Cyrion walked toward them and knocked on nearby furniture to get their attention. "Diovan, the men are getting restless. I think a brawl is about to start. You can't gather forty dragon men in a cave without expecting some trouble."
Diovan sighed then got up. "We should head off soon, then."
"And I'm coming," Aryana said.
"No you're not."
She made a scoffing noise, then folded her arms.
He ran his fingers through his hair. "Are you sure you want to send me off like that? I might not come back." He was pretty certain he would. He had the numbers and the strength.
But also the fear of having to face his father. He attempted to not let that bother him too much.
Aryana slumped down onto her mattress. She drew her blanket over her frame, cocooning herself from him. "Well, then, just desserts for leaving me behind."
He couldn't help but feel like daggers were digging into his chest. "Fine. I'll be leaving without a proper send-off from the love of my life."
"If you really loved me, you'd respect my wishes."
So, she was pulling that card? It was a low blow for sure. "I'm only keeping you here because I want to protect you. I'd love to have another addition to my army, but not at the expense of your safety."
"Are the both of you done with your lovers' spat?" Cyrion asked, leaning against a stalagmite. "It's making me nauseated."
Diovan rolled his eye, pulled himself to his feet, and made his way to his ensemble of dragons, following behind Cyrion.
Just as he neared the exit, he felt two smaller arms grab his waist and turn him around. Soft, tender lips crashed onto his. Aryana entered his mouth. It sent the dragon inside him reeling. He wanted to throw her onto the ground and take her. But with forty men waiting for him nearby, and no door to keep in the sounds, he couldn't do so. It almost made him want to rage with frustration.
"Stay safe," she said, the dejected look still painted on her face.
Did this woman know what kind of emotions she had just sent spiraling through him? She went back to their mattress as if nothing had happened and lay down.
"I love you," he said.
No response.
He grunted, rolled his shoulders in a circle, then walked toward the dragons and witches, preparing himself to rally his troops.
Chapter 15
Diovan's speech rang in Aryana's ears. The men clapped and cheered at every one of his sentences. Aryana knew her mate had a way with words.
Diovan paced as he spoke. His voice bounced off the walls of the cave. "Joakim Grimfire, my father, thinks that he's the biggest shit from here, Ocharia, to the far icelands, but he's been blinded by his lust for power, and he's not as big of a shit as he thinks he is."
The men pumped their fists into the air. "Aye!"
"He's thrown us from our homes, our mothers, some of us when we were mere babes. The young of the Grimfires cower in fear and are afraid to develop because of his practices. We're here to stop this injustice and take back what's ours."
"Aye!"
"We've been waiting for this moment for too long. I know I have. But now I'm—no, we're ready, and in greater strength and numbers than I ever thought possible. It's time for us to lift our wings and fly back to our mountains, to return to the place where we were born and reclaim our heritage. Gather your weapons, and let's show the pussies Joakim has nurtured who the real dragons are."
"Yes, sir!" The men bolted into action, while the witches watching went along.
Diovan's words were pretty, as was he.
But no words could appease Aryana's fury. No man had ever denied her decisions before. Her parents were never there to shout commands at her. Still, didn't she want to be protected and pampered by a man? It was one of her fantasies. A notion that the rest of her witches no doubt found unorthodox. She couldn't have those things without a man who didn't have it in him to take control.
Regardless, she wouldn't be subdued so easily. She wanted to be Diovan's partner, not pet. She would join the battle no matter what. Even if he didn't approve.
She waited as the band of dragon men leapt from the cliff as they were in mid-shift. They dropped down, and Aryana almost thought they would plummet to their deaths, but they emerged from the edge moments later, an impressive sight of colorful scales and majesty.
After all of them left, she took her beads and walked toward the entrance.
The dragons were in the skies. The massive creatures looked like bees when viewed from such a distance.
She glanced down the entrance of the cave. A lush mass of greenery met her gaze from down below. The cool winds swept her hair upward. The cliff was steep, but she'd be able to climb down it with a spell or two. She was quite hesitant about using her magic, however, since it was limited by how many souls she had. An animal had to die for each spell she cast.
"Diovan ordered me to stay and keep watch."
She glanced over her shoulder. A male with boyish features sat there, chewing on a charred piece of meat.
"It's so boring without a crowd around here," he said. "Nothing but rocky walls. But hey, at least there isn't fire everywhere. I'd rather avoid battles, you know? I'm just a tiny dragon compared to those beastly men."
She turned toward him, feeling a spark of an idea lighting in her mind. "You're Leon, right?"
"Oh, did Diovan mention me?"
"He did. He wanted you to stay and keep me company."
Leon nodded, then swallowed whatever he was eating. "And here I am." He leaned back into his seat and rested his hands behind his head.
"Here you are." A sly smile spread over her face. She had just obtained the right tool to get to the Grimfire mountains.
Aryana had only just realized she disliked steep drops and heights.
The sudden turns and dips Leon made caused her head to spin. She was certain some people would find flying invigorating, but she wasn't one of them, which made her pairing with a dragon quite strange.
Technically, she could have used a quick levitation spell to get down the cliffs, then run to the Grimfire mountains herself, where the Red Beast resided. But by the time she got there, it would have been a year later and Diovan would be long done with the fight. The mountains were only described in tales. They were as elusive as the Red Beast himself. A seemingly endless stretch of ranges lined the whole of Ocharia's western front, where the Grimfire clan was rumored to be. But living most of her life in the jungle had failed to give her an opportunity to explore those regions.
So, much to her distress, she needed Leon's wings and knowledge to reach Diovan.
"Sorry about bullying you into this," she said, patting his neck. "I didn't intend to be mean. I just needed a ride."
The dragon made a huge dip in the air.
She yelped and clutched tightly to its scales, nearly slipping off. "Leon!"
A rumbling chuckle shook from the dragon.
She steadied herself. "I'll treat you to something after this." She wasn't sure what, but she could concoct something with her plethora of spells.
Smoke shot from Leon's nostrils. The young dragon wasn't happy about being forced into doing something he didn't like, just as she was.
"I know you don't want to fight. I won't force you to. You can drop me off at the mountains and then run away."
Leon shook his head.
"It's awfully hard to understand you when you can't talk."
It wasn't hard to coax Leon into helping her. All she had to do was use a quick, albeit expensive, spell to suppress his dragon powers. She trapped her in his human form until he agreed to help her out. Of course, he didn't know that the spell only lasted a few hours. She didn't have enough magic to keep him as a human for much longer.
Leon didn't know that, however. She scared him by insinuating she could take his powers away anytime, and forever. The young dragon was gullible enough to believe her.
Using one of his limbs, Leon pointed to the scene up ahead. That action made his frame
wobble a bit.
"Careful! I don't want to fall."
The flapping of Leon's wings, and the whirring of the wind, made it difficult to even hear herself speaking. She could touch the clouds so high up.
Bright flashes sparked between the mountain tops. The battle had started. She'd only experienced small-scale fights and village raids, which most of the time went by quite peacefully and amicably once the villagers realized they were overpowered. Her mind couldn't fathom how massive a fight between close to a hundred dragons would look like.
Right then, it didn't appear like much. Their distance only allowed her to see sparks.
Despite how large dragons were, they were quick, especially in the skies. Leon was no exception. It only took him ten minutes at most before reaching the scene.
Leon's form quivered.
She leaned closer to him. "You're afraid?" She was, but she wouldn't admit it.
The dragon nodded.
"Diovan told me your men were banished from the clan because Joakim saw the bunch of you as threats to his position. Aren't you supposed to be strong?"
He didn't answer, as expected.
Leon flew closer to the steep, rocky grounds once they reached the battle. She felt so inconsequential while she watched the dragons. The beasts grappled each other in the air. Flames of all colors, large enough to span the entire width of a house, flew past her, back and forth. She could feel the heat even from so far away. There weren't as many dragons on the outskirts of the battle, and they mostly ignored Leon, whose brown scales blended with the surface of the rocks.
She had her hand to her side, next to her beads, ready to cast a blast of ice should any of these dragons pay attention to them.
They landed on a rocky outcrop. Leon shifted back to his human self. Her head spun. She tried to steady herself, and smiled when her feet touched familiar ground. Riding a dragon had made her giddy.
She looked away as he put on his clothes, although she wasn't really bothered by his nudity. She didn't know if he was.
"I am strong," Leon said, responding to her question earlier.
Typical men, always trying to reaffirm their egos.
She pressed her lips together. "Oh? Then why are you quivering in fear?"
"Just because I'm scared doesn't mean I don't have any fight in me. I took on three other dragons by myself. They were young ones, but that's not the point. They thought I was the runt amongst the dragonlings, so they tried to pick on me. One of them lost a finger."
She couldn't imagine the slender-looking man, who had boyish features that rivaled toddlers, defeating three other dragons. "Sounds too good to be true."
"Well, it's true." He puffed his chest up, then flinched when a torrent of dragon fire cracked against the rocks next to him. "I simply hate fights. Passionately."
She could relate, actually. The water witches often pitted their strengths against each other. They hailed her as one of the most gifted, and loved watching her sparring sessions as if they were performances, but it had taken a long time before she became comfortable with hurting her opponent, or being at risk of getting hurt herself.
She didn't flinch at loud noises like Leon did, however. She had more balls than that. "I'm sorry for dragging you in. Thanks for bringing me here. You can go home."
He shook his head. "I promised Diovan I'd keep you safe. I'm a man of my word."
"I'll be safe. I can take care of myself."
Leon clenched his hands into fists, then flinched at another loud blast right after. "Diovan will kill me if he finds you hurt. Frankly, I'm more afraid of him than the other dragons here."
She couldn't think of smiley-faced Diovan as someone to be afraid of, but she stopped herself from arguing. She shrugged. "Suit yourself, but you might want to turn into a dragon."
"I'll stay human. They won't notice me. It's easier to sneak around."
"Be prepared to shift whenever."
They climbed the ledge, which wasn't difficult because she had experience climbing trees. She landed on the platform of the cliff.
The battle came into full view. A few dead bodies lay on the ground, charred and bloody. They were ghastly, but she tried to sweep the image from her mind and press on. "We have to find Diovan. Make sure he's all right."
"Diovan? You're worried for him?"
"Of course. He's my mate."
"You should be worried for his enemies. That dragon could probably take on the entire army on his own."
"Really? That sounds like an exaggeration."
"Well, yes, it is, but there's a reason all forty of us are backing him. Some say his strength rivals the Black Dread's. He's gifted."
"I still find that hard to imagine. The only thing I can see him being gifted with is a glib tongue."
She sighted one of her witches riding on the back of a dragon. The two were a fearsome force. The dragon protected the witch from any physical blows, while the witch shot long-range spells at their enemies. At least three limp dragon bodies lay beneath them, and judging by the battle, another one was soon to join. Their current opponent was dodging blasts of ice, but he seemed tired and was slowing down. The fire he blew couldn't reach the duo, either. The witch had crafted a protective barrier around them.
Aryana recognized the witch. She was one of the more respected elders amongst her kind, and known to be adept at ice magic.
"They're winning," Leon said, pacing next to her. "As we expected."
Aryana nodded. "It's not surprising. I can see why Joakim wanted witches as allies. I don't think it worked out well for him, seeing as we want to kill him now."
Leon stopped in his tracks.
"What is it?"
"I spotted Diovan."
"Where?" she asked, frantically searching the skies.
"There." He pointed to the area in front of them.
"I can't see."
"He's fighting Joakim and a few others. I forgot you don't have a dragon's vision. The smog is probably obscuring your view, isn't it?"
"He's fighting a few others alone? Let's hurry," she said.
Leon grimaced. "I'd rather not. We should stay low."
"Oh, stop being a wimp. You're the least manly man I've ever met. And that's saying a lot, knowing the men I've grown up with." Calling a male "not masculine" was actually a compliment in her culture, although she said it as a form of negative reinforcement for Leon.
"I'm just trying to be logical—"
She grabbed him and rushed him forward. She wasn't sure whether they were going in the right direction. She had to dodge a few columns of fire as they ran onward. Being a dragon's mate made her less susceptible to fire, but the impact of the blast could injure her.
"Be careful!" Leon warned her.
"I am being careful. The doesn't mean I can't be efficient while I'm at it."
"Diovan will be fine. There's no need to rush to your death. Please stay safe. He'll kill me if you're not."
"It's a few dragons against one. How is he fine?"
"Trust me, he is."
Diovan's golden form came into view, although the ashes took away the usual sheen his scales glowed with. He was flailing against the Red Beast. Another dragon struck at him with its claws. Diovan roared with pain. He pushed the Red Beast away and struck back at his other opponent. The third dragon swooped in, ready to attack.
Aryana's heart lurched at the sight of her mate getting hurt.
"He is not fine!" She willed her magic into her hands. "Glacilis provoto." An aura of ice cooled her hand. She directed it toward the Red Beast.
"That's odd," Leon said as he stood behind her. Leon towered over her, but at that moment, he seemed smaller. "Diovan usually can handle himself. Maybe it's because Joakim is pretty powerful as well?"
The ice missed. "Glacilis provoto," she chanted again. Oh, Kroasha's teats, her souls were going to run low at this rate. "Aren't you going to help? Leon!"
"Help?"
"Yes! In the fight. Diovan is outnumbered."
She heard a soft whimper uncharacteristic of a dragon coming from Leon's throat. Then, moments later, after a few more misses of her ice blasts. The Red Beast soared toward her. Leon's whimper grew into a growl, albeit a pathetic one.
Diovan's eyes met hers. She saw fear in them. He moved toward her, but the distraction gave his opponents an opening. One of them bit Diovan's tail and swung him aside, crashing him into the remains of a building. Her heart leapt. She wanted to bolt to him, but she had to worry about herself first.
Joakim lunged toward her. She crafted a magical barrier, but Leon, who had morphed into a dragon without her noticing, threw himself at Joakim before she erected her barrier. The two dragons both toppled to the ground. Leon almost looked like he could subdue Joakim for a moment. Then the Red Beast threw Leon aside as if he were a toy.
Leon was underdeveloped. He had the potential, but couldn't stand up to a fully grown dragon leader all on his own.
A large gash sliced through Leon's chest.
The shock of the sight almost kept her frozen in place. She wasn't used to such violence, but adrenaline kept her fighting on. The Red Beast stalked toward her, watching her with a beady yellow gaze.
Joakim towered over her. But she wouldn't let dragon fear get the best of her. She summoned her magic and cast another shot of ice.
Joakim blew fire at her attack to slow it, then jumped out of its way.
She cast another spell. She wondered out how long she could keep this up before her soul beads ran empty.
From her blind spot, a tail swung toward her waist. It threw her backward. She hit the ground. Seething in pain, but still conscious, she reached for her beads.
They had flown off her belt and too far away from her reach.
"Oh goddess." She blinked back her panic.
Leon got up and threw himself against the Red Beast, but wasn't fast enough. She felt herself being picked up by sharp, cold claws. She struggled and thrashed, but her efforts only served to make her wounds hurt her even more. Her mind was starting to float from her, and everything began to meld into a blur.
Joakim took to the red, ash-filled sky with her in his claws. Her lungs tightened.
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