Dragon Blood- The Complete Trilogy

by Katie Cherry

  "So, Myra, what other questions do you have?" one of the guys asked, scratching absentmindedly at his head and not quite meeting her eyes.

  "Um..."

  "How about everyone takes turns introducing themselves?" Gadriel interrupted. "And Myra can focus on eating. Those trials take a lot out of you. I'm sure she's exhausted." She hadn't realized it until she sat down at the table, but she was definitely running low on energy. It had been a long day, to be sure. Giving him a smile of gratitude, she focused on eating while everyone introduced themselves. The blue-haired girl's name was Afina, one of the guys' names was Josh, and she couldn't quite focus on the rest of the information they gave her as her mind became hazy with fatigue. She tried to focus on their introductions, she really did, but her brain just wasn't having it today.

  And that's what she explained once they'd all finished, her voice full of apology. "I may need reminding for your names and everything... I'm just too drained for my mind to really hold on to that information."

  "That's fair," they smiled, not bothered in the least that she didn't remember their names. Then Gadriel sent them to pack for the trip, and led Myra and Rhys back to their rooms, wishing them a goodnight and reminding them that they had an early start tomorrow.

  As much as she wanted to tell Rhys everything that she'd learned and experienced, she couldn't manage to stay awake long enough to do so. As she collapsed into bed, he came up beside her and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. "Goodnight, Myra," he whispered. She smiled a little as she fell asleep, comforted by his presence at her side once more.

  *****

  Myra woke the next morning feeling ridiculously refreshed. Just like when she'd gone from mutt to partial dragon and had been amazed at the difference she could have hardly comprehended, going from partial dragon to Dragonkin was having a similar effect on her. It was an even bigger increase than the pills had given her- and it was permanent now. She felt hyper-aware, like every nerve tingled and every sense was off the charts. The sensory input should have been overwhelming, but it wasn't... likely because she was even less human now.

  The thought caused a distressed rumble to sound in her guts, and she shoved the thought away. She felt great. She'd just have to ignore the alien feeling that came when she realized just how inhuman she’d become. She quickly showered and dressed, packing a couple more sets of clothes from the closet before finally stepping out of her room. She knocked on Rhys's door and he answered it, running his fingers through his wet hair to straighten it. "Oh, Myra. Come on in," he invited, standing back and opening the door wider for her. "I was just finishing up packing," he explained, heading to the bed and wrapping up his phone charger, shoving it into one of the backpack's pockets. After shoving his recently washed clothes in after it, he zipped it closed and sat beside it, gesturing for her to join him. She did, after glancing at her watch and confirming that they had a few minutes. "So I didn't really get to hear about your adventure with the Elders much yesterday," he began, his voice tinged with curiosity. "What happened?"

  "Well, they gave me a bunch of tests to see if I had the soul of a dragon," she began, the words coming out a little haltingly before getting smoother the longer she talked. "They had me display my wings and my magic- which was a scary thing to do, by the way, then I had to fight another Dragonkin guy, tested my loyalty to our clan, and merged our souls."

  "I'm sorry- you did what with your souls?" he gasped, shock and concern reverberating through the air at his words. "And you're okay?"

  "Yeah. One of them pulled my soul into his body, basically, and when he saw how well I handled it, it was the final concluding piece of confirmation that I have the soul of a dragon."

  "That's... freaking crazy, but amazing," he gaped, suddenly looking at her differently. Myra looked away. She didn't like that. She wasn't some freak. She was who she'd always been, just... stronger.

  "We should go," she said, abruptly standing and walking toward the door. "They're expecting us at breakfast." She slipped through the door without looking back at him, embarrassment burning in her veins as she recalled the look on his face. She walked quickly to meet the others, allowing herself to cool off as she walked. Rhys got there a few moments after her, and she was glad he'd given her some space.

  They ate quickly, Gadriel leading them toward where he'd first found Rhys and Myra. They went on foot since it wasn't far, and they wanted to save their flying energy for when they'd be flying over the ocean. "But what about Rhys?" Myra asked, concerned about his ability to fly over the ocean. "I mean, Dragonkin might be able to make that flight- you would know better than me- but he may not be able to."

  "Oh, it's alright," Gadriel assured her as they hiked through Norway's gorgeous forests. "The Dragonkin will take turns taking point, and he can coast behind us, where the wind resistance is lessened. If he taps into his magic as often as needed, it will help further. He'll be able to make it." Rhys flashed her a grateful look as they continued forward. He'd clearly been worrying about the same thing once the Dragonkin had announced their plan to fly over the entire ocean in one day.

  Once they left the concealment spell's borders, they took to the air. It only took a few minutes to reach the ocean, where they landed to gather their strength and drink plenty of water. After about five minutes, Gadriel stood and motioned for them to continue. Myra followed suit, brushing the sand off her butt and letting the other Dragonkin start their formation above them. She joined near the back to keep Rhys company. As they began, Gadriel sent his thoughts to the group, like the Elders had to communicate. Another Dragonkin perk, it seemed. "So, Myra, we're going to head in the direction of Canada, but once we reach North America, we're going to need you to lead us to your clan. We won't be able to find them since we do not have any kind of connection to them. Now that you've officially claimed them as your clan, you should be able to use your magic to guide us to them, similarly to how you found the Elder Dragons."

  "Okay," Myra thought back, focusing on projecting her thoughts as she would her voice.

  She was surprised when Afina squealed and looked back at her, excitement dancing in her clear blue eyes. "You did it! On your first try!"

  "Well done!" the group chorused happily. Myra's chest warmed at the praise. Maybe she would be able to handle being a Dragonkin just as easily as she'd handled her first transition.

  After a few hours, the light sparkling off the water began to give her a headache, and the salty smell stung her nose. We couldn't get there soon enough, she grumbled to herself. She felt surprisingly good still, though, despite it being halfway through the day. They were making good progress. Rhys still struggled a little to keep up with everyone, but the magic she slipped him in tiny spurts seemed to do the trick, and he was faring well, despite the high speed they were traveling at.

  By the time they neared the coast, they were all exhausted, but they were able to put up their invisibility without a problem. Myra held hands with Rhys again, helping him to vanish alongside them. They landed and hid their wings before returning to visibility. No one noticed them, which caused Myra to sag in relief. It was dark now, so it wasn't likely in the first place that anyone would notice them blip into existence, but she'd still worried about it regardless.

  "Alright, let's find a place to spend the night. Tomorrow we have more ground to cover," Gadriel instructed. When they found a suitable place, Myra fell asleep quickly, though she was still hyper-aware of Rhys at her back, his warmth seeming to radiate from his skin. She could tell when he fell asleep when she turned her attention to her ability to sense his emotions. It seemed the Dragonkin powers were a little like the powers she had gained from the pills the kidnapping clan had made for her. Not for the first time, she wondered how they made them. And once again, she reached the conclusion that she likely didn't want to know.

  She fell asleep thinking about her clan, and how well-equipped she was now to save them.

  *****

  The next day passed in a blur. Another lo
ng, hard day of flying and helping Rhys to keep up. The tug in her gut directed them to Wyoming, almost approaching Yellowstone. They landed after dark once again, crouching among the trees and watching the brightly-lit cabin before them. Myra pulled her sore wings in, nearly sighing from relief. And she thought the flight to Norway was strenuous. That had taken them just over four days; the return trip was done in two. "Alright, I'll go ahead with Serena and scout it out," Gadriel directed. "The rest of you, find a good place to spend the night. We'll attack tomorrow, after we're all rested." His eyes settled on Rhys for a moment before he turned away from the group, waving for Serena to join him.

  Myra and Rhys broke off from the rest of the group to hunt for good firewood for their dinner. Myra was glad they at least ate breakfast and dinner each day, or else her hollow stomach would be hurting far worse. Still, she could nearly taste the bounty of food that she'd be digging into once they got back home. Now that the end of their journey was so near, she couldn't help but notice the fear pounding in her chest. She'd been able to keep herself from dwelling on the fight brewing on the horizon, but now it was nearly upon her. Her only experience with fighting had been in her Dragonkin trials, but she had a feeling this clan of partial dragons were likely to be highly experienced in fighting.

  Gulping, she returned her focus to gathering sticks, but Rhys noticed the shift in her demeanor. "Hey," he murmured, drawing close to her. "It's going to be fine. This is a larger clan, sure, but with eight Dragonkin by our sides, they honestly don't stand a chance. We'll save them no problem."

  "Right," Myra sighed, stooping to scoop up another fallen stick and checking to make sure it was dry enough that it wouldn't send up much smoke. "I know that. I still can't help but be nervous, though. I've never been in any kind of a battle before... you know how I was before I transitioned. I was quiet and kept to myself. I don't think I've even had so much as an argument with anyone. Besides when I decided to leave the clan, I guess, but even that was pretty mild. You were all so kind and let me choose my own path- even if it was a stupid one," she chuckled, leading them back toward the group. "...What if they're still upset about me leaving? What if they don't want me back in the clan after what I did?"

  "Oh, come on, that won't happen," Rhys murmured comfortingly, walking up closer to her. Her skin warmed at his nearness. "They love you- you know that. Besides, I'm technically the leader of the clan, and believe me, I want you there," he continued, pressing a kiss to her lips.

  When he pulled away, she couldn't help but still frown. "But... I don't want to be there unless everyone wants me there."

  "They will, I promise," he assured her, his eyes sparkling as they reflected the night sky above. "They all missed you nearly as much as I did. We'll all take you back in a heartbeat. It was you we were waiting on," he teased, giving her a small bump with his shoulder as they arrived in the small clearing the group had found.

  She couldn't help but smile back at him at this. "Yeah, I was being pretty pig-headed about it," she admitted, chuckling.

  "You just know what you want," he quietly amended, regarding her with deep caring in his features. Myra blushed and glanced away.

  Gadriel and Serena returned then, and they informed the group of their discoveries over dinner. "Looks like there's about twenty of them," Gadriel explained through bites of hot soup they'd warmed up from cans. "They look pretty menacing, for transitioned mutts, but I'm confident we can take them. There are three points of entry. Rhys and Myra- you'll go in the door at the back after we draw them out the front, and find and free your clan. Serena, Afina, and Josh will be with me at the front door, and after we attack, the rest of you will go through the side door." Everyone agreed to their roles, and Myra couldn't help but sigh from the relief that washed over her from hearing the plan. She wouldn't have to fight anyone. She'd just need to sneak in with Rhys and set her friends free.

  Feeling much more confident about tomorrow's events, she fell asleep looking forward to finally realizing the end of their journey.

  Chapter Eight

  Myra's confidence from the night before dissipated with the morning dew as they made their preparations as the sun lightened the sky above them. What if someone got hurt? Dragonkin were powerful, but they weren't immune to attacks. And Rhys and the rest of their clan were especially prone to get hurt during this venture. She wasn't sure she'd be able to bear it if anyone died while they attempted to host a rescue.

  "There's nothing worrying will do about it," Rhys had gently reminded her, but her anxieties still haunted her. The only reason any of this happened in the first place was because of her. The clan who had attacked Rhys and the others had come because they'd needed her to find the Elders and present their demands. The Dragonkin were here because of her plea for help. If she had simply stayed with her clan, maybe all of this could have been avoided. No... Myra reasoned as she helped pack up camp. They still would have come and made their demands. I just would have had to go on this journey to find the Elders alone- Rhys would be their prisoner as well. ...Maybe if I'd just never transitioned in the first place, had chosen being a human over being a dragon, then none of this would have happened. After all, I'd have no dragon left in me to point me to the Elders, and they would have never had a reason to attack my clan.

  "Alright, everyone ready?" Gadriel asked, marching toward them wearing light, leathery armor. That's when Myra finally noticed that the rest of the Dragonkin wore similar armor sets.

  "Were we supposed to wear armor too?" Rhys asked, confusion and anxiety in his voice.

  "Oh, no," he smiled. "We'll be doing the fighting- you two will slip in and free your clan. You shouldn't meet any resistance. We'll make sure of that."

  Myra relaxed at the surety in his voice. Everything will be fine. The Dragonkin are the most powerful people like, ever. No one in either of my clans is going to get hurt today. "Then we're ready," she smiled, forcing herself to both feel and appear confident.

  He smiled back at her in return as the Dragonkin gather around them, already broken up into their assigned groups. "Alright, let's move out. Rhys and Myra, keep to the trees until after the battle starts. Once everyone has engaged us in combat, then you sneak in and find your clan."

  "Understood," they chimed in unison.

  "And don't worry, Myra," he added, setting a heavy hand on her shoulder. "Everyone will be fine. This isn't the first time we've done this," he winked.

  "R-right," she stammered, embarrassed that her anxieties were brought to light before the group. Though with their abilities to feel others' emotions at will, they likely already knew anyway.

  "Alright. Josh, Afina, Serena, with me. The rest of you, gather by the side door, rush in, and make sure we flush them all out before Myra and Rhys go in." Once everyone nodded their understanding, the groups ran along the ground toward their assigned targets, keeping low to the ground. Myra and Rhys copied their movements, but headed toward the opposite side of the house while the others headed straight toward the front and around the back to the right. The silence weighed heavily on Myra's heart until her pulse seemed to slow and quiet to keep from breaking it. Her breaths came slow and shallow as she crouched among the trees, waiting with anticipation for the battle to begin. Though it took only seconds for a shout to break the silence, to Myra, it seemed to stretch on for minutes, her blood rushing loudly in her ears as her legs stiffened beneath her.

  "We're under attack!" the unfamiliar voice cried, just as a pot-bellied man rushed to meet the Dragonkin waiting in front of the house, his black wings shooting out as he did so. As he met Gadriel in battle, his men rushed out behind him and quickly swarmed the four Dragonkin. Myra's heart leapt into her throat as she watched, hardly breathing, urging them to reappear from the swarm of bodies. Her pleas are answered as a cloud of gold rushed out from the center of the entangled bodies, throwing the partial dragons from the Dragonkin.

  Another wave appeared from the door as they ran from the Dragonkin who'd entered from anoth
er door. Many of the partial dragons and the Dragonkin then took to the air for their battle, stunning aerial acrobatics being performed. Myra wasn't sure, but she thought she saw members of both the Dragonkin and the enemy clan grow claws to swipe at each other. Before she could look closer, she heard a voice in her mind. "The house should be cleaned out. Go now."

  Glancing at Rhys, who nodded for her to lead, she ran toward the house, her heart crashing against her ribcage as she tried to listen over her terrified panting to hear if anyone noticed them. When only the sounds of battle reach her ears, she sighed in relief and slipped in through the door. Without speaking, she and Rhys split to search the level. When they found nothing but abandoned breakfast, they stumbled upon a door that looked to lead to a closet that, upon closer examination, led to a stairway that wound into the basement.

  Myra gulped before pushing herself to race down them. Time was of the essence. At any moment, one of the enemy dragons could slip away from the battle and return to the house. They didn't have time to get caught- let alone have to fight anyone.

  She nearly tripped down the carpeted, narrow stairs, but managed to get to the bottom without incident. Glancing around in the dark basement, she found a light switch and flipped it, but everything remained dark. Groaning, she peered around and quietly called out, "Cynthia? Bonnie? Tavin? Jasper?"

  "Myra! Oh my- it's Myra!" Cynthia sobbed, relief soaked into her words.

  "We're over here!" Tavin called desperately. Following the sound of their voices, she found them chained together and to the wall.

  As she reached for the chains, Jasper shook his head. "They're too strong. We already tried that." Smiling, Myra gave them a hard tug anyway. They ripped out of the wall without too much resistance.

  Bonnie stared at her with her big, brown eyes, startled. "Myra... how... you... what...?"

  "I'll explain later," Myra hurriedly assured them, breaking the chains holding them together. They fell to their feet, and they rubbed their freed wrists gratefully.