Waking the Dragon Ch. 06

From the palace, Matayla only saw the rising smoke as her orders were fulfilled. When the guards had announced to the Queen that the old man was not in his cell, she had been infuriated. She had struck the messenger and beat him with the crop she reserved for the girl. She had marched to the Dragon's room and not been surprised to find the warrior gone. The wolf had tried to defend the Princess, but Matayla had used Gryph as a decoy. The animal had attacked the servant while Matayla had snatched the girl.

Captain Eton had stopped the Queen from beating the girl. He had walked into the chambers just as Matayla had raised her fists. The wolf had slipped in behind him and taken up an attack position in front of the girl. Matayla had ordered the village burned until the Dragon and the old man could be found.

Now, she watched from her balcony as her troops attempted to find the Dragon's hiding place. There would be death for anyone found helping the Dragon. The girl huddled in the corner with the wolf at her side. Captain Eton returned to the room and moved to the Queen's side. He stood silently beside her, waiting her next command. The seconds ticked by loudly as they watched the dust rise from the village square. "Kill the girl," Matayla spat. "Her father may have his freedom, but he'll have it knowing the price was his daughter's life."

"Yes, Mistress." Eton pulled his sword from its scabbard and marched into Matayla's chambers. The girl was seated in the floor, the warrior's vicious animal at her side. He reached for the girl's arm, but the animal sprang upward, growling loudly and baring sharp teeth. Eton tried to ignore the animal, closing his fist around the Princess's upper arm. The wolf leapt into the air, closing viselike mandibles around Eton's throat. Eton tried to scream in terror, but the wolf's jaws shut off the flow of air to the Captain's vocal chords. The wolf ripped away, tearing the larynx from the soldier. He collapsed, his hand clasped around his throat. The wolf moved forward for another attack on the guard, but was stopped by Matayla using the broadside of a sword to knock the creature away.

Matayla raised the weapon over the girl, prepared to bring it down in a slicing motion to remove the girl's head from her shoulders. Before the Queen could lower the sword, a sharp pain pierced her right shoulder blade. She howled, dropping the sword with a clang. She reached over her shoulder and pulled the Dragon's long, thin rapier from the meat of her muscle. The Dragon stood in the doorway with her sword raised over her shoulder. There was a fire in her eyes as she waited for Matayla's retaliation.

Matayla bent and retrieved her own weapon, holding both the sword and the rapier in her hands as she advanced on Bane. "I opened my doors to you, but you took my lover, my captive, and my kingdom. You will not be victorious, Bane." A fierce yell exploded from Matayla's throat and Bane cringed as the memories of that sound rushed through her. "Hydra!" Matayla bellowed, racing across the room with both blades swinging in swirling arcs.

Bane easily met the early blows. Despite Matayla's injury, her power was strong. With two blades to the Dragon's one, she weakened the warrior. The metal of their weapons clanged against each other, echoing through the room. Bane maneuvered among the furniture, constantly retreating. Matayla worked the warrior into a corner and pressed the rapier to the warrior's throat. "You have been bested, Dragon. Now, you're kind will truly be extinct."

Matayla's words stopped short and her eyes bulged. They both looked down as her red robe darkened around a point protruding from her stomach. The metal retreated, and then stabbed forward again. Matayla fell to her knees, gripping her wound. Bane did not look at the dying Queen but at the person wielding the weapon. The Princess stood with the warrior's hidden dagger clutched in her hand. It dripped the red blood of her tormentor. The girl's eyes met the Dragon's. "My name is Lara."

"Yes," Bane whispered, stepping over the corpse as Matayla took a last gasping breath. She took Lara's face in her hands and kissed her savior warmly, slipping her tongue between the girl's lips and into the warm cavern of her mouth.

With Eton and Matayla gone and the people rebelling, the Guard fled with no direction. The people chased them into the Forest, driving them up the cliffs and into the Desert. Confident of victory, Bane pulled Lara onto the steed and returned to Roane's. The wolf stayed at their side. Jem rode beside the warrior, filled with questions about Dracona. Reluctantly, Bane answered the boy's questions. She didn't want the boy to come to harm, but she realized that if the Dragons were to be saved from extinction, she must lead them.

Roane and his wife and daughters came out on the porch as they heard the horses galloping up the front path. Recognizing them, Roane signaled and the King came onto the porch. His eyes latched onto Lara's immediately. Zombie-like, he moved down the steps. Bane stopped the horse in front of the King and helped Lara to dismount. The girl immediately launched herself into her father's arms.

Lara found Bane in Gwen's room later. Bane was settled into the warm tub and Gwen was scrubbing the warrior's body. The wolf padded in beside the Princess and lay down next to the window. Bane gave Lara a tired smile. "Is your father bedded down for the night?" she asked as the Princess curled onto the bed.

"Yes. Avin owes you an incredible debt, but not as much as my father and I owe. You've given us our freedom and you've given us each other again. How can I ever repay that, Dragon?"

Bane stood, stepping out of the tub. Rivulets of water raced along the lines of her well-defined muscular body. Gwen hurriedly handed the warrior a towel, attempting to dry the Dragon's body. Bane quietly thanked the girl but promptly dismissed her. Gwen's eyes dropped as she made to leave her bed chamber to the Dragon and her new companion. "Gwen," Bane called. The girl turned back to the warrior. "Thank you."

A weak smile formed on the girl's lips as she heard the heartfelt tone of Bane's words. The warrior would never be able to express more than that. The door shut behind the young farm girl and Bane closed the distance to the bed. She tilted the girl's face upward, their eyes meeting and melding. "I have not and will not ask for payment, my love." Bane bowed her head and pressed her lips to the girl's soft ones. The kiss was slow and friendly, their lips only moving slightly.

Lara came to her knees, lifting herself into the warrior's warm mouth, her hands resting casually on Bane's naked hips. "Am I your love, Lilith?"

Bane pulled back, stroking the girl's long hair off her cheek. "I said it, didn't I?"

"That doesn't mean that it is truly what you feel."

"Do you think I would say anything I didn't mean?"

Lara accepted Bane's answer. Like Gwen, she knew the warrior did not speak her feelings easily. Bane was a woman of few words. Lara had gotten the closest thing she would get to a confession of love from the Dragon. She locked her fingers behind Bane's head and pulled her lover down. Bane went willingly, her lips pressing more firmly to the girl's. The girl teasingly nipped at the warrior's lips, nibbling along them before she pushed her small tongue into the eager, waiting mouth. Bane latched onto the tongue, closing her lips around it and suckling softly.

Bane's mouth left Lara's, traveling over the smooth cheek before touching the Princess's long neck. She pulled away, her finger lightly touching her lover's throat. "Where is the collar? How did you remove it?"

"Roane is a handy fellow. He used a fire iron to melt it off." Lara's words faded into a moan as Bane's lips and tongue tugged on the exposed skin. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the sensations as they radiated from each spot that the warrior touched.

Bane moved down Lara's body, her lips caressing the small breast and teasing the erect nipples as she pushed the Princess's robe away. Bane moved farther, inching toward the sweet apex of the girl's legs. Lara moaned and tugged Bane's hair, trying to pull her lover upward.

Bane followed the Princess's urging, traveling back to the girl's mouth. Their tongues met and dueled and the Princess rolled them until Bane was on her back. Lara's hands massaged the warrior's breasts, tugging on the long nipples. Her fingers danced along Bane's rib cage as her mouth moved to the puckered scar on her breast. Bane's fingers curled in Lara's hair, but she did not force her lover away from the spot that triggered so many painful memories.

The tenderness became too much for Bane and she changed the pace, rolling them again until she hovered over her lover. She surprised Lara by rotating her body, but the Princess found herself looking hungrily into Bane's slick lips. Bane bent and touched her tongue to Lara's mound. Lara groaned, lifting her hips to Bane's mouth as she raised her head to imitate her lover's movements.

They moved in time with each other, their tongues mirroring each other as they licked and prodded and circled. Long licks lifted and extended swollen, sensitive nubs. Quick, hard thrusts penetrated damp, dark holes, curling against tender walls. They moved in such perfect rhythm that they quickened their movements in the same moment and each cried out in pleasure in the same breath.

Bane nuzzled Lara's stomach as she turned to look at her exhausted lover. They shared a long kiss, their sweet nectar mingling on their tongues and in their mouths. The Dragon tucked the Princess close to her side. Lara laid her head on Bane's breast and closed her eyes. The long, arduous day and night caught them and they both fell asleep quickly.

Bane did not wake until the sun was setting again. Lara was not in bed. The warrior stretched and rose, slipping into her tunic. She walked down the steps and found Lara sitting under a tree with her father. The King rose as the warrior approached. "Dragon, you will accompany us to the palace. Rebuilding the kingdom as it should be will take a great deal of work. I will need a commander to organize my army. There are mistakes I will not make again. Will you lead my army?"

Bane sighed, looking toward the cliffs. She had been walking for a long time. For the first time that she could remember, she felt no compelling purpose to move along. There was no higher being calling her away. She frowned, unsure of her answer. She was afraid of being still. She was afraid of giving her heart fully to Lara. The Dragon, who knew immeasurable courage, felt fear at the thought of leading a life with a companion in one place. She preferred her solitary existence, traveling the world with only the wolf at her side.

Her quick eyes swept the surrounding area for the animal. She had not been surprised when the wolf had not been in her room but she was surprised to not find the creature close to Lara. She turned her head, hoping to find the animal. The wolf would tell her when they were ready to leave Avin. She felt certain that departure must be soon. Everything felt complete.

"I must move on, your Highness," she answered without looking at Lara. "It has been my greatest pleasure to serve you." She spun on her heel and walked back into the house. She tried to ignore the trembling in her hands as she put her belongings into her haversack.

She sensed Lara in the doorway the moment the Princess filled the small space. The Princess did not come into the room as she watched the warrior prepare to flee.

"Have you seen the wolf?" Bane suddenly asked.

Lara did a double take at the question, looking around the room as if she expected the creature to be hiding. "I haven't."

Bane still did not look at her lover, afraid that just a glance would break her. "That's odd. The wolf has been with me for a long time."

Lara took a deep breath. She crossed to the window where Bane was staring intently at the Forest. As if on cue, the wolf appeared at the edge of the trees. "Perhaps the wolf knows you no longer need company. You have a new companion. This is the animal's way of telling you that your journey is over."

They watched as the wolf turned and faded into the Forest. Bane dropped the haversack to her side as Lara reached up and touched the warrior's back. "Stay, Dragon. Stay, Lilith."

Other lovers had begged Bane to stay before. Only Nyte had ever told her to leave. The Dragon closed her eyes, feeling currents spark from Lara's fingers. It electrified the warrior. The sensation raced through her body to her heart, making it pound faster. It thudded in her ears so loudly that she could not concentrate. She took a deep breath, trying to determine her next destination. The only image that appeared before her eyes was the palace. She could see the King's coronation in her mind. Lara stood at his side. The Dragon's point of view was not from the lawn in front of the palace, but from Lara's right hand.

The Dragons were becoming extinct. Bane knew there were still a few who wandered the world that followed Dracona's Law, but those who followed the teachings of the Hydra had erased most of Dracona's Order. Avin was safe from Hydras now, though. She thought of Jem pleading to come with her and learn the ways of the Dragon. If she could do anything to prevent the Dragons from disappearing, she could do it in Avin. She could find Jem and a dozen other young people who had seen injustice too long and were ready to learn a better way of life. They could be taught the Law. They could be taught to fight.

Avin could be the place of rebirth for the Dragons. In her mind's eye, she saw troops baring shields with multicolored dragons emblazed on them. She saw Lara commissioning them to go into the world and protect the weak.

Lara. She saw Lara in old age, her hair graying, but her arms lifted for her lover. Her arms were reaching for Dragon's Bane. Her hands closed over Lilith's hands.

The mantle of leadership would be heavy. Bane could feel the weight resting on her shoulders. Lara's hand moved lightly on her back, bringing the warrior back to the bedroom in the farm house. The wolf had not reappeared on the edge of the Forest. Lara's lips touched the back of Bane's neck and suddenly, the warrior's burden did not feel so heavy. Lara would help her carry it. For the first time since Kel had burned Nyte, Bane had someone to hold.

"Aye," Bane whispered. "I'll stay."