8. Kai

Kai burst out of the river and rose into the sky, disappearing into the clouds in the blink of an eye. The wind whipping through his mane and sliding on his scales helped to ease the intense pain still radiating throughout his body, but it did nothing to calm the bubbling rage that left him wanting to reduce the fae encampment to rubble.

Unfortunately, so long as the queen held his precious sword, there wasn’t much he could do to hurt the fae.

The sun was creeping toward the horizon to mark the start of a new day, but Kai summoned up thicker and darker clouds to mask his movement, and just maybe to match his ever-darkening mood. Under him, the world was a blur of shades of green as the world continued to be wrapped in the beauty of summer. But Kai couldn’t revel in the perfection of a hot summer day.

A summons from Belladonna would not be a good thing. The queen had no interest in chats or thoughtful requests. From the second she’d lain her hand on the sword, the fae bitch had seen him as nothing more than an attack dog to order about.

He controlled the rivers and commanded the rains.

He fought beside gods and emperors.

He was as timeless as the mountains and endless as the oceans.

He was not a fucking pet.

The temptation to rip all this land asunder was there, but attacking the fae was the same as killing himself right now. And what would happen to Xiang if he died? How would he ever get back to his clan?

No, he swore to keep Xiang safe from the queen and return him to his family.

For now, he’d play along. Like a pet.

Soon, he would reclaim his sword, and he’d destroy every one of those bastards who thought to subjugate him.

As he reached the forest land the fae had claimed for themselves, he plunged out of the sky, barely holding in an enraged roar to announce his arrival. Trees snapped and were tossed about as he forced his way into the wooded area while a loud crackle of thunder broke through the churning clouds overhead.

In the thousands of years that he’d existed, he’d rarely appeared in his dragon form before humans. Centuries ago, he’d been content to walk among them, reading their books and collecting their valuable trinkets. Their short lifespans and fragile forms made them interesting creatures, always rushing about to discover new things and invent devices to make their lives easier.

But since Queen Belladonna had stolen his sword, he’d never once revealed his human form. She didn’t want him as a human. No, she was only interested in him as a dragon and the magic that was born from dragons.

He intentionally landed hard in the central courtyard of the fae stronghold, shaking the ground and causing the elves surrounding their queen to stumble in order to catch their footing. White stones cracked, and some even toppled from the highest towers. Everywhere he looked were elves in shining armor holding swords, spears, and bows with arrows pointed at him. There had to be at least two hundred gathered. Maybe more. Points quivered, and the warriors shifted from one foot to the other. They should be anxious. A slender thread of magic was all that held him at bay. If he could snap the hold of that spell, he would be unstoppable and they all knew it.

There were others hidden inside the castle. Their greedy eyes watched from the shadowy windows, weighing his strength against the queen’s, likely wondering if they could steal his power from her. Use him for their secret desires. To them, he was just a weapon to be stolen and used.

But Queen Belladonna was his primary target.

He opened his mouth to roar in her face, but the bitch held his sword over her head and stared him down. Magic pummeled his head and spine, pushing him into the dirt as if she’d placed a foot on his snout and stepped on him.

Sinking his front claws into the soft ground, he scooped up the earth and threw it, walloping some of the nearby elves. It wasn’t enough to hurt any of them, but it made his annoyance very clear. His tail thrashed, sweeping aside a cart, smashing the wood to splinters. If only he’d been born controlling fire. All of this would have been burning now.

“Stop, beast!” Belladonna roared, holding his sword aloft. The silver hilt winked in the morning light and the pale-blue blade shone as if calling out to him. Once again, guilt stabbed through him at the sight of the sword and some of his anger toward the fae queen faded.

This was his own fault. How could he have been so reckless with that sword? He’d thought he had adequate protection spells and guards over his hoard, but the fae had proved him wrong in the worst way. Even after a hundred years, he still couldn’t figure out how they’d gotten their hands on the sword.

But the how no longer mattered.

The fact was, she possessed the heart of his hoard, and when she had the magical power at hand, she could command him to do whatever she wished. That included harming Xiang and Xiang’s clan.

No.

That would never happen. He would never harm Xiang, and that included doing anything to his clan. Hurting them would destroy the vampire.

“Useless dragon, you grabbed the wrong vampire!” Belladonna hissed. She lowered the sword with an angry whoosh as it sliced through the air. “You were supposed to take the one most precious to the crown prince.”

Kai said nothing. He never spoke to the queen. If she wanted to think he was nothing more than an animal, so be it.

The truth of the matter was that he hadn’t realized he’d nabbed the wrong person until he’d overheard Xiang talking to himself days later in the hoard. That early morning had been a mess of dead bodies and a flourish of magic. When he’d appeared at the queen’s summons, he’d still been taking in the chaos. She’d pointed the sword and issued her command. There had been a flash of motion, and then one vampire had remained where she’d indicated. How was he supposed to know Xiang had pushed his brother out of the way?

“I’m assuming you still have the creature in your clutches,” Belladonna continued, her tone dismissive. “I command you to kill it and deliver the body to his people.”

A surge of energy rushed through Kai, urging him to return his hoard, all while Belladonna’s command echoed through his brain. Digging his claws into the earth, Kai roared loud enough so that it could be heard for hundreds of kilometers. He didn’t care. He wasn’t moving.

Around him, the elves whispered, but he couldn’t make out what they were saying over the rush of blood in his ears. It couldn’t be good. The elf queen’s pale face flushed red, and she shook the sword at him.

“I command you to kill the vampire and deliver his body to his people,” she repeated, her voice loud and slightly hoarse in her rage.

Kai roared again, even as the pain ripped through his body and dug deep into muscle and sinew.

Kill, kill, kill, repeated through his brain.

Pushing off his rear feet, Kai launched forward, intending to rend all the gathered fae into bloody chunks, but he immediately slammed into a magical barrier. He clawed and bit at it, but got no closer to the fae queen. Arrows soared through the air and bounced off his golden scales. They couldn’t harm him, but that didn’t matter. He was harming himself plenty, fighting her command.

“Obey me, dragon!” Belladonna shouted, her voice cracking. The pallor of her face had shifted from white to gray. The power required to command him was draining her life force. If he could hang on a little while longer, she might kill herself in her efforts to command him.

Except he had nothing left. The agony of fighting her commands was destroying him. The strength that had held him in place was now gone. He couldn’t hold on any longer.

With a last roar, Kai coughed up blood and soared into the air. He needed to get away from the queen and her control over him. Pain clouded his vision. He cut through the air, swift and nearly soundless, moving purely on instinct.

However, that instinct was carrying him to the one place he felt safe. His hoard. Back to Xiang. The one spot he didn’t want to go. He wasn’t sure if he had enough strength left to fight the magical impulse goading him to kill the vampire. The wind swept away tears gathered in the corners of his eyes. Blood filled his mouth and trickled past his fangs.

If there were even a shred of goodness within him, he would dive into the ocean and curl up on the murky floor, lose himself to time and the world, only daring to return a thousand years later when everything that had been was gone.

Yes, he knew he was dying. Fighting the magical spell that controlled him was killing him as surely as a knife to the heart. And if he were to die, he wanted to see his hoard one last time. He wanted to hear Xiang’s giggling, teasing voice. To smell his musky scent and feel the cool touch of his skin brush against his.

A choked, blood-filled laugh escaped him. His last act of defiance would be to tell Xiang how to escape the cave.

In the blink of an eye, Kai was diving into the river and swimming up into his cave. On a gasp, he crawled a few feet and with the last strength he could muster, he changed into his human form. At least, if something went wrong, and he attacked Xiang, the vampire would have a slight chance of defending himself.

A roar morphed into a scream of pain as he collapsed onto the floor, exhausted and bloody. His vision was so dark, he could no longer tell if his eyes were still open. With a deep exhale, Kai laid his head on the cold stones and allowed the darkness to swallow him.

I’m sorry…