strip of flesh from her side, swallowing it in one large chunk before he bent his
head again.
Gawain was perfectly still as the dragon kept moving. The young witch was petrified that the dragon was going to make a sound and call the other dragon over to them, but the
dragon didn't do a thing… not until it was fully awake. When the eye snapped open and the dragon found himself staring an unknown witch, a dying girl on his other side
, and the
blood of his family creeping slowly under his belly, he growled hard and low.
Gawain used his other hand, still trying to help Beth, to gently brush the dragon's nose. "Shh. It's okay," he whispered. "We're allies. Just… stay quiet until the other dragon passes
over, will you?"
The End
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