by D. N. Leo
The opportunity was right in her hand. All she had to do was to drop the box. But thinking better of it, she slid the box back into her jacket pocket and climbed back up to the cliff.
“What was that like? That taste of death?” Azriel asked.
“It didn’t taste like anything because it wasn’t a near-death experience.” She glanced behind Azriel and could see that Caedmon was now sitting up. She kept her face neutral. “But I’m sure an old angel like you has experienced it many times. Tell me, how did you do it?”
“Do what?”
“Handle the emotion. I’m sure anytime you’re close to death, it’s like the first time.”
Azriel chuckled. “I am immortal.”
“Then you must get really bored. Why are you here anyway? Why put yourself in the middle of this chaotic world?”
“Good question.”
She was trying to bide time, but she was sure Azriel had sensed Caedmon was awake. Without looking back, the angel spread his wings. They stretched outward, the feathers looking like black steel blades. He swiveled then and swung his wings at Caedmon.
Although he couldn’t see Azriel’s face before the swing, Caedmon had anticipated his move. He put his arms up to block the blades.
Alyna was devastated. Flesh against blades… Caedmon would surely lose his arms.
She pulled the dagger Orla and Lorcan had made for her and charged at Azriel from behind. She screamed to get his attention, without success. She planned to stab him in the back. She no longer cared about fair play. She needed to kill this monster.
Instead of the sound of blades slicing through flesh and bones, she heard a clank when Azriel’s wings came into contact with Caedmon. Azriel staggered back with the force.
Alyna lunged forward with the dagger. It pierced Azriel’s back, and she could hear his flesh sizzle. He roared in pain.
She peeked over his shoulder and saw Caedmon smiling at her. The skin on his arms and part of his neck had turned a scaly black. But the confusion and heartbreaking emotion she had seen before in his eyes was no longer there. She knew he had intentionally raised his adrenaline level. He had wanted to shift. He was in absolute control of his actions this time.
She would do anything to see that smile from him every day.
Azriel swung his body around, dragging her along with the momentum because the blade of the dagger was still embedded in his body. She drew it back out and pulled her arm back to stab him again.
He swung his giant wings at her. The blades didn’t hit her, but the force of the movement threw her off the cliff.
She was on her way down.
Azriel jumped after her, spreading his wings. He didn’t want her to die. He tried to grab her, but she swung the dagger above her head to stop him.
She was falling fast.
Then she heard a whistle. She looked down and saw Nathan wave his arms. A flock of giant eagles flew toward her in an attempt to halt her downward fall.
She could see Azriel smirk. He swung his wings and sent a storm of black blades at the eagles. Their dead bodies rained to the ground on top of the fighters.
Alyna was still falling, and the closer to the ground she got, the faster she fell. She could see the look in Azriel’s eyes. She had to either take his arms and live, or keep falling and die.
She continued to swing the dagger, trying to stop Azriel from reaching her. No way in hell would she let this monster save her. Not in a million years.
Then she heard an explosion at the top the cliff. She smiled, but to Azriel, it may have looked more like a smirk.
A magnificent black dragon leaped from the top of the cliff and spread his wings. He roared again, unleashed a beam of fire from his mouth, and flapped his wings furiously to fly down to her.
Looking up at his shape imprinted against the blue sky as she fell, Alyna smiled. It was a view to die for. She had never seen a creature so beautiful. It was Caedmon. He wasn’t hers, but she could claim a part of his make because she had helped turn him into a shapeshifter.
He dipped down low beneath her falling path, and she landed on his back.
They didn’t need to communicate. She knew exactly what to do. Azriel was still in a downward dive. She used Caedmon’s back to jump upward toward Azriel, plunging the dagger into his heart.
Caedmon caught her again on his back, and he soared upward so fast that Azriel had no choice but to hang from the tip of the dagger. At the top of the cliff, Alyna pushed Azriel’s body onto the rocks. He was almost gone. She charged after him to finish the job.
With the last of his strength, Azriel stood up and swung his wings again. A storm of poisonous black thorns flew at Alyna.
She could see the thorns but had nothing with which to block them. She could jump off the cliff again, but that wasn’t an ideal solution.
The dragon came from behind her and flew forward, blocking the thorns. As they rained down on the cold rock, the dragon charged at the dark angel, letting out another loud roar. All Alyna saw was the angel’s head, ripped from its body, rolling toward her feet.
The eyes were still open, and the mouth still spoke. “You’re my successor. You’ll become who I am and continue my legacy, Caedmon.”
She stabbed the dagger into his head, but it wouldn’t shut up. She stabbed it once more and then flipped it over the cliff.
Azriel’s voice continued to echo in the air. “You’re mine. Your soul belongs to me forever…”
Chapter 33
Orla grinned as she witnessed the sight of Caedmon as a magnificent dragon with Alyna on his back, the two of them descending to the ground from the top of the cliff. She had always adored Caedmon when he was a child. But as an adult, just like his father, he was every woman’s dream.
She hadn’t known Alyna for long, but she knew a good woman when she met one. She hadn’t known Caedmon’s late wife. Thus, it wasn’t fair for her to comment on their relationship.
The army from the underworld exploded into dust right in front of them. She knew then that Alyna and Caedmon had killed the dark angel. She didn’t know how they’d done it, and she didn’t care. She was proud of them.
Caedmon landed softly on the ground. He stood as tall as a three-story-high building. The size of him blocked the light all the way to the corner of the street. Orla tried to make sense of it. She hadn’t known much about shapeshifting before Lorcan. After he was turned, she had spent every waking moment studying the creatures.
She didn’t know much, but there was one thing she was certain about—an individual shifted into one creature, and that creature only. There was no such thing as dynamic shifting where a person turned into a lion one day and a dragon the next. The nature of shapeshifting, if she could call it that, didn’t work that way.
By the look in Caedmon’s eyes right now, he was in total control of his actions. That meant shifting into the form of an animal and shifting back again was his choice. Orla figured he didn’t want to shift back now because he would be naked in broad daylight with hundreds of people around.
Plus, as a dragon, he looked magnificent.
She looked at Alyna. In the short period she’d known her, she had never seen her look so happy. She hoped the feeling would stay a long time for her. Because in her experience, warmhearted feelings never lasted long on Earth, especially in such a destructive time as now.
Orla looked back up at Caedmon, and everyone cheered.
Alyna was trying to make her way down to the ground from Caedmon’s back. He swung his tail around, putting the pointy tip against his back to make a path so that Alyna could walk down as graciously as a princess.
But before she stepped down from the spine of the dragon, she turned, reached for his head, and kissed him behind his ear.
The crowd roared in excitement.
Orla thought she saw Alyna blush a bit. But, as usual, she pushed her feelings aside and stepped down to the ground.
Then Orla’s heart skipped a beat. She saw the look in Caedmon’
s eyes. Even in dragon form, the look was the same—it was the look he always had when he had to let go of his favorite sweets.
It ran in the family. His Uncle Tadgh had a problem with sugar intake. Orla didn’t know what it was, but it seemed serious, and his father, as head of the family, had banned sugar from Tadgh’s diet.
Unfortunately, Caedmon was diagnosed with something similar, and thus his parents had banned all sweets. The problem for him was that he loved lollipops. Whenever he could sneak into the inter-universal transport to visit her, he would pout his lips and blink pitifully teary eyes at her, and the next thing she knew, she had given him a lollipop.
Then one day he’d seen a documentary screen where his father had struggled emotionally when Tadgh had almost died. The look on his father’s face on the screen haunted Caedmon so much that, as a three-year-old, he turned down his sweet treat for the first time. He did not want his loved ones to suffer because he had indulged himself with a sweet for the sheer pleasure of it. That look was the one she saw now on the dragon’s face. At three years old or thirty, Caedmon was the same. And it broke her heart.
After casting a glance over the crowd, the dragon turned around.
Alyna sensed it instantly. “Caedmon, what’s wrong?”
Orla rushed toward her. “He wants to go. Let him.”
“No, no, he has to tell me what’s wrong. Why is he upset? He can control the shifting now. Or can’t he?” She looked up. “Caedmon, talk to me.”
“He can’t talk while he’s a dragon, you see.”
“No, I don’t see. I don’t understand. He was just fine before. Caedmon, talk to me.”
The dragon started to gallop away.
Alyna charged after it. “Caedmon, you can’t leave, not like this. Stop, Caedmon!”
He didn’t seem to hear her.
“He understands me. I’m sure of it. He is in control of all this,” Alyna cried out.
Orla tried to hold Alyna back. “He might be able to shift back. But something happened that changed him. He needs time. Let him go.”
“If you need to bite me again to snap back,” Alyna said to Caedmon, “then do it. I’m ready.” She ran after the dragon, who flapped his wings and started to take off.
“Caedmon, don’t go. You have to talk to me. What’s wrong?”
The dragon flew off into the sky. Alyna ran on the ground after him until she flopped to the ground with exhaustion. Orla sat down next to her.
“Caedmon, please don’t go,” she muttered in desperation. “I love you.” She turned toward Orla. “Do you think he could hear me?”
“No, darling.”
“I said I love him. I’ve never said that before. What did I do wrong? Why did he leave me? The dark angel has turned him into one of his, but I don’t mind. I don’t care what he turns into. I love him just the way he is, and the way he will be. Do you think he can hear me?”
“No, darling, he’s gone.”
Orla let her lean on her shoulder, and Alyna wept.
In front of hundreds of men, in front of her people, she felt no shame in showing her emotional side. She didn’t need to live up to anyone’s standards. She did what was right for her. Her love had just left. She had the right to cry, and she didn’t give a shit about how others thought she should behave as a leader.
Orla patted her back. “He’ll come to terms with it. He’ll come back. I’m sure of it.”
Chapter 34
Caedmon landed on top of a mountain far away from New Australia. His navigation was based purely on the natural instincts of the animal whose form he used. He shifted back to his human form. He stood in front of a cave and waited. Soon he felt a rush of cool air on his skin.
“You’re here!” he said.
A distant female voice said, “You’re good, Caedmon. You caught on to the situation quickly. I should have approached you earlier.”
“At the rock, you said you’d tell me the truth if I came here.”
“You know what I’m about to say. You’re a very smart man.”
“Normally I need information and facts to draw my conclusions. I didn’t have much time when you woke me at the top of the rock. And the only reason I took your advice instantly is because I knew if you could wake me from Azriel’s poison, you have great power.”
“You are absolutely correct.”
“Who are you, really?”
“Given you can’t see me, what’s the point in knowing who I am?”
“Visibility is just a dimension. You’re an entity with influence. And because I have already collaborated with you to a certain extent, I need to know who you are.”
He heard a chuckle. Then the voice continued. “You’re very precise, Caedmon. Yes, I am an entity with influence. Nothing more. Nothing less. I don’t even have a name. But the person who raised me called me Thunder Child. Don’t worry, I am no longer a child.”
“Thanks to your advice, we killed the dark angel. What do I owe you?”
“You don’t owe me anything. Alyna does.”
“I’m the one who made the deal. Let me settle it.”
“She made the deal before you did. She asked me to wake you and guide you.”
He shook his head. “What did she promise you?”
“Nothing you need to know.”
“I do need to know.”
“Look at you! You’re angry!”
“Of course I’m angry. On the rock, you told me that all I had to do to solve the shifting problem was to accept that being a shapeshifter is my new reality. Once I accepted it, I wouldn’t have any problem shifting back and forth.”
“And which part of that isn’t true?”
“You also said Alyna couldn’t accomplish her mission without me. That is totally not true. She is a capable woman in her own right.”
“You mention her name in every second word from your mouth. Do you like her?”
“That’s irrelevant and none of your business. What do you want me to do now that we’ve killed the dark angel?”
“Protect the Scorpio key.”
“Yes, of course. I have plans for that.”
“Those plans cannot involve Alyna.”
“She’s the leader of the mage tribe who handles the key. She has to be the one who calls the key up. I fail to see how it will work without her involvement.”
“I mean you. You cannot involve her emotionally.”
“I still don’t understand.”
“You cannot allow yourself to become emotionally engaged with her.”
“That’s totally unacceptable. And what does all this have to do with you, Thunder Child?”
“It’s in your best interest.”
“Let’s say I forfeit my best interest. Then what?”
“Alyna is a pawn in the game. A mere token. She will die. Is that what you want to hear?”
“That’s the biggest load of fucking bullshit I’ve ever heard in my life. Who are you?”
“The one who arranges much of this. The one who acts in your interest.”
He waved his arm dismissively.
“Whether you like it or not, Alyna’s fate is determined by me. As I said on the rock, if you work with her and kill the angel, I’ll protect her. That means she’ll live a bit longer thanks to you. What else do you want?”
“The truth!”
“The truth is overrated. And it won’t do you any good.”
“You underestimate me, Thunder Child.”
“Then show me what you can do.”
“You’d be surprised. And for your information, Alyna is part of my plans to get the Scorpio key. She’s a friend and therefore a big part of my life. If you mess around with any of that, I don’t care what kind of god you think you are, I will hunt you down and destroy whatever it is that you care about.”
“That sounds like a threat.”
“And it smells like one, too, because it is one.”
“There is dark angel blood in you. You will become him. Do you know th
at?”
“I’ll be who I choose to be. As for the bad blood, I’ll cleanse it!”
He jumped off the mountain, shifted again into dragon form, and spread his wings. The smell of the valley and the fresh air and the feel of the wind blasting against his face was incredible. If he had to describe it, he would say it felt like freedom. For the first time in his life, he accepted what he was and the form he was in. He was a dragon shifter. And he was proud of it.
BLOODSTONE TRILOGY
BLOODSTONE TRILOGY
by D.N Leo
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Prequel: ASH OF SCORPIO
Book 1: LIGHT OF DEMON
Book 2: SHADOW OF ANGEL
Book 3: SHADE OF DARKNESS
LORCAN & ORLA - BONUS CHAPTERS
SPELL BREAKER - SPECTRUM OF MAGIC - BOOK 1
Chapter 1
There is only one happiness in life -- to love and to be loved.
George Sand (1804-1876)
She lay on the cold floor of a dungeon flooded with water. A bunch of tangled weeds tied her hands, and a pair of bony hands grabbed at her legs, pinning them to the dungeon floor.
She thrashed her legs, pulled her arms, and tried to roll her body around—nothing seemed to work.
She couldn’t scream, and she couldn’t cry for help—she wasn’t really the crying type anyway. “How long can I hold my breath?” she wondered.
She was twenty-nine now. She was full of life and had been on the path to a better future. At least, that was what she’d thought.
The water was everywhere.
Ten minutes earlier, Orla had held tightly to a rusty steel pipe running across the ceiling of a dark and cold dungeon. Although she was flexible and as agile as a leopard, hanging in the same position with her feet braced against a small ledge halfway through a wall for an hour had pushed her muscle strength to the limit.