Dragon 4 Chapter 23

The bones of two more pigs lay scattered around our little camp site as I held the crystal in my hand.

"Zach, what's wrong?" Scarlett squinted at me.

"Nothing. Just thinking about it. I have a duel after we leave here, and we are running out of pigs." I tried to lighten the moment.

She didn't laugh. "I know you. Something is bothering you."

Bart's warning that the power in this crystal could harm me echoed in my mind.

But I didn't have a choice. As the king of dragons, I needed to step up. She’d given me an opportunity to protect all of them from Ikta and her faction.

That was what it meant to be king. The bowing and the women throwing themselves at me was a perk, but that wasn't being king.

I needed to protect my people, even at the risk of personal cost.

Scarlett was still staring at me, watching me.

"This is just a lot of weight on my shoulders. Taking on the duel to protect my entire race. And she was formidable even without the power up. She held off Herm, Tim, Brom, and Cloe’s mother. She escaped instead of winning, but still." I had sensed no changes in her when I met her on the beach, but she would likely absorb the first half of her power before our duel.

All the ladies were listening.

"Once you absorb the power, we can train. I bet the girls can round up a few more pigs, and you can get some more rest before you need to fight." Morgana offered.

"That sounds reasonable." Polydora echoed, followed by the rest of the girls in their own words.

I clenched the crystal tightly, making my skin stretch across my knuckles. Even with the force of my strength, the stone didn't give in my hand. "Okay, I'm going to shift to absorb this. Please give me some space."

Walking away from the campsite, I tossed the stone high into the air and shifted.

Bones crackled and scales erupted from my human skin as I became a huge dragon, towering over my mates.

I snapped up the crystal out of the air and shifted to my hybrid gold and red dragon form, swallowing it like a pill.

For a moment, I paused, feeling the rough stone slide down my throat, scratching me on the way down.

"Anything, Zach?" Jadelyn shouted.

I shook my gigantic head.

Suddenly, I wondered if I’d messed up and was going to have to wait for it to come out the other side. I grimaced, not liking that concept.

As my mind swirled with all the awful ways the crystal could come out, it suddenly felt like something just sucker punched me in the gut. I felt bloated, like when I’d first eaten the Silver Slave.

I doubled over, resting my head on the ground and let out a low groan as foreign mana flooded into my body.

"Zach!" I heard the shout, but it felt distant. I was too focused on what was happening inside of me.

I felt like a water balloon stretching past its limits, where it stretches so far that it was nearly transparent. My skin tore as I grew larger rapidly, and my natural healing went into overdrive, trying to replace the skin tissue and supplement my growing frame.

Compared to the growth I faced while eating the silver slave, this was far more sudden and violent. I could feel a rushing power winding through my body. It was doing more than just growing my body; it was becoming a part of me and strengthening what already existed.

I let out a low roar as I ground my face against the ground.

Yev came over as a dragon and locked horns with me. "You got this Zach. It'll be over shortly."

"Hurts." I moaned as the power continued to crackle through me, ripping open my muscles and healing them shut repeatedly. It was by far the most strained my body had ever felt.

A muscle that I didn't realize I had in the back of my head exploded. It felt like pop rocks in my brain, as I could feel the same strength I used when I cast spells expand, then redouble and quadruple.

But all of a sudden, it all came to a chilling halt.

Everything faded; I felt completely numb to the world.

I fell down and rolled over.

"Zach." Yev's head popped into view.

Groaning was about all I could manage in response. The crackling in my brain had settled down, but I wasn't feeling up to speaking words. Not yet.

Something stepped on my snout, and I wiggled it.

"Don't toss me." I recognized Morgana's Swiss accent. I squinted one eye open to find her stepping in front of my eye. "You didn't grow as much as I expected. Kind of tiny."

I snorted and a low rumble came from my throat as both the beast and I agreed that we were anything but tiny.

"He's okay." Morgana called with a chuckle. "No, you aren't tiny. I'd never call you that. I'm not sure even my regeneration could keep up with the punishment I'd receive next time in bed.” She stared at me a moment longer.

"Blink twice if you are tired." She eyed me.

Rolling my eyes, I blinked twice and closed them, letting myself relax.

"Shift back, you big lug." Morgana knocked on my skull, but it was like a gnat hit me in the face.

Regardless, I shifted, feeling my bones crunch and shrink. All the mass disappeared as I once again took on my human form.

I continued to shrink until the grass tickled my nose.

"Yev, get him. He needs his rest." Morgana called as a pair of firm hands lifted me up up off the ground. “We certainly aren’t training tonight.”

"It's like a reverse princess." Scarlett laughed.

Yev had me in a princess carry and walked as smoothly as she could like I was the tower of china that would topple over with one wrong step.

The dragons were saying something behind me, but I didn't care, nestling my face into the soft pillows of Yev's chest and letting my heavy eyelids pull the curtains closed for now.

***

I had half expected Bart and Tia to come to me again in my dreams, but it didn't happen.

Instead, my dreams were fitfully filled with Ikta and her driders swarming my mates and taking them away as I lost the duel.

Blinking my eyes open, I found myself in the softest red sheets I'd ever felt, along with Jadelyn curled up in my arms.

It only took the gold... everything for me to realize where I was. Tiamat’s little cabin, and more precisely, I was lying in her bed.

"Jade?" I whispered.

She stirred in my arms. "You're awake."

"Something like that." I scratched my chin. "How long have I been out?"

"Most of the night." Jadelyn turned around in my arms and patted my chest. "You scared me."

I nuzzled her head to the side and took a deep inhale of her scent. Feeling more satisfied, I kissed her neck before nibbling at the mark on her collar.

She held my head there and for a moment we just soaked up the physical connection, letting both our presences reassure the other.

Then my hands wandered to her hips and up her sleek sides.

"Okay, now we need to get up or you'll keep me in bed all day." Jadelyn wiggled out of my grasp. "Besides, if Morgana and Polydora found you fucking instead of doing a little practice with them, they'd be furious."

I put my face down in the bed for a moment as if recharging, before sitting up. "Alright, ready."

Morgana was going to work me over, but I didn’t know about Polydora.

Although I didn’t really get the soft vibe from her. Something told me she’d be an intense coach.

"It won't be that bad. You have to fight soon, so they can’t completely destroy you. They found a few more things to eat, but we are running low. If we stay another day, you are only going to get weaker as you get hungry."

I frowned at her. "That's not inspiring."

The door to the cabin shot open, and Morgana strutted in. "Get up. Let's go."

"You are grumpy." I teased.

"Hungry, but I don't want to feed on you. We need you to keep up your strength."

As if summoned, my stomach growled. Just a portion of the two pigs had not been enough for my greedy dragon.

"Thank you. But you can take a sip." I offered my neck to her.

She glared at me. "No. I'll be fine. We'll get out of here later today. Then you’ll kick some spider bitch ass, and I’ll fucking lick your wounds if I have to while Jadelyn shovels food into your fat face."

Talk about hangry. Morgana was in a terrible mood, which only meant that this training was going to be brutal.

"Now, let's go. Chop chop." Morgana hustled me outside, where the rest of the ladies were huddled around a fire and looked up to see me awake.

Polydora got up and walked over with a crude spear fashioned with a blunt rock at the end.

"Oh, weapon fighting?" I asked.

"No." Polydora jutted the blunt rock into my face and I bent over backwards to dodge it before the shaft swept my legs.

I spun in the air, landing on my hands and knees before rolling out of the way. "Now wait a minute."

She jabbed at me several more times to make her point. "Ikta has eight spears on her body."

Understanding that training had officially started, I flipped to my feet and got my hands up, ready to fight.

Morgana came in to fight me, jabbing in a boxing stance.

I blocked her only for Polydora's spear to come over her shoulder and clip me before I could get out of the way.

"She has more limbs than you. You will have to be aware and use more than just your fists." Polydora jabbed repeatedly over Morgana's shoulder while Morgana tried to grab me and tie me down in a grapple.

I growled and shifted to my dragon knight form, but because I was fighting a bronze dragon and Morgana, I changed my colors to bronze and blue.

"Yes, use more than just your hands." Polydora encouraged.

Morgana ducked out of the way, and I verified nobody else was behind Polydora as I blocked the spear and jutted my hand forward.

"Envokus." I roared.

All of a sudden, the surrounding area was like one of those static globes they sell at the mall. I was wreathed by lightning, going every which direction, but mostly forward.

Polydora was picked up by the sheer quantity and force of the lightning and thrown away from me as the dangerous tendrils lashed out, shattering trees and blowing clods of dirt into the air.

It left a cone maybe fifty yards long of destruction.

"Are you trying to kill me?" Morgana hit me from the side while I was still stunned.

"No. I'd never. I didn't expect it to be so... big."

Polydora stood up and brushed herself off as if the lightning had done nothing but tickle her. "That was one of the largest blasts I've ever seen. It’s comparable to my father's strongest."

Others had been watching my sparring, but now they were all coming over.

"You have absolutely zero control." Chloe chided me. "You are like a toddler with a gun."

"At least I'm immune to my own spells." I grinned.

Based on the stares coming back at me, they didn't find it funny.

"Why should he fight with his fists if he has that kind of magic? Besides, Ikta is the queen of the wild fae. Fae Queens fight with magic and armies. Rarely their own hands." Larisa commented. "If we can turn it into a duel of magic, then he won't have to worry about her additional limbs."

I liked that idea, because just one of Polydora's spears had been hard enough to manage. Eight would be a challenge that might end with a few extra holes in my body.

"This sounds like a good idea. Really, that just sort of felt like sneezing. I could do that a dozen times and not flinch." I pointed to the mess I had made.

The dragons were looking at me like I was an idiot.

"No, here, watch." I raised my hand, shifting my scales to gold and red. I also noticed that doing the dual colors was requiring less focus. Since my first fight in the tower, my colors had been coming easier. Part of the block on what I was had disappeared.

"Don't!" Chloe jumped on my arm. "Dear god. Are you an idiot? Fire that size would smoke us out of here."

I glared at her.

"Uh... my king." She quickly let go of me and bowed with her hand, showing her blue scales on her shoulder. "I apologize for my familiarity and my words."

I grunted and then chuckled. "Using that level of magic on fire is probably a terrible idea. Which should I try?"

Trina raised her hand. "Let's rule out death, fire, and acid. Maybe stick with lightning, and the two that can handle it. Frost might be the safest though."

"Frost." Larisa declared. "Come, if you are going to fight with magic, you need to learn some spells quickly." She grabbed my arm and pulled me a little away from the group. "Besides, you can use the other elements later."

The other dragons were glaring at Larisa, who had clearly taken advantage of the situation to get alone time, but they all seemed to agree frost was the least dangerous at intense levels.

"Love you, husband, but I'm going to go somewhere else. I'm sure we'll be able to see the magic from the entrance." Jadelyn waved to me as Scarlett dragged her away.

I watched them leave, not loving that I was so dangerous they had to stay away from me. But I knew Scarlett was just being careful.

"So, let's try frost." I raised my hand, pointing into the valley. "Envokus."

It was like I just unleashed a localized blizzard in front of me. Chilly white winds swept out of my palm and froze everything in front of me. I couldn't see beyond the frost.

Larisa, who had been standing next to me, was now frosted. Her eyelashes were now white, and ice crystals stuck to her skin. "I wasn't even in front of you." She grumbled and batted the ice off herself.

The other girls that hadn't gone with Scarlett and Jadelyn were turning back as they fled from the frigid cold I had suddenly created.

"So, how do I fix that? I really wasn't putting much into it." I asked.

"Focus it. Imagine a narrower scope as you say the words." Larisa went over and kicked a spot free of ice. "Concentrate on just this spot. Make a big block of ice."

Narrowing my eyes in focus, I lifted my hand once again and spoke. "Envokus." It was more like a firehose than a mister this time. I was able to hit the spot, freezing it and splashing out behind it in a narrow cone.

"Better. But you don't need much control for the fight you are about to do. Blasting away will work fine. But what we need to get you to learn is a defensive spell." Larisa chewed her lip. "Contegos is a simple shielding spell for yourself."

"There's a different spell for shielding someone else?" I asked, liking the idea of being able to protect my mates.

Larisa rolled her eyes. "Walk before you can run. We are talking about controlling single word spells. This is like day one of magic class."

I suddenly had an idea. Fishing in my bracer, I pulled out the ornate jewel that held Tia and Bart's memories. "Hold this."

"What is it?" Larisa looked strangely at it as she held it in her hands. "There's a woman in there."

"That's Tiamat." I replied.

"What?!" Larisa juggled it, nearly dropping it before she threw her whole body around it to protect it. Once she’d successfully saved it, she held it back in awe. "This is Tiamat?"

The woman in the largest facet of the jewel nodded and waved excitedly at Larisa.

"Yup. We are going to see if she has anything she can help me with. Mom, I absorbed the second half of Ikta's power and my magic seems to be stuck on blast. I also have... uh... pretty much no experience with magic." I admitted, scratching the back of my head.

"He only knows one spell." Larisa said politely to Tia. "He can do Evokus, but it makes a mess. We are going to have to duel Ikta in magic, but I was going to teach him Contegos for protection."

Tia bobbed her head in the gem before pointing at me.

Bart entered the view, dragging a bench and sitting down on it. I could see him trying to convince Tia to come sit next to him.

"That's Bahamut?"

"He goes by Bart. I think it was his last incarnation's name." I clarified.

Larisa looked at me incredulously. I shrugged. I understood they were features of legend to her and something between heros and gods of our kind, but they seemed like normal people to me. "Well, they are watching, so give Contegos a try to keep it small."

Shit, I suddenly felt nervous doing it in front of my parents.

"Here goes nothing." I raised my hand. "Contegos."

Interlocking hexagons spread from my hand and curved halfway around me, protecting my front one hundred and eighty degrees.

"That wasn't bad." I smiled.

Larisa's jaw hung open. "You were supposed to only make one to three of those."

Tia jumped from foot to foot, clapping her hands as her hair swished behind her. Bart held his head in his hands.

Tia’s energy was contagious, and I couldn’t help but smile at her praise.

"But this works? I don't feel a strain." Holding out my hand, the hexagons shimmered mid air.

"You probably shouldn't, not with the power of a Fae Queen. Dragons are powerful, but so much of our power is our physical might. We largely use our magic when the physical might fail, or when we’re fighting those with magic, like when the dragons entered the forest to attack the driden." She shook her head.

"Why am I not trying to fight her as a dragon, then?" I asked.

Larisa shrugged. “There might be an opportunity. But I have to agree with the others. She’s had centuries to learn how to fight with all of her deadly legs. And she’ll know how to use your size against you. If you were fighting the driders, you could use brute force, but Ikta will require more than that.”

She took a few steps back. "Now hold out your hand again. Hit the targets and nothing else."

Larisa mumbled under her breath as she created several floating rings of ice.

I smiled. Target practice I could handle. I shot my hand out, aiming for the nearest target.