by Celeste Raye
Marlene said, softly, “There is a spell, but it would mean…it would mean the Orcs would be destroyed. At least those gathered against us would be. Evil lives no matter what is done to kill it off. But this spell, it would save us all right now.”
Heather and Christy exchanged glances. “Why hasn’t anyone done it yet?”
Blake spoke from the doorway. “Because it would take a dragon heart to cast it.”
Christy spun around. Her mouth fell open. “What? What do you mean?”
He entered the kitchen, Max beside him. They both looked tired and wan. Blake said, “I mean we would have to give our heart to one we trust, one who could hold it and not allow it to be broken or taken and who would use it as a weapon against the Orcs. One we know would give it back after.”
Christy could not breathe. She cried out, “Surely you aren’t considering this!”
“We have to,” Max said softly. “They’re too many. It has to be Blake, Christy. I’m sorry.”
Her stare went wider. “No! Wait! What? Why you?”
Blake said, “Because I have a power that no other dragon has.”
All of the air went out of the room. Heather’s hands held her up and Heather said, “You can’t do this to her, and now! You can’t…”
Blake moved Heather away, gently. He took Christy’s face in his hands. He looked at her and said, “You fought off Orcs with a rock. You came back through the door, and most don’t know the way. You are brave, and you are strong, and you are true. You were out there on that field with me even though you have never been in a battle before in your life. I love you, and I trust you. It has to be me, and it has to be you. You have to take my heart, and you have to use it.”
“No.” The word trembled off her lips. “No, I can’t. What if…what if I drop it? What if the Orcs come and take it? What if you…you’ll die without your heart!”
“No, not if you’re fast enough. It can be done. You have to do it. I wish there was another way, but there isn’t. You have to take my heart, and you have to use it.”
No. God no. She stared at him, tears running down her face. All the love she felt for him came in, threatening to overwhelm her, threatening to choke her. She could not hold his heart in her very hands; she just could not do it. What if she was not strong enough? What if she failed him?
He whispered, “You won’t let my heart get taken or broken, and you won’t let me die.”
Her mouth snapped shut and then she opened it again. “Did you just read my mind?”
“No, just your face. I know you are very scared. I am too. But it’s the only way. I swear it is.”
She wept out, “Why you? Why?”
“It’s the power. Every dragon is born with a different one.”
“Well, the one you have sucks!”
He grinned. “I’ll agree. You can do this. I can do this. So, let’s do it and end this once and for all. Okay? Trust me. I trust you, and I need you to trust me right now.”
There it was: the biggest thing anyone had ever asked her to do. Loving him had been hard, but it was only half the battle. Trusting him, that was where she would either stand or fail.
She took a long breath. “You remember what I said about if you die on me?”
His eyes were steady. “I do. I really do.”
“I still mean it.”
He said, “I’m glad to hear it.”
He stepped back and changed. His talons went to his chest. The scales parted. Christy felt faint, like the whole world was spinning away from under her feet. Heather stood beside her, one hand on her back to help keep her upright as Blake said, “Marlene?”
The witches began a chant. Blue light sizzled and snapped. The dragons came in, one by one, and their voices joined with the witches. Christy stared at Blake’s face in that eldritch light, and she knew then that she was right. This was where she was supposed to be, and he had been made for her.
And she knew something else too. That this was the love that his parents had had, and one day it might very well have to be the love that their, her and Blake’s, children had to have. Because evil never did die; it only faded away for a little while.
And only a heart strong and fiery, a heart powerful enough to last outside breath and flesh, could stop evil when it was at its darkest and worst.
A heart like that and a love that could guide it, could keep it safe, were the only things that were powerful enough to stop evil.
The light grew stronger, the chanting louder. It looked like Blake was enveloped in blue flames now, and his claws parted his scales further. She tensed, expecting blood, but there was none.
There was a hot red glow, a pulsing, swirling light that made her head swim and then his claws extended and there, upon them, was what looked like a giant, beating ruby; one that had sheer and pure fire at its center. She reached out and took it. As soon as she did, his body slumped to the floor. A moan wanted to break from her lips, but she did not let it. She let the others guide her through the castle, Blake’s heart beating and spinning in her hands. They made their way to the roof, and she stood there, looking down at the army of the Orcs, so many in number that there was no way, no other way, to hold them back.
She had to do this.
She would do this.
Blake’s heart got hotter. Light started to shed from it, to spill out and strike against the sky and the ground. The Orcs realized what was happening, but too late. A few tried to run but the fire from Blake’s heart was so strong that it caught them in that light and the Orcs died, their bodies crumbling to dust, and the wind blew that dust away, over the edge of the cliff and out of sight. There were so many Orcs, so many, and she had to leave a small flame in that heart, enough flame for him to live, to build that fire anew.
The fire grew hotter. She felt the heat on her palms, and she knew that they were scorching, that she would have burn marks there when this was done, but she did not care. This was Blake’s heart in her hands. He had literally given her his heart, something that staggered her to no end. He loved her that much. He trusted her that much, and she would not fail him, would not. The witches and dragons kept chanting, and she held his heart up and out, trusting herself to hold it, and the fire grew hotter yet, lighting up the world for miles in a beautiful crimson shade that took her breath away.
Then she saw the flame sputtering. She turned away from the roof. Whatever Orcs were left, the dragons would have to handle on their own. She ran, carefully holding the heart in her hands and ignoring the pain on her skin where the heart had burned her.
She ran, her heart slamming into her ribs and her tears washing down her face. The flame grew smaller yet and she ran faster, her hopes starting to dwindle like the flame within that heart.
He had saved them, saved them all. And she had to tell him so. Had to kiss him and tell him that she loved him. She had to get to him in time to put that heart back where it belonged so she could spend the rest of her life with him, that dragon that she loved so much it hurt. So much it burned.
He was on the floor. She knelt beside him. Did he need a spell? How was she supposed to put the heart back?
His scales were still open, and she slid the heart inside the empty, glowing cavity of his dragon chest.
Nothing.
He did not move.
“Blake? Blake!” She leaned over him, her hair sweeping over his still face. “Wake up! Goddammit, wake up! Blake!” the last word was a lost wail. Tears salted her face, and she stared down at his chest. The heart still held flame, but it was so small now, and nobody had come to help her! They were all out there, destroying what was left of the Orcs, and they had all forgotten about Blake!
He sputtered and coughed. His chest closed, his scales sealing shut. His eyes fluttered open. Then he changed and lay there on the floor, the man who was also the dragon who held her heart as surely as she had just held his in her hands. He reached for her hands just then, and she winced, but that pain was nothing compared to the joy in her
soul as she leaned over him. “You’re alive!”
He coughed again. “I am. Your hands…”
“It’s okay. It’s all right.” Her lips met his, and she breathed into his body, into his lungs and mouth, and he breathed life back into her too. His hands caught at her hair and she slumped on the floor beside him, holding him as his arms slid around her and sheltered her.
She whispered, “I thought you were dead.”
He said, “I couldn’t die yet. I owe you a picnic.”
Her laughter was a small bubble. “You do,” she said.
His hand stroked her hair. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
They lay there, listening to the shouts as the victors entered the castle, and the soft cries of the wounded. There was still much to do, but they had earned this small moment of peace and the shelter of each other.
Christy knew then that she had finally come home. That she had finally arrived in a place where she could be exactly who she was and where she would one day have the thing she had always wanted the most—a family.
Warriors of Milisaria
(A Sci-Fi Alien Abduction Romance)
Talonian Warriors
(A Sci-Fi Alien Weredragon Romance)
About the Author
I am a passionate writer that is OBSESSED with Sci Fi Alien Romance. I have been writing since I was a little kid and never looked back! I look forward to interacting with all of you and bringing you new hot and steamy Sci Fi Alien Romance books.
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Celeste Raye