Dragon's Tribute Part 10

Energy flooded her. She flowed into dragon form, cradled the egg in her forelegs, and sprang into the air.

By the time the bowmen recovered from their astonishment enough to aim their weapons, she had flown too high for an easy shot. A sharp command from the Baron stopped them from wasting arrows. A quick backward glance showed her another shot fired into Virid's leg instead.

She couldn't pause to worry about his fate. She had to keep the egg safe.

Driven by fear and instinct, she fled straight to the lair. As soon as she reached the great hall, she set down her burden and changed to woman shape. She rummaged in a chest for a woolen cloak, which she wrapped around the softly glowing egg. Her legs wobbled, the surge of energy from her mate's blood draining fast. She staggered to the shelves where the potions were stored. One vial of healing elixir remained. She uncorked it and took a small sip.

Piercing sweetness seared through her, burning twice as hot as the liquor she'd imbibed with Virid. The hairs on her arms and legs bristled as if she'd been struck by lightning. She stared at her naked body, almost expecting sparks to dance on her skin. The potion did better than restore the rest of her strength.

It made her feel more alive than ever before. Every ache and laceration had disappeared, even the soreness from expelling the egg.

With the physical healing, her head cleared. She realized she needed a different refuge. Suppose the Baron's wizard had discovered the location of the cave? True, the climb to the entrance would be hard, but not impossible for determined men with spikes and ropes. Of course, she could strike them down with her flame breath before they reached the ledge. If Master Geoffrey could enchant arrows to wound a dragon, though, maybe he had some other spell to disable her or at least extinguish her fire. She had to move the egg to a safer place.

After packing a pouch with food, a waterskin filled from the spring, her amulet and the moonstone necklace from the lake as keepsakes, and the vial of healing potion, Rowena shifted to dragon form and gathered up the egg. No one knew about her hideaway in the forest. She could protect her unhatched infant there. Her mate would want the little one cared for above all. Her chest ached at the memory of hisswooping down to rescue her. What had the Baron's men done to him? She had no way of finding out now, not until she got their offspring to safety.

Still br.i.m.m.i.n.g with energy from the elixir, she quickly flew the distance between the cave and the edge of the woods. There she changed shape to walk among the densely growing trees. She had no trouble finding the clearing with the fallen tree where she had stashed her supplies. The glade had just room enough for her to transform back into a dragon after setting the egg down on the mossy earth. She knew she would have to keep it warm, like a bird's egg, and for that she needed a fire, since she couldn't imagine brooding it in her arms hour after hour.

She cleared a bare s.p.a.ce on the ground, then stripped twigs and branches from surrounding trees and stacked them in layers, with dry leaves stuffed among them for kindling. Finally, she started the fire with a puff of flame. She settled the woolen-wrapped egg close enough to get the benefit of the heat but far enough to avoid any risk of burning. Flowing back into woman form, she wondered how long the egg would take to hatch. She'd have to collect fuel to keep the fire going constantly. She thrust aside the other problem nagging at the back of her mind, how to feed a newborn dragon. If only Virid were here to advise her.

At that thought, pain racked her. Now that she had a minute to breathe, she remembered her last sight of the dragon, wounded by a pair of magical arrows. If the wizard had spoken truth, the bowmen had four more in reserve. If they shot Virid in the throat or heart, would he die? Was he dead already?

He had risked his life to save her. She recalled the hurt shadowing his eyes in that moment when he'd gazed at her. Though she had disobeyed his orders and put both herself and the babe in danger, he had shown no anger, only sadness.

True, she'd had to disobey him to heal her brother. She didn't regret that act. But she could have behaved more prudently, departed right after dosing Harold or perhaps even left the vial with her grandmother. Her capture was her own fault, and now the dragon would die for her folly.

Not if I can get to him fast enough.

Making sure the fire was burning steadily and the egg was safe, she hurried through the woods to the open meadow where she had enough s.p.a.ce to transform. She launched herself into the air and flew at top speed toward the village. She soared high enough to stay out of range of any arrows from the Baron's bowmen.

When she got within sight of town, she discovered Virid was no longer within its bounds. Instead, themen at arms were dragging him along the road toward the Baron's keep. He must be in a stupor from the magic arrows, she decided, for they pulled him in chains like a dead weight.

Or is he truly dead? At the thought, pain and rage flooded her. A crimson fog veiled her sight. She hurtled toward the ground. The Baron, riding at the head of the procession, looked up and gaped in astonishment. She blasted him with her flames. His clothes ignited like a torch, and his horse screamed and fell onto its side, pinning him under its flank.

The men on foot dropped the chains and scattered. Rowena spared a few seconds to breathe fire in two different directions, catching three or four of the panicked fugitives. The odor of charred flesh choked her.

Descending the rest of the way and folding her wings, she alighted beside Virid. Thanks to the saints, his eyes opened and met hers. "Rowenaureadulcima?" He spoke her dragon name in a harsh whisper instead of a booming roar.

She flicked his neck with her tongue. "Now you have to fly. Hurry, they might work up the nerve to come back!"

"Cannot," he rasped.

"Then change to a man so I can carry you."

"Too weak. The arrows. Go, my love. Cannot let you die, too."

Dragon tears scalded her eyes. "Listen to me, Viridiseffulgentissimus! I won't let you die." She remembered what he had done for her on the village green. Gouging her own neck with a claw, she forced her mate's mouth to the scratch. She felt his hot, whip-like tongue licking the blood. A shudder of pleasure went through her, despite her fear for him.

A tremor racked his body. With a shivering moan, he turned into a man. When he changed, the chains dropped off, and the arrows embedded in his flesh fell out, but the punctures still bled. He had to cling to Rowena to keep from collapsing.

She scooped him up with her forelegs and leaped into the sky. A few minutes later, she landed at the verge of the forest. "I can't fly into the trees," she said, "so I have to turn back to human." After gently placing him on the ground, she changed form.

Virid lay on his back, gazing up at her through half-closed eyes. She slid an arm under his shoulders and eased him into a reclining position. "You have to walk. I can't carry you this way." With a small negative motion of his head, he said, "Cannot walk. Too weak. Beloved, it is no use. I am dying from the poison in my veins. Only a matter of time."

"What kind of speech is that, from a dragon? Your ancestors would be ashamed of you."

His breath rasped with effort. "If we had the healing potion-"

"You don't have to die. I do have the potion, hidden in the woods." She could go fetch it, except that she was afraid to leave him. What if he succ.u.mbed to the deadly magic before she got back? What if a wild beast wandered by or one of the Baron's men stumbled upon him? "Up! All you have to do is walk with me a short way."

"You brought the potion? Well done. Then I shall try." Leaning on her, he struggled to his feet. For a few seconds they stood face to face, clinging to each other, his body slick with blood against her bare skin.

Their lips met in a gentle kiss. His normally hot, dry flesh felt clammy and chilled.

"This way." She draped his arm around her shoulders and staggered when he rested most of his weight on her. One step at a time, they shuffled into the forest. Her nerves tw.a.n.ged with anxiety at the slowness of their progress. She practically had to drag him.

At last they reached her clearing. "You saved our child," he said in a barely audible whisper when he saw the egg beside the fire. "You are indeed a precious treasure, my golden one."

Rowena settled him on the ground and dug the vial out of her pack. Virid's eyes were closed again when she turned back to him. "Wake up!" She smoothed his silver-blue crest of hair and held the potion to his mouth. "Don't frighten me like that. Here, drink it, all of it."

He obeyed, pausing after the first sip to take the vial from her and hold it by himself. Halfway through, his eyes gleamed, and she felt the warmth returning to his flesh. When he finished the elixir, he wrapped one arm around her and cupped her head with his other hand, drawing her close for a long kiss, his tongue teasing the corners of her lips. The hot, spicy taste of his mouth confirmed his healing.

She slipped out of his embrace to get a cloth and soak it in cool water from her waterskin. She wiped the blood from his skin, noticing that the wounds had vanished, and dried him with another piece of linen.

"You tricked me," he said. "You broke your vow." His voice conveyed hurt rather than anger.

"I'm truly sorry." Would he not want her anymore, now that she'd betrayed him? "But I couldn't let my brother die." "I begin to understand that now. Family bonds have great importance for humankind." He sat up against a tree trunk. "You might have died, though, and our young one with you."

"I know. I should have left right after I gave them the potion, and this wouldn't have happened." She sat next to him, and he put an arm around her.

"When I woke and found you missing," he said, "I thought I had lost you forever. I thought you had chosen your human family, regardless of the risk."

"Oh, no! I always meant to come back to you."

"Are you certain? If you had been so determined to leave me, I would not have restrained you."

"Really?" She stared into his glittering eyes. "You'd have let me go?"

"If your happiness required it."

"I realize now that I couldn't possibly live in the village. They'd never accept me. Even my father-" She choked down the beginning of a sob.

Virid stroked her hair. "You could find another home among human folk, as your grandmother did.

Clearly you have the wit to survive."

Did he want her to go away? Or was he simply offering the freedom she had begged for? A shimmer in the corner of her eye interrupted her thoughts. Turning toward it, she realized the egg was glowing brighter, its light rippling like wavelets on a pond. "Look!" She pointed.

Virid stood up. "It is ready to hatch." Even as he spoke, the egg quivered. Both of them stepped closer to watch. A thin crack appeared in the sh.e.l.l. It gradually lengthened, and the inner light pulsed.

"Should we help?" Rowena whispered.

"Not yet. I have never seen birds help their chicks hatch. I believe he needs to build up his strength."

She sank to her knees at arm's length from the egg and watched the crack grow wider. Quietly, Virid crouched beside her, his warm hand on her shoulder. A cl.u.s.ter of tiny claws poked through the gap. She held her breath.

Fragments of sh.e.l.l flaked away. "Now you can break the rest of it," said Virid.

As she peeled off bits, the glow faded. She tore at the inner membrane, through which she glimpsed a wiggling, four-limbed figure. Hooking her fingers into the jagged edges, she ripped the remaining sh.e.l.l inhalf.

A baby lay in a piece of eggsh.e.l.l as if in a cradle. A human infant, not a wyrmling. Her hands shaking, Rowena wiped away sticky fluid with a corner of the cloak in which the egg had been wrapped. As soon as she cleared the nose and mouth, the baby wailed. She gathered him-Virid had guessed right about the s.e.x-into her arms, swaddling him in the dry part of the cloak. Her chest ached from the warmth of the small body.

Cuddled against her breast, the baby stopped crying and opened his eyes wide. He didn't look fully human, after all. He had emerald, cat-shaped eyes like his father's. His skin had the olive-green hue of Virid's human form, with a pattern of tiny scales. Instead of ordinary nails, he had miniature claws on his fingers and toes. His downy, silver hair grew in a crest pattern. Rowena thankfully noticed that he had no teeth. She wouldn't have cared for the idea of nursing an infant with fangs.

"Perfect," Virid breathed.

She glanced over her shoulder at his fascinated gaze. "You don't mind that he wasn't born a dragon?"

"He has your nature as well as mine, my treasure. How could I not rejoice in that?"

The baby's head turned toward her breast, his mouth rooting with m.u.f.fled whimpers. Her b.r.e.a.s.t.s felt heavy and tingly. She guided a nipple between his lips. He clamped on and immediately began to suck.

She gasped at the voracious tug that sent a pang from her nipples to the pit of her stomach.

Virid's hand ma.s.saged the center of her back. "Once he has been fed, we must make our plans. I cannot stay in the cave any longer. You did not kill the wizard, did you?"

Thinking back over the moments of rage when she'd rescued Virid, she recalled a glimpse out of the corner of her eye. The wizard, at the fringe of the group, had fled unscathed. "No, and I wish I had.

Does that make me evil?"

Virid shrugged. "Good and evil are human ideas. All it means to me is that the Baron's heir may seek revenge, and he may order the wizard to use magic to seek out my lair and destroy me."

Chilled by the realization that her attack on the Baron and his men hadn't ensured the safety of her mate and child, Rowena said, "What can you do?"

"It is no great catastrophe. I have another lair already chosen half a day's flight away, in a more remote location. No dragon would live without such a refuge in reserve. Later I can move my possessions little by little, whatever I do not wish to abandon." "Wait-you keep saying I. You talk as if you're going alone."

"Do you not wish to seek a home among your own kind?"

Her heart racing with the turmoil of her thoughts, she turned her head to stare into his eyes. "You want me to go away?"

"No, never!" His hand covered one of hers, cradling the baby's head along with her. "But I will not hold you captive against your will. All I ask is that you teach our son the truth of his heritage and perhaps allow me to visit him sometimes."

Her chest tightened in sympathy with the anguish in his tone. He would let her go, taking his much-desired offspring with her, just to ensure her happiness? A lump welled in her throat. She swallowed it and fought to keep her voice steady. "I don't want to leave. I never intended that. I love you."

Hope flared in his eyes. "Truly?"

"Oh, yes!" She leaned against him, basking in his heat.

"As I love you." He drew her into a tight embrace, with their child between them, and she twined one arm around his neck. She felt his heartbeat pounding in harmony with hers. Dragon or man, he was her destined mate. Dragon or woman, she belonged to him. Forever.

About the author:

Marked for life by reading DRACULA at the age of twelve, Margaret L. Carter specializes in the literature of fantasy and the supernatural, particularly vampires. She received degrees in English from the College of William and Mary, the University of Hawaii, and the University of California. She is a 2000 Eppie Award winner in horror, and with her husband, retired Navy Captain Leslie Roy Carter, she coauth.o.r.ed a fantasy novel, WILD SORCERESS.