Cold Hearted Son of a Witch (Dragoneers Saga) (24 page)

***

Zahrellion saw Aikira crash and took Crystal low, blasting the last few visible trolls with her icy breath. Zah had her dragon set her down and started into the shaft on foot. She would have preferred the protection Crystal afforded her, but the frigid wyrm was just too large to get far inside, especially with Crimzon’s bulk filling most of the space.

Zahrellion stepped out of the daylight into the shadow and came face to face with the superior of her Order. She was so dizzy. Lanxe didn’t recognize her immediately. But she knew who he was.

He blasted at her with his powerful Dou. His attack hit her square in her chest and
sizzled
her to the core, but the sensation died the instant she felt it. She blinked the pain away as she crumpled and saw Lanxe disappear. He was clutching the blood pouring out of his head where Aikira had just hacked away a slice of scalp with her short sword.

The two female Dragoneers met eyes, and then they heard Jenka swearing as the buzzing vibration around them grew in intensity until the whole structure of the crater was quaking and shaking.

Aikira pulled Zahrellion to her feet, then sprinted deeper into the earth after the sound of Jenka’s voice. Zahrellion stumbled, but came after her, fighting her dizziness, and still feeling the raw burn of Lanxe’s Dou. A Sarax stepped in front of her, but Golden, with several long gashes running down her neck, reached out of nowhere and snapped its face into her jaws and shook it like a dog shakes a rat. Luckily its body came apart before it could discharge a defensive shock.

Zah eased past the thrashing alien. She started running toward the others when she saw the star ship’s opening widen, spilling even more Sarax into the shaft in front of Jenka.

Aikira was using her wizard magic by sending hot, zooming pulses at the creatures. Jenka was standing over Rikky wielding his oversized sword with furious accuracy, but they were about to be overrun. Even the hot streaks of emerald energy blasting forth weren’t enough to slow the creatures down. Six of the Sarax moved to overtake them. Zahrellion came to a stop a few feet behind Aikira’s shielding and started writing in the sky. In that moment she knew she could only love Jenka. Marcherion was a handsome fancy, but Jenka was her hero. He was standing there in the face of certain overwhelming odds, fighting for the sole purpose of protecting Rikky. He was the naïve boy who’d ridden a horse into a massive dragon’s maw trying to save her. He was the one who swallowed his tongue in such an endearing manner every time he wanted to say he loved her. He was the one.

Zahrellion’s desire to save Jenka and Rikky fortified the strength of her spell. She threw her hand forth and the warbling yellow flow that leapt away from it crackled and hummed in competition with the Sarax’s vile noise. Several of them were carried, as if by a gargantuan pounding fist, into the star ship and mashed there by the force. They slumped before the opening, tripping the next creature exiting the craft. Aikira blasted the only other Sarax still lingering near the star ship off of its feet. Another battle for exiting position ensued as the tripped alien rose and attacked the creature trying to climb over it.

***

Jenka found the reprieve he needed to leave Rikky and pull the big teardrop from his unconscious dragon’s mouth. He was anguished after seeing the scales and skin that had been smashed away from Jade’s head. He looked up just in time to see the knot of Sarax swell outward as the breach was widened. Aikira and Zahrellion were overrun in a mad dash as the Sarax fled the power that was suddenly welling inside of Jenka.
 

The raw power of so much Dour magic blasting through his veins might have consumed any of the other Dragoneers, but Jenka’s own teardrop had been as powerful before Mysterian used it to save Mainsted from Gravelbone’s poison. He raged for the friends he loved so much, but he relished the familiar taste of magic tingling on his tongue. He held Crimzon’s teardrop palmed in his left hand and raised his not so heavy sword with his right. With a primal scream, he let the
Dour
magic from one tear amplify the power of the other. Then he did what Crimzon had told Rikky to do. He let the power flow right through him.

The massive surging blast that exploded from Jenka’s blade tip was like forcing the power of a dozen tempests through a tube and directing it all at one place. The Dou spewing forth coated the breach, engulfing several of the still struggling Sarax. The opening was almost instantly sealed over and the whole exposed area of the ship was cooked into a fresh hard milky encasement.

A Sarax that was trying to flee over the girls was suddenly shoved into the air until it hit the rock above in a crunching impact. It fell a few feet away from where Zahrellion was sitting.

Slowly, the flow of power coming from Jenka exhausted and he fell into a crumpled heap beside Rikky. Around them everything went still, save for the shadowy movement of the enraged Sarax still confined behind the new encasement, and the light raspy sound of Crimzon drawing
breath
.

 
Chapter 31

Jenka woke to the loud clopping of Rikky’s newest peg-leg as it thumped on the tiled floor of the tower apartment. He turned to see that Zahrellion was with him. The strong smell of wood smoke was prevalent in the crisp air, but her sweet scent found his nose as it always did. He forced the blankness away from his mind and sat up far too quickly.

“Jade?” was his first concern.

Yesss,
his dragon hissed into his mind.
I’m aboves youss, my friend.

The ethereal works again?
he
asked as things started coming back to him.

“Only here, at our castle,” Zahrellion answered. Her smile, as she slid her fingers lovingly through his hair, threatened to melt the icy stuff that had coated his heart in that crater. He saw that the triangle on her head was the color of blond wood now, but said nothing.

“Where are the others?” he asked. He tried not to enjoy the touch of Zahrellion's fingers, but it was useless.

“Marcherion is guarding the star ship,” Rikky answered. “I have to take his place soon. He’s a vigilant bastard.”

“You’ve been tending Jenka, Rikky,” Zahrellion scolded. “Let Aikira and me split your watch again.”

“No,” Rikky said flatly. “I can handle my duty.”

“That’s not the point, Rikky Camille,” Aikira scolded as she stepped into Jenka’s room. “We don’t want anything to happen to our best healer.”

“You said fastest flyer last time,” Rikky smiled. “Both are correct, but Jenka’s awake now. March needs a break. I’m going, so deal with it.” He patted Jenka’s shoulder, and then decided that it wasn’t enough. He reached down and hugged his friend tightly for a beat. Then he turned and left with deep thumping strides.

“How long have I—?”

“Almost a full turn of the moon,” Zahrellion said. “Winter is upon us.”

“And the Sarax?”

“Those that broke free have spread across the land. Only one has returned to the star ship and Blaze scorched it to a husk,” explained Zahrellion.

“What of the rangers and Lem?”

“Holed up in that keep for the winter,” Aikira told him. “That fool druidon Lanxe led an attack of his enslaved vermin on them just days ago. The weather ended most of them before they got there. From what I could tell when I flew over, the rangers stayed in the keep and watched them freeze. I bet my favorite boots Lanxe marches on Richard’s kingdom in the spring, but there’s naught to worry about for the moment, Jenk. You fortified the encasement well.
Rest.
The Dour nearly sapped the life out of you.” She scratched at her nose and gave Zahrellion a look. Her big eyes were liquid, and the gap between her front teeth was prominently beautiful when she smiled. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have chores.” She shook her head as if the two of them were hopeless, then squeezed Jenka’s hand and left the room.

Jenka started to ask another question, but Zahrellion leaned over and kissed him softly on the lips.

“What was that for?” he smarted and pulled away in confusion. “Is Marcherion not enough for you?”

Zahrellion nearly stood and stalked away, but somehow she managed to keep from it. She clenched and unclenched her fist while fighting the urge to throttle him. It never failed that he always found the absolute stupidest things to say to her. She knew Jenka was dense, and knowing that she knew, she decided she had to have better control of the way he sometimes irked her. She had to keep from letting his stupidity drive her away.

“He just isn’t you, Jenka.” She kissed him again, first on the lips, then on the nose.

“We’re Dragoneers, Zahrellion,” Jenka argued, but only halfheartedly. Her
smell,
and the huskiness of her voice was melting his resistance.

“We can be lovers and Dragoneers,” she said. “Crimzon said so. Either way, I’ll always love you.”

Jenka sighed and tried to untwist his thoughts, but it was no use. Before he could stop himself he started to respond.

“Shhhhh,” Zahrellion stopped his words with a fingertip on his lips.

“I know you do, Jenka,” she smiled deeply. “I’ve known it all along.”

The End of Book II

The Saga of the Dragoneers:

                
Part I - Full Confliction

                               
The First Dragoneer

                               
The Royal Dragoneers

                               
Cold Hearted Son of a Witch

                                  
The Confliction

Also by M.R. Mathias

 
Crimzon & Clover I – Orphaned Dragon, Lucky Girl

 
Crimzon & Clover II – The Tricky Wizard

 
Oathbreaker – A Faery Tale Short

 
King of Fools

 
The Adventurion

And don’t miss the International Bestselling
Wardstone Trilogy

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The Sword and the Dragon
 

(The Wardstone Trilogy Book One)

Overall The Sword and the Dragon (A+) is an impressive debut - a traditional fantasy that manages to be fresh. It succeeds in offering a complete reading experience. 

                                      
          
--Fantasy Book Critic

This is an epic fantasy, and I do mean epic…
 
A fat fantasy, the kind you would expect from a Jordan or Tad Williams.
Overall, I recommend this book to anyone wanting a solid, traditional fantasy read.

                  
– B. V. Larson Bestselling author of
MECH

This book is a monster and not just in size. M. R. Mathias has managed to do something extremely difficult in the fantasy genre - create something new and unique. Well written and compelling it literally turns the pages itself. I would compare this to Lord of the Rings except that LOTR couldn't hold my interest like this book. Mathias' characters are rich and well developed, the story flows easily and the reader is lost in the incredible world that's been created.