Kiss of Darkness (The Dragon Legion Novellas) (14 page)

“You don’t know where they are,” Petra said softly.

“If the darkfire has taken them to their firestorms, I know they’re happy,” Damien said with resolve. Petra smiled at him as the baby stirred. His lips pursed as he rooted against Petra’s breast, seeking a nipple.

“Impatient, just like his father,” Petra murmured.

“He needs a name,” Damien said. “I don’t think Impatient or Stubborn will work.”

“You had a friend,” Petra said. “That night the firestorm sparked.”

“Orion.”

She watched him with a smile. “A good friend?”

“A very good friend.” Damien smiled. “Last I saw him, he was having a firestorm several hundred miles west of here and several thousand years in the future.”

“You won’t see him again, then.”

“You never know, not when the darkfire’s burning.” He pressed a kiss to her temple. “But I like the idea of naming our son after him, either way.”

Petra caught her breath as their son found her nipple and closed his mouth around it. “Hello, Orion,” she whispered. “I suppose all of you
Pyr
warriors know what you want and aren’t afraid to go after it.”

But Damien didn’t laugh at her joke. Between two of the Mothers, the vegetation was moving in a distinctive way.

“Snakes,” Damien hissed.

He jumped up and drew his dagger. Petra turned to look, then smiled.

“They bite,” Damien insisted.

“Not this one.” Petra put her hand on his arm. “Put the weapon away, and take the baby.”

“How do you know?”

“Where do snakes live?”

“In the earth.”

Petra gave him a hard look and Damien ceded the point. She must be able to hear or understand them. He didn’t like it, but he sheathed his dagger, then lifted his son from Petra’s arms. He nestled the boy close, then offered her his hand. Petra smiled at him as she accepted his help.

“Partnership,” she murmured, coaxing his smile again.

Then she knelt down to part the grass. Her move revealed a snake of the same blue-green hue as the darkfire. Its tongue flicked, then it turned and disappeared into the vegetation.

Something gleamed on the ground where it had been. Petra gasped in surprise when she reached for it, and Damien tried to see over her shoulder. There was a large green scale on the ground, one tipped with gold.

A dragon scale.

“It brought your missing scale!” she said with delight, bending to pick it up.

“My scale?”

“You have one that’s missing,” Petra said, placing a fingertip on one side of his chest. “I noticed when we flew out of the underworld.” She looked up at him. “Can it be repaired?”

“Yes,” Damien said with authority, then he smiled because their path had become clear to him. “And now I know exactly where we have to go.”

“Where?”

“Delphi.”

“For a new prophecy?”

“For a future. The
Pyr
have always had a strong link with Delphi. I have a feeling it’s gotten stronger.” He tapped the scale, certain that he’d find Alexander or word of him at Delphi. He was sure that Alexander would have created a plan for the future and that he could have a part in it, just for the asking.

Petra studied him, clearly mystified by his mood. “You know something I don’t know.”

“I hope more than one thing,” Damien teased and Petra laughed.

“Tell me!”

“These
Pyr
I met, each one loses a scale when he falls in love with his mate.” Damien grinned at her, inviting her to make the connection. He could see in her eyes that she understood and was pleased, but she teased him all the same.

“What if the mate doesn’t love her dragon back?”

He pretended to be downcast. “Then I guess she wouldn’t help him repair his armor. He’d be vulnerable when he fought, if he didn’t die first of a broken heart.”

Petra’s lips parted to argue, then Damien began to smile. He heard the distant beat of dragon wings and knew they wouldn’t have to go all the way to Delphi for his scales to be repaired. Petra studied him for a moment, trying to guess what was giving him such pleasure, then turned to scan the evening sky. The stars were just coming out, but Damien pointed out the silhouettes of a phalanx of approaching dragons.

“Alexander!” Damien shouted.

“How can you tell?” Petra demanded, for the dragons were still far away.

Damien tapped the side of his nose. “We recognize each other by scent.” He narrowed his eyes, using his keen senses to inspect the new arrivals. “There’s a woman with him, probably his mate, Katina. Six
Pyr
I don’t know, and two young boys with them.” Damien took a long deep breath, liking that he could show off for her. “Also
Pyr
, but too young to shift shape.” He cast her a look. “If Alexander has two sons, we’re going to have to catch up.”

“I suppose I should have expected dragons to be competitive,” Petra mused and Damien laughed. Then he shifted shape to greet his fellows, carrying his son to meet his old friend.

* * *

Petra was entranced.

She’d never seen any of the other
Pyr
before, and the sight of so many of them at once took her breath away. The splendid sight of Damien in dragon form make her heart leap, and the change in the hue of his scales would remind them both always of how close they’d come to sacrificing everything.

The company of dragons landed in the clearing, their eyes flashing and their scales gleaming. Petra heard a rumble like thunder, even though the sky was clear, then there was a familiar glow of pale blue light. She closed her eyes and opened them again to find Damien leading a man with dark hair and dark eyes toward her. He held the hand of a pretty woman who smiled at Petra in understanding.

This must be his mate. Petra smiled in return, feeling that she looked less than her best but guessing the other woman must understand.

“Petra, this is Alexander. He was Drake’s second-in-command, and we served together. His wife, Katina; his son, Lysander, and Drake’s son, Theo.”

Petra spoke to each of them, then was introduced to the others in the company. They admired her fine strong son, and made her feel welcome in their company. She noticed Damien and Alexander standing together, as if in conference, just as there was another rumble of thunder. The two
Pyr
warriors looked serious. Petra glanced at the sky in confusion.

“Old-speak,” Katina said, appearing at her side with a smile. “It’s how they communicate with each other when they don’t want us to overhear.”

“It’s not always that,” Alexander protested. “Sometimes, it’s just habit.”

The women shared a smile, then Katina dropped her voice. “I’ll guess that Alexander is asking for tidings of Drake.”

“He’s still with the darkfire crystal, as far as I know,” Petra murmured and the other woman nodded. “How did you know where to find us?”

Katina smiled. “I don’t mean to alarm you, but I’m a Waterdaughter. I have very strong intuition and I had a compelling sense that we should come to this place right now.” She glanced around, her gaze assessing. “It seems a powerful place,” she mused, then looked at Petra.

“For a woman to choose to give birth, you mean?”

Katina nodded.

“I don’t mean to alarm you, but I’m an Earthdaughter,” Petra said with a smile. “You are standing on sacred ground for my kind.” She gestured to the stones. “These are the Mothers, those of my kind who have gone before and provide sanctuary to us all in times of need.”

Katina surveyed the stones, assessment in her eyes. “Does it violate the sanctity for us to be here?”

“Not if it is in aid of me and my son.”

She glanced down at the scale Petra held in her hand, and seemed to know immediately what it was. Relief crossed her features, then concern. “We would ask your permission, and that of the Mothers, to repair Damien’s armor here, within the circle of their protection.”

Petra felt a lump in her throat. “I believe they would be honored to witness it.”

“We will leave an offering, of whatever is fitting.”

“The request is enough,” Petra said, because she knew it was true.

“There must be a gift from the mate,” Katina said quietly, her gaze searching. “It ensures that the repair holds and that his armor is complete.”

“A gift?”

“Something of your element would be best. You must decide and you must give it freely.”

Katina had the scale already. She looked around the clearing and wondered how she could share its protective powers with Damien. One of the Mothers wavered, just outside her field of vision, and when Katina turned to look, a small stone broke free of the large standing stone. She hurried to pick it up, liking how powerful it felt when her hand closed over it.

She glanced up to find Damien’s gaze upon her, and his smile warmed her to her toes. Of course, he and Alexander had heard every word, with their keen hearing, and she wasn’t surprised to see Alexander summon the others to the fire as soon as she had chosen the stone.

“We will take our dragon forms, each in turn,” he said and the younger
Pyr
nodded. They were all attractive men, and clearly a disciplined company. Each one had a mark on his body, like the dragon mark on Damien’s arm, even though they couldn’t be of his company of Dragon Legion Warriors lost in time. She wondered how these
Pyr
had obtained their tattoos.

There was no time to ask, though, for the dragon warriors were moving with purpose. Damien stood on Alexander’s left, with Petra and their son on his left. Katina stood on Alexander’s right, with Lysander and then Theo to her right. The others took their places around the fire, forming a circle.

The fire in the middle burned higher when the circle was complete, and Petra realized that these
Pyr
warriors had their own link to an element. She remembered the prophecy and smiled.

Fire and stone must pay the price.

That was Damien and herself, and they’d paid it in full.

Now the firestorm’s promise would be theirs.

Alexander shifted shape first, becoming a dark dragon in the same moment that the flames of the fire leapt skyward. Damien shifted next, and Petra loved how the fire again stretched for the sky, its light reflecting off his newly-golden scales. The other
Pyr
shifted shape in unison and she saw that they were all darker and smaller than the two fully-fledged warriors. She saw glimpses of color in the scales of each, but guessed that their hues had yet to develop.

When all had shifted shape, Alexander extended his claw to her, obviously requesting the fallen scale. Petra surrendered it to him and he held it between the tips of his talons, then pushed it into the flames of the fire. The bonfire burned higher, as if fueled by the scale and Petra couldn’t see it in the brilliant blaze of orange.

“Fire,” Alexander intoned and the
Pyr
echoed him. He extended his hand to her again, and Petra gave him the stone. Alexander removed the scale from the flames and it was the same bright golden color of the rest of Damien’s scales. He pushed the stone against it and Petra saw that the scale was so hot that it was molten. The stone was driven into it by Alexander, as a gem might be forced into a setting.

“Earth,” he said and the other
Pyr
repeated his word.

Alexander pushed the scale back into the fire and the flames licked it hungrily. When he removed it again, both it and the stone from the Mothers had fused into one and were so hot that they were pale yellow and smoking.

He extended the scale and Damien blew on it.

“Air,” Alexander said, along with the other
Pyr
.

Alexander lifted the scale and pressed it against the bare spot on Damien’s chest. Petra heard the hiss as it seared his flesh and she stepped forward in concern. Damien tipped back his head and roared at the pain.

To Petra’s surprise, Alexander touched her cheek with his claw. “Water,” he murmured, and transferred her tear to the hot scale. The water sizzled against it, sending up a stream of vapor as it disappeared. To her relief, the scale darkened immediately and Damien shuddered in relief.

Alexander then lifted her son from her arms and held him high. “Welcome, Orion! Welcome to the new
Pyr
among us!” The
Pyr
roared approval, each one tipping back his head to send a blaze of dragonfire into the sky.

There was a crack like lightning and a blue-green bolt of darkfire appeared out of nowhere. Petra gasped when it touched her son, but then it was gone and he was gurgling happily. The flames of the bonfire leapt toward the sky, casting a joyous spray of sparks in every direction as if in celebration, and Damien caught both her and her son close to his repaired chest.

Petra checked the baby, only to discover that there was a small mark on his arm, just like the one on his father’s arm.

“He’s one of us,” Damien murmured to her and Petra nodded, glancing at the Mothers. He was of her kind as well, and she couldn’t wait to see what that combination brought in the future.

Damien flew a triumphant circle around the peak of the mountain, making Petra laugh with his obvious happiness. The
Pyr
cheered as he landed and shifted shape quickly, holding Petra fast against his chest all the while.