Stroke of Fire

by Kira Nyte

The brothers transformed first, and Briella’s jaw dropped. The transition was fluid and smooth and quick.

  And they were…huge!

  “Definitely mountains.”

  “What, sweetheart?” her mother asked.

  Briella shook her head. “Oh, just their, uh, size.”

  Thankfully those trees around the edge of the field were tall and thick. She wouldn’t be surprised if these guys brushed the tops with those spines along their backs, since neither had their heads lifted on their long necks.

  Taryn turned dragon next, and Syn last. Briella simply stared as the man who melted her from the marrow of her bones out to her skin disappeared within the majestic encasement of an equally breathtaking creature. All four dragons had similar coloring: deep burnished-red scales with blackened tips that gave them a singed appearance. Their crests differed slightly, the brothers’ possessing a shorter row of spines and smaller accents of black compared to Syn and Taryn’s, who appeared more matured, with ridges and longer strokes of black. And although the brothers were huge, Syn and Taryn had a few feet on them.

  Syn’s long neck and large head snaked around until Briella stared into a single fiery orb focused intently on her. “Come.”

  “Now I’m scared,” she half-joked. How on earth was she supposed to ride him? She’d need a very tall ladder to get on his back. Then there was the problem of those spines.

  Her father jogged out to the dragons, and the pile of leather-like ropes sitting in the middle of their quasi circle.

  “I’m not sure if I should be insulted or pleased,” he replied with a lightness that eased her a bit. “Giovani needs to place the harnesses on, so we’re not ready to leave yet, but I don’t want you to fear me as the dragon.”

  His constant consideration for her feelings stole more heartstrings than she possessed. His concern for her well-being was clear as crystal after the incident this afternoon.

  Straightening her shoulders and lifting her chin, she crossed the expanse of field to the dragon awaiting her, that glowing orb watching her with an intensity that resonated throughout every cell. The closer she came, the more she soaked in the beautiful details that created a creature as breathtaking as the man he came from.

  Syn lowered his head until his thick chin rested on the ground. She barely reached his lower eyelid, but got a front-seat look at a single white fang that rested over his lower jaw.

  “I hope you don’t plan on using that,” she said, running her fingers over the leathery lip above the fang. A sharp breath shot from Syn’s wide, round nostril. A thin curl of smoke surrounded her and she groaned. “Really?”

  “Not in this form. And yes. Really.”

  Briella leaned close to the smaller scales that lined his head and took a deep breath. Campfire. Wild and natural and so sensual. She wasn’t exactly sure what to expect, but Syn’s scent carried over to the dragon and it filled her with calm.

  His scales were hot, but not scalding, and incredibly smooth except for the natural ridges at the centers. She dragged her fingertips along his neck, her nails tapping each scale after she crested the one before it. They thickened, grew larger as she drew closer to his torso. Her eyes dropped to his massive feet and those wicked talons that were about half her size. Dark, shiny, and razor sharp.

  “Still scared?”

  “Nope. Glad to be on your good side.” She flashed him a smile, and caught her own reflection in his eye. She pointed to his back, far above her head. “And how do I get up there?”

  Syn stretched out one of his exceptional wings to reach the ground. She observed the structure of the wing, from the arm-like shape and the claw at the peak joint, to the leathery membrane and the venous pathways between each finger. The same burnished red as the rest of Syn, with ashen black along the arm.

  Her father joined them a few minutes later, one of the leather ropes slung over his shoulders. “I’ll fasten the harness and get you up on his back.” He splayed a hand over Syn’s cheek and sighed. “Like good old days, Syn.”

  Syn nudged her father’s hand in response. Briella was certain they shared their own telepathic conversation, words she wasn’t privy to. She stepped back and let her father work, impressed by the deft ease with which he applied the harness and tightened it around Syn’s body.

  He gave the double strap on Syn’s underbelly one last tug, nodded, and turned to Briella. “All right, Belle. Let’s get you up there.”

  Briella gauged the loops that followed one of the straps from the spiny back down. Her father brought her to the strap. Syn tilted his side closer to the ground, making it possible for her to reach the lowest loop.

  “I’ll let you go first. It’ll be easier for me to instruct you that way. The loops are to climb. Hands first, feet follow. Like you’re rock climbing.”

  Briella rolled out her shoulders, grabbed two loops, and hoisted herself up. She fit her feet into two lower loops and began her climb until she reached the row of spines along his back. A thin trickle of sweat beaded between her shoulder blades, causing her cuts to sting. As her father ascended at a far more fluid and faster pace, Briella took a few moments to try and decipher how the harness worked and came up lost.

  “Belle, securing yourself to Syn is quite simple, so don’t get intimidated by the straps. I’ve always used these two spines as my guide, since the top one is shorter and not as sharp as the rest.” Her father patted the swath of scales between the two spines the harness split over. A set of similar loops dangled from the top strap. Two additional straps connected the top to the bottom, and what looked like a belt gone bad stretched between those two straps. “Straddle his back, settling on this bottom spike until we get you belted in.”

  “This isn’t bothering you?” Briella asked Syn, kicking her leg between the two spikes and settling on her butt.

  “Not at all.”

  “Well, don’t brake too fast, unless you want to take out all my lady parts on this spike of yours.”

  A sharp snort and a sensation of disbelief through their telepathic link were his only response.

  Her father, on the other hand, quirked a brow in her direction.

  Briella waved a hand toward the spines. “I just told him to take it easy. I don’t want to get impaled.”

  “Uh-huh.” He chuckled and shook his head. “There are grips on either side of the top spike you’ll hold during your flight. Use the two loops closest to your feet as stirrups. I’ll strap the harness around your waist. A few things to remember. First, breathe. It might sound silly, but when he launches, it’ll be at bullet speed. Faster than a roller coaster. Your body can handle this, but you can’t forget to breathe. You’re connected with Syn. He’ll be able to tell if you’re in distress and talk you through it, but you must listen to him. Stay close to his body for warmth. The jackets will protect you a little, but it is his body heat that will give you the most protection. Your mother and I will commission a riding coat for you, now that you’ll be partaking in this more often, I presume.”

  “Let’s get through the first time and we’ll go from there.”

  “Belle, you’ll become addicted to riding the moment you’re in the air and realize how natural it is.” Her father’s smile lit up his face. He glanced over his shoulder, and Briella followed his gaze. Her mother sat atop Taryn like a woman born to ride a dragon. She waved to them, then resumed fiddling with Taryn’s harness. “Let’s get you belted in.”

  Briella watched her father closely, committing each step in securing the belt around her waist to memory. After a kiss to her cheek, he descended the same way they came up, leaving her to settle into a semi-comfortable position.

  “Giovani is headed to Emery. How are you settling in?”

  She slipped her hands into the grips on the top strap and held tight. “Why do I feel like I belong in a bondage movie?”

  Syn’s neck jerked his big head around until he stared at her with one eye. Curls of smoke escaped is nostrils. Briella lifted her chin, and her brows.
<
br />   “Don’t get too excited. Not my style.”

  “Sweet gods.” His mental voice rasped those two words. “I’ll never have you on my back with innocent thoughts again.”

  “I’m not innocent.”

  “You’re making that a very compelling point more and more each day.” Syn shifted on his feet, all four of them, and tested his wings with a half-folded flap. Taryn mimicked him. “Ready?”

  “What about my father?”

  “He’ll be ready once we’re off the ground. We can’t launch all at once. I’m taking lead, Taryn behind me, and Emery behind him. Gabe’s taking tail.”

  Briella tightened her grip when Syn moved again, lifting his head to the sky. He stretched his wings, the width almost reaching from one tree line to the other. He leaned back on his hind legs.

  “Briella, trust me. I’ll keep you safe.”

  “You’d better.”

  “I will. Hold on.”

  When her father told her Syn would launch into the air like a bullet, he hadn’t been joking. A slipstream of air poured over her with the weight of the earth, crushing against her shoulders. She tucked her head into her arm, recalling aerodynamics and remaining streamlined so air could pass over her. She silently concentrated on her handgrips and her feet in the stirrups, the belt around her waist keeping her from injuring more fragile body parts against the lower spine.

  She heard a rustle before the pressure of the air went from crushing to that of a steady gentle wind.

  When she opened her eyes, Syn’s wings were extended and they were flying parallel to the land below.

  “Wow.”

  Briella pushed herself up straight, slipping one hand from a grip to get a better view of the light-splattered nightscape far below. “Wow.”

  She sucked in a deep breath of cold, crisp air and smiled. The extreme altitude had no effect on her ability to breathe, and the icy temperature barely touched her, except for the wind in her face.

  Free. She felt free. Exhilarated. Untouchable.

  “Ahh, sweet. You’re a natural. Not an ounce of fear.”

  “This is probably one of the best experiences of my life.”

  “Little can compare to the thrill of flight.” Syn flapped his wings. “Are you holding on tight?”

  Briella fit her hand back in the grip. “Yep.”

  “Want a little more excitement?”

  “Sure. Excitement of the good kind is always welcome.”

  The blasted man chuckled in a knowing way.

  Briella gasped when he dove downward, but her surprise quickly melted into astonishment, then a new surge of adrenaline-fed excitement as he took her for a ride like no roller coaster could match. The weightlessness of her body as he spiraled downward. The tingling delight as he curved skyward. She may not be well versed in dragons and flight, but she surmised Syn’s skills were without fault.

  Her assumptions were put to the test when they picked up speed as they flew through the peaks and valleys of a mountain range. Taryn, Emery, and Gabriel kept pace a short distance behind them.

  “Relax, Briella. The Hollow is protected by a magical veil. Like a portal of sorts. There are two ways to break through to reach the land. One is by the use of magic. The other is speed.”

  “And you have no magic.”

  “Speed it is.” Syn flapped his wings, driving them forward faster and faster. Briella pressed her body flat against his back, her hands numb from holding the grips so tight. He banked to the left, left again, right, through narrow passages of stone that had Briella squeezing her eyes shut and praying they wouldn’t crash. “Almost there.”

  “Good, because this is a little too death-defying for me.”

  They had been flying for well over an hour, and the adrenaline was finally starting to wear off. Her ankles were tight, her legs sore, and the cuts on her arm and back throbbed. She took notice of a small spot of blood on the gauze and worried that during her thrilling flight, she might have pulled a stitch or two.

  When she looked up, she started to scream and swallowed a mouthful of wintry air instead. She had no time to react as Syn bulleted toward the mountainside.

  Through the mountainside.

  A strange electric tingle coasted down her body from her head to her toes with no regard to her clothing, encompassing her as thoroughly as the darkness. Goosebumps formed beneath her layers of clothing. The scent of damp dirt after a fresh rain filled her lungs.

  As fast as the sensations hit her, they were gone.

  And she found herself soaring with Syn above a dazzling land lit by an enormous silver moon.

  Syn’s wings shot out, slowing their speed to a calm cruise. Briella pushed upright, opting to hold the connecting straps between the top and bottom part of the harness instead of the handgrips, and drank in the surreal world below. Even beneath a cape of night, she could see the brilliant colors of flowers, the startling green of the grass laced with a silvery glow, the diamond-like glitter that swirled over bodies of water and added a new level of brilliance to the many waterfalls. Mountain peaks stretched into the sky, dozens of them, some capped with snow, some draped with moss, ivies, and numerous other kinds of plant life. The land rolled into deep valleys, and those valleys were untouched by human intervention. No streets. No smog. Nothing but pure nature at its finest.

  The hum of power was undeniable. It was like a gentle thrum that poured into her skin, soaked into her blood, and became a living entity within her body. The aches she suffered only a short time earlier began to subside, leaving her feeling remarkably rejuvenated.

  “Is this…?”

  “Welcome, sweet, to The Hollow.”

  A world that should not exist. A fairytale come to life.

  A sudden surge of emotion unfurled in her chest. She blamed the sting of her eyes on the wind hitting her face and the tightness of her jaw and throat on her laughter from earlier in their ride. Regardless, her imagination burst with renewed urgency.

  She regretted not packing a sketchpad and pencils, at the least.

  “I-I have no words.”

  “No words are needed. Your emotions are practically tangible. Wait until the sun rises and the world comes alive.” Syn banked right, dipping his wing and beginning a descent between two mountain ridges. The jagged gray rock melted into a soft-looking scape of greenery and lush tropical foliage where it met the upper levels of a valley. A few objects glowed silver, highlighted by the glorious moon. “You’ll see firsthand where your parents lived before the attack.”

  Syn glided in wide circles and controlled S patterns until he brought them to the ground. His landing was as smooth as his descent. She barely felt them connect.

  “Do you want Giovani to help you down?”

  Briella had already managed to tug off the belt around her waist. She swung her leg over his spine and started her climb from Syn’s back.

  “Beating him to it.”

  She jumped to the ground once she reached a safe distance, too anxious to take the time to fit her feet into the loops. She stretched out her back and shoulders, her arms, rolled her wrists, and turned to where the other three dragons had landed over a pasture of swaying knee-high grass. Lavender and yellow flowers dotted the grass throughout the field, and the scent that surrounded her was both subtle and sweet. The night was cool, not cold, and the air clean and crisp. Not even her home in the mountains of Upstate New York could compete with the air here. Each breath she took was like pulling weightless magic into her body.

  “If I could capture you in these moments, I would.”

  Briella spun around. Syn, the human man, straightened from whispering close to her ear, and smiled. The harness lay draped over his shoulder.

  Despite the cool breeze, her face warmed. “Why do I feel like I’m going to stay in this state of awe and shock for a while?” She spread her arms to encompass the world around her. “I could never do this place justice with words.”

  Syn tipped his chin. His chest puffed out as he
took a deep breath and a peculiar glow tinged his eyes. “It was never meant for words, precious.”

  He held her with those eyes, entranced, giving her freedom to forget her world and open herself to the possibilities far beyond. Possibilities and experiences. As she looked him over, so irresistible in his dark blue jeans, leather boots, and black button-down shirt rolled up to the elbows, she wondered how much of those possibilities and experiences would be with Syn.

  His gaze shifted over her head. Briella dipped her chin, willing the furious blush away.

  “So? What do you think?” A man asked her back. “Flying’s pretty awesome, right? Looked like you and Syn were having a blast.”

  Briella laughed and faced Taryn. Her parents were beside him, with the brothers behind them. Everyone looked pleasantly ruffled from the trip and an essence of post-thrill exhilaration hung in the air.

  “Awesome, and more,” she said.

  “Well, I think you’re a natural. Might even put your old man to shame.”

  “Hey, now,” her father protested with a quirked grin.

  Taryn rested a hand on Briella’s shoulder. “She had no prior experience before tonight and she only panicked once, when we broke through the veil. She gets more points.”

  “Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m starving,” Emery interrupted as he walked through their small crowd, rubbing his stomach. “Hey, Gio. Betchya can’t wait to see your old home.”

  Briella and Syn followed the group as they trekked down the slope of the hillside toward three cottages below. Her parents’ excitement about returning home flowed from their quickened paces and rapid chatter, but Briella couldn’t help stopping every few yards to smell the fragrant blooms. She examined a strange butterfly-like creature with luminescent green wings and glowing silver eyes as it swayed with the grass it clutched in tiny paws. Soft music from nocturnal animals filtered through the night in quiet tune.

  As they reached a dirt and pebble path that led to the nearest cottage, Briella leaned into Syn’s side and wrapped her arms around his waist. “Thank you for bringing me here.”

  Syn chuckled. “Thanks so soon and you haven’t seen a fraction of The Hollow.” His hand slid down her hair and curled around her shoulder. “You’re welcome, sweet.”