Derek sighs and looks to Sebastian for support, but Zara purrs against his chest, snuggled tight and looking quite content. The Earth Druid shrugs and I smile at the scene of him looking so nurturing.
"You all realize we could lose our license to practice law for this, right?" asks Derek.
"Maybe it's time we found a new calling anyways," Liam says, surprising us all.
"You don't want to be a lawyer anymore?" I ask.
"I didn't say that," he says, "but when you are immortal, it does well to change things up a bit from time to time. I've been thinking a lot about the past and what our future might hold. I'm just not sure I want to spend too many more years at this."
Derek looks beyond exasperated, but shakes his head. "We can't have this conversation right now. We have to go. Particularly if we are kidnapping two children."
"We are," I confirm, smiling at the baby dragon and trying not to look at Lyx's body lying by the water. "We should go.” But we don’t leave right away. Without exchanging words, we all pause before the water and stand in silence moment. In honor of Lyx's life, in mourning of her death. Then we turn to the carriage.
Derek, still annoyed with all of our plans, sits up front to. Liam joins him, leaving me in the back with the two kids, Sebastian and Elijah.
The plan is to head straight to the castle and to avoid any confrontation on the way.
But, that plan is shit upon within fifteen minutes of driving.
The steady rainfall that began earlier turns into a full scale storm, cracking the sky open and shifting the earth in its power and force. Everyone looks at me, but I shrug. "I'm not doing this."
The horses neigh in panic, pulling against each other and toppling our carriage to the side.
Sebastian clutches the dragon, and I reach for Ana, holding her close and cocooning us in a ball of air to cushion our fall.
Still, we land hard, and I know I'll have bruises tomorrow to tell this tale.
Liam rushes to help pull Ana out of the carriage just as a fire ball lands a few feet away, singeing the earth and nearly incinerating us.
The baby dragon hiccups and a stream of water flows out of her mouth, quenching the flames, but another fire ball hits to our right and Ana screams and hides behind me.
"What the hell is happening?" I shout, using my magic to quench the fires as fast as they appear.
The wind is a frenzied thing, whipping around us as flames continue to rain from the sky and burn the earth. I look up and see them. Two giant dragons fighting amidst the thunderous clouds. I recognize the red one. Dath'Racul, the Fire Dragon. But the other is new to me. It's a pale blue dragon with shimmering white scales around its face. "That's the Air Dragon?" I ask.
Elijah nods. "Ventus'Arak. He and Dath'Racul don't always see eye to eye."
I snort. "That's pretty clear."
Through the wind we can hear them speaking… or rather shouting at each other. "You killed her!" Ventus says.
Racul roars, sending another fire ball flaming through the sky. "I did no such thing."
"If not you, then who? You always hated her for leaving the Council," Arak says.
"That does not mean I killed her," he bellows.
Two more dragons fly up. One a deep green and the other dark as pitch. Ra'Terr, the Darkness Dragon, I recognize as the one who guards the prison. But I've never seen the earth dragon before. She's magnificent. Her scales sparkle under the Dragon's Breath and look like emeralds shining in the sky.
"That's Brock'Mir," Elijah says. "And this is what remains of the Dragon Council," he says with sadness in his voice. "To lose two dragons so close together is a true tragedy for our world."
"Brothers, cease this bickering. We must work together to find out who killed our sister," Brock'Mir says, but they ignore her and continue fighting, shaking the earth and splitting the sky with their fury.
I fear their wrath will not end until another dragon has been killed, very likely taking us with them.
"We need to get out of here," I shout, as I survey the damaged, overturned carriage.
Pulling on my power, I use the wind to right the wagon, setting it back on its wheels, but still it tilts to one side since one of them are broken. The horses are still in a panic, and I approach them cautiously, infusing myself with light as I pour peace into them. They calm quickly, despite the tumultuous storm still raging around us.
I pat one on the nose, murmuring reassuringly to them.
Before I can figure out how to fix the wheel and get us back on the road, the Dragon's Breath above us begins to shimmer and stretch, a tear appearing in the fabric of the world itself, revealing a true wonder. A dragon, the largest I've ever seen—easily three times the size of the others, flies through the tear and hovers in the air. Her wings are stretched wide and she is covered in golden scales that glow like the sun. She lowers herself to earth, shifting into human form as she does, until a woman stands there, long hair golden and wavy, an intricate golden crown on her head, and golden wings draped over her back like a cloak. Her skin is iridescent and shines brightly and her eyes are golden orbs. She wears a gown that shimmers with flecks of gold that catch in the light, and her presence causes all of the dragons to stop their arguing and land before her, turning back to their human form even as they bow before her.
"Who's that?" I whisper to Elijah, whose jaw has dropped in amazement.
"That… the gods help us, that is Amir'Amora'Akar. The Mother of Dragons."
The Mother
Out of the ash
I rise with my red hair
And I eat men like air.’
~Slyvia Plath, Lady Lazarus
I'm momentarily paralyzed by the wonder of her, but then, as Elijah attempts to pull me into a curtsy, I take Ana's hand and usher her back into the carriage which wobbles with her weight but doesn't tip over.
"Stay in here and stay hidden," I whisper, and I take the baby dragon from Sebastian and hand her to the girl. "And keep Zara hidden. Can you do that?"
Ana nods, her eyes wide and scared, but she doesn't hesitate to take the infant.
I close the door behind them and hope they go unnoticed, because shit's about to get real, and I'm just going out on a limb here, but I'm pretty sure it will not go well if all the dragons in the world discover we are trying to kidnap the only baby dragon in existence. I mean, I could be misreading the situation, but given the glares I'm getting from the Night brothers, I'm pretty sure I'm not.
"Why do my children fight amongst themselves?" the Mother of Dragons demands, her voice carrying over time and space and into the very souls of each of us, or so it feels.
Dath'Racul looks cowed—and I rather enjoy seeing the arrogant ass taken down a few notches by mommy. But then I look at the golden dragon again and feel my insides coil and wrap around themselves and my brief delight at his discomfort turns to reluctant empathy. This is not a woman to mess with.
"Mother," Racul says, his voice still powerful despite his humbled position. "Ventus attacked me, accusing me of taking the life of Lyx, but it is not true."
Amora seems to grow in size as her anger envelops her like a cloak. "Two of my children have died. Two immortal beings of ultimate power ripped from the worlds. It is unthinkable. Who has done this thing?" she demands. "It was not one of you, it cannot be one of you. That would be beyond blasphemous."