Dragon Song

by Denna Holm

  “He’s being held in a human facility not far from here, guarded by military. I’m going to need your help to get him out.” He glanced toward Faith’s sire, who had stood when Aeson’s family entered the house. “I’ll need you to keep the soldiers busy outside while I go inside to free Tien.”

  “You want us to purposely expose ourselves to the humans?” Treyton said, narrowing his eyes.

  “They already know you exist, Alpha. Besides, I plan to erase the memories of any who survive. Those in charge who are not present will be a more difficult matter.” He glanced toward Faith’s sire. “I’ll get what names I can from the human and try to track them down.”

  The alpha offered one sharp nod.

  “Thank you, Hunter,” his sire said. “We trust you will do what you can to protect our clan. These abductions need to stop. Our numbers grow fewer every year.”

  “Perhaps you should consider returning to Raiden. Your people are no longer enslaved there. The clans would welcome you among them.” Xavier glanced away for a moment, as though deep in thought. “But we can discuss this further at a more appropriate time. Right now, let’s focus on getting your brother set free.”

  Aeson’s sire nodded, though his jaws remained clenched.

  Aeson shivered, not sure he liked the idea of leaving Earth. What if they weren’t accepted? What if life ended up even harder for them? Probably not something he needed to worry about. He doubted their alpha would agree to it.

  “Where is this facility?” Xavier asked Faith’s sire.

  “About thirty miles northeast of here. It’s out in the middle of nowhere.”

  “Why don’t you take his blood, create a bond?” the alpha asked. “We are wasting time here.”

  Faith moved over by Aeson, taking hold of his arm. “Why would he take his blood?” she whispered.

  “To gain access to his memories.” Aeson was a little surprised the vampire appeared reluctant to do so.

  “I can’t,” Xavier finally said. “His blood has been contaminated.”

  “What?” Faith said, squeezing Aeson’s arm. “Contaminated how?”

  “Your government knows about us,” Xavier said. “They understand we can not only gain access to memories but take full control of a human by consuming their blood. They have figured out how to make that blood unpalatable to a Laizahlian. Isn’t that right, human?” Xavier said with a sneer. “What they don’t realize is that we can smell the contaminant in your blood.”

  Faith’s father blanched, his expression confused. “I received numerous shots when I first went to work for the government. They didn’t tell me what they were all for. “I’ve heard rumors about blood drinkers, but I never really believed it. You’re not a shifter?”

  “No.”

  “What will it do to you, the contaminant?” Faith asked Xavier.

  “We are not certain,” Xavier said. “None of our Hunters have been tempted to ingest contaminated blood. I’ll arrange to take blood samples back to Laizahlia once we are finished here.” He turned back to Aeson’s alpha. “It is not far. We’ll travel in the human’s automobile. You can follow us from the air.”

  The alpha nodded, casting one angry look toward Faith’s sire before he turned and walked out the door.

  Aeson’s sire stopped at the door, staring hard at Aeson. “You are unhurt, my son?”

  “I’m fine.” Aeson nodded toward Faith. “Thanks to Faith. She found me after I fell. She helped me, or I might not have survived.”

  His sire looked toward Faith, his cold eyes softening a bit. “Thank you for assisting my son, young female. We are in your debt.” He turned and walked out before Faith could reply.

  CHAPTER 14

  “I don’t understand why I couldn’t stay home,” Faith’s mom said, obviously uncomfortable with a vampire and shifters in the van. Faith had to admit the tension in the air was pretty heavy, making it hard to even breathe right. It felt like they were wading through a vat of thick molasses.

  “Be quiet, Annie,” her dad said, his hands gripped tight around the steering wheel. “Everything is gonna be fine. You’ll see.”

  She snorted. “How can it possibly be fine, Tom? You have no idea what we’re getting into here, do you? These … people are dangerous.”

  “Sarcastic much, Mom,” Faith muttered. Her mother would end up pissing everybody off. Faith turned to Aeson, who sat stiffly beside her in the very back with Mark. Xavier and Leif were in the middle seats behind her parents. “Your dad and that other guy are really big,” she said. “I wish we would have got outside in time to see them change.”

  Aeson pressed his lips together. “They won’t be happy about exposing themselves to humans. You’ll probably get to see them when we arrive at your sire’s place of work. It sounds like we’re going to have to fight to get my uncle out.”

  Faith nodded, worried about what would happen, not only with Aeson’s uncle, but with her own father when this was finished. How much trouble would he be in, not just from the people he worked for, but with the vampire and his partner?” She glanced toward Aeson, biting her lip. Not to mention the dragons. They were definitely not happy with him.

  A little over twenty minutes later, they arrived. Xavier had her father pull the van over about a half mile away from the government building. They were parked on a hill, giving them a good view of everything below. The building itself wasn’t overly large, at least from the outside, but it was surrounded by a high fence with razor wire on top. Lights were set up all along the perimeter of the fence, along with video equipment too, she felt sure. Guards could be seen sitting in a small building by the gate, and more guards carrying rifles were walking outside with German shepherds. They’d left Axel at home in the pen in the barn. Good thing or he’d probably be barking his head off, drawing unwanted attention to them.

  Faith stepped outside, staring up into the dark sky, hoping to catch a glimpse of the dragons. “Are they here?” she asked Aeson.

  “You’re looking too high. They’ll come in low to avoid radar.” He motioned to their right. “There.”

  “Oh,” Faith said, gasping. She’d had no idea they would be so large, easily four times the size of her father’s van. Both dragons were flying just above the ground, heading straight for them. She couldn’t pick up color very well in the dark, though one, the larger of the two, appeared slightly lighter. She stepped back against the van as they landed silently about twenty yards away.

  “That is just so awesome,” Mark said excitedly, almost bouncing up and down. “Wish I could ride on one.”

  Oddly enough, Faith had expected them to have four legs, not two, the dragons reminding her more of birds than reptiles. They had long necks with a triangular head, and massive horns, looking more like spikes than the curved horns in their human form. She’d hate to get gored by one. Their tails were equally long, probably helping to balance them out when flying, the tips whipping back and forth, as though the beasts were extremely tense. No kidding, she thought. She’d be tense too if she had to go down and fight armed soldiers.

  As they stepped closer, Faith could see that the smaller dragon had light bluish-green scales. The larger one was a much darker blue, both their scales glittering under the moonlight. “Beautiful,” she whispered, glancing toward Aeson. “What color is your dragon?”

  “The same as my father’s,” he said, nodding toward the lighter colored bluish-green dragon.

  “Are you as big as them when you change?” Mark asked, awe in his tone.

  “No, not yet. I’m only about half their size.”

  They watched as Xavier walked out to the two dragons, the vampire looking almost tiny in comparison.

  “Are they talking somehow?” Faith asked Aeson.

  “Our alpha probably created a blood bond with the Hunter,” Aeson said. “It allows them to communicate telepathically.”

  “A blood bond? Like the one you have with him now?”

  “No. The bond only goes one way between Xavie
r and me. A full, or true, bond is created when there is an exchange of blood.”

  “Oh. So, if he ever drinks your blood, you’ll create a true bond, right?”

  “Yes.”

  Faith’s mom stayed in the van while the rest of them stood outside. Leif appeared relaxed, leaning against the side of the van while Xavier spoke with the dragons. He always appeared relaxed, though, and she wondered if anything ever bothered him.

  Faith’s dad moved over to stand beside her as Xavier walked back. “What do you want me to do?” he asked.

  “You come with us,” Xavier replied. “Aeson will stay behind with your family. Though he is not fully mature, he can still protect them if soldiers should happen to show up.” He glanced over at the van. “We’ll take your automobile to get inside the gate. I’ll handle any problems that we run into. You stay close to Leif.” He nodded toward the van. “You will need to have your mate stay with your children here.”

  Her dad nodded, walking back to the van. Faith could hear her parents arguing, but he eventually convinced her mom to get out, though she refused to step close to the Hunter or shifter. Her terrified sight locked on the dragons and stayed there, as if afraid they might come over and eat one of them.

  “Come, we should go,” Xavier said, walking back to the van.

  Faith watched as they drove off. The two dragons didn’t lift back into the air until the van stopped in front of the gate. Her stomach tightened as she watched them drive through, her father parking in a lot to the side. The dragons were staying tight to the ground, keeping their distance.

  “How will they know when to attack?” Faith asked Aeson.

  “Xavier will alert them.”

  It seemed like forever after her father, Xavier and Leif entered the main building before the dragons lifted higher in the air, heading toward the government facility. Almost immediately an alarm went off and Faith heard the first loud cracks of gunfire.”

  “Can they hurt your dad?” she asked, having no idea if their scales could stop a bullet.

  “No, not seriously anyway.”

  “What if they use silver bullets?” Did they even have such a thing?

  Aeson looked over at Faith, not replying. He probably didn’t want to think about that possibility.

  “Oh, wow, look at that,” Mark said, awe in his tone. The two dragons had split apart, one on each side of the facility, and they were both hovering, wings flapping hard as they released huge lines of fire, lighting up everything around them. To Faith, they looked like two oversized flamethrowers. She flinched when the screaming started, followed by more gunfire. The dragons didn’t stay still for long, constantly moving, keeping the soldiers off guard with their flames.

  “Hope they don’t put the main building on fire,” Mark said. “Dad and those other two guys won’t be able to get out.”

  “They aren’t,” Faith said. “Look, they’re just staying around the outside perimeter, distracting everyone.

  Twenty minutes passed, and as near as Faith could tell, most of the soldiers had moved back inside the main building. Only sporadic gunfire could be heard, and the dragons were only releasing the occasional flame, though they remained close to the building.

  “You think Dad’s okay?” Mark asked, sounding worried.

  “Of course he’s not okay,” her mother snapped. “I don’t know what your father was thinking getting mixed up in this nightmare.” She glared at Aeson, as if all of this were his fault.

  “Hands up!” came a harsh order from behind them.

  “Oh, shit,” Faith hissed, raising her hands as she turned to look.

  Six soldiers were moving in, guns raised, pointed at them.

  “Get down on the ground. Now!” said the large man in the center. “On your bellies, hands behind your head!”

  Faith, Mark and her mother instantly obeyed, no one wanting to get shot. “Aeson?” Faith said, looking over her shoulder.

  He’d taken a few steps away from them, his eyes locked on the soldiers.

  “Don’t do it, boy. I won’t hesitate to shoot you,” the soldier said. “Get down on the fucking ground, now!”

  But he didn’t. In a flash of bright light, Aeson’s body disappeared, and in his place stood a beautiful turquoise dragon, one about half the size of the adults, though still impressive, this one without the massive horns. Even as he released an imposing flame toward the soldiers, Faith heard the gunshots. She and her mother and brother quickly covered their heads with their hands. She couldn’t hear anything over the fire and gunshots.

  Thankfully, it didn’t last long. After the last shot, Faith lifted her head, not really surprised to see one of the adult dragons hovering above them. Aeson’s dad had come back as soon as he felt the threat to his son. The soldiers must have moved off because Faith couldn’t see them anymore. She hoped no one got killed, aware they were only following orders, though she didn’t want Aeson or his family hurt either. What a mess.

  Aeson’s dragon looked over at her, tail twitching, and then he exploded in another bright flash of light.

  “Oh, crap,” she whispered, seeing he was as naked as a jaybird now. She jumped up and quickly peeled off her coat, grateful she’d worn the long one when they’d left the house. Averting her eyes, she held it out.

  “Faith, you get away from that animal! Right now, young lady!” her mother yelled.

  Faith ignored her, handing Aeson her coat. “I’m sorry about my mom.” She looked up, but the larger dragon had already left, returning to the military facility below them. “Are they gone, the soldiers?” she asked.

  “Yes, for now anyway. My father chased them back to their vehicles.”

  “Did any of them get hurt?”

  “Not seriously.”

  Faith nodded, taking a deep breath. She glanced over her shoulder, seeing her mom holding Mark against her side. “I think my mom is gonna have a meltdown of her own.” Faith took a deep breath, looking back at Aeson. “You did it. You changed all by yourself.”

  “Yes, I can change forms. What I have problems with is holding it for very long.”

  “Well, you did good. I didn’t even hear those soldiers coming.”

  “Neither did I,” he replied, looking a little embarrassed about it.

  “Well, it’s not like we weren’t distracted.” She nodded toward her dad’s place of work, the dragons only releasing an occasional burst of fire now. The shooting had basically stopped.

  “I wish I knew what was going on inside. You think they’ll get your uncle out?”

  Aeson glanced over at her but didn’t answer. He didn’t have to. She could see the worry in his face.

  CHAPTER 15

  Aeson’s father didn’t have a blood bond with the vampire, so he could only pass on information to Aeson as the alpha gave it to him. Xavier, Leif, and Faith’s sire had made it into the lower chambers, and they’d found his uncle, but were struggling to break him out. Apparently, no one was present on site who had the keycode to open his cell. Xavier was working on it. Aeson had no idea what the vampire was going to do, but he believed with his whole heart that he would get his uncle free.

  “They need to hurry,” Faith said. “I’m sure someone inside got a message through to the higher-ups. They’ll probably send jets with missiles. I don’t think a dragon is going to stand a chance against them.”

  Aeson didn’t know much about human military, but he believed Faith. They wouldn’t hesitate to kill his father and the alpha.

  “Aeson, listen carefully,” his father sent telepathically. “The Hunter is going to have him, your uncle, the human, and the tracker transported out. They will meet us back at the human’s home. We will carry the human male’s family out. You need to prepare them. We are on our way now.”

  “Yes, father.”

  Aeson turned to Faith. “They are transporting my uncle out as we speak.” He glanced toward Mark and her frightened dam. “My sire and the alpha will carry us back to your home.”

&n
bsp; Faith licked her lips nervously and glanced back at her dam. “Mark will be thrilled, but I don’t know about Mom.”

  “She has no choice. We need to get out of here before those jets you talked about show up. They will believe the Hunter and his tracker are still inside with my uncle. They may decide to destroy the structure.”

  Faith glanced up as his sire and the alpha flew over. A few seconds later they landed, the ground shaking a bit as they walked toward them.

  “You need to convince your dam to get on the alpha’s back with Mark,” Aeson said. Both dragons were crouched down, wings held out to the side. “Use their wings to pull yourself up and then sit right at the base of their necks. They will be careful not to unbalance you in the air.”

  “Oh, crap,” Faith said, nodding. She turned to her dam. “Mom, you and Mark need to crawl up on the bigger dragon. We need to get out of here. Now.”

  “I’m not leaving without your father,” her dam screeched, panic building in her expression. “I will not get up on one of those filthy things. Never, Faith, so you can just forget it.”

  “Mom!” Mark said. “Stop it. They aren’t filthy.”

  “Shut up, Mark.”

  “Dad and the others are already at home. The Hunter had them transported out.” Faith stepped closer to her dam, taking hold of both her hands. “Don’t do this, Mom. I don’t want to leave you here, but I will. You know as well as I do that we’ll never get turned loose if the military gets their hands on us. This is too big. Please don’t argue. We’re running out of time. Dad’s already home. I promise.”

  Her dam burst into tears, gasping for breath. “I-I’m afraid.”

  “I know, but I promise they won’t hurt you. Now come on, let me help you up so we can get home.”

  Aeson breathed a sigh of relief as Faith led her mother and Mark to the alpha. The alpha crouched even lower, tipping his wing so they would have something to hang on to. Aeson slipped out of Faith’s coat and handed it to her, then helped her climb up onto his father’s back. It took him a moment to gather the energy needed to shift, his father’s presence comforting in the back of his mind.