Dragon 3 Chapter 20 (Patreon)

I’d seen Kelly’s wolf at the hangar before she was alpha, but this was different. Seeing her draw on her pack and transform was something magical to watch with my dragon eyes.

Kelly swelled from a cute, petite cheerleader into a ten foot tall werewolf. I ignored the oncoming cherubs and angels, just amazed at how gorgeous and ferocious she was.

And her eyes had a soft orange glow as she drew on the web of power of her pack, which magically connected her all the way back to Philly.

Orange mana from her pack flooded her body, and she became a powerhouse to rival any alpha wolf.

She wasn’t as big as Chad or her father had been, but she was still larger than the other male wolves I’d seen in the past.

A lupine grin spread across her muzzle as she realized I was watching her. “Alpha, join me.”

I wanted to join her, but despite being in a paranormal city, I wasn’t quite ready to let my dragon out so publicly. We were already attracting a lot of attention.

People were getting out of their cars and holding up cell phones to video whatever was going to occur.

So instead, I drew the silver sword from my spatial artifact and turned toward the oncoming group.

I also packed on mass as the seams on my shoulders split open.

The added muscle would do little to change my strength, but fighting with extra mass would give me a vital weight advantage. The damage a three hundred pound man and a one-fifty pound man could do in a tackle was different.

Kelly gave our opponents her attention again as they moved forward in a line, guns raised.

As soon as they started firing, Kelly was in front of me, her arms spread to block.

It was a strange sort of horror to watch them fill Kelly with lead, even though I knew those low caliber bullets wouldn’t slow her.

As blood trickled from her wounds, the beast in me rose, ready to tear them apart. And this time, we were on the same page.

The moment the guns clicked empty, I was running around Kelly, sword swinging for the first cherub.

I caught him completely flat-footed. He’d been focused on Kelly, and I was ready to show him that I was his real problem.

Although, it didn’t go quite as planned. Even with my strength, the sword didn’t slice through him like butter. The movies lied. Hitting the cherub with my silver sword was more like hitting him with a baseball bat. Cherubs were durable, and I was still learning my sword skills.

The blade barely tore into him, but I could bash his side. With my sheer strength, eventually my sword tore through him more than sliced, spraying blood and viscera out on the other side.

I was already spinning the sword around for an overhead chop on the next cherub as Kelly barreled through the group.

And it was hard not to marvel. She was a tank.

Kelly dipped her shoulder and plowed through the cherubs, slashing claws and even taking one by surprise. She latched her jaw around his crown, bringing her hands down onto his shoulders and liberating his head from his body.

Seeing what she could do, the angels’ wings flared. They shot into the air, well clear of Kelly’s reach.

My alpha wolf had single-handedly sent the contingent of cherubs into chaos.

And I was right on her heels, my sword cleaving through its third cherub and ensuring that I would never be able to wear these jeans again as I soaked them in blood.

“Blessings of arms.” One angel shouted, and glowing white weapons appeared in the hands of each cherub.

I grumbled, staring at the white weapons with skepticism. They were going to be a problem.

Kelly must have realized it, too. She tossed one last cherub into the mass and sprang back twenty feet, sliding to all fours before they could cut her.

My exit wasn’t quite as dramatic, but equally effective.

“Not good.” Kelly said, staring at the glowing blades in their hands.

“Any idea how long they can keep powering those weapons?” I asked, looking at the angel. From what I could see with my dragon eye, the angel was actively holding the spell to equip the cherubs.

Kelly’s lupine face had a droll expression. “Why yes, I have extensive experience in angel fighting, after all.” Her voice was dripping with sarcasm.

I rolled my eyes, taking the point. It wasn’t like there had been much fighting between the church and the paranormal in our lifetime.

But the cherubs were coming at us, and they outnumbered us. We had to do something.

I decided to buy some time.

Taking a deep breath, I let loose a jet of dragon fire that cooked the air and melted the concrete before me.

Fire roared in the space between us and the celestials, at least buying me a few seconds.

Think Zach, think.

Then, like a light bulb popping up over my head, I remembered I had magic.

“Evokus.” I yelled, shifting my throat and slamming a hand forward.

Following the wave of fire that had been my breath, a fireball shot into the cherubs. It hit their group center mass and exploded, launching a handful of them up and away from the fight.

That had been immensely satisfying. Almost like bowling, only with explosions and asshole celestials.

My move had done its job and given us a small reprieve. They had paused, clearly waiting to see if I would throw another fireball.

Now that they expected it, I changed it up.

Thinking chilly thoughts, I tried to summon up my silver dragon rather than my gold. A faint ripple went through my throat, but it was so slight, I wasn’t sure if it was real or not.

But there was one way to find out.

I took a deep breath and let my breath rip.

A freezing fog spewed out much farther than my fire, coating the front cherubs and flowing out to the side in a dense white mist.

“So cool.” Kelly whispered beside me.

My mouth was a little busy at the moment, but the edges of my lips curled up. I had to admit that it was pretty cool to switch the elements. I really needed to test the limits of it soon.

I let up on my frost breath and stepped back, pulling Kelly with me. “Let them come to us.” I said, continuing to walk backwards with her out of the fog.

It was slowly settling and spilling further out away from us. Inside the fog, there were shouts and screams.

The two angels were staring down at me from above the fog, slight frowns on their faces.

After a few more moments, cherubs came rushing out of the fog. Ice hung from their faces and more than a few of them were looking a little blue lipped.

Kelly moved forward, socking the first cherub to come out of the fog in the face. The poor guy didn’t even get his arms up to defend himself as her big, meaty werewolf fist crumpled his face and sent him flying back into the fog.

The others raised their glowing weapons, but their reaction times had severely slowed.

The cherubs shivered as they tried to ready themselves for a fight. I almost felt bad for them; they looked pretty pathetic.

The second angel raised his arms, and bright white light washed down on the cherubs.

As soon as it disappeared, the cherubs were standing up a little straighter and the ice on them was falling off in clumps. Whatever the angel had done was counteracting the cold.

“Envokus.” I said once more. Ready to keep at it.

A blue ball shot into the cherubs, exploding and spraying razor sharp ice shards over the cherubs.

Kelly was there in the moment’s distraction, lifting the nearest cherub and crushing him to the pavement.

Sirens blared somewhere close by, and cars flashing the green and gold colors of the Highaen family were roaring into the parking lot.

A large magical net came to life overhead as more trucks rolled in. And the next set of cars each had two or three elves riding in the back with glowing hands outstretched.

“Halt. Any further action will result in the use of force to apprehend you.” An elf with a megaphone announced to the rest of us.

In the short time of this fight, it would seem the Highaen family had come and in force. There had to be at least fifty elven mages present.

I appreciated their support, but I wasn’t about to drop my guard. These cherubs would gut me in an instant for the good of the celestial plane.

Devin flew over the building and hovered for a moment over the rest of her people, taking in the scene. It wasn’t long before she decided to fight another day. “We’re leaving.”

The nephilim wasn’t looking too bad. Her blouse was torn and her skirn was ripped up to her hips, but otherwise, she had fared well against Morgana. She wasn’t even bleeding.

“Land and put down your weapons.” The megaphoned elf yelled at Devin.

But she ignored him.

She thrust her spear upwards, and the spear glowed so brightly that I had to look away.

Following her movement, a pulse of light shot up and shattered the glowing dome above us, holding us in.

Magic spells shot into the air from dozens of Highaen elves in response to her move, but Devin rocketed to the ground, slamming the spear against the concrete.

The entire group of celestials became wrapped in bright white light before they shot off into the distance at an incredible speed that none of us could match.

Morgana flipped over the building. I quickly scanned her for injuries.

Her corset was torn, and one of her breasts was on display. Additional cuts in her pants told me she may have even been on the losing end of the fight.

“Bitch. Can’t believe she ran.” Morgana spat.

“You… uh… are showing.” I gestured to my own chest.

Morgana looked down and, after a sigh, pulled out a shirt from her bra and threw it over her corset.

It was odd seeing her in something other than leather, but she was still hot.

“Got another change of clothes?” Kelly’s big lupine head hovered several feet over my shoulder.

“I got you.” Morgana pulled out another set and handed it to Kelly as she shifted back.

Doing my best to block Kelly from view, I let her have some sort of privacy.

The Highaen family could see the deescalation and closed ranks, moving towards us.

“Think we are in trouble?” I joked.

Neither of the girls thought it was funny. “Yes. Fighting like that in the open will have consequences.” Morgana eyed the freezing fog, which was slowly dissipating, leaving a few well chilled corpses behind. “And we have bodies. Shit.”

“Put your hands up and do not resist.” The Highaen authorities announced.

I realized more than a few of them still had glowing hands, spells at the ready if we did anything stupid.

I put my hands on top of my head and crouched down, putting both knees on the ground. “We won’t resist. But I ask that you notify Tyrande and Yev. We were here in defense of their safety.”

Megaphone let out a laugh, and I realized I’d asked him to go to one of their highest ranking members. There was no way he was going to pass on the message. He might not even have a way to get them the message.

“I’m Morgana Silverwing.” Morgana stated simply. “Please be advised, in case you need to take extra precautions.”

Megaphone’s face fell, and his mouth soured like he’d just eaten a toad. “Everyone, please monitor the suspects.” He stepped back and pulled out a phone to have a conversation that I couldn’t hear.

But the smug smile on Morgana’s face as her pointy ears twitched told me it had worked as expected.

“They have special rules should someone of my caliber be involved, involving escalation to higher ups.” She said by way of explanation. “That also means someone knowing the full situation is more likely to hear this.”

“Smart. Glad I have such a scary mate.” I said, giving her a wink. “So, how was Devin Nashner?”

“Strong. Rumor is she’s the daughter of Jared’s father and the archangel of love. That spear is no ordinary weapon.” Morgana’s gaze shifted off in the direction the celestials had fled. “She’s powerful. My swords didn’t scratch her.”

“Archangel of love? He must have been a lucky dude for at least one night.” Kelly paused as we both turned to her. “What? She’s gotta be amazing in bed with a title like that.”

I shrugged, not concerned with how great sex with the archangel of love would be. I was more concerned with our current situation and the two strong opponents that had just appeared before us.

We weren’t just dealing with some cherubs and a few angels. They had two heavy hitters in the mix.

As much as this small army of elves around me showed some of the strength of the Highaen family, I wasn’t sure if it would be enough.

That dragon had felt terrifyingly powerful.

I expected my beast to roar up in protest, but it seemed to agree. That dragon had been much stronger than we were at the moment. Not to mention, Morgana hadn’t been able to cut Devin with her blades. What kind of insane defences did she have?

Megaphone put down the phone and stepped back over to the three of us. “Alright, let them up. They aren’t a problem, but I’m supposed to ask you to wait here.”

“What for?” I asked.

“For the Highaen.” He said with a tone of reverence that told me it wasn’t some general reference to their people, but to the actual Highaen royal family.

“We can do that, can’t we, Morgy?” I tried to lighten the air with the nickname.

The glower I got in return was priceless. “We can. Get up.” Morgana then spoke to Megaphone. “We have two more with us that are back in a car, I believe. May we get them?”

“Yes, but please return quickly. I’d rather not have to explain why you aren’t here waiting when they arrive.” Megaphone looked more concerned with his own hide than ours at that.

I hopped to my feet and walked with a purpose around the side to the parking lot where we’d left Scarlett’s SUV.

Though she was trying to protect Jadelyn, I suspected she wouldn’t leave until there was a more direct threat.

Sure enough, Scarlett was idling in the parking lot, ready to swoop one of us up or get Jadelyn out of there.

Seeing me, she turned the keys and her car quieted down.

Jadelyn shot out of the car and rushed across the parking lot into my arms. “I’m glad you’re okay!”

I picked up my siren, her voice already calming my nerves from the battle. “Same. I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to you. Thank you for letting Scarlett protect you.”

The feeling I’d had back on the platform to Sentarshaden reared up again, but I pushed it down. The last thing I needed to do right now was cause a panic by releasing an aura of fear.

Instead, I lifted my head to my kitsune. “Thank you for doing what needed to be done to keep you both safe.”

“It is quite literally my job.” Scarlett smirked. “But I’ll take it.”

Holding Jadelyn wasn’t enough, so I grabbed Scarlett too and crushed the two of them to my body.

“Come on. It sounds like we are about to have important guests show up here.” I told the two of them. “I need backup if I’m going to have a conversation with either of Tyrande’s parents.” Looking down at Jadelyn, I quirked a brow, asking for her help.

“They aren’t too bad. I’ve got this.” Jadelyn straightened her shirt and gave me one last peck on the cheek before slipping out of my arms.

After nuzzling into my cheek, she took on an air of importance as she strode towards the frenzy of officials. It was kind of cute watching her go from my lovely siren to slightly scary heiress of the largest shipping conglomerate in the world. Also likely, the Highaen’s only great way to get things shipped into a secret paranormal city.

“Don’t worry, this is her element.” Scarlett commented to me as we trailed behind Jadelyn. “You almost look nervous to meet them.”

“We are causing a huge stir in their city. It would only be natural for them to come into this with a bone to pick. That, and I feel particularly vulnerable since I can’t shift without making my life a whole lot worse right now.” I told Scar.

She nodded, her fox ears flopping against her head. “Yeah. I get it. If I was told no illusion magic, I’d feel like I was handcuffed going into a fight.”

We rounded the strip mall again, and now that the fog had cleared, she could see the almost two dozen frozen cherub corpses.

“Yeah, totally handcuffed. Must really suck to only have enough power to kill two dozen cherubs by yourself.” She scoffed, suddenly not so sympathetic to my plight.

“Hey, I helped. He just froze a bunch.” Kelly, now in a flannel shirt that was a few sizes too big and a pair of sweatpants, called out.

I laughed as I scanned her outfit. The petite cheerleader and Morgana had about a foot in height difference.

Kelly swatted away my laugh as she worked to adjust the shirt by tying it up around her waist, squeezing her chest and then rolled up the top of the pants so they hugged her hips tight. Her showing more skin had the beast drooling.

Thankfully, I had more tact.

While she was becoming more presentable, a forest green SUV pulled into the parking lot, and I knew the Highaen had arrived before the door opened.

The doors popped open, and two slim legs exited first.

Tyrande’s mother was tall and lanky, like many of the elves I’d seen. She had a sharp face, and her hair was pulled back into a tight bun. It made her look a little stuffy as she walked with her head tilted slightly up, even though she was just a hair shorter than me.

Like all high elves, she had the same magical blue and purple eyes.

Tyrande and Yev exited the SUV behind her.

Both of them were shorter than their mother by a few inches, and somewhere in the gene pools, both of them had gotten chests. Although Yev was adopted, so it made sense there wouldn’t be many similarities. But really, the two of them could pass for sisters.

“Greetings. I was with my daughters today when the head of my police force gave me an interesting call.” Her eyes landed squarely on Morgana. Her nose wrinkled with a bit of distaste, but then it was gone in an instant, a slightly polite mask sliding back over face.

“My daughters were kind enough to inform me of what you had been hired to do, but I want answers. Now.” She demanded.

I just looked at her. I always wondered which came first, power and authority or this intense self-importance. They both often seemed to go hand in hand.

Not feeling like dealing with her, and partially because my dragon didn’t enjoy having things demanded of it, I turned and spoke to Yev and Tyrande. “I tracked the dragon in the city to this shop here.” I pointed behind me.

“Upon arrival, I was discovered by Devin Nashner, a nephilim believed to be the daughter of the archangel of love. She quickly ordered the dragon taken away and left men behind to prevent us from chasing them down.”

As I said it, I realized the irritation hadn’t gone away. The other dragon was still possibly within reach. I looked off in the direction they’d left, momentarily distracted as the clearing of a throat brought me back.

Their mother was less than amused as her face pressed into a bitchy frown.

Before I could tell her what I thought, Yev jumped in. “There’s a dragon working with the celestials? But that means…” she trailed off into her own thoughts.

I was already thinking the same thing. The dragon that forced her out in public was all part of the church’s plan from the beginning. “The dragon is enslaved. It is all the church’s doing.”

Yev paused, taking that in. “Why me?” she finally said.

“We aren’t sure. But it would seem that this whole ordeal has been caused by the church in an attempt to get you.” I glanced at Morgana, wondering how much to say. “There’s a chance they want to use a dragon to bring through more angels into this world to arm themselves further.”

The thought of the lab where they were dissecting paranormals came to mind and made me shudder. There were a host of reasons they could want a dragon. We were just taking a stab in the dark.

“Either way, we are closing in on them.”

“You should have notified the Highaen and allowed us to bring our forces to bear. Your rash actions just wasted a ripe opportunity.” Tyrande’s mother stepped forward, anger on her face.

I wanted to be angry, but she wasn’t entirely wrong. I’d did not know I’d find the dragon, and in the excitement, I hadn’t considered them escaping.

And I definitely hadn’t expected an enslaved dragon and a small army of celestials ready to protect it.

But I wasn’t about to let her walk all over us. “I can search for him again and find him. I’d be happy to coordinate the next approach with the Highaen family, now that we know the size of their forces.”

Her anger cooled slightly, but only a little.

Turning, she motioned to the elves to load back up, and we did the same. Heading to Scarlett’s car.