A Castle for Dragons

by Julie Wetzel

  The black dragon rolled up onto its feet and retreated a few steps, gathering itself together. “Maiden!” it growled as it turned towards the pair.

  “You cannot have my maiden!” Patrick yelled back. He no longer cared if the dragon had eggs or not; no one attacked what was his and got away with it. His tail thumped into something solid, and he froze, afraid he might have hurt the woman behind him accidently. The soft feel of her hand on the fringy end of his tail distracted him from the danger in front of him, and he closed his eyes, trying to push the wave of pleasure back. Her fingers had run across a rather sensitive section.

  Seeing Patrick’s moment of inattention, the black dragon pounced, wrapping its jaws around his exposed neck. It yanked the smaller dragon up and shook him savagely, slamming him into the ground again.

  ***

  “Patrick!” Kathryn cried out as she watched the creature drop the lord’s limp body to the ground.

  The rogue grabbed the lord by a wing and, with a great twist of its head, tossed the still lord far out into the lake.

  “No!” Kathryn shrieked as Patrick hit the lake with a heart-breaking slap and slipped below the surface. Tears streamed down her face as she raced towards the water’s edge. She could just see the tips of his red wings disappearing into the darkness. With a sick heart, she fell to her knees and watched her lord die, unable to do a thing about it.

  The roar of the triumphant dragon shook her out of her grief. She turned just in time for the enormous creature to snatch her up. Its large wings sent out a great blast of air as the beast beat them down and launched into the air. Hope died in Kathryn’s heart as her eyes skimmed across the still surface of the lake. Her lord was dead, and she would soon be the next victim of his murderer.

  9

  Cold shocked Patrick back into consciousness. He tried to draw in a deep breath but got a lungful of water instead. Coughing, he snapped his eyes open to find he was sinking. Floundering, he righted himself and pushed to the surface of the lake. He drew in a great breath as soon as his head found air. Bobbing in the water, he worked to clear his mind as the cool liquid soothed the burning sensation in one of his wings. How did he get in the water?

  Mine!

  The memory hit him, and he scanned the shoreline, looking for signs of his maiden. She was not there. A distant roar drew his attention, and he twisted around to see the black dragon disappearing over the lake.

  Mine!

  Patrick kicked hard, trying to launch himself into the air to give chase, but the burn in his wing screamed and kept him from flapping it. He splashed back into the water, helpless. The wing was definitely dislocated, if not broken.

  Tucking the injured limb up, Patrick lashed his tail and swam as fast as he could after the creature he was sure had stolen his maiden. If he was lucky, she was still alive. He turned his thoughts away from her possible death and concentrated on cutting through the water. Thankfully, that was one thing he was very good at. He could swim almost as fast as he could fly.

  He had almost caught up to the black dragon when the creature did something that made his heart drop. It tucked its wings in and plummeted into the lake near the base of a rocky cliff. Patrick dove down and followed the great beast with his eyes.

  The dragon lashed its tail back and forth, driving itself towards a dark place in the rock wall.

  Patrick slowed his pace as the dragon slipped into the underwater cave. So that’s where the thing has been hiding. It made sense now. The forest that Patrick’s men had been losing the dragon in bordered this lake. The creature had probably been going in there, shifting to a lesser form, and losing its followers in the water. Few dragons actually swam, preferring the whip of the wind to the slush of waves. He didn’t think any of his men would have suspected a wild dragon to take to the water.

  Pausing, Patrick debated his choices. He could go in there and confront the dragon, or he could go for aid. Every ounce of his instinct pushed him to rush in and reclaim what the beast had taken. Mine! But the ache in his wing reminded him he was already injured. There was no telling what other dangers he would have to face in the small cave. Snorting with displeasure, Patrick twisted in the water and whipped his tail, gaining speed. He wanted to fight his own battles, but he wasn’t too proud or stupid to admit when he needed help. Going up against something as large as the rogue dragon with an injured wing was just suicidal.

  As the far shore drew near, Patrick burst from the water and tried to take flight. With his horse gone, he had no time to spare in getting to the castle. A quick flight around the village would limit the contact the people would have with him. Pain ripped through his shoulder as he spread his wing. There was no way that thing would support him through the needed flight. Tucking it back up, he pulled himself from the water and stood, panting, while the spots cleared from his vision. There was no other choice, he needed to get his men and go after the dragon before it killed Kathryn. Mine!

  Deciding to throw caution to the wind, Patrick bunched up his muscles and raced up the shoreline straight towards the town. There was no way around it. He couldn’t get into the castle without going past the village. Maybe if he had been smaller in either of his forms, he could have snuck in, but he wasn’t. The idea of shifting and running naked back to the castle crossed his mind, but he really didn’t want to lose his dignity in front of the villagers. He was supposed to be their lord, and lords didn’t do those types of things. Besides, he was nowhere near as fast in human form, and time was of the essence here.

  Patrick pinned his eyes on the rising towers of the castle, visible through the rolling land. In just a moment, the town would be in sight, and he would have no choice but to follow the course he had chosen. His feet found a little extra speed as he committed to the action. If the people of the town came to run him out, so be it. He would do everything he could to save the woman he loved. Mine!

  Screams rang out as Patrick raced his way through the village. He carefully dodged through the people moving about.

  “To arms!” he roared as he passed the guards Daniel had sent to the village. The cry was picked up by human voices and echoed out, cutting through the screams of terror. The soldiers left their posts and followed their lord. For a moment, Patrick thought about how this looked to the villagers. A red dragon had just raced into their town, roared to draw the guards’ attention, and raced out with a swarm of fighters on his heels. If nothing else, the villagers would think the men were giving it their all to protect them. Patrick smiled for a moment before sobering and putting an extra bit of speed into his run.

  Cries of ‘dragon’ echoed through the bailey as Patrick skidded to a halt near the center of the enclosed space.

  “To wings!” Patrick roared, turning in place as he looked for one person. He found him and raced towards the steps where Daniel was coming out of the castle. “Get the horns! Call the men back as fast as possible!” he cried, nearly bowling the man over.

  “Patrick!” Daniel’s hands caught the frantic lord’s injured wing. “Calm down!”

  Patrick roared in pain and dropped himself to the ground to keep from accidently lashing out and hurting someone.

  ***

  Daniel stood there in shock, looking at the downed lord. What in the world would drive Patrick to throw away everything they had been working for and show himself as dragon? He shook free of his surprise and glanced around at the chaos in the bailey. “Speak!” he ordered.

  “He has Kathryn,” Patrick growled from where he remained on the ground. “I know where he took her.”

  Surprise and understanding passed through Daniel. The kidnapping of one’s potential mate would definitely drive a dragon to rash actions. He grabbed one of the men rushing past and pulled him to a stop. Patrick had already blown their cover with the townspeople, and if the lord knew where the dragon was, it was time to act. They would deal with the consequences later. “Take the horns to the towers and call the men back. Four short blasts and two long.”

&n
bsp; The man’s eyes widened at the signal, but he nodded and rushed to carry out the order. The signal would ring throughout the land, calling the scouts back as quickly as possible. They would come en masse, on wing.

  “Explain,” Daniel demanded as he reached out and touched Patrick’s wing. It hung at an odd angle. He shifted it around to see how badly damaged it was. Thankfully, it looked to just be out of socket.

  “We were out at the lake,” Patrick growled. “The dragon attacked from the water. I couldn’t stop it.” There was a pained note in his voice that had nothing to do with his physical injury.

  “And where did it go?” Daniel asked. He braced himself on Patrick’s shoulder and wrapped his hands firmly around the long bone of Patrick’s wing.

  “An underwater cave,” Patrick explained as he forced himself to relax under his friend’s firm grip.

  That explained why they couldn’t find the lair. Daniel drew in a calming breath as he yanked the dislocated bone back into place, driving a roar from the lord. A scream sounded from the doorway, drawing their attention. A group of maidens peeked out at the red dragon Daniel was helping.

  “You have just made our lives here very hard,” Daniel reprimanded his lord as he released the wing.

  Patrick let out a puff of smoke. “I know,” he grumbled as he worked his way up from the ground. Tucking his wings in, he sat down and wrapped his tail around his feet. “I have made my choice, and I will live with it.”

  Daniel gave him a hard look. Did the lord not realize he had just jeopardized all of his men, too?

  “The dragon’s lair is not a place we will be able to get to in human form,” Patrick explained. “I fear for the girls he had dragged into that watery hell.”

  “Then we will do as we must.” Daniel turned away from his lord to look at the men waiting for orders. A horn cried out the signal from the top of the tower. He paused for a moment to look up at the maidens gathering in the doorway. They had grown bold and were stepping from the safety of the castle to look at the red dragon glistening in the sunlight.

  Daniel glanced at his lord. Patrick really did make a striking sight. But the ladies were in for a whole lot more in just a moment. Daniel turned from them and looked out over the men. “To wings!” he bellowed.

  The call echoed through the men, and they started to strip out of their clothing and shift to their grand dragon forms. The girls gasped as a sea of dragons erupted in front of them. Greens and blues made up the majority of the mass with an occasional red. Only one black body broke the display of flashing scales. Daniel smiled at his men, slipping into their ranks. Oh yes, now that was truly a sight to behold!

  Daniel slipped through the throng of dragons, barking orders. A few would remain here to protect the women as the rest went out to face their foe. Once the orders were given, Daniel passed Patrick and headed up the steps to where the maidens and Nana stood. The girls were terrified, but the older woman just smiled at him.

  “I knew what you were,” Nana said as she beamed at the younger-looking man. “I was very young when the purge happened, but I still remember the musk of dragons.”

  Crafty old woman! Daniel smiled at her. “Thank you for trusting us.” He held her hand and bowed over it.

  She patted his cheek lovingly. “You have been so good to us. It’s nice to know your kind still survives.”

  Daniel’s grin spread as he stood up. “We were never gone.” Releasing her hand, he started to pull off his clothing as well. The pleasure dropped away from him as he pulled off his shirt. He looked over the confused girls huddled behind Nana. “Part of the men will remain here to protect you in case the dragon gets past us, but fear not. They will see you come to no harm.”

  Patrick let out a reaffirming growl that caused the women to bunch up in fright.

  Daniel just shook his head and came back down the steps. He placed Patrick between himself and the woman and stripped down to shift into his grand form. He stretched his green wings out. Lord, it felt good to be back in scales. A quick scan of the men found that they had formed up in loose lines with the smallest in front. Daniel let out a snicker. Even in his grand form, Patrick was easily the smallest of all of them.

  Turning back to the business at hand, he looked over at the lord. “Shall we wait for the scouts?” There were six holes in the ranks waiting to be filled.

  Patrick shook his head. “No. The guards can send them to find us at the lake.” He cocked his head and gave Daniel a grin that looked a lot scarier than it should have. “I don’t think they could miss a full flight of dragons.”

  Daniel rumbled with laughter. “Then let us be off.” He looked down at his lord. “Will you be able to fly?” He was worried about the man stressing his injured wing so soon after having it set.

  Patrick spread out his wings and pumped them a few times, but he didn’t get off the ground. “No,” he sighed. “But I will meet you at the water’s edge near the stand of willow trees. After that, I should have no problems keeping up.”

  Daniel scoffed at him. “You may even beat us to the cave.” The man could swim like no other dragon Daniel had ever seen.

  Patrick laughed. “That I might.”

  Turning his attention to the men, Daniel sized them up. “To the lake!” he yelled. Wings beat the air into submission, lifting huge bodies off the ground.

  ***

  Patrick sat quietly as the flight took to the skies and sailed out over the village. It was amazing to see so many dragons flying together. The majestic sight made his heart swell with pride. Now, if he could just get the townspeople to understand…

  Turning away from his men, he looked up at the awed ladies. Patrick had watched the girls carefully as the men had shifted to dragon. There had been a strange mixture of fascination and fear on all of their faces. Only Nana smiled happily at them. So the old woman had known what they were… but for how long? And if she had caught on, how many others in the village knew? Something else he had to think about before confronting the town with their existence. Maybe his decision wouldn’t end with them being run out of the castle by angry mobs.

  Standing up, he ruffled his wings and tucked them back along his body. It was time he got moving. As it was, he was already going to be well behind the faster flyers.

  The lord’s movement caught the ladies’ eyes. They all stared at him. The look of fear had faded from their eyes.

  Patrick dropped them a low bow, before turning and racing off through the open gates. A roar sounded from the guards as he passed under them. The sound was picked up by the flight and rattled the entire valley. If nothing else, this would be a day that all would remember for a very long time.

  ***

  Patrick was tired by the time he reached the stand of willow trees. Plopping down in the cool grass, he stretched his aching muscles out, trying to ease the burn. He hadn’t run that far in a long time.

  “Nice of you to join us,” Daniel teased as he came over to check on the lord.

  Patrick glowered up at him. “Is everyone here?” he growled, stretching his wings out. The joint he had dislocated was still sore, but there was a possibility it would hold him in flight.

  Daniel looked around at the dragons waiting. “You’re the last.” Anticipation was thick in the air as the men keyed themselves up for the coming battle.

  Now all Patrick had to do was lead the men to the underwater cave. “Good.” Pushing himself up from the ground, he flapped a few times, debating if he would fly or swim. He could lead them better if he flew, but that cool water would feel wonderful on his heated skin. He looked over at his second. “Can you follow me if I swim?”

  Daniel cocked his head, the dragon version of a raised eyebrow, and considered him. “How deep are you going to be?”

  “Not very.”

  “Then we can follow you.”

  Drawing in a deep breath, Patrick nodded. “Then assemble the men.” He wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible. Just the thought of what that black
dragon was doing to his fair maiden ate away at him. Mine!

  Barking orders, Daniel soon had the dragons lined up and ready for action.

  “Listen!” Patrick’s voice cut across the group’s rumbling, pulling them to silence. “The entrance to the rogue’s lair is an underwater cavern set in the rock cliffs on the other side of the lake.” He stood up and paced the line as he briefed the fighters. “It’s about twenty feet down and just larger than the dragon himself.” Pausing to let this sink in, he turned and paced back down the line. “I did not go inside, so I do not know what we will find there. I suspect that the rogue has a clutch of and the stolen maidens—”

  Shock sounded through the ranks.

  Patrick paused in his briefing to wait for the sound to die down. He gave them all a pointed look. “It would probably be best to draw him out before engaging him. I want this dragon alive, so do your best to restrain him. But if all else fails, take him down.”

  A murmur of understanding sounded through the men.

  “Then let’s go!” Patrick turned and led the way to the lake as the rest of the flight took to the air.

  Daniel led the group out over the lake as Patrick slipped into the water. They would win this day even if he had to take the dragon down himself. Mine! had to be saved.

  10

  It took him a moment to get into water deep enough to swim, but Patrick had no problem catching up to the flight and passing them. He stayed close enough to the surface that wings threw out great wakes as he passed. It would have been faster to dive a little deeper and not break the surface of the lake, but he didn’t want to lose the flight in the murky water.