Dragons Don't Cry

Dragons Don’t Cry

Book I: Fire Chronicles

D’Elen McClain

Published by Bad Luck Publishing at
Smashwords

Copyright 2014 D’Elen McClain

Ba
d
Luck Publishing

[email protected]

www.fangchronicles.com

Dragons Don’t Cry

Book I: Fire Chronicles

Printing History

eBook Edition: March 2014

All rights reserved including the right to
reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form.

This is a work of fiction. ALL characters are
derived from the author’s imagination.

No person, brand, or
corporation mentioned in this Book should be taken to have endorsed
this Book nor should the events surrounding them be considered in
any way factual.

Chapter One

Hera’s Curse

One hundred thousand years I curse your
kind

Each century you will find

One human woman, not your mate

This curse is now your fate

I looked at Hera, my
mother, goddess of marriage. She stood covered in blood, her anger
burned, uncaring that she’d killed so many. “M
other, you’ve had your vengeance, you must not curse the ones
who remain for a hundred thousand years.”

A crack of lightning, followed by a boom of
thunder, lit up the skies. “After what Drakon did to your sister,
you still have sympathy for their kind?”

Her voice cut like ice and
her
words left me ashamed. I too could
never forgive him, but for his deeds, the dragons suffered almost
complete annihilation and only four males remained.
“Not him, but the others, yes. I have no
understanding why
Eileithyia
loved him, but the female dragons had nothing to
do with it. They were innocent, mother.”

“No dragon is innocent and Drakon should
have kept to his own kind. He killed my daughter and his brethren
will pay.” She looked at me—rage mixed with undeniable sorrow. “My
brother Zeus leaves a way out. His legacy is not only for
humans.”

I sensed her calming, though thunder
continued to roar and lightning to strike around us. “How shall
that work, mother?”

She turned away and spoke into the wind, but
I heard each word. “Humans were originally created with four legs,
four arms, and a head with two faces. Fearing their power, my
father split them apart, condemning them to spend their lives in
search of their other half. Dragons have two parts—one beast, the
other man, split into two halves. From the day he is born he quests
for his soul mate. If a dragon finds his true mate, the curse shall
lift for that dragon, but he will only have that chance once every
one hundred years.”

My mother left me in the middle of the
violent storm. I stood against the elements thinking on her words,
wrapping my mind around her curse. Turning, I faced the lightning
and swore that I, Angelos, daughter of Hera, granddaughter of Zeus,
would watch over the four remaining dragons. They were not at fault
for Drakon’s evil deed. I could not do much, for I had not half the
power as my mother, but I would bide my time and allow my powers to
grow. One day, maybe, I could help lift the curse.

***

Bastian

Cold air ruffled my wings, lifting me
higher, carrying me farther from home. Pain lanced deep throughout
my body, pulling a roar from my chest, up my throat, and out. Black
smoke mixed with fire spewed a hundred feet in front of me. The
agony spread from my center—from my heart to every fragment of my
soul.

She was dead.

Gone.

Not my mate, but still a part of me.

The best part.

Fuck the curse. Fuck my life. I never wanted
the claiming again, couldn’t bear the mental anguish or the
beginning of another loss. I screamed with every part of me, but no
one heard.

No one to care.

It was scream or cry.

And dragons don’t cry.

***

Thirty-two years later…

Public Notice:

Females between the ages of seventeen and
twenty-one it is hereby ordered and decreed, you will register for
the claiming. To defy the order is death.

***

Acasia

“So what you’re saying is the dragon eats
his bride?” This entire conversation was ridiculous. The claiming
practice barbaric and my best girlfriends insane.

“No,” Julia said softly. She was the shyest
of our group and rarely spoke up. Her voice trembled and I had to
lean in to hear the soft words, “I don’t think he eats her; I think
he loves her.”

Loud unladylike snorts followed this
revelation. Even I joined in. I couldn’t keep quiet, and looked at
Julia with disgust. “He’s an animal. Who the hell would want his
love? Someday our people will fight back. If he truly holds the
magic we once possessed, it’s retrievable. His bride needs to grow
a set of balls and do her duty to humans if she’s not eaten right
away.”

“Does everyone have their dress?” Chersa
changed the subject. She was the peacekeeper among us with a good
heart, even if her mind focused on appearance more than it
should.

I was the nerdy one of the group. While the
other four dreamed of men and a knight to take them away on his
white horse, I dreamed of facts and figures, equations, or anything
mathematical.

I couldn’t help mumbling my reply, “My mom
gave me hers.”

“But that’s bad luck.” This came from
Sarora, the outspoken of our lot, after a loud gasp.

I continued mumbling, which was very unlike
me, but I had refused to go with my mother to buy the stupid dress.
There was a reason for my madness and I shared it with my friends.
“I consider it bad luck to be chosen, so I’m thinking my mother’s
dress will give me exactly what I need.”

My girlfriends looked around the teahouse to
be sure I wasn’t overheard. I spoke treason. We, the claiming
brides, were revered and praised for our sacrifice. Thousands of
years ago, our great, great many times over grandfathers reached a
tentative peace with the dragons and agreed to the claiming once
every twenty-five years. Four dragons, four claimings, four each
century. No one had bothered to renegotiate in all these years.
Before and after claimings, the dragons stayed in their realm and
we stayed in ours. Of course, we couldn’t cross into their realm,
not without the magic the dragons stole then hoarded. That was if
the legends were true. I just wasn’t as sure as everyone else. I
blamed it on my reasoning ability that went along with my
mathematical mind.

I looked at my friends sitting around me
experiencing the same level of terror I was. It was possible that
after tomorrow, I would never see one of them again. I’d been
depressed since the decree to register as a claiming bride. At this
moment, I didn’t know if I would survive the wait.

I noisily slammed my teacup on the counter.
“I say we purchase a bottle of wine and chase away our nerves.”

“We can’t drink before the claiming,” Julia
interjected, completely shocked.

I gave her my best
be serious
look. “Is that
written anywhere in the rules? Have you ever heard it said for that
matter?”

“I’m with Acasia. Let’s party.” Chersa stood
up.

This is why I liked her so much. The girl
knew when it was time to cut loose. Chersa and I led the way. I
purchased the first bottle. She purchased the second. Instead of
stopping at that bottle of wine, we drank five or six. Things got a
little blurry after the third, so we stopped counting, but didn’t
stop drinking. We laughed, we cried, we talked… well… they talked
about their imaginary future husbands. I’d decided to stay single
and never procreate. I did not want a daughter of mine going
through this.

The following morning, I was willing to take
fifty percent of the blame for us standing hungover and miserable
while we waited for the beast. My mother’s earlier scolding didn’t
help my aching head.

The weather was cool, too cool for our
flimsy white dresses that proclaimed us virgins. After the age of
twenty-one and the beast flying away with his bride, we were fair
game. I knew half the girls present would waste no time dispensing
their hymens. If you were born in a year that made you a claiming
bride, no man or boy would touch you. It would mean death to his
entire family. I saw the men salivating while thinking of the
parties that night and their chance to take us to bed. They ogled
our indecent attire hoping to get lucky. Men never changed.

I wanted to throw up and it wasn’t just the
wine still floating through my bloodstream. This year there were
twenty-nine brides. Not good odds for me or my friends. I shivered
again. We were all bare beneath our white flowing gowns. The
remainder of the town waited for the dragon in coats and wraps.
Life was completely unfair.

I heard his bellow before I saw him. The
roar carried high above the mountains down into the valley where we
stood. The flap of his wings was loud and nerve-racking as he drew
closer to the clearing. Smoke and fire came into view first.

Yeah right, a dragon loved his chosen—not!
This red creature was a demon. Its fifty-foot wingspan held my
gaze. Large talons on the tips of his wings matched the size of the
claws on each appendage. Heat radiated above us as he swooped
around in a circle. He looked to have metal plates covering his
flesh, or was it even flesh? I’d give him points for lethal grace.
Every inch of him cried warrior, top of the food chain, dominant
species. The townspeople prostrated themselves. We, in our white
dresses, stood tall, though my knees knocked together and I knew
the others were as terrified as I was. We clasped hands. Julia and
Chersa on either side of me. I couldn’t tell where my shaking
stopped and theirs began.

He landed, tucking his wings in tight to his
body, his tail swinging around and settling in front of his
forelegs. He had talons on his tail too. Three to be exact, three
deadly spikes. His roar shook the ground, and we cringed. The
pulsing waves of magic made it difficult to stand. I’d never felt
magic, but something inborn, deep inside of me, knew it for what it
was. I looked sideways at Chersa. Her head tipped downward, tears
streaming from her eyes.

This was so wrong, but gods, this beast was
incredible. Pee your knickers, dead faint, amazing. I couldn’t look
away. No human woman could physically mate with this thing, so I
knew the legend was a lie. I could only hope the sacrifice of the
claimed was quick and she didn’t live with her terror for long. I
continued staring, the magic swirling around me, heating my
body.

He went up high on his back legs, his wings
spread, creating a gulf of wind that blew our gowns around us. My
hair slapped my face, obscuring my vision. I didn’t move, though I
stopped trembling. The hands holding mine shook harder. My friends.
This beast might take one of my friends. Anger flashed through my
brain. He would scare her to death—no need to burn her alive or
bite off her head. The one he chose would fall dead at his
feet.

His hulking shadow fell over us.

“Please,” Julia whispered.

She wasn’t asking him to take her. I knew
she pled for the terror to end.

“Come forward, Acasia,” the husky whisper
startled me. “Come.” It was an order.

My fingers released those of my friends, my
legs moved without me giving them leave. I was drawn to the
dragon—reeled in by an invisible cord I was unable to break.

“No,” Chersa’s voice rang out.

“Silence,” the beast commanded.

The virgin sacrificial unchosen brides went
to their knees as one unit—but not me. I continued walking, a moth
attracted to light, a honeybee searching for nectar. He was it.
This dragon. This beast. This monster. He was mine.

I was but a small insect beneath his
enormous body. His magic compelled me. I didn’t stop walking closer
until a great pressure surrounded me. A single claw moved the hair
on my face aside and I gazed into his ruby eyes. Blood red
crystals… all-knowing. His other forward appendage came out and
enveloped me.

“Sleep, female.”

My world went dark.

Chapter Two

Acasia

I noticed two things at once. Cold stone
beneath my body and a loud clicking noise.

Click. Click. Click.

My foggy brain quickly noticed something
else.

The smell.

Putrid, death. It was horrible and I
couldn’t figure out why I hadn’t noticed it immediately.

Click. Click. Click.

I wiped my hair from my face and nose
wishing I’d left the strands to filter the odor. The smell fully
entered my nostrils, almost knocking me over. Hell, I was lying
down so that wasn’t true. Puke. That was it, I needed to puke.