by Maia Starr
“That the best you got, Caridan!?” he yelled and tilted his head back, using his full body weight as he smashed back hard with his enormous wing.
The force of it sent me flying back into the side of the mountain that held our precious mines. The rocks jabbed into me with no warning, and I let out an agonized cry as I pulled myself off of them. I could feel hot liquid escape my back legs as the rocks slid out of me.
The red dragon was larger than me, but I was ready to give him my fight.
I rushed forward to meet Brenem once more, and he took to the sky. I followed quickly behind him, glad for the opportunity to get off of my injured legs. I watched as Targeg haplessly set Ari down on the ground beneath us, and suddenly he was a dragon once more.
His yellow spines took form in his sharp, square snout. He bristled against his form and shook his wings out, racing toward us with vigor. He reached Brenem and slammed him in the side with his massive tail; dragging his spines against Brenem’s tough skin enough to finally make him bleed.
The red dragon cried out, and a deep shot of energy left his throat, crackling against the sky like lightning. His husky cries filled the air with terrifying alarm.
I could see Ikar overhead, fully shifted and perched on the top of one of the mines. He stood regally, his long white mane falling down into his beard. The white hair and scales made him appear icy under the dark sky. His eyes were unbearably blue as they watched me with intensity. I half expected to see the Koth emerge from behind him, watching and judging our battle and readying themselves to take my life from me. Instead, it was just the white dragon. He didn’t move, only watched with his head held high in the air.
Targeg dug his short, sharp fangs into Brenem’s shoulder and began to ravenously chomp at the dragon’s skin over and over again in an attempt to pull him back.
I joined in the fight and used my wings to push him back. I pounded them against him with force. The second time I whipped against him, he must have felt a burst of energy because he began tearing through my wings.
Clenching his nails into my back, he grabbed hold of the patagium and began ripping through it with his teeth. I could feel shock run through my body as I felt every bit rip away from my bones. The sound of it vibrated through my body and made me weak.
Finally, I managed to use my free wing to lurch forward, but he grabbed my back leg with his teeth.
I couldn’t see the damage done, but by Targeg’s reaction, I knew it was bad. My friend flinched at the sight and clamped his teeth down into Brenem’s back, and we both watched as the red dragon whipped his tail wildly in an attempt to get away from the two of us. I could hear Targeg’s rumbling growl as it vibrated and hissed. The sound was so deep and layered and unending; it was the first time I’d ever thought of the blue and yellow dragon as a wild beast.
Brenem careened backward, finally letting me go. I fell fast to the mossy ground below and felt the thundering boom of my body hit.
I heaved for breath and lay my head down on the cool greenery, somehow forgetting we were in the midst of battle. I could hear myself exhale with an alarming intensity. The haggard breaths resonated through my body and suddenly I couldn’t find the strength to get back up.
“Caridan!” Ari’s voice screeched across the field, and I closed my eyes in muted frustration. Not that I didn’t appreciate Targeg’s help and all… but he couldn’t have gotten her to safety, first?
Still lost in my breathing, I watched as Brenem took a stance in front of Ari across the field and spread his wings, a high pitched shriek of a roar overtaking the sky and leaving the rest of us temporarily deafened.
Brenem’s roar was always high-pitched, always echoed, and always reached a decibel that left your body trembling. He loved that about himself. Me? I couldn’t have found it more annoying.
Targeg swooped in from the right and clamped onto Brenem’s hard, stony neck with all his might and whipped him to the floor. Brenem slithered against the mossy ground, and Targeg jumped at attention, taking hold of the red dragon’s neck and throwing him across the field once again.
Targeg was the smaller of the dragons, but he was also one of the strongest.
The blood pooled beneath me and I tried to push myself up with my hind legs, but it was no use. I could feel the energy leaving my body as I tried to catch Targeg’s glance. Finally, I began scanning the fields for any sign of Ari, to no avail. I could only hope she’d made a run for it, but the feeling deep in the pit of my stomach told me otherwise.
The two dragons went hurtling down toward the stone once more. Each crack of skin to the cold ground below shook the earth with great force.
I watched as Brenem finally got the upper hand he'd been waiting for, biting Targeg in the side and shaking him from side to side within his grasp. My bones ached beneath me, a pain so deeply pulsing through me that my body seemed to creak and wail with every breath. Somehow, I managed to get up on my two front legs and rushed my wing as fast as I could to reach Targeg.
I grappled myself on top of Brenem's body and dug my claws through his tough skin. They slipped against his blood like water against leather. I struggled to maintain my grip on his arm as he pierced his sharp teeth into my friend.
I could see the blue dragon’s eyes go wide and then fall lifeless beneath my enemy, sending a rush of adrenaline through my core.
"Targeg!" I screamed and could feel a deep ember burning at the base of my throat. The fire cascaded through in my throat and I could feel the burning overtake my whole body as I began to glow and shake.
I took a stifled breath in and grabbed hold of Brenem, clawing my way into his flesh like a vice. I watched the terror in his eyes as I released a powerful explosion of fire down on his figure, incinerating his arrogance with a single burst. He may have been the red dragon, but I had the flames. I let the heat rain down on my enemy. His deep cry filled the sky and the embers crackled across his stony veneer and pulsed through his body.
With a single blast, the cries ceased, and Brenem went limp, his body blazing down like a comet as it fell from my grasp and shook the earth below us.
And then it was over.
The area fell deathly silent. All I could hear was the sound of my own breath and the fanning flames beneath me.
I struggled to lower myself with only one wing, and soon I too fell unceremoniously to the fields.
I heaved my breaths and moved my long neck so I could rest on a nearby outcropping of thick, dewy moss. I relished the cool on my skin and watched deadly as embers floated through the air like an explosion of fireworks.
The sparks never ceased drifting into the blackness.
I could feel my eyes rolling back then. I wanted to become human again, but I didn’t know if such a form could withstand my wounds. Without moving my head, I scanned the area and saw Targeg’s lifeless body nearby – a heap of beautiful glowing blue and yellow scales.
My throat clenched at the sight of him, and everything in me wanted to give up. And then I heard her voice.
“Caridan?”
My eyes opened, and I raised my head weakly, looking up at my beautiful choice. I weakly moved to nudge her body with my face, and she set her soft hands around my snout.
“I thought you were dead,” she said, erupting into a tortured sob and collapsing onto me.
“No,” I said with an unbidden laugh. “Think of how boring your life would be without me.”
“Sorry, did you say boring, or easy?” she joked through her tears.
A moment of silence ensued, and she raised her head from my body long enough to spot Targeg in the distance. She gave me a sad, defeated look, but said nothing. There was nothing either of us could say to take back his sacrifice, and so she nodded at me, and I moved my snout against her hand and let out a low hum.
Our moment was over just as quickly as it began when suddenly a great white figure approached. Ikar stepped over to us in human form, and for once, he didn’t seem so hateful.
“I mad
e sure she was okay,” he said numbly, his hand weakly gesturing to Ariella.
His sight shifted to the field and the wildfire that was erupting around us now. The fire that was his friend. He stared into the distance with his long white mane wildly blowing behind him. His face was contorted with emotion as he stared down at me. As our eyes met, there seemed to be a peace that ensued.
“I’m sorry,” I said quickly, and he raised his hand in dismissal.
“We’ve all lost something today,” he said quietly, his eyes now cast over the field once more. He nodded slowly as if convincing himself of the truth behind his statement. “I believe it’s time we put this behind us now. All this; you and me. Shall we?”
I stared hard at him and gave a nod.
“Come on then,” he said sharply, his moment of reflection suddenly over and his tone back to that of a commander.
“Come on then… what?” I repeated.
“Your girl can be extremely convincing,” he said with a sigh.
“Yes, I’ve come to know this well.”
My sentiment was met with a bemused ‘Hm’ before his expression turned sour. “I’ve made a deal with Ariella. Her research for your life. I will hide you for as long as it takes to nurse you back to health, and Ariella will spend that time training my staff on her research.”
“What about amends?” I said quietly, barely audible.
Ikar glanced over my wounds and then back out at the field. “Two lie dead by your hand. Tell me, Caridan, what could possibly make up for that?”
“A gesture–”
“Would cost far more than what you are willing to give. You speak of punishment. Do you want to be thrown into the street for the mobs to do as they please?”
“I didn’t have something so… archaic in mind, but sure, punishment.”
He shook his head. “No, you want redemption. And that’s exactly what you’re going to get. I intend to clean up this mess you’ve made, Caridan, but you need to leave. Do you understand?”
I blinked in surprise and felt my throat tighten; my eyes glistened with moisture. I looked to Ariella and thought of a joke I could make about not being in the fittest form for travel. I thought about the kindness I was being shown. My second chance to make things right. To live the life I have always dreamed of with the woman I had come to adore.
There was so much I wanted to thank the white dragon for, but as my mind searched for words, I found there was nothing I could say except, “I understand.”
Epilogue
Ariella
Ikar had helped Caridan with his shift back into human form, and immediately we went to work on his wounds. We’d been hiding in secret for days now, with the Koth still seeking its revenge for the deaths we’d caused.
The white dragon had been every bit as noble as a leader should be in dealing with us, and I babbled my thanks to him incessantly during Caridan’s surgery. The blood loss had been intense, and with such a small staff of nurses sworn to secrecy, I wondered more than once if he was going to make it.
We talked together as I shared his hospital bed and we looked out the window every night wondering what would become of us, of our unintended love and our small child that we had created together.
Ikar gave little insight as to what would happen next or what his great plan would be. I’d started a private joke between Caridan and me that Ikar had no actual plan and that he would be seeking his revenge by making the two of us be his personal slaves for the next year, or as long as he could push his luck.
My theory was proven wrong, however, when the morning Caridan was able to stand on his own, Ikar was rushing us away from Udora and down to a secluded spaceport in the Northern Mountains.
We hadn’t spoken of Targeg since the great battle. My heart had broken that night right alongside my love’s, but I couldn’t bring myself to say it out loud. I knew Caridan was hurt. I knew he felt guilty. There was no point in me telling him he did what had to be done or to remind him of how much Targeg loved him.
If we never said it, I thought, then it didn’t have to be true. There would be no timeline of before and after. Instead, we could still think of Targeg alive somewhere, and there would be no moments to compare or look back on to try and remember him. Instead, he would be off somewhere being his jovial self.
We walked down the hall of the miniscule spaceport, Caridan’s arm wrapped around my shoulder for support, and suddenly I heard a voice I hadn’t thought of in months.
“How did I know you two were going to give me trouble?” came the familiar low tones of Zaphira Reneau, my program coordinator.
The woman tucked a lock of her short brown hair behind her ear and raised her brow from beneath her blunt-cut bangs. She walked toward us, her clicking heels taking their time as though we weren’t standing on the edge of a precipice. We stared down the hallway in shock. Caridan looked on with hesitation and suspicion, as was his way, but I ran to her as a child would to its mother, wrapping my arms around her desperately.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
Caridan and I looked to one another in surprise, and my heart suddenly found a steady beat once more.
“Saving you, apparently.”
“Who… who told you?” I asked.
She gave a chuckle and began ushering us down the hall toward the ramp of the shuttle that was waiting nearby. “Meg,” she said quietly.
“Here I thought I was in her bad books.”
“So that means she’s alive?” Caridan asked suddenly. A look of relief washed over his face.
“Alive and well,” Zaphira confirmed. “Which I almost couldn’t say for you, Caridan.” She eyed his bruises and bandages up and down just once, and a terse smile crossed her lips. “Making friends like always, I see.”
“What did she say?” I insisted.
“She called me as soon as you told her your… predicament. She seemed to think you were in danger, and low and behold, she was right.”
“She’s always been pretty good at evaluating a risky situation.”
“I wouldn’t give her too much credit.” Zaphira raised her brow and turned to me, looking thoroughly unimpressed. “I think the dead dragons may also have been a tip off.”
“Always keeping things classy,” Caridan said with annoyance.
We reached the front of the ship, and she opened the door as if we were to get in with no questions asked. I made my way into the shuttle, but Caridan wouldn’t budge from the entry ramp.
“Where are we going?” he asked. “Earth?”
She shook her head and tapped her heel against the cement below. “Not that lucky, I’m afraid. You’re heading to a new planet some distance from here. We want you safe and hidden. We’ve been working on cultivating this planet for some time now, but it’s been a highly classified project.”
Zaphira gave pause and looked to Caridan. There was an energy between them, but I couldn’t fathom what was behind it or what they had shared together.
“The good news is that my research team will meet you there,” she continued. “It’s a small unit working there, but you won’t be alone. The bad news is you’ll be working for me from now on.” She gave an honest laugh and looked between us. “But you’ll be well hidden, that’s for sure.”
“That sounds perfect,” I said breathlessly, looking over my shoulder at Caridan to catch his approval.
“Well, it’d better be, because at this point it’s more like a permanent vacation rather than a romantic getaway. You guys do this…” Zaphira looked to Caridan, her eyes conveying the gravity of her words. “You do this, and there’s no going back. Not unless you’re happy without a head.”
“Can’t say that’d be a good look for me,” Caridan said, raising his brow smugly.
“Imagine that,” Zaphira said with a smug smile and she ushered him into the ship. Caridan stepped forward, but something seemed to pull him back.
I took his hand to welcome him onto the ship, but he was immovable as he
stood in the entryway to the shuttle. I walked up beside him, and we both stared out at Udora and her beautiful mountainous spires with their snowcapped peaks and the moss that seemed to creep over the earth and fill the air with the most beautiful scent. I’d come to love this planet, too.
He stared into the distance and then up at the vast sky. Then he closed his eyes, and I knew he’d said his goodbyes.
Finally, he stepped into the shuttle, and the doors closed briskly behind us. Within mere minutes, we were already in the air. We took our seats in a common lounge and stared out the immense blackness of stars and space that was now visible out the window.
Our time on Udora was brief, and I hadn’t gotten to finish my work, but in truth, I was glad to leave it all behind. I couldn’t think of a better life to start, or a better person to start it with than the man at my side. It turned out I was about to get it all. A beautiful new planet to research, a child made from love, and my perfect partner – the shifter who had chosen me against my will and made me fall hopelessly in love with him.
I looked up at him in the soft, still moment and he traced his fingers down my nose and lips. This ship was much smaller than the one I’d arrived on, but it was filled with so much more love.
“Here we are again,” I said with a smile.
“Here we are again.”
“You, me, a spaceship.” I stared out the window and then back to my love.
“Ah, but there’s three of us this time,” he said as he glanced down at my small, protruding belly. He set his hands on me and placed his thumb over my chin, taking my face into his hand. He closed his eyes and kissed me softly.
When our lips parted, I backed away to get a better look at him and offered up a wry grin as I said, “Anything you can think to do to pass the time?”
He grinned. “I have a few ideas.”
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