To Match A Dragon’s Fire (Sulfur & Spice #1)

2

Kieran

Dragon Tales

My axe hit its mark, splitting the log in two. I pulled the handle, freeing the blade, and spun the wood round so the two halves were horizontal before I swung again.

Four cuts fell to the ground in perfect synchronization, almost in tune with the classical crescendo playing through my earbuds.

I grabbed each piece of split wood and tossed them into the pile to be stacked. The song changed to Für Elise just as I heaved another cut round onto the chopping block. I readied my axe, feeling my muscles tense and release to the haunting notes, and took another swing.

Bark chips flew as sweat dripped down my back and dried in the cool night air. The floodlights of the compound illuminated my work area, though I didn’t need them to see. They were lit as a beacon for the shadows circling overhead. A lighthouse of sorts when my home was anything but.

Not anymore .

One of the shadows loomed over the rock wall near the creek, perched more birdlike than beast and sitting in silence.

I split another round before acknowledging him. “It’s been a while.”

The shadows folded themselves around Lucan’s back as he stood in his human form. A judgmental look hardened his face. “How can you listen to that British screeching?”

Not this again. I yanked my axe from the round. “Beethoven was German. And your unhealthy obsession with the Brits is outdated. We weren’t even there when they came.”

It was the same old fight.

The hint of his accent got stronger with each hotly worded blow. The strange inflection of old-world dialect from our migrations throughout the centuries mixed with bits of dragon speak we only used with each other came out during heightened moments.

I already knew his coming response, despite not seeing my cousin for the past forty years or so.

“Patrick was a Brit.” He spit the saint’s name as an insult.

Some things never changed.

“We weren’t even there. And that’s a good way to piss off an entire population.” I chuckled to myself, feeling centuries of ancient tales swirl as distorted memories.

When you lived as long as we did, our history became blurred and story-like. A shared canon with the facts altered by our ancestors to teach us our lessons .

“But Callie was there,” Lucan growled, growing even more somber at the mention of our distant relatives who’d once been persecuted.

Only a dragon could hold grudges this long.

We’d grown up on these tales of scorned beasts. Though the basalt of the causeway was still cooling when half our ancestors left éire.

Our clan put down roots over most of Europe before following the Vikings to North America.

Then came the love story between our Samoan grandmother and our Irish grandfather when their dragons met near the Pacific Ring.

But that was a tale for a happier time.

In the end, it all resulted in this. The prophecy bringing us here where the next guardian was needed until… he wasn’t.

I turned off my earbuds, killing the music, as I embedded my axe into the wood. “Callie didn’t deserve her fate. And Paiste was justified.”

Stories.

That’s all our history was.

We’re to be the stories now. My own dragon woke from his slumber inside me, sighing his discontent as a spark of his dying anger lit and smothered out. If there’s anyone left to tell them.

I put my hand on my chest to soothe my beast.

“Paiste should’ve killed them all,” Lucan grumbled. His shoulders sagged as he stared into the distance.

More great wings beat against the night sky and shadows loomed over the landing pad on the roof of the compound. Cain and his brothers of the MacAlister Clan had arrived.

Lucan bared his teeth at the flock .

“Easy, cousin. No one is fighting here.” Not tonight. Not anymore. There wasn’t anything left to fight over.

“They still blame him,” Lucan spit in disgust, turning his back on the beasts landing on my roof.

There were moments when I agreed with the MacAlisters, despite our long history of distrust, but I didn’t need to tell Lucan that. He was loyal to a fault.

Once upon a time, I’d been too.

“Malachy isn’t coming.” I knew it, but I’d hoped—I don’t know what I hoped for. My defeated gaze met Lucan’s and I saw the pain in his eyes. “You’re not staying either.”

“What’s the point?” Lucan shrugged. “As you said, it’s neutral ground. My services aren’t needed.”

All the traces of his earlier anger were gone and the ancient warrior’s face was lined with guilt.

I swallowed down my own shame as I grabbed the axe handle again. “Has he said anything?”

“Not to me.” His tone was flat, but I knew of the frustration brewing within. The three of us used to be thick as thieves. But it’d been a long time since our family gathered.

Tonight’s meeting wouldn’t be a joyous reunion either, with enemies and long-lost relatives all coming to learn the truth.

“It’s over,” I spoke what we both knew.

“Do the humans have a plan?” Lucan’s upper lip curled as he asked.

I wondered why he bothered.

Like tonight, I’d taken the lead on every final matter, including those involving the humans. My kind’s memory was long and humans had a lot to atone for .

We’d dealt with them as a courtesy in recent years as they’d advanced, but even with modern technology, they still needed us more than we needed them.

“They say they’ve done all they can. That we should be grateful they found this location.” I glanced over my shoulder to where the mountains protected the valley below.

Some hiker found the runes in the caves of the foothills and the human government had tripped over itself to get me here. The whole situation was rushed and top secret and fruitless.

I sighed. “No. They don’t have a plan. They’re more unprepared than we are, as usual.”

“Goddess help them,” Lucan said. Smoke was already curling around my cousin’s human form and jealousy tinged my beast as green as Malachy’s scales.

They’d leave me alone with this in our final hours. After everything we’d been through.

“It’s not your fault,” Lucan said as if he’d read my mind, “and no one is forcing you to do this. They weren’t there to help when it mattered. We owe them no explanation.”

“It’s the right thing and you know it,” I snapped, feeling an old and familiar anger roll through me. “I don’t run away from my responsibilities.”

My words were meant to wound him, so I shouldn’t have cared that they did.

“Then I wish you luck.” Lucan stepped back into the shadows, stretching out his arms as the atoms around merged and gathered into that of his massive dragon.

The darkness camouflaged his black and blue scales as he took to the sky, roaring a melancholy cry. One I hadn’t heard in centuries .

It spoke of hurt.

Battles lost.

Stories that never got written.

Your pain is my pain. I hear you. My dragon rolled over inside me and opened his maw, echoing my cousin’s roar.

I grabbed the wood handle in two fists, screaming our fury to the night as I raised the axe above my head and slammed it down into the dry dirt below my boots.

It barely made an indent. Compared to what She’d done, this was nothing.

Powerless despite our great size. Weak in the face of Her strength. The truth of it mocked me.

Earth didn’t want us anymore.

I left my axe and headed toward the house.

It was time to face the dragons and tell them it was over. Our time had come to an end.