Captive Fire by Erin M. Leaf Page B

said, stepping out of the dark and bowing to
Ryuu, fist against her chest. “Sire,” she said. Zinan stepped up beside her and
bowed as well.
    “It took you long enough,” Ryuu said irritably.
    Zinan retrieved Ryuu’s knives from the ground and
presented them with a sardonic smile. “That last ambush carried you almost to
the foot of the Dragon’s Teeth Mountains. It’s a fair distance from the crystal
fields.”
    Ryuu snorted, taking his knives and sheathing them.
“Is the citadel secure?” He ignored the wide-eyed looks Drakon’s people were
giving him. They’d figure it all out sooner or later. Better it happen soon,
before any more misunderstandings led to worse violence.
    “It is, Sire,” Zinan said, bowing again.
    Ryuu sighed. “Good. I can’t leave here until Drakon
has recovered. It may be awhile.”
    “Of course,” Svana said. Abruptly, she pivoted,
striking Apep in the arm. “Don’t even think about it.”
    Apep dropped the plasma knife he’d been about to
throw. “Who the hell are you?” he snarled at Ryuu.
    “He is your leader’s mate,” Svana said. “Show some
respect.”
    “Mate?” Healer Aster asked. “A true mate? A dragon?”
    Ryuu nodded. “Yes.”
    She grabbed his arm and dragged him back down to
Drakon’s side. “I love my brother,” she said urgently. “If you can heal his
dragon form, you will save his sanity.”
    “How?” Ryuu asked her.
    “You must shift, then force
him to change as well. He’s too weak to shift by himself. Only you can do it.”
She hurriedly removed the med-tab, and backed away. “Move away!” She waved her
arms at her people.
    “That makes no sense,” Ryuu protested, grabbing her
elbow. “He was dying. Shifting back to human was the only thing that saved
him.”
    She shook her head and brushed off his grip. “Yes,
that’s true, but Aiyana won’t allow any of her creatures to suffer if they can
be saved. The moment he shifts back, the planet’s energy will heal him.” Her
gaze flicked to his still-raw skin. “And you, as well.”
    “We’re not just dragon, we’re also human,” he said,
worried.
    “Doesn’t matter. Aiyana recognizes her own .”
She pushed at him. “Hurry!”
    Ryuu looked to his guards. “Get these people back.”
    Svana frowned.
    “I need to shift to my dragon form,” he told her.
    Her eyes widened. “It’s true?”
    “Your mother’s blood was of the dragons?” Zinan asked, voice hushed.
    “Yes. That’s how we survived the destruction of our
flitter.” He looked across the desert. Several klicks away, a few twisted metal
scraps were all that remained.
    “Sire.” Zinan put both fists to his chest. “Our lives are
yours.” Svana copied him, bowing even lower than before.
    Ryuu bowed his head to them, acknowledging their
loyalty. “I need to try and heal Drakon.”
    They backed away, grabbing Apep as they went. Lady
Delinda and the other Soutx had already moved off.
    Ryuu turned to his mate, the love of his heart, and
bowed until their foreheads touched. “Change with me, Drakon,” he murmured,
reaching inside and touching the fire that burned in the center of his soul.
Unlike the first time, the change was easy. He still couldn’t believe he’d had
this buried inside him, and that he hadn’t known it for most of his life, but
he supposed it was just as well. His father would’ve experimented on him, most
likely, if he’d shifted when he was still under the emperor’s thumb and too
young to protect himself. He stoked the fire that was his dragon half, then blew it into a conflagration even as he reached for the
bond that linked him and Drakon tightly together.
    He shifted. An explosion of energy threw him up and
back, and suddenly he was in dragon form. His silver wings flared out, painless
and balanced. His wounds were gone. He tugged harder on the bond, pulling
Drakon from his human skin. It felt like dragging a dead weight through the
sand. He roared and pulled harder, fighting the