Child of the Loch (Child of the Loch Series) (8 page)

Thrusts and slashes were met and missed. Each of us tiring but not before we killed or maimed one or more of our attackers, even
Dranco
felled a few with claw, teeth and fire. The loud roaring of swords, men and dragon’s breath stained the air with their sizzling melodies.

I kicked a large man in the knee mayhap a bit higher and watched as he fell upon my sword. He was the first man I had killed but not the last man dead at my hand that night. I felt sick with the thought of a life wasted, but I only had time to mourn him for a moment before I continued with the knowledge that the lives of those I loved were in danger.

My father raised his large hands and flames shot through the air
laying
to waste everyone in their paths. The
oaflings
fought side by side cutting through man after man, while Ella and Tine skewered more than 9 between them. Sean fought beside me guarding me with his sword and claws.

When we outnumbered James and his men, they retreated into the brush.
Dranco
took chase from the air and ogres on the ground but our enemies were gone in a flash with no scent or trail.

My friends and family dragged back into camp. I assessed them each in turn, not noticing the smaller number. I could heal them or at least I had hoped that I could. Everyone seemed to be fine with only bruises and slices that would heal quickly and were covered with blood that was not their own.
Dranco
had a small dagger embedded in his shoulder but it only amounted to a splinter for him.

Howls interrupted my triage, Kane stood over the body of Sheen, who was slashed nearly in two. The young ogre was alive but barely and he’d lost a lot of his blood. I took Sean by the hand hoping our gifts together would help me heal Sheen.

My tears and soothing words began to knit Kane’s bones and muscle together but the weakness of his blood loss threatened his life. He remained unconscious.  I knew that the identical twins had to share the same blood type from a TLC television show so we fashioned a transfusion between the brothers. I transfused a bit of my blood too. I hoped and prayed my quick healing would help Sheen to live and not kill him.

The healing took many days and transfusions. We would not go forward without everyone being ready for the fight that lay ahead. No one mentioned my father’s fire at his behest. I couldn’t grasp his shame regarding his gift. I saw it as rare and lovely. It would be a great help to us in the future though. There was to be a fight, a battle, and a war.

I had started this journey with James, as a friend and companion, but now my wrath would only be quenched with his death or mine. He would die with tortuous pains for what he had done to my friends.

With our thoughts of revenge growing stronger, the orange wheat fields thinned and became purple, grassy knolls and rocky cliffs that surrounded a pool of crystalline waters. The winds grew sharp and great shadows passed in and out of the clouds.

A black dragon swooped into view with fire in its eyes. Though smaller,
Dranco
slipped his reigns and met the dragon mid-air with a long trumpeting warning. The dragon stopped immediately, bowing low almost crawling upon its hard belly.

It turned and
lead
us to the edge of the lands that melted into sandy beaches. Two elegant dragons, a silver soft featured female with a golden outline above her brow and a strong, dark scarred male with a similar golden marking greeted us. When they landed on the beaches, their dragon forms became human.

The woman was shrouded in a white silk toga with wings protruding on her smooth back. Her silver hair was pinned in a golden crown and her feet were bare. The male became a handsome raven haired man with scars all over his exposed skin and wings. He, too, wore a silky tunic and a golden crown.

The woman trumpeted and
Dranco
answered, his purple scales had all dissolved into hard, thick golden ones. Then he hunched low taking the form of a handsome young man and on top of his black curls was a golden crown. The three dragons embraced one another with arms and wings.

My father and I bended on one knee, while my men and Ella followed. The woman smiled and nodded for us to rise. Her voice was sweet like honey.

“Rise Queen. I am
Selenia
, Queen of this Dragon Hoards; this is my King,
Gerwin
, and our progeny,
Solern
.”

I replied in kind, “Grand
Selenia
, I am Josephina McDonnell, granddaughter of King
Misha
McDonnell, the Second, next in line for the
Lochoan
throne. This is my father,
Jacoh
, my guardians and friends, Sheen, Kane, Tine, and Ella and this is my ally, Sean, 10th son of
Chian
, Sovereign of the Ogres of the Western Wood.”

Solern
stepped forward and held out his hands. I touched his face and his shoulder that bore the scar of our battle. We never spoke but I knew he loved me as dear as any sister. If he was not needed in the dragon lands, he would stay with me long past the ending of our quest.

“My progeny says that you have named him
Dranco
and adopted him as a member of your fellowship. We sent him on the journey just before his “Awakening,” when he would choose a dragon and human form, while seeking his fortune. It is quite serendipitous that he would meet an ally along the way.”

“Yes, Queen, though I am not certain why it was important that he kept his true nature to himself. We have fought and lived with
Dranco
---
Solern
--- for months.”

“I’m sorry young Queen it is the dragon way. His is a more precarious position than most, only those of the royal line can take human form and the numbers of the Dragon Hoards have decreased. When the dragon riders left us, our decline began. It is imperative that he choose a mate in the next months. With their coupling she will be bound to him for life and able to take two forms, no matter what her race. This will not only add another dragon to us but also their progeny. Our lives are almost up, though our human forms appear young we are so very old and the parents of many progeny, who have lived and died. He is our last hope for the royal line. Without a leader with our abilities we could be hunted to extinction.”

Shocked by the death of the Dragon Hoards, I asked, “Queen
Selenia
, may I propose a revival of the dragon riders? I love
Solern
as a brother and friend. Perhaps we could help one another? I would consider us allies and it would honor us greatly if my guardians and I would be the first of the revival.”

The happy Queen glowed, “
Joinings
after all this time.
Blessings on us all.”

Without a word,
Gerwin
flew into the sky blowing fire, smoke and trumpeting growls. The sky grew black with dragons of every color that came to his calls.

They landed filling up the beaches. The queen raised her wings and there was complete silence in the hordes. She spoke in dragon and told them of our new found alliance. Six dragons stayed as the rest of the hordes took to the skies.

The dragons approached us. A male and female mated pair chose Ella and Tine. A set of twin dragons, the same in every way chose Sheen and Kane. Two large males, one older and one younger shimmied forward for Sean and
Jacoh
. I was thoroughly disappointed, but the Queen only smiled and let out a call.

A beautiful bronze dragon with glowing orange eyes floated to a stop before me. Her soft features and long eyelashes told me she was female. I admired the orange and golden markings on her scales.

The Queen turned to us, “Dragon riders, your dragons have chosen you. They sense themselves in you. Come Ella and
Manea
.”

Ella and the Jade dragon looked as though they belonged together as they stood tall before the ruler of the Dragon Hoard. The Queen's hand became a talon.

“Give me your hand and claw.” When Ella and
Manea
did as told the Queen quickly held them both.

“Scale and Skin, Skin and Scale you are joined in life and joined in death. You share everything the joy and pains of life, even your thoughts are one.”

She took a thick lock of Ella’s hair and a dead scale from
Manea
. With ancient words and a tear from her eye, she crushed them in her hand and the hair was inside the scale. A silver chain made from the Queen’s own scales was threaded through it and the scale was placed around Ella’s neck. When I listened to Ella, I heard
Manea
threaded through her mind like the chain threaded through the scale. Their souls were joined. What one wanted the other knew and what pain one felt so did the other.

The Queen repeated the ritual for Tine and his dragon, Tyro, Sheen and
Jora
, followed by Kane and
Kinshi
, Sean and
Gai
, and my father and
Corso
. She saved me for last.

“Young Queen of the Loch, your gift is sight so you must have a flesh bond with
Sanandra
.” She looked at the dragon lovingly. “The others would not choose you for this reason. However, it seems that you are kindred spirits. She is the last of the mountain ice dragons.
Sanandra
flew here when her hoards were demolished by disease and war. Like you, youngling, she is a queen and far from home.”

I looked into
Sanandra’s
orange eyes and our minds dissolved into one. “Majestic Ice Queen, will you bond with me? Will you share my joy and my pain? Will you share my royal life that you were denied?” I asked to the mind that joined mine.

Sanandra
answered, “A flesh bond is difficult but we will be as one. I will share your council and be yours as you are mine.”

We turned and nodded to the Queen in unison. Her hand became a talon and she painfully cut several live scales from
Sanandra
. Then it was my turn and from my forearm she took a large chunk of flesh. Tears flowed from our eyes.

“Scale and Flesh, Flesh and Scale you are joined in life and joined in death. You share every joy and pain of life.”

The Queen spit on the flesh and scales, they sizzled like they were fried. Finally, she encased them in her hands and spoke more ancient words. When she opened her hand, the scale was around the flesh and chain was threaded through it. Both would be preserved for as long as we lived.

I felt
Sanandra’s
pain, so I took some of my tears and rubbed them as a salve on her wound. The wound immediately closed and stopped hurting, but there were no scales to replace those that were removed. She would always have a vulnerable place where scales would not protect her, just as I would always have the scar on my healed arm. We would always be reminded of our bond.

The next days were spent with all of us learning to be two souls in one mind. It was quite a change to feel everything that our dragons felt. Ella and Tine grew closer as did their dragons. Each was a mated pair with hopes of long lives together, many offspring and a swift end to the coming battle. They all fed off of their love and respect for one another.

The twins and their dragons shared a twin bond; it was as though four minds melded together into one. The twins could not share each other’s pain but as I listened I heard them all. My breath caught as Kane would ride across the sky with
Jora
and Sheen with
Kinshi
. They would, then, jump in mid-air switching dragons. Their laughter reached the ground as we watched.

Sean and
Gai
bonded easily and seemed to follow
Sanandra
and I like silent shadows. They were acting as our protectors and we each thought that our protectors were handsome. Amazing how we could not tell where one feeling ended and the other began!

My father and
Corso
loved fire. They would take turns making rings of it for the others to fly through. Even though, we were not allowed to mention the fire, it was a joy to watch them in unison creating great flames.

Solern
was our teacher. At times, he would join us in the sky as a dragon asking us to mirror his movements and other times he would wait for us on the ground directing us in various maneuvers. We were learning how to be warriors of the air.

   All of us spent days and weeks learning among the dragons, before I went down to the water’s edge. I had been there before for water and bathing but this time was different. A young woman lay there nearly naked. She was covered in seaweed and was mortally wounded. A bite mark was on the side of her hip. When the water washed over her, a fish-like tail appeared.  Unsure of myself, I called for
Sanandra
and
Solern
.

When they told me, she was a maiden of the sea and that she was one of the many people living in the waters of Dragon Seas. I checked her pulse and found that the maiden was alive so I cut my hand with a shell and gently placed it over her wound. The woman coughed and opened her eyes.