The Dragon Legion Collection(101)

“It’s old-speak,” explained one of the women, stepping out of her dragon’s embrace and moving closer with confidence.

“The way they communicate with each other. I know. Thad told me.”

“Katina,” the woman said, then gestured to her dragon. “This is Alexander, who leads the training of the Pyr in our time.”

“Petra and Damien,” the other woman said, lifting her son for Aura to see. “And this is Orion.”

“The child of the firestorm,” Aura said. “So, you were the Earthdaughter who escaped the Underworld, and your Pyr was the one who struck down she-who-should-not-be-named.”

The two women exchanged glances of surprise. “You know so much,” Katina said.

“I was a nymph, now an Airdaughter. We listen.”

“And your firestorm is satisfied,” Petra said. “That’s good.”

They turned to consider Thad, who looked so pale that Aura’s heart clenched. “A yellow salamander changed to a dragon,” she said and the two dragons looked up at her words. “They fought and his blood ran black where Thad wounded him. Then he seemed to breathe and Thad became much worse.”


“Dragonsmoke,” Katina said with heat.

“He stole your dragon’s life force to feed his own.”

The dragons seemed to have come to the same conclusion, for they began at once to exhale steadily and in unison. They were extremely still but Aura could see the glimmer of their eyes as they concentrated. She narrowed her own eyes and thought she could see the same kind of sparkle in the air that she’d discerned before. It was like a plume or a ribbon, one that wound from the mouths of the two dragons, twined together, then touched the wound on Thad’s chest.

The two women took her hands and the three of them watched together. “They will give him some of their own strength,” Katina said, squeezing Aura’s fingers hard.

“Hera said he could only be healed by his own kind.”

“They will try,” Petra agreed.

“If only he hadn’t lost the scale,” Aura whispered. “If only he hadn’t become vulnerable.” She was aware of the way the two women glanced at her, though she guessed they didn’t want her to notice. Even the Pyr missed a beat in their breathing, their attention caught by her words.

They weren’t surprised by what she was telling them, so it was common.

They were expectant. She guessed that she had to do something, or say something.

Aura pulled Thad’s lost scale from her tunic to display it to them. “Can it be put back, once he’s healed?” she asked, and felt their relief.

“Only by you,” Petra said, squeezing Aura’s other hand.

“That’s what will heal him,” Katina agreed.

Aura was fiercely glad she’d stayed with Thad and that she’d chosen to be with him. She watched as the color returned to his skin and his breathing became deeper. The dragons breathed more dragonsmoke, exhaling with power, and Thad’s eyes opened suddenly. He looked around, smiling when he saw Aura. He started to sit up and she went to his side, wanting him to take it slowly, but there was no holding back her dragon once he saw his friends.

“Damien! Alexander!” he cried with joy. He was on his feet then, even before the pale blue shimmer of light flashed. In the blink of an eye, two men were embracing Thad. They all had that black dragon mark on their skin, although they wore it in different places. Thad reached up and ruffled Damien’s fair hair. “You look like you saw a ghost,” he teased.

“Something like that,” Damien said, giving Petra an intent look. Aura noticed that their son was fair-haired, too.

She’d have to ask for that story.

Thad turned to Aura and introduced her to his friends. She was pulled into their circle and savored the warmth of their friendship. “We all served in the Dragon Legion together,” Thad explained.

“The hunters of vipers,” Aura said, closing her eyes with joy when Thad held her tightly against his side.

“The Dragon Legion,” Alexander agreed.

But Thad was looking down at Aura with surprise. “What happened to the firestorm?”

“Don’t tell me you forgot that we satisfied it?” Aura teased. The women chuckled, but Thad frowned down at her.

“What happened?” he whispered.

“I’ll tell you everything later,” Aura promised. “It kept burning because I wasn’t mortal before. Now I’m an Airdaughter, and mortal just like you.”

“And you’ll bear my son,” he murmured with an awe that warmed her to her toes. “Aura, you shouldn’t have given up so much.”

“Shouldn’t I have?”

“But I’m glad you did,” he said with a grin, then kissed her with enthusiasm. His friends began to laugh, and Thad reluctantly broke his kiss. He kept Aura tightly against his side, though, and she was glad to be there. He demanded to know what had happened to the Slayer and she told him, as well as the fate of Tisiphone and Hera’s prophecy.

The new arrivals exchanged glances again. “Do you know what it means?” Katina asked Alexander.

“I know it has to do with the future,” her partner said. “The darkfire sparked for the first time in eons when we were there. It was what brought us back to this time.”