The Dragon Legion Collection(100)

She would sit vigil and wait for his kind, no matter how long it took.

Then she remembered his old-speak, how she had been able to hear it and how he had been able to hear the way she spoke to her sisters. Aura closed her eyes and tried to send a beacon to the other Pyr.

“The firestorm is satisfied, but the Pyr has fallen. Help us, please. Come to us, other Pyr, and help your own kind, please.” She broadcast the words, over and over again, Thad’s hand held fast in her own, and hoped it was enough.





Chapter Five



“Good thing it’s digital, or you’d wear it out,” Eileen said as she walked past Erik with a pile of clean laundry.

The leader of the Pyr didn’t even look up from the news footage displayed on his laptop screen.

“It’s Jorge,” he said, starting the clip again. “I’m sure it’s Jorge. Spontaneously manifesting in Seattle.”

“I wondered when he’d turn up again,” Eileen mused. She came to stand behind Erik and leaned on his shoulder to watch.

“You don’t sound worried,” Erik said, trying to not sound irritated by that.

Eileen pressed a quick kiss to the side of his neck. “I have a personal dragon protecting me.”

“But still...” Erik began to argue, then Eileen pointed at the screen.

“What’s in his mouth?”

“It looks like a severed limb.”

“Nice. With fingers. An arm, then.”

On the video clip, Jorge rose on his hind legs, displaying the splendor of his golden yellow scales. Erik peered at the screen, noting that there was a wound on the Slayer’s shoulder.

“He fought somebody recently.”

“A Pyr, no doubt,” Eileen agreed. “Those scabs look fresh.”

“And we know he heals very quickly because of the Elixir.”

“I wonder where he came from.”

Jorge took flight and even though he’d watched the sequence a thousand times already, Erik leaned closer so that he wouldn’t miss a single detail. Jorge flew a circle over the crowd and looked to be chewing on the severed limb. He shook it over the assembled crowd, dispersing a spray of blood. One drop landed on the lens or phone of whoever had filmed this version and it dripped in a red smear.

“That is gross,” Eileen said with disgust and returned to her laundry. “You’d think he’d be able to resist the temptation of doing that.”

“And then he vanishes,” Erik said, sitting back and tapping his fingers on the table.

“Spontaneously manifesting elsewhere,” Eileen concluded. “I wonder where.”

“I wonder why,” Erik said. “Jorge is very deliberate.”

“As well as a nasty piece of business,” Eileen said, giving an elaborate shiver. “How’s our dragonsmoke boundary mark these days?”

“Thick and deep,” Erik said, to her evident relief. “Even if he manifests inside it, I’ll be ready for him.”

“Ever vigilant. That’s what I like about living with a dragon.”

Erik started the clip again, then caught his breath.

“What do you see?” Eileen asked, and he knew she’d noticed his reaction.

“It’s at the very beginning. There’s a glimmer of blue-green light, I’m sure of it.”

“Darkfire,” Eileen whispered. She came back to his side and watched, then nudged him away from the keyboard. She could type so much more quickly than him, and he watched the screen, wondering what she was looking for.

“There have to be more filmed versions. Look at all those cellphones in the crowd. Maybe one starts sooner than the news version.”

“Before Jorge appears,” Erik said.

A range of search results were displayed on his screen, more versions of Jorge’s appearance than Erik could have believed possible. Eileen scrolled down and chose one that apparently started with a flash of light.

Blue-green light filled the viewfinder and when it faded, Jorge was in the middle of the road. He looked dazed, or maybe confused, then surveyed the crowd and seemed to smile.

“He didn’t know where he was going to end up,” Erik guessed.

“Because it was the darkfire that sent him,” Eileen agreed.

They grimaced simultaneously as he flew over the crowd, scattering the blood, then disappeared from view. The crowd was seething with excitement where he had been, many of the people rushing forward to the spot where Jorge had stood.

“Where did he go?” Eileen asked.

“What does it mean?” Erik murmured, but he had no answer to that. They exchanged a glance, then Eileen returned to her laundry and Erik settled in to watch every single second of available footage. If there was a clue, he would find it.

* * *

Aura heard the steady beat of wings the next evening, just as the sun was setting. She thought it was her imagination, but the sound became steadily louder. She stood and turned, awed by the sight of dragons flying toward her from the east.

“Here!” she cried, holding up her hands, then repeated the appeal in the speech of her kind. “Here!”

They turned with grace and spiraled down toward her. One dragon was just as dark in color as Thad while the other was brilliant gold. They could have been day and night. As they descended, Aura saw that each dragon carried a woman, one of whom carried an infant in her arms. They landed near her and she heard a rumble like thunder. Aura smiled, knowing that what Thad had told her was true.