Dragon's Claim: Dragons of Rur

by Shea Malloy

  She turns to leave but I grab her arm so she is forced to remain still.

  “I don’t want your gratitude, Xia. I want the truth.”

  “I told you, it isn’t safe here.” But she doesn’t face me when she speaks.

  “And you decide to show this concern for your safety now? You have never once disclosed your fear to me during your stay.” I pull her toward me, forcing her to face me. “Furthermore, even if I had wanted to believe you, I cannot. The scent of your lie is too strong to ignore.”

  We hold each other’s gazes in the tense silence. I wish I could pull her into me completely. Hold her and kiss her until she loses all these thoughts of leaving me, until she accepts that I am what she wants just as I have accepted that she is all I’ll ever need until my dying breath.

  When my father was alive, I bent to his will at every turn. He gave me no choices. I never complained, I accepted my fate and his decisions even when they went against what I desired. I used to believe this was strength, but on the day that I was forced to kill my own brother because my father required us to fight, I acknowledged that to blindly follow another without one’s own thought is weakness. To force another to one’s will is selfish.

  But I don’t want Xia to leave.

  I can’t let her.

  I can’t stand idly by and let her walk out of my life without fighting for her.

  “I can’t stay, Adan. I’m not brave enough.”

  Her dark-brown eyes are shiny with tears and I release her arm in favour of pulling her close to me. My initial anger disappears and in its place is desperation. Desperation to show her how right this could be if she gave it a chance.

  I touch her neck where the mark of the bite still lives. She lets out a little gasp because that is the mark’s power. To be hypersensitive to my touch alone because she is mine as much as I am hers.

  “This isn’t just a bite I gave you, Xia. This is my claim on you because you are the one my dragon chose as my asafura. My fire’s half. Two halves of a fire made whole and stronger.” She shakes her head, her tears falling, but I persist. “I lost an important part of myself for years until the night I found you. My dragon woke up for you because you are fated to be mine and I am fated to be yours.”

  “Your dragon didn’t choose me. It’s too smart for that. It would chose someone who’s strong and isn’t plagued by tragedy.” She wrenches away out of my embrace. “You don’t get it. Everybody who’s ever mattered to me is dead. My mother committed suicide after giving birth to me. My father died to protect me because I tried to escape slavery. The male I was with died too, and his sister, Tess, almost died trying look for me. Zavi almost died trying to help me. Kahafura knows if it’s not because of me why these monsters are here. Why would you want someone like me around, Adan?”

  “Those are all unfortunate coincidences, Xia. You cannot blame yourself for things that aren’t in your control.”

  “Well, I can at least control this.” She indicates the both us. “I am in control enough to know that this is just another setup for heartbreak, and I don’t want to experience it. Not again. I’m not brave, Adan. I’m not.” She dashes her hands across her face angrily to wipe away her tears as she backs away toward my den’s entrance. I take a few steps in pursuit, but she scuttles away faster out of my reach. “You deserve better, and better isn’t me.”

  16

  Xia

  —

  Sleep evades me.

  Every time I close my eyes I see Adan’s face. The shock, the anger, the hope, then ultimately the dejection as I told him I couldn’t be with him. The ache in my chest feels so real I try to press my fist down against it hoping that would snuff it out.

  I didn’t want to hurt him like that.

  I want to stay.

  It’s the first time I let the truth rise to the top and stay there. I’ve been telling myself that I want to get out of here as fast as possible now that things are way more complicated than they should be, but I know the truth. It’s why everything feels so hopeless and awful. I want to stay here in Seca with Adan.

  I truly enjoyed what I did with these lights in Vyaka. To think I managed it without any of my other coworkers from the Andrak too. I had the help of the Secan people. They were quick to grok my explanations as I instructed them how to help me construct the turbine, the generator, how to get the cables up, and the wiring for the transformer.

  As I worked, I envisioned adding lights to the other mountains too. I fantasized going further yet and helping to modernize Seca as Adan envisioned. But to do these things would mean to stay and to stay would mean to be brave. To give Adan and me a chance. I’ve overcome my prejudices that he is a rur draki. I’ve buried my hatred for his kind because Tess is right. It’s pointless.

  Yet I can’t ignore the nagging feeling that I’m cursed to be alone. That my presence in Adan’s life would destroy him somehow. Fated mate? More like fated doom. That’s what I’m bringing to the table.

  Most of all, I’m just too scared of being the one left behind to endure the pain of losing someone important.

  Again.

  Because as much as I fought against it and denied it, I fell in love with Adan.

  Beside me, Tess sleeps soundly. When I told her we were leaving in the morning, she didn’t pepper me with questions or impart wise words of advice as usual. Instead, she got straight to the point.

  “Wow, you’re an idiot,” she said, and began to pack up whatever meagre belongings she’d acquired in her stay here.

  I guess I agree with her. My actions are pretty up there on the Stupidity Scale. Here’s this handsome, powerful, caring male, who clearly wants me as much as I want him too. Yet I’m running away because I’m afraid of losing him.

  I’m basically bringing my own fear to life.

  If I leave, I lose him.

  So, wouldn’t it make sense for me to stay?

  Even if I am, indeed, cursed, shouldn’t I at least try to enjoy being with him as much as time allows?

  What do I do?

  I wish my dad was alive so I could ask him. He was the wisest person I knew and he always had an answer for everything. Even to the silliest questions. I think I knew what he’d say here. After all, he always hated the fact that I kept to myself a lot.

  Isolation is desolation, xiăo, Xia.

  Saddened, confused and overwhelmed, I press my hand to my forehead. My skin is hot, probably because I’m thinking so hard that my brain is on fire.

  I miss Adan already even though I haven’t left yet.

  There’s a lump in my throat. My chest feels so heavy.

  You’re stupid. Don’t cry. Crying is weak.

  Would it be such a bad idea if I stayed?

  In answer, the lights I set up to keep the monster away goes out.

  Following that are the screams and bloodcurdling screeches filling Vyaka.

  17

  Adan

  —

  Late into the night, the glow from the lights outside the den shuts off.

  Then there is an uproar.

  I could not sleep as thoughts of Xia leaving pestered me, so I’m alert instantly, lurching to my feet.

  I race outside my den. Even though it is dark, my vision is still good enough to witness the horror of a swarm of the bloodsucking monsters filling Vyaka. Somehow, they’ve managed to destroy our light source and now they flourish, creating havoc.

  There are several other draki breathing fire on the monsters while the Unshifted fight with weapons or use a safur to keep the monsters back. Kaha fights in her dragon form too, breathing fire on any of the vampires that get close.

  She remains seated with a wing curled to her side, the standard position of a dragon mother protecting her drakila. Zavi is there and is safe. There are other dragons nearby helping her too. Comforted by this, I fly to the den Xia shares with Tess.

  The cacophony of screaming, shouting and the creatures’ earpiercing screeches is awful. I kill several of the monsters on my
way to Xia’s den. But there are so many of them. As some die, a new batch appear, rising up from out of the depths of the large pool below. That’s where they’ve been hiding all this time? No wonder my efforts searching tunnels have been in vain. The thought disgusts me and reinvigorates me to kill them all.

  I return to my primary form and charge inside. Xia and Tess are wedged into one corner with a lit fire pit between them and a group of the monsters. The monsters snarl and screech at Xia and Tess, unable to advance any further because of the light from the pit.

  “Adan,” Xia says, relief in her features and I feel just the same to know that she is unharmed.

  The monsters turn, perhaps sensing a much easier meal to attain behind them. They charge at me until the safur I create gives them pause. Their unnatural features is unsettling. They howl, trying to retreat, but I push as much of my energy as I can afford into the ball of light, ensuring it is as bright as it can be. A usual safur gives off a pleasant heat, but this one is scalding hot in my palm, alive with my energy.

  The group of monsters vapourize under the brightness and as soon as they do, I carry the light to the fire pit, laying it down amid the fire.

  “Did they hurt you before you were able to protect yourself?” I ask them.

  They both shake their heads, but Xia speaks.

  “I was awake and saw the lights go out. So I knew something was wrong. As soon as I got the fire going, they stormed in.”

  “Our little smartypants here saving the day once again,” says Tess, smiling. But it dims. “It sounds bad out there.”

  “We will defeat them.” I turn to leave, anxious to return and help the others. More of the monsters surge forth into the den, then immediately retreat when they see the light. I look back, my gaze holding Xia’s. “Remain where you are behind the pit. The light will last for some time.”

  “The transformer,” Xia says, completely disregarding my order and coming out from the corner toward me. “I think that’s how they cut the lights. It’s the only vulnerable thing they could have gotten to. I had to store it out of the way in the dark. Maybe if I see what they did I can fix it and put an instant end to them all.”

  “They were hiding in the pool. It could have been the turbine they destroyed.” I soften my voice. “I don’t want you out there, Xia.” When she opens her mouth, ostensibly to insist, I interject. “Please. At least give me the peace of mind to know you are safe before you leave.”

  She swallows and nods silently before grabbing my arm.

  “Don’t die.”

  “I will not.”

  “Good or I’ll be pissed,” she says bossily, but the genuine worry in her gaze warms me.

  I head out into the chaos, anxious about leaving Xia with such little defense. However as I shift, the monsters all scurry away to the midst of the pool. They join with each other grotesquely, coalescing and becoming larger. A towering giant monster made up of countless smaller ones.

  It roars, the high, discordant sound deafening. It’s fast on its feet despite its size, swatting draki out of the way like insects. It’s seemingly impervious to our fire too.

  But perhaps if we all joined together?

  So I join Figor as he adeptly dodges its attacks. Wherever he breathes fire, I do so too. Soon more draki follow my example. The monster’s screeches are awful as it begins to evaporate under our combined attack.

  My energy is draining, especially since I’ve contributed so much of it to the safur that keeps Xia and Tess safe. But I can’t give in to the weariness.

  Just a little longer, I ask my dragon because it wants to retreat and recuperate from the drain on our energy and on our fire. Several other Secans are forced back into their primary form falling to the floor as their dragon demands rest.

  But the rest of us who remain persist. We fight until the monster’s terrible wails hit its highest point and it explodes into a thick dark cloud floating in the air.

  I manage to fly to solid ground before I too am forced into my primary form and lose consciousness.

  18

  Adan

  —

  In the following days, we recover from the attack. No more deaths occur and everyone holds on to a tentative hope that the monsters are gone for good.

  We give those who perished in the fight a traditional burial by burning their bodies. Reconstruction and reinforcement on the damaged sections of Vyaka begin.

  Just as Xia suspected, the monsters destroyed the transformer in order to shut off the lights. She remains to fix it. My hope lives on that she will stay when she is done with the task, but I disregard it and focus on helping the Secan people move on from our ordeal.

  “Rah!” Zavi shouts as he zooms into my den. Lim immediately uncurls herself from her slumber and sits up to watch Zavi. “I can do it! I can finally do it!”

  “Do what?” I stretch. It’s been a long and tiring day of being both labourer and leader. Never has my bed looked more inviting. However seeing Zavi running around brings me joy. It was hard to watch him suffer as he recovered from his attack. Yet he has healed and returned to his normal exuberance.

  “My dragon spoke to me!” he says. Then, coming to an abrupt stop, Zavi shuts his eyes, his forehead wrinkling in concentration. His slim body begins to grow in size, his clothes tearing. His pale skin darkens into black scales and wings sprout from his back.

  A rur draki stands before me in place of Zavi. He’s finally learned to Shift. He pumps his wings in excitement, the gust of air fanning me. Lim stands, flicking her tail, sniffing in Zavi’s direction as she circles the room with a curious expression.

  I grin, congratulating Zavi. I order him to stay still while I inspect him. Sometimes drakila are not entirely in control of their dragon form yet and cannot perform a proper shift. Therefore they must be trained. Yet Zavi has done exceptionally well.

  As I finish my inspection, Xia enters the den. She squeaks in surprise when she sees Zavi, pressing a hand to her chest.

  Zavi returns to his primary form, entirely naked. His legs spread wide, he plants his hands on his bony hips, a big, proud grin on his face.

  “Did I scare you, Xia?”

  She laughs, the sound soft and genuine, inspiring a tightness in my chest.

  “You bet. I didn’t know you could shift.”

  “That was my first time!” he says, then he spins, looking up at me with excitement. “Will you teach me how to breathe fire?”

  “Small steps, you must learn to fly first,” I say, patting his head. “You should go show kaha. She will be as proud as I am to see your dragon form.”

  Nodding, he races out of the den with as much speed as he entered it. Lim follows him at a much more leisurely place, pausing briefly to sniff Xia. Then, to my amazement, she rubs her face along Xia’s hand before she continues her stalk out of the den after Zavi.

  “Did you see that?” Xia says, her eyes wide. “Lim touched me!”

  “You should be grateful it was only a touch.”

  “I am grateful. So grateful that my heart just started beating again.” Her smile gradually dims. She advances toward me slowly, her expression nervous. “Adan, the... the transformer is fixed and the lights are all working again.”

  I nod, ignoring the leaden sensation in my gut.

  “Thank you for staying to complete the task. My people appreciate the effort.”

  “Your people are good and kind,” she says softly. “They cared for my friend and treated us well even though we aren’t like them. Helping them feel safe is the least I could do to repay them for their generosity.”

  A quiet follow where we stare at each other.

  “I suppose you plan to leave in the morning?” I ask her.

  She looks away, chewing on her lip, her forehead creased in thought.

  “Do all Secans live in mountains?” she asks, meeting my gaze again.

  I regard her with confusion, unsure of the direction of this conversation. But I answer her anyway.

  “
Some form villages outside in the flatlands.”

  “And what do they use for light source and heat? Just fire?”

  “Yes, but why—”

  “Wind turbines!” she says in excitement, wagging a finger. “At least on the mountains for now since it’s constantly windy at the top. Might take a bit of work, but it can be done.”

  “Xia, you’re not being clear about what you’re proposing.”

  “I’m proposing you incorporate wind turbines as a power source along with the improvements you’re doing to the dens in Vyaka.” She pauses, licking her lips. “I’m also proposing that if you do decide to include that, maybe… maybe I could be a part of its implementation since I’ve experience in this field...”

  Silence follow as I finally understand what she’s trying to say.

  “If I don’t want to build wind turbines, would you still want to stay?” I ask quietly.

  “Someone once told me it’s pretty dangerous to go wandering alone in Seca,” she says, a smile playing around her lips. “Since my ride left this morning with Tess on it, I guess I don’t have a choice but to stay.” She closes the distance between us and I embrace her so quickly it’s as if its by reflex or muscle memory. “I just hope the good people of Seca wouldn’t mind putting up with me a little longer. What about you Adan?”

  “Ah, such an inconvenience. How will I manage?”

  She laughs then reaches up to kiss me. Growling with satisfaction, I return her kiss hungrily. Triumph courses through me and I hold her in a tight, possessive embrace so that she knows she is mine and I will never let her go.

  “I’m not still brave, Adan,” she whispers. “But I will try… I will be brave if I am with you.”

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