Page 34 of The Dragon’s Captive

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Kate sat despondently in Vilka’s chambers, the knowledge of her extreme failure weighing heavy on her heart. How could she have created such chaos? She had been warned several times and yet she had not been able to listen and now innocent lives were at stake. This was exactly the opposite of what she had wanted to achieve—a deeper understanding between the human realm and the dragon world. And now she was going to lose Vilka. The only man she had ever cared about, the man who had taken her virginity and made her his own. The prospect of being separated from him was so painful she could barely breathe when she contemplated it.

She heard the doors open and a moment later Vilka strode in, his hands going to her collar and leash. She looked up, ready for another tongue lashing and battle of wills, but it did not happen. There was a slight humming sound and a buzzing sensation, then both fell from her, leaving her free.

“I will not chain you anymore,” he said. “You made this mess, and you will help me clean it up. I will not stop you from running. I hope your sense of honor will do that. I can no longer afford to play jailer to you while a world eater flies free in another realm. Understand?”

Too shocked to speak for a second, Kate finally managed to nod. “Yes, sir,” she said, rubbing her neck where the collar had begun to feel familiar. “I understand. Thank you.”

“Do not thank me,” Vilka said. “I do this as a last resort. I have no choice but to trust you, but this is your very last chance. If you cross me again and make me regret this moment, then you will make yourself a prisoner in perpetuity.”

“I won’t cross you, Vilka,” she said softly. “I feel… I know I have done something terrible. I know I should have listened to you earlier. I was just so set…”

“There is not time to dredge over our failings,” Vilka said. “There is only time to do what must be done and right the wrongs which we have both inflicted on our worlds.”

His solemn words made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. This was her chance to redeem herself and to act in the service of the greater good. It was going to be painful and it was going to come at great cost, but she would not shy away from it. If Vilka could be this brave, so could she.

CHAPTER 14

On the final day, Vilka and Kate met to say their farewells to Vyktor and Aria. The other elders had departed due to the potential danger of the world eater’s return, and the dragons Vilka had once commanded had gone with them. The fort was uncharacteristically silent and there was a heavy aspect to the very air that seemed to choke them all as they said words that were too hollow to reflect the solemnity of the moment.

Vyktor turned to his son and embraced him before drawing back with his hands on Vilka’s shoulders and fixing him with a paternal look.

“This is your dragon. This is your fate. There is no escaping it. There never has been. Avastias must be defeated in battle and you will prove yourself against his wrath. Most of the creature is entirely impenetrable, but there are soft spots beneath the scales of his jaw and neck. You must wound him, draw his blood and you must drink of it. With the blood of the world eater inside you, you will be given new power—the ability to subdue him and return him to his slumber. This is what is written in the histories.”

Vilka looked into the faces of his mother and his father and saw a deep sorrow and pride in equal measure.

“I will not perish,” he promised. “I will return Avastias to this world and I will defeat him. I promise.”

He embraced his mother and his father tightly, all three with tears in their eyes. They could feel that this was a turning point—a moment after which they would all be forever changed. There was no logical explanation for it, but they knew it just the same.

Kate hung back, shy and palpably miserable. She did not like the plan, she had been exceptionally vocal about it, but there was no other way and she seemed to have accepted that.

Aria went to her and embraced her. “You have your role to play,” Aria said. “As I once did. I know you’ll do what you need to do, and I know you’ll make it possible for Vilka to do what he needs to do.”

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“You gave such a good speech,” Aria reminded Vyktor once Kate and Vilka had departed to face their fate. “Remember? You told him he had courage for the ages? Why do you not listen to your words now?”

“Because courage is sometimes not enough,” Vyktor snarled. He had paced many times about the room, trying to comprehend how he might aid Vilka, but there was nothing for him to do. If he were to approach the world eater, he would become mindless as the other dragons. Only Vilka with his precious human blood could face it.

Of course, there was a deeper, more disturbing truth. He was far past his prime. Exposure to the human environment had taken an unexpected toll. None of them could have known that it would happen, but not a single one of the dragons who had survived the invasion of Earth had lived a normal dragon lifespan. It was typical for a dragon to reach the age of around thirty human years and then stay in that prime for several hundred years before taking to the earth and flying no more. The dragon king himself, curled about his treasure in the far-off horde, was over a thousand years old.

Vyktor should have hundreds more years ahead of him, but since his return from Earth it had become apparent that his degeneration was taking place at a rate close to that of a human—which meant that he no longer had those centuries to look forward to. Instead, he and Aria were fated to grow old together. At first that had felt like a luxury, for Vyktor was sure of one thing—that he did not want to live in any world without his wife. But now he felt weak in the face of danger. His son would face the world eater alone, and there was nothing he could do to help, or prevent what fate had in store for him.

“How can you be so calm,” he growled at his wife who sat at the window, one leg draped on either side of the frame. She was an elegant sight, long legs and a shapely figure that remained intact.

“I’m not calm,” Aria replied. “I know what war is. So do you. I also know that our son has the blood of two warriors in his veins. If anyone can take that lizard down, it’s him.”

“Lizard,” Vyktor snorted. “It’s been a long time since I heard that word on your lips.”

“Well, that’s what it is,” Aria replied. “It’s a big, dumb sky gecko. Nothing our boy can’t handle.”

“I wish I had your confidence,” Vyktor sighed, running his hand through his gray streaked hair.

“You wish you had a lot of things,” Aria teased. “My wit, my charm…”

“Your ass over my lap,” Vyktor growled. “You have not grown any more mature in all our years together.”