Page 16 of My Dragon Lovers

My stomach churned with fear and I couldn’t seem to settle. “It was one of my people who did this to Mom. I’m not going to feel safe until we find out who it was,” I said through gritted teeth. Aidan came to stand beside me, showing solidarity with me. The others all glanced towards each other, looking uneasy. There was something else going on here, something they weren’t sharing with me.

“She’s right Mom, we need to figure out who did this so that we can protect each other. What if other dragons are in danger? What if this wasn’t just about Jade?” Aidan said.

Kadie looked at each of the men in turn, sharing a silent glance with them. I wondered if this way of communicating had always come naturally to them, or if it was something that haddeveloped over time. They all nodded and then Kadie tilted her head towards me.

“There is something that both of you should know. It’s something that we had hoped to keep quiet as we didn’t want to worry anyone, but now that things seem to be escalating… well… the fact is that there have been other… incidents,” she said, wincing as she spoke these words.

“What do you mean incidents?” Aidan asked, his words sharp.

Brett sighed and looked at me directly. “Your mother isn’t the only dragon who has been killed,” he said bluntly. It felt as though a bomb had just been dropped in our midst. Aidan and I stared at them.

“What do you mean Jade isn’t the only one?” Aidan asked.

Brett looked sour. “There have been a few others. It all happened in the wild. People have discovered bodies, but there hasn’t been any trace regarding who is responsible for this. We’ve been trying to track them, and we’ve been trying to make sure that nobody is ever left alone. But obviously we weren’t able to get a message to Jade,” he bowed his head, perhaps in guilt, perhaps in shame.

“So you knew something was happening and you didn’t think to warn us?” I asked, my voice rising to a squeal.

“You didn’t think to warn me either?” Aidan added his protests to my own.

“We didn’t want to worry you. We didn’t want to create a sense of paranoia. We thought we would be able to figure out who was responsible for these deaths before it escalated, but we were wrong,” Kadie said.

“Damn straight you were,” I muttered, shaking my head as I looked away.

“The only thing that the people have in common is that they were once part of Ilvar’s thunder,” Buck said.

“So the old conflict is rising again,” I cast an accusing glare at them all. It seemed obvious that the person to blame was nearby.

“We don’t believe the killer is from our thunder. We have all been glad to put that conflict behind us. There is no reason for anyone to begin it again. All we have wanted is to move on and put that terrible past behind us. We tried to protect people, but it seems as though we have failed. I’m sorry Kyra,” Kadie said. She seemed earnest, and I hated it. I had so much anger inside me that I just wanted to lash out at someone, but they were all being reasonable and trying to help.

“Sorry isn’t going to bring Mom back,” I said, and stormed off.

*

I stood in the shadows as the pyre was lit. The flames took hold of Mom’s shrouded body. For many years now she had been clothed in guilt, and I was just glad that if nothing else she was free of the anguish that had plagued her. Kadie had asked if I wanted to say anything, but I didn’t think it was my place.I wanted to mourn in private, as I did not want to display my feelings for these strangers. She still had some friends left, as Mason stood before the dragons and spoke about Mom.

“I’m not going to stand here and pretend that Jade was anything but a divisive figure. It would be a disservice to her to say that she was something she wasn’t, and I don’t think she would want that. I am sorry that it has been years since I last saw her. She lived here, grew up here, listened to the same stories as us and lived in the same tradition as us. But she couldn’t stay true to them as we have all done. I don’t think this was because she was a nasty person though. I don’t think it was because she had a black heart. She just wanted a better life for herself and for us. She didn’t like to hide. I remember how she always used to want to push the limits and fly as far as she could. Her ambitionand her adventurous spirit were two things that I will always admire about her.

I will also always regret the way she left. She left under a cloud of despair, believing that she could not be happy here. There are often times when I think about that day and I wonder if I could have said or done something differently to remind her that she had a home here. We were all reeling from Zeke’s death at the time. I suppose she thought that it was time for a new beginning. And Ilvar,” he sighed and all the weight of him seemed to slough away. I winced at the mention of my father, my skin prickling as I feared everyone’s attention would be on me.

“I can only imagine the lies he must have told her in order to twist her mind. I still don’t truly believe she wanted to hurt us. I think that she was just misguided, like so many of Ilvar’s thunder were. I think that he had a way of making people believe in him. After the battle I tracked her down. I offered her the chance to come home, just as we extended an invitation to Ilvar’s followers, but like them she declined. She said that she still wanted to begin a new life for herself elsewhere. I tried to persuade her, but Jade was always someone who possessed her own mind and she wasn’t about to let anyone tell her what she should do. I don’t know if it was the right decision or not, but it was her decision to make, and I think that was the only thing that was ever important to Jade. I do wish that she had been able to realize that she had a place here, that this was still her thunder. I think that we need to learn to forgive mistakes and to not hold onto the transgressions that are made against us. Jade was a difficult woman at times. She was tempestuous, angry, and sharp. But she was also proud of who she was. She was uncompromising in her vision for her future, and I know that she took care of her daughter, Kyra. I don’t know who or what killed her, but I can promise her now that we will find out whatever is going on, and we will punish them accordingly. I’mjust sad that she could not find it in her heart to return to this place before now, but I am glad that she gets to be laid to rest with her own people, as it should be.

Whatever your opinion of her, I hope that you can at least spare a thought for the fact that she is one of us. She may have made mistakes during her life, but which of us haven’t? She did not deserve to meet this fate. Goodbye Jade, and may the wings of destiny take you to the next world,” he said.

Throughout his speech he murmured and his voice hitched on emotion. I hadn’t realized that he had come to visit Mom after she left. I didn’t know that he had invited her to come back here. If she had accepted, my whole life might have been different. I would have known what it was to grow up among dragons. Was it wrong to be angry at Mom for not allowing me that opportunity? I guess it didn’t matter, she was dead anyway.

I was grateful to Mason for saying these nice things. It felt good to know that there was at least one person out there who felt some kind of affection for her. Growing up I had always been under the impression that people saw us as enemies because of what Mom had done and because of what I was, but in this moment I looked around and saw people solemnly bowing their heads, paying their respects to Mom. I thought to myself that it was a terrible shame she wasn’t there to witness this moment, to see that she was mourned and respected. She had always been afraid of being turned away, that they could never forgive her for what she did. It was awful that she would never learn otherwise.

I stood there and watched the flames lick her body for hours. Aidan and Brock stood beside me. The fire burned her, consumed her, and took her to the next world. I had no true idea if there was anything waiting for us beyond the veil of this life, but I liked to think that there was. I wanted the best for her, and I wanted her to know true happiness. She had been lost in a well of misery for practically all the time I had known her, and it wasonly now that she had found a way to escape. I wondered if the person who killed her thought he was doing her a favor, freeing her from the shackles that held her heart in its grip.

If that was the case then their mind was truly twisted. But I didn’t want to pay any attention to the killer. I only wanted to think of Mom.

The fires began to die down and people drifted away. Mason was still there though. I found Aidan’s parents intimidating. I knew they didn’t approve of our relationship, but he was the one person who seemed almost as upset as I was. I approached him slowly. He offered a small smile.

“Thank you for saying what you did. They were lovely words. I’m sure Mom would have appreciated them,” I said.

His smiled widened and he shook his head. “No, she would have said they were sentimental crap and she would have rolled her eyes.”

I laughed, for what he said was true. It felt good to laugh. I had almost feared that I would forget how. “Yeah, that’s probably true. But thanks all the same, it was nice to hear someone talk about her like that. She never did think she would be accepted again. I didn’t know that you came to her after the battle.”

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