Page 38

Damian

T he color of the sky above brought me to a standstill as I raced onto the roof. I could hear the guards muttering nervously about the unnatural golden-bronze hue where there should have been blue. Something was wrong. Very, very wrong.

Wings sprouted from my shoulders as I called for my dragon, willing its energy into my body, transforming me from human to lizard in the blink of an eye. Crouching low on all four legs, I leaped across the roof, picking up speed before launching myself into the air. I didn’t care that the little maneuver left giant marks on the stone. All that mattered now was speed.

Speed and stopping my brother and his employer before they brought ruin upon us all.

Anger banished the dull ache in my heart, but I knew it wouldn’t hold. It couldn’t. Right now, I was caught up in the mad race across the sky. When it was over, after it was all done, I would have to face the consequences of what was to come. Of what I would do when confronted by Evander. My brother was a criminal, but he was still blood.

Right now, you are the magistrate. You have no blood. Only the law and the requirement to do your duty.

Slipping into that persona allowed me to distance myself somewhat from the reality of what I would have to do. At least, it usually did. But the magistrate was no longer that cold, hard figure it had been. I’d thawed.

The air rushed over my snout as the muscles along my back flexed hard, pushing my wings down, propelling me forward at an ever-increasing speed. The land below hurtled past, the palace rapidly fading in the distance.

It and Aurora.

She was the one who’d thawed me out. Broken through the mask I’d allowed to drop over my entire personality even when I was off duty. I smiled a toothy dragon smile despite everything as I thought of her and the joy she brought to me.

We’ll talk when I’m back.

The grin faded. That was the last line I’d spoken to her. She’d wanted to say something, but I’d stopped her. Now, with time to let my mind wander as I arrowed in on Councilor Laurana’s estate, I recalled the look in Aurora’s eyes, the way they’d danced with fear, uncertainty, and the need to tell me something.

So much had been left unsaid. Too much, perhaps. I was taking a chance, striking out on my own to stop Laurana before it was too late. But there had been no time. Even now, I might be too late. The sky was turning from gold to full burnished brass. A surefire sign something was affecting the shield.

Fueled by fresh adrenaline and a need to stop the apocalypse, I found more speed somehow. Thoughts of Aurora faded though they never went away. They never would again, I suspected. She was a part of me, an integral part in a way that defied reason. Especially considering she was human. Every fiber of me wanted her around, from my human to my dragon. We longed for her presence.

We cared for her. We adored her. We lo—

I nearly plummeted from the sky as the shocking realization struck me, momentarily resetting the neurons in my brain. Regaining control after plunging over a thousand feet, I pushed myself harder to make up for the precious lost seconds. Time was running out.

I’m in love with Aurora.

The words filled my head at the same moment the councilor’s estate appeared over a rise in the distance. The air around it shimmered with heat.

Lunging forward, I strained against the laws of aerodynamics, trying to break them to increase speed even more. Time was nearly run out on my home, all because of one crazy dragon who thought it would somehow benefit us. She had to be stopped. Her and those who worked for her had to be nullified. Regardless of personal cost.

Diving from the sky, I hit the front door of the palatial estate house mid-change, using my wings to shield my body as the massive wooden barriers exploded under my impact. Wooden splinters flew everywhere, impaling an unarmored woman who’d been rushing to the door. Two men farther back took other, less lethal wounds from the storm of projectiles.

They must have seen me coming and been heading out to stop me.

I bounced off the floor, snapping my now-shrunken wings out wide and catching both of the wounded dragon-men by surprise. The whiplash impact smashed them into stone walls. One of them rebounded and flopped down still while the other slid slowly to the floor, leaving a thick red streak behind.

Stalking angrily through the foyer, I thrust both hands out wide. Flames burst from my palms, coating the walls and ceiling. Wooden interior timbers burst into flame, as did tapestries, furniture, and carpeting. I walked down a wide, twisting wooden staircase, flames engulfing each step as I went, my boots leaving behind brands as I incinerated everything in my path.

Another dragon hurtled up the stairs, only to be met by twin streams of flames to his unprotected face. He tried to scream, which resulted in him inhaling the fire. As he flung himself against the wall, scraping at his melting face to try to stop it, I plunged a clawed hand into his chest, killing him instantly.

Judge.

Jury.

Executioner.

The estate burned around me as I descended into its bowels, knowing full well that would be where the councilor and the scepters would be. The fire slowed because there were few wooden frames there. Everything was mostly carved directly from the bedrock.

“Evander!” I bellowed, the sound backed by the roar of flames from above and unbelievably loud as the rest of the house went up. “I know you’re here, brother . Show yourself!”

It had been years since I’d last spoken to my brother. Being associated with that type of person was not a good look for the magistrate. Although I held out hope for my nephew, Tobias, I knew Evander was long since lost.

Two figures, guarding a door, waited for me as I turned down another hallway. Baring my teeth, I started toward them.

“Stand down,” I said, casting the order. “Now. It’s over. You are under arrest. Your punishment will be suitable to the crimes you have committed. If you resis—”

“Oh, shut up already,” the figure on the left spat, hurling a fireball in my direction.

I recognized the voice easily, knowing who it was without needing the light of the spherical ball of flames rocketing toward my head to show me.

“Brother.” I paused to duck the attack but continued my advance. “Cease this insanity now. Bringing down the shield is suicide. You know this!”

“Don’t tell me what I know! You don’t speak to me. Not now, not after pretending for years I didn’t exist. You don’t get to do that!”

Evander launched himself at me. The other figure held back. Waiting.

I embraced the attack, jumping at Evander. The move caught him by surprise, bringing me into range before he was ready. The impact knocked the wind from us both, but I’d led with a shoulder that caught him in the jaw, snapping his head back. Teeth smashed together.

We hit the ground and rolled, throwing punches, elbows, knees, and anything we could. It was two kids fighting. Only this time, the loser faced death.

“Stand. Down,” I grunted, slamming my head back into him. The impact left me woozy for a moment, seeing stars.

That was when the other figure hit me in the midsection, taking me down again. I snarled, angry at the interruption, and clapped both palms over his ears. The figure screamed and rolled away, revealing himself.

It was Farhan, the only son of Councilor Laurana, and Evander’s only “friend,” though the term was used loosely. It was Farhan who’d brought Evander into Laurana’s circle.

“I don’t have time for this,” I snarled. “Your mother is trying to destroy our entire culture.”

“Your sovereign already did that!” Farhan shouted back. “We must purify our lands if we hope to ever regain our true selves. She’s poisoned us by bringing humans here, by sending us to them. Their taint spreads across the Isles already. But my mother has seen this, and she will save us!”

“By bathing us in nuclear fire courtesy of the humans?” I snorted.

“Those of us who’ve stayed true will survive,” Evander growled, the corridor filling with light as the fires above slowly but surely made their way down to us. “The rest will perish. Then we will rebuild.”

I rolled my eyes. There was no saving these idiots. Talking to them would be a waste of precious remaining oxygen. I’d tried. They’d pled guilty.

Now, they must face their punishment.

I called my dragon and its power once more, and flames filled my body. They surged from every pore, covering me in crimson scales that coiled the fire within each individual center. Wings sprouted from my back, and horns jutted from my head while my face elongated, though I didn’t fully shift.

Evander and Farhan backed away, trying to buy themselves time to reciprocate, but they were too slow.

I lunged at them. Fingers became claws that raked open Farhan from stomach to waist as he got too close. Stumbling away, he screamed in pain. The sound was barely audible over the flames.

“I’m sorry, brother,” I intoned, my voice deep and powerful as I hit Farhan with a kick, sending him down the hallway and through the door, bouncing across the stone floor into the middle of a large chamber.

I heard Laurana’s shriek. She must’ve seen her son’s body as it bled out on the floor.

Evander came at me, Farhan’s death having bought him time to half-shift as well. I blocked his attack, grabbing him and spinning before slamming him into the wall. Once. Twice. Three times. His eyes lost focus. Blood trickled down his temples.

But he wasn’t done. His fists shot out, both catching me square in the chest. Stone shattered as I hit the far wall hard. Evander came at me, following up with a punch to the gut before trying to rake his claws across my face. I yanked my head up and away at the last second. What would have been a blinding attack only ripped flesh and bounced off my jawbone. Painful but not debilitating.

Grabbing him in a bear hug, I jumped, crunching his head against the ceiling. He kicked out, blasting me away and through the shredded remains of the door.

Almost immediately, a tingle ran down my spine. There was an energy in this room, one I didn’t like.

My eyes caught sight of Laurana weaving flames around the three scepters, pouring more energy into the effort each second. The snakelike energy projection threaded back and forth, intersecting itself, looping up and down. At its heart, the scepters were in the shape of a triangle, their bases sunk into the stone, preventing them from moving.

“You can’t stop us,” Evander snarled as he burst through the door.

I rolled, his foot stomping down through the space I’d occupied only a second before. Stone shattered under the impact. I swept out with a wing, catching him off balance. He hit the ground, and we pushed away from one another before getting to our feet.

“Don’t make me do this,” I pleaded. “Please. You are still family. Surrender now. I will make sure you’re spared death. Brother, I beg—”

“You stopped being my brother years ago!” Evander shouted, attacking again.

We battled across the room, scales and blood torn from our bodies. He sought to kill me. I tried to stop him.

But it was a losing effort. I could only avoid hurting him for so long. Eventually, I’d make a mistake, and he would break through. Killing me. Dying wasn’t an option. I couldn’t. Not here. Not now.

Aurora is counting on me. I owe her a conversation.

Her likeness filled my mind, glowing golden against the darkness that had occupied the space previously. She banished the darkness, my darkness, providing me with a beacon to see, to stay strong.

“I am not going to enjoy this!” Evander snarled, beating down on my upraised arm with both hands, his fists giant hammers slamming into me.

The tiniest of sighs escaped me. “Me neither, brother. Forgive me.”

Then I exploded upward, surprising him. My claws tore scales from his chest, leaving massive furrows in their wake. Blood poured fresh. I breathed fire at him before he could fully recover, forcing him to duck away and bringing him in range of my knee, which connected solidly with his jaw.

He stumbled backward. His wings wrapped around him, forming a barrier that prevented me from getting in the finishing blow. Instead, I grabbed those wings and hauled back, pivoting as I did.

Evander was yanked up and over my shoulder as I whipped him around and down into the ground. His skull rebounded, and his wings went limp. I leaped on him, and in a second, it was over.

Pulling my claws from his throat, I stood, trying to fight off the waves of guilt and revulsion that instantly filled me. Evander was dead, but the councilor still lived. She was still trying to bring it all down.

I couldn’t let that happen. I eyed the size of the chamber and came to a decision in a quarter-second.

“You’re too late!” she cackled, the last of the energy leaving her hands. The scepters trembled. “I have succeeded. We will be free once more. Free and pure to—”

A giant dragon paw crushed her flat as I finished shifting.

Almost immediately, the firesnake engulfing the scepters dimmed. Reaching out with my claws, I dug lines in the stone floor, reaching down until the scepters fell over one by one, without me actually touching them. I wasn’t sure just what the councilor had done to them, and I didn’t want to find out.

As I finished, the unpleasant energy in the underground chamber disappeared.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

It was over. I was safe. My people were safe.

Aurora was safe.