Stones of Dracontias

by N. D. Jones

  Whether humans knew it or not, the Dracontias had divided up their lands into regions. The Aragonite Star Dragon assigned one or two dragons to each area. They cared for the humans with their healing magic when they could. They were neither beholden to the humans nor viewed their acts of kindness as a responsibility that dictated their lives.

  Kya’s second oldest sister, Jahzara, and her mate were the dragons assigned to North America. The large landmass had been their domain for over two centuries. With Jahzara’s first hatchling on the way and a thirteen-month gestation period, the mated pair chose to relinquish the territory.

  Now North America belonged to the Bloodstone Dragon. One dragon instead of two. Her father’s faith in her humbled as much as it overwhelmed. What if she failed? What if she, the smallest and youngest of the Dracontias, couldn’t live up to everyone’s expectations?

  The depressing thought had Kya changing direction and flying a path she knew all too well. Within minutes, the dragon hovered outside Armstrong’s bedroom window. She knew his daily routine as well as she did the scent of the human and his various emotions. That’s how, over a year ago, she’d managed to track him once entering the continental United States. His normal spice scent was mixed with fear and anger.

  The foul combination had the Bloodstone Dragon speeding through the sky. While much may have angered Armstrong, particularly injustice, little frightened the male. When she’d landed in front of the building where his scent was the strongest, she’d heard and saw enough to know the dangerous humans from the innocent ones.

  In hindsight, killing the three men may not have been strictly necessary. There were other options at her disposal. She hadn’t liked the callous way they’d threatened Armstrong’s life, even as he pleaded for the freedom of a child. Kya had never taken a life beyond that of sustenance. But this, the killing of humans, had nothing to do with sustenance or survival. As she watched Armstrong sleep, she understood it had been her own fear and anger that had prompted her to take the men’s lives. A human shouldn’t have such an effect on a Dracontias. Yet...

  “How long do you plan on watching me sleep?”

  “I did not wish to disturb your rest. I’m on my way home.”

  “Yet you’re outside my window.” Dark-brown eyes opened, and they stared through the open blinds and straight at Kya. “I felt you when you arrived. What’s the matter?”

  “I’m fine. I shouldn’t have come.”

  Despite her words and common sense, she didn’t fly away as she ought. Instead, she flew closer when Armstrong threw off his covers, got out of bed, and opened the window.

  “There’s my favorite dragon.”

  I’m the only dragon you know.

  “You’re still my favorite. Are you safe to touch?”

  I am.

  Kya stretched forward so he wouldn’t have to lean too far out the window. Her head was too big to fit through the opening and Armstrong’s arm too short to reach far. But they managed.

  She said nothing as he stroked her face and neither did Armstrong. Kya relished the feel of his hand too much to ruin the moment with words better left unsaid. One of these days they would have to take partners, he a human wife and Kya a dragon mate.

  Refusing to think of the future, Kya shifted as near to Armstrong as she could.

  “How long will you be in Buto?”

  I don’t know. Jahzara’s baby dragon has hatched.

  “You’re no longer the youngest dragon. Does that make you feel all grown up now, Auntie Kya?”

  At three in the morning, you’re not at all humorous.

  “Guarding the president and the White House is serious enough. When I’m with you, I can relax and be myself. You don’t care about trivialities, and you speak your mind, which is refreshing.” The hand on her nose moved to her sharp fangs. “We’re a strange pair.”

  We are indeed. Careful, diata, you don’t want to lose a finger. Those aren’t toys, and I cannot alter them the way I can my scales.

  “Will you let me fly with you tonight? Tomorrow’s my day off so I can stay up all night and be with you.”

  He’d asked her about flying together twice before. She’d scoffed at the suggestion the first time, thinking the request one of Armstrong’s many jokes. The second time he’d asked, he’d done so with such sincerity he’d left Kya speechless.

  Now, as his finger slid dangerously close to the tip of a fang, Kya questioned, once again, the power she allowed this human to have over her. His question, impolite and presumptuous, should’ve irritated her. No one rode atop a Dracontias, except a hatchling as young as Jahzara’s little one. Dragons did not have riders. They weren’t horses or camels. Her kind didn’t ferry humans about, a tether around their necks for the dragon rider to control their tamed beast.

  Armstrong’s question was an insult to the Bloodstone Dragon. Yet to Kya, the human’s friend, she saw the request for what it was, another way for them to connect and breakdown the barriers that separated the human Armstrong from the dragon Kya.

  You don’t know what you ask of me. Riding a dragon is simply not done.

  “I know.” Armstrong smartly removed his hand from her fang. “I just hoped that would be something we could share.” His shrug didn’t convince Kya of his nonchalance. “I trust you won’t let me fall.”

  I very well may permit you to fall to your death.

  “Is that a yes?”

  It’s a warning. You cannot live your life in both worlds. And neither can I.

  “What does that mean?”

  It means we have a friendship that shouldn’t exist between our species. It means our desires are unnatural. It also means when our friendship draws to its inevitable end, the pain and loss will be greater than either of us can now anticipate.

  “Well, aren’t you a ray of dragon sunshine. Based on that doom and gloom future, we should end things right now. Is that what you want? For us to no longer be friends?”

  You’re frustratingly dramatic, Armstrong. I’m here because that’s my choice.

  “And I want you here, which is my choice. One day at a time. Don’t ruin what we have today with negative possibilities of tomorrow.”

  Armstrong thought her young and naïve. Did he not see the same in himself?

  Dress warmly, diata, and meet me on the rooftop.

  Kya waited for Armstrong to close his window before she flew toward the building’s roof. Ten minutes later, the door to the roof banged open. On the other side was a grinning Armstrong dressed in boots, pants, coat, gloves, and hat.

  Winter was slowly giving way to spring. While DC nights were no longer frigid, the altitude Kya intended to fly was high enough to create a chill in a human.

  “Now what?” Armstrong jogged toward her. “How do we do this?”

  She crouched as low as possible. Begin at my tail. It’s the lowest point. Once on, climb until your chin is near the back of my head. Your arms are too short to wrap around my neck, and I refuse to use any sort of harness or tether.

  “I value my life too much to throw a rope around your neck. May I get on now?”

  You may. And do be careful where you place your feet, knees, and elbows.

  “Got you.”

  The man must’ve climbed trees as a child because the skill and speed at which he ascended her body was impressive.

  “I knew you’d grown since the first time we talked on this roof, but I didn’t realize how much.”

  I still have years before I’m at full physical maturity. I did have what you humans call a growth spurt. Are you comfortable back there?

  “I don’t know where to put my hands.”

  He squirmed. The weight of his body was negligible.

  Having second thoughts?

  “No. But I will admit the idea of riding you was less frightening in my head. Now that I’m up here, so high above everything, it’s thrilling and scary.”

  If you’re able to sit upright, I’ll use my magic to secure your legs and hands. As lon
g as you’re in contact with my scales and magic, you will maintain your seat.

  With a little more effort than had taken him to climb her, Armstrong was soon upright, his bottom on her neck and his palms on the top of her head.

  Kya pushed Bloodstone magic through her scales. It rose, slithering bands of red magic that coiled around wrists, hips, and thighs. The bands of magic, to Armstrong, would look like crimson vines growing from her body.

  This was as close as a human could get to a dragon and still live. He was, quite literally, bound to Kya. She felt that truth on a level deeper than the physical.

  Too tight?

  “No. I feel secure, but I can also move a bit.”

  Satisfied Armstrong was as safe as she could make him atop her, Kya took to the air. She heard his sharp intake of breath and then a ragged release.

  “This is the most exhilarating and idiotic thing I’ve ever done. And I love it. This is amazing.”

  Kya kept her pace leisurely and her height relatively low. Flying too high or fast could kill Armstrong.

  They flew over the Potomac River, Washington Channel, and the Tidal Basin. Kya flew as low as she dared, wanting Armstrong to experience the home of his birth from a different vantage point. Kya didn’t know the names of all the buildings, but she’d spent enough time flying over the city to know where large numbers of visitors congregated.

  The Lincoln Memorial. The National Mall. The Washington Monument.

  “DC is beautiful at night and up here.”

  Capitol Riverfront. Georgetown. Adams Morgan. Chinatown.

  Armstrong listed off the places he wanted to see from the sky. For hours, they flew, connected even when neither spoke.

  Shaw. Anacostia.

  By the time Kya returned to Armstrong’s rooftop, the human was asleep. She uncoiled her magic and he didn’t stir, not even when she called his name.

  Kya summoned her magic, a fog of Bloodstone power. In the center of the dense fog, Kya shifted into her human form. She held an exhausted Armstrong in her arms. Floating over the roof and down to Armstrong’s apartment window, Kya whispered a command and his window opened.

  With precision, she managed to get them both inside his bedroom. Dispersing her magic fog, Kya placed Armstrong on his bed and went about removing his outer garments.

  His sleeping face was peaceful and innocent. Sitting on the bed beside him, she gazed at him through the eyes of a human but with the heart and soul of a dragon. Kya yearned to touch Armstrong the way he touched her. The desire to do so was so strong Kya’s hand raised to his face.

  She stilled. What if he awoke? How would she explain? Worse, did she want Armstrong to awaken and see her in this human form? Naked and curious about his body and hers.

  Kya’s hand dropped to her lap. Coward. Her eyes fell closed, and she breathed him in, his natural spice scent and sweat from a long night of sightseeing.

  The bed shifted, and Kya’s eyes flew open. Armstrong Knight stared up at her, his eyes glassy from sleep.

  “Beautiful,” he whispered as if speaking to himself instead of Kya.

  She wondered whether he was awake but was too afraid to find out.

  Kya didn’t move.

  “So damn beautiful. I wish you were real. I wish you could be like this all the time. A human. Or me like you. A dragon.”

  Without thinking, Kya pressed the palm of her hand to the side of Armstrong’s cheek. Soft yet hard with a thin layer of whiskers.

  He turned toward her palm and kissed it.

  Kya had no words for how her body responded to that single action. The way her stomach clenched and heart raced. The way her body heated and ached.

  He kissed her palm again, giving it a soft bite before withdrawing and closing his eyes again, a smile on his contented face.

  Asleep.

  Kya rose, surprised her unsteady legs held her. This could not happen again. Armstrong could never know her secret. If he did, he would ask, in that deceptively benign way of his, for Kya to be the human female of his dreams. Dragons could turn into a human, which didn’t make them human. Magic, that’s all it was. But Armstrong wouldn’t understand. He’d view it as a rejection instead of the sacrifice it would be for Kya to make such a life-changing decision.

  She wouldn’t do it. Ever. Not even for the human she loved but shouldn’t.

  Calling her magic to her again, Kya refused to take a final look at Armstrong before she escaped through his window.

  CHAPTER SIX

  CAPTAIN RUDOLPH JUST had his ass handed to him by the Circle of Drayke. Did they think it was easy tracking a damn dragon? Did those pompous assholes think they could do a better job than Rudolph and his men? They could try to find another group of mercenaries who were willing to go up against magical monsters. They wouldn’t find any better, and they damn well knew it.

  He slammed down the phone receiver he still held in his hand. He’d taken the call in his study, away from his wife. He paid the bills. His wife didn’t need to know exactly how.

  They’d had him on speakerphone, which he hated. Real men did their business up close and personal, not behind faceless technology. That’s what separated men like Rudolph from men like the Circle of Drayke. Rudolph understood real power could never be stolen. It had to be earned through hard work, grit, and sacrifice.

  The Circle of Drayke wanted everything easy and fast, with no more effort on their part than writing a big fat check. Well, the real world didn’t work like that. Capturing a dragon wasn’t a simple task. It was damn near impossible.

  He sighed, leaned back in his desk chair, and lit a cigar. For the last four years, he and his men had chased their tails. The gold dragon hadn’t been as easy prey as he’d originally thought. After his men had almost captured the dragon, it had vanished. There’d been no sightings of the smallest dragon for months. In the days and weeks after the attack on the gold and green dragons, skies around the world had gone quiet with the absence of all dragons.

  For him, this confirmed what Rudolph had suspected about the beasts. The creatures were intelligent, strategic even. At the first sign of danger, they’d gone to ground. They may not have known who was after them and why, but the dragons had taken precautions. Slowly, they’d returned from their hiding hole and taken to the skies, once again healing and helping.

  The gold dragon, however, had taken much longer to return. When it did, to Rudolph’s surprise, the dragon, still small compared to the others, was solo. The Circle of Drayke thought it the perfect opportunity for a quick snatch and grab. He’d disagreed. They’d argued.

  He was overruled, and his men headed out. Mistake.

  Flicking ashes in the tray, Rudolph swallowed the anger the memory evoked.

  “All right, Turner, tell me what you see.”

  “The gold dragon is flying toward DC, Captain Rudolph. What’s your order?”

  “Is it alone?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Rudolph didn’t like this plan. It felt wrong. Even with the new and improved dragon net, this op had the hairs on his arms sticking up. What bothered him was the fact that no other dragon flew with it. The big green dragon had downed, with frightening ease, two armored helicopters when the smallest dragon was in danger. If nothing else, Rudolph would’ve thought that dragon would be glued to the smaller dragon’s side. Instead, the gold dragon flew the skies alone.

  He hadn’t survived this long without a backup plan. He may not have been up there with his men, but Rudolph was with them in spirit. From his basement, he had all the equipment he needed, care of the Circle of Drayke, to run a high-level secret operation. The US government didn’t officially support the op, but the Circle of Drayke lined the right pockets and filled the right political coffers. American military forces wouldn’t intervene, no matter how many bleeding-heart politicians sided with the so-called civil rights of dragons.

  They were monsters, for Christ’s sake, not people. They didn’t have any damn civil rights to protect.


  “Okay, listen up. I want that dragon reeled in tonight. We’ve been paid a lot of money, so let’s earn every penny of it. Turner, you still got eyes on goldie?”

  “Affirmative.”

  Captain Rudolph trusted every man under his command. They were military grade tough. But they were also flesh and blood and men with wives and children to get home to. He wouldn’t have another incident like he did a year ago, which was why he’d talked the big ten into hiring more mercs for this mission.

  “Smyth, Wilson, Hein converge on Turner’s location now. The Golden Fleece is ours, boys. Bring it down.”

  Rudolph listened, safe in his basement bunker, as his men went on the offensive. He smiled. This time tomorrow, he’d be a rich man. Not as wealthy as the Circle of Drayke, but few men were.

  Men yelled over the radio as they pursued their prey. From the sound of things, the Golden Fleece wouldn’t be taken easily. Rudolph expected as much, which was why he’d called in reinforcements. The dragon wouldn’t be able to outmaneuver four state-of-the-art ‘copters.

  “What did you say, Turner? You’re breaking up.” He sat up in his chair. Was that a roar he heard? “Turner, come in. Do you hear me?”

  Static crackled over the line but no Davis Turner.

  “Smyth, do you have eyes on Turner’s ‘copter?”

  “Shit. Where in the hell did that big fucker come from?”

  “Smyth, what’s going on? Somebody answer me.”

  On his feet, hand clutched around the radio, Rudolph could only listen and wait.

  “Not alone.”

  “Two of them.”

  “Oh, god. Where did the other three come from?”

  “Shoot ‘em. Keep shooting.”

  Screams. All Rudolph heard were screams and nonsensical rambling.

  “Wilson, Hein, come in. Tell me what’s going on. Turner. Smyth.”

  “Fire, fire.”

  “Bullets useless. Bouncin’ off. Damn, it’s coming right us. R-right at—”

  He’d once heard someone say hearing was worse than seeing because the mind’s ability to conjure images was worse than anything the eyes could ever see. As Rudolph stood in his basement, safe and miles away from the aerial battle, he had no problem believing hearing was far worse than seeing.