by Maia Starr
The waters sucked me down like a vacuum and then suddenly expelled me as though it realized I didn’t belong here. I emerged on the other side of the 10-foot gap, clinging to the side of the mossy rock and pulling myself back out into the valley of soldiers.
“Put your clothes on!” I heard Sigisvult stress through gritted teeth, flying over the moat with ease and throwing his jacket at me.
“Can’t.” I caught it in my hands and threw it on the ground. “You ripped them off of me.”
“Then I gave you my coat.”
He picked the jacket up and threw it back at me, trying hard not to look at my breasts as the coat hit them.
“I don’t want it,” I said stubbornly, tossing it aside again.
I watched his eyes search the valley. I heard chattering in the distance, a laugh, but most of it was drowned out by the downpour. We must have been drawing whatever was left of the crowd.
Sigisvult wiped his hand across his forehead, and as much as it looked like he was about to lose it on me, his voice remained calm and almost pleading.
He walked up to me and gently placed his large hands on my freckled shoulders, setting them there gingerly as though I would pull away. I raised a daring brow to him and his wings extended with a force so great it nearly knocked me to the ground. He wrapped them around me
“You, are naked,” he enunciated almost comically.
“And?”
“And I’m not letting you humiliate yourself… or me, by walking back on foot, naked, for the next three hours home. No.”
“You find my body humiliating?” I tortured, looking down at my bare chest and then back up at him with doe eyes.
“For the record,” he huffed, “this is exactly why I find you difficult.”
Chapter Four
Sigisvult
Seven weeks. My life had been a living nightmare for seven weeks. Celeste was headstrong and anything but submissive. She would argue any point, even if she agreed. I’d come to dread telling her when I was on duty almost as much as I dreaded coming home to her.
Amidst the chaos of the war and the never-ending manhunts for Haden and like rebels, the Koth had assigned us a training activity. Races by flight, for both sport and to hone our skills against the rebels.
At least it gave me a reason to leave for the day.
More than 50 Weredragons lined up in the crater hills where massive craters filled with glowstones lined the countryside. The craters were so deep you had to fly to get out of one.
The training ground would require us to climb down the dangerous craters, filled with a slick and sticky black substance, and then fly back out. All shifters would be required to hone in on their powers, their specialties according to their type. I was set apart with the rest of the blue dragons, and we were supposed to control the black gunk within the craters, will it to release us.
I felt a rush of adrenaline course through my wings as the lot of us readied ourselves for battle against the rebel army.
The Koth leader, Galsthenn the white dragon, stood atop a rocky spire.
Two thrones sat atop the mountain, his mousy chosen one, Rosalyn Westfall, at his side. She sported long brown hair and hazel eyes. She had been a nurse when she arrived on Udora; now she was just a breeder like the rest of them. The pair had many children, and I couldn’t fathom the love he had shown to her.
The pair were never seen apart, not even when he was ruling his kingdom in official matters. He gave her free speech at all tables, and his eyes always followed her across the room.
Speaking of incessant attention…
“Look who showed up,” Aithanarid, a blue dragon in my ranks said, gesturing out into the crowd of chosen women.
I looked over and nearly cringed; the ginger-haired bane of my existence sitting perched beneath the throne tower.
She wore a tight yellow skirt and black blazer with nothing on underneath. She clearly no problem baring all in front of a crowd.
Other chosen ‘wives’ lined up in rows to watch their shifters perform. Galsthenn said this would raise morale and help us all execute our tasks better, raise competition.
“Super,” I said back to Aithanarid with a half-smile.
Though the session was about to begin, I could see Celeste had caught sight of me, and she began running up to the starting line. I rolled my eyes and tried to wave her back but, defiant as ever, she continued forward.
“My hero!” she shouted with casual flirtation as she approached the lot of us.
“Go sit down,” I instructed.
“Um, I’m sorry?” she laughed. “Did you think I was talking to you?”
I sighed.
“Nope! I was talking to my good friend…” she looked over at Aithanarid and offered him a wry grin. “This is the part where you tell me your name, so I don’t look like an idiot,” she whispered as she leaned into the other blue shifter.
“Too late,” I interjected.
I watched the flush come up his face, and he laughed and said, “Aithanarid.”
“Aithanarid!” she repeated joyfully, wrapping her arms around his massive muscle. I nearly rolled my eyes as I watched him flex. “Ooh, what a big, strong shifter. I’ll be cheering for you, buddy, so make sure you win, okay?”
“Anything for a girl like you,” Aithanarid played along, running his hands through his hair like a fool.
“Just wait until you get her home,” I cautioned with a smile.
“Yeah,” she lowered her voice seductively, playing with her blazer so the small curve of her breast showed. She narrowed her eyes at the blue shifter, eyes glazed over with a put-on lust. “Just wait until you get me home.”
Aithanarid and I had always been rivals, and this was hardly helping.
“That’s not what I–” I stammered. “That’s definitely not what I meant, though I’d bet he’s got his work cut out for him in that avenue, as well.”
“Can you do me a big favor and kick his ass in this thing, please?” she batted her lashes in an over exaggerated fashion to my competitor and then gave me a menacing look.
“Something tells me that’s not going to be a problem.” Aithanarid laughed hard and slid his hand down to the small of her back, and my eyes followed it every inch. “I’d bet my life that Sigisvult blows it in the craters.”
I flinched at the mention and felt a cold sweat rush through my body. Celeste’s eyes on me made me feel that much worse as I grit my teeth at Aithanarid.
“You guys get in those things?” the ginger asked, her flirtatious façade dropping now as she peered down the plains to the massive craters below.
“Yep,” Aithanarid laughed. “And this one goes down every, single, time. That’s what happens when you–”
“Aithanarid,” I cautioned with a single look.
Celeste stared intensely into my eyes, and I looked to the floor. Aithanarid didn’t continue, but I knew she sensed something unspoken between us.
“Oh,” she said suddenly, wrinkling her nose in sudden disgust at the shifter.
She slapped his hands off her with an overstated motion and side stepped away from the large man. “You know, I didn’t realize it until just now but, you’re kind of a jerk. I don’t think I’ll be cheering for you anymore.”
I smiled.
Aithanarid watched her carefully, his smile slowly fading into a deep frown and he looked over at me as though we had played a trick on him. I shrugged playfully.
“You think I control her?” I laughed.
The blue shifter let out a fury of annoyed curses as he turned from us and took his spot back in the lineup and I met Celeste’s eyes unsurely. I knew she could see the pain there, knew she would ask a million questions until she dragged out the whole painful truth.
So I waited, and she just stared.
“Well,” she said with a breath, raising her brows matter-of-factly. “I guess I have no choice but to cheer for you, so you’d better make it worth my while.”
I blinked in s
urprise and gave her a smirk. “That’s it?”
“What, do you want me to wave a flag around? That’s it!”
My eyes darted back and forth from her, waiting for the rub, but nothing came. Instead, she smiled and walked up to me, standing on her toes and reaching up to kiss me. I met her lips briefly and felt the warm wetness she left when they parted.
“Go get ‘em,” she whispered with a wink and took back to the crowd.
The cry of Gaslthenn signaled for the training to begin.
The wings of my fellow shifters cascaded with a penetrating echo as we all took to the sky. Intense gusts of wind flew beneath us, carrying us even faster through the midday skies. Other soldiers were sent flying in the opposite direction as us so that we flew against them, dodging the makeshift 'enemies' and showing off our agility.
I looked around at the dragons next to me and couldn't help but notice a lack of friends I once had, shifters who had fallen to the rebels or joined them. My friend Tardis had disappeared at the same time as Haden and a fellow soldier Rilark, it seemed.
I looked down just long enough to catch a glimpse of Celeste staring back up at me and cheering with her hands making a funnel around her mouth.
As much as she annoyed me, I still felt the need to show off a little. I spun my wings around my body so I did a massive turn in the air, the sudden movement sending me shooting up ahead of the rest of the blue dragons.
My tail whipped side to side as I dodged the enemies ahead and I swooped down to the craters that bubbled with liquid from below.
I felt a sick pain in my stomach as my feet hit the ground with sharp pains as the rocks jutted up against the hard pads on the bottom of my feet.
I knew I was ahead of everyone else, yet, as I stared down into the water deep in the crater below, I felt frozen.
Pounding was suddenly all around me as the rest of the blue shifters hit the ground with force. Rocks flew up at the might of their weight and one by one they began crawling down into the craters. I took a breath and got my head back in the game.
There was a familiar exhilaration coming out in a nervous sweat as I scaled down the massive crater, stopping every so often to think that if I let go, I could be enveloped by the darkness below.
The waves made my hands tremble as memories crashed through my body. I clung to the edge
“You okay?” came Aithanarid’s even tone.
“Peachy,” I snapped back and tried to raise myself back up out of the pit with effort.
“It’s okay, Sigisvult,” he cooed with resentment dripping from his words. “All you have to do is swim.” He grinned.
I glared up at the deep blue shifter, and his eyes searched mine with spite.
“Just swim,” he enunciated, “and then fly out.”
I exhaled sharply as he grabbed my hands and flung me from the rocks. I fell down into the water, and an overwhelming sense of panic overcame my features. I rushed my wings back to get out, but my eyes began to darken.
Shouts from the crowds seem to roar in the distance, and I looked up just long enough to see Aithanarid take to the sky and continue through the course.
My lungs filled with the familiar blue and I could feel the water calling me down and down and down until my whole body stopped fighting against it. Amidst the chaos, I could hear Galsthenn calling for a halt, dragons roaring wildly in the distance and shouts calling for someone to stop. It didn’t come as a surprise when I watched Celeste’s face emerge in the opening of the crater, her red hair trailing behind her as she jumped in the pit without a thought.
I could see the corners of my vision growing dark, like a slowly closing aperture. My mind told me my arms were moving but when I looked, I was sinking perfectly still. I closed my eyes to get rid of the darkness and was only awakened when I felt someone grab my arm.
A storm of bubbles and immensely bright waters flooded my vision suddenly as I was pulled up above the water at incredible speeds. Waves crashed around my neck as Vordamm pulled me up to the surface, flapping his wings with such force it started a spiraling hurricane in the water below.
"I know you're probably in shock right now," he yelled, "But flap your wings!"
I could feel him struggle to lift my dead weight and all at once my lungs were desperate for air, the sounds of my heaving and stretching for breath echoing in the Udorian crater. I looked down in the water and saw Celeste clinging to an outcropping rock. My throat constricted from the effort of trying to breathe, and when enough senses came to me, I slapped Vordamm on the arm for leaving her behind and shakily spread my wings to fly down and get her.
My legs trembled violently as I approached the water once again and I reached out as far as I could to grab the redhead from off the platform. She eagerly reached for me, and I scooped her into my arms, Vordamm still flying nearby to make sure I had the strength to get out.
As soon as we left the crater, I collapsed onto the ground with Celeste beside me. In my mind I was thinking up ways to blame this on her, to excuse my poor performance to the Koth on her jumping in misguidedly... but as the air came back into my bloodstream and calmed my nerves, I knew they had all seen.
It was just as that jackass predicted. I always failed at the craters.
When I steadied myself, I sat up and the group back near the Koth leader all cheered. It was a show of good cheer, but it was humiliating.
I frowned at their gesture and looked over at Celeste, soaking wet and shaken. I grabbed her hand, and she sat up on her knees, looking at me in shock.
“You know, for a blue dragon you’re not all that good at swimming,” she laughed.
“No, I’m really not.”
Chapter Five
Celeste
“So… what happened back there?”
Sigisvult and I had made our way back to a rocky outcropping some of the chosen women were using as shelter until their mates got back from speaking with the Koth after their weird little triathlon, or whatever that was supposed to be.
We sat in relative privacy on a makeshift stone bench near the opening of the cave and basked in the light the flooded in and heated our soaking bones.
The leader of the Koth had dribbled down from ten shifters to just one: Galsthenn. It used to be a democracy before the rebels started creeping in. His wife, Rosalyn, made her way over to us with a blanket and draped it over my lap.
“I saw what happened out there,” she said with ease as her eyes flicked over to Sigisvult. “I keep telling him this
Sigisvult lowered his brows and accepted a second blanket from the woman and shrugged as he laid it across his lap. “I’m not so sure,” he cautioned. “The fact that I can’t make it across those damn craters might say I’m less equipped to fight the rebels that Galsthenn believes.”
“Oh dear.” The brunette pushed her long hair behind her ivory gown that flowed with her every movement and leaned towards the blue shifter. “For the record, the rebels don’t live underwater,” she teased. “I think you’re in the clear.”
“How are you holding up, ma’am?” he asked with a respect I’d never heard from him. He looked up at her with genuine concern.
“Oh, you know…” The brunette rolled her hazel eyes and offered a polite smile. “Threats, fights, rebels, rinse and repeat. It’s been that way since I first got here.”
I gave a slow nod, and it seemed like the queen was almost startled by my presence, as though she forgot I was even there.
“I’m sorry,” she said with a gasp. “How are you, dear?” she fixed the furry throw over my shoulders and knelt down in front of me, grabbing my hands with sympathy. “I saw you jump in the water.”
“Would you tell her she’s insane?” Sigisvult quipped as he ran the furs through his hair and down the shaft of his wing.
I shrugged playfully at the woman. “I’m impulsive.”
“You must care very deeply for this one to have risked your life like that. The craters are incredibly dangerous and…” she trailed off,
growing lost in her own words. “Well, one is very lucky to find even one love like that in a lifetime.”
I didn’t realize that a huge smile had crept across my face until Rosalyn smiled back at me. She brushed my hair behind my ear and tilted her head to the side.
“Yeah, well,” I rubbed my arm awkwardly and let out a nervous laugh. “Shucks.”
Rosalyn breathed in as she stood from in front of me, brushing the dirt from her dress as she rose to her feet. I looked down and saw her huge, pregnant belly in front of me. I hadn’t even noticed.
“Congratulations,” I said earnestly and gestured to her stomach.
She nodded her appreciation and cupped the child’s outline protectively. Her eyes again flicked to Sigisvult, and her voice lowered to a dangerous tone as she asked, “You heard about Haden?”
He nodded.
“Sarra’s gone too,” she bit her lip. “Needless to say, Zaphira’s furious.”
“She feels betrayed, no doubt,” she said absent-mindedly. “She’s coming up later this evening
“Of course. She doesn’t have anyone to do it for her, anymore.”
“I just keep thinking this must be some kind of mistake. They’ve been chosen together for…” she looked up and began counting on her fingers. “What?” she asked. “A decade? How could they just… leave?”
“For their children’s sake, I hope they have a good reason,” he snapped.
Her thin brows crawled up her round face, and she breathed as though she suddenly remembered she shouldn’t have been talking so openly in front of us.
“Well then,” she said with a nod, “I’m sure the nurses have attended to you by now. I hope you don’t take this too hard.”
“I won’t,” he said.
Rosalyn looked at me with a perfectly uniform smile as she took her leave. Spinning on her boot, she turned just once and said to me, “Don’t let him pout the day away.” She laughed.
“Oh, I’m on it!” I called back to her and then looked over at Sigisvult awkwardly. “You okay?”
“I’m fine,” he dismissed quickly.