Sawyer
“Draco, how strong are you when you’re a dragon?”
Draco scowled at him. “What kind of question is that?”
“The kind that I need an answer to. What can you carry? Can you fly with me on your back?”
“Of course. And I can carry quite a bit, but not for very far. You, I could carry for a long time, but anything really heavy like… I don’t know a car or something. I couldn’t move that for miles or anything.”
“Hmm.”
“What are you thinking?”
“I’m not sure. I’m just asking questions. Andvari, have you fed from Draco yet?”
“No,” Andvari answered.
“What happens if you do?”
Andvari glanced at Draco, then back at him. “I’m not entirely sure.”
“Okay, so you fed from Eduard and that seemed to be really good for you. Or was I just imagining that he had fang marks in his neck and you looked really… strong. Was that not connected?”
“It was. Certain blood packs more of a punch. Creatures such as griffin and dragon are quite powerful. Blood freely given by them is a delicacy.”
Sawyer nodded. “I figured. Draco, do you care if Andvari feeds from you sometime? I mean, I imagine he and Eduard had something worked out in the months they spent with Henry while the house was being built.”
“We did,” Andvari said.
Draco shrugged. “I don’t mind. Not if it helps you.”
Sawyer pulled him in for a quick kiss. “Thank you.”
He pulled away and looked around again. Their view was spectacular from the top of the hill.
His and Draco’s houses nestled in the valley down below.
He’d not been home in days and hadn’t even realized it.
Pearl had claimed a spot in the kitchen as her own.
A giant dog pillow had mysteriously appeared in a nice sunny spot.
It had Cecil’s name all over it. As did the bag of organic dog treats and the specialty dog food Sawyer had seen in the fridge. She was getting well spoiled.
“What are you thinking?”
Sawyer grinned. “About Pearl and how she’s gonna be Cecil’s dog if he keeps spoiling her as much as he is. Hey, could you fly with me and Andvari?”
Andvari made a face, not thrilled with the idea, but Draco simply shrugged. “Shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Okay, I want to see the woods. Henry thinks something’s out there, and the Goddess went after something back there, too. I want a view from above.”
Draco shifted, his dragon form appearing seconds after Sawyer requested it.
“Are you sure about this?” Andvari asked. “It will put you beyond the safety of the wards.”
“I’m not going to hide behind the wards forever. We’ve got to figure this out, and I know it’s important for me to be safe, but I’m going to have to take some risks too. That’s why I have guardians, I think. Maybe?”
Andvari ceded the point, then cupped his hands in front of him. “Let me give you a leg up.”
Sawyer glanced at his hands, unsure of what exactly Andvari wanted him to do.
“Use my hands like they are a stirrup on a saddle.”
“Um, I’ve never exactly ridden a horse before.”
Andvari sighed. “Left foot in my hands.”
Sawyer stepped closer to him and put his foot where he was told.
“I’m going to give you a boost. So step in my hand, then I’ll push you up so you can reach Draco’s back.”
Draco huffed, laughing at Sawyer even in his dragon form, then lowered one leg so it would be easier for Sawyer to reach.
He kept his wings folded against his sides, so Sawyer put his left foot into Andvari’s hand and pushed up.
Andvari was strong enough to lift Sawyer most of the way up and he swung his right leg over Draco’s back. He settled in with a nervous laugh.
Andvari jumped up, catching his balance on the wide expanse of Draco’s back, before pulling himself up further and flipping his leg over. He moved forward so his front was pressed tightly to Sawyer’s back and wrapped his arms around Sawyer’s waist.
“You sure about this?”
“Yes. I don’t know why, but I feel like there’s something out there I need to see. The Goddess chased after something, then Henry said he saw something too. It’s like… if something is out there watching us, I want it to know we know. Does that make sense?”
“It does. You can’t fight what you can’t see.”
“Exactly. I need for this to be a safe place for me. For us. If we have to make it safe, then we will.”
Andvari hugged Sawyer close hooking his chin over his shoulder. “Then let your dragon fly.”
Draco huffed, then unfurled his wings. Sawyer couldn’t believe how beautiful they were.
His dragon skin was mostly dark, a sooty black that showed some hints of color beneath it.
But his wings, they were the color of flames, reds, oranges, yellows, and even hints of blue.
The sun bounced off of them, and the scales shimmered as Draco moved them up, down, and they lifted into the air.
Sawyer clung onto Andvari’s arms, his thighs squeezing Draco’s back tightly. He laughed nervously. “Don’t let me fall.”
“I won’t,” Andvari promised. “Just hold onto me.”
Draco took them higher until the house was below them and the land all around was clear to his view. Sawyer couldn’t believe it. He was flying on a dragon’s back with a vampire holding him in his arms. What even was his life?
“Circle the property,” Andvari suggested.
Draco made a slight turn, easing his way further away from the house.
They passed the first ward and seconds later they crossed the second.
Sawyer couldn’t see anything. He’d hoped something would be obvious.
Some neon orange sign saying Bad Guy Here.
With a couple big arrows pointing at him for good measure.
No such luck, though. It was simply the area where he’d grown up. A few houses, but only his house, Draco’s and the new house were on their road. A couple fields were nearby but absolutely nothing looked out of place.
They flew in a circle around the entire area, the cool wind flowing over them. Sawyer flung out his arms, knowing he was safely held by Andvari, then dropped his head back onto Andvari’s shoulder.
“Faster, Draco!”
Sawyer laughed as Draco coughed out a flame, but complied, his wings flapping, then folding in as he shot downward in a dive. Andvari held him tight and Sawyer couldn’t hold back his joy. He called it out for everyone far and wide to hear. He was flying.
He heard an answering call and turned to see a crow circling behind them. It landed on one of the electric lines, screeching out its caw. “One for sadness,” Sawyer muttered. But he wasn’t feeling sad at all. He was alive.
Draco pulled them out of the dive and pushed up again. Sawyer began to get the hang of it, feeling Draco’s muscles bunching and releasing between his legs as his wings worked to keep them in the air. He understood why people loved riding horses so much.
There was something so amazing about this power, knowing he could be thrown into the air in a moment, but that Draco would never let him fall.
That a creature as powerful as Draco would even allow him on his back.
Sawyer shivered, then reached down to pet one of the hardened scales that covered Draco’s back.
He heard another caw, then another. Several crows made noise as they circled and landed beside their buddy on the power lines.
Draco continued his circle, but the crows now had Sawyer’s attention.
Another landed. Another. Their caws become louder, a cry that beat at Sawyer’s ears even louder than the whistling of the wind around him.
He counted them as they landed in a line. Five, six, seven…. Eight.
Eight for dying.
“Andvari,” Sawyer said nervously.
But before he could finish his thought another rush of noise sounded behind them.
A flock of black birds…no ravens, flew at them.
Bigger than any he’d ever seen. Easily three times the size of the row of crows.
They flew through the air, heading for them like dark missiles against the bright summer sky.
Hundreds of them appearing from the depths of the trees.
“Draco!”
Draco circled as Andvari pulled Sawyer even tighter against him.
“Fly, Dragon. I’ve got him.”
Andvari’s arm became a vice around Sawyer’s chest. The muscles in his legs bunched as he held tightly onto Draco’s back. Sawyer heard the swish of Andvari’s sword being pulled from its scabbard.
The ravens were close now, too close. So many of them the sky grew dark. Draco jolted as one struck him in the side. Then another and another. Draco tried to steer them back toward the house and the safety of the wards, but the ravens were nipping his wings and knocking him off course.
The once smooth cadence of flying was now rocky and terrifying. His wings weren’t meant to fend off attacks. Draco sucked in a breath that filled his lungs and spread Sawyer’s thighs, then he blew out a huge column of fire that scorched several of the ravens in their path.
More came. Diving at them, hitting Andvari in the back. Draco breathed deep again, shooting a second wall of flame.
Andvari was limited with his swing since he had to hold Sawyer. He was able to knock a few away but he was taking as many hits as Draco was.
“Andi, I’m going to lean forward and hold on. You need to help Draco.”
“Dammit, Sawyer. Stay still.”
“There’s too many of them. He needs help or we’re never going to make it. I can do it. Protect his wings.”
Andvari gave him a quick squeeze then leaned forward with Sawyer until he was able to wrap his arms around Draco’s thick neck. His hide was scaled and gave Sawyer a handhold. Sawyer tucked his fingers in, praying he wasn’t going to hurt Draco, then held on.
“Steady for a minute, Draco!” Andvari waited for Draco to stop moving his wings, then spun around so he was sitting backward. It gave him a better angle and a broader swing. “Fly!”
Draco flapped his wings again and took another breath. The ravens were pounding his wings, trying to stop him from making it to safety, but Draco was stubborn and Sawyer knew he wouldn’t let him down.
“You got this,” Sawyer whispered. “Cook ‘em.”
Draco took a breath, spewing fire in a huge arc, clearing a space in front of him for a moment. He dove through it as Andvari gave a battle cry. His sword whistled though the air, slicing through the ravens easily.
A swath of the ravens had gathered to the side and it looked like they were going to hit Draco’s left wing all at once. He wouldn’t be able to keep them in the air without one of his wings working. And they knew it.
“Drake,” Sawyer whispered. “Get ready to fire to the left. On my count.”
Draco sucked in a breath, his deepest yet, and Sawyer held on. The ravens formed a column, a solid mass of black shooting like a deadly arrow toward Draco’s vulnerable wing. Sawyer held waiting.
“Three…two… one. Now!”
Draco pulled his wings back, then spun, shooting a huge ball of flame left. He hit the ravens dead on, then spun in a circle, flipping Sawyer upside down for a quick second until he righted them and shot forward with a huge burst of his wings.
He could see the house now and the first ward. Henry and Eduard were outside, and Eduard shifted into his griffin form, bursting into the air with a giant flap of his wings. Henry knelt inside the first ward, his hands thrown wide as he pulled magic toward him.
Sawyer kept his eyes locked on them even as Draco pulled in another breath.
He turned his head and a wall of flame shot by Sawyer’s head.
Then Eduard joined in the fray. God, he was beautiful.
His eagle head covered in golden feathers that matched the gold of his lion’s body.
His wings looked like they were spun with actual gold and they glittered in the sunlight.
His claws and beak were deadly sharp and he clamped a raven in each, snapping them in two with a sickening crunch.
The wind picked up, pulling at Sawyer’s hair. The ravens not right beside them began to have trouble, spinning as undercurrents pushed them up and away from Draco. Andvari kept his sword swinging to the right while Eduard flew up and to the left, breaking any raven who came close to Draco’s wings.
Sawyer’s panic eased. One second too soon. Andvari thumped back against Sawyer’s back, pushing into him painfully. A huge raven had slipped through and hit him right in the chest. Splatters of blood flew through the air behind them and Andvari wasn’t moving.
“Eduard!”
There was no way Sawyer was strong enough to hold onto Andvari, not even if he could find a way to grab him. He was pressed flat against Draco’s back, Andvari limp on top of him.
“Hold on, Andi,” Sawyer shouted. “Squeeze your fucking legs and hold on. Draco get us down. Now!”
Draco gave one more giant thrust of his wings then folding them in close to his body. They dive bombed for the ground, angled to reach the safety of the wards.
“Eduard, watch our backs!”
Henry had been able to keep a lot of the ravens at bay. He was directing the air, swirling his arms as the ravens tried to find a way through. Sawyer held on, praying that Andvari could stay conscious long enough for them to safely land.
Finally, they shot through the first ward and the ravens smacked against the barrier with crack after crack of breaking necks.
They were birds against windows, flying into the invisible barrier that refused to let anything magical cross, hurling themselves to their death in a desperate attempt to keep fighting.
Draco unfurled his wings and began to slow their approach, bringing them in to land near Henry. Eduard landed beside them, back to his human form a second later, the momentum of his flight keeping his legs running as he reached for Andvari.
Andvari managed a groan, then rolled to the side into Eduard’s waiting arms. Draco dropped to his haunches and Sawyer unclenched his fingers and slid off his back. Moments later Draco was back to his human form, bruised and obviously shaken, but whole.
The same couldn’t be said for Andvari.