Mating the Dragon (Dragon Ruins Book 6) (10 page)

“Help,” Jake begged. “I can’t stop.” His finger wavered on the trigger, but Karla couldn’t move. Her brain froze, and she couldn’t decide if she should dive out of the way, or try to grab the gun. 

No matter what, her mind just kept blindly telling her this was it, she was going to die.

Movement flashed in front of her as Bruce tackled the man. A gunshot sounded loud, blasting Karla, the only person in the back of the ute without ear protection. 

Both Bruce and Jake lay in the back of the ute, tangled up together. Red stained Jake’s clothing, and Karla could only stare at it in shock. 

“Dad!” Gretchen screamed, and knelt down beside both of them.

Bruce pushed Jake aside and sat up, his face ashen white, clutching at his arm.

That’s where the blood was coming from. Bruce had been hit.

Jake sat up too, his gun coming up and aiming at Karla again. “Stay back,” Jake said to Gretchen, his voice desperate. “I can’t control anything.”

This wasn’t over yet.

A dragon scream split the air, and Karla’s head jerked up. A golden streak sped towards the life dragon.

Taurian.

Behind him flew several other dragons. Gold. Gunmetal grey. Blue and green. Red. And one that looked almost transparent. 

Coming straight at them, attacking them from both sides, were the silver ones.

Taurian’s claws sank into the white dragon’s skin and its scream sent a shiver down Karla’s spine. Jake’s arm went limp, and his gun dropped onto the rubber matting in the back of the ute. “I’m so sorry,” he gasped out. “I didn’t mean to fire on you. I couldn’t stop it,” he gasped.

Gretchen threw her arms around her father, tears running down her cheeks.

“It’s not your fault, it was the life dragon,” Karla said, as she dropped to the ground next to Bruce. She looked at his arm, not even sure where to start or what to do. 

“I’m okay, you need to take care of that dragon,” Bruce said stoutly. Some of the colour was returning to his face. “It was just a scratch.”

Karla hovered, torn between believing him and getting back to the fight, or panicking that he was about to die.

“You need to take out that life dragon before anyone else gets hurt,” Bruce said softly. “Go, do what you came here to do.”

Karla looked at him one last time, but he was right. He didn’t look like he was about to die right now, and if they didn’t stop the life dragon, someone else could.

She jumped to her feet and stared around the sky, assessing the situation. “We have to take the life dragon out before she can try again.”

“I can’t shoot, I risk hitting that other dragon,” the other farmer said.

He was right. Taurian and the life dragon were locked in a close battle, their necks entwined. A shot at one risked hitting the other. Karla looked around the sky, to see a similar story everywhere. Dragon fighting dragon. 

She’d just made it worse.

She’d removed any chance Rian clan had of sneaking away without a fight, and she couldn’t even help them.

Jake patted Gretchen on the shoulder, and stood up next to them. His gun looked awkward in his hand, but he was as determined to fight as the rest of them. If only there was something they could do.

“Time for our secret weapon,” Chase said softly. 

Karla hesitated, looking up at the sky. There was the chance he could hit a Rian clan dragon, but if they didn’t do something, the whole clan would be dead anyway. “Do it.”

The familiar sound of several firework rockets launching, one after another, filled the air. 

The sound hung in the air for several long moments before the rockets exploded, sending a rain of sparks over Trima and Rian dragons alike. 

The dragons split apart, all ducking down in different directions, trying to avoid the explosion. 

“It worked.” Chase punched one fist in the air.

Karla didn’t waste time celebrating. She had more important things to focus on. 

“Take out the life dragon, quickly, while they’re apart!” Karla called, pointing.

Everyone followed her finger. A volley of shots flew into the sky above them.

The white dragon gave a shriek and its body bucked. Its left wing skipped a beat, and it tumbled over, falling to the ground just beyond the human line with a thud.

Karla stared at it, but it didn’t move. For a moment, her heart skipped a beat, then a blanket of fear was thrown off, and victory flooded her, filling her with a deep relief. They could do this. With the life dragon out of the picture, they had a chance.

Above them, Taurian dipped a wing to them, and returned immediately to the fight. Chase let off the next volley of fireworks, and Karla stared up at the sky, looking for more openings. The more dragons they took out, the better 

The hairs rose on the back of her neck, and she looked around. Ultrima didn’t have another life dragon, did he? 

A whisper of wind behind her was all the warning she got. Karla spun around just in time to see Ultrima bearing down on her, skimming low over the top of the ute. 

“Your little cages won’t protect you from my lightning,”
Ultrima’s voice in her mind was filled with satisfaction and blood lust. 

Lightning spewed forth above them.

Instinctively, Karla ducked. As if that would help. 

“Don’t touch the sides of the cage,” she shouted desperately.

A loud crack of thunder crashed around her, and a blinding flash of light engulfed her.

In that split second, she was sure it was all over.

But the cages did their job. None of the lightning touched the people huddled inside. It flowed over the cage, crackling and hissing, then dissipated to the ground.

Ultrima was close enough for Karla to see the shocked expression on his face. He roared in frustration, and his claws dug into the metal cage, shaking the whole ute.

The movement was enough to knock Karla and the other’s over. Chase managed to catch the edge of the cage, and remain half standing. 

Ultrima roared, and rattled the cage again, but Chase’s welds held, and the dragon wasn’t strong enough to lift the whole ute. 

Karla’s blood froze at Ultrima’s scream of frustration as he lifted above the ute. He opened his claws, and another bolt of lightning hit the ute from point blank range. Chase released the side of the cage just in time. Everyone scrambled to their feet as the lightning fizzed around them and dissipated. 

When the air cleared, Ultrima was still directly above them. 

They weren’t going to get a better chance.

“Hit him with everything we’ve got!” Karla screamed.

Adrenalin flooded her body, and she wasn’t aware of anything except the overwhelming urge to kill the Trima dragon. Was this how Taurian felt? No wonder he seemed so bloodthirsty.

Several more fireworks went off along with the guns, all trained on Ultrima. The sharp crack of the shotguns was music to Karla’s ears. She only wished she had a weapon of her own. It would be so satisfying to be the one hitting Ultrima right now.

A bullet punched a hole through one of his wings. Another grazed his leg. At least two buried themselves in his hide, knocking him backwards and out of the air.

As he tumbled head over tail, Karla’s crew let out a cheer, waving their guns in the air. 

Karla almost felt like doing the same herself. This was a decisive victory, surely?

The other dragon battles halted as friend and enemy alike turned to look in their direction. 

Everyone watched as Ultrima hit the ground with a thud. Everyone held their breath to see what would happen next.

The Trima dragons all flew towards their leader, clustering around him, hiding him from sight. 

The Rian dragons regrouped near their lair for a few moments, before Taurian, his scales glistening in the sun, walked towards the ute, two other dragons flanking him.

Was this it? Was it over?

Somehow, Karla wasn’t quite ready to emerge from the cage yet.

There was a roar from the Trima dragons, and they parted to reveal Ultrima standing there. He was wounded, sure. Blood stained his silver hide in several places. But he wasn’t beaten. Not by a long shot.

The humans responded immediately, guns poking through the cage, ready to fire again.

“Stop!”
Ultrima’s voice filled Karla’s head.
“Enough fighting. Let’s discuss this as leaders and see if we can come to an agreement.”

Relief flooded Karla. They had won. Even though he hadn’t said the words, surely this was the equivalent of a surrender from Ultrima?

Karla looked over at Taurian, uncertain what to do. Had he received the message as well?

His eyes were on Ultrima, his stance taut. Hard to tell.

Karla made the decision herself. The possibility of saving dragon and human lives was too great not to. She held up her hand, and raised her voice. “Let Ultrima through. I will talk to him. But only if he’s in human form.” That gave her some semblance of safety at least.

No one questioned her. Not even Taurian. He watched, his golden eyes blazing, while Ultrima transformed, and sauntered towards her. The Trima dragon was unfazed by being naked.

Karla found it a bit disconcerting. Not because she found him in any way attractive, but because… well, just because. She distracted herself by checking out his wounds. A scratch on his arm, another on his leg, that one quite deep. He would live, but he would be spending a few days in the Mesmer at least.

Taurian shifted back into human form behind him, and had almost caught up by the time he stood in front of Karla, that deliberately charming smile on his face. 

“You know this isn’t the end, right?” Ultrima said smoothly. “You may have been able to hold us off now, but all these humans can’t stay here all the time. They don’t want to live in the Rian clan lair. At some point, I will have a chance to take Taurian out.”

“We’ll see,” Karla said flatly. “All I know is that it won’t be today.”

Ultrima looked back at Taurian, then at Karla. “Perhaps we need to consider a new option,” he said slowly.

“What’s that?” Karla raised an eyebrow. Didn’t Ultrima realise he’d lost? He wasn’t in the position to be demanding bargains.

“Rian Prince, this concerns you as well,” Ultrima included Taurian in the discussion.

Taurian glared at him. “What?”

“A deal,” Ultrima said slowly.

“As if I would trust a deal from you,” Taurian growled.

“How about we listen?” Karla suggested. Mostly because she was very curious what Ultrima was about to offer.

“You should listen to the woman, she is a worthy adversary.”

“The woman has a name,” Taurian growled. “And I’m pretty sure you know what it is.”

Ultrima smiled. “Do you want to hear the deal, or not? I hardly trust you any more than you trust me, but I’m prepared to offer it anyway.”

“I’m listening,” Taurian said shortly.

Ultrima looked back at Karla, then back at Taurian. “You want me to leave your clan alone, correct?”

“I want you to stop trying to kill them, yes.”

“I will do so if you mate with the human.”

“What?” Taurian and Karla both said at the same time.

Karla’s heart skipped a beat. Ultrima couldn’t be reading her mind, could he? But how else could he take her greatest wish and dangle it in front of her face like this? He couldn’t have surprised her more if he’d tried. 

“What’s in it for you?” Taurian demanded, as though he assumed there was some trick in Ultrima’s plan. 

Karla was sure there must be too. “Yes, why do you want us to mate?”

“Let’s just say that I’m a believer in true love,” Ultrima purred.

Karla just about laughed out loud. Given everything she’d heard about him, the statement just served to make her more certain he had an ulterior motive. 

“Yeah, right,” Taurian said. “What’s your game, Ultrima?”

“I have no game.” Ultrima’s voice was quiet. “You may not understand it, but that’s my offer. It seems reasonable to me. You get what you want in both cases. You do want to mate with the human, don’t you?”

Karla’s heart beat a little faster. She had no clue what Ultrima’s real objective was, but his obvious goal was clear. The question was, what would Taurian do?

What did this mean for them? Was it a chance for them to do what they really wanted? It seemed so impossible. 

Ultrima’s eyes were narrow and he watched Taurian closely.

Taurian’s eyes flicked back to Wayrian, standing protected by the dragon form elders of his clan, but close enough that she could easily hear their conversation. 

The dragon woman’s eyes widened, then she looked down at the ground.

“Wayrian and I have made a commitment,” Taurian said shortly. “And my mating is none of your business. You’re in no position to be offering deals.”

His words cut through the shred of hope that had flared, and Karla felt like all the air had been sucked out of her lungs. She should have known it wouldn’t be that easy. Taurian’s enemy wouldn’t just hand this to them on a silver platter.

Karla let out a short breath. Maybe it was more than just obligation that tied Taurian to his dragon mate. Maybe he really had no wish to mate with a human. Maybe he never had.

Better to find out now. Even though it hurt.

“You’re just like all your brothers and sisters,” Ultrima said quietly. He looked… disappointed? “I thought maybe you were different, but perhaps not.”

“I’d rather not be mated than mated out of obligation.” Wayrian’s voice was stronger than Karla had ever heard it. “Taurian does not love me, and though the mating ritual will tie him to me, I’d always know that his heart really belonged to another.”

“Wayrian, stay out of this,” Taurian growled.

Wayrian paled, but she didn’t back down. “No, I won’t,” she said firmly. “You know it’s true. You couldn’t even mate with me last night because of your love for her. A love that strong shouldn’t be denied. And you know it.”

There were a few gasps from the dragons behind her.

Karla felt her own jaw drop. She looked at Taurian, her heart filling with bittersweet love. He had refused to mate with Wayrian, even though they had begun the ceremony. She should have known that his love was stronger than that.