Squall's End

Bedelth waited as the remaining plates of armor were fastened into place. The metal was strong, elegant. Ice Metal was near indestructible. It was the base metal for every Drengr's Sverak. Mined by the Dwargs, and found only in the Northern Barrier Range, it was one of the most valuable resources in the world. He'd never worn anything like it.

Plates interlocked down the back of his neck, splitting around his neck-spikes, down over his back, around the joints of his wings, down the muscled parts of his legs and forearms, and around the front of his chest, where the softer scales on his body lived. A number of people were assigned to the task, preparing those who needed it, fastening each segment into place. Riders helped their mates, but...he had no Rider to assist.

He had no mate...

He wasn't hurt by Saffra's rejection—wasn't hurt, knowing that she didn't want him. Things were better this way. They were better off apart. Perhaps if he said it enough, it would get easier. He'd tell himself whatever he needed to, to get past this. Yes, that was it. He needed to get used to the notion, that he didn't have a mate. The sooner he accepted it, the sooner he could move on—

A deep, challenging bellow split the air. He turned towards the source. Talon. His king was antsy to get moving, to reunite with his queen. A soft snort escaped his chest. That damned Drengr was anxious whenever they were separated, even if by a mere scrap of distance. Claire had only been gone for a single span of a day, and yet, that was more than King Talon liked.

The field around Bedelth was packed, groups of Drengr already assembled into their respective wing formations. The kingdom's soldiers were long since on their way to Squall's End, accompanied by a select group of Dwargs. They had boarded several transport barges in the middle of the night, and would be landing on the opposite shore in the next couple of hours. Claire was assembled with her Queen's Guard in the city, weaving her magic to ensure that no one came to harm. Every step of the plan was falling into place.

Gathered closest to him, King Talon's Shields were set in wing formation. He'd taken the back right, and Jovari, the back left. In front of him, there was Koldis, and then Reyr. In front of Jovari, Dallin, and then Verath. They were allowing Dallin to fly with them; Talon had all but adopted him into their ranks. If he wasn't mistaken, the king would give Dallin the opportunity to swear his oath when they returned to the capital.

His gums peeled away from his razor sharp teeth. It wasn't a smile, exactly. But, perhaps, the closest thing to one. Dallin had melded into their ranks. While the young Drengr was still green, naive to so much of the world, he fit in well. If this was truly what Dallin wanted, then he was glad to have him. They all were.

Their attendants finished up, stepping away.

He shifted, from forearm to forearm, anxious to be gone. The sharp talons of his draconic fingertips gouged deep furrows into the soil beneath him. He was ready to be gone—

A soft scent filled the air.

Shivers raced down his back, straight to the tip of his tail. He froze. She smelled like warm vanilla and eucalyptus. But there was more to it than just those worldly components. There was something deeper, something only he could discern. His mind knew it for what it was, and it had only taken years. The scent of 'mate.' An olfactory reaction in his brain that made her smell different than anyone else.

Similar to a magical awareness.

He'd never realized it, after their time together, when he'd been around her. All that time, and he'd never put the pieces together. He'd merely thought her smell pleasing, enjoyable, desirable.

Now, he knew better. It was the scent of his mate. No, he told himself. You don't have a mate.

He whipped his head around, eyes zeroing in on her. She stood off to the side, watching him. No, she was watching the entire King's Wing. After all, he was not so lucky as to earn her entire focus. Wishful thinking—too wishful.

Her hands were clasped, fingers twisting together out of nervousness. She looked so small, so fragile, dwarfed by hundreds of draconic bodies on the field. A fierce urge to race over, to wrap his powerful body around her, erupted through his chest. He pushed it down, looking over the rest of her.

Her hair was pulled back into a tight chignon, with a few loose strands framing her beautiful cheekbones. Black pants and a long, yellow tunic molded to her frame, accentuating her feminine curves. It was trimmed with green embroidery. The colors enlivened her darker caramel skin, leaving her radiant. To him, she was bright sunshine on a cold and dreary day. A starburst of life. Everything his heart craved.

Her soft, brown eyes locked on his. His breath caught, chest pulling tight. He held still, so very still, as if a single hairsbreadth of movement would frighten her off.

But she didn't turn away. Her gaze was on him, darting over his armor, lingering on his wings, the spikes that protruded in between the linking plates. Even from across the field, he could see her nostrils flare, her throat bob.

She stepped forward. His chest heaved outward, sucking in a deep breath. When she came to stand before him, he let out an exhale. It came out as a plume of smoke.

He wished they could speak, craved the ability to say something, anything, to her in this moment. If only she would reach out—touch his scales. Her mouth opened, then closed. At last, she said, "Be safe, Bedelth."

He gave an answering hum, deep in his throat. He tried not to show how pleased he sounded, at her having come to wish him luck. Perhaps all was not lost?

She stepped past him, moving on to the others, wishing them luck, too. He hid his jealousy. She was within her rights to wish them well. But she came to you first, he tried to tell himself, practically snorting at how pathetic the reassurance sounded.

After she finished, he watched, highly aware of her every step, as she made her way through the assembled Drengr, back towards camp. As the distance increased between them, he felt as if she pulled a part of him with her, like a string stretched tight. He'd heard of this—heard Talon talk about the string that linked mates, and what it felt like. He should have taken it more seriously.

This wasn't goodbye. He'd see her when he returned, even if she didn't want anything to do with him. He'd be the one to tell her how everything went. He'd do it before anyone else had the chance.

Talon reared back onto his back legs and bugled. "We fly," he roared, sending the telepathic thought to every Drengr in the vicinity. The resounding bellows blasted into the air around him, deafening.

Thoughts of his mate were pushed from his mind. A new frenzy took hold. The beast in him was waking up. The Drengr were cousins to the dragon, after all. There was still a wild side lurking beneath their scales.

As one, nearly two hundred draconic bodies vaulted into the sky. A vast sea of colors spread out around him. The time to reclaim Fort Squall was upon them.

~

The opposite shore materialized before him. Squall's End was a massive expanse along the coast, one of the largest cities in Dragonwall. Beside it, Fort Squall sat empty and desecrated, ruined by the dragons who'd claimed it. They passed overhead, continuing on.

Beneath them, he spotted their reinforcements, like ants, moving in an organized formation. Half would split to stay at Squall's End, the other half would head towards the lake. Field units weren't necessary. The Drengr were the only logical match for wild dragons. But it was expected of Talon, to include soldiers. He'd kept their numbers low, as transporting them was a tedious task.

Besides, it was better to be prepared. If things went wrong, they might be glad of the extra blades. That's why the king had allowed several units of Dwargs, as well.

"I can see you now." Claire's words broke into his mind. Words intended for Talon, though she included his Shields. She'd been keeping tabs, coordinating their efforts. It was still miraculous—and he hadn't yet gotten used to it—having her voice in his mind. "Be careful," she added to all of them, as the city shrank behind them.

Whatever Talon said in response, his king kept between the two of them.

Bedelth sucked in a sharp breath. The lake materialized on the horizon, but that wasn't what caught his gaze. It was the glittering clusters of bodies littering the landscape around it. Like they were merely napping. Except...they weren't.

"The poison worked," Talon said, only to his Shields.

A weight lifted from his chest. He hadn't realized how anxious he'd been, nervous that their plan wouldn't work. But it had.

Glittering clusters of color were gathered around the shores of Plymlet lake. As they neared, the clusters grew more distinct, the colors more identifiable. Kane's wild dragons had succumbed to the paralysis that overcame them when the poison's effects kicked in.

A roar split the air.

"We've got incoming," Talon warned. Several bodies separated from those on the ground, springing into the air.

"I guess it was too much to hope they would all drink the lake water?" Reyr asked, unamused.

"There aren't that many," Koldis pointed out. He was right. The small number that spotted them, assembling in the distance, couldn't boast more than ten.

The various wings around them began splitting away, according to plan. The dragons on the ground required their attention. They would be dispensed with as quickly and painlessly as possible.

King Talon stayed true to their path, aiming straight for the wild dragons coming at them. Behind them, Byron's wing and two others flanked them, on hand if things got out of control. With such a small number of opponents, they would make quick work of the situation.

Seconds ticked by. The dragons came close enough that he could count them easily, discern each of their colors, make out their size, the kinds of spikes and tails they had. His pulse sped up, eager with anticipation.

A piercing draconic scream split the air, filled with anger, fury. For a moment, he didn't question it, and then—

"I am Fright the White, and I have come to seek revenge for your betrayal," a voice roared, bursting into the mind of every Drengr and dragon alike.

Those words were followed by a string of swearing from Koldis. "It would seem my mate has decided to join the foray," Koldis said, his tone dry.

Bedelth's head snapped around, as did many others. He spotted the giant, ancient beast. A white dragon that looked oddly familiar.

"The marble dragon," Talon explained, not sounding surprised.

Upon its back, sitting as if she owned the entire world, was the Spriten princess, Taylynn. She flew like a goddess upon the wings of vengeance.

"I will rip and tear and maim. You will remember me as you breathe your last, dying breaths, remember what your clan did. You will remember your betrayal," Fright continued, flying in a straight path to intercept the wild dragons headed straight for Talon.

Taylynn's head turned, her gaze locking on Koldis's green body. "Do not harm my mate," Koldis warned. "Or there will be hell to pay."

"As if any of us wish to suffer your wrath," came Talon's sardonic reply. That was all they had time for. The words were followed by a battle cry. The white dragon, Fright, barreled through the formation of wild dragons, scattering them. A second later, the King's Wing smashed into the chaos. Bedelth's talons were out, ready to rip gouges through scale and hide and muscle and sinew.

He snapped his teeth, latching onto the leg of a red beast, redirecting its flight pattern, flinging it away. It twisted off course, wings frantically flapping to regain control. He gave chase, grappling with it until he had a good hold. Hot pain seared his flank; a needle-sharp talon dragged down his body, finding a place between his plates of armor to scratch him. The rest of the beast's talons merely scraped over metal. A burst of flame hit him square in the face. He was careful not to inhale. Instead, he tumbled with the beast, dropping lower in altitude. "I will destroy you," the red dragon hissed. "You will be nothing but fodder for worms when I am done."

He didn't waste time arguing. Besides, he wasn't one to resort to threats. He didn't need big words to do his talking. His actions spoke well enough.

The red dragon was smaller than him, but not by much. He'd known the moment they collided; it didn't stand a chance. Still, the beast gave a good effort, snapping its teeth every time he closed in on its neck. He released a bout of flames to distract it, using his legs to kick at it, using his clawed talons to find a swath of wing. He dragged the sharp points of his talons down along the membrane. The dragon screamed, the piercing sound too much for his sensitive ears. He shuddered. A moment later, his teeth found its neck. He clamped down. Hot liquid pooled into his mouth, down his jaws, as he ripped its throat clean out. A resultant screech laced with fury and pain was the only answer he received before the limp body dropped to the world below.

He didn't even watch long enough to see it strike the ground.

Around him, his brothers did the same, grappling with their opponents. The world was a chaotic blur of colors and roars, the snapping of teeth, flashing of talons. There were more dragons in the sky now, more than they'd anticipated. But still far fewer than there would have been. Saffra's poison had done its work. Her creative thinking had saved them a great deal of bloodshed.

His lungs expanded. Pride washed through him. She was fierce and smart and beautiful—no, he couldn't think of her now, couldn't think of her at all. That would make everything more painful.

A flash of red orange caught his gaze. Before he could find a new opponent, he turned on his wingtip and caught sight of the city of Squall's End in the distance. Three dragons had split away, perhaps having come from the west. Plumes of fire blossomed from their maws.

A ball of cold, hard dread settled in the pit of his stomach. A single dragon's fire—that is all it would take to decimate an entire city. He thought of Kastali Dun, of what it would be like, if a single dragon set fire to the entire city. His stomach churned.

"Claire?" Talon's question burst through his mind. His heart stuttered. Somewhere beneath the flame and smoke, was his queen. He watched as flames hot enough to melt rock rained down on the city below, watched as each of the three dragons swept over the tops of the buildings.

"I've got it," came her confident voice.

The flames broke over an invisible barrier. They didn't spread. They didn't destroy a single thing. They merely snuffed out, winking out of sight. The dragons tried again, and again, in the span of several tense minutes, passing overhead, flaming. Still, nothing. They gained no foothold.

Flashes, projections, filled his mind. Claire stood on the ramparts facing the city, watching the dragons fly above. Beside her, her Spriten guard fanned out, each wearing a fierce look of concentration. Jeanine was there too, on Claire's right, sword in hand; she stood sentinel, watching Claire's back so that the Spriten queen could focus entirely on her magic. In one hand, she bore the strange staff she carried. The weapon she had needed to find when she entered the forest, the one Saffra's vision had foreseen. The other was outstretched, as if holding her magic in place. He saw the hand before him as if it were his own, viewing each of the flashes from her vantage point.

Dragon maws opened wide to gaping, belting tongues of flame. Below, the city was quiet, eerily so. Its inhabitants hunkered down in fear. If he looked close enough, he could see faces pressed to windows, trying to watch. The flame spewed overhead with each dragon's sweep, and did nothing.

Kane's threat to destroy the city, should they retaliate, was rendered useless, all because a Spriten queen had chosen to fight for Dragonwall. No, not just any Spriten queen. His queen.

"Well done, my love. Well done." King Talon's rumbling voice, ringing with pride, shook Bedelth from his surprise. The king had noticed the strength of his mate's magic, too. He glanced over to find Talon had broken away from the fighting. Several dragons from Fort Squall had taken his place, wrangling the remaining five beasts that still put up a fight.

Below, pools of blood spilled from the now lifeless bodies that littered the landscape. His stomach turned rock hard. He was one Claire's proponents, arguing with her against the slaughtering of the pregnant females. What she'd done had been risky, warning the wild dragons to surrender, but he trusted his queen. Killing helpless dragons was was a ruthless way to kill—ending an opponent that couldn't fight back. So, he'd had no qualms in supporting her decision to give them a choice, to save their pregnant females, at the least. He glanced around, but didn't see any bulging bellies. Perhaps those females had made the right choice in the end, to save their unborn hatchlings.

When he fell into formation with the King's Wing, Talon did a sweep of the area, observing the activity below. Seconds later, the only sound was that of their beating wings. The seven of them, a complete wing, circled in a wide path, then descended towards the ground.

"No sign of Kane," Talon said to them. "I am not sure how I feel about that."

"Be grateful," Verath answered. "He's licking his wounds in private, after his encounter with Claire in the forest. I would imagine that distracted him enough, he didn't see this coming."

"Except, this feels almost...anticlimactic," Koldis mused. Bedelth had to agree with him on that. It was...too easy. That's what they had wanted—what they had hoped for—but when was life ever straightforward?

"I think we know what it means," Jovari said, giving voice to their fears. "Something else is coming, something bigger. Nothing is ever this easy, planning or no."

"What could be bigger than reclaiming a fort?" Dallin asked, speaking up for the first time.

"Orchestrating another attack?" Bedelth said, already having a hunch. "Hitting us somewhere else. Somewhere it hurts. Somewhere it would crush us. A killing blow. Hopefully Captain Bennett's work in Oshea will be fruitful."

"The capital?" Dallin clarified. "You think Kane would try to hit the capital?"

"I think he's capable of plenty, including that," Talon said, bringing the conversation to an end by adding, "For now, let us take what we can get. This was an important strategic move and we executed it well."

The king was right. It was done. After months of planning, headaches, and heartache, the jewel that was Fort Squall was theirs, once more. And yet, Bedelth still felt hollow. The silence that met his ears was the loudest form of quiet he'd ever heard. It spoke of awful things. Of death. Of bloodshed.

But...whispering on the currents of the breeze, it also spoke of victory. Kane needed to try a lot harder if he wished to take their kingdom, and after this loss, they all knew he would. There was time to relish in their victory, yes, but only just. They needed to regroup and prepare. It was time to plan for the worst. 

⭐🌟 DON'T FORGET TO VOTE!!🌟⭐

Happy Friday, Bookdragons!

I hope you enjoyed this one. When I wrote it, it felt a little anti-climactic. But...there's also something much bigger coming towards the end of this book (and I'm not talking about the bonding ceremony, which, is also coming). Dun, dun, dun.....And since the dragons weren't in a state to fight, I guess there wasn't much of one. But, that's how it was planned, after all.

If you haven't seen yet, I finished uploading all the chapters for The Sleeper's Harp today. For those of you who like Romantasy with lots of spice, I think you'll have fun reading it. I sure had fun writing it!

This week, I started writing book 4 of Lady Witch! I also have a giveaway going on over on my Instagram for a set of 3 hardcovers for the Lady Witch series. It's open international to anywhere Amazon . com ships. But you'll have to enter on my instagram page. I'm also running a Kindle deal. If you head to Amazon, you can get all three of my LW books for 0.99c each on Kindle or the Kindle app. This is through .com and .uk (they wouldn't let me do any others). Both the giveaway and discount run through Sunday Feb 5th 11PM EST.

Next week's chapter will be from Koldis's POV. I'm sure you've missed him! We will get a little K+T lovey-dovey action. Yay :)

Until next week!

-Mel

[EDIT: YES, I accidentally messed up this weeks chapter by posting chapter 11 in chapter 10's slot! Oops! Maybe you didn't notice, or if you got to this later, it was already fixed. If so, yay! If not, and you were confused, I apologize! But it should all be fixed now (hopefully). Thanks for being patient with me! Oh, and hey, you get two chapters this week because of my screw-up!]