The Witch and the Dragon Ch. 03

Zak stared at Remi with raised brows. "What mission?"

Remi grinned, the bright overhead lights in Alpha 7's hangar glinting off his deep red hair. "A rescue mission." He turned to a wet, enraged Seth. "You in or not, Kitty-cat?"

"I will never become involved in one of your harebrained schemes," Seth spat shaking from fury.

Zak would have been pissed too if Remi had sobered him up by power-forcing him to vomit and then dropping a half ton ball of icy water on him. Just remembering Seth's body jerking in shock made Zak cringe.

"Rem," Zak sighed, "be a little more specific on the details of this rescue mission, bro."

Remi rolled his big green eyes with a long-suffering sigh. "Does no one on this space station trust me?"

"Not if one is sane, Red."

Zak turned to see Annie strolling up to where they stood.

Zak slipped an arm around her shoulders when she stepped up next to him. Her gaze swept over Seth and Zak tried not to snicker when she growled a bit, her gaze narrowing on Remi.

Remi scowled. "He was drunk. I was only helping sober him up for the mission."

Annie gasped and gave Seth a disapproving look. Before she could launch into chastising Seth about his behavior, Zak asked once more, "Remi, would you tell us who needs rescuing."

Remi's green-gold gaze blazed into Zak's. "Your witch."

***

Alluna knew she shouldn't cry, but the face of the beautiful golden angel haunted her dreams day and night. Mother had warned her he wasn't an angel, but a devil that had come to snatch her away.

"An evil snake lies between his thighs, ready to strike at you, bring you pain and make you bleed," she'd warned.

Still, every time Alluna closed her eyes, she remembered with despairing clarity how blue his eyes were, so deep and brilliant. His hair was spun gold, falling in thick waves down his back... and his body...

Alluna shivered.

He had looked at her mesmerized, with utter adoration shining from his eyes. His memory brought about an awful ache between her thighs, made her breasts feel heavy and tender, and she did not know how to make the hurt go away.

Throwing open the shutters to her tower room, she allowed the rain to drench her face. The front of her white cotton slip became soaked, but she didn't care. The rain poured over her, making a puddle at her bare feet. She ran her fingers through her tresses, eyes closed, as she tilted her face up to the heavens.

"There she is!"

Alluna gasped and stared down at the base of her tower. A multitude of villagers surrounded the base, their faces scowling up at her. One of them tossed a four-pronged hook with an attached rope to her sill and began climbing.

Alluna shrank back as she heard them scream "kill the witch! Kill her!"

Whimpering, she ran deeper into her room, but there was nowhere to hide. Cowering on the bed, Alluna watched a big, burly man step over the sill into her room. Another followed close behind. They were huge and had hair covering the bottom half of their scowling faces.

"Please," she sobbed, "Don't hurt me. I've done nothing wrong."

The first man gripped her by her hair, making her scream. He yanked her out of the bed and pulled her to the window again. "See that, witch?"

Lightning slashed across the sky and the heavens poured more water down in torrents. The land around her tower was flooded.

"We're sick of your calamities," the second man hissed. Alluna shrieked in surprise when he gripped her breast painfully. "Aye, as fresh and alluring as your body is, you've ruined our crops. We'll be damn near starving this season. I say we rape her first before offering up her body to the fire god."

Rape? Alluna wondered if that were some horrid torture.

"Nay," the first man growled. "We can't offer the fire god a less than perfect sacrifice. We sacrifice this witch untouched."

They gripped her between them and tossed her out the window.

Alluna flailed before landing in a tarp they held at the bottom. Although it softened the lethal fall, she still felt her head spin and her body ache from the impact.

The villagers tied her hands behind her back, gagged her mouth, and pushed and shoved her to walk on shaky legs.

Where was mother? Why was she not intervening?

Alluna slipped and fell in the mud numerous times, her once white cotton slip was a muddied, torn mess. The villagers hit her along the way, some of the children even threw rocks at her. When one struck her temple, making her fall dazed to the ground, they dragged her the rest of the way.

They climbed the Misty Mountains it seemed like forever. Rocks and twigs tore at her flesh until her entire body was nothing but a mass of fiery pain.

At last, they stopped. They forced her to stand again, cutting the ropes from her hands and pulled her to a steaming pit. Alluna looked down the black hole. Billowy steam rose from its depths. Rough hands pushed her headlong into the abyss. Her body descended, limbs too weary to flail, turning, turning, the hole to the surface becoming smaller and smaller, the darkness deeper and deeper.

When she hit the bottom, the pain was only brief. She couldn't breathe, but it didn't matter. As blood bubbled from her lips, she saw the pinhole to the surface brighten. The sun had come out again.

***

Landing undetected on Arboria's surface had been simple enough thanks to Seth's ability to cloak their presence from the planet's weaker Master Guardians. Zak hadn't been thrilled to land in the midst of a major storm ripping across the star-shaped continent Seth assured the tower was located—the tower where his nameless beauty was prisoner.

Remi had heard through various connections, how one of Arboria's Master Guardians was becoming unstable, and his constant meddling in planet politics was making the people regress to their warlike ways. There was also talk of a girl with Master Guardian-like abilities that lived on the planet wreaking havoc with the weather. The citizens were plotting to kill her and the Master Guardians were not going to get involved.

Rain drenched Zak's body as he followed Seth and Anniel through the dense woods. The minute they found the tower it had stopped raining, but the tower was empty.

Zak sensed the residue of tension lingering in the room. The floor before the window was drenched, the water reaching almost to the bed at the far side of the tower room. There was over a foot of water covering the ground around the tower and it was deeper in other areas of the field surrounding the ruins. Annie would not be able to pick up a scent.

Seth had closed his eyes after picking up a tattered old pillow and tried to find the girl's life force.

They'd followed him back out the window and now trudged through the mud and water logged plants up a steep hill.

Halfway up the hill Remi called out. Zak turned to find the red-haired weredragon on his hands and knees sniffing the ground.

Zak frowned. "What?"

"Fire," Remi breathed in deep.

Fear clutched Zak's chest.

"Okay," Seth huffed impatiently, "we all learned in school that most planets are magma and fire."

"No," Remi interrupted, "this is a Guardian made volcano. He's a little pyro like me, but sloppy." Remi grimaced.

Seth rolled his eyes. "And your point is?"

Remi ignited, fire blooming from his skin and taking the shape of an ever-growing dragon.

It wasn't the first time Remien Fyre shifted in front of him, so Zak's reaction was instantaneous. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him at least eighty feet away, cursing that he couldn't teleport for fear of ending up with pieces of the surrounding nature embedded into his body.

The heat of Remi's transformation seared his back as he took Annie down beneath his body to protect her.

A deep rumbling growl vibrated the air around them, almost drowning out Seth's curses.

Zak looked back to see the blood-red dragon burrowing in the ground like a dog looking for his lost bone. Opalescent scales shimmered with iridescent colors within the red, going from a bluish to purple hue. Dark red claws tore out chunks of rock and soil, the hole turning into a cave and then a tunnel.

"What is he doing?" Annie asked in confusion as Seth muttered oaths of a slow painful death.

"Digging his own grave by the looks of it," Zak grimaced. "Seth, can you link into his mind? Is he still aware he's part human or is he ballistic again?"

Seth growled, stalking toward the enormous hole where Remi's dragon tail was quickly disappearing into.

Dirt and rocks continued to fly out of the tunnel Remi was creating, to the point where Zak feared the crazy dragon would bury them all.

"Damn-it," Seth hissed, shoving his fingers into his platinum hair, "We should have brought Devon with us... or Rowie. I can't control this asshole."

She's down here... somewhere—Remi's voice stated clearly into Zak's mind. From the expressions on Seth and Annie's faces, he'd linked to them as well.

Zak didn't wait for anyone as he barreled down the slope and into the tunnel.

The smell was overpowering, almost like Earth's sulfur. The deeper they descended the hotter it became, reminding Zak of Megdoluc and its hellish, devil-infested tunnels and caves.

They finally came upon Remi. He stood fully human, as naked as the day he was born, one hand on his hip the other scratching a butt cheek, as he seemed to ponder which way to go.

He looked over his shoulder as they all came up behind him. "Took you long enough."

Seth bared his fangs, faint tiger stripes appearing across his forearms as his clawed fingers reached out to Remi. "You..." He clenched his teeth together, a low growl rumbling within his heaving chest. Seth lowered his hands to his sides, fists tightly clenched, and took a few deep breaths. "I'm not going to bother anymore. You are a nut job."

Remi snorted.

"Alright, knock it off," Zak growled, tired of their bickering and anxious to find his girl. My girl? The thought made him pause before he slowly turned in a full circle, taking everything in.

Tunnels riddled the chamber as far as the eye could see. Frustration welled inside Zak. He couldn't get a feel for her life force and there was no scent trace either. Next to him Annie sniffed a pillow case she'd brought and then sniffed the air. Her big golden eyes turned to him with. Her pitying look made him want to snarl as she shook her head. She didn't smell anything either.

"Maybe if I shift into my wolf form," she began before Seth cut her off with a stinging curse.

"I had a feel for her up there until you disrupted everything with your shift," he snarled at Remi.

Remi closed his eyes briefly and nodded before opening them again. "You were taking too long. She's down here."

Seth took a threatening step toward Remi before Zak's hand shot out and fisted the back of the weretigre's black Master Guardian's uniform. Seth snapped, "how the Hell do you know?"

Remi's eyes narrowed, his lips curling back to reveal sharp fangs. "I just do."

"Okay," Zak snarled now, pulling Seth a few steps back. "We split up. We link," he tapped his forehead.

"I hate linking," Remi mumbled under his breath making Seth growl.

Beginning to lose his patience, Zak's inhuman growl echoed in the chamber. Annie flinched, Seth looked at him with wide eyes and Remi—the bastard, grinned giving Zak a thumbs up sign. Zak clenched his teeth and struggled to control himself. His skin already itched with the onset of a shift. Hell no!

He took a deep breath. "We split, we link, and we search for her. Seth," pale blue eyes locked with his, "see if you can feel her again."

Seth's eyes grew brighter just before he turned and headed toward one of the tunnels. Annie took off in the opposite direction as well as Remi.

As Zak strode to gain access to a tunnel close to the one Seth had disappeared into he felt their power wash over him—and then he felt them in him. Annie's pain over the loss of her child was still a dull ache. Acceptance had given her strength to carry on. Remi's mind was a riot of thoughts. He physically ached to be with Rowie. Seth, although focused on rolling out his power in waves to find the witch's life force, was heartbroken over Amaranth's rejection of him.

Fucking hate linking—Remi rumbled through Zak's thoughts again.

Slowly, Zak lost Remi's presence in his mind, but it didn't matter because he felt...her.

Pain rolled through his body and he groaned. Zak quickened his pace, the tunnel he traveled through growing narrower until he was crawling. The rocks beneath his palms and knees were smooth as he made his way panting from the pain.

Seth's voice echoed in his mind—Zak?

Zak groaned, almost stopping. His back felt as though it were broken in a thousand pieces. Fuck, Seth-

I know—Seth replied. She might be hurt.

Fire coursed beneath his skin and rage tore an unholy roar from him. The tunnel squeezed, infuriating him even more. He slashed out at the walls trying to crush him. Voices yelled in his head provoking his anger to a higher level. Kill. He needed to kill. He needed freedom from this trap trying to suffocate him.

He roared again, until he heard...singing. A snarl erupted from his throat as the voice echoed through his thoughts. The masculine voice soothed him, making him take deep panting breaths and try to think.

Remi. Remi was singing the Dragon's Lullaby.

Zak? Baby, please calm yourself—Annie pleaded gently.

Easy, Zak—Seth was also whispering in his mind. Everything's going to be fine. We'll find her and help her, big guy.

Zak looked down at his crouched body. His black Guardian's shirt was in tatters, as well as his pants. When he wiggled his toes, he realized his boots were also ripped, the soles hanging on by a thread. He'd almost shifted. The realization made his stomach turn. He would have died, crushed in the tiny tunnel.

He scrambled faster down the tunnel, feeling it incline farther down the deeper he crawled.

Cool air brushed his face and a few feet ahead he saw the glow of light. Although faint, he still rushed feeling the need to be able to stand and stretch again.

The tunnel widened out and he was surprised to find Seth standing at the end of it.

"Mine opened up here too." Seth stared warily at him. "Are you okay?"

Zak nodded, pulling off the remains of his shirt. He slammed it on the ground with a stinging curse. Seth retreated until his back hit the far wall when Zak snarled again.

"Pull it together, Goliath."

Zak closed his eyes and ran his hands over his bound hair. The comforting weight of his braid ran down his spine to brush against the small of his back. "I'm alright."

Seth nodded. "Let's go."

This time Zak followed the silver-haired weretigre farther down the tunnel into another chamber.

A column of sunlight fell from over two hundred feet above. It leaked through a pinhole in the vaulted ceiling of the cavern. The chamber had an odd shape, the ground waving in smooth rolls of rock, like a petrified molten river. It was almost beautiful, but Zak's eyes were ensnared by a trickle of red flowing over one of those rounded waves of rock.

He was running before his mind screamed her.

She lay, like a broken doll, shattered on the rock. Blood ran from the side of her now ashen lips, and her arms and legs were not in a natural position.

Control—Zak ordered himself even as he crouched to her.

Her lips were moving. He leaned in close and heard her whisper, "Golden angel, help me, please."

Zak choked back a sob as he gathered her broken body in his arms. She wouldn't feel a thing because her back was shattered. Golden eyes fluttered open. More blood poured from her mouth and nose. One of her eyes twitched and her body shuddered. Zak sank his finger into her blood sodden hair, to gently caress the back of her skull, but his fingers sank into mush.

Oh God. "We're too late," he whispered keeping his palm firmly over the back of her skull, in fear that her brain might fall out of the gaping hole he felt there.

The girl opened her lips, trying to talk, her eyes rolled back up and she began to convulse.

"Remii," Zak yelled, his heart racing.

Fire announced Remi's arrival as he appeared right in front of Zak in a burst of red-gold. He didn't say a word, but put his hands on the girl's arms.

More fire poured from Remi's hands until it consumed the Arborian witch's body.

Zak felt a moment of panic, but he trusted Remi. Only Remi could heal her before her life force left her body. If she died, if her body gave up her ghost...No. She isn't going to die.

He looked into Remi's face. The man glowed with red fire, his hair alive with flames. Even the green of his eyes had turned molten. The weredragon gently pried the girl from Zak's grasp and wrapped her in his arms. Her entire body was alight with fire.

Behind them, he heard Seth curse, felt his apprehension, but Zak knew the girl was not being harmed by Remi's fire. Remi was healing her.

Zak clenched his fists and fought his territorial instincts when Remi lowered his head and took the girl's mouth.

"Why the fuck is he kissing her," Seth's voice snapped.

Zak's eyes narrowed, looking closely where Remi's lips met the Arborian witch's. Fire flowed from his lips into her mouth. He was breathing his healing fire into her. Remi's green eyes looked up and locked with Zak's.

"It's okay, Rem," Zak whispered to him. "I trust you."

The fire vanished, Remi's gaze never breaking contact with Zak's. There was an emotion there; a recognition, an acceptance. The bond made Zak shiver, but his worry over the girl had his gaze tearing away from the riveting green of the weredragon's to stare at the limp form in his arms.

"Why isn't she moving?" Zak reached out to take her back into his arms.

His arms brushed against Remi's bare flesh as the weredragon leaned into him to release the girl gently. "Her body has shut down for now. She's only asleep," Remi assured. "Let's get her back to Alpha 7."