Dragon Lord

by Tyler Wild

  I waited several moments for something to happen, but nothing did. My hands balled into fists, feeling like I had been duped. I grumbled under my breath and swore that I would find the charlatan and demand a refund, payable in blood.

  I had no backup plan.

  This was my only way into the castle, and it was a bust.

  Just as I was about to give up hope, something incredible happened.

  3

  Kron

  The seeds sprouted and grew at an accelerated rate. A few ropey vines snaked up the side of the castle wall. Within moments, they had reached the top the battlements.

  I tugged on the thick vine, making sure it was secure, then I hoisted myself up and climbed the ropey fibers. My massive biceps flexed as I pulled myself skyward. My hands clenched tight against the vines, hoping they wouldn’t snap. Halfway up the wall, I looked back over my shoulder—it was a long way down. Hitting the ground from this height would not be fun.

  My heart hammered with anticipation. I reached the top and pulled my head over the parapet, my eyes scanning in both directions.

  A guard strolled the wall, walking away from me to the west.

  I climbed over the parapet, crouched low, and crept silently behind the guard. I struck like lightening, and the demon sword pierced the guard’s armor, puncturing his lower back.

  A low, satisfied moan reverberated from the sword as red blood washed over the blade. “Yes!”

  It was pure ecstasy for Asgoth.

  The razor-sharp blade severed the guard’s spinal column, and his body went slack.

  I withdrew the sword quickly. Before the guard could clank to the ground, I grabbed his torso and gently eased him down so as not to make a sound.

  Behind me, my comrade scaled the parapet. Carvin gave me a hand with the body, and we carried it down the wall and into the tall tower. We stuffed the guard in a shadowy corner, hoping he wouldn’t be discovered anytime soon.

  A staircase spiraled up to the top of the tower. Amber flames flickered from wall sconces, illuminating the path. I knew at the top of the tower there would be another guard protecting the girl—or, rather, making sure she didn’t escape.

  It is said the girl was rescued as an infant by the Pilastian Monks from a cavern in the Savage Mountains.

  Perhaps stolen would be a more accurate term.

  She was raised under their care until the Queen took her to GreyLake some years ago. She has remained in the tower ever since.

  I intended to change that.

  Now she was of age and about to come into her true power.

  My legs drove me up the stone steps, spiraling my way to the top of the tower. Blood pumped through my veins, and I gripped the hilt of my sword tight. My quads burned.

  As I reached the top the landing, I drove my sword through the belly of a guard. He groaned and hunched forward, blood gushing from his abdomen. The warm liquid flowed over my hands, dripping onto the stone floor.

  I could feel Asgoth’s joy.

  The guard crashed to the ground as I pulled my sword from his belly. Another quick slice of my blade opened his carotid artery. Spurts of crimson blood spewed from the severed lifeline.

  I knelt beside the corpse and found the keys to the chamber affixed to his belt. The ornate key fit snugly into the keyhole. With a quick twist of the wrist, the lock unlatched.

  I took a deep breath, contemplating what would happen next. I wasn’t sure what I would find in the chamber. Were the rumors true? Or was this just another fair maiden, locked away?

  I pushed the door open and entered the chamber with caution. My eyes widened as I took in the room, and its occupant.

  The accommodations were meager, but the girl was nothing short of stunning.

  Sheer perfection.

  Porcelain skin, emerald eyes, and shimmering red hair. She had a light dusting of freckles across her nose and cheeks, and her full lips invited sinful thoughts.

  Her quizzical eyes looked me up and down, but she didn’t seem afraid. “Who are you?”

  Her voice was as alluring as her body.

  “I’m here to take you from the castle,” I said.

  She didn’t seem to object.

  This modest chamber had been her home for several years. I would imagine any chance to escape was a welcomed opportunity.

  I marched across the room, took her by the arm, and pulled her toward the door.

  “Where are you taking me?” a hint of protest in her voice.

  “Away from here!”

  I moved into the corridor, and Carvin and I spiraled down the staircase. Swords clashed as we encountered a guard on the way down. The shrill sound of blade against blade echoed off the brick.

  Carvin made short work of the guard, skewering him in a matter of moments. The goon’s body tumbled down the steps, leaving a trail of blood behind him.

  We stepped over the body as we plunged down the stairs, then spilled out of the tower onto the battlement. A frown tugged on my face when I saw the swarm of soldiers that approached.

  The cat was out of the bag.

  “They are stealing Aurora!” a guard shouted.

  Two squads of armor clad guards with swords drawn clanked down the wall, one team coming from each direction.

  With Aurora between us, Carvin took one squad, while I took the other. We fought back-to-back. Swords clashed, and the piercing clank of weapons filled the night air.

  I hacked and slashed with speed and fury.

  Asgoth carved through metal, flesh, and bone.

  Blood spewed and spurted.

  My blade pierced vital organs, severing arteries, mincing delicate structures.

  I twisted and whirled, blocking attacks, deflecting blows, and inflicting horrific damage.

  It was an orgy of delight for Asgoth.

  Bodies tumbled to the ground before me, blood pooling around the corpses. The blood looked black against the stone, a faint glimmer of moonlight reflecting in its slick surface.

  I could hear more guards coming.

  We had a few moments until they arrived.

  I moved to the parapet and glanced to the magic vine that had snaked its way up the wall. My face soured at the sight of it.

  In the short time that we had climbed the tower, the vine withered and rotted. It turned to dust when I grabbed hold of it. The ropey vines disintegrated, fluttering to the ground below.

  I grimaced.

  Maybe I’d pummel that charlatan after all, if I ever found him?

  4

  Kron

  I didn’t want to do it, but it I didn’t have much choice. There was only one way down.

  I grabbed hold of Aurora, and she knew exactly what I had in mind. Her eyes went wide with fear, and her creamy skin drained of blood. She kicked and screamed, protesting, but I had already heaved her into the air by that point.

  She cleared the parapet and plummeted toward the moat below, her skirt flying up over head. She plunged into the murky moat-water, sending a splash soaring into the air.

  I hoped she could swim.

  It was an afterthought.

  It should have been a forethought. But, hey, I never claimed to be the sharpest tool in the shed.

  I was fairly certain that little maneuver had gotten me on Aurora’s bad side. She swam to the surface and gasped for breath. I watched as she clawed at the water, pulling herself to shore.

  I leapt onto the parapet just as a team of guards arrived. Carvin and I jumped to the water below.

  I plunged into the muck with a splash that made Aurora’s look small. My feet bottomed out on the bed of the moat, then I pushed off the sludge, launching to the surface.

  I broke through the water and twisted my head, slinging the slimy liquid from my hair as I swam to shore. I pulled myself out of the sludge, scooped Aurora in my arms, and flung her over my shoulder.

  Carvin and I ran across the field, sprinting toward the tree line.

  Aurora beat on my back, screaming and cursing me. Her
wet gown clung to her skin, the sheer fabric hiding nothing. The cool breeze erected goosebumps on her shivering skin and perked her nipples. I heard her teeth chatter between epithets.

  It probably wasn’t a good idea to get on her bad side, considering she was the last dragon-shifter. She was soon to become one the most powerful creatures this side of the underworld. Once mated, she would assume her full power.

  But emerging was not without its drawbacks.

  The Queen had kept Aurora sheltered away—she was to be a gift for her son. And she would serve her master faithfully as long as he lived.

  With a dragon willing to do your bidding, almost anything would be possible. Empires would fall before you. Enemies would kneel at your feet, begging for mercy.

  The Queen wasn’t going to relinquish her prized possession without a fight.

  Arrows, launched from the battlements, flew through the air, stabbing the ground around our feet.

  The rattle of chains echoed across the field as the drawbridge lowered. I heard the heavy hooves of the finest steeds as the GreyLake Knights raced out of the citadel, stampeding across the drawbridge.

  We reached the edge of the forest as the knights barreled across the field. I climbed onto my horse and pulled Aurora into position behind me. She clutched my waist, hanging on for dear life as I gripped the reins and spurred my horse to a gallop.

  I glanced to Carvin locked on a terrible sight—an arrow had pierced his chest. Blood trickled from the wound. It had entered through his back and protruded through his chest. It was positioned toward the edge of his rib cage. A few inches over, and Carvin would have been dead. He pretended to ignore the wound, showing nothing more than a grimace here and there. But it had to hurt like hell.

  We sprinted through the forest, weaving through the thick trees. A single misstep would spell disaster. Tree trunks blurred by as we raced through the underbrush. I could hear the stampede of our pursuers. The ground rumbled under the heavy hooves, and their armor clattered.

  Aurora hugged me tight. I don’t think this was the ideal scenario for her, but it beat life in the tower.

  My horse was fast and nimble, but I didn’t expect to outrun the knights.

  I didn’t have to.

  This raid wasn’t done on a whim. Meticulous planning had gone into its execution. Carvin and I had rigged the forest with booby-traps. One by one, I led my victims to their doom.

  I pulled hard on the reins and veered around a pit, then swerved back in line. It had been covered with branches and leaves. We had dug this several feet deep and lined it with wooden spikes.

  I glanced back over my shoulder, watching the knights chase after us, hoping they would take the bait.

  It was brutal to watch.

  The horses fell into the pit, tumbling end over end.

  Riders launched into the air.

  Spikes skewered flesh.

  Bones snapped.

  Blood spattered.

  The pit had taken out four knights who couldn’t react fast enough. Several others swerved around the calamity and continued their pursuit.

  I drew Asgoth and sliced a rope overhead that I had tied between two trees. It released the tension on a giant arm that swung a massive wooden hammer down, smacking into the rider behind me.

  The impact knocked him from his horse, crushing his chest instantly. He smacked the ground flat on his back, coughing up blood. His lungs crushed, there was no way he could take another breath.

  I continued barreling through the forest and lifted the reins and jumped over a tripwire that was nearly invisible in the dark forest.

  The line caught the ankles of two horses behind me, tripping them to the ground. Once again, the knights flew through the air. One slammed into a tree while the other got clotheslined on a branch. Needless to say, neither were going to be forming complex sentences after that.

  Carvin and I continued racing through the forest, having eluded our pursuers for the time being.

  Our raid left the Queen in a precarious position. Without her weapon of mass destruction, she was at a disadvantage. Would she continue to pursue us, knowing full well she may incur the wrath of the furious dragon?

  Only a fool would have waited so long to mate the dragon-shifter. It would be the first thing a smart thief would do.

  5

  Aurora

  I wasn’t sure if I should be overjoyed or terrified. Years had I spent in that dreadful chamber. My only solace was the view from the narrow window. For countless hours during the day, I’d stare at the lush countryside. The rolling verdant slopes, the tall evergreens of the Lorewood Forrest.

  They tormented me.

  Teasing me with the dreams of freedom that I would never have.

  Now I was free of the castle. Of the Queen. Of her obnoxious son that would take me as soon as he became a man—though I had my doubts. He had never shown much interest in me. I think my breasts too perky and my ass too pert for his tastes. I had my suspicions that I lacked the proper anatomy to satiate his true desires.

  I was too soft.

  Perhaps he preferred something harder. Though I had no doubt the Queen would force his hand at some point.

  The place I left was horrid. But what had I gotten myself into?

  I wrapped my arms around the man who rescued me, I could feel his powerful heart thunder as his steed galloped through the forest. I couldn’t help but feel gratitude towards him. But he didn’t strike me as the type of man who was doing this out of the goodness of his heart.

  The wind raced through my damp hair, and my dress fluttered with the breeze. I was cold and grungy from the swampy moat. I dreamed that he was taking me to a wonderful palace where I could bathe and wash my hair and be attended to by handmaidens. I would be dressed in the finest silk. My savior would make me his Queen and treat me as such. He’d be kind and compassionate. Protective and strong. He’d caress me tenderly and whisper words of love and passion in my ear. And when I desired, he’d treat me like a whore, satisfying my every need. He’d plant his seed deep within my womb, and I would bare for him a son.

  It was a fleeting fantasy that scurried through my brain and slipped away as quickly as it came. It was the stuff of fairytales, and my life had been anything but a fairytale.

  I had no expectation that would change anytime soon.

  We rode for several hours. His dark-haired companion refused to stop or slow down, despite having an arrow through his chest. He clutched his wound and blood trickled through his fingers, streaming down his side. He hunched over the horse, growing ever more pale and sickly.

  We finally reached a campsite before dawn. There were two tents and a fire pit that had been snuffed out hours earlier. Embers glowed below a mound of ash.

  My savior dismounted, then grabbed my waist with his strong hands and lowered me down. He lifted me like I was a feather.

  His dark-haired friend crumpled to the ground as he dismounted his horse, too weak to stand. My savior rushed toward him, kneeling at his side.

  "I'm fine," the dark-haired man said. "Just got off on the wrong side of the horse." The once powerful man looked frail.

  "I don't know if anyone told you, but you have an arrow in your side," my Savior said. I would soon learn his name was Kron. And the wounded man was Carvin.

  "Is that what that is?" Carvin started to chuckle, but the slightest hint of a laugh sent jolts of pain through his torso.

  "You're not going to like this,” Kron said.

  "Do what you gotta do," Carvin grumbled, resigned to his fate.

  Kron grabbed a large knife from his belt. He gripped the tail end of the arrow to stabilize it as he sawed through it with the sharp blade.

  Carvin clenched his jaw and groaned with agony. The slightest motion was excruciating.

  My face tensed with worry. I didn't know the man, but it was impossible to watch without feeling empathy. Perhaps I was just sensitive in that way, but it was difficult for me to see others in pain.

  I
could have run away, but there was no doubt I wouldn't get far.

  Not in this forest.

  I'd likely be chased down. And if I did manage to escape, I knew nothing of surviving off the land. I'd starve to death in a matter of days. Be devoured by ravenous beasts. Captured by marauders or slave traders. I was powerless until mated. For now, I was resigned to my fate. Perhaps it would be somewhat less dreadful than my past.

  “Are you ready?" Kron asked.

  Carvin nodded.

  "On three. Ready? One…"

  Carvin grimaced with pain as my Savior yanked the remains of the arrow through the wound on the first count.

  “What happened to three?” Carvin asked.

  "Never underestimate the element of surprise,” Kron said with a sly grin.

  Carvin scowled at him and placed his hands against the wound to stem the bleeding.

  The arrow had entered between the third and fourth ribs. I wasn't an expert on anatomy, but the arrow could have punctured a lung or other vital organ.

  “Can you breathe?" Kron asked.

  Carvin nodded. "Never better. It's a scratch. I've had worse."

  There was a grave look in Kron’s eyes. He was clearly a man who had seen plenty of battle, and more than his fair share of wounds. And this one didn’t look good.

  He grabbed a leather bag from his horse and poured some liquid onto the dark-haired man’s wounds.

  Carvin grimaced “Is that absolutely necessary?"

  “We need to clean the wound so it doesn’t get infected. I don’t have anything stronger. This will have to do.”

  "I've got a better use for it!” Carvin grabbed the canteen and swigged several gulps. Then he nodded to me. "You need to concern yourself with more important things. That one will get away from you if you're not careful. She's a feisty one."

  Kron looked at me with curious eyes. "She's not going anywhere. She knows better than to run, don't you?"

  I hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

  He gathered some kindling for the fire and threw the branches on top of the coals. Within moments the fire reignited. Amber flames flickered, and embers drifted into the air as the twigs popped and cracked. He drew his blade and stuck the tip in the fire until the metal was near glowing. He pulled the blade from flame and moved back to Carvin.