Page 1 of Dragon Awakened

Chapter

One

STORM

My brother Fury and I land on the roof of the mansion under cover of darkness. My dragon sloughs itself off in disgust, more than ready to let my human form take over.

Honestly, I can't blame it.

"Well, that was a shitshow," Fury growls, spitting over the side of the building.

I flick my gaze in his direction, trying to hide my surprise. For once, the two of us seem to be on the same page.

"From start to finish," I agree.

I scrub a hand over my face. All I want is to go downstairs and take a shower, eat the greasiest burger in the world, and sleep for about fifteen hours.

It was two days ago when we got the emergency call from our "allies". I shudder internally just thinking of them. The Shadow Dragons my father got us in bed with demanded every available dragon converge on the Fire King's castle. His operatives there had an enemy of the state within their grasp. It was so urgent, their sorceress created a portal to take me, Fury, and a dozen other Air Dragon soldiers straight from our home here in Wynrath Crest to the Crimson City.

It wasn't until I was about to step through that Fury told me who it was that we were hunting.

My stomach clenches, and hot pain lances through my chest.

I knew the Shadow King was intent on hunting Ember down. She had some magical artifact he needed.

But to see her pinned down by Shadow Dragons, surrounded on all sides... Carnage everywhere, dragons dripping acid from festering wounds... Talons snatching at her and shadow bolts hitting the earth from all sides...

She was too far away for me to do anything. I'd been sent there to capture her and lock her away in the Shadow King's dungeon, but one look at her, and regret nearly brought me to my knees.

Everything I ever felt about her came rushing back. I'd loved her--I'd been in love with her.

And when push had come to shove, I'd denied her. I'd lied and let her be sent away, and it was the worst mistake of my fucking life.

Just thinking about it, bile swamps the back of my throat.

I thought I was saving my sister. That I had a chance of saving my entire kingdom, but instead, I lost everything. My dad sold my sister and my kingdom both, and now I'm stuck here, doing the Shadow King's bidding.

Some days, I want to smash the entire thing to the ground.

For a brief second, hurtling through that portal, I imagined that maybe I could. The forces stacked against Ember were insurmountable, but she had allies. Two enormous dragons fighting at her side. I could have joined them. No one would have seen it coming.

I glance at Fury again. What would he have done? There's not much love lost between us, but I like to imagine he would have thought twice about murdering his own brother. Even a moment's hesitation on his part could have bought me the time I needed.

Only before I could act, this purple light burst from Ember's chest. It was blinding--beautiful. Just like her.

In the next second, her two dragon protectors morphed into men. One with olive skin and short, dark hair. The other pale with a fiery mane.

The sky itself seemed to open up.

And in a flash of brilliant light, both Ember and the two men were gone.

The entire scene erupted into chaos. No one knew where they had disappeared to--much less how they'd managed to pull it off. The smoke that poured out of the Shadow Dragons' ears was literal and metaphorical.

And me?

I just stood there, numbly staring at the place where she had been. Fury growled in outrage, and at his cue, I did a good job, pretending to be incensed. Determined.

Inside, all I could do was cheer her on.

---