Page 51 of Wings of Frost and Fury
He rumbles anxiously a few times, then carefully picks me up in his front claws and drapes me on his nest. The strawlike grasses poke my skin, making it itch. I would rather die than lie here paralyzed for seven fucking hours.
“The nest is too rough,” Ashvelon mutters.
He moves away, but I can’t turn my head to see what he’s doing. After a while, he lifts me again and plops me on a different part of the nest, where he has covered the woven grasses with a few blankets. It’s actually quite soft and comfortable.
You precious beastie, I tell him in my mind.You’ve done so well. When I recover I’m going to fuck you until you can’t think straight.
The dragon settles his enormous body into the nest and curls himself partway around me.
“We should never have asked this of you,” he murmurs. “If the Bone-Builder saw fit to let our race end, we should have let it happen rather than sacrificingyouto our need. Forgive me. Please forgive me, andlive. That is my only wish.”
He nuzzles my face with his giant snout, flicking the tip of his tongue along my cheek.
“If you die, I will lay your bones on the meadows of Ouroskelle, with the bones of my kind,” he says solemnly. “It will be a great honor for you. No other human’s bones are allowed to remain on the soil of this island. But yours will grace the fields forever, and I will keep your skull here, in my cave. I will carve your name on it, and I…” His voice trails off, and a heartsick groan shakes his body. His head moves out of my line ofsight, but I can hear the sobs in his throat and see the heaving of his armored chest.
I’m crying, too, tears slipping from my half-closed eyes… but I want to laugh at the same time. There’s nothing quite so annoying as emotion that is locked inside and can’t be released.
You big, adorable, ridiculous dragon. You sweet, gigantic, beautiful monster. I love you.
I don’t know what it means yet, loving him. It’s fucking inconvenient, and I’ll be damned if I live in a cave the rest of my life. But that’s a problem for another day.
Like the others of his kind, Ashvelon will be a dragon until sunset, at which point every male on Ouroskelle will take human form. And then we’ll see if I did everythingright.
12
I don’t leave her side for hours. I keep my nose tucked against her body, inhaling the warm scent that lets me know she’s still alive, still breathing.
The afternoon light wanes, and the mountain across the gorge from mine throws shadows over the mouth of the cave. An odd buzzing sensation passes along my bones, working its way outward to my scales, my wings. A shudder quakes through me, and then I feel my form shift.
I half-expected it, and it has happened once before, so although the change is startling, it doesn’t terrify me. I can only imagine how the other dragons will react, though. I hope they listened to our warnings and remained on the ground. If any of them transform while flying too high, they will fall to their death.
My human limbs look the same as the first time. My golden hair brushes my shoulders, like before. I lean toward Thelise and kiss her cheek, then roll over and struggle out of the nest. Mylegs are easier to manage on the second try, though it still takes me a moment to stand up properly. Unsteadily, with one hand braced against the rock wall, I make my way to the cave mouth.
By the dying light of day, I can see the mountain slopes and part of the valley below. I hear a few distant yells, but they sound like shock and anger, not pain. There are no screams.
Thelise knows I love being able to fly. If she cares about me at all, she will have ensured that I still get to enjoy that pleasure. Which means this human form must be temporary.
She told Kyreagan, “By this time tomorrow, you and your human captives will have far more in common.” It seemed like an obvious statement to me, with all the knowledge I have of her and what her magic can do. But the Prince did not realize what she meant, and I didn’t enlighten him. He won’t be pleased with her actions. He may even try to kill her. I must be ready for that.
I check the bags Thelise brought and locate the same pair of pants and the blue vest she gave me before—the ones I never got to wear. Putting the clothes on is a struggle, but I manage it eventually and return to the nest. It seems unnecessarily huge and scratchy. I crawl over to Thelise and lie down beside her on the blankets. There’s not much else to do but wait and hope she recovers.
The thought crosses my mind that I’d like to play with my cock again, but I can’t summon any real desire. My concern for Thelise is too strong. Like a powerful tide, it swamps everything else, submerges all other emotions. I place my hand just above her breast to feel her breathing, and I watch the movement of her eyes. There’s a violent restlessness in the way they flicker, and it occurs to me how much she must hate being trapped like this, immobile for hours. She’s a vibrant soul. I’ve never met anyone more truly alive, and this state must be torture for her. Perhaps I should try to be amusing.
I clear my throat. “I’m not good at conversation. I don’t think most dragons are. Well, Hinarax, perhaps. He likes to talk.Never stops chattering, that one. Me, I run out of things to say. But I’ll try, because I think you hate being stuck like this. You were not made to be still and quiet. I love how loudly you live, the freedom in the way you move, the lightness of your laughter.”
Her eyes focus on me. She’s paying attention, so I keep talking.
“When I was very young, I used to have lessons about humans, taught by one of the Elders. We learned your history and culture. Generalities, mostly, not specifics. I picked up a few more details about humans during the Hunting Years, and more during these past several weeks of the war. None of that could have prepared me for you.”
An idea occurs to me, and I act on it immediately, sitting up and crossing my legs as I’ve seen her do. I draw her close, settling her head in the nest of my legs. Gently I work her hair out from beneath her head, draping it over my knee and thigh.
“Your hair is lovely,” I tell her. “I cannot find the words to express how it makes me feel. I must think of something else to tell you, something that might interest you. I could talk about the Hunting Years, when humans slaughtered my kind, but those years are painful to remember. As I told you, human hunters killed my mother. I came back with fresh prey only to find her lying dead on the shore, stripped of her hide, bleeding into the surf as the tide tugged her away. I will never forget the sight or the smell. The horror of it is carved onto my bones.”
I run my fingers through her hair, slowly, carefully.
“During my first mating season, I experienced such euphoria that it drove the horror from my mind. It was the first time I felt true relief from that torture. Afterward, as I told you, I began to pursue alethia. I wanted more of that relief, more oblivion from the pain of the past. I wanted to forget everything except pleasure, just for a little while.”
My hand sweeps over her brow, brushing her hair away from her face.
