Dragon 4 Chapter 14 (Patreon)

I walked with a little spring in my step as I dropped Yev back at her room. Night was nearly over by the time our date had ended. That didn’t stop me from grinning so widely that my jaw was aching.

She would totally let me back in if I asked. But the night had been wonderful, and given that I understood the sister to be a package deal, I couldn’t mate and mark Yev, not yet.

After dragging myself away from Yev’s door, knowing it was better if we took things slow, I wandered back to the jungle to help Morgana clean up.

“I got that.” I said as I saw Morgana bent over the table, clearing off dishes.

Stepping up quickly, I grabbed the table and lifted it with one hand. Sometimes dragon strength was nice.

“Showing off?” Morgana raised an eyebrow, but the smirk on her face told me she was amused.

“Don’t pretend that you don’t enjoy my strength.” I bounced my eyebrows as I thought of the hole we had nearly put in Jadelyn’s house just the other day.

“Out in the world helping me with daily tasks? Sure, it’s helpful. But I prefer your strength the most in the bedroom. Helps with available positions.” Morgana commented, trailing her nail up my arm.

The look she gave me sent my body on edge, and I naturally leaned towards her for a kiss, despite the table I was holding in the air.

She smiled, darting away to grab a chair.

I let out a growl, which only seemed to please her more. Tease.

I worked to suppress my beast’s urges, knowing we had something more serious to talk about. “Morgana, about the injured dragon that showed up. We managed to find out where she was attacked.”

“Oh? Where?” She looked at my face, noting my concern, and I could see the possibilities running through her head. Her face fell a moment before she said, “The Bulkans?”

“What gave it away?” I asked, confirming her suspicion.

She cursed, setting the chair down with enough force that it creaked. Luckily, it was built to withstand dragons. “You wouldn’t have brought this up to me unless I could directly help. If it was elven you’d bring it to the sisters. So it’s vamps. They took her down?”

“With a fighter jet.” I said, sighing and putting the table over my shoulder. “We need to figure out who did it, but the vampires aren’t talking.”

Morgana cursed. “Of course they won’t. If someone is dragon hunting, chances are they are connected. Nobody in their right mind would do it without at least a little protection. My guess is it’s a thrill seeker and someone wanting fast cash, some younger vampire with connections. Not to mention they used a fucking jet. Yeah, they had connections.”

Her theory made sense to me, but part of me still hoped it was a mistake and not some dragon hunter. That made it feel like they’d go after us again.

“How do you know it isn’t an old vampire with a craving for dragon blood?” I questioned.

“It could be, but I highly doubt it. The old ones have become more cautious. Even if they wanted the dragon blood, they’d send a younger vamp to take the fall. And if they used a fighter jet, it tells me the driver was likely a younger vampire. An old one wouldn’t be caught dead in one of those contraptions.” Morgana pointed out. “So, there’s likely a young vampire hunting dragons, but I’d guess they’re protected by some older vampire who is taking blood for the protection. At least, that would explain why she was shot down in the Bulkans, within their sphere of influence.

"Actually, if you can figure out where exactly it happened, I’d bet my half of the next three jobs that the elder lord that controls that specific area had access to said jet.” She nodded, sure of herself.

During her whole tirade, I was quiet, trying to give her a moment to think about what I was asking of her. I didn’t do it lightly; I knew her relationship with the vampires was complex.

Morgana began cursing in Swedish. At least, based on her tone, that's what I assumed she was doing as she began walking around the area, seeming to take her feelings out on the trees. She even stabbed a few of the trees, using them as pseudo punching bags.

But after a bit, she calmed down and turned to me, a frown on her face. “Fine. Let’s get this over with.”

Morgana sat in the chair with a thump, inviting me to sit with her as she pulled her phone out of her spatial pocket in her bra.

She hesitated for a moment before typing in a name and hitting send. Then she put it on speaker and held it aloft.

The phone only rang twice before a smooth male voice answered. “Morgana. It isn’t often that I hear your lovely voice.”

I growled at his flirting.

“Oh, Morgana, you sound quite different.” He chuckled.

“Can it Emre. That’s my mate, Zach Pendragon, the king of dragons.” Morgana seemed satisfy to relay that piece of information. “Now, if you can cut to business, I can promise to not have him come eat you, because he’s in a real bitey mood today.”

Emre was silent on the other end of the phone for a moment. “Court was swirling this afternoon. I have heard that the dragons were trying to find who shot down the dragon over Turkey. I assume this has to do with that?”

He mentioned that the dragon was shot down, and I frowned. I’d thought she hadn’t had a crash landing until she’d reached us at the bronze king’s house. Something wasn’t adding up.

“Yes, Emre, this is the same request. There is a dragon conclave and a new king. None of them like to see a dragon getting attacked on their way here.” Morgana hissed. “Unless you want dragons raining fire down on your people, you will at least give me a direction.”

“Of course a deal could be—“

“Shut it.” Morgana snapped. “They’ll end up helping you if you cooperate. Of that, I’m sure.”

Emre tisked on the other end of the phone. “You have been away from court far too long, my dear. You used to be so much more subtle and conniving. I think I liked you better that way. This brute force approach is just… boring.” He let out a sigh, and I let out a growl at how he was talking to her.

She rubbed my leg, trying to calm me as she let the conversation linger.

She seemed to play him right, because he spoke up again next. “Fine, I’m aware of who killed your little black dragon.”

“Wait.” I snatched the phone from Morgana. “Killed?”

“Ah, hello. I assume I am speaking to the King of Dragons?” Emre asked, seeming to have no urgency in our discussion.

Morgana looked upset at me for snatching the phone, but I was more concerned with what he’d said. “Yes, this is Zach Pendragon, you said ‘killed’. But that’s not possible; all the dragons are accounted for, and the black dragon I was speaking of was only injured.”

There was a pause again and some muffled conversation on the other end of the phone before Emre returned to speaking. “I’m afraid my sources say the dragon was killed. Shot down with a F-15.”

I tossed the phone back to Morgana. “We need to go.”

“You’ve been helpful, Emre. I’ll call you if we need more.” Morgana said quickly.

“Morga—“ his voice cut off with a beep and Morgana was hurrying after me.

She didn’t ask where we were going, because she knew I was rushing off to the healing ward to ask a dragon that was supposed to be dead some very important questions.

I blew past the remaining party goers and rushed into the tower.

My mad dash had attracted enough attention that a few even moved to follow me. I hit the second floor at a full sprint and threw open the healing ward’s door, loud enough to make a boom.

There was the injured black dragon, standing in the middle of the room, holding a piece of what looked like an amethyst.

Thalia’s expression changed; she knew something was wrong.

Morgana blurred into the room, a sword flashing out from the spatial pocket in her cleavage. But it clanged against the stone moments later as the dragon slapped it away hard enough to jar Morgana.

My vampire wife’s face contorted in shock for just a moment before she dodged out of the way as the Thalia released a blast of purple magic, unlike a dragon, shattering everything in its path.

I picked Morgana up off the floor, checking to make sure she was okay.

It created a pause in the fight.

“What gave me away?” She smiled, as if everything was going perfectly to plan.

“You are supposed to be dead. At least, according to the vampires.” I wanted to snap her neck, but I needed to get more information out of her.

She pouted. “Drat. I thought the vampires would be a longer lasting smoke screen. But the opportunity presented itself, and I couldn’t pass it up. All the dragons in one place for the first time since I escaped?” She was giddy, dancing on her toes as her face bloomed into a wide smile.

I tried to piece together the fact that the dragon stood in front of me, but she was supposedly dead. And then it hit me. She already smelled like death because she was a black dragon. But Thalia was dead; in the room with me wasn’t her, but someone walking around in her skin.

Disgusted, I took a deep breath and pulled Morgana behind me as I washed the healing ward in flames.

I raked my fire over everything. I wanted to burn out the pest that had decided to once again show up in my life.

When the smoke cleared, the skinwalker was standing in a purple magic bubble smiling so wide I thought the corners of her mouth were going to split. “So warm and cozy.” She hugged herself. “But I have things to do, ta-ta.” She waved as purple magic rose all around the room.

Magic circles blossomed to life, carved into the stone all around me.

I had to admit I was impressed. The stone was strong enough to keep dragons from damaging the space.

She jumped out the window. I moved to go after her, but other creatures were pushing through the magic circles the skinwalker had created.

“Zach.” Morgana shouted, getting my attention as she stuffed a pistol in my hand and the room brightened in staccato flashes. She began unloading her SMG at one of the first figures to come through.

My own gun came up, and I fired at another figure, filling him with lead.

The creatures coming through the portals were all women from the waist up and spiders from the waist down.

I cursed. This was definitely a type of paranormal I had not known existed. Fuck spiders.

And while they weren’t hard to take down, they just kept coming. “Fall back.” I stuffed the gun in my waist and washed the room with fire once more to give more coverage to those trying to retreat behind me.

The spider women coming through screeched and screamed under my flames. They weren’t nearly as powerful as the woman who had instigated the portals, but they were giving her a getaway.

“My king.” A voice sounded from the hallway, and the blue dragon leader stepped through the doorway. He looked, taking in what was happening in the room and releasing his own lightning breath. “What’s happening?”

“No time. Handle this.” I looked through the doorway and saw Chloe. “Get in here and help him. You too.” I pointed to another dragon I recognized as a bronze. They at least wouldn’t get in each other’s way.

Confident that they could handle what was coming through the portals, I ran straight for a window. The drapes over it were still burning as I burst through them and out into the open air.

There was a moment of peace at the top of my jump before reality settled in and yanked me down to the ground.

I shifted my legs, and I landed with a thud before they returned to normal. I took off towards the party.

Morgana landed behind me with a crack of her leg, but she shook it out and raced up to join me. “I’ll find her.” She blurred forward, far faster than me.

If our target was trying to escape or hide, her best chance would be to join the party and hide in the crowd.

I didn’t want to think about the chance that she’d kill another and take on their skin. That was a twisted game of wack-a-mole I wasn’t interested in playing.

“My king.” Dragons looked at me in surprise, bowing and shifting their hands. “What’s wrong?”

The tower behind me raged, lightning spilling out of the windows.

“We are under attack. Wake all the dragons in the tower and stay in groups.” I demanded, before casting my head back and forth among the group. “All black and copper dragons need to be detained until I can clear them.” I tossed in as an afterthought.

There was a chance that more than one black dragon had been killed and used. My nose wrinkled at the idea of people walking around in other’s skins. But I had to consider the possibility.

The dragons around me burst into action. Most partially shifted their bodies, covering themselves with hardened scales.

Drinks and food in hand hit the ground, completely forgotten. The merriment of the moment faded, but it wasn’t replaced by fear. A sort of calm surrounded me.

I wasn’t surrounded by timid creatures; I was surrounded by predators. And these ancient and powerful beasts were ready to respond to my call with militant efficiency.

Many of the surrounding dragons had been through at least one war. They were battle hardened, and it showed. I watched as they immediately began organizing themselves. They were efficient and militant.

Thuun walked over to me to gain intel. “My King, who are we fighting?”

“The vampires reported that the wounded black dragon was killed over Turkey. I went to the healing ward to find a skinwalker. A mage of some type was walking around in her skin this entire time. And she’d carved runes into the healing ward, which is now letting in spider women.” I turned to him with a set jaw. Just saying it made me unbelievably angry.

The beast slammed itself in my chest, demanding a fight. And I planned to give it one, but I needed the other dragons informed.

Thuun frowned. “Skinwalking is dark magic; it originated from the fae. The spider women are the fight in the tower?”

Bursts of lightning were still flickering out of the windows.

“Yes.” I answered directly as I searched the area for any sign of the skinwalker.

Thuun murmured something under his breath before standing up straighter. “Allow me to join the fight?” There was a small sparkle in his eye. His dragon was also ready to attack.

“Go, but bring someone with you. Everyone should move in pairs or small groups if possible. The last thing I want to do is try to find a skinwalker among our dragons.”

“My king.” He bowed quickly and hurried off, grabbing two women by the shoulder and bringing them with him.

The skinwalker had plenty of time to hide at that point; I was losing hope of finding her. And when Morgana appeared, a scowl on her face, I knew she’d struggled as well.

“She may not be here.” I answered Morgana’s unsaid statement. “She could hide with magic or amid the jungle.”

Morgana looked past me, and I turned, feeling relief as I saw my other two mates hurrying towards me with Tyrande.

“Husband, what’s wrong?” Jadelyn asked.

“The conclave is under attack.” I stared hard at Jadelyn. “You need to stick with Morgana and Scarlett.”

Jadelyn’s cheeks puffed out. “I can take care of myself.”

“Whoever this is shrugged off my fire and…” I looked up at the tower; the battle was still raging. “Apparently can summon a large amount of support. Safety first.”

Seeing Tyrande made me think of her sister, who I had left alone in her room. “Shit. Come with me. We are going to get Yev. Now is not the time to be alone.”

“Sorry, I stayed out of the room in case the two of you wanted some privacy.” Tryande blushed, but I waved it off.

It was time for action, not words. I charged towards her room. My conclave was under attack, my mates were at risk, and I was ready to burn down whatever I needed to in order to restore safety.

Several feet from the entrance, I grabbed my mates and pushed them back as I shifted into my dragon knight form, sensing an oncoming enemy. My bones crackled as I grew several feet and wrapped myself in hard gold scales.

As I finished my shift, a spider woman reached us, tackling me to the ground.

I let her, hitting the ground and rolling with her.

She’d tackled me using her spider half, her spindly legs wrapped around me, holding me like little steel clamps.

The spider woman licked her bright red lips that were incredibly vivid against her ghostly pale skin. “You’ll make a wonderful morsel, little dragon.”

“Like hell.” She might be strong, but I was the fucking king of dragons.

The beast rose inside of me, and I felt my power redouble. Something deep inside me rose to the surface.

I hadn’t felt a rush like it since I’d fought Nat’alet.

It was like some slumbering leviathan cracked its eyes open, suddenly present within me.

My arms snapped out to the side as I moved them, blowing past the spiders’ legs. They had no ability to contain my current strength.

The spider woman shrieked as she lost balance and tumbled off of me, only to try to scurry away on five legs.

“I don’t think so.” My body crackled around my smile as my neck bulged, extending as my vision shifted. My dragon eyes were further apart as my head became that of a huge gold dragon.

I used my new dragon form to catch the spider woman’s back half in my jaws.

She was screaming some curse at me, but I couldn’t hear her over my chewing. She was crunchier than a nutty candy bar.

I tossed my head back, swallowing the rest of her as I finished shifting.

“Zach, there are more inside.” Morgana was standing with Scarlett, making sure none reached Jadelyn or Tyrande, although Tyrande seemed equally unhappy that she was in the second tier.

Snorting smoke out of my nostrils, I stepped into the opening to the tower. The creatures were spinning webs all over the place, making a funnel that went down towards where Thuun had shown us the history of dragons.

As far as I could tell, they were focused entirely on the lower area of the tower, which meant Yev was likely safe. And they seemed to have a goal in mind; one I needed to stop.

“Be careful; go get Yev and meet me back here.” I kept my focus on the spider women who had paused in their web making, turning to me.

“Don’t do anything stupid.” Scarlett reminded me, in vain, and hurried with Jadelyn away from the action.

I had a pretty good idea of where I’d find the skinwalker. She’d doubled back to the tower. Her actual goal was clearly inside.

What it was, I did not know, but I sure as shit was about to find out.

“Dragon, leave this place, run as far as you can.” One of the spider women hissed. “Our mother has laid claim to your island, and you cannot stop her.”

“Mother?” I snarled.

“Our mother, the spider queen, rises again.” The woman cackled. “Come, let’s see how tasty dragon meat is.”

I’d heard the term once before, when Thuun had given me the brief history of dragons. But in his version of the story, the spider queen was dead, defeated by the Summer and Winter courts along with Tiamat and Bahamut.

My breath roared out of my throat, setting the entire room ablaze in a wash of orange and red.

Their fresh webs were incinerated, forcing them to retreat into the opening deeper into the tower. Most had survived, using their nimbleness to avoid the flames.

As soon as my vision cleared, they were rushing me.

AN - Surprise! Okay it picks up a lot from here. Though, I'm thinking about going back and adding a little more action/drama into the conclave portion before this.