by S. E. Smith
“At least I can talk to you,” she whispered as she reached out to touch the new symbiots that had arrived. “I wonder what you are?”
She jerked when her hands suddenly sunk into both of the creatures. Fear rose inside her when she tried to pull back, but couldn’t. She opened her mouth to scream for her Gramps when warmth wound up through her arms. It was almost like they were trying to tell her something.
“I… I don’t understand,” she whispered in a trembling voice.
Images began to flicker through her mind. Melina tried to pull back again in terror, but the images suddenly stopped until one solid one formed. It stayed in her mind for several seconds before another one took its place.
“You… you are trying to talk to me,” she breathed as understanding began to dawn.
A gentle wave of warmth engulfed her. It was as if they were trying to let her know that they agreed with her. Melina bit her bottom lip and nodded before she bowed her head and closed her eyes so she could focus better on what they were trying to show her.
Her fingers curled inside the swirling gold bodies of the two symbiots as images began to play as if she were sitting in a movie theater. She shuddered, but refused to give in to her fear as sounds began to mix with the pictures. She didn’t try to understand how the creatures were able to do this. If she did, she might very well begin to scream.
*.*.*
Melina’s breath caught in a stuttering gasp as vivid images of two little boys formed in her mind. They were identical when she first looked at them so she thought she was seeing double. It took a while, but slowly little things they did, the way they moved, began to stand out for her making each boy different in his own unique way. Her lips curved as she saw them running and laughing together. They looked like they were maybe three or four years old.
Her mouth opened to cry out a warning when a huge topaz and black dragon swooped down behind them with its claws extended. The boys squealed as the claws wrapped around them. She snapped her mouth closed when she realized that they were laughing up at the creature instead of screaming in terror.
“Father, higher!” One of the boys yelled. “Go higher.”
“And faster,” the other laughed. “Go faster than a falling star.”
The dragon released a rumbling roar that sounded almost like laughter as it did as the boys instructed. Melina gasped in delight when a smaller, more delicate lavender dragon, suddenly appeared next to the large male. She knew instinctively that this must be the boys’ mother.
The scene changed and the boys were a little older. They looked like they were about seven or eight. They were walking along a wide path through a dark forest. A thick mist swirled around them as they walked. One of the boys was carrying a large stick in his hand and swatting at the ferns that hung down over the trail. They were talking so quietly that she couldn’t hear what they were saying.
Melina started to fall backwards when a green and white dragon, bigger than the one before, suddenly dropped down in front of them. The dragon shifted into a man as it stepped forward. She shook her head in confusion. The change had happened so fast that she thought the symbiots had changed images again on her, but something told her they hadn’t.
The male had several long scars running down one side of his face and neck. She was amazed that the boys didn’t run from him. She would have been terrified if something like that, dragon or man, had been standing in front of her.
“Twins,” the male growled.
“What do you want, Brogan?” Cree growled back, straightening up as tall as he could.
The male, Brogan, walked slowly around the two boys as another dragon silently landed a short distance away. This one didn’t shift. He just watched them with an intense stare.
“Your father should have killed you when you were born,” Brogan commented.
“Why?” Calo asked, unafraid of the large male circling them.
Brogan stared at the two boys for several seconds before he threw his head back and laughed. It wasn’t a nice sound. There was a hard edge to it that spoke of someone not quite right in the head. Melina had heard that same laugh from some of the prisoners, usually before they went crazy and the guards killed them.
“Because, you are destined to have a life of emptiness,” Brogan commented as he ran an assessing glare over them. “Pray you die in battle, boy. It is better than living a life being slowly eaten alive from the inside out.”
“Brogan!” Another male snarled in a low, dangerous tone. “Cree, Calo, return to your mother.”
“Yes, twins,” Brogan mocked. “Run to your mother while she can still recognize you.”
“Brogan,” the new male that looked very similar to the twin boys snapped. “Leave.”
“You can’t protect them forever, Creja,” Brogan said coldly. “You will watch them slowly dissolve into madness.”
“Is that what is happening to you?” Creja asked quietly. “I will give the order to terminate you, if that is what you wish.”
“Over my dead body,” a man growled out.
It took a moment for Melina to realize that this male looked like the other except there were no scars on his face. Two golden symbiots stood to the side, shivering and snarling at Creja. Melina thought for sure they were about to fight.
“I will not let Brogan endanger the lives of any of those under my protection,” Creja replied in a quiet, calm voice. “Barrack, your brother is losing control of his dragon.”
“I’ll show you loss of control,” Brogan snarled, shifting.
“Wait!” Melina hissed under her breath when the scene faded. “What happened?”
The scene blended, speeding through time like someone had hit the fast forward on a movie. It slowed again, this time there was a battle going on. Dozens of dragons were fighting the two green and white ones. She could hear the screams as women and children ran and men yelled as they worked with the dragons flying over the two.
The same topaz and black dragon from earlier appeared. He roared out and the other dragons worked on dividing the twin dragons that were fighting to get into one of the cottages. Soon, the cottage was in flames.
Creja attacked, shifting as he fell from the sky. A large sword was in his hands. As he fell onto the back of the green and white dragon trying to get into the cottage, he slid the blade across the dragon’s neck. At the same time, other men ran forward with long spears. The dragon roared in fury before it collapsed in the burning remains of the cottage. Dark, red blood stained the ground under him as he shuddered before going limp.
The second dragon howled in rage, attacking Creja who barely shifted in time. Their claws locked. The battle seemed to go on forever. Tears burned Melina’s eyes when she saw Creja save one of the men even as he took a brutal blow that she was sure would kill him.
“This is what you have to look forward to, Creja,” Barrack yelled as a brief moment of sanity broke through his grief and madness. “Your sons will end up like Brogan and I. Have mercy on them, kill them now. Kill Cree and Calo before their minds are eaten up with the pain, the anguish, the eternal darkness that sucks the life from their bodies,” the unscarred man said in a hoarse voice filled with anguish.
The scene shifted as the man continued to talk to the two young boys, now slightly older. She recognized them now. Pieces of the puzzle finally fell into place as she realized that it was the warrior that had been in here earlier. She was seeing bits and pieces of his life. He must have a twin brother. They were able to shift into dragons just like the warriors in the mine did when they tried to take her after she fought them.
Her eyelids fluttered as she saw their young faces change. At first, there had been worry as they watched their father, but it had soon changed to a pensive look. She hurt for them when she heard their whispered vow.
“We will die in battle, like warriors, before we let this happen to us. We will do the honorable thing before we hurt another,” the one she now recognized as the one Carmen called Cree said.
“We will die in battle. Or we will take each other’s life before we hurt another,” his twin agreed.
“Why?” She whispered, frowning as she tried to understand. “Why?”
“Mel,” Cal called gruffly. “She’s gone. You can come out now, child.”
Melina started as she opened her eyes. Blinking several times, she looked at the two gold creatures for a moment before she tried to remove her hands from where they were still inside them. She was surprised when this time, the creatures released her.
As she pulled her arms back out of the symbiots, long, thin threads of gold wound up her arms. She shivered as they ran under her shirt and along her skin. When she finally sat back, she had two thick bands of gold around her wrists. She lifted a hand to touch her throat when she felt more of it moving along the base of it. Her fingers ran along the thin golden rope and she discovered she had a long necklace hanging from around it. At the end of the chain were two dragons wrapped protectively around a smaller one in the middle.
“I…” She started to say when her Gramps called to her again. “Coming.”
Melina glanced back at the two symbiots as they watched her. She gave them both a crooked smile before focusing on what her grandfather was saying. She would try to understand what just happened later when she was alone.
*.*.*
Later that day, Melina hummed under her breath as she mopped the area around Hobbler. She liked that she was busy. It kept her mind off of what the two golden creatures had shown her earlier.
Glancing over to the side, she grinned as they watched her moving back and forth. A giggle escaped her when one of them sneezed and the other changed shape. Both of them had been glued to her side since they came in. She didn’t mind because it gave her someone else to talk to.
“So, you two belong to the two warriors, huh?” Melina asked casually. “They are so big, I wouldn’t think they would need any help fighting.”
Warmth and images surrounded her. The flickering image of two topaz and black dragons wearing golden armor briefly appeared in her mind. Melina was slowly figuring out how to communicate with them.
She turned, startled with the door suddenly opened. Thank goodness she still had her hat on from earlier. She knew that Zuk would be delivering more food for Hobbler anytime.
Gramps was in the bathroom at the moment, but that wouldn’t be a problem as Zuk usually just set the bucket of scraps right inside the door if he didn’t see her grandfather. Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw it was Calo. She didn’t know how she knew it, she just did.
He stood still, his eyes fastened on her. Melina slowly straightened, holding the mop tightly between her palms as she stared back at him. The mop was a homemade contraption that she had made out of a piece of pipe and her grandfather’s old shirt. There had been something comforting in cleaning the old fashion way. Now, the ‘mop’ was helping to hold her up as her legs grew shaky the longer he stared at her.
“I…” Calo cleared his throat before giving her a lopsided grin. “I’m Calo.”
His gruff voice washed over her even as his grin melted her heart. He looked like he was as nervous to be there as she was to see him. She backed up a step when he took a slight step forward. He immediately froze again.
“I won’t hurt you,” he said in a soft voice. “I just want to talk to you.”
Mel looked at him in uncertainty. Part of her wanted to shout out YES, PLEASE TALK ALL YOU WANT, while the rational part of her knew that it would be too dangerous. Knowing she didn’t have any other choice, she lowered her head and shook it.
“Please,” he pleaded. “I promise not to come closer… well, for now. Can you understand me?”
Melina peeked up at him again as he held his hand out. His face was tight with tension. The slight sound of desperation in his voice confused her. He sounded like he really wanted to talk with her.
The flash of another image in her mind made her start. The image of a topaz and black dragon snapping and straining made her dizzy for a moment. Raising a hand to her head, she closed her eyes and touched her temple.
“What is it? Are you ill?” Calo asked anxiously.
Melina’s eyes opened at the same time as her grandfather stepped out of the office area. She could tell her Gramps was shocked to see Calo standing there. He was probably even more stunned to see that she was as well.
“What the hell are you doing in here?” Cal demanded.
Melina turned and slipped between the crates, pressing her back against the cold metal as she listened to Calo try to explain that he just wanted to talk her. A silly smile crossed her lips when her Gramps cut him off and started giving him the riot act about coming in without warning.
Her fingers moved to the pendant around her neck as another image of the dragon, this time burying its head under its front claws, appeared. She bit her lip to keep from laughing out loud. Melina remembered her grandfather using that same tone of voice when he was lecturing Stuart after he caught Stuart kissing her. Calo was probably feeling about six inches high right now instead of six and half feet. Gramps had just that perfect touch at times.
Chapter 8
The next day, Calo was standing outside the doors to the repair bay with his hands held out as if he was gripping something in between them. He wished he was, namely the human boy’s neck on the other side of the door. If the kid came at him with a shovel one more time he was going to throttle the kid.
“What is wrong?” Ha’ven asked, raising his eyebrow at Calo. “You look like you are ready to kill someone.”
“I am,” Calo growled.
“Let me guess, the youngling?” Ha’ven said, folding his arms across his chest. “If it helps, I don’t think you are in much danger from him.”
Calo threw Ha’ven a heated glance. “I know that,” he snapped before he released a deep sigh.
Ha’ven stepped back as Calo’s symbiot walked between them followed by Cree’s. Each of them held different items in their mouths. He tilted his head to the side to see what Cree’s symbiot was holding as it walked by them and into the repair bay.
“What is that?” Ha’ven asked when he couldn’t figure out what it was before the doors closed behind it.
Calo sighed again. “It is called a Teddy Bear,” he replied. “Cree had one replicated after talking to Carmen. She said that younglings like them and that even many adults have them. It is to give comfort. Carmen said that many times they are given to those that have suffered a great trauma.”
“How can a piece of cloth cut into the shape of animal give comfort? It is not even alive,” Ha’ven asked with a frown.
“I don’t know,” Calo growl in a low voice. “Carmen understands humans. If she says it will help, then it is worth a try.”
“Why do you care if the boy has suffered great trauma? I wouldn’t waste my time with the boy. Creon mentioned returning the old man and his grandson back to their world. If I were you, I would let the old man deal with the youngling’s problems,” Ha’ven said with a shrug.
“When is he thinking of taking them back?” Calo asked through clenched teeth.
“After we find Vox, I think. We have to rescue the hairy fur ball before he has all the fun of kicking the Antrox’s asses,” Ha’ven grinned. “I can’t wait to rub this in his furry face.”
Calo groaned and ran his hands through his hair. He stepped forward and leaned his forehead against the cold, metal doors. He felt like banging his head. This gave him and Cree even less time than they thought.
“Why do you care what happens to the youngling?” Ha’ven asked, resting his hand on Calo’s shoulder. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
Calo turned his head. “The boy is our true mate,” he admitted in a quiet voice. “Without him… without him, Cree and I will not make it much longer. Our dragons… it is harder for Twin Dragons… our dragons feel everything twice. The feelings of desolation are magnified twice as much as a normal dragon would feel. Our dragons
are also naturally more aggressive, which is what makes us such great warriors in battle. Unfortunately, we need a balance, otherwise… otherwise we lose control of our dragons,” he finished in a low voice.
He didn’t know why he was telling Ha’ven this. The Curizan wasn’t a dragon shifter so he had no way of knowing what it felt like to have something inside you that was on the verge of being out of control. He couldn’t understand the darkness that threatened not only him, but everyone around him.
The only one who could truly understand was Cree. Now, if they did not somehow convince Mel to give them a chance, they were destined to die either by their own hand before that darkness escaped or by the hand of their father. It was a promise their father had given them should they return without a mate.
“I understand what you are going through,” Ha’ven said seriously. “If there is anything I can do to help you, ask. I will do whatever I can. I owe you that and more.”
Calo looked into the dark violet eyes staring seriously back at him. He knew that Ha’ven was thinking of him and Cree’s assistance when they rescued him from Hell. They asked nothing for rescuing the Curizan Prince. They did what was asked of them in a time of great deceit and turmoil. Still, there was something else in the glowing eyes that told him that perhaps the Curizan did understand what he was talking about.
“Cree and I will think of something,” Calo replied. “I do know that letting the youngling return to his world will not be an option.”
Ha’ven grinned. “If you need a warship, I’ll contact Bahadur to dispatch one,” he promised. “He loves to irritate Creon and his brothers every chance he gets. Last I heard, he was trying to sweet talk Mandra’s mate away from him.”
“Mandra will cut your Admiral into little pieces if you aren’t careful,” Calo chuckled. “Bahadur always did have a death wish. He was a hard bastard to out maneuver during the Great War.”
Ha’ven sobered as he thought of all the senseless lives that had been lost through the greed of a few. There were still those out there that needed to be brought to justice, including those that had kidnapped Vox and two of the Valdier Princes’ mates, Cara and Trisha.