Page 13 of To Match A Dragon's Fire

It was an ancient means of communication meant for survival that—like most other forms of communication—evolved over time to be more.

“I didn’t expect anything different.”I braced myself outside the door, taking a deep breath to calm my beast, and silently cursing Malachy and Lucan for not standing by my side.

“Will you need my assistance?”Fredrick sat ready to ride in if needed, but his services weren’t necessary.

“No, thank you, Uncle.” I rested my hand on his shoulder, paying respect as our dragons drew strength from each other.

I waited until he wheeled himself away before opening the door.

My dragon unfurled, woken by the pulsing tension of the gathered group. They were scared and angry and ready to fight, but I was trained in the art of diplomacy and schooled my expression to keep things neutral.

Besides, there was nothing left to fight.

Unless it was each other.

We were solitary beasts by nature, preferring to stay with our own close bloodlines or protect our chosen flock and hoards from dangers—some of which were in this room.

Representatives from the Beckham, Taufua, Kennedy, O’Collin, and Darth Clans sat around the circular table to let each attending dragon know none were at the head.

If Malachy was here…my beast grumbled, angry at the disorder of things.

He isn’t.

And I couldn’t let that bother me now.

Cain MacAlister was the only representative to bring his two brothers. Jeremy and Shawn sat at either side of their older sibling, leering as I took my place.

The ugly brutes were of similar ancestry to us, but our families had bad blood that went back centuries. They still bore the scars from Lucan to prove it. It easily could’ve been them in our position and they never let us forget it.

But a summons from me was unbreakable law for our kind. There was no blood to be spilled at my table.

That didn’t mean they wouldn’t smash the table in a fury though. I hoped the room would hold.

“I assume you all know why I’ve called you.” I was suddenly centuries old and tired as I sat, meeting each of their eyes with determination to settle this matter and put it to rest.

“The new runes?” Margret Beckham asked. The sorrow written in the lines of her face deepened in response to my head shake.

“It’s the same prophecy. The runes say nothing new,” I explained.

Coming to this location was a waste, but when the human government heard of the markings discovered in the caves, it was my duty to check them out.

I’d moved my hoard here to study the area and I planned to stay because… this was as good a place as any to face the end.

“We’ve been through every interpretation we can riddle. I’ve had scholars from every species I can get on board studying alongside us,” I said, feeling theingrained twinge of dishonor at needing help from anything other than a dragon.

“Is Bemouth still—”

“And that’s your problem,” Cain growled, interrupting Daniel as he asked about our oldest scholar. “Why can’t you admit that your cousin is not what Earth wants for this role anymore?”

“We’ve tried it your way,” I spoke through clenched teeth, reminding him in no uncertain terms of his failures. “How many eruptions did you fail to contain? How many lives? How much damage?

“Despite your pride and ignorance, we’ve given you and other clans countless opportunities to try and interpret the prophecy as you saw fit. And what do you have to show for it? Santa Maria? Mount Pinatubo? Novarupta? St. Helens? Hunga Tonga? Those are just yourexperimentsthis century.”

Bile and venom coated my tongue. Cain had the decency to look ashamed.

None of them could handle the power bestowed on my family and many different beings had suffered because the other dragons tried to take on a role that wasn’t theirs.

I swallowed my anger and regained control of myself, making sure each dragon saw the seriousness in my gaze. “It is not us that made the prophecy and it’s not us who chooses when it ends.Shehas chosen.”

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