by Julia Mills
The hunter’s leader fought with a saber. Apparently the weapon of choice for these fanatics as they all had them strapped to their bodies. He thrust forward, his advance bouncing off Lance’s blade. It was obvious this novice was not at all prepared for Lance's strength and experience. His arm shook from the impact of saber to broadsword. Rayne knew Lance was enjoying himself. His brethren liked to play with his prey.
Aidan's perspective immediately came into Rayne's mind's eye. He saw the battles raging below his brethren and knew the zealots heading for him would be there in the next minute or two. He heard Aidan laugh to himself when he watched them continue to fight against the magic pushing them against their will towards him. He wondered if they had ever, in their wildest dreams, imagined what an almost 1000 pound, nineteen foot tall, thirty foot long silver dragon with rows of black scales running down both sides, would look like up close and in person. They both enjoyed the fear they could see in their eyes through the black ski masks covering their cowardly faces. He was amazed that these men, and he used the term loosely, who had been born into the hunter way of life, didn’t know more about the race they chose to eradicate. Such complete lunacy and senseless loss of life for both sides made them think of all those they had lost to this fight in their life.
The hunters had reached his landing. He was preparing to descend upon them when in flew his brother. His silver dragon so like Aidan’s, except the black scales covered his entire underbelly. Aidan wondered what the hell Aaron was doing there? “We’ll talk about this after these idiots are finished.” He sent to straight into Aaron’s mind and Rayne laughed to himself at the sibling rivalry.
“You don’t get to have fun all by yourself, little bro,” Aaron snickered in his twin's mind.
“Little my ass, you are only 2 minutes older and you were supposed to cover Lance.”
“Lance has it under control. I wanted some flight time, too.”
“Rayne is going to kick your ass when this is all over. Just stay out of my way old man.” With their usual banter silenced, the brothers engaged the hunters and Rayne went back to battling the hunters pouring over his own ledge.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Rayne felt the breeze from Aaron and Aidan flying over. He checked in on Lance and of course he was hot dogging it, nothing new there. When wasn’t he hot dogging it? He just hoped his friend was paying attention because the wizard was proving to have more than a few tricks up his sleeve. He had obviously studied the dragons much more than his compatriots. He used what he had learned to hone his skills to mirror some of their own. He could move almost as fast and had incredible agility. Royce, in dragon form and Devon, still in human form, were dispatching hunters as fast as they could but the bastards still fought for all they were worth. He and his men protected the mouth of the cave with acute diligence knowing the importance the person hidden deep within. They could not let this battle get close to Kyndel.
Rayne chanced a glance over the ledge as he battled and saw that Lance had partially transformed to burn the bodies of the hunters he and Aaron had dispatched. That meant the leader and fifteen or so of his followers would no longer plague their kind.
The magician popped out from the shelter of the other hunters and shot a bolt of magic directly at Rayne. He dodged just in time, the missed shot scorching the stone beside the entrance to the cave. Rayne moved towards the now visible magician and swung at the asshole’s head. He moved to the left and kicked out connecting with Rayne’s ribs, knocking him off balance. The magician rushed Rayne and struck him in the mouth with the handle of the short sword he drew from the sheath in his belt. Rayne returned with a heavy blow to the magician’s head and several directly to his gut. He had decided sometime during this battle that he wanted this bastard alive. He wanted to question him. The hunters were changing tactics and they needed to get ahead of it lest they lose any more of those close to them.
Rayne continued to rain punches down on the man that would dare to hurt his mate, his friends and his people. He could hear the battle all around and above him, it fueled his anger. The magician was fighting back with surprising strength and efficiency. Try as he might, Rayne was having difficulty breaking through the magic this man wielded to get the upper hand and subdue him.
Her scent hit him like a shot to the arm. He turned immediately, leaving the magician to get a cheap shot in at his lower back. Lance, who had climbed to their ledge, was right there to hold his sword against the magician’s chest with Royce still in dragon form at Rayne’s side, but the damage was done. One of the hunters had gotten past their defenses and had his mate by the hair with a knife to her neck. The look of determination in her eyes was all he needed to know that she would not be the passive hostage these zealots had planned on.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
She tried to think of something, anything aside from the knife at her throat. It looked like the boys had been busy while she was stuck in that dark, dank cave. She had heard the sounds of the battle and as hard as she tried, could not take not knowing what was happening any longer, so she had crept closer to the cave entrance. She had placed her shirt over the flashlight to keep the glow to a minimum and moved very carefully. She had almost run right into the man completely covered in black that now held her hostage. If he hadn’t had such strange mismatched eyes that seemed to glow, she would have bumped right into him.
For an instant, they stared at each other then he moved almost as quickly as Rayne. He spun her around, grabbed her by her hair and placed a knife at her neck then proceeded to lead her to the mouth of the cave. She knew Rayne was going to be pissed as shit. He would never let her live down the fact that she had not stayed exactly where he had told her to. But really, was this the middle ages? Put the little woman in the back and come back for her when the trouble is over. Not likely! She was not some shrinking violet! If this relationship or whatever the hell it was going on between them was going to work then he was going to have to realize she was not some damsel in distress. She had spent the better part of her life fighting for those she loved and she would not stop just because her mate was one hundred and nineteen years old, turned into a dragon and was the Commander of the Dragon Guard.
Oh crap! If she could have stopped in her tracks she would have but the knife at her throat made that impossible, so she had to have her revelations on the move. Sometime between him kissing her silly and leaving her in this damn cave and this moment, he had fallen into the group of people she loved. Worse than that, her heart and head accepted him as her mate. Now she was being held by some crazy fool that wanted to use her against him. Well, to hell with that! She wasn’t going out like this. Definitely not before she had the next 800 or so years to figure out all the ways she loved the dragon shifter that had captured her heart. Now came the moment of truth. Her captor had trotted her all the way to the mouth of the cave and just as she expected, her mate looked mad enough to chew nails.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“So you think to hurt my mate, hunter?” Rayne called to the asshole that dared to hold a knife to Kyndel’s neck.
“No, Commander, I mean to kill your mate and watch all hell rain down on the Dragon Guard, ending them forever.”
Rayne forced a calm he didn’t feel into his body, now was not the time for hasty decisions or mistakes. “And exactly how do you plan to do that when your leader is dead and we have your magician at the end of a sword?”
The man holding Kyndel laughed and jerked her head back a little farther driving the knife deeper into her skin. Just a millimeter farther and he would spill her blood. Rayne was quickly losing control. His dragon was fighting to get out and save their mate.
“You haven’t killed my leader and the one you hold with your sword is but my apprentice. Only my magic allowed him to act as he did. I am beholden to no one, Rayne MacLendon. I’m your worst nightmare.” And with that proclamation he walked Kyndel out from under the cover of the cave entrance into the moonlight. He could feel the frustration and
anger pouring off his men. As if on cue, Lance drove his sword through the last hunter, save the one with his mate, one less bastard to spread hate in the world.
“Now, beautiful mate of the illustrious Rayne MacLendon,” he hissed. “If you would very slowly raise your hands over your head and remove my head covering, I would be grateful.”
He watched as Kyndel hesitated and almost lost the battle with his hard fought control when the asshole holding his mate jerked her head back even farther, causing a gasp of pain to escape before she could stop it. He jerked forward but Kyndel met his eyes and shook her head slightly, letting him know not to lose his temper yet.
She raised her hands and removed the ski mask as instructed. All of his men even those in dragon form stood absolutely still. Rayne was unable to process what he was seeing for a split second, not sure what his next move should be. Then just to confirm what he saw, he whispered, “Andrew?”
Two silver dragons dropped from the sky, transforming as they descended and landing on either side of Rayne, dressed only in jeans. “It’s not possible,” Aidan was speaking to the man holding the knife to Kyndel’s neck, walking forward like he was in a trance. He stared as if his eyes were seeing something his mind could not comprehend.
“Oh, yes, brother, it is possible. The head you saw that coven of wizards throw into the fire that night so long ago was not mine. They’d captured and restrained me with a combination of their magic and that of the blood of the mage that helped the original dragons create our kind. What you saw was but a slight of hand and you being the gullible twit you are, believed it. You gave up on me and ran like the coward you truly are. The wizards held me for months with no food, in a hole. They refused to allow me to transform. When I realized you weren’t coming for me, I knew it was up to me free myself. So I spent my time plotting my revenge while waiting for a chance to escape.
“When they thought I was weak and broken, they finally allowed me out of the dungeon. They were sure they had been successful in creating an ally through my deprivation and their brainwashing and I let them believe they had succeeded. After I’d learned all of their secrets, including how to hide what I am from everyone, even another Dragon Guardsmen, I killed them all.
“Then I set out to find the hunters and join their ranks. I knew I could never get close enough to kill you without using them for cover. Even with all I learned from the wizards, I feared if you were all focused on me, you would be able to sense who I was, especially the big guy there.” He looked all the way up at the majestic head of one of the oldest living dragons. “Why don’t you join the party as a man, Royce? I’m getting a stiff neck looking all the way up there to make sure you're not plotting anything.”
He felt the magic as Royce changed back to his human form. Rayne didn’t want to take his eyes off of Kyndel but he had to see how Aidan was holding up. The look on his brethren’s face said it all; he was in shock and having a hard time believing what was unfolding right before their eyes. When he spoke, his voice was low and sounded broken. “But why didn’t you mind speak to me? I left that clearing devastated at the loss of my younger brother. I’ve spent every moment of every day reliving what went wrong, how those wizards were able to get the drop on us. I haven’t had one moment’s peace since the instant I saw what I thought was your head land in that fire. Why would you not come back to your clan when you escaped the wizards? Why would you join with our mortal enemies against us?”
Rayne leaned forward to hear what the traitor had to say. “Because dear brother,” Andrew spat the words like they were poison, “You gave up on me. You didn’t even try to find me. When we were surrounded by those wizards, you ran and left me to be captured. Even before they threw the head of that farmer into the fire, you had already decided I was dead. You gave up on me! YOU ARE A COWARD!”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Spittle hit Kyndel’s cheek from Andrew’s outburst. Until now she had hoped there might be a chance of reasoning with him but now she was sure this guy was two bricks shy of a load and nothing any of them said was going to talk him down.
Aidan continued his slow approach toward his brother. She saw the determination on his face. He was determined to try to save her and his brother. As she watched him, she couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. There, as plain as day, written all over his face was the relief that the brother he had thought was dead was very much alive and the pain from the belief that he had somehow failed both that brother and now her.
“But what do you hope to accomplish by killing Rayne’s mate?” Aidan sounded like he was talking to a wild animal, trying to calm him, make him see reason. Kyndel was eager to hear his answer, as well.
“I was hoping you had found yours when I saw you sitting on that rock in the park and she had her hand on your arm but then I saw the great and powerful Commander haul her off and heard the sounds of their pleasure. It was then I realized she was his and not yours. Unfortunately, plans were already in motion, so I made a revision. I decided to kill his mate, knowing it would drive him mad. Then he will unleash his wrath on all in his path and you will have to watch it all. I'm going to relish making sure that he saves you for last. I want to make sure you feel the life bleed out of every one of your brethren, because after all, dear brother, you caused all of this.
“We could’ve waited another day to go hunting, there were enough stores to feed everyone for at least a week and we had heard nothing from our enemies but you just had to fly that night. What was so important brother, dear? Tell your faithful Guardsmen what couldn’t wait. Tell them what was so important that you put your younger brother in danger.”
She wished she could wrap her arms around Aidan as he closed his eyes and shuttered as if in pain, “I wanted to see the woman from my dreams, the one my dragon and I had scented on our flight over the city the night before. I hoped she would be leaving the gym, returning to her dorm. I couldn’t resist looking at her raven hair, blue eyes and curvy figure again. I wanted to see if I could glimpse the smile from my dreams; the one that lit up the darkness more than the sun ever dared.” Aidan torturously admitted in a voice so soft Kyndel had to strain to catch all he was saying.
“So for a glimpse of some piece of ass you allowed your brother to be captured and tortured? You gave up and walked away? Tell me brother, did you tell your precious Guardsmen what happened? Did you bring them back to the site? DID YOU EVEN TRY TO FIND ME?”
Again Kyndel cringed knowing this guy was completely gone. He was shaking with rage. Whatever happened during his imprisonment had broken him in ways people just should not be broken and his revenge included taking them all out. She had to believe these big strong warriors could get her out of this but right now they all looked lost and confused. Her only hope was that they snap out of it.
The idiot with the knife at her neck decided to keep his performance going. “You know it just doesn’t matter, brother. I don’t want to hear any more of your excuses or apologies. You’re a coward and a failure and you will go to your grave knowing you could have saved me from all the torture at the hands of the wizards. You could have saved Rayne’s mate and you could have saved your Guardsmen. But you didn’t and now you get to watch what your failure has caused.”
Andrew pulled Kyndel’s hair, jerking back her head until she was looking straight up at the night sky. Her scalp burned so bad her eyes watered. She found it hard to breathe from the pain and the angle he had her neck bent. She closed her eyes and offered up a prayer to the Almighty. She prayed that by some miracle there would be another mate for Rayne and that he would live a very long happy life. She mourned the loss of a love she had just found and would never see grow and flourish. If only she had had a little more time to tell Rayne how she felt. Before she could dwell on anything else she was about to lose, she was jerked back by her hair and flying through the air. She heard a crunch as something slammed into the hard unforgiving rock. She realized in that instant that it was her head and then her world went black.
/> *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Rayne was about to lose his mind. Aidan and Aaron’s crazy brother, whom they had all believed dead, was standing a few feet from him with a knife at Kyndel’s neck. Rayne saw Aidan acting like a lost little boy with a hope in his eyes that he could save both Andrew and his mate. From the deranged look in his eyes, the chilling account of his capture and torture and the fact he was crazy enough to have planned and executed this elaborate plot against the elite of the Dragon Guard, Rayne doubted there was any hope for this man.
Aaron looked as mad as he felt. He could not tell which brother his friend wanted to beat the hell out of first. There were definitely some secrets revealed here today that would have to be dealt with but right now, Rayne had to get his mate out of the hands of the madman holding her captive and back with him where she belonged. He prayed to the Universe that she would forgive him for all his mistakes. He was starting to lose count of the number of times she had been in danger in the last twenty-four hours and all because of him. He had to get everyone’s head back in the game and bring this stand off to an end.
Just as he was about to move forward, he caught sight of Devon perched on the edge of the opening to the cave directly above Andrew and Kyndel. How had he gotten up there without anyone noticing? Rayne didn’t give a damn at that moment, glad for his friend’s stealth. There was hope and that was all he needed. He knew he could not use their mind speak for fear that Andrew would tune in, he would have to rely on the rest of his men to pay attention. The second Devon made a move, they would all have to act to save Kyndel and keep Andrew from getting away.