The Dragon Legion Collection(66)

“It must be because you survived the realm of the dead.” Petra couldn’t help thinking that one day they would both return there.

“I sacrificed the tip of my tail, Petra,” Damien said, his eyes dancing. “And we will spend the rest of our days paying homage to Hades in gratitude for our release.”

“You think that will appease him?”

“I plan to spend a lot of years working at it.” He smiled at her, and his confidence was infectious. “I think we have a very good chance of fulfilling the prophecy, Petra.”

Her heart clenched tightly. Claiming the firestorm’s promise sounded wonderful to her, but her son had a more immediate plan. She held tightly to Damien as another contraction rolled through her body. He watched in concern, keeping them airborne.

“A mountaintop?” he asked her. “The soft soil of a clearing? Tell me where you want to be, Petra, and I’ll get you there.”

“With the Mothers,” she said softly. Petra opened her eyes and saw immediately that Damien was missing a scale on his chest. She’d never noticed that before, but there was no time to ask him for details.

Petra surveyed their surroundings and was thrilled to recognize the land. “There,” she said, pointing to a peak crested with stones.

“You’re sure?”

“Very sure. We’re near the Mothers, Damien, which is exactly where I had hoped to be.”

He didn’t bother with questions, although she could see his curiosity. He flew toward the peak she’d indicated, moving more quickly and surely than she’d imagined possible. Petra’s chest tightened as she saw the familiar circle of stones cresting the peak, the clearing in the middle thick with green plants.

She directed Damien to the spot and he circled with caution before he landed, checking their safety. As he deposited Petra with care on the thick greenery, the ground shifted slightly to one side, startling him.

Petra smiled, having anticipated that the Mothers would take care of her. A spring bubbled from the crack in the ground, trickling beside her.

“But where are the Mothers?” he asked, glancing around himself in confusion.

“All around you,” Petra said, indicating the standing stones that encircled them. “You’ll see.”





Chapter Five



Damien shifted back to his human form in time to watch Petra endure another contraction. It was hard to watch her in such pain, yet he felt lucky to be in her presence. He was amazed that his son might be saved, after all, and terrified that the infant might not survive. It seemed that Petra always prompted a mix of emotions in him, all powerful, all impressive. He watched as Petra clenched her teeth at the pain and he hoped their son would arrive quickly. She was panting when this one was completed, her fingers dug into the moss and sweat on her brow.

Damien tried to distract her with a comment.

“You knew that spring would spout,” he said as he knelt beside her.

“It’s the gift of the Mothers,” Petra said, gesturing again to the circle of stones around them.

Damien barely spared the stones a glance. If she wanted to call stones by a particular name, that was fine by him. He was more concerned that he knew nothing about the arrival of children and they were on an isolated mountaintop.


Surely he couldn’t make another mistake that would cost him Petra?

“This is where you intended to come?” he asked as she caught her breath.

“I thought it superstition that Earthdaughters should give birth in the presence of the Mothers. I thought the rules didn’t apply, not if I’d found a man who was more than a man.”

“But when the baby stilled...”

Petra nodded. “I feared that I’d broken the rules. I tried to come here then.”

Damien took her hand, because he didn’t know what else to do. He tried to hide his concern and speak calmly. “But Petra, we’re on the top of a mountain and I know nothing about the birth of children. Should I find someone to help?”

“The Mothers are here,” Petra said through her teeth. He could tell from her expression that another contraction was coming.

“But...”

Petra cast him a smile. “Look, Damien. Look at the forebears of my kind.”

And Damien looked. To his astonishment, he saw faces in the standing stones that surrounded them. Women. Old women. Wise women. Kindly women. As the next contraction ripped through her, Petra gripped his hand hard. Damien saw that the Mothers had moved closer, as if they bent over one of their own. He could see concern in those frozen faces, a concern that hadn’t been there a moment before.

He looked at Petra in amazement.

She laughed a little at him. “You think you have all the marvels?” she teased and he was embarrassed that he had thought as much. “They come out of their stones for a birth,” she said, bracing herself for another contraction. “They ensure that all is well. I can see them and those of my kind can see them.” She spared him a look, then asked a quick question. “Can you see them?”

Damien smiled. “It’s like the stones are melting,” he whispered. “They’re breaking free of the rock.”

“The Mothers are eternal,” Petra winced.

“But what are they? Why are they like this?” He had to wonder if this would be Petra’s fate, and as much as she held the Mothers in esteem, he hoped not.