Dragon 2 Chapter 12 (Patreon)

Jadelyn spotted the troll at the same time, started to try to push around me. “Zach, watch out!”

Like hell I was going to get out of the way between her and a swamp troll. While it was still bubbling up to its full size, I moved, tackling it to the ground as more shouts started in the surrounding woods followed by gunfire.

Whatever was happening in the woods, the security team would handle it. I needed to focus on the troll. It was the immediate threat to Jadelyn.

I grabbed the swamp troll and got my feet under me, pushing him like a sled out and away from Jadelyn. No matter how well she could handle herself, a swamp troll liked to throw around its weight, and I needed to get it away from her.

Scarlett shouted something, and I didn’t need to be a genius to know to get off the troll. Gunfire sounded and blood splashed off the troll as its body twitched. “Zach, we’ll handle this.” The look of guilt on her face got to me. This was the second time today Jadelyn had been in trouble, and both times had involved me.

The swamp troll rolled to the side, the gunshot wounds already closing. It stood, wiping the drool from its face. But it didn't look at any of us; its focus was entirely on the hobo dinners.

Grabbing the closest one, I threw it to the swamp troll, hoping that would stall it.

Sure enough, the ugly brute swiped it off the ground and bit into the hobo dinner, foil and all.

Morgana had said not to feel the trolls, but at least it kept this one busy for a second while I figured out a plan.

Seeing the swamp troll distracted, I gave it a running leap, landing on its back and grabbing its head before twisting with all my strength. I snapped its neck, sending it to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.

But even as this swamp troll went down, more shouts and gunfire from the forest told me we had a bigger problem. “Scar, I can handle a single troll. Make sure your team is okay.”

She gave me a sharp nod before giving Jadelyn a look that I didn’t understand. “I’ll be back shortly.”

As soon as she left, Jadelyn clued me in. “She wants to make sure I’m okay, but she has a job to do.”

“Don’t worry. Not much is going to get past me.”

As if I was summoning bad luck, a troll climbed up over the ledge next to the campsite.

I caught him before he could pull himself all the way up, and my fist caught him in the jaw, snapping his head back and causing him to tumble back down.

Twigs cracked back the other way as several more swamp trolls came into the firelight.

“Zach. Let me help.” Before I could object to her getting involved and potentially getting hurt, Jadelyn sang a note and mist appeared around us. The moisture clung to her clothes, and scales started to dot her neck.

The beast rose up inside of me and I could feel it pushing for me to shift, to protect Jadelyn. But for now, I held the shift back, wanting to keep that as a last resort.

As I watched the approaching trolls, a glowing light sprang up behind them. It encompassed us and them in a large circle. I studied it, trying to figure it out.

“What is that?” I asked Jadelyn, but I had a sinking feeling I knew the answer.

“A barrier spell.” Jadelyn looked pissed.

“I’m guessing that it isn't from you or your people?”

Jadelyn squared her shoulders. “No. Looks like help isn’t coming anytime soon. Scar is going to be pissed.”

I looked at the barrier; the bright light of it blocked my view of the outside, and I knew it would block others from seeing in.

That meant that it was five swamp trolls versus Jade and I. And help was cut off. If I held back, one of us was going to get hurt, and I wasn’t going to let that happen.

I positioned myself between Jadelyn and the trolls, ignoring her protests. Part of me wanted to throw the food at them to see if that would solve the problem at hand. But I knew better. The number of trolls and the barrier spell? This was a setup.

Water arrows shot over my shoulder, taking chunks out of the troll in front as the other trolls screamed and charged.

I pushed my beast forward while trying to relax, practicing the technique to shift that Morgana and Scarlett had taught me. “Come on. Come on.” It was like a word at the tip of my tongue; it was just right fucking there but it wouldn’t come.

Growling, I took my anger out on the first troll to reach me.

He swung with a meaty fist that would have knocked my teeth out, but Morgana had me trained better than that. I caught his arm with both hands and leaned back, pulling him off balance before rolling all the way to my back and planting my feet on his chest to launch him over me and slam him onto his back.

But I knew that would only keep him busy for a second, and there were other trolls to deal with.

A second troll came at me, but out of the corner of my eye, I saw the other three charging Jadelyn. She was forming more water arrows, but it did about as much as a high caliber gun. It wasn’t enough to take out a troll.

It was like that moment was frozen in time. Seeing the three trolls moving towards her, I could already play out the battle in my head. If I did nothing, Jadelyn was about to die.

Everything slowed down, as if moving through molasses for a second, before everything started to shrink. I had to reach the troll about to get to Jadelyn. There was no other option.

My claws sank into the troll’s shoulder, and I slammed its head into the dirt like a child throwing a doll. Falling to all fours, I drove the troll into the ground and my jaws snapped forward, grabbing the next closest troll in my maw.

Blood squirted over my face as I bit down, then thrashed the troll until its arm came loose.

My attack had accomplished my top goal. None of the trolls were looking at Jadelyn. Satisfaction rolled through me before anger burned through at them, for even daring to try to attack my mate.

I pushed up from the ground and stood back on two legs, a large tail behind me helping counterbalance my massive body.

I was massive. Jadelyn came up to my hips, the trolls to my stomach. I’d taken on a hybrid form. My claws flexed and my tail swished behind me as I focused on my new appendages for the first time.

I was surprised that I was able to use them so well this first time in my full hybrid form. But the answer to how it was possible came as I focused inward. The beast rode shotgun in my mind, translating much of my thoughts into actions. The bundle of instincts was in full use, but that didn’t mean I had any loss of control.

Just… my intent translated differently. I could also feel my brain going a mile a minute, and strange urges kept popping up. If my body was two stories tall right now, how big was my brain? Were dragon brains anything like humans?

I shook my head. All the new sensory inputs and what felt like a supercomputer in my head were making me lose focus. It was time to deal with these trolls.

Gleefully growling, I bared my teeth and let loose a roar that shook the earth. It was playtime.

Snatching one of the trolls up by their feet, I remembered the first time one of the swamp trolls decided to use me as a wrecking ball. I smacked the troll on the ground, spinning around, using my tail to knock the others away from Jadelyn.

She was precious and weak compared to me. She needed protecting.

Feeling a hit, I looked down at a troll trying to beat me with its fists. It drew my focus back to the trolls.

The one in my hand was beaten and bruised, bones poking out of its arms in different directions. The scent of its blood tickled my nose.

Snack.

Before I even realized what I was doing, the beast translated my hunger into chomping down on the swamp troll and tearing it in half, tossing the torso up in the air before catching it and chewing the bones to dust. It slid down my throat, a satisfying mouthful in a way I hadn’t experienced before.

They were herby in a bad way, like hay that had been left out too long and started to stink.

The trolls ran. They finally seemed to register me as the predator I was. But something about them running triggered something in me. My instincts went wild, and I darted forward, catching one in my mouth and thrashing it until it tore in two. I moved methodically, grabbing and tearing apart the remaining trolls.

They were like microwave burritos, absolutely terrible, but at least satisfied the hunger. I scanned around, looking for any more threats, when my eyes settled on Jadelyn. My mate lay against a tree staring wide eyed at me.

Prowling back over, I loomed over her and huffed her scent. She smelled like lilies, layered with a bit of a salty brine smell. Lilies and ocean breeze. But what made me unhappy was the sour scent of fear wafting off of her.

My weak mate shouldn’t fear me. I growled.

“Zach?” Her voice shook.

Huffing, I blew her hair back as she continued to look at me wide eyed and the sour scent of fear lingered.

I tried to send mental notes to my beast that we need to be less scary. Leaning in, I nuzzled her, and she clung to my scaley snout. “Holy shit.” She stroked the side of my nose, and I gave her a warm rumble of contentment. “You’re a dragon, a gold dragon.”

I nodded and accidentally tossed her a few feet in the air, only for her to land and wince in pain. I surged up around her protectively, wanting to end the pain. There were still trolls in the woods, and we were surrounded by this barrier, but it wouldn’t last.

She was too weak; I needed to protect my small mate.

Something churned in me as I looked at the barrier. I felt trapped, claustrophobic.

“Zach.” Jadelyn applied pressure to turn me towards her. It wasn’t enough to actually move me, but it got my attention. “It’s okay. I’m okay, and we are safe, thanks to you.”

I huffed, pleased to find that the sour smell of her fear was fading.

She summoned a globe of water and splashed it against her face. She was beautiful; scales framed her face and her ears changed to fin-like structures that curved out of her blond hair. “See, I have scales too.” Her voice tickled my hind brain in a way that made me sigh.

Of course you do, you’re a siren, I thought to myself.

Then it hit me. She was trying to keep my attention, trying to calm me with her voice.

If my mate was trying to help me, then I should help her.

Opening my jaw, I hovered my teeth over her shoulder as I smelled her scent sour again.

But her expression became one of steely resolve. “I trust you.”

My teeth pierced her shoulder, and there was a flash of warm magic inside my mouth before I let up. I only took a few drops of blood, licking them up as I tasted my mate. But I marked her; she was mine. No one would hurt her now.

Jadelyn looked down at her shoulder and her ruined shirt. Her hand traced the shimmering design that was imprinted high on her right chest. “I love it. What is it?”

I huffed her again, her hair blowing back. Protection for weak mate.

“I love it. But Zach, can you shift back?”

Focusing, I knew that I’d managed to shift, but never had I talked with anyone about how to shift back. A part of me panicked, wondering if I was stuck.

My mind ran a mile, no twenty miles a minute, and I reared back. Looking around once again, the claustrophobic feeling began to intensify again. My body readied itself for a fight.

Jadelyn’s clear, crisp song wafted into my ears and calmed me, but I shook my head, torn between my instincts and my logic.

I didn’t need to be worried. No one was going to mess with a dragon. But my instincts were new and far more powerful than I’d expected. My dragon brain was dumping adrenaline, or some draconic equivalent, into my system in preparation for a fight.

Then suddenly the world went dark.

I realized that the darkness was a result of the barrier spell coming down. I instinctively picked up Jadelyn, spinning around as the gunfire started.

Curling in on Jadelyn, I protected my weak mate from the gunfire as it peppered me and bounded off my scales. It was like standing out in a hailstorm. It hurt, but did no lasting damage.

“Cease fire!” Scarlett was screaming at the same time as Jadelyn was shouting for everyone to stop.

The gunfire slowed, and I breathed a sigh of relief that I didn’t need to kill all of them.

Scarlett and the detail were well enough trained to stop when told. I leveled an intimidating glare at the mass of suited up security detail. All of them stood there frozen, their guns trained on me.

After I determined it was safe, I unfurled around Jadelyn, but my claws stayed on her and kept her close in case I needed to protect her again.

“What, you couldn’t recognize me, Scar?” I retorted, but it only came out in a guttural growl. Apparently, the beast didn’t do so well with speech.

The detail jumped in their own skin and flashlights focused on me as they all tensed.

Scarlett stepped between her men and me, turning to them and trying to keep her voice calm yet full of authority. “Do not. Under any circumstances. Shoot the fucking gold dragon. None of you will live if you piss it off. Am I clear?”

“Yes.” They said in unison, but they held onto their guns as if those tiny toys would offer any protection from me.

I laughed inside at the thought. I wasn’t going to lie; it was awesome to be a badass dragon.

“Are you okay, Jade? Come, let one of our guys check you out.” Scarlett called over.

“I’m fine, but I don’t think I’m going anywhere at the moment.”

Scarlett tilted her head in confusion, her little fox ears flopping in the way I found adorable. “Why?”

I growled at both of them, talking as if I wasn’t here.

Jadelyn laughed. “I don’t think Growly here is going to let me go. But Scar, everyone’s phones, tablets, anything need to go on lockdown. I want nobody able to communicate until we resolve this.”

Damn right. My little weakling mate wasn’t going anywhere until I knew it was safe. My back flexed with wings I didn’t have, but my instincts told me I should be able to fly. That only caused me confusion.

“Shit.” Scarlett spat before turning around and taking a bag off her back. “Everyone - phones, radios, even your damn smart watches. I want everything electronic in here, now. We are dark until we debrief.”

Jadelyn pulled my attention again with her hand on my chin, turning me to look at her again. “Well, this was a surprise.”

I tried to talk again, but all that came out were more growls. This was starting to get a little frustrating, along with my inability to shift back.

Scarlett pulled out her own phone, typing in a short message before shoving it in the bag as well. “Okay, Jade. My dad knows we went dark, and no one has a line outside. Now, what do we do about him?”

“You are in there, right, Zach?”

I snorted, blowing her ears back and got a whiff of her cloves and vanilla. My first mate. I nuzzled her into the ground as she clung to my snout.

“Okay big boy. I hear you.” She laughed as I gave her a happy rumble. “Can you talk?”

Lifting off of her, I shook my big head.

Jadelyn spoke around my arms. “Scar, we have a few things to talk about after this. A gold dragon?”

“I know.” Scarlett grinned so wide I thought her mouth might split. “What they say about a dragon’s sex drive isn’t the half of it. Welcome to the club.”

“Nothing about what he is leaks out.” Jadelyn looked up at me to reassure me. “If we have to kill the whole detail, we’ll do it to keep your secret.”

I growled and looked at the group of tasty treats.

“As a last resort.” Scarlett got in front of me. “Fuck, for your first shift, you are pretty high strung.”

Jadelyn jumped in my clutches. “This is his first shift? Shit, shit.” She focused on the security detail. “None of you even think about running. See this big guy? He’s running entirely on instincts right now. I saw him tear apart and eat five swamp trolls. Do. Not. Run.”

Damn right I ate five of them. The detail looked tasty too.

“Okay. We need to get him to shift back.” Jadelyn patted the side of my head. “As wonderful as it is to be wrapped up by him. I think we need to get out of here.”

Scarlett was still appraising me. “You know. I’m damn thankful that you didn’t shift into this during sex. Pancaked fox isn’t a good look on me.”

That’s what you are worried about? My throat rumbled.

“Of course, you would have crushed me.” Scarlett laughed.

I’d never do that. I grumbled.

“Not on purpose.” She retorted.

Jadelyn looked back and forth. “You can understand him?”

“Just the gist. He is my boyfriend. Even if he can’t speak, I understand him enough at this point to know what he’s trying to say.”

I nodded excitedly and pointed to Jadelyn. My instincts were driving me not to shift back until she was safe.

“Sorry, love. I have no context for what you just tried to communicate.”

An exasperated puff of flames came out of my mouth, and everyone jumped. Even Scarlett jumped back and put a hand on the weapon at her hip. It looked like they were all still on edge.

But I couldn’t blame them. I could only kill all of them and leave no evidence if I decided to throw a tantrum. There was extra weight to my actions, and I needed to be more careful.

Scarlett pulled a swatch of fabric off the ground, and I realized it was my pocket. She pulled my phone out of it. “Hold on. I’m calling Kelly.”

“Kelly knows?” Jadelyn’s surprise showed, and Scarlett blushed before turning to speak into the phone.

“Hey girl. I got a biiiig problem right now.”

“What’s wrong?” I could hear Kelly on the other side of the phone.

“I have a big, golden problem right now. I need help. Pronto.” Scarlett hissed.

Something thudded on the other side of the line, and Kelly’s voice became clearer. “Wait. Shit. He didn’t.”

“He did, and he isn’t changing back. We are in Blue Bell Park on trail three.”

“On my way.”

Scarlett hung up. “Okay. I guess we’ll wait. Not feeling like shifting back?”

No. I growled. My tiny mate wasn’t safe yet.