Page 31 of Drakhana's Treasure
I can’t see my own limbs while I’m in the flow, but I feel the tattoo melt away. I let myself go and stretch out, feeling the heat inside blending to the fire of the river.
My dragon practically purrs in contentment. She fought hard against the ice that infected her but it wasn’t something she could fight without the strength of the earth’s blood.
It felt like years passed in the magma, even though in another way it felt like it was too short. I wanted to stay forever but something warned me that even I could be dissolved into the heat. I know some dragons have left the earth that way and a big part of it is having no fear.
I pull myself back towards Rastus with a thought. When I come up out of the river in my human form I’m just as shocked as he is. The levitating is an effect of the power of the lava flow impacting against my rising dragon. I feel like I could do anything, even fly into the sun.
I float towards Rastus, begging him to understand. We can’t fear fire! It is what we are. The clans have lived since the dawn of time, the dragon first amongst all creatures. We were created to embody the fierce environmental elements that shape the world.
I don’t understand why he’s hesitating. Has he never bathed in lava? Has he had fire in his blood which poured from his mouth?
I get closer and reach for his hands. I can sense the conflict inside him and it hurts my heart.
When I pull him to me and kiss him, I can feel the struggle. I open my mouth and pour the power into him, lighting him up. I don’t even think about it. I want to see him restored, dragon and man as one. It is how we were meant to be.
When he staggers away from me and falls, I come forward, my feet lightly touching the stone as I let go of the curious gravity shift in the cave. I move towards him but he crawls away, looking at his hands in horror.
His blood is burning, but I don’t know why that would make him so afraid. We are fire. The ice dragon was only able to harm me because I was denying my dragon. As soon as I embraced her again, I healed. I needed the lava, the complete encompassing well of the very heart of flame.
I will never hold my dragon back again, not for humanity or for my clan. I made myself vulnerable and I can’t ever do it again if I want to survive.
I must survive, for Rastus and the children we will have. I don’t know how I know it, but I know that we will have shifter babies and they will be a new breed, stronger than anything that came before.
Watching Rastus scrabbling around in the dirt pains me. He’s staring at his hands and screaming. I don’t understand. Hasn’t he ever let the fire in before? Has he been in the city so long that he literally forgot his true nature?
“Rastus.” I hurry forward, touching him softly on the shoulder. “Stop, look at me.”
He lets himself fall to the floor as he turns towards me. His blood glows beneath his skin and his eyes are huge, burning orbs of light. He shakes his head as if he can’t see and I grab his face and kiss him, watching as the blazing yellow light dies down into pale green iris’ and dark pupils.
“Kirralee.” His voice holds an edge of panic. “What did you do to me? My blood is burning!”
I frown as I shake my head, holding his hands and caressing them softly.
“Haven’t you ever felt the fire in your veins before?”
“Not like this! Turning our blood into lava is a skill of the ancient ones, the demigods. No one has done it in hundreds of years.”
I shake my head, denying his words.
“No! I’ve always been able to do it. The first time I ever swam in lava I was only six years old. I sat on the bank and watched my blood glow under my skin. I never mentioned it to anyone because I assumed all dragons could do it.”
He shakes his head as he reaches up to cup my cheek.
“No, my love. No dragon I have ever met can do it. I am sitting here right now watching my blood burning under my skin and I still don’t believe it.”
“Listen to it.” I can’t be shocked or surprised by these revelations, not while the heat and the sound of the lava are stroking me into a liquid calm.
“Listen?” He’s truly confused and this just hurts me more.
“Listen to your blood and feel that it pulses in the exact same way as the lava flow. You are fire, Rastus. Never fear it. Fear is the only thing that can hurt you.”
I watch him close his eyes. I know that he is not ready to swim in the lava yet. I brought the flow to him and ignited the secrets in his blood. Soon he will embrace all of himself.
I sit next to him and snuggle close, wrapping an arm around him. He puts an arm around my shoulders and squeezes me tight. I breathe in his smokey smell, like sage and pepper. The light in our veins starts to fade but I know that the lava is still there.
We can call it forth with a thought. It will rise to serve us when we have need. How have other dragons lived without it? Rastus says, hundreds of years have gone by with no one sharing this talent. The idea makes me frantic to ignite the rest of the clan. Every single one of us, even the precious elders, have forgotten who they truly are.
“Kirra, this is amazing.” His voice rumbles at my cheek where I’m pressed against his chest. “Some of our recruits last year had trouble breathing fire at all. They fell into their human roles very quickly. I think their dragons went dormant the second they hit the city.”
