The Dragon's Stolen Mate: A Paranormal Shapeshifter Romance Page 8

  The truth came in a flash of insight, explaining so many things that had before been inexplicable. Eleri sucked in a stunned breath just as Rhian did the same, and she looked up, knowing that the druid wasn’t sharing her revelation. Facing the green and gold dragon was another creature, like a dark and twisted reflection, a dragon made of shadows. The two dragons glared at each other with silent menace for several heartbeats, and then the green dragon lunged forward, striking for the throat with its teeth while buffeting the dark dragon in the face with its wings.

  They slammed together in a swirl of claws and wings, teeth ferociously snapping, smoke and fire flaring in erratic bursts. It was hard to tell what was happening, especially at first, but Eleri saw bloody gashes appear in the green dragon’s hide, and she gritted her teeth in frustration and fear.

  “We have to help him,” she said, turning to Rhian in desperation. “He’ll be killed.”

  The druid nodded. “But what do we do? We have to be careful not to hit him by accident, and regular weapons don’t work against those creatures.”

  “Carwin was killing them with arrows,” Eleri said with a frown. “Doesn’t the temple have archers?”

  “His arrows are blessed by Ceridwen... Oh!” Rhian shook her head, exasperated with herself. “Yes, of course. Give me your bow, I’ll do yours first and then run down to tell the others.” She passed her hand over the longbow, and whether it was prayer or magic was difficult to define, but the wood began to glow with a subtle wavering light. “I’m no master, so the blessing won’t last very long. Make your shots count,” she said before dashing down the stairs.

  Eleri swallowed. This was no time to point out that she had only learned archery two days ago, or that she was fairly sure this bow was designed for teaching children. She had to try. She peered out of the window. Soon enough, she saw a few other arrows flying out, like falling stars streaking toward the shadow dragon and exploding into its sides in showers of sparks.

  It roared with anger and lunged toward the gate, but the green dragon blocked it, despite his injuries.

  Seeing that, her jaw clenched in grim determination, and she raised the bow to her cheek, calling up the memory of that previous perfect shot. Carwin’s hand on her back and his other holding hers on the bridge of the bow. “Keep your arm loose.” She nocked the arrow and drew it back, sighing out a long, slow breath, and seeing, as if in slow motion, the hateful, red eye of the evil dragon of Dywell. Her mind latched on to the memory of their kiss before the gate, less than an hour before. “I love you,” he said, with fire in his eyes. She released the string with a prayer to Arianrhod, Ceridwen, and anyone else that might protect him.

  When the arrow sprang from the bow, time seemed to resume its normal speed. It arced over the gate in a streak of radiance and crashed right into the eye of the monster. There was a sound like a scream or steam issuing from a kettle, and the dark dragon fell back. More arrows pierced its sickly black flesh, but everyone knew the battle was over. The green dragon gave a tired flap of his wings and collapsed just inside the temple courtyard.

  Eleri was already sprinting down the stairs, and as she ran, she saw the dragon dissolve into a swirl of leaves and flower petals that blew away on an unseen wind with a sound like the ringing of tiny bells. Carwin knelt in its place, naked and covered in blood, and she arrived only just in time to catch him as he started to fall onto his face.

  He collapsed like a sack of lead in her arms, but she didn’t care because his labored breaths told her that he was alive. She kissed his forehead, despite the blood, and he blinked at her in exhausted confusion. “Eleri?”

  Some of the druids were coming to help, taking his weight from her arms and covering him with a blanket. She heard them send someone to get his things from the battlefield, but she didn’t let go of his hand. “I’m here, Carwin. I love you.”

  He smiled weakly. “Oh, I’m glad,” he replied before abruptly passing out on the makeshift stretcher. Eleri stared in alarm, and someone patted her shoulder.

  “I think it’s just magic shock. That can happen if you use too much and aren’t used to it,” Rhian said knowledgeably. “He doesn’t look too bad, considering, so I don’t think you should worry.” This time, no one stopped her from following him to the healer’s quarters, but they did make her wait outside while they washed the blood off and checked his injuries.

  “Did you know the whole time? That the dragon was Carwin, I mean?” Eleri asked, her mind just now really beginning to process the information.

  “He told the archdruid before the battle,” Rhian replied. “Just so we didn’t start attacking him. I’m sure he wanted to tell you. Maybe he wasn’t sure how to broach the subject.”

  “I suppose it could be awkward to bring up. Not to mention fairly unbelievable,” Eleri conceded with a shake of her head. Carwin had so many secrets, but now, she hoped, he might be willing to share a little of his burden with her.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Carwin awoke in an unfamiliar bed. He supposed that, for him, all beds were unfamiliar after so many years spent in the embrace of stone. Still, it took him a moment to piece together where he was and why, and then he sat up with a hiss as muscles stretched and tendons popped. There were new sore spots on top of the ones lingering from his last battle. With all his bruises, he feared he was starting to look like an apple from the bottom of the barrel. Having taken stock of himself, he looked around the room, and his breath caught in his throat.

  Eleri was slumped in a chair next to the bed. She’d been watching over him the whole time, despite knowing the truth. He was touched deeply by this undeniable evidence of her care, despite the annoyance that no one had made her go sleep in a bed.

  He reached out and touched her arm. She started awake and stretched like a cat before brushing a curtain of hair from her face. It felt unfair for someone to be that attractive, especially considering he was much too sore to do anything about it. “Carwin, you’re awake. How do you feel?” she asked, taking his outstretched hand in her own.

  “Like I’ve been pounded flat and left out to dry,” he replied with a wry grimace. “But I’ll recover.”

  “Are you hungry or thirsty? I could...” He didn’t let her finish, pulling her by the arm so that she fell into the bed half on top of him.

  “You will do no such thing. I can’t believe the healers let you sleep in a chair,” he said gruffly. “I’ll make sure you rest properly.”

  Eleri laughed as he tucked her into bed beside him. “They didn’t want to let me stay, but Rhian bullied them for me. I couldn’t bear to leave you,” she added quietly, curling herself against his side. He wrapped his arm around her back and kissed her forehead.

  “I’m sure you gave the healers no end of trouble,” he said, smiling to show that he meant it fondly. “I was afraid... I thought you would be angry with me,” he said after a long moment of silence, “for not telling you.”

  “Well, I wasn’t exactly thrilled,” she admitted, “but I do understand. It’s a strange thing to have to tell someone, and when we first met, there was no reason for you to feel obligated.” She rolled to face him, resting her hand on his chest to feel the beat of his heart through the thin cotton shirt. “But could you tell me now? I suspect there is more to the story.”

  Carwin covered her hand with his own, letting out a heavy sigh. “You are right, of course. You deserve to know the whole truth, but it is a long tale.”

  “Have you got somewhere else to be?” she teased. “You’re supposed to be resting.”

  “Are you going to hold me hostage until your curiosity is satisfied?” She grinned at him, and he couldn’t help but smile back. “Very well. My story begins in Gwynedd, where, much like yourself, I was the heir to my father’s lands. I was newly married to the daughter of a neighboring lord, and all seemed well...”

  He told her that Dywell had been a neighbor with whom they’d been feuding for years, so long that conflict had become almost a matter of traditio
n rather than actual enmity. Until Dywell’s son was accidentally killed in a small border skirmish. Dywell vowed revenge, refusing the restitution that Carwin’s father offered.

  No one thought much about it. Everyone assumed that he would come to his senses once the grief faded, but they were wrong. Less than a year later, Dywell was back, wielding powerful, dark magic the likes of which no one had seen before. His forces came through their lands like a pestilence, killing everything they touched, taking the keep in a matter of hours and slaughtering everyone inside, include Carwin’s parents, his wife, and his infant daughter, and leaving him for dead on the battlefield.

  “Gods, Carwin, I’m so sorry,” Eleri said softly, her eyes bright with tears on his behalf.

  He stroked her hair, squeezing her hand to reassure her. “It was a long time ago,” he said. “I have had little to do but grieve for far too long, but those memories are much less painful than they once were.” In truth, the memories of his family were hazy now. Much of his former life had faded, as if into a fog. It was hard to believe it had been little more than a week ago, but his awakening in the stone circle had been more like being born anew rather than waking from sleep.

  More than anything, he did not want Eleri to feel guilt over the family he had lost. He had loved them, but what he felt for her was something else entirely.

  “In any case, I was alone and injured, but I managed to make my way to a nearby Temple of Ceridwen. The druids healed me, but they could not provide any other aid. In desperation, I prayed to the goddess to grant my vengeance, and to my complete astonishment, she appeared. Ceridwen granted me the form of a dragon in order to defeat Dywell, but the bargain I made with her had a time limit. When I did not succeed in my task, she turned me to stone as punishment, and that’s where I remained, for a hundred years or more. I could hear but neither move nor see, and after a few years, I spent most of the time sleeping. I’m surprised I didn’t go mad, but maybe that too was part of the spell.”

  Eleri shook her head, remembering the dragon in the circle of standing stones. “That seems rather harsh. What did she want you to do?”

  “She wanted me to bring Dywell’s heart to her altar in Dyfedd, the one behind your keep. I suppose she must have had her reasons, but I never knew what they were.”

  “And then I showed up? What happened exactly? All I remember is being injured and passing out.”

  “Something, I’m not sure what, freed me from my stone prison. Your companions fled in terror, I’m sorry to say, leaving you lying there alone. I was sure you would perish without healing, so I called on Ceridwen to aid you.”

  “And she did? You don’t make her sound very friendly,” Eleri said with a raised eyebrow. Carwin knew this was the moment that he should tell her about the bargain he had made. Her life for his. But he couldn’t bear it. He knew Eleri wouldn’t be happy about it, and he still did not regret his choice.

  “She can be fierce in anger, it is true, but perhaps the years have calmed her temper. Dywell is an enemy of Ceridwen as well, and I managed to convince her that you might have information that could help defeat him. She gave me back my human form in the interest of not frightening you away.”

  “I hope she isn’t angry at me for not being particularly useful,” Eleri said with a shiver.

  “As long as Dywell is stopped, I’m sure it won’t matter to her,” he said by way of reassurance. This was true. Eleri would never have to worry about Ceridwen. The price had been paid. “I will not stop until that monster is gone from the world.”

  Eleri sighed. “So, now you have to get information from the archdruid. What were you hoping to learn? You must know more about Dywell than anyone. I can’t believe we’ve never heard of him here.”

  “I know about who Dywell was, but what he is now is another story. How has he lived this long? Where does his magic come from? Without a deadline to limit me, I would prefer not to approach him until I know exactly what I’m dealing with. But you bring up a good point. I, too, am curious about what he has been doing in the years since my imprisonment. Why did he choose to come out of hiding now, and why did he come after your lands? The druids may be able to answer all of those questions. They can see things that I cannot.”

  “Why wouldn’t Ceridwen tell you? Isn’t she the goddess of wisdom? You’d think if she really wanted him defeated, she’d be more helpful,” Eleri said with a hint of bitterness. It was a sentiment Carwin understood, but he knew it served no purpose.

  “The gods and goddesses are bound by their own rules. There are only certain things they can do to intervene in the human world, and their aid never comes without a price. It is better to try to handle matters ourselves,” he said with a shrug. “Hopefully, the archdruid will be able to provide the knowledge needed.”

  “And then you’ll leave,” she said so quietly that he wondered if she meant for him to hear it. It felt like a knife to his heart.

  “I am sorry, Eleri,” he said, his throat tight. “I never wanted to hurt you. Ceridwen is giving me another chance, and she will not appreciate it if I turn aside from my task, no matter how much I might wish to.”

  “I know,” she replied, sighing. “It wouldn’t be right for you to give up, just for me.” Her voice was thick with emotion. “I should be grateful, I suppose, that I was able to be with you at all, but it feels so unfair. I love you so much, and the thought that I may never see you again, that I’ll never know what happened to you, feels like the worst thing I can imagine.”

  “You could come with me,” he said, the words falling from his lips before his brain could intervene. Are you insane!? said the more rational part of his mind.

  “What?” she interjected, propping herself up on her elbow to look at him. “You can’t be serious. I would only slow you down and be in the way.”

  Now that the idea was planted in his mind, he could feel his thoughts spinning rapidly to come up with something coherent other than that he didn’t want to leave her either. “I brought you here so you would be safe, but that proved not to be true. If I hadn’t been here, I’m not sure the druids could have fended off those creatures. I don’t know why the monsters are after you, but it seems they will not stop. I would feel better if I could protect you myself,” he said truthfully.

  “And I do not find you to be a burden, Eleri. I didn’t fail to notice who it was that hit the shadow dragon in the eye. You have a natural talent for archery, at the least.”

  Her cheeks colored. “I’m sure that was a lucky shot. I couldn’t just stand by and do nothing when I realized it was you.”

  “I’m glad that you did. Though I’m confident I would have defeated the creature eventually, your timely intervention undoubtedly saved me from much greater injury.” Carwin looked into her eyes, having already made his decision. He would stay with her until the end, if she would allow it. The journey would be a dangerous one, and he would never have forced her to come, but the thought that she might remain by his side gave him a deep feeling of peace. “Will you come with me, Eleri? I cannot promise you that this tale will have a happy ending, but I admit I can hardly stand the thought of parting.”

  “Yes, of course I will,” she said, kissing him hard on the lips. “If you’re foolish enough to want me along, there’s no way I’d stay behind.”

  “Good,” he said, smiling up at her and brushing her hair away from her face so he could cradle her cheek with his hand. “I never imagined I would find someone like you, Eleri. I love you with everything that I have, no matter how ridiculous it seems.”

  “As long as we’re ridiculous together,” she said, kissing him again. He pulled her closer, not wanting it to end, and traced her mouth with the tip of his tongue. She broke away with a gasp. “I thought we were supposed to be resting.”

  He gave a disgruntled sigh. “I don’t know if you heard, but I’m not particularly fond of lying around doing nothing. But you’re right. If the healers caught us misbehaving, they’d probably kick you out, and we ca
n’t have that.”

  “No,” she agreed, and she settled back in the crook of his arm. Her warm weight against his side was more comforting than he would have guessed, and with the future seeming much less bleak, they were both quick to relax into sleep.

  *****************

  The archdruid asked to see them both the following day. Eleri was surprised. Did the druids already know she had decided to go with Carwin when he left? “Perhaps,” he said, once she gave voice to her confusion, “but it is also possible that she simply wishes to inquire about your plans. We haven’t exactly been secretive about our relationship,” he added, pressing a kiss to her temple.

  “I suppose that’s true,” she admitted with a chuckle. The healers had only expressed token amounts of grumbling about finding her in Carwin’s bed. When Rhian had come to inform them of the archdruid’s summons, she admitted that they actually found it adorable.

  Now they were entering the temple’s innermost chamber, centered around an ancient holy spring. The air inside was watchful and reverent, silent except for the ever-present dripping of water and the soft crackle of the ritual fire. The archdruid awaited them at the far end, seated serenely on a cushion by the fire and bathed in its soft glow. She looked like an ordinary woman, petite of frame with fair skin and silver streaks beginning to show in her dark hair. There were more lines of joy than sorrow on her face, and she greeted them with a smile, gesturing for them to seat themselves on the cushion in front of her.