Page 22 of My Dragon Lovers

I rolled my eyes. “You’re getting carried away Aidan. Do you really think they’d hurt themselves for this grand conspiracy? Besides, you’d think they would try asking Kyra first before they went to these lengths. Since she didn’t mention any of this to us, I don’t think they’re on some strange recruitment drive. We’re safe here, and we’re going to find out what happened,” I said. He breathed a little easier, but the tension didn’t leave him. I didn’t think he would feel better until the killer was caught.

It was a little while later when Kyra eventually returned to us. She seemed a little uneasy. Aidan took her hand and checked her over, making sure that she hadn’t been hurt. Again, I didn’t think we had anything to worry about on that front. They all seemed to be in hushed awe of her. There were whispers andmurmurs coming from all around us as she passed. It felt as though we were standing amongst royalty, and I suppose in a way we were to these people.

“Lacey doesn’t know who is responsible for this, but she told me where the other dragons were killed. Maybe there are clues near these sites. Maybe there was something they missed,” she rolled her shoulders and wore a hopeless look on her face. Clearly she didn’t think there was going to be anything of that nature there, but I wasn’t willing to give up before we had even started.

“If nothing else it might give us an idea of the pattern. Maybe we can try and narrow down a location where he might be lurking. Do you think it’s safe to go out there now?” I looked up at the horizon to see the first tendrils of dawn spreading across the world.

“I don’t see why not. All the locations she gave me are far away from the human world. The only one that was even close was Mom,” Kyra said.

We had always been warned against flying during the daytime, but we had disobeyed one order so what was one more? We didn’t want to waste a whole other day either. If there was any information waiting for us then we wanted to find it as soon as possible, because for all we knew Kyra’s life hung in the balance.

*

The first location we checked was a narrow, deep valley. The sunlight was blocked by the land, and it felt as though we were sinking into the night. It was cold, and we could just about make out the charred ground where fire had been blasted, as well as the blood that had seeped into the rocks. It was a sad moment to stand there, knowing that in this place a dragon had met their end. All their hopes and dreams had been taken awayin an instant by someone cruel, a thief who wanted to steal something more precious than money.

The second location was on top of a mountain. We saw a grisly sight of a spear-like rock that protruded from the ground. The dragon had been pierced upon it, its body driven down. The dragon had been taken away and burned, of course, but again the stain of blood was there, this reminder of what had happened. It was scarlet and bile rose in my throat. The thought that anyone could be capable of this violence was horrifying, and part of me hoped that we would never find who had done this, for I did not wish to look into their eyes.

The third location was on the edge of a cliff. A chunk had been taken out of the rocks where the dragons had fought, making it look as though a meteor had battered the world. Below us was a large lake. It was as still as glass, and looked like a mirror that reflected the sky. The air was clear, and there was barely a wisp of a cloud.

“This is hopeless,” Kyra said, sinking to the ground. Her legs dangled off the edge of the cliff.

“We can still find something. There has to be something here,” Aidan said, his voice filled with false hope.

Kyra sighed. Her head rested on her closed fist. She looked morose. “Just saying that isn’t going to make it so. This is the last place and we haven’t found anything yet. There wasn’t anything at home either. Whoever does this is prepared and careful. He doesn’t leave anything behind. I don’t think we’re going to find him unless he wants to be found. Maybe we should just head back and… I don’t know. Maybe the only thing we can do is explore every inch of the land to find where he’s hiding, or we’re just going to have to wait for him to strike again.”

“I refuse to believe that. I’m not going to give up so easily. There has to be some clue he’s left. He can’t just kill dragons andget away with it. Are we supposed to live our lives in fear? There has to be a reason he’s doing this. If we can figure out then-”

Aidan was cut off by a rumbling sound.

“What’s that?” Kyra asked gazing at the water. I turned and saw something ripple through the lake. A shadow formed and then… it was a dragon.

It burst out of the water and careened towards the rocks. It was feral and snarling, coated in anger. Its scales were dark and it hissed towards us. Aidan and I shifted immediately, but it was already heading towards the rocks. I roared at Kyra to get away, but her human legs couldn’t carry her quickly enough. If only she could have shifted into a dragon… I tried to fly towards her, but I knew I was going to be too late. The enemy dragon, the killer, slammed into the cliff and caused the rocks to tremble. They shattered apart. Kyra was running along them, until they weren’t there anymore. She disappeared into a cloud of dust and debris. It choked my throat and blinded me, but I had to try and get her. The last thing I had seen were her arms flailing around. I expected to see her spread her wings and fly, but it hadn’t happened yet. Maybe she had spent so long keeping her dragon locked inside that it wouldn’t come to her now, even when she needed it most.

Then I felt a wave of heat fly past me as the dragon burned the air with his breath. There was a roar of pain from Aidan as he was forced back, the vicious flames sizzling on his scales. I ignored the dragon, heading down to save Kyra before she crashed against the ground. I leapt off the cliff, but then I felt something lash around my neck. It was the dragon’s tail, dragging me back, choking the breath out of me. I struggled and writhed like some beast that was trying to free itself from a serpent. My wings flapped and my neck twisted, but the tail had such a hold on me that I felt entirely trapped. My eyes bulgedwith pain and torment, but it was clear there was no escape at all.

I feared for Kyra’s safety. I kept waiting for the moment when Aidan would charge past me and dive down into the abyss to save our mutual love, but it didn’t happen. Out of the corner of my eye, through the bluster and mess of debris, I could see his body, still and unstirring, the smoke continuing to rise from his flesh. The air was hot as I was pulled back, buffeted along the ground, the jagged, sharp thing feeling like knives peeling away my scales, seeking to get to the heart underneath. Darkness clawed at the edges of my eyes and I was fighting against it, fighting against all hope because I knew that if I succumbed then Kyra was gone. She was all I had left.

I had to hold on, just one moment more. I had to find the strength to fight against this brute. I had to…

It was no good. I was done. He left me twitching on the ground, a cloak draped over my eyes. I hadn’t been strong enough to save Kyra. What was the point of her having two lovers if we weren’t enough to protect her? This failure would haunt me for the rest of my life.

Chapter Seventeen

Kyra

It all happened so quickly. I saw the water ripple and thought that it must have been a gentle breeze caressing the surface, when suddenly the water broke and a vicious dragon appeared, flying straight towards us. There was barely any time to react. I pushed myself up and turned on my heels, sprinting away. Aidan and Brock shifted into their bestial forms and I… I couldn’t. It was as though I went to breathe but there wasn’t any air to suck in. I cursed myself for denying my true nature for so long, but I could not bring the dragon forth.

And then the killer hurtled into the cliff. The ground fell away underneath me and I could feel myself falling. I screamed as I plummeted down into this cloud of dust and stone, and it truly felt as though the world was going to swallow me up. I looked inside and searched for my dragon, but I had lost that instinct that came so naturally to others. I couldn’t unfurl my wings or catch the air currents. I had pushed my dragon so far away that it was gone when I needed it most, and so I was going to die as a human, my body breaking upon impact as it hit the ground.

At least I wouldn’t suffer, I thought, and I had faith in Aidan and Brock that they would avenge me. The torment of life would be over and I thought that I might actually feel relief, but instead I was even more anguished. It turned out that I quite liked living and I wasn’t ready to give it up just yet. I reached out with flailing, weak fingers to try and grab hold of anything that would save me.

I found nothing. The air rushed around me and I could sense that the ground was coming up fast. I closed my eyes,wishing that something could have been different, but not knowing what. I heard strangled sounds in the distance, and I hated knowing that I could do nothing to save my dragons. When it truly counted, I had failed them, but at least I would not have to put up with this shame for very long.

And then, from nowhere, a great hulking shape appeared and swam through the falling debris. I was caught on its back and for a moment the elation of triumph surged through me, sweet and lilting, before I saw the dark red scales that were like burnt copper, and would have seemed black in dim light. This wasn’t Aidan or Brock. It was the killer. And now he had me. I screamed as I beat his back with my fists, hoping in some way to damage him, even though my pitiful blows were likely no more than a tickle. He spun his body around like a rolling log, and once again I found myself falling. Was he going to toy with me like this, giving me the illusion that I was safe before condemning me to death again?

But then he snatched me up in a clawed hand. My body peeked out of his fingers, and if he squeezed he would have crushed me into a pulpy mess. We hurtled down and then we crashed through the water. I closed my eyes and felt a burning inside my lungs. I had managed to take something of a breath before we submerged, but I wasn’t sure how long I would be able to hold it. The water was cold and the world was dark. It might as well have been death itself. I struggled, but there was no use. His grip was strong, unbreakable. I could feel my strength slipping away. The water was everywhere, and when I thought of it filling my lungs I panicked. Bubbles flowed from my mouth and my eyes began to roll back in my head, and just as I felt the darkness encroaching on the corners of my eyes we broke free again. Air rushed into my lungs and I gulped it down, gorging myself on this intangible, sweet cocktail that carried us and gave us life. Water drenched me and dripped from my body, leaving my hairin lank, straight lines. I flopped on the hard surface, expecting to see the sky above me, but instead we were deep underground and the dragon prowled beside me, looking at me with its beady green eyes, its body lithe and sinuous, holding death in its midst.

“Please don’t hurt me,” I sputtered, the words punctuated with heavy breaths as I tried to seize onto life. There were damp shadows left behind me, a trail leading from the dark, lapping water to the wall against which I now pressed myself as I braced for an attack. I shuddered, both from fear and from the chill that seeped into my bones. The taste of salt lingered on my tongue, and my eyes stung from the water. The dragon shifted before my eyes, reducing himself to a man. He was older than me, about the same age as Aidan’s parents. I didn’t recognize him. I thought I might, that maybe he had come by the house once or twice, but his face was blank.

---