by N. D. Jones
“Take care of them, Nut. Fighting is easy, living and building from the ashes of ruin is hard. Be well, my queen. And be safe. Tell my daughters I love the—”
Six dragons attacked Geb. Claws, tails, and fire sent him flying backward but not down and definitely not out of the battle. With an ear-piercing roar of rage, the two-headed earth dragon counterattacked. Fire, wings and scales collided in the morbid, dark sky, the dragon battle epic in its savagery and sacrilege.
Dragons weren’t created to fight each other or intended to use the goddesses’ magic for personal gain and short-sighted goals of power and privilege. Yet, anarchy reigned. Nut’s beloved Geb would fight the dragon traitors who wished to steal the scepters, rule the preternatural realm, and turn a blind eye while the Demon Kingdom invaded the human realm and feasted on the flesh of children.
With a heavy heart, Nut turned away from her heroic mate and to the dragons awaiting her directive. She would lead them to safety as Geb had ordered. He and his most trusted allies were fighting to give Nut time to get as many dragons as possible through the gateway and into the realm of humans.
With a low rumble, she called her daughters to her. On young, unsteady legs they came, and she used her tail to lift them onto her back. She took to the sky, leading a caravan of dragons away from the only home they’ve known and toward the Gateway of the Two Ladies.
Makara, mate to Asir, one of the border guards who’d aligned with the demon king, flew by her side. Her oldest hatchling, Osiris, trailed behind his rock dragon mother as best he could. Set, Makara’s youngest dragon, held on to his mother’s back, dark eyes wide and frightened.
Nut heard the demons before she saw them. Not only did demons have a taste for human children, but they were also known to eat the young of any species, including dragon hatchlings. The sound of bat wings chased the caravan as they sped through the sky and toward the gateway that would take them to the other side. A few more miles and they would reach their destination.
In no time, looming before them, there arose two columns of an archway with hieroglyphic writing decorating the divine structure. The demons were right behind them, three hundred or more, from the sound of their wings.
Nut couldn’t risk opening the gateway and having the hordes of demons follow them through.
“What are we going to do?” Makara asked. “The young ones are exhausted. If the demons catch up to us, they won’t have enough energy to fight or flee.”
Nut knew. She’d set a demanding pace from the Cave of Dep to the Gateway of the Two Ladies. Increasing her speed when the demons began their pursuit. During the race to safety, she’d lost no dragon. Mature dragons had to secure the hatchlings who’d started out flying under their own power and load them onto their backs. Makara had wasted no time coiling her strong, long tail around Osiris’s winded body and setting him behind his younger brother, who cowered between his mother’s rock indentations and wept like the terrified three-year-old he was.
Not questioning the ramifications of her plan, Nut called to the two border guards stationed at the gateway, both ice dragons. They responded with a quickness that gave Nut renewed hope.
“Yes, my queen.”
“An ice wall between them and us. Now.”
“Yes, my queen.”
“Will the ice stop them?” Makara watched the ice dragons fly past the group, her question likely shared by others.
“Not for long and not without my help. Do you have room for two more passengers?”
Before Makara could reply, Aset, a fifteen-year-old shadow dragon, young yet big for her age, answered. “I’ll take the princesses, my queen.”
Under different circumstances, Nut wouldn’t entertain the thought of having such a young and inexperienced dragon serve in the role of protector for her hatchlings. But these times demanded decisive action, earned trust, and unflinching faith.
Aset’s parents, members of Geb’s personal guard, were back there, fighting alongside their king for not only Nebty and the human realm, but for all preternaturals who would be threatened if the demons controlled their realm.
Nut turned her daughters over to Aset, who used her shadow magic to blend into the darkness. Even Nut could barely see the onyx dragon.
Unburdened, Nut turned to face the three demon hordes. The ice dragons, as white as freshly fallen snow, blew out torrents of white-and-blue liquid crystal that solidified when they hit the air. The wall began to form, long and high but not strong enough to keep the demons, with their sharp claws, razor wings and elongated fangs, from slicing through.
There simply wasn’t time for the two ice dragons to build an impenetrable barrier.
The first set of demons broke through, crashing into the weakest and lowest part of the wall.
“Strengthen the barricade but fly backward.”
The border guards did as commanded. Nut would not leave these dragons behind as they covered the caravan’s retreat. No more dragons would be sacrificed this day.
The sky dragon hovered in the air, her eyes cast upward and to the stars above. She called to them, sparkling lights of order to the demons’ chaos.
With a roared command, the stars above the demons lowered, and the sky below them rose. The heavenly bodies stretched and arched, resembling a dragon on its back clawed feet while extending the massive girth of its body over a copse of trees, with its clawed front feet on the other side.
“I hold your souls between my sky,” her voice boomed. “You will not see the light of another day.”
Sky and stars corralled the demons as the ice dragons not only built an ice wall but an ice fortress that encircled the demons.
The sky above the wall lifted, and the stars multiplied, creating a dome of cosmic energy.
“Go through the gateway,” she ordered the ice dragons.
Nut waited until the two dragons were safely through. She flew backward, her eyes on the prison and listening to the sound of demon claws scratching at the thick ice, followed by the thudding of rammed bodies against the prison.
When she reached the Gateway of the Two Ladies, a king cobra image of Wadjet on the right and Nekhbet, in vulture form, on the left of the arch, Nut took one last look at her beloved Nebty. For over a thousand years, dragons had served as the gatekeepers, determining the preternaturals who would be permitted to leave their realm and travel to the realm of humans.
The goddesses created dragons for this very purpose, placing the floating island nation of Nebty, the name ancient Egyptians gave to the twin deities, in front of the gateway. No preternatural could pass through without permission from the King and Queen of Nebty—Geb and Nut.
Now, with the harsh sound of battle and the scent of blood carried on the wind, Nut’s heart broke. Dragons were meant to protect the human realm at all costs. The Demon Kingdom could not be allowed to win, even if Geb and Nebty fell to King Sansabonsom.
Resolve had Nut flying through the gateway. Darkness and godly magic met her. From there, she could see both realms. The bright light of early morning in front of her and the dark clouds of midnight behind. The tunnel between the realms had many names, depending on the preternatural culture. Gargoyles called it Borlun, elves Gweyr, griffins Ghostcrest. For dragons, the tunnel was known as the Eye of Ra because it saw all.
Flying to the edge of the tunnel and cursing the traitorous dragons and opportunistic demons, Nut filled her belly with sky magic, breathed deep and brought it from her stomach, up her body and out her throat in a devastating rush of fire.
She scorched the Gateway of the Two Ladies and the Eye of Ra, refilling her lungs with fire and releasing it over and again until the gateway collapsed and the space between the realms disintegrated under the heat of her dragon fire.
Geb, forgive me.
THE STORY CONTINUES...
ABOUT N.D. JONES
N. D. Jones is a USA Today Bestselling author. She lives in Maryland with her husband and two children. A desire to see more novels with positive, sexy
, and three-dimensional African American characters as soul mates, friends, and lovers, inspired the author to take on the challenge of penning such romantic reads.
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OTHER BOOKS BY N.D.
Winged Warriors Novella Series (Angels and Demons)
Fire, Fury, Faith (Book 1)
Heat, Hunt, Hope (Book 2)
Death and Destiny Trilogy (Witches and Were-Cat Shifters)
Of Fear and Faith (Book 1)
Of Beasts and Bonds (Book 2)
Of Deception and Divinity (Book 3)
Forever Yours Series (Fantasy Romance)
Bound Souls (Book 1)
The Styles of Love Trilogy (Contemporary Romance)
The Perks of Higher Ed (Book 1)
The Wish of Xmas Present (Book 2)
The Gift of Second Chances (Book 3)
Dragon Shifter Romance (Standalone Novels)
Dragon Lore and Love: Isis and Osiris
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