Fire The Blood: Dragon Mage Series Book III (11 page)

A brow went up at that. 
He
has good spies.

And pawns. 
She
locked eyes with him, her own expressing both her fear and her determination. 
He
comes to take me or kill me. 
She took a deep breath. 
And he has no use
for you.

Well, then,
she
watched his eyes flash and burn until the irises were smoldering coals. 
We
are even.  I have no use for killers and torturers of women, especially little
girls. 
His tone was beyond grim, and she knew looking into his head that
he was more than willing to meet up with Lord Graedon, no matter how powerful
he was or what monstrosities he brought with him. 
How long?

Before the sun sets, he
will find us. 
She touched her mate’s cheek and ran her
finger down the scar on his lip. 
If I return to the weave, I may see
another way out of this.

He took her hand by the
wrist and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. 
Just tell me, Asha.  I know you
saw something neither of us will like.

He's going to take me. 
Braedon's
whole body fired around her as his rage ignited without warning.  She basked in
the heat of it, protecting her clothes as best she could. 
If you set the
forest afire, he will find us much earlier
, she said mildly and watched him
grab his control and suck all that heat and pressure back into his body.  There
was nothing left of it around them except a blast radius that spanned three
feet on all sides and some smoldering branches above.  But she could feel it
just under his skin, ready to burst forth at a moment’s weakening of his
control. 
You will need the help offered to find me.  Do not come after me
until it arrives. 
She ran her hand up into his hair and pulled his face
closer to hers. 
Promise me you will wait here for whatever comes and not go
after me without it, no matter what.

 You can't tell me where
the help will come from?

I could not take the time
to get specifics.  I only know you must wait for whatever help is coming.

I cannot promise to stand
around and do nothing while you are taken, but I will keep it in mind.

He kissed her hard enough
to bruise, and she clung to him for a brief moment, feeling their time
dwindling.  She met his eyes, and the rage she saw staring back at her was
surprisingly soothing. 
I do not fear you will forsake me, Huntsman, but if
you come after me without help, we might not live to regret it.

There were many things he
wanted to say to her while she lay safe in his arms.  The simple truth was that
he did not want to let her go: not when she could be taken.  Even the thought
of it had him fighting to contain his fire.  He pushed his hand into her silky
hair and fisted it there, his eyes taking in everything they could see of his
mate.  He could feel the flame burning hotter than it ever had inside his
skin.  Braedon would just see what a fire mage mated to a dragon was capable
of.  There had never really been a time in his life where he had let his power
out full blast.  He had always kept his control, even in battle, for fear of
what would be lost.  But time was up; the war upon them.  He had seen what Lord
Graedon was capable of through his mate’s memories.  He had walked the halls of
the dungeon where the very ground cried out in pain, and his mate had been
buried alive to die while her mother fell.  Asha would not be taken again.  He
would set fire to the world to stop that from happening this day.

Braedon stood with a new
purpose burning in his eyes.  He helped Asha up and then kissed her one more
time forcefully on the lips, more a promise of intent than anything else. 
"You promise me that you will fight this, Asha.  Whatever you saw in the
weave, you fight by my side as if only winning is possible.  Do you
understand?  Don't give up because you think you know what will happen."

Her eyes locked on his,
and she could see the kindled fire smolder higher.  She actually smiled, this
mate of his.  The fierceness of it made him want to kiss her again.  "I
never have before."

Then there was a rustling
of the brush, and they turned to face what was coming.  Braedon grimaced when
the first mutated monstrosity crashed through the trees.  It pushed its way
through the last of the trees, breaking it down with its mismatched claws so
forcefully that it splintered into kindling and sent flying projectiles their
way.  With a wave of his hand, Braedon sent an ark of fire through the air,
burning everything so hot that by the time it reached them it was harmless ash.

The creature roared,
ducked its massive horned head, and came at them.  Its steps were so heavy that
the forest floor thumped with the percussions of his hoofed feet.  Bigger even
then Lux in dragon form, it was upon them much quicker than expected for its
size, and Braedon met the blood red eyes in that craggy face and smelled the
stench of its breath before he raised his hands and let loose his fire.   He
held nothing back.  The rage-filled roar of the monster turned quickly to
screams of pain the likes of which Braedon hoped never to hear again.  He felt
Asha back up a step and turn to watch their backs even as the thing attempted
to turn and run.  Its legs gave out long before it passed out of reach, the
fire having eaten through the putrid flesh quickly once it fired past whatever
protective layer was there to keep it safe from dragon fire.  Braedon had felt
the magic give seconds after his fire hit it.  Protection from dragon fire was
one thing, but Braedon was a fire mage, and he was not holding anything back.

By the time the second
creature entered the valley, flying in on black wings, Asha had turned to her
dragon form and vaulted up to meet it.  She took it up and away from her mate
as he finished off the first creature: a creature that he could see was trying
to heal as he burned it down.  He made sure the thing was ashes and not going
to come back at them ever again before he turned to watch his mate battle a
winged Juggernaut.

They slashed at each
other with equally ferocious claws, and the beast attempted to take bites out
of her hide with razor sharp tusks that had no business on a winged anything. 
Luckily, her hide seemed as impenetrable the diamond it resembled.  Braedon
looked for an opening where he could send his fire, but they were too far
away.  The beast let loose its own eerie blue flame, and Asha went flying
backwards end over end while he wondered if his heart could take it.  He was
running in her direction even as he lost sight of her and nearly got himself
beheaded by a three headed wolf creature with a spiked tail.

He ducked and had to flip
back out of the way or he would have been no help to anyone ever again.  He
jumped into the trees and then vaulted away when the creature’s tail crashed
into it and it splintered apart beneath his hands.  He hit the next tree and
then the next, moving away as fast as his forest skills could take him.  He
blasted his fire at the creature only to watch it twist and writhe, then
continue its deadly pursuit. 
Not hot enough
.

Knowing his power was not
limitless, unfortunately, even with the boost of dragon blood from his mate, he
pulled it back into himself and let it swirl and build inside him as he moved
through the forest canopy ahead of the snapping beast.  Then he started
climbing.  Even as the beast roared and crashed his way through the forest, he
was going higher.  His one goal besides staying alive was to see Asha safe. 
Unfortunately, by the time he made it to the top of the canopy, the skies were
empty.

Asha?! 
He
took the risk of distracting her in battle because he had to know she was well.

I am coming! 
Hearing
her voice in his head was such a relief he nearly fell from his precarious
perch.  Her thoughts were almost gleeful. 
They may be impervious to dragon
fire, but ice seems to be a different story.

Any dragons?

Nothing yet.  What about
you?

Braedon grunted as
something smashed into the base of the tree he was in, and it lurched nearly
out from under him.  He jumped to the next and the next, as he hopped and
flipped through the air, staying just ahead of what he could see now was a pack
forming below him. 
I seem to be overrun with a twisted wolf pack.  Nothing
I can't handle. 
Something of his mad dash must have made it through his
careful answer because she was silent for a moment as he moved again, then her
voice went decidedly grim.

Keep ahead of them.  I'm
almost back. 
Then he felt her fear spike and she was
just gone from his consciousness, like a switch had been thrown. 

Braedon lost his breath
as his whole body seized at the loss.  It was as if a limb had been removed, or
his heart ripped from his body.  The branch fell from his suddenly nerveless
fingers as his body dealt with the loss about as well as his mind.  He fell,
hitting branches on the way down.  It took him precious time to even notice his
danger, so consumed was he with trying to seek his mate’s path in his mind.  He
found it in time to narrowly avoid being a stain on the forest floor.  If a
blue dragon claw had not caught him up right before he hit the pile of wolves
vying to get to his falling form, he would have died.  Instead, he was raised
above the trees at a rate almost as fast as his fall down had been, and he
looked up through the clouds and sky to see Aarion's golden dragon blasting the
ground with his fire.  It was Lux who had him.

Quite the dive you were
taking at the beasties.  Was it your plan to smash them with your carcass as
you fell to your death? 

Lux's usual humor was
lost on him when he was still trying to reach Asha through their bond.  He
could finally feel something there, so he knew she was still alive, but he
could not sense what she was feeling, if anything at all. 
Something
happened to Asha. 
That thought ended whatever humor the big blue dragon
might have added to the conversation.

Which way?
 
Lux asked.  There was one thing Braedon could say about the dragon knights;
they did not mess around asking inane questions.

North
,
he thought back to him grimly, even as he watched Aarion descend to the forest
floor and transform into his fighting form as he touched down.  He had his
sword out and was lopping off appendages and heads in a macabre dance that was
as deadly as it was beautiful.  Once Aarion had the pack well in hand, Braedon
turned his thoughts back to his mate. 
She is north, and she may be
unconscious.

Then we go north,
Lux
mumbled, then, almost to himself.
  At least we will not have to deal with
Theron and his troupe as well as these beasts.

Hearing the name, Braedon
stilled and turned his attention to the south with a curse. 
Lord Theron of
Seatown?  He comes this way?

With the same armed
guards he had with him the last time he graced us with his wisdom and august
presence,
Lux snorted. 
But he will never reach us on the
ground.

Braedon cursed long and
loud in his head before he gave in to the inevitable. 
We have to wait for
him.

He could feel Lux's
surprise. 
Why would we do that?

Braedon sighed. 
Because
the dragon seer said we might not survive if we didn't wait and accept the help
that was coming.
  He huffed out a breath. 
And because he is Asha's
brother.

This time it was Lux who
did the cursing.

***

Asha woke groggy and
feeling like her head was trying to detach from her body.  She lay still as
long as she could, hoping the pain would fade, but she finally had to give it
up in favor of assessing the situation.  She slid herself up to a sitting
position as slowly as she could and regretted it almost immediately when her
head tried to explode behind her eyes.  She would be lucky if she had no
permanent damage from whatever vapors she had been hit with.

"I see you are
finally awake, daughter; excellent.  When using experimental drugs, there is
always the possibility that the subject will never awaken.  That would have
made my plans more difficult."

She held her head even as
she looked up at the man the world regarded as her father.  "Always the
doting parent.  I see exile has not changed you much.  Still dabbling in
poisons?"

"On the contrary;
the freedom to come and go as I please has made it easier to see my plans
through to fruition.  I have had to give up such mundane pursuits as poison in
favor of, shall we say, a
higher
form of war."

"Yes; I have seen
some of your plans in action with your replacement on the council."  She
was only guessing, but it was an educated guess.  Graedon had always played his
games deeply.

"Bah! Rendal is a
fool and a coward.  Such dragons are meant to be led."  Graedon grabbed
her by the hair in a brutal grip and yanked her pounding head to a better
position to study her eyes: eyes she was quite sure were flashing fire with all
the heat of her simmering hate.  "Your pupils are dilated and flashing
from fire to ice.  I heard you had changed to ice dragon, but I didn’t believe
it."  He jerked her face right then left, studying it closely in an almost
casual flaunting of brutality.  "Your mother was wise to bind you as she
did.  I would have bred you long past if I thought an ice dragon would be the
result.  She was certainly incapable of breeding after I butchered her mage
mate."

His casual words sent a
shaft of ice through her.  "My mother bound me?"

He laughed.  "Did
you think I would want your dragon bound?  Even you should be able to figure
the illogical nature of that one.  No, if you had ever shown signs of the change,
I would have bred from you what I could not get from your already claimed
mother.  But I am also told that, like your mother, you have mated below your
station.  "   He shook his head and sneered.  "Stupid.  No, your
mother blocked your dragon, and now you are wasted on a mage, just as she was. 
And in doing so, she has ended the dragon seer line. Hardly the actions of a
wise dragon seer.  Not that it would have done you any good.  Now, the true
power of a seer," he pondered that while he released her hair, "that
I would have wanted blocked.  If you had ever displayed the talent of your
mother, I would have ended your life long since."

"So, by blocking my
dragon from forming, my mother saved me from having to suffer your attentions
and allowed me the time I needed to find my own mate."  She smiled at her
mother’s killer.  "I suppose that means she beat you in the end.  I wonder
what other ways did she manipulate you to create the future she wanted?" 
She expected the hit and took the power of his open handed slap across her face
with a laugh.  "Yes, if I were you, I would be worried, too." He hit
her again, and this one had enough anger behind it to bounce her head off the
rock wall behind her.  She must have blacked out momentarily because when her
eyes refocused, Graedon was straightening his gold overcoat and smoothing out
his mussed hair.  Asha wiped at the blood welling on her lip and looked around
while he was distracted.  "I see you have managed to find another deep
hole to hide in."

He growled and whirled
back to her.  "Are you trying to get me to kill you?"

"You aren't going to
kill me.  You brought me here for a reason, and it was not for breeding, as you
already know that I am true mated.  It was not for my seer abilities because we
both know I have none of the powers that my mother commanded."  Not as far
as you know, Asha thought, keeping her thoughts far from her face with long
practice.  "So you want something else, and as you have not killed me yet,
you must need me alive to discover whatever you search for."