Chapter 10 #2
I flap my wings hard, and we're carried higher and higher into the stratosphere. I follow him closely. I can see him darting in and out of view, his pale form blending in with the clouds. His dragon is smaller than mine, so he moves quicker than I can and then he disappears suddenly.
I slow down and glide through the wisps of cotton, looking around for him.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see him bearing down on me from the right.
I bank left, and I see too late that he's got something in his claw. A short knife. Tiny. I would bet anything that it’s covered in dragonsbane.
He aims for my heart and throws it like a tiny javelin.
It just misses and, realizing he's failed, he plummets headfirst towards the earth to get away.
As I give chase, the coast comes into view, dark waves crashing against the shores.
I follow him, diving down as fast as I can.
He's not escaping me again. He heads towards a weather battered island and, to my eternal shock, he changes, stumbling onto the lone hill, and turning to face me, he already knows he's lost.
I change as well, landing on the rocks and stalking towards him.
‘How could you do this? I thought you cared about our kind!’
He doesn’t answer. There’s madness in his eyes and I shake my head at him.
‘Though you've been a thorn in my side for too long, Aziel, I would still have let you return after banishment. But then you took my mate!’
His jaw clenches at my admission, and I bear my teeth at him. ‘Yes. My Mate. She carries the first dragon to be born to our faction in over twenty years.’
He splutters. ‘That's impossible!’
‘No. The doctor has already found evidence. Mari carries one of our kind, and if Del is right, there will be more. With the humans.’
‘Humans and dragons will never interbreed!’
‘You're living in the past, Aziel. There’s no future for our faction there.’
He screams something unintelligible and runs forward. At the last moment, I realize he has another one of those small knives in his hand.
He pierces my forearm, and I scream in rage, putting my hands around his head and snapping his neck. I fling him to the side, giving him no more thought than I would an ant, but the dragonsbane that was coating the knife is already coursing through me. I don’t have much time.
I don’t wait even a second. I run towards the cliff edge and jump off of it, morphing into my dragon and gliding across the surface of the water, hoping that I have enough of the antidote still in my system that I'll make it back.
But I can feel the poison sapping at my resources already.
It was a concentrated dose, much stronger than whatever has been put into my food for the past year or so.
It's meant to kill me quickly. I fly fast but I’m flagging by the time I see the mountain, and all I can think is that I have to make it back to Mari. I have to.
I half crash into the entrance hanger. Unlike earlier, there are now dragons milling around. A couple of them gasp as I take my human form, using pretty much the last of my strength to do so.
‘Mari,’ I say weakly. ‘Where is she?’
‘Get him to the med bay!’
I'm put on a stretcher, and then time seems to leap forward, and I'm suddenly in the surgery room. Someone's screaming. Del is standing over me, looking concerned.
‘Dragonsbane,’ I whisper weakly.
She nods. ‘I know, just hang tight. I'm giving you a full dose of the antidote. This should counteract it. It's lucky I had a couple left.’
I grasp her hand weakly, and she smiles, giving my shoulder a squeeze. ‘Hang in there. You'll be okay in a few hours.’
I hear another scream, and I realize it’s Mari. I try to get off the table, but Del stops me.
‘You’re no good to her like this, Commander,’ she tells me with a pat to my chest. ‘Your mate is in good hands. Let me work.’
She leaves me and all I can do, to my eternal shame, is watch as my mate writhes in pain. She's holding onto the bed, standing, scrunching up the covers with her fingers. She pounds at the bed and curses.
‘It hurts!’ she screams.
‘I know, but it shouldn't be long now,’ Del says soothingly. ‘Everything is going okay. You don't need to panic, I promise.’
Mari nods jerkily, and her eyes find mine.
‘I want to be with Drey too,’ she says.
Tor and Brax, who are hovering close by, help her to my bed, and she grabs my hand tightly.
She squeals and squeezes my hand as tight as she can.
‘I wish I could take this for you,’ I say, and she gives me a wan smile.
‘I think you've taken enough for me,’ she puffs, looking at the wound on my shoulder that’s black from the poison.
‘It’s time,’ Del says.
Mari staggers back to her bed.
‘You just have to stand, okay? I'll tell you when it’s time.’
Mari nods and Brax and Tor take her hands.
Del does something underneath the hospital gown. ‘I need you to push now. Okay, everything's okay. You just need to push as hard as you can. Stop when I tell you.’
Mari pushes, her face scrunching up as she screams.
‘You're doing great,’ Del tells her. ‘A little more and—’
I hear a wail, and I crane my head to see.
Del cuts the umbilical cord and her assistant makes sure the baby's airways are clear. The doctor gives us a smile.
‘The first dragon baby born in two decades,’ she says with a grin. ‘A healthy little drake. You did great, Mari. Take him, Tor.’
She swaddles the baby and gives him to Tor, whose eyes widen as he stares at the baby. His son. Brax’s son. Our son.
‘Okay, sweetheart, we're almost done,’ Del says to Mari, giving her a shot. ‘This will help you with the rest.’
‘The rest?’ Mari asks, faintly.
‘Just the afterbirth. It's important that it comes out. But then you can sleep.’
Tor and Brax bring the baby over, and I stare at him in wonder.
‘He's perfect,’ I whisper, staring at the little shock of dark hair and his round face. ‘Perfect.’
I look over at Mari and see that she’s in the bed being wheeled over to us. The baby is given to her, and she takes her first look at him, her eyes wide in wonder.
‘He’s beautiful,’ she coos, and her expression turns thoughtful. ‘He looks human. Are you sure he’s a little dragon?’
Del nods and grins down at him. ‘I’m sure. He won’t change for a while and when he does, he won’t be able to breathe fire until he’s in his twenties, so you won’t need to worry about that yet. Congratulations.’
Mari takes Del’s hand. ‘Thank you, Del.’
She winks. ‘No problem. Now,’ she straightens with a gleam in her eye and her laptop in her hand. ‘It’s time for me to give all of those Aziel-loving assholes out there a little dose of truth and an even bigger dose of female anger.’
I chuckle. ‘What are you going to tell them?’
Her grin is wide as she steps out of the clinic. ‘Everything.’
Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed Mari’s story.