50. Bree

50

Bree

As I basked in the last pulses from our joining, I was barely aware of the imminent danger.

Rigg's mighty pectoral muscles flexed as the air tore at his outstretched wings. But our descent slowed, and then we were traveling horizontally. We dropped below the clouds and zeroed in on the island plateau. I caught a glimpse of the beach—and it was filled with people.

What's going on? I asked.

No idea. But I'm glad the clouds gave us some privacy, with that lot hanging around. Hold on, he warned. Flying I've got. Air sex, no problem. Landing—landing is tricky.

As we approached the plateau, a distinctive turquoise figure emerged from the tunnel. Tyrez planted his feet and watched us come in.

Perfecto, Riggs said in exasperation. Nothing like doing this with a highly critical audience.

He braked, and then braked again. The wind chose that moment to blow like a mad thing, pushing us sideways at the very last second. Riggs's wings flapped like hell, trying to stabilize the both of us.

Then another huge gust drove us to the rock before he was quite ready, and spilled us both onto it.

We looked up into his brother's glowing eyes. "See you found your Dragons. Which is excellent. Although I noticed that your landing technique hasn't improved much over your time away from your beast."

Riggs sighed as he picked himself up, and nudged me up as well. "Leonardo has always beens a critic," he said.

Tyrez snorted. "Michelangelo has always been better at air sex than landings."

Always? What's with this always? I surveyed Riggs through a narrowed gaze.

He glared at his brother. "Thanks for that, bro."

Tyrez grinned. "You are more than welcome. Now, I need you two human," he said. "The Matriarch has gathered the soldiers. So we have somewhere to be."

Getting back to human wasn't as easy as it might seem. Caliel helped guide me. It was painful—especially the wings—but we managed it. And at first, I didn't notice that the scales popping up to clothe me weren't that of the Gryphon.

They were a beautiful, icy blue. And as I gazed down at them, Caliel paused in his assistance.

I envisioned them hugging my butt and forming a bustier to show off my breasts, leaving my arms bare. With a sigh, he showed me how to grow them for maximum lift potential.

Riggs watched with obvious fascination. Niiice, he drawled.

"Can we get moving?" Tyrez complained.

Riggs had more difficulty with the shift. Now that it was out, his Dragon didn't want to go back.

While he struggled, Caliel and Tez appeared at the tunnel entrance. Caliel—now sadly fully clad in a shirt as well as pants—laid his hands on Riggs to help him back to human, while Tez paced to the sword and picked it up.

He shoved it back into the scabbard, and then the instant Riggs regained his two-legged, blue-scaled status, he let him have not the sword, but a tirade.

"You could have gotten her killed."

Riggs stiffened. "I have copulated as a Dragon before." His eyes darted to me, and then away again. Before I met you, he hedged.

I rubbed my temple. I figured as much, considering you have a son.

"You dropped out of the fricking sky," Tez shouted. He emphasized each word with the sword, pointing it at Riggs. It was sheathed, but Caliel stepped between them and took it from Tez.

"Yes, that's how Dragons reproduce," he said. "Riggs would never endanger her, Tez. You have to get your temper under control."

Tez's eyes were sparking turquoise fire, and something fell from his hair to hit the rocks with a clanking sound.

A metallic feather.

Nemi landed on Tez's shoulder. I caught a blur of movement, as though she'd thwapped her wing up the back of his head.

Riggs's eyes were also flaring. I closed my own and sent a flood of calming warmth through the link to the both of them, in an attempt to soothe ruffled feathers, even the metallic ones.

But Riggs wasn't ramping down. So I stood directly in front of him. He glared right over me, until I grabbed him by the shoulders. "This is a learning curve," I told him. "Tez has never seen Dragons mate."

The eyes finally dropped to me. "I would never let anything happen to you." His voice rumbled, but I could tell I'd gotten through.

I smiled up at him. "I know."

"Everyone, just breathe," Caliel coached. "We are united by more than just our matebond." His gaze dropped to the sword, and his hand reached to caress the hilt, as though compelled.

"The blasted sword doesn't care if we kill each other," Riggs growled.

"This is no ordinary sword." Caliel seemed mesmerized by it, and his voice was abstracted.

Tez and Riggs's rage was still reverberating along our link. I needed more to calm them—and the sword's power could do it. I reached to take it from Caliel, but his hand had drifted to the hilt.

Draw it, I breathed through his mind.

He had never drawn it. Slade had tried, but failed. Would the sword recognize Caliel?

I am not a warrior, Caliel protested.

That sword is not about war, I said. It is about truth. And about doing what is right.

Caliel's fingers closed on the hilt, and he pulled it free.

It came easily, and the familiar runes danced along the blade. Immediately its power coursed through us, and I used it to infuse calm into both Tez and Riggs.

Caliel was captivated as his eyes lit up sapphire. It's so light, he marveled.

Tez's jaw worked, and he finally looked away from Riggs. Riggs cleared his throat, and scrubbed both hands through his short hair.

"If we are done yelling at each other and waving swords around, I suggest we get moving," Tyrez interrupted.

As Caliel resheathed the sword—almost reluctantly—Tez's eyes narrowed. "Where are we going?"

But the Dragon shifter didn't answer him. "I need all of you, and the sword," he said.

Caliel handed the sword to me, and I slung the scabbard over my shoulder and followed Tyrez into the tunnel.

As I marched between my three men, I experienced a powerful sense of belonging. I could also, surrounded by so much muscle, barely see where I was going.

It's your muscle, Riggs said.

It was true. It was.

You should be flattered, Tez added, bumping his shoulder into me. As Nemi peeked out from beneath his hair, little spurts of outrage still radiated off him, but he had begun to calm down. He turned his attention to Caliel. You know that Slade didn't have to wear clothes, he just grew fur.

I am far better off putting on pants, Caliel stated. After all, fur provides inadequate coverage for some things.

Considering you borrowed all that, not sure you should be so smug, Tez countered.

Scales hug my assets rather than hide them, Riggs interjected. Far superior to hair.

They each have benefits. I was losing track of the conversation as I contemplated the aforementioned scales.

Caliel moved between me and Riggs to cast me a smoldering look. Fur offers a certain—mystique.

Tez snorted. You want mystique, try metallic feathers.

Not something one could cuddle, Caliel pointed out. But it is important to be adequately dressed while attending this event .

An event? We're attending an event? Tez asked.

It seems so, Riggs growled at him.

What kind of event? Tez demanded. I thought we were talking to soldiers.

We are, Riggs said.

For better or worse, the conversation cut off as we exited the complex and walked along the causeway connecting the island to the mainland plateau. The wind wasn't quite as gusty here, but it still blew my hair repeatedly into my face. Until I managed to anchor most of it with Tez's grandmother's hairpins.

He eyed them. She would have liked you, he whispered.

Warmth spread from him, to me, and back again. Then I finally got a good look at what awaited us, and my breath caught.

Below us stretched the rocky beach, and on it was our army. Dragon shifters, mostly, but also Centaurs, Dires, Sabres, and Bellatis, as well as a scattering of other species. The sound of excited voices carried to us over the crash of the waves.

Tez stopped dead. I'll wait for you guys inside.

No, Tez. We need you with us. I hooked my arm through his and encouraged him forward.

No way. This isn't my scene. He tried to pull away. Nemi cheeped at him from his shoulder.

You are a part of us now, Riggs said. Whether we like it or not.

Tez glared at him. This is your thing. Not mine.

TEZ! I fixed him with a look and pulled on his arm again.

I thought I heard his teeth grind together, but he kept going. This is what I get for being unwillingly bonded to a frigging princeling warrior, he growled.

We are all warriors, I insisted. But we are warriors with heart.

What does that even mean? he demanded.

It means you're a lucky guy, Riggs stated, but I sensed he wasn't much more pleased at being the center of attention than Tez.

When we stepped off the causeway and onto the plateau above the island's highest cliff, the noise subsided. Until the entire army fell silent, looking up at us.

The remainder of Riggs's family awaited us, along with Ganit. I sensed Tez's fierce desire to bolt, and what I caught from Riggs indicated he wished to, as well.

But I ignored them both. I was captivated by the crowd.

Because I'd seen this before. There were differences, true. But I now knew from Ash that timelines were a flexible thing.

Tyrez moved to stand front and center, a towering figure that looked every inch an Emperor. His son stood behind him, and the Matriarch beside.

I led our group to the other side of him. My vision seized hold of me, and I stepped in front of Riggs, before drawing the sword.

A ripple ran through the crowd. It should have been too heavy for me, but it was so perfectly balanced I could hold it aloft, albeit with a hand on each cross guard.

It shone like a beacon. In my vision, it had been nighttime. The reality offered daylight darkened by roiling clouds. But as the sword's light surged outward, they parted. We were engulfed in a beam of pure sunlight, and the wind died like it had been switched off.

I faced them. Grab hold of the sword, I said to all three of my men.

I love it when you're bossy, Riggs stated.

It was lightly said, but I sensed his discomfort about all this, and how close his wings were to erupting from his shoulders.

I met his eyes, and read in them the truth I sensed through our link. Despite finding his Dragon, he still doubted he was worthy.

You are the sword-bearer, Riggs. The one who is bringing it all together, so that Tyrez can build a new Empire.

He stood frozen, staring at me with chaos in his eyes and soul. As in my vision, it was Caliel that stepped forward. His blue gaze shone down at me as he folded his massive fist over my hand around the cross guard.

The sword brightened as his familiar energy swirled first around, and then through me.

I looked to Tez. "Now, you."

Hurry up, Riggs said . I need to piss.

Tez glared at him. You should have gone before you left home.

My vision certainly hadn't included a discussion of bodily functions. I supposed it only proved they were both male, and mortal. I fixed my gaze on Tez. Please take my hand.

Nemi darted from his shoulder, to land on mine.

She said please, Riggs stated.

Can we just get this over with? Caliel pleaded.

Tez's lips curled as he glowered at Riggs, but he stepped forward to fold his hand onto the other cross guard.

Another surge of light from the sword. I matched Riggs's gaze.

Riggs, I said. You are worthy. Fate has spoken. Grab hold.

His eyes flared metallic. They want me to be Razir. Not Riggs.

Tez turned to him. The rogue that needs to piss has to accept the prince you once were. Because you are one and the same.

He is right. I pushed the sword's power to him along the link. He closed his eyes as it engulfed him.

Damn it, Riggs. Stop being a wuss, Tez hissed through our minds.

What the heck is a wuss? Riggs demanded.

Just be a damned Dragon already. Tez grabbed hold of the sword's power, and blasted Riggs with it.

And the Dragon came. In a rush, with very little organization, until Caliel grabbed hold of him with his free hand, and structured it.

As the last scale fell into place, Riggs lifted his forefoot, and folded it around the hilt, over top of my hand.

The energy bridged between the sword, and the four of us. The light exploded in a wave across the plateau, passing over Tyrez and the Matriarch to the army standing below.

And the sword— sang .

It was a song in a language no longer understood. An ancient, chanting thing that reverberated through us and carried out to our army.

It lifted the heart, spirit, and soul of everyone who stood there—and after a shocked pause, the air rang with their cheers.

As the sword's chanting died away, the Matriarch stepped into its glow to address the army.

I dropped the sword so that its tip rested on the ground. Caliel's and Tez's hands were warm on top of my own, and Riggs's Dragon arms folded around me, with two of his huge talons clutching the hilt itself.

The army fell silent again as the Matriarch raised her arms.

"You have borne witness to the sword Caledfwich, also known as Excalibur," she said. "In these troubled times, it has accepted my son, Razir, and his mates, as the bearers."

She paused. "You are here because you do not agree with the direction that Daize has taken the Empire. Even now, he conspires with a coalition of underlords to bring an army against us."

"The council has agreed to support our battle. The ramifications of us losing are extreme—we are all that stand between the dominance of the underworld and the realms as we have known them. We must prevail."

The Matriarch stood straight as she gestured to Tyrez. "Tyrez stands ready to step forward and lead us into the future. As sword-bearer, Razir will be the Emperor's Champion. Their sons will be sworn in as potential heirs."

She gestured to where we stood. "That Excalibur has chosen this moment, and these individuals, to surface once more, is a sign of hope. Hope that a new Dragon Empire will rise from the ashes of the old, and take us to a bright new future."

At first, I thought the rumble shaking the ground beneath us was due to the cheers from the crowd. But then bits of the cliff face shattered and fell, narrowly missing some on the beach below.

What the fuck was that? Tez asked as Nemi fluttered back to his shoulder.

Dark clouds covered the sunlight, and thunder rolled. A bolt of lightning hit the plateau not fifty feet from where we stood. The ground shook again.

And then the side of the Talon Complex erupted. Rock flew in all directions, and a screech pierced the air.

Tez grabbed me by the arm, shouting something that I couldn't hear, because the wind was suddenly howling…