Read Online Dragons Live Forever by D'Elen McClain - Free Book Online
Authors: D'Elen McClain
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parents and little brother. We removed the human bodies from the castle and burned them like I had with those at my father’s lair. We dreaded the trip to Bastian’s realm, but hoped he, like us, had been spared.
Bastian stood at the top of one of his castle towers, silently staring up toward the moons that were still not visible. He didn’t acknowledge us at first and we stood for a long time waiting for him to speak. “Do you know what happened?” he finally asked in a low, deadly voice.
I stepped forward and told him the story of my uncle. He stared at me for a long time then wrapped his arms around my shoulders and pulled me in close. The compassion of my friends overwhelmed me. None of my brother dragons held me responsible for what happened. We all lost those we loved and as far as we knew, we were the last of our kind. The Goddess’s wrath had to have killed my uncle. There was no way he could have escaped. And though I knew this, I couldn’t help a niggling sense of dread that this was not over.
We stayed in Bastian’s castle that night having no idea what to do next. None of us slept. We quietly spoke of our families. “It isn’t over,” Bastian whispered early in the morning—echoing my deepest fears.
We were right.
A few hours later, thunder and lightning filled the sky. I’d never seen anything like the angry display of fierce weather. Then as suddenly as it began, all went quiet. A woman’s harsh voice swelled within our heads until the pain was so great we fell to our knees. My eyes were tightly shut with my hands covering my ears. A female voice rang bitterly through my mind until I thought my head would explode.
The Goddess cursed us and we could do nothing. One-hundred-thousand years for the sins of my uncle. Each word of the curse was more painful than the last. When her voice stopped, the sun shown for the first time since the death of our parents. We didn’t fully understand the depth of the Goddess’s hatred. After vomiting our guts up, we tried to appear brave by joking about her wrath. Love for some human bride was the least of our worries. It seemed minor after everything we’d lost.
Days later we all became violently ill again. The Goddess had told us to choose the first to claim a bride. We thought it ridiculous. Finally, Bastian spoke after another round of puking. “I will go first and leave tomorrow to find a bride.” Our illness vanished as suddenly as it appeared and we knew we had no choice but to follow the Goddess’s dictates.
There were no more jokes.
We flew with Bastian to a village in a realm that bordered the dragon realms. The villagers fought us with everything they had and many of them died. The four of us had had enough of death. Killing these humans was not what we wanted. Bastian flew off with a young, terrified female.
The first bride threw herself from the tower two days later. Bastian hadn’t touched her. We were all virgins and had no idea what to do with a terrified girl. We knew that our fathers had each stolen a virgin and mated them. It required a female human virgin to transcend to dragon and produce offspring.
At our fathers’ knees we were told what would one day be expected of us. First, our fathers shifted to human form and wooed our mothers to form a bond. The women had no idea that they would mate dragon shifters. There was no going back after our fathers felt the mating call with a particular female. The young women were eventually stolen away from all that they knew and brought to the dragon’s realm.
Our mothers appeared happy and I never doubted that my mother loved my father. Dragons produce only male offspring, so the stealing of virgins was as old as time. I think if we were able to form a bond with the terrified brides before stealing them away, we may have had a chance. This wasn’t the Goddess’s plan for us.
We hated the curse. Bastian was devastated that his bride killed herself. It was twenty-five years before
Bastian stood at the top of one of his castle towers, silently staring up toward the moons that were still not visible. He didn’t acknowledge us at first and we stood for a long time waiting for him to speak. “Do you know what happened?” he finally asked in a low, deadly voice.
I stepped forward and told him the story of my uncle. He stared at me for a long time then wrapped his arms around my shoulders and pulled me in close. The compassion of my friends overwhelmed me. None of my brother dragons held me responsible for what happened. We all lost those we loved and as far as we knew, we were the last of our kind. The Goddess’s wrath had to have killed my uncle. There was no way he could have escaped. And though I knew this, I couldn’t help a niggling sense of dread that this was not over.
We stayed in Bastian’s castle that night having no idea what to do next. None of us slept. We quietly spoke of our families. “It isn’t over,” Bastian whispered early in the morning—echoing my deepest fears.
We were right.
A few hours later, thunder and lightning filled the sky. I’d never seen anything like the angry display of fierce weather. Then as suddenly as it began, all went quiet. A woman’s harsh voice swelled within our heads until the pain was so great we fell to our knees. My eyes were tightly shut with my hands covering my ears. A female voice rang bitterly through my mind until I thought my head would explode.
The Goddess cursed us and we could do nothing. One-hundred-thousand years for the sins of my uncle. Each word of the curse was more painful than the last. When her voice stopped, the sun shown for the first time since the death of our parents. We didn’t fully understand the depth of the Goddess’s hatred. After vomiting our guts up, we tried to appear brave by joking about her wrath. Love for some human bride was the least of our worries. It seemed minor after everything we’d lost.
Days later we all became violently ill again. The Goddess had told us to choose the first to claim a bride. We thought it ridiculous. Finally, Bastian spoke after another round of puking. “I will go first and leave tomorrow to find a bride.” Our illness vanished as suddenly as it appeared and we knew we had no choice but to follow the Goddess’s dictates.
There were no more jokes.
We flew with Bastian to a village in a realm that bordered the dragon realms. The villagers fought us with everything they had and many of them died. The four of us had had enough of death. Killing these humans was not what we wanted. Bastian flew off with a young, terrified female.
The first bride threw herself from the tower two days later. Bastian hadn’t touched her. We were all virgins and had no idea what to do with a terrified girl. We knew that our fathers had each stolen a virgin and mated them. It required a female human virgin to transcend to dragon and produce offspring.
At our fathers’ knees we were told what would one day be expected of us. First, our fathers shifted to human form and wooed our mothers to form a bond. The women had no idea that they would mate dragon shifters. There was no going back after our fathers felt the mating call with a particular female. The young women were eventually stolen away from all that they knew and brought to the dragon’s realm.
Our mothers appeared happy and I never doubted that my mother loved my father. Dragons produce only male offspring, so the stealing of virgins was as old as time. I think if we were able to form a bond with the terrified brides before stealing them away, we may have had a chance. This wasn’t the Goddess’s plan for us.
We hated the curse. Bastian was devastated that his bride killed herself. It was twenty-five years before
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