FireDrake (19 page)

Together they will go

Toward the easst and rissing ssun

Yet the quesst, jusst begun

“The resst will be told by otherss when you reach the island. Asss we ssaid, we thought the sspy was Drake, but it could asss eassily be you, Kryssta. Then the ‘other’

would be you, Ssir Mace.” The female gryphon stretched her wings as if to fly, shifting backward to gain room.

“But I’m no knight,” Drake objected, “newly mated or otherwise.”

www.samhainpublishing.com 131

Bianca D’Arc

The gryphon clacked its beak as if in laughter, all but ignoring him. “Sstay tonight and learn to sspeak with your friendss, Kryssta. Bond asss you will need to. Tomorrow, sspeak our namess and we will come for you. Then we will go together to the island.”

The male moved off to join his mate, also stretching his wings in preparation for flight.

“Why can’t we go now? Tonight?” Krysta asked.

“It iss not yet time. You musst bond fully to be protected from the magic of the island. Do that tonight. Or perisssh tomorrow.”

With that final admonishment, the gryphons leaped into the air, their great leonine hindquarters propelling them into the sky as their eagle’s wings drew them higher. They were beautiful to watch, but their words were frustrating.

Krysta turned to the men and dragons beside and behind her.

“Well? What now?”

132

www.samhainpublishing.com

FireDrake

Hearing the speech of dragons was a novel experience for Krysta. She had a hard time at first when the knights tried to teach her how to project her thoughts back to the dragons, but after an hour or so, she gained at least a rudimentary proficiency. Expertise would come with time, they all knew.

The dragons enjoyed speaking with her, glad to finally be able to express themselves fully to the woman who had come to mean so much to both Mace and Drake in so short a time. Jenet was a little reserved, but Nellin surprised Krysta with his droll observations and wit. She found herself laughing often at Nellin’s wry humor as they prepared a quick dinner of fish the dragons speared with their talons in the shallows, and made a crude camp for the night on the moonlit beach.

The men gathered driftwood and the dragons provided the spark for a lovely fire.

The dragons also settled down in a semi-circle around the campfire, allowing the humans to lean back against their warm bodies as they ate the fish and the crumbs of what was left in Mace’s pack.

“Well, that’s the last of my provisions. We’ll have to forage from here on.” Mace closed the now empty pack and replaced it with his pile of gear, settling down next to Krysta as they leaned back against Nellin’s smooth hide.

“If the gryphons are to be believed, we’ll be at the island tomorrow. Maybe we can resupply there for the trip home.” Krysta tried to look on the bright side, but deep inside she harbored reservations. Thy gryphons’ rhyming prophecy had lain heavy on her mind all day.

“I can’t believe it’ll be just that easy,” Drake said from her other side. He tossed a twig into the fire and the expression on his handsome face was fierce. “They had to have a reason to take Wil all this way. I can’t see them just letting him go because we flew down and asked nicely.”

www.samhainpublishing.com 133

Bianca D’Arc

“I don’t like that gryphons are involved. They’re altogether too magical for my comfort.” Mace grumbled as he got more comfortable against Nellin’s warm flank.

“They are powerful, but the few I’ve dealt with in the past have been entirely honorable,” Drake said. “If they’re anything to judge by, I’d say we have less to fear from the gryphons than we do from whoever lives on that island.”

“Do you think it really could be a wizard?” Krysta’s voice was small in the darkening night. Wizards were to be feared. They’d been banished from this realm for a reason. Some of them were downright evil and the stories of ancient days told of great wars between the evil ones who wanted to enslave all creatures in this realm and the few who wanted to let the world evolve on its own.

“I don’t know. But there are a few in this world who have wizard blood. The royal house of Draconia, the Black Dragon Clan, and the Doge of Helios, for example.” Drake tossed another twig to the flames. “That’s why gryphons serve in her court. Magic seeks its own kind. Whoever we find on that island, they will have powerful magic, indeed. Of that I have no doubt.”

“We can protect you,”
Nellin said softly from behind them.
“That’s what the
gryphons meant when they talked about our bond. Dragons are mostly impervious to
magic, since we are creatures of magic ourselves. Mace’s bond with me will protect him
from whatever awaits us tomorrow.”

Jenet shifted her head on the cold sand to look at them.
“I believe it’s why they gave
you the gift of speech with our kind, Krysta. With that pathway now open, we can bond
with you as we do with our knights. Our protection will extend to you.”

“But—”

Jenet sighed smokily.
“Don’t fight it, Krysta. It is as the Mother of All wills it. You
will bond with our knights and with us. I don’t know why you humans must fight the will
of the Mother at every turn.”
Jenet shot a despairing glance at Drake.
“And now I’m sure
you will make some argument about how you’re not good enough to bond with me,
though it’s what we’ve both wanted deep in our hearts since the moment I hatched. Go
ahead, Drake. Do your worst. But the fact remains. If you do not bond with me, you doom
134

www.samhainpublishing.com

FireDrake

our mission. I would rather have had you willing, but at this point, my pride is in tatters.

I’ll take you any way I can get you.”

“Sweetheart,” Drake’s voice was as soft as Krysta had ever heard it.

Drake got up and went to the dragon, his long legs carrying him swiftly to Jenet’s side. He tugged her sinuous neck into a loving embrace. Drake kissed the ridges of Jenet’s eyes as tenderly as a lover and Krysta had to look away, lest the love she read in his every move stir her to tears.

“Never think that I’m not willing to bind my life to yours. I love you more than anything in the world, Jenet. I always have and I always will.” Drake didn’t care if his words carried. They should all know how much he loved this dragon who was his closest friend in all the universe. “I’m a stubborn ass.”

He moved back and stared into Jenet’s faceted eyes.

“I won’t argue that point.”
Hope glittered in the depths of her miraculous gaze and Drake felt his spirits rise.

“Can you ever forgive me?”

“Are you willing to be my knight and all that entails for the rest of your days?”

His little girl was tough, but he loved her that way. Drake nodded solemnly and bowed his head, answering her in his mind as he knew it must be. He projected his thoughts to all present, knowing they needed to be witnesses to this most momentous of occasions.

“I don’t deserve you, or your forgiveness for my many transgressions, but I love you,
Jenet, my sister of the skies. I will be your knight and I will work the rest of my life to be
worthy of you.”

Nellin trumpeted his joy, his movements dislodging Mace and Krysta, who stood and came to Drake’s side.

“Does this mean what I think it does?” Krysta asked breathlessly.

He pulled her close and kissed her while Mace laughed. “We’ve just witnessed the making of a knight. And about damn time, too.”

www.samhainpublishing.com 135

Bianca D’Arc

Mace pounded Drake on the back and congratulated Jenet too, his eyes bright with what Drake suspected were tears. Drake knew there were tears of joy running down his own cheeks, but he didn’t care. The moment was too special.

“Brace yourself now,”
Jenet warned, a split-second before the rush of her power hit him like a wave, cresting and breaking over him, reshaping his very soul. He felt the pathways that had always joined them snap into place even more firmly and blow wide open. He didn’t know for a moment where she began and he ended, so close was the bond between the dragon and himself.

Drake would have dropped to his knees if Mace and Krysta hadn’t been there to prop him up. He was stunned by the well of power within the dragon, now shared with him in that blinding moment of revelation. He had only a glimpse of her vast strength and it humbled him. It was something he would remember all his life.

“Drake?” Krysta asked, concern in her lovely grey eyes.

“I’m all right. But I think I know a little bit about how you felt earlier when the gryphon’s magic bowled you over. Damn, baby!” He turned to Jenet and hugged her with the arm that wasn’t still holding Krysta. “You pack a wallop.”

They all laughed then, joy bubbling over as the three humans hugged, surrounded and embraced by the dragons’ twining necks.

“Now comes the hard part,” Krysta said as their exuberance died down a bit. “How exactly do we all bond and what does it mean?”

“That’s the easy part, my dear,” Drake wiggled his eyebrows. “And the most fun. If you’re willing.”

“You mean—?”

Mace wrapped an arm around her waist. “The dragons will seal their troth. They will take to the air in a mating flight, bonding them—and us—fully, as we join them, by joining with you. Both of us, at the same time, will make you our mate.”

“You want to marry me? Both of you?”

Krysta’s breath caught in her throat.

136

www.samhainpublishing.com

FireDrake

“I know most women prefer to have the full ceremony, surrounded by friends and family, but I regret we haven’t the option. If you bond with us now, we can always have a party later, when we return home, if you wish it.” Mace was so serious, so earnest, she reached up to kiss him.

“You’re forgetting, I’m Jinn. My family will give you a party whether you want one or not.”

Drake joined in her laughter. “She’s right about that. The Jinn will throw a party on any excuse.”

“Then we can marry now, among ourselves, and seal our bonds.” Mace was still serious, but that was his way. “I could not love you any more if we had a hundred witnesses to our vows.”

“You love me?” Her heart nearly melted at the tenderness in the fierce knight’s eyes.

Mace dropped to one knee before her. “That I do. Forgive me, but I didn’t have the courage to tell you before. My heart is yours, Krysta, if you’ll have it. For the rest of my days.”

“Oh, Mace!” She reached down and kissed him, tears of joy mingling between their lips.

When she drew back, Drake was there, his expression sheepish. “I know it’s sudden, and a giant step to take when we’ve never even been intimate—”

“You haven’t?” Mace interrupted with a cocky grin.

Drake looked over at him, annoyed as Mace got to his feet. “No, we haven’t. Not that it’s any business of yours.”

“Hot damn! I finally came first at something.”

“Hey!” Krysta objected, but laughingly, at being a point of contention and competition between the two men.

“No disrespect intended, my dear.” Mace was quick to assure her, though the grin hadn’t left his face. “It’s just such a novel experience.”

“Would you shut up, please?” Drake shot Mace a pained look. “I’m trying to propose here.”

www.samhainpublishing.com 137

Bianca D’Arc

“What do you know? I beat you to that as well. My luck is looking up!” Mace shied away from the fist thrown negligently in his direction and wisely closed his mouth though his lips still curved in a wide smile.

Drake dropped to one knee, holding Krysta’s hand in his. “I’m terrible at this,” he muttered, “as I am at so many other things.” The earnest look in his eyes sent a pang through her. “But in order to have Mace, it looks like you have to accept me as well. I want you to know that I’ve wanted you since the moment I first saw you. I’ve respected your skills and your heart, your compassion and your courage, for as long as I’ve known you. I’ll honor you and cherish you—if you’ll let me—and love you with all my heart. I don’t know when it happened or how, but I do love you, Krysta. You’ve taken a place in my heart I never thought to have filled. I only hope you can find some room in yours for me, now that we’re forced by circumstance to join.”

Tears rolled down her face at his misunderstanding of the situation. She mustered the will to speak past the lump in her throat, knowing he needed to be set straight before they went any further.

“Drake,” she swallowed hard, “I don’t need to find room in my heart because you’re already there.” She saw hope light his eyes, but he still seemed skeptical. “I’ve been struggling with my feelings for you both. True, I made love with Mace, but I probably would have done the same with you, given the opportunity. But when Wil got kidnapped…”

“My seduction plans went out the window,” Drake finished for her, seeming more confident now.

She nodded. “I’ve been so conflicted. I didn’t understand how I could want two such completely different men—and at the same time. I worried about how to choose between you. And now I see, I wasn’t meant to choose at all. I was meant to have you both, if you’ll have me.”

“If? Are you kidding? Krysta…” his voice dropped with emotion, “…I’ve never told any woman what I’m telling you now. I love you, Krysta Vonris, and I will love you, and you alone, for the rest of my days. Please say you’ll be my wife.”

138

www.samhainpublishing.com

FireDrake

She flung her arms around his neck and kissed him in answer. The joyful kiss turned passionate and only Mace’s tug on her shoulders finally drew them apart.

Drake let her go, shooting his friend a dark look that promised retribution, but Mace only shrugged.

“We have to do this right, Drake. Vows first. Fun after.” Mace took one of her hands and Drake the other. They stood in front of her, one on each side, facing her, their dragon partners looming over their shoulders.