Chapter 17 #3
“My own,” Jeros said, his tone filled with worry.
Lexi ignored him. Mama dragon needed her freedom. “Release her Chotenth. Prove to me your fealty is not just meaningless words.” She turned and looked at the dragon. No revenge. Only freedom and the safety of your babies. Agreed?
The dragon bowed her head in a regal nod. “Agreed, she of the prophecy. Ye have my word, I shall not harm the Fae of the Fires—even though they deserve it.”
Lexi turned back to Chotenth. “She gave me her word. No revenge. She merely wants her freedom and the safety of her young.”
“Ye would risk our lives for a dragon?” The deputy major spat. It sizzled when it hit the ground.
“Then get behind me, coward,” Lexi dared. “Use me as a shield. I know you can release her from a distance with magic.” Actually, she didn’t know that, but surely that was true.
“I am no coward!” The angry Fae charged toward her, drawing so close that his oppressive heat almost knocked her back a step.
“Neither am I.” Lexi held the trident across her body, ready to whack him with it, if need be. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Jeros and Darkcord approaching with swords drawn. Aylryd joined them. “Stay back. This is between me and Chotenth.”
“The hell it is,” Jeros said, baring his teeth like an enraged beast.
“Jeros, please.” She gave him a pleading look. This was her issue to handle. He needed to understand that. “Please,” she mouthed.
Teeth still bared in a displeased grimace, he widened his stance and stayed put.
She turned back to Chotenth. “The dragon will be freed. No Fae will be harmed. She has given me her word, and a dragon’s word is their bond. Trust me.”
His eyes glowed a hotter red, making his bronzed face appear even more metallic. “And if she lies? If she seeks revenge?”
“I will protect you,” Lexi said. “I’ll climb into the cage with her and stay in front of her snout.” While she had muzzled many an angry dog without getting bit, she wasn’t quite sure about a nervous mother dragon. All she could do was try.
“And once she is freed? What is to keep her from returning to our homeland and wreaking carnage?”
“It’s time for the dragon’s great sleep. I am sure she would much rather go to the mountains with her young and her kin. The other dragons didn’t destroy you, even though I am certain you tortured them just as much. Neither will she.”
Chotenth shifted with a deep breath, then waved his troops farther back still. “I will stay here and remove the cage. I am not a coward.”
Lexi nodded and went to the cage. Before climbing inside, she gave the dragon a reassuring smile. “It’s going to be all right as long as everyone stays calm. No revenge. No retaliation. We’re making a fresh start and going to keep the peace for your precious babies. Right?”
“Ye have my word, she of the prophecy, and the word of Ursat, Lady of Fire, has never been broken. It is the Fae of the Fires who cannot be trusted. They wish to see ye dead. Chotenth wishes to be overlord.”
“Well, we’ll keep that between us for now, but I appreciate the warning.”
“Place yer trident where I might shed a tear upon it.”
Even though Lexi thought the request a bit odd, she did so.
Ursat allowed a single teardrop to fall upon the base of the three prongs, close to where Incendium’s crystal had been embedded. As soon as the dragon’s tear hit the silver of the staff, it crystallized into a breathtaking diamond so large that it filled the space where the last gem had been set.
“It will protect ye from them,” Ursat said. “My gift to ye as thanks for saving my children.”
Close to tears at the touching gesture, Lexi cleared her throat. “Thank you, Ursat. This means more to me than you will ever know.” She smiled. “Now, let’s get you freed and your babies safe.” She turned and pointed the trident at Chotenth. “Remove the cage. Now.”
The major’s eyes narrowed when he spotted the crystal, but he responded with a curt nod. With a wave of his hand, the cage disappeared.
Ursat stretched her long neck and her great, silvery wings. Then she bent and touched her nose to each of her eggs and seemed to smile. Ever so gently, she scooped them up into her mouth and took off, immediately soaring high and disappearing into the clouds.
Proud and a little sad at not being able to see the baby dragons when they hatched, Lexi turned her focus back to Chotenth, keeping in mind Ursat’s warning.
The warrior’s stance shouted that he was about to do something, and she didn’t figure it would be anything good.
She was at a disadvantage, too. The glen full of the fiery Fae was behind her, and Chotenth was at her front.
“It’s over,” she warned the deputy major, knowing he would understand.
“No,” he calmly said. “Ye are an impostor. It has barely begun.” He lobbed a swirling ball of fire her way.
The dragon diamond in her scepter caught the blast and shot it back at him.
The warriors in the glen marched forward, their fiery sabers drawn and focused on her.
“Jeros! Run!” she screamed as she held the trident higher, praying the precious jewel could protect her from the onslaught.
Jeros didn’t listen. He lunged at Chotenth, swinging his mighty sword. Metal against metal rang out as his weapon clanged against the deputy major’s bronze armor. Blasts of fire shot out as the Fae men battled.
Her face streaked with hot, angry tears, she faced the advancing army. “I command you to halt. Chotenth is not your overlord.”
They didn’t listen, simply drew closer, slowly advancing with their flames glowing ever brighter.
Then a deafening roar shook the earth, making her stumble to one side. White hot flames shot down from the heavens, obliterating the Fae of the Fires’ forces. Not a single warrior remained in what seemed like the blink of an eye. Smoldering rows of ash now filled the glen.
Lexi sobbed her relief, then swung about and charged forward to stop Chotenth from harming Jeros. She pointed the trident at the battling men and shook it. “There has to be a way to fire this thing.”
The ground shook over and over as one by one, the dragons descended and settled all around her. Corvit landed closest. “I can end this, mighty one. I recommend ye allow me to do so. Chotenth will not change. None of the Fae of the Fires will.”
As much as she hated to admit it, Lexi knew the dragon spoke the truth. “End it.”
Jeros parried Chotenth’s blazing blade and kicked the deputy major, making him stumble backwards.
Corvit was there to catch the warrior up in his jaws and swallow him whole, not even pausing to crunch on Chotenth’s bones.
After thumping his scaly chest as though the fiery Fae was trying to fight his way back out, Corvit rumbled with a loud belch, then smacked his leathery lips.
“Beg pardon, she of the prophecy,” he said.
Lexi covered her mouth and tried not to gag. She was not made for this. “Thank you, Corvit. You saved my life again.”
The dragon lowered his head in a graceful nod. “Ye saved Ursat and her young with no thought to yer own safety. All dragon kind are indebted to ye.” He nodded again at Jeros. “Might I recommend to Yer Majesty that me and mine be allowed to travel to the Fae of the Fires’ homeland and finish this?”
Jeros pulled Lexi close, tipped her face up to his, and locked eyes with her. “They must be destroyed. They are incapable of casting aside their cruel ways. This is not the first time I have heard of the torture their captives have been forced to endure.”
While she understood, she hated it. No race should have to be wiped out because they were deemed too demonic to coexist with others. But she nodded, knowing that if they didn’t do this now, that years from now, they would regret it. “Do it.”
Jeros tucked her to his side and bowed at Corvit. “Avenge yer kind, my friend. Do what should have been done long ago.”
The dragon lowered his head until he was eye level with Lexi. “This is the right thing to do, she of the prophecy. Dinna fash yerself over their loss,” he thought to her in their private way of communicating.
She appreciated his reassurance. “Thank you—and with them gone, hopefully, you and yours can get some sleep.”
As he lifted off and hovered over them, he seemed to smile. “We are thankful to ye, she of the prophecy. Pass the dragon diamond down to yer children. It will keep them safe.”
“Bless you, Corvit. Bless you and every dragon in existence.” She waved as the horde turned south and disappeared into the clouds.