Fire In Their Hearts

by Lilly Wilder

  Lyle was forced to pull me away. “Vern.” He said, his voice stern.

  I was covered in blood and I could barely see. I had never felt so much hatred in my entire life. It threatened to consume me. Once again, I lunged toward the corpse, wanting to destroy every last inch of him.

  An eerie sort of silence settled all around me. Even though I was cutting through bone and flesh, I could not hear myself. Lyle kept saying something but I couldn’t hear him either.

  A slow burning rolled through my body. I eased into it and embraced it as vengeance. Little did I know that my body was transforming. I became bigger and bigger. Scales lined my skin in a tightly woven pattern. My fingers transformed to talons the size of butcher knives.

  I roared at the sky, causing the earth to rumble under my feet.

  It was at that moment that I realized what had happened. I paused and looked down at myself, blinking in disbelief. I had gone through a full transformation.

  “This is no time to gawk at yourself.” I heard Lyle’s voice inside my head.

  “But… I’m a beta. I shouldn’t be able to do this.”

  “In times of great stress, capable betas have ascended into the role of alphas.” He recited as if reading from one of the elder scrolls.

  “Wait… so that means.”

  “Yes. Ari is most likely in danger. We must go and save her.” We tore through our enemies. Power surged through every inch of my new body. The Aetos started to flee. They had discovered the fate of their leader and they certainly did not want to fall in a similar manner.

  At least some of them had sense.

  Others did not.

  They charged towards us, trying to slow our progress. All it took was a good swipe from Lyle to send them packing. And I was right there to finish them off.

  “Where is she?” I searched the cave but there was no one there. The air was so thick with blood that there was no way for me to pick up her scent. “We told her to stay put.”

  “We must find her.”

  Chapter 27: Ari

  There was a scream. It sounded oddly familiar.

  Becky!

  Without thinking, I ran out of hiding and headed straight toward the sound of distress. I couldn’t just sit around while my best friend was slaughtered to death. It was my fault she had been brought to the clan, so she was my responsibility.

  My lungs burned as I pushed myself to run as fast as I could. It was difficult to keep from stumbling when I didn’t have any shoes on but, I continued forward.

  Thorns and branches tore at my lovely dress.

  “Help!”

  I ran into a clearing and saw Becky trying to fend off a dragon. He held her with his wings, dangling her a few feet off the ground.

  With little time to think, I picked up a rock and threw it as hard as I could.

  He caught it in his hand and laughed. “Just the girl I wanted to see.” He smiled, showing off a row of jagged teeth. “You know, you’re the cause of all this death and destruction. We came all this way just to get you back.”

  “I’m not going anywhere.” I planted my feet against the ground. “Now, I suggest you let go of my friend before you regret it.”

  The man crackled at my threat. “Is that supposed to scare me, little girl?” He threw Becky aside and her body crashed into a nearby tree. The blow was so catastrophic that a few of the leaves came spiraling to the ground.

  I sprinted to her side. “Becky!”

  “How touching.” He mused. “You humans can be so sentimental. It makes me sick.”

  An ear-piercing shriek thundered through the woods as a blur of black shot forward. It took the man by surprise. Long, powerful claws dug into his sides. A dragon flew to the treetops and dropped its prey.

  The man sped toward the ground but before he could fall to his death, he transformed into the biggest dragon I had ever seen. His scales were a vibrant shade of green. They shimmered in the sunlight as he stretched his wings.

  “Run!” Came a voice in my head.

  It was the smaller dragon.

  “I’ll fend him off. Find your mates. They’ll protect you.” The female voice urged. She craned her neck to look at me and that’s when the green dragon made its fatal blow. All it took was a swipe of his talons to slice through her neck. There was blood everywhere. Some even splattered onto my dress.

  My heart turned to ice when I realized I caused the death of one of my clan members. Anger clouded my judgment. I wasn’t thinking clearly when I marched up to the hulking monster. “You’re a scum. Do you hear me? Scum.” I spat those words as if I could use them as weapons.

  The dragon grinned, lips curling back to reveal his dagger-like teeth.

  “Ari!” Becky hissed from behind. Apparently, she had regained her consciousness. “What the hell are you doing? Get back here.”

  “No.” My voice trembled.

  “Do you really think you can challenge me? I could crush you with a flick of my tail. You should be running for the hills.”

  “I am not a coward.”

  “Maybe so but you are certainly idiotic.”

  “Ari! I really think you should get away from that thing.”

  “Maybe you should listen to your little friend.” Before I could do anything to stop him, he snatched up Becky and held her high above the ground.

  “Let her go!”

  “As you wish.”

  Becky screamed as she plummeted towards the ground. My eyes widened with horror as I realized that she would fall to her death. As unlikely as it was to succeed, I tried to align myself to catch her and break the fall.

  She squeezed her eyes shut, preparing for her demise but it never came.

  Instead, the dragon caught her and held her out of my reach again.

  “What do you want?” I said through gritted teeth.

  “And here I was thinking you’d never ask.”

  “I’m not here to play games.”

  “Neither am I.” Answered the dragon. “Neither am I.”

  “Please…” Becky begged. “Don’t drop me again. I’m way too young to die and I have a cat that I really need to feed. In fact…”

  “Tell her to shut up.”

  “Becky, be quiet.”

  “Oh, um, okay. But if you could get me down from here that would be… well… appreciated.” She looked down and gulped. “And if I could have that expedited –”

  “I’m working on it.” I interrupted before I turned my gaze to the dragon. “Now tell me what you want.”

  “My name is Nester. For years, I’ve been living the life of a beta due to the mistakes of my forefathers. You see, a long time ago, dragons were the rulers of breathtaking castles. These castles were filled with treasures. Humans were envious of these treasures and they would often lay siege in hopes of gaining the riches for themselves –”

  “I’m not here for a history lesson.”

  He raised an eyebrow and brought Becky closer to his mouth. She screamed as his serpentine tongue lashed out, covering her in dragon saliva. “You will listen to what I have to say or risk losing this precious little friend of yours.”

  Bile gathered at the back of my throat.

  Again, the feeling of helplessness began to consume me. Becky needed me and yet there was absolutely nothing I could do. I couldn’t transform into a dragon. I couldn’t fire a gun. All I could do was pray for a miracle.

  “Now, as I was saying… Humans liked to try and steal from us but they were hardly a threat. They were easy to deal with. It was the other dragons that you had to deal with. And so, a member of Lyle’s bloodline stole everything from my ancestor. Our family was left with nothing. We were left to roam the Earth with no place to call home. That is until the Aetos adopted us and gave us a place to stay. I have given up my life for vengeance.”

  “But Lyle was not the one who stole from you. Why should he pay the consequences?”

  “Why then should
I pay the consequences for mine.” He hissed. “I have little authority despite the alpha blood that runs through my blood. I had to take orders from that likes of Hector – a weakling I was dying to crush underneath my heel. And yet, I bid time, waiting and waiting to make the perfect move.”

  I slipped my hand in my pocket and felt the smoothness of my phone. Perhaps, if I could contact Lyle and Vern somehow, they could come and put an end to this.

  No.

  I couldn’t put them in danger. I glanced over at the fallen clan’s member and my heart ached to know that she would never be returning to her family. What was she leaving behind? Mates? Children? Parents? Tears burned at the corners of my eyes. If only I had done something to protect her.

  “So, I waited and waited until Lyle was the last living descendant. After he goes that dastardly family will be wiped from this planet and my forefathers will rest in peace. And I thought, why rush it? I had already waited so long, I might as well make him suffer.”

  This guy was the epitome of evil. He wanted nothing more than to hurt my mate – to torture him for crimes he hadn’t committed. I couldn’t stand it. My whole body shook.

  “At first I thought that I would take you away and drive him to the brink of insanity but then I thought I’d kill two birds with one stone. I’d get you all to myself and start a war, warranting the Aetos the land they so rightfully deserve.”

  “You’re never going to get away with this,” I snapped. “My clan is much stronger than yours.”

  “Your clan?” He mocked. “You haven’t even been accepted into the fold. What allegiance do you have with them?”

  “They are the family of my mates and therefore –”

  “Oh, spare me the grief.” His voice echoed through my head. It was starting to give me a migraine. All I wanted to do was silence him for good. “Now, you have one of two options. Either you can come with me willingly and no one else has to get hurt or you can give me a hard time and this friend of yours and countless others will pay the price for it.”

  I locked eyes with Becky. She was crying. I could see the tears streaming down her cheeks. Maybe I was weak compared to the dragons all around me, but this was something I could do to save my friend – to save the clan. I had no idea what this madman was up to and honestly, I didn’t want to find out. At least if I went along, I could find out what really made him tick and figure out his weakness. It was my only chance and I wasn’t going to let it get away from me.

  “Okay,” I said.

  The dragon smiled. “Perhaps you are smarter than you think.”

  He placed Becky on a high hanging tree branch. “Hey, what’s going on?”

  “Just stay calm, Becky, everything is going to be okay. Just stay where you are.”

  Nester transformed into a man and grabbed me by the hair. I waited until I was close enough and aimed my foot right at his crotch. He seemed to anticipate my move because he grabbed me by the ankle and knocked me off balance. I landed on my back, head slamming against the ground. I saw stars.

  I tried to blink them away.

  “You shouldn’t have done that.” He growled. “But if you rather do things the hard way then we’ll do things the hard way.” He pounced and the feeling of his body on top of mine made my stomach churn.

  I fought him with everything I had but it wasn’t enough. He overpowered me as Becky screamed at the top of her lungs, trying to notify someone – anyone – that I was in trouble.

  “I think we’re going to have a lot of fun together.” I don’t know where the rope came from but he wrapped it around my wrists so hard that it nearly broke through my skin. I flinched and all he did was laugh. This guy certainly knew how to play the role of a villain.

  “Don’t you dare hurt her!” Becky shouted as she hugged the trunk of the tree for dear life. If anyone was afraid of heights, it was her.”

  “She doesn’t know how to shut up, does she?” He looked up. “I think maybe I should get rid of her after all.”

  “No!”

  “Oh?” He raised his eyebrow. “You must care a lot about her.”

  “Do anything you want with me, just leave her alone. You do not need to drag her into this mess.”

  “Anything? Lucky me. I was going to have that anyway.” He snickered as he picked me up and hoisted me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

  “You’re not going to get away with this!” Becky tried throwing twigs at my kidnapper but it didn’t do much.

  I was taken away deep inside the woods where the trees loomed like giants and predatory eyes lurked from the shadows.

  Please, I thought to myself. If anything, let this spare Lyle and Vern.

  Chapter 28: Lyle

  I stopped dead in my tracks.

  Vern crashed into my backside. “What is it?” He asked, his voice full of worry as it filtered through my head.

  “Ari is in serious danger.”

  It was then that Vern cocked his head to the side. His ears twitched slightly.

  Then, I heard it too; someone’s scream carried by the wind.

  We exchanged a quick look at one another before running off toward the sound.

  “Someone! Help! I need to get down from here!” The plea was repeated over and over again until I recognized who it was.

  Becky.

  We quickened our pace. Perhaps the two girls had found each other in the midst of the chaos.

  “Damnit.” Becky cursed as soon as she saw us. “Look, I’m just a regular ol’ human. There’s no need for you to kill me.”

  Vern shifted and held up his hands in a gesture of innocence. “Calm down, Becky, it’s me, Vern. Where’s Ari?”

  As I listened, I walked over to one of my fallen clan sisters. So much blood had been shed on this day and it had all been my fault. I dragged my clan into this mess by being with Ari. Had I only kept my distance then maybe this could have been prevented.

  “She was taken away by some creep. I don’t know what they were talking about because the conversation was pretty one side, almost like she could hear him inside her head but I couldn’t.”

  “That’s because she could,” Vern explained as he summoned his wings and flew up to rescue Becky from the tree. “Now, what did this guy look like?”

  “He was this enormous green dragon.” She pointed at me. “Bigger than you even.”

  “Did he ever transform into a man?” Vern asked.

  She nodded. “Yes, towards the end when he took her away. He had copper colored hair and these really cold looking eyes. And I think he had a scar on his left cheek. It looked like a bite mark.”

  “A bite mark?” I thought.

  “Hector’s beta? But that wouldn’t make any sense.” Vern responded.

  “Huh?” Becky looked between us, a look of confusion on her face. “What are you guys talking about.”

  Suddenly, my eyes widened. I shifted to my human form. “Hector was just a decoy.”

  Now it was Vern’s turn to say, “huh?”

  “Hector was the decoy. He never posed much of a threat. I mean, just think about it, you tore right through him. He didn’t even try to put up a fight.” I shook my head. “I should have seen this coming…”

  “Lyle, you’re speaking nonsense.”

  “Nester.”

  “How do you know his name?”

  “Because our families have been at war for centuries. One of my ancestors took their land and they have been living as disgraced dragons ever since but if there’s something we both know…”

  “It’s that dragons know how to hold a grudge.” Vern finished for me. “So, you think this is all a plot for vengeance.”

  “That’s exactly what is it,” I said. “He’s trying to get back at me by targeting the things I love. First my mate and now my clan.”

  “What direction did they go in?” Vern looked at Becky.

  “Um…” She hesitated.

  “Please,” I
begged her. “We have to find Ari. There is no telling what he might do to her.”

  “I think he went that way.” She pointed due west. “No!” She quickly changed her mind. “That way.”

  I sighed. “Are you sure? This is very important. Ari’s life might depend on it.”

  She gnawed on her bottom lip. “Yes, I’m pretty sure they went that way.”

  “Vern, take her back to the clan and make sure she is safe.”

  “I cannot leave you to handle this on your own. Ari is as much my mate as she is yours.”

  “I’m not here to discuss this with you,” I said through gritted teeth. “This is my battle to fight and I will do it alone. I refuse to let you get involved.”

  “You stubborn bastard. Don’t you get it? We’re mating partners. Where you go, I go.”

  Becky raised her hand. “I can get back to the clan on my own. I think I know the way.”

  “It’s too dangerous,” I responded. “We have taken care of the majority of the Aetos threat but a few of them still lurk around the perimeter, trying to pick off our numbers. Ari would have my head if she knew I put you through any unnecessary danger.”

  “I can take care of myself,” Becky protested.

  “Not against dragons.” Vern countered. “You’re nothing more than an afternoon snack.”

  “I’m going. Catch up with me when you can.”

  “I don’t like this,” he said. “We should really go at this together. It would be safer that way.”

  I didn’t bother to argue any longer. I eased into my dragon form and off I went. I hovered just above the tree line and used my superior vision to try and track any sign of footprints. If Nester had schemed this entire thing then he wasn’t a fool. He’d have the wherewithal to cover his progress.

  And yet, I was banking on the possibility that maybe he had made some sort of mistake.

  Once I reached the waterfall, I swooped down and landed by the water’s edge. My nostrils flared as I scanned the air for any trace of her scent. She had to be somewhere.