The Dragon Legion Collection(3)

It hadn’t just been Erik’s visit. It wasn’t just the firestorm burning in the distance. It was the prickle of darkfire. He shook his head, pitying the unfortunate Pyr who had been saddled with this particular firestorm and its complications. There couldn’t be a woman alive who was worth as much trouble as darkfire could create.

But what Lorenzo didn’t realize was the extent to which the darkfire would change the world of the Pyr. The fact that he even sensed its blue-green flicker meant that it was changing him, as well.

It would be months before he realized that the third darkfire crystal, the one he had kept secured in his hoard for centuries, had vanished without a trace.





Chapter One



Alexander winced when he smelled the darkfire crystal heating.

As the Dragon’s Tooth Warrior with the keenest sense of smell, he always knew the stone was warming, even before the strange light within it began to flicker. Sure enough, his leader Drake lifted the crystal and held it aloft.

That blue-green light flashed within the stone, like lightning trapped in a bottle.

“Yet again,” Drake said beneath his breath. If Alexander hadn’t been Pyr, he would not have heard the softly uttered words. “It’s relentless.”

Alexander could only agree. He was exhausted, like all of the others, terrified to wander away or risk sleep so long as they kept guard over the unpredictable stone.

Drake gave Alexander, his second in command, a sharp look. “Find the others.” His eyes filled with a panic that Alexander shared. “Now!”

There was no telling how long it would take the stone to work its strange sorcery. Sometimes it shone for hours before anything changed. Sometimes it lit to brilliance in seconds.

But when it flared its most brilliant light, the one that nearly blinded them all, the Dragon’s Tooth Warriors were hurled through space and time.

They would feel the rushing of the wind and feel the sensation of being transported.

And when they opened their eyes, their location would be changed.

It was a strange and unsettling sorcery.

And these warriors had seen their share of sorcery. They’d been beguiled by an ancient viper, enchanted to take the form of dragon’s teeth, trapped for millennia until they’d been set free in a future that defied expectation. Their leader, Drake, had changed his name, perhaps to indicate that he was no longer the Pyr he once had been. It was so apt that Alexander didn’t even think of Drake as Stephanos any more.

In contrast, Alexander felt he continued to survive an ordeal, one that only made him yearn more strongly for the wife and son he’d left behind, one that made him more of what he had always been.

The first time the darkfire had worked its magic had been immediately after Drake closed his hand over the stone, at Lorenzo’s home. Since then, it had occurred three more times. Alexander was not even certain where they had been.

The group of Pyr had almost immediately realized that only those within some measure of proximity to the crystal were carried along with the company, and this was the cause of their concern. Who knew what had become of the others? Alexander doubted he was the only one haunted by the uncertainty.

With a single shout from Alexander, the other warriors raced closer. Alexander saw his own distrust of the crystal echoed in the wary expressions of his companions.

“Wonder where we’re going this time,” Peter muttered in his usual grim tone. Peter was the oldest of all of them, a ferocious warrior independent of his age. He tended to expect the worst, a perspective the darkfire crystal was unlikely to change.

His view, however, did little to bolster the confidence of the team and Alexander wished he would be more optimistic.


“It’s not as if we have time to look around,” Iggy complained.

“Just make sure everyone is here,” Alexander commanded tersely.

Drake was regarding the stone with undisguised horror. Alexander knew it was because they’d lost five men already, thanks to the darkfire’s unpredictability. It was shocking that there were only twelve of them left, when their original company had numbered in the hundreds. Each curse upon them had taken its toll, but with fewer men, each new loss sickened Alexander. He and Drake had concluded that those men who hadn’t been in the immediate vicinity of the crystal when the light flared had been left behind.

Wherever they had been.

Could they ever be retrieved? Would the stone continue to flash until they were all dispersed? The last transition they’d managed to remain together, but Alexander couldn’t help wondering how long that would last. They were tired and becoming irritable. It was only a matter of time until one fell asleep, or wandered away to relieve himself at the wrong moment.

Alexander swallowed as the light within the crystal pulsed with greater speed, growing brighter with every beat. He felt his pulse accelerate and sensed the heightened awareness of his fellows. He could hear hearts racing, feel perspiration gathering, feel breathing quicken. They all stared fixedly at the stone.

“Here we go again,” Damien muttered. The most handsome of all the soldiers spoke lightly, in his usual manner, but Alexander noted how he licked his lips with trepidation. It was unlike Damien to show any emotion, so Alexander knew he was terrified.

“You just want to find more hearts to break,” Iggy said in a teasing tone. Tall, young and lanky, Iggy was often underestimated in battle, but he was of a lean build with fierce power. Alexander always thought of Iggy as a finely honed steel blade. His manner was playful and he would even banter in battle, which also encouraged opponents to miscalculate his abilities.