Breathing Fire (Drakonian Chronicles Book 1)

by B. D. Snowden

  Ladon told her how the man had been banished from the Drakos home world instead of imprisoned or executed. It was obvious that Ladon hated the man. Even the even-keeled Ryuu bristled at the mention of his atrocities.

  Fafnir made his way to earth and found a large population that considered the Drakos to be divine beings. He used this to his advantage to continue his experiments. The bloody rituals of human sacrifice in ancient cultures around the planet had their roots in Fafnir’s experiments. Alexis could see the roots of the Norse myth in the descriptions of Fafnir’s character. He was a psychopath with a selfish streak a mile wide. He didn’t even try to hide his ugliness. He was just like the Norse myth in that regard…a deadly monster that viewed everything in his sight as rightfully his.

  “Thank the gods that monster is dead by now,” Ladon spat.

  “Why are you so certain he is dead?” Alexis asked.

  “Drakonians are long lived, but we are not immortal. Even we reach a point where we cannot renew our nano machines as efficiently and we age…eventually to pass on, which is the proper way of the universe,” Ryuu explained. “No dragon in history has lived longer than two thousand years. The only reason that Ladon and I are alive is because our bodies were in stasis during that time.”

  “Maybe Fafnir was in stasis too,” Alexis pointed out.

  Ladon shook his head. “The battle in the Welsh myth happened. Fafnir had wiped out entire fledgling civilizations on this planet, and he had moved into what you now call Europe. The various other Drakonians stationed here were simple soldiers and scholars; they couldn’t touch a royal, even the black sheep of that bloodline. I was a noble, so I held more clout and was informed by the royal family that I was to confine Fafnir and they would collect him. They had finally decided that he had to be controlled instead of just banished.”

  “But didn’t being a royal make him more powerful? Wasn’t he able to perform mind control?” Alexis remembered the flashes of a fierce battle in her mind.

  Ladon winced. “Alexis, until we can help you to control your nanos, could you please refrain from trying to dig for answers before we have a chance to explain them to you.”

  “Sorry. I thought I was remembering something from earlier.”

  “You were, but when you did it activated your nanos to try and find more information…not just the ones in your body, but the ones you left in mine as well.”

  “Fascinating….” Alexis gazed on Ladon with an academic’s eyes. For a moment, he saw the fiery passion for knowledge above all else that he had also seen in the monster they were talking about. But where the monster would have continued to inflict discomfort just to see how far he could take it, Alexis, though curious, concentrated, and he felt her nanos go dormant just as he requested.

  “As I was saying…I was tasked with containing Fafnir until the royal guard could arrive to collect him. It was a fierce battle. We both were adept with fire. I preferred the heat, him the absence of it. He liked the irony of burning with cold. He would couple the lack of heat with his mastery of water and create ice to use as missiles. I still have a few scars from those.”

  Ladon stopped to collect himself. It took everything in Alexis not to try and prompt him to continue. She could see that the memories were still difficult for him. She briefly wondered if dragons suffered from PTSD.

  “The answer to your question is that yes, Fafnir has a knack for mind control. He used the humans as cannon fodder in our battle. Men, women…even children…it didn’t matter to him. A few of the Drakonians even became his unwilling guard. I had to maim and destroy those I considered friends and family to end his reign of terror.”

  Alexis’s logical mind quickly went to the most efficient conclusion. “Why didn’t he just control you instead?”

  Ladon grinned but it didn’t reach his eyes. “I may not have the talent for controlling others, but I made a point of strengthening my own nanos against any invasions of the mind. It wouldn’t do for the general of armies to fall victim to an enemy’s control. So while it took a lot of energy, I was able to withstand Fafnir’s attacks, much to his frustration.”

  “Which is why your ability to smash through those cultivated barriers so easily is such a surprise to us. The sheer raw power of your nanos, especially with how new they are, is amazing,” Ryuu interjected. “When you learn control, you will be a truly formidable woman.”

  “I still don’t see how all of this would explain why Fafnir has to be dead,” Alexis questioned.

  Ladon shrugged. “I don’t have clear memories of what happened right before we fell into stasis, but I clearly remember Fafnir being picked up by the royal guard. He wasn’t on the planet when those of us here ended up in stasis.

  Bloodlines are connected by our nano machines. Even when on different planets we feel a certain connection to each other. I do not feel any of my former family, so I must assume they are dead. If those that were off planet from that time are dead, I can only assume that Fafnir also numbers among them. He wasn’t the youngest of dragons even then.”

  “You can’t tell for certain?” Alexis asked.

  “He’s not of my bloodline, so no.”

  Alexis frowned. She knew it wasn’t reasonable, but she was fairly certain that Fafnir was still alive. Her nightmares felt too real. She knew without a doubt that the deaths she had felt were real and some were recent. But she also knew without proof she wouldn’t be able to convince Ryuu and Ladon. Hell, she wouldn’t have believed it either based simple on a recurring nightmare if she hadn’t felt it herself.

  Alexis turned to Ryuu. “Has anything else useful been located while I was ill?”

  She needed to get back to civilization so she could research the Fafnir myths to see if she could possibly learn something more. While her mind made a list of things she needed to start her research, a yawn crawled out of her mouth. The trio had been talking for a few hours now, and he body was screaming for more rest. She would be glad when her stamina returned.

  Ladon noticed the yawn. “Alexis needs to eat something and then get some more sleep.”

  Alexis started to protest that she was fine when Ladon cut her off with a gentle kiss. “Let me take care of you, Alexis.”

  How could one argue with that kind of request? So she just nodded and allowed herself to be led off in search of food.

  29

  Ladon found Ryuu going over the census papers after he had tucked Alexis back into bed.

  “I wonder why Alexis was so interested in that butcher,” Ladon asked as he sat and pulled a stack of scrolls towards him. He wasn’t as fluent in as many ancient Earth languages as Ryuu was, but he could read some.

  Ryuu shrugged. “It’s human nature to examine the brutality of life.”

  “But she knew his name.”

  “Maybe she came across it in one of the manuscripts.”

  Ladon was about to argue that impossibility—after all, they had destroyed every record of Fafnir’s existence—when Alexis’s scream echoed down the corridor.

  Both men knocked over their chairs in a scramble to get to her. The bolted down the corridor until they made it to Alexis’s bedroom.

  Ladon pushed Ryuu out of the way and ran to the bed. Alexis was thrashing and screaming. Another nightmare. Ladon looked helplessly to Ryuu as he sat on the bed to gather up the woman he loved. He somehow felt like her nightmares were his fault. They had started after he completed the mating ritual. Ladon was truly worried that something had gone wrong and the nanos or the fever somehow damaged her mind.

  Once he had Alexis in his arms, she started to fight him in her sleep.

  “I won’t go…I won’t go….”

  Ladon had to grab the fist that flew at his face to prevent Alexis from breaking his nose. He retained a grip on both hands as she struggled.

  “Alexis, wake up!”

  Alexis seemed to be stuck in her dream world. Despite Ladon shaking her and yelling, still her eyes remained closed and she struggled.

&nb
sp; “Ryuu, help me…she isn’t waking up,” Ladon frantically called.

  Ryuu sat behind Alexis while Ladon kept a firm grip on her thrashing. He knew that Ladon was worried that Alexis’s mind was damaged from the conversion, but Ryuu was beginning to wonder if something else might be going on. He had a suspicion that a truly damaged mind wouldn’t form coherent nightmares, nor would it be able to maintain logical thought during her waking hours. Of course, this was only conjecture since it had been only a short time since she woke from her coma. He decided to test his hypothesis and instead of shaking her awake he calmly talked into her ear.

  “Build a wall, Alexis. Brick by brick. With each row, the images will be pushed from your mind. Lock them away. Your mind is yours alone. No one has permission to enter unless you allow it. You threw Ladon from your mind when you first met. You are even stronger now. No one can withstand your will. Build the wall. Close them out.”

  With each quiet set of directions, Alexis calmed more and more. The screaming stopped. The thrashing ceased. Her breathing became calm and even until finally her eyes fluttered open and locked onto Ladon’s.

  Tears glittered in her eyes, which caused Ladon to crush her to him in a tight hold. She held on to his shirt like she was afraid he would disappear.

  “Fafnir’s alive, Ladon…I don’t know how I know. I just do,” Alexis choked out between sobs. “He knows I am here. He is coming for me. He can’t find you too. You have to leave me.”

  “Hush,” Ladon squeezed her tighter. “I would never leave you, Alexis. You are mine.”

  Alexis pulled away and looked into Ladon’s eyes. “You don’t understand….”

  “I don’t have to understand to know that my place is here by your side. Let me get you some chamomile tea. You need to rest so you can get your strength back.”

  Ladon caressed her cheek and stood. Alexis didn’t miss the worried look he tossed Ryuu’s way as he headed for the kitchen. Ladon thought she was losing her mind.

  Alexis looked over to Ryuu to see him studying her.

  “I’m not crazy, Ryuu.”

  “I didn’t say you were.”

  “Ladon thinks I am.”

  “He’s just worried, Alexis. We both are.”

  Alexis shook her head, “You have to get him to believe me, Ryuu. He has to be prepared for what is coming.”

  Ryuu looked thoughtful. “Tell me about your nightmares. That is where you learned about Fafnir isn’t it?”

  Alexis nodded and sighed. “When I was in the coma, I could hear you and Ladon. Especially when you were talking to me. But I was lost in the darkness. At first I wandered alone. Then I felt excruciating pain—pain so bad that it stole my voice from me. I couldn’t even scream. Then the pain subsided and I felt the presence of others…faint at first but then they got stronger. With each wave of pain, I felt more people and they became more distinct. At first it was comforting; I wasn’t alone anymore. Then I realized that many of those I felt were from the past. I don’t know how to explain it, but I felt their deaths, and they were hard deaths. Thousands…maybe even millions of deaths and I felt every one. That was when the dream became a nightmare. Do you have any idea what it is like to experience dying on that scale? I’m not talking about just knowing they were dead in some abstract number…I’m talking about feeling their pain, terror, their last breath. I experienced it all.”

  “That doesn’t tell me about Fafnir,” Ryuu prompted. He had to get Alexis to finish the tale before Ladon returned or the fire dragon would beat him to death just for the pale look of terror in Alexis’s eyes.

  “The souls, for lack of a better word, were marching in a line into the darkness and I instinctively knew a monster lived there. I tried to stop a few of the ones that still felt ‘alive’ to me. That is when I heard the name Fafnir.”

  “What happened tonight?”

  “A white dragon appeared in my circle of light. It said, ‘I found you.’” Alexis shivered. “It felt evil.”

  Ladon came through the door before Ryuu could ask Alexis to clarify her statement. Ladon had her drink the tea and tucked her back into bed. Ryuu watched as a metaphorical wall came up between the pair. Ladon’s worry for Alexis’s sanity was hurting her and he didn’t even realize it.

  The men left Alexis to get more sleep. As they walked down the hall, Ryuu put a hand on Ladon’s arm, stopping his forward movement.

  “I don’t think Alexis is crazy, Ladon.”

  Ladon shook off Ryuu’s arm. “You don’t seriously think that Fafnir is still alive, do you? It’s impossible.”

  “I don’t know.” Ryuu tugged at his dark hair in frustration. “But I don’t think her mind is damaged.”

  “Then why is she having these crazy nightmares?” Ladon threw his hands in the air. “That is not normal.”

  The pair continued their way down the hall. They both needed to get some sleep themselves soon or they wouldn’t be able to function either.

  Ryuu looked sideways at Ladon. “You know the fact that you don’t believe what she is saying is hurting Alexis.”

  “Don’t you think I know that, Ryuu?” Ladon growled. “But if I give in to her delusions I’m afraid she will get worse.”

  “What if they aren’t delusions?”

  Ladon stopped so suddenly that Ryuu nearly walked into his back. The fire dragon whipped around on his friend in anger.

  “Don’t you think I would love to have a logical explanation for her nightmares? Or this fixation on Fafnir? Do you really think that I want the woman I love more than life itself to be going crazy?”

  Ryuu studied his friend and decided that maybe it was time for some tough love. “Do you actually want to know what I think?” he challenged.

  Ladon’s voice raised, “Yeah I do.”

  “Fine. I think you are afraid. You forget I saw you after your battle with Fafnir. You almost didn’t survive. I think it is safer for you to think that he is dead and your mate is insane than it is to think you might have to face the man who nearly ended your life again.” Ryuu poked Ladon’s chest to punctuate each accusation.

  Ladon roared and took a swing at the black dragon’s face. Ryuu knew Ladon’s temper was near the surface and was prepared for the punch. He ducked and sent his leg out to sweep Ladon off balance.

  The pair had sparred many times and were familiar with each other’s fighting style. But Ladon wasn’t sparring. His anger and guilt had finally hit a boiling point; he needed to smash something, and Ryuu made the perfect target.

  They wrestled and crashed the rest of the way down the hall. It was a small miracle that Alexis didn’t come out to investigate the commotion. Though she was an intelligent woman and probably knew better than to get between two battling dragons.

  Ladon landed a lucky shot and knocked Ryuu’s head back, causing him to fall into the giant open space of the flight deck. This pissed off the black dragon and he transformed to his hulking dragon form, shredding his clothes in the process. He swiped his massive spiked tail at Ladon, who launched himself into the air. He transformed midleap and landed fully transformed nearby.

  The thunderous roar of battling dragons shook the island mountain compound. Ryuu knew that the only thing saving him from serious harm was the fact that he and Ladon were friends. That didn’t mean that the fire dragon wouldn’t make him feel it though. Ryuu made sure to get in a fair number of blows himself.

  Soon the ridiculousness of the entire situation struck Ryuu as being funny, and he fumbled a few swipes of his claws as his dragon shook with mirth. That opened an opportunity for Ladon to pin the black dragon, who quickly transformed into a laughing man.

  Ladon transformed still on top of Ryuu. “Are you laughing? Why are you laughing?”

  Ryuu shoved at the still naked Ladon on top of him, “Get off of me, you perv.”

  Ladon rolled off of is friend and flopped on the ground beside him. “Why are we fighting?”

  “Because you are an ass.”

  “Alexis say
s I’m always an ass.”

  “Well, she’s not wrong.”

  Ladon reached over and punched Ryuu in the shoulder without even looking over.

  “Ow. I’ve got bruises all over my body thanks to you.”

  “They’ll be gone by morning, you big baby.”

  “I’m a scholar, not a fighter.”

  Ladon sighed. “Yeah you are. You’ve forgotten more than I will ever know.” He turned his head and looked at Ryuu. “You really think that Alexis’s nightmare are something other than damage to her mind, don’t you?”

  Ryuu’s black eyes stared steadily into Ladon’s golden ones. “I do.”

  Ladon turned his eyes back to the ceiling. “Shit, I thought you might say that.”

  “You know there might be a way to prove it definitively.”

  30

  “Come on, people! We need to get a move on. The plane will be at the airstrip within the hour.”

  Ladon was in full general mode and Alexis was about ready to kill him. The men had burst into her room in the middle of the night to demand that she start packing. Alexis’s body still felt exhausted because the nightmares hadn’t let her get the restorative rest she needed.

  Ryuu was in his dragon form as Ladon strapped a few more items to his back before he launched himself into the air. Alexis laid her head against the last stack of equipment. Ryuu would be returning shortly to watch over her as Ladon flew this stack of things down the mountain in his dragon form. Neither of the men had told why there was such a sense of urgency.

  She was wondering if Ladon was going to force her into some form of mental therapy because of the nightmares. Alexis turn her head to watch the clouds pass in shades of pink and purple. The opening of the dragon landing pad was so vast that it almost felt like she was floating among the clouds. She sighed because peaceful moments like these were going to be few and far between—because she knew her nightmares were real.