found a bargaining weapon against him. “You can’t harm
me.”
A low rumble came from the long neck. “That may be so,
but I can hurt the ones you care for. Do you desire that?”
Her heart thudded then sped to a frantic pace. “What do
you want from me?”
“Human, get on my back. The lesser king demands you
come to him. He wishes to see this One Dragon King you
carry.”
Renewed fear for her child crawled over her back. Seren
lifted her chin, determined not to allow her terror to show.
“And if I refuse, you will continue killing the people here.
Destroying their peaceful city.”
“I care not what happens to these weak creatures.”
A slight flicker appeared in the dragon’s eyes. Did he lie?
“But your master is human. Don’t you care about him?”
The dragon shifted its head back several inches, blinked
and mewled. “It pleases me to follow his dictates for now.”
“And when you are finished with him, he’ll be destroyed
too?”
The giant beast whipped its neck so it looked down the
line of its nose at her, haughty, untouchable for someone low
on the food chain like her. Its roar thundered in the enclosed
gardens. “I am Arcane. One day, I will reign over all rogue
dragons. No human, wizard, or dragon will dictate over
me. Even now, this lesser king deludes himself into thinking
he controls my actions.”
202
Dragon Wish
Seren blinked, her mind rushing with the realization that
this beast was the one Paladin had told her about. He’d
called him a rogue beast. She called upon what little bravery
she found inside and asked. “Then why? Why are you doing
this?”
“I gain great power each time I use my magic on lesser
dragons. Once vanquished, their magic belongs to me. After
a time, none will defeat me. Avaris will then know the
dragons’ true strength. Not as protectors, but as the true
rulers over the planet. The strongest will lead.”
“It won’t happen. Paladin will stop you from hurting
anyone else. You are a wicked beast. Only pain and suffering
will come to you.”
“Silence.” The roar rebounded off the walls of the garden.
Seren jerked, a flash of renewed fear rushing in her veins.
When Arcane grunted again, his tone came out low and
calm. “Do you not know what I have suffered from the
hands of both humans and dragons? I was not to be. I was
hunted, captured, tortured, and intentionally wounded so I
would die. But I did not. I fought to live.”
Seren frowned. “Who did this to you?”
“The ones who feared what I and my fellow hatchlings
would become.”
She waited for him to go on, but he just stared at her.
Empathy for him made her look at him with a little more
understanding. Still, his actions were wrong. His pain didn’t
justify the death and destruction. He wanted revenge. He
was selfish.
“So you’re proving them right by the way you’re acting. Is
that satisfaction enough for you?”
The long neck curved in a loop. Eyes narrowed, his
nostrils widened. “Enough of your logic. Climb on my neck.”
“If I do, will you swear not to harm this city?”
Low rumbling laughter came from his throat. He tilted
his head. The long line of his lips curled up. “But of course. It
is such a simple matter to swear.”
203
Dragon Wish
She had no choice. If leaving with him guaranteed the
good people in this city would live, she would go. Seren
stepped nearer. A clawed front hand reached out and
grasped her around her waist. He lifted her to the top of his
neck. She straddled the width and laid her hands flat.
“I won’t fall off, will I?”
“Will it matter if you do?”
Bravado came out in her words. “No, I guess it won’t
matter. After all, I can fly now.”
Another deep chuckle escaped the beast. “Of course you
can.”
His wings spread. They moved great gusts of air around
the garden. Trees limbs swayed outward. Grass bent over
and leaves lifted off the ground, carried by the unnatural
wind currents.
When the beast took off, Seren caught the sound of her
name shouted. She glanced in the direction of the gate she’d
entered to see Leo and Calis rushing from the protective tree
line. Calis came to a stop. He dropped to one knee, a large
bow stretched in his hands, ready to fire an arrow with what
appeared to be a harpoon tip.
Seren screamed, hoping he’d hear above the beat of
wings. He had to stop. The weapon was useless against this
dragon. “Don’t do it. I’m leaving of my own free will.”
Leo leapt at Calis, hands stretched out to grab him. “No!
You’ll hurt Seren.”
With one blink of her eyes, the arrow shot free at the
same time Arcane swung his tail. The long tail swept over the
ground, taking bushes, flowers, and a couple of trees out
before crashing into the two men, sending them flying
several feet off the ground to land on the edge of the open
area. The arrow grazed against the dragon’s cheek, slicing a
furrow below his eye.
Under her hands, tension increased in Arcane’s neck. He
drew in a deep breath, prepared to release his dragon fire.
She lay flat against his neck and shouted to him. “You swore.
204
Dragon Wish
Don’t break your promise. If you do, I’ll jump off. I’ll allow
my son’s power to protect me and this city.”
She didn’t truly believe what she said. But he had to
accept it. Nothing else mattered. If he left with her, chances
for survival of all the inhabitants in the city, Leo and Calis
included, increased.
The dragon straightened into a rigid, upright position. He
stayed silent, unmoving for several moments. Seren waited
as her gaze searched the garden below. She found the two
men, their bodies crumpled and unmoving, a good distance
from where the tail had struck them.
“Very well, human.” Arcane muttered. His wings moved
faster. His body leveled out, and he lifted away into the night
sky. Seren, a single tear rolling down her cheek, kept her
focus on Leo and Calis until she could no longer see them.
She decided then that this beast along with the king he spoke
of would pay.
205
Dragon Wish
Chapter Nineteen
Exhausted from trying to stay balanced on the broad neck
of the rogue dragon, Seren struggled to keep her eyes open.
The further from Durfalin the dragon flew, the more hope of
escaping and finding Paladin dwindled. Paladin would never
allow harm to come to her or their son. She yearned to see
him, hear his voice, and touch his warm skin. Fighting panic
born from fearful exhaustion, she focused on the gentle
movements in her stomach.
The air currents grew colder. The sea below turned into
frozen peaks of rocks and wide stretches of tundra. In the
distance, a towering white castle stretched sleek and majestic
to the sky. Outlined by the dark night, the dim light revealed
the seclusion of the place. Protected by the surrounding cliffs
covered in fir trees, the only entrance was a road which
twisted and turned up steep inclines until it ended at the
gates. At least ten turrets rose from the stone walls of the
octagon double curtain walls.
Arcane swooped down. He glided to a wide veranda on
one of the upper towers. Blue flame torches, set in holders,
bracketed the wide archway into the tower. The flames
fluttered in the cold breeze. Clutching the balcony’s edge
with his clawed back feet, Arcane lowered his head so Seren
could slide off.
All those hours on Arcane’s neck had left her legs numb.
They refused to hold her up when her feet hit the stone and
she fell back. She landed on her rear unable to move her legs
right away. The chilly stone of the balcony went through her
clothes and seeped into her skin. She shivered. Tingling set
up in her muscles and she gasped.
Soft, deep laughter came from the opening to the tower.
“Well done, my friend. Soon my brother will follow, and I
will have my ultimate revenge. His head.”
The words ended with a low chuckle. Seren stared at the
darkened opening. A slender young man, dressed in a
206
Dragon Wish
flowing white robe over his pants and shirt, stepped into the
bluish light. Seren gasped. Prettier, thinner, and his hair a
whiter hue than Paladin’s, this man couldn’t be anyone but
his brother. Their features resembled each other too much to
be a coincidence.
He reached her side. Seren stared wide-eyed and open-
mouthed at him.
“Come, my dear, surely my brother spoke of me to you.”
He held out a hand. She glanced at the slender fingers. She
shook her head.
“No? Pity. He should have.”
“Don’t touch me.” She slid her numbed legs under her
and stood. Trembling with fatigue, she glanced at him. He
met her stare. She sucked in a breath at the strange aura
darkening his eyes. A purplish black rimmed the outer edge
of the whites with a dusky veil coating them.
The baby moved. His eyes shifted to her waistline.
“So my nephew is aware of me, is he?”
“Not really. He’s just waking up.”
A slow, half-smile formed on his lips. “I am Rylen,
Paladin’s brother, King of the White Dragon clan. And you
are?”
“Don’t placate me. You know who I am.”
The smile broadened. He was a pretty man, but she saw
nothing but emptiness in his eyes. She found no trace of
compassion in them. Seren, for the first time since arriving,
feared for her child. “What do want with me?”
He raised his right hand and flicked a lock of her hair.
“Why your life, of course.”
Seren stepped back. “That’s not funny.”
“You stand in my way. You and the child.”
The iciness of his voice and cold look terrified her, but the
way he spoke, his actions, infuriated her. How dare he
believe he would take the one thing she wanted most in life?
“Do we? Well, that’s too bad, isn’t it?”
He chuckled, not bothered by her pretension. His eyes
207
Dragon Wish
shifted to where Arcane waited. “She has strength. You did
not expect that, did you?”
The huge dragon grunted low, the sound forming words
to Seren. “Matters not. She and the child will die.”
Her anger rose at the audacity of the two. Seren pivoted
and glared at the dragon. “Dream on. You, along with you,”
she pointed from Arcane to Rylen, “will never harm my child.
I’ll see you both dead first. Now if you don’t mind, I’m tired.”
Rylen smirked at her. He reached out, his hand open to
strike her. Several inches from her cheek, he stopped. The
smirk disappeared. He pushed against the air separating
them, but couldn’t draw any closer. For a moment, Seren
didn’t understand, and then she saw a barrier, full of golden
magical particles encompassing her entire body.
The time had arrived for her to gloat. “Not as easy as you
figured, eh?”
He drew back. “For now, I will abide by your desires, but
soon, the protection will not be enough to save you. This I
say, this I swear,” he muttered, an evil expression twisting
his face. In the next moment, icy control cleared his features.
He held out his arm in the direction of the entrance to the
castle.
“If you please, my lady, I will escort you to your quarters.”
She inclined her head and followed him. When she stood
in the doorway, she glanced over her shoulder at the rogue
dragon. His stare cut through her. Hatred and bitterness
reflected in his cold eyes. She sent a silent plea to Paladin.
She desperately needed him.
* * * *
The odor of burned wood mingled with the stench of
rotting bodies was carried by the wind. The scent reached
Paladin long before the city came into view. Need to leap
from the ship and fly the remaining distance ate at him, but
208
Dragon Wish
crew approached with care, prepared for the unexpected.
Seren’s face, alight with laughter, flashed in his mind. A
searing pain shot through his gut. He gritted his teeth to
keep from crying out. He had to maintain control until he
discovered what had happened during his absence.
The lookout shouted from the top center mast. Paladin
leaned against the ship’s rail. He blinked to set his dragon
vision to see across the distance to the city.
The deep blue outline of land grew darker along the
western horizon. Thin black smoke columns drifted up and
across the sky above Durfalin. As the ship drew closer to the
city, the sight of the fire marks on the walls and upper levels
of the buildings forced a shocked gasp from him. The pale
stone was soaked in the soot and smoke, changing the color
to a blackish brown. Armed, weary soldiers lined the walls.
The docks lay splintered on top of their corresponding cases.
Huge chucks and splintered wood were scattered across the
raised land surrounding the city.
He ordered the ship to descend not far from the land gate
on the western side. Ren’s home sat not far from the
entrance. From this spot, he’d reach Seren sooner.
Hovering five feet from the rocky soil, the ship came to a
stop along the outer wall. Rope ladders rolled from the rails,
attached by secured hooks. Paladin grasped the railing and
leapt over the side, foregoing using the ladders. He sprinted
the distance to the massive gates of the city.
The gate swung open. The guards on duty av
erted their
gazes when he entered. Dread swirled in his heart. He
hurried, his heart pounding against his ribs, until he reached
the house where he had left Seren and his friends. The outer
wall about the gardens remained. Breathless with disbelief,
he stood, shoulders slumped, staring at the mound of rubble
and scorched wood.
Sickening odor filled his nostrils. A pile of rotting corpses
stacked one on top of another at the street corner sent the
stench into the air. He couldn’t look too close for fear he’d
209
Dragon Wish
spy Seren or one of the two friends he’d left behind.
His dragon’s blood boiled with the need to roar his
frustrations, but he fought against it. Just because the
building lay destroyed did not mean they were lost to him.
He looked both ways down the street.
Several men dressed in tattered robes scurried behind
him. He reached out and grabbed one.
“What happened to the people staying in this place?” He
motioned toward the shell of the building with his head.
The man whimpered. “I do not know, my lord.”
“Then tell me who would know”
“The mayor perhaps. He’s assigned scribes to list the
survivors and the dead.” The man informed him. “They’ve set
up a place near his home, over yonder.”
Paladin released him. With renewed hope, he stared in
the direction the man suggested he go. He strode down the
street, focusing on one step at a time until he found the
building. From the smell, it had been set aside to hold the
dead.
People waited in lines outside the doors. Every little
while, men and women would depart, their shoulders
shaking, grief evident with the tears and sorrow etched deep
on their faces. Others were allowed in.
Gritting his teeth, he shouldered his way past the waiting
people. The guard at the door lifted his dragonstone lance in
warning. Paladin ignored him, fixing the soldier with a look
which forced the other man to back down.
“I would speak with the mayor.”
The soldier swallowed, eyed the swords strapped to
Paladin’s waist. After a quick nod, he led the way inside and
up a flight of marbled stairs to the left of the entrance. They
went straight down the hallway to the end. Two more guards
stood at attention on either side of a set of double doors. The
soldier guiding Paladin whispered to one of the guards. The