Winter's Dragons. Draconic Affairs: A Soulmates of Seasons Prequel Read online

  "I take it Father won," I couldn't help but prod.

  "I'm afraid it was a draw. Elder Kali intervened. But I'm sure Devin would have been successful had he and Isebrand been able to pursue the challenge to its natural end." She patted my flank with her tail. "You won't have that problem. Show that horrid firedrake who is the most powerful male, and the most worthy of a female."

  "Yes, yes, Mother," I replied.

  Pushing past her, I exited the cave that served as our temporary lair during the preparations for the tournament. I didn't often visit Cor Dracones, the sacred mountain that stood at the very center of our homeland, so I took a few moments to fully register the differences between the terrain here and my own realm. As I stood upon the cliff side, I caught glimpses of fellow young dragons soaring through the air, presumably in order to stretch their wings, but in reality, in a display they hoped would intimidate their rivals. It was a little foolish, as it allowed their opponents to take in the patterns of their movements. When the time came for me to face those arrogant dragonets, they would regret having flaunted their supposedly superior strength.

  Ironically, Emmerich seemed to have had the same idea as me, since I could not see him anywhere. Perhaps he was still in his own lair with his parents, preparing for battle like I was. I grinned to myself, suppressing the urge to fretfully flap my massive wings. My mother might occasionally be irritating in her extreme concern for me, but if there was one thing we could agree about, it had to be my absolute desire to put the firedrake in his place.

  Ever since our horrible first meeting, our rivalry had just gotten worse. The damn firedrake had only become more irritating as he'd grown into an adult male. The arrogance that had once made him say that wyverns didn't deserve their own territory had increased to the point that three-quarters of the time I could barely stand being in his presence. I looked forward to finally putting him in his place during today's tournament.

  The thought drifted to the back of my mind when I caught sight of several serpentine shadows lurking somewhere beneath me. My temper instantly soured as I took in the identity of the new arrivals. It was the Kurapati clan. Of course it was. It stood to reason that if one of my rivals wasn't around, the other would pop up to annoy me.

  Why did the damn ryūs have to participate in this tournament, to begin with? Raijin didn't have trouble attracting females. Every single female I'd heard of always enthused about his incredible mystical magic and his ability for wingless flight. Even my cousins Abria and Nuala had shown interest in him.

  Couldn't he just pick one of his admirers and let the rest of us win the heart of a female on our own? Damn the gods, sometimes being a wyvern really sucked.

  I let out a disgruntled huff and a small gust of poisonous fumes escaped my nostrils. I hated feeling sorry for myself. It was in no way conducive to accomplishing my goal of finding a female who would help me start a family. Even here, in Terra Dracones, where might mattered more than anything else, there were always those who received unfair attention and advantages, but I would not let that get me down.

  In fact, maybe it was better this way. I would prove that I didn't need mystical magic to beat any dragon. Raijin's abilities might have been more varied than mine, but that didn't make me any less competent or lethal. I would show everyone that I was the worthiest male in our generation, and then no one would say that wyverns were inferior. I could hardly do that if Raijin wasn't around for me to defeat.

  Despite my resolve, I was still somewhat nervous when Elder Chang finally called for all the dragons to assemble. The clouds darkened as the various clans emerged from the grottoes that had served as our shelters. It was just as well that our leaders had hastened things along. The longer the clans inhabited the same neutral region, the more likely it was for an outright battle to start between us. Even the rashest of firedrakes knew better than to disrespect Cor Dracones, but it was always better to not take any chances.

  Elder Chang made the announcement of the official start of the tournament. "Today, we will witness a competition of great warriors. The young dragons of our generation will attempt to prove themselves worthy of the females who have gathered here to search for a mate."

  The assembled firedrakes began to cheer, but the ruckus quickly died down, their clan leader silencing the excessively enthusiastic dragons. Elder Chang continued to speak like she hadn't been interrupted at all. "The battle will be fierce. Remember that there are no guarantees you will emerge unscathed from it. While we, as your leaders, would prefer you to use non-lethal means throughout the fight, it is ultimately up to you and your opponents."

  Silence fell over the area as we all took in the meaning of her words. We weren't afraid of losing our lives, not really. For us, the stakes of this battle were entirely different. In a way, Elder Chang's warning wasn't even that relevant to most of us, since we did not care about the physical damage we received.

  I had already decided to keep my poisonous breath from killing anyone. As much as I disliked some of my fellow dragons, we all had one other thing in common, beyond our desire to find a mate, our vow to protect Terra Dracones. We couldn't do that if we killed one another indiscriminately, even in a tournament we all knew was necessary.

  Since the competition would be a free-for-all with so many dragons of different kinds coming together, the potential of something happening due to clashing magic was huge. The elders had already made preparations to provide healing for the injured, but I still intended to be careful. The sacred mountain was resilient to such damage, but we were not so lucky.

  Regardless of my scruples, though, I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that if push came to shove, if it ever seemed like I was losing, I would resort to lethal force. I had no doubt everyone else here would do the same.

  Elder Chang didn't bother with further warnings. If we'd reached this age and this tournament, it stood to reason that we'd know every single thing she could tell us. As such, she flew upwards and flicked her claws. A bright flare erupted over us, and just like that, the battle began.

  It was chaos. Hundreds of young dragons attacked one another, clawing, biting and striking out at every opponent in their paths. The first person I myself ended up fighting was Emmerich's cousin, Irvin. I didn't really know him as well as I did Emmerich, mostly because he was always attached to his siblings, and clutch-dragons were always a little different from firstborns. He seemed to despise me, having never forgotten the incident with the gargoyles, even if we hadn't fought since then.

  "You're such a fool, wyvern," he told me. "You'll never get a female. You don't deserve one any more than your clan deserves a territory."

  "I disagree. In my opinion, females appreciate males who can actually do things, instead of just pretending and running their mouths."

  Starting a conversation was futile at a time like this when fangs and claws were sharper than words could ever hope to be. I took advantage of his stupidity to lunge forward and attack him. He tried to dodge, but he was not fast enough. My barbed tail struck him in the side, hard enough to split the scales. I didn't bother using my poison breath on him at all. Instead, I viciously ripped his wing apart with my clawed foot, and he bellowed in pain as I tore through tissue and splintered bone, as relentless as the gargoyles had been.

  I had no desire to see him permanently lose a wing. However, my wing injury from the battle with the demons had frightened me more than I had ever admitted, and I knew he would undoubtedly feel the same. I was not beneath exploiting that visceral fear, the dread only grounded dragons ever experienced. There was a reason why flightless dragons had so much trouble getting along with other species, and their problems were always unavoidably much worse if their state was not innate, but an induced condition.

  Irvin's wing injury made his motions slow and sluggish, which naturally meant that he could not dodge my next blow either. When I struck him with my tail once again, I hit him in the head, knocking him out with ease.

  Somewhere to my right, Irvin's c
lutch-brothers cried out in distress. I didn't know why they were so angry. I'd just done them a favor and removed the necessity of them having to face their own sibling in the tournament. Honestly, firedrakes could be so dramatic sometimes.

  They might have actually ganged up on me and tried to avenge Irvin, but I stumbled into something—or rather, someone—far more interesting. The body of an amphiptere fell past me, and I looked up, only to see Raijin hovering above me.

  It appeared I'd get my chance to face off against one of my rivals sooner than I had expected. Wonderful.

  We didn't make the same mistake Irvin had. Instead, we instantly attacked one another, Raijin attempting to take me by surprise with his magic and me summoning my own elemental skills to my aid. As planned, I kept the intensity of the toxicity limited, at least for now. I would adjust my strategy depending on what Raijin decided to do. The poison breath was my best defense against serpentine dragons who had a propensity to use their bodies to suffocate their opponents, and Raijin had tried that method with me in the past. This was our first official confrontation and I would not allow him to win it.

  Raijin had changed a lot since our hatchling years, but I'd already known that. His magic zeroed in on me, as treacherous as he was, and I swirled in the air, evading the surge of energy and protecting my eyes with my wing. The maneuver gave me a better angle to launch a counter-attack, but unfortunately, I didn't get the chance to pursue my advantage, as I ran into my second nemesis.

  Emmerich seemed to have taken offense at my confrontation with his cousin as much as the other firedrakes had. He lunged at me with fire burning in his eyes and in his chest. Raijin was not deterred by Emmerich's appearance, but then, he and Emmerich didn't get along either. Their enmity had something to do with the Fafnir chase and the fact that Emmerich had apparently convinced Raijin to join their parents in the attack on the great wyrm. Originally, the incident had been kept quiet in an attempt to make sure other hatchlings didn't get such ideas. I'd only heard about it much later, from my parents, and the information had amused me a little. It was funny that the two dragons from my generation whom I disliked the most would hate one another too, especially for something so crazy, but I didn't mind it in the least bit.

  Today, we all had something in common. Our old rivalries aside, we wanted something far more important than proving a point. This was our chance to find a mate, and that took precedence over both enmities and familial bonds. We were not stupid hatchlings or dragonets, brawling over insults or stumbling into fights due to our desire to protect our clan's honor. This battle was for our future. Maybe on some level, I'd always known that we'd end up in this situation, that Emmerich and Raijin would be the biggest threats in my ultimate quest to acquire a female. It certainly put my hatred for them into perspective.

  Before long, the three of us were fighting each other in the fiercest battle in the area. In a feat of restraint I hadn't deemed him capable of, Emmerich had yet to use his elemental magic. That didn't make him less of a threat, as he had always been faster and stronger than Raijin and me. His claws raked over my tail, and while I managed to jerk away at the last second and keep him from actually splitting the scales, it still hurt.

  I retaliated by targeting his spine. Wounded or not, my tail was still one of my greatest weapons, and the barbs on it could pierce another dragon's scales with ease, as evidenced by what I'd done to Irvin. Emmerich anticipated my plan and moved out of the way before I could hit my intended target. I ended up grazing his flank, a far less debilitating injury than I'd been going for.

  Before I could attempt to attack Emmerich again, Raijin's magic lashed out at both me and Emmerich. The mystical currents he manipulated were difficult to avoid even under normal circumstances since they were not as easy to detect as Emmerich's blasts. To make matters worse, Raijin seemed to have added a few new tricks to his arsenal since our last battle. Clouds were already gathering above us, a testament of Raijin using his water-oriented abilities. Lightning split the skies and as the elements yielded to Raijin's magic, a furious, icy rain came pouring down, making it even tougher for certain types of dragons to fight.

  My affinity with water wasn't as powerful as Raijin's, but I had been born and raised in a humid environment, so for the most part, I was immune to such tricks. Emmerich had a bit of a tougher time. I was not surprised when his whole body started to glow as he prepared himself for one of his trademark, fire breath attacks.

  By now, the vicious wind had dissipated the fumes I'd created, so it should have been safe. What little toxicity lingered in the air wouldn't affect Emmerich's blast too much. Or so I thought.

  I should have known better than to believe anything during one of my confrontations with Emmerich would go as planned. The damn firedrake lived to thwart me.

  Just as I had guessed, Emmerich opened his snout and blew a massive jet of fire straight at us. Both Raijin and I got out of the way, but somehow, the blast didn't miss us. The next thing I knew, pain erupted over my body, far more intense than what I'd experienced in the battle with the demons. A kaleidoscope of unrecognizable images flashed through my mind, distant landscapes that looked so very different from Terra Dracones. A strange chill engulfed me, unfamiliar, yet somehow, comforting, far sharper and icier than the rain Raijin had summoned, but still reassuring.

  I had enough time to wonder why in the world I would ever deem anything cold comforting, and then the world went black. And when I came to once again, the first thing I saw was the most beautiful woman in the world—the queen who would become my female, my treasure, and my soulmate.

  Epilogue

  Soulmates

  Cheimon

  Present day

  "Thank you for helping me with this, Eranthe. You have no idea how much I appreciate it. But are you sure it's not too much?"

  My sister shook her head and shot me a quick smile. "I will be fine. I already told you I can handle it, Cassia."

  Yes, she had, but as time passed and the moment for her departure approached, my anxiousness increased and I kept wondering if I'd made the right decision. Intellectually, I knew that as the avatar of spring, Eranthe was more than qualified to deal with the task I'd entrusted her with, but that didn't make me any less worried about it. The last thing I wanted was to have Eranthe exhaust herself for my sake, or worse, attract the attention of my enemy onto her due to the magic she was working with.

  My vacillation must have become obvious because Eranthe reached for my hand and squeezed it gently. "You worry too much, Cassia. I'm actually glad you offered me this project. You know I enjoy such challenges."

  "Even so, Eranthe, I have to—"

  The sound of a distant crash interrupted me before I could finish explaining my train of thought. Eranthe tilted her head inquiringly. "Oh, dear. Do you suppose that was something we should be worried about?"

  "Probably not," I answered with a sigh, "but I should at least check up on the situation. Things always tend to snowball in Tou Cheimóna, and I've had enough disasters on my hands lately to be wary of any sudden noises."

  I got up from my desk and walked to the balcony doors, pushing them open. The blizzard welcomed me in its embrace, carrying both me and Eranthe down into the bailey, where I knew I would find the source of the sound.

  As it turned out, I was proven right in my first guess. My three dragons were making progress with the training module I'd had them create, but a dragon's idea of training was wildly different from what we'd done here before. Even the more powerful members of my staff had trouble keeping up with them.

  Their current chosen target appeared to be December. Upon landing in the courtyard, I found him lying spread-eagle on the frozen ground, staring up at the sky with a dazed expression. When I appeared in his line of sight, he blinked several times, as if he couldn't believe I was there. Finally, his dazed mind processed my presence and he scrambled to his feet. "Your Majesty, my apologies for not receiving you properly. Is there anything I can do to assist you?"


  The eagerness in his voice was so obvious I almost felt bad for him. Almost, but not quite. If nothing else, the training module had made him more energetic, and that was always a plus. "Thank you, but no, December. I merely decided to come to check up on your progress."

  December's face fell, but he didn't get the chance to respond. My dragons manifested by my side, eyeing me from head to toe as if they expected me to have been severely wounded in their absence. Their concern wasn't wholly unwarranted, considering recent events, but I still hoped they wouldn't allow their fears to burden them every second of the day.

  "Treasure, is everything all right?" Emmerich asked, and I marveled at the fact that he actually succeeded in sounding calm when he was anything but.

  "Can I not come to see my subordinates unless there is a problem?" I asked, arching a brow. "How very short-sighted of you."

  As I spoke, I let my magic flicker over them, just enough to both tease and reassure them. Now was not really the time for public displays of affection, since we all had so much work to do, but I didn't want them to be unnecessarily concerned either. Their physical response to my abilities certainly didn't hurt, and while I couldn't take things too far now, my dragons would make up for this unforgivable lapse later, when we were alone.

  Unfortunately for me, Eranthe had to go and ruin my fun. "Also, we heard a rather interesting sound," she pointed out. "I take it you were sparring?"

  "Yes, Queen Eiar," Raijin politely replied, using my sister's official name, "although I might have made a few miscalculations on that last blow. My apologies, December. I didn't mean to hit you so hard."