Twin Dragons: Dragon Lords of Valdier Book 7 (8 page)

“Your father should have killed you when you
were born,” Brogan commented.

“Why?” Calo asked, unafraid of the large
male circling them.

Brogan stared at the two boys for several
seconds before he threw his head back and laughed. It wasn’t a nice
sound. There was a hard edge to it that spoke of someone not quite
right in the head. Melina had heard that same laugh from some of
the prisoners, usually before they went crazy and the guards killed
them.

“Because, you are destined to have a life of
emptiness,” Brogan commented as he ran an assessing glare over
them. “Pray you die in battle, boy. It is better than living a life
being slowly eaten alive from the inside out.”

“Brogan!” Another male snarled in a low,
dangerous tone. “Cree, Calo, return to your mother.”

“Yes, twins,” Brogan mocked. “Run to your
mother while she can still recognize you.”

“Brogan,” the new male that looked very
similar to the twin boys snapped. “Leave.”

“You can’t protect them forever, Creja,”
Brogan said coldly. “You will watch them slowly dissolve into
madness.”

“Is that what is happening to you?” Creja
asked quietly. “I will give the order to terminate you, if that is
what you wish.”

“Over my dead body,” a man growled out.

It took a moment for Melina to realize that
this male looked like the other except there were no scars on his
face. Two golden symbiots stood to the side, shivering and snarling
at Creja. Melina thought for sure they were about to fight.

“I will not let Brogan endanger the lives of
any of those under my protection,” Creja replied in a quiet, calm
voice. “Barrack, your brother is losing control of his dragon.”

“I’ll show you loss of control,” Brogan
snarled, shifting.

“Wait!” Melina hissed under her breath when
the scene faded. “What happened?”

The scene blended, speeding through time
like someone had hit the fast forward on a movie. It slowed again,
this time there was a battle going on. Dozens of dragons were
fighting the two green and white ones. She could hear the screams
as women and children ran and men yelled as they worked with the
dragons flying over the two.

The same topaz and black dragon from earlier
appeared. He roared out and the other dragons worked on dividing
the twin dragons that were fighting to get into one of the
cottages. Soon, the cottage was in flames.

Creja attacked, shifting as he fell from the
sky. A large sword was in his hands. As he fell onto the back of
the green and white dragon trying to get into the cottage, he slid
the blade across the dragon’s neck. At the same time, other men ran
forward with long spears. The dragon roared in fury before it
collapsed in the burning remains of the cottage. Dark, red blood
stained the ground under him as he shuddered before going limp.

The second dragon howled in rage, attacking
Creja who barely shifted in time. Their claws locked. The battle
seemed to go on forever. Tears burned Melina’s eyes when she saw
Creja save one of the men even as he took a brutal blow that she
was sure would kill him.

“This is what you have to look forward to,
Creja,” Barrack yelled as a brief moment of sanity broke through
his grief and madness. “Your sons will end up like Brogan and I.
Have mercy on them, kill them now. Kill Cree and Calo before their
minds are eaten up with the pain, the anguish, the eternal darkness
that sucks the life from their bodies,” the unscarred man said in a
hoarse voice filled with anguish.

The scene shifted as the man continued to
talk to the two young boys, now slightly older. She recognized them
now. Pieces of the puzzle finally fell into place as she realized
that it was the warrior that had been in here earlier. She was
seeing bits and pieces of his life. He must have a twin brother.
They were able to shift into dragons just like the warriors in the
mine did when they tried to take her after she fought them.

Her eyelids fluttered as she saw their young
faces change. At first, there had been worry as they watched their
father, but it had soon changed to a pensive look. She hurt for
them when she heard their whispered vow.

“We will die in battle, like warriors,
before we let this happen to us. We will do the honorable thing
before we hurt another,” the one she now recognized as the one
Carmen called Cree said.

“We will die in battle. Or we will take each
other’s life before we hurt another,” his twin agreed.

“Why?” She whispered, frowning as she tried
to understand. “Why?”

“Mel,” Cal called gruffly. “She’s gone. You
can come out now, child.”

Melina started as she opened her eyes.
Blinking several times, she looked at the two gold creatures for a
moment before she tried to remove her hands from where they were
still inside them. She was surprised when this time, the creatures
released her.

As she pulled her arms back out of the
symbiots, long, thin threads of gold wound up her arms. She
shivered as they ran under her shirt and along her skin. When she
finally sat back, she had two thick bands of gold around her
wrists. She lifted a hand to touch her throat when she felt more of
it moving along the base of it. Her fingers ran along the thin
golden rope and she discovered she had a long necklace hanging from
around it. At the end of the chain were two dragons wrapped
protectively around a smaller one in the middle.

“I…” She started to say when her Gramps
called to her again. “Coming.”

Melina glanced back at the two symbiots as
they watched her. She gave them both a crooked smile before
focusing on what her grandfather was saying. She would try to
understand what just happened later when she was alone.

*.*.*

Later that day, Melina hummed under her
breath as she mopped the area around Hobbler. She liked that she
was busy. It kept her mind off of what the two golden creatures had
shown her earlier.

Glancing over to the side, she grinned as
they watched her moving back and forth. A giggle escaped her when
one of them sneezed and the other changed shape. Both of them had
been glued to her side since they came in. She didn’t mind because
it gave her someone else to talk to.

“So, you two belong to the two warriors,
huh?” Melina asked casually. “They are so big, I wouldn’t think
they would need any help fighting.”

Warmth and images surrounded her. The
flickering image of two topaz and black dragons wearing golden
armor briefly appeared in her mind. Melina was slowly figuring out
how to communicate with them.

She turned, startled with the door suddenly
opened. Thank goodness she still had her hat on from earlier. She
knew that Zuk would be delivering more food for Hobbler
anytime.

Gramps was in the bathroom at the moment,
but that wouldn’t be a problem as Zuk usually just set the bucket
of scraps right inside the door if he didn’t see her grandfather.
Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw it was Calo. She didn’t
know how she knew it, she just did.

He stood still, his eyes fastened on her.
Melina slowly straightened, holding the mop tightly between her
palms as she stared back at him. The mop was a homemade contraption
that she had made out of a piece of pipe and her grandfather’s old
shirt. There had been something comforting in cleaning the old
fashion way. Now, the ‘mop’ was helping to hold her up as her legs
grew shaky the longer he stared at her.

“I…” Calo cleared his throat before giving
her a lopsided grin. “I’m Calo.”

His gruff voice washed over her even as his
grin melted her heart. He looked like he was as nervous to be there
as she was to see him. She backed up a step when he took a slight
step forward. He immediately froze again.

“I won’t hurt you,” he said in a soft voice.
“I just want to talk to you.”

Mel looked at him in uncertainty. Part of
her wanted to shout out YES, PLEASE TALK ALL YOU WANT, while the
rational part of her knew that it would be too dangerous. Knowing
she didn’t have any other choice, she lowered her head and shook
it.

“Please,” he pleaded. “I promise not to come
closer… well, for now. Can you understand me?”

Melina peeked up at him again as he held his
hand out. His face was tight with tension. The slight sound of
desperation in his voice confused her. He sounded like he really
wanted to talk with her.

The flash of another image in her mind made
her start. The image of a topaz and black dragon snapping and
straining made her dizzy for a moment. Raising a hand to her head,
she closed her eyes and touched her temple.

“What is it? Are you ill?” Calo asked
anxiously.

Melina’s eyes opened at the same time as her
grandfather stepped out of the office area. She could tell her
Gramps was shocked to see Calo standing there. He was probably even
more stunned to see that she was as well.

“What the hell are you doing in here?” Cal
demanded.

Melina turned and slipped between the
crates, pressing her back against the cold metal as she listened to
Calo try to explain that he just wanted to talk her. A silly smile
crossed her lips when her Gramps cut him off and started giving him
the riot act about coming in without warning.

Her fingers moved to the pendant around her
neck as another image of the dragon, this time burying its head
under its front claws, appeared. She bit her lip to keep from
laughing out loud. Melina remembered her grandfather using that
same tone of voice when he was lecturing Stuart after he caught
Stuart kissing her. Calo was probably feeling about six inches high
right now instead of six and half feet. Gramps had just that
perfect touch at times.

The next day, Calo was standing outside the
doors to the repair bay with his hands held out as if he was
gripping something in between them. He wished he was, namely the
human boy’s neck on the other side of the door. If the kid came at
him with a shovel one more time he was going to throttle the
kid.

“What is wrong?” Ha’ven asked, raising his
eyebrow at Calo. “You look like you are ready to kill someone.”

“I am,” Calo growled.

“Let me guess, the youngling?” Ha’ven said,
folding his arms across his chest. “If it helps, I don’t think you
are in much danger from him.”

Calo threw Ha’ven a heated glance. “I know
that,” he snapped before he released a deep sigh.

Ha’ven stepped back as Calo’s symbiot walked
between them followed by Cree’s. Each of them held different items
in their mouths. He tilted his head to the side to see what Cree’s
symbiot was holding as it walked by them and into the repair
bay.

“What is that?” Ha’ven asked when he
couldn’t figure out what it was before the doors closed behind
it.

Calo sighed again. “It is called a Teddy
Bear,” he replied. “Cree had one replicated after talking to
Carmen. She said that younglings like them and that even many
adults have them. It is to give comfort. Carmen said that many
times they are given to those that have suffered a great
trauma.”

“How can a piece of cloth cut into the shape
of animal give comfort? It is not even alive,” Ha’ven asked with a
frown.

“I don’t know,” Calo growl in a low voice.
“Carmen understands humans. If she says it will help, then it is
worth a try.”

“Why do you care if the boy has suffered
great trauma? I wouldn’t waste my time with the boy. Creon
mentioned returning the old man and his grandson back to their
world. If I were you, I would let the old man deal with the
youngling’s problems,” Ha’ven said with a shrug.

“When is he thinking of taking them back?”
Calo asked through clenched teeth.

“After we find Vox, I think. We have to
rescue the hairy fur ball before he has all the fun of kicking the
Antrox’s asses,” Ha’ven grinned. “I can’t wait to rub this in his
furry face.”

Calo groaned and ran his hands through his
hair. He stepped forward and leaned his forehead against the cold,
metal doors. He felt like banging his head. This gave him and Cree
even less time than they thought.

“Why do you care what happens to the
youngling?” Ha’ven asked, resting his hand on Calo’s shoulder. “Is
there anything I can do to help?”

Calo turned his head. “The boy is our true
mate,” he admitted in a quiet voice. “Without him… without him,
Cree and I will not make it much longer. Our dragons… it is harder
for Twin Dragons… our dragons feel everything twice. The feelings
of desolation are magnified twice as much as a normal dragon would
feel. Our dragons are also naturally more aggressive, which is what
makes us such great warriors in battle. Unfortunately, we need a
balance, otherwise… otherwise we lose control of our dragons,” he
finished in a low voice.

He didn’t know why he was telling Ha’ven
this. The Curizan wasn’t a dragon shifter so he had no way of
knowing what it felt like to have something inside you that was on
the verge of being out of control. He couldn’t understand the
darkness that threatened not only him, but everyone around him.

The only one who could truly understand was
Cree. Now, if they did not somehow convince Mel to give them a
chance, they were destined to die either by their own hand before
that darkness escaped or by the hand of their father. It was a
promise their father had given them should they return without a
mate.

“I understand what you are going through,”
Ha’ven said seriously. “If there is anything I can do to help you,
ask. I will do whatever I can. I owe you that and more.”

Calo looked into the dark violet eyes
staring seriously back at him. He knew that Ha’ven was thinking of
him and Cree’s assistance when they rescued him from Hell. They
asked nothing for rescuing the Curizan Prince. They did what was
asked of them in a time of great deceit and turmoil. Still, there
was something else in the glowing eyes that told him that perhaps
the Curizan did understand what he was talking about.