I am Dragon (Dragon Fires Rising Book 2) Marc Secchia (most read books .TXT) 📖

Turning, he sprayed their backs with white fire – thwock! Thwock! Neat arrows dispatched two soldiers hacking around his flanks with their swords.

“Chalice! She’s in trouble!”

Surrounded by forty or fifty men and coming under a withering hail of fire from the archers now, the Dragoness was sore beset. His ire rose, unstoppable. Thundering a stream of unintelligible words, Dragon flap-skim-charged across the battleground, smashing a couple of unlucky enemy soldiers aside as they dared to linger in his path. Four or five soldiers had a hold of her right wing, trying to weigh her down and chop it off. Orange fire billowed around them.

How could he hit all those soldiers clustered around the Dragoness?

“Fire underneath!” Azania cried, at exactly the same time as he roared, Chalice! Jump!

She leaped ten feet into the air as his white fire hosed beneath her paws, sweeping left and right to set a number of the pests dancing in agony. The Dragoness lashed her tail as she landed, crushing more; they briefly clashed shoulders before rounding on the remainder of the soldiers. They tried to break and flee, but it was already too late.

Off to the archers, another charge!

Dragon groaned. Mad, destructive and – did he have to? Chalice began to fry archers as he dealt with a few last soldiers. Fine. Whirling, he aimed along the treeline and set about cutting them down with slow deliberation.

Rather peeved at all the holes in his nice new hide!

Frankly, aerating a Dragon was not about to make them any lighter in the air.

He only stopped when he saw his line of fire might put Chalice in danger; meantime, Azania calmly kept his flanks and tail clear of any trouble.

“Ran out of arrows,” she grumbled.

“Just in time.”

The last stragglers fled back into the trees – those who could still run. The King’s party slowly untangled themselves and rose from their defensive postures, while the knights chased down the survivors and accepted their surrender. Pah, he grunted, puffing air through his heated cheeks. Thirsty, after all that – could he assume his fire might run out if he burned himself dry? Water must come from somewhere to furnish this oceanic electrolysis process.

Sea Dragons clearly had no such problem.

“Well, my lovely Princess,” he said. “Shall we go bid the King a good day?”

“How very Human of you,” she grinned.

“Fighting talk.”

“Oh, this Princess doesn’t just talk. I walk the walk – or ride the ride, whichever you prefer, Dragon.”

Gnarr-nrr-GRR!

* * * *

King Harilan greeted them cordially from his litter, upon which his broken leg now lay, heavily bandaged and splinted. Crimson stained the bandages. Despite his pale, sweaty sickliness, he brightened once he discovered who his visitors were.

“Allies, friends and soon to be family!” he said in his Northern brogue. “No thanks are enough, for we could not have stood this day without your aid.”

“Grateful to serve, my King,” Azania smiled, accepting a formal kiss upon her knuckles. Dragon tried not to wince. This Human idea of pasting one’s saliva upon another creature’s skin nauseated him. “This is Dragon – we call him Dragon for reasons I can explain another time – and this yellow beauty is Chalice.”

Harilan nodded cordially. “You both wear your wounds with pride. May your wings soar, Dragons!”

“And yours, o King,” Chalice fluted, openly surprised at his knowledge of draconic custom.

“As a white Dragon you are most unusual – not albino, by my mark?”

He said, “No, sire. I believe I am half Sea Dragon. That is the reason for the white fires you saw, and for my physical size.”

“Blazing,” he said.

And then some. You barbecued my belly, Chalice teased.

“Forgive me …” The King’s face twisted in pain. “I must hurry to the healers.”

Azania said, “We shall escort you.”

To his Captain of the Guard, the King said, “Track those men and bring report, will you? This will be Lord Varlan’s crew, unless the fever has me hallucinating.”

“Aye, my King!”

With that, they rushed the royal up to his castle. Crowds gathered to greet him along the way, with muted cheers and many encouraging cries and wishes for him to get well. Popular. Harilan roused himself a few times to wave, but his suffering was clear.

Reminding himself that this town was not built for mighty beasts of his stature, Dragon joined Chalice in winging up to the castle.

Landing, the Dragoness teased, We’ll have to pluck you, wing brother.

Azania laughed, This must be a new record.

Evidently, I make an incredibly attractive target, he agreed immodestly. You’re wearing a few arrows yourself, Chalice, and at least three lances I can count. How’s that wing?

Well enough to fly, but those scum did a decent job trying to chop me up.

Newly dead scum.

Aye – gnarr! she growled. That was some impressive fighting for one your brothers seemed to think had never lifted a paw in combat.

I blame Juggernaut. You fought with fire.

Chuckling like a pair of old friends, they set about plucking one another of arrows, javelins and lance points while Azania ran to brief Princess Yuali and to prepare her sister. The surgeon had already dismissed her help as unwanted, even insulting, but Yuali promised they would smuggle her in just as soon as the old fool departed. Inzashu acted phlegmatic as she helped Chalice dig out a couple of javelin points, and told them she had seen the leg. Bone poked out beneath the knee, and there was a break mid-thigh in addition. He stood a good chance of losing the leg entirely if the surgeon did not know his business. Yuali was understandably upset. The Princes thought their father was a hero; the bravest man in Solixambria.

Three hours later, Dragon snooped outside the King’s chambers as the three Princesses slipped inside to attend to