Dragon Blood

Prologue: Part 2

Nekros spent the next two weeks in his dragon skin with Rhiannon. A day after her hatching, she perked up and started walking clumsily. Two days after that, and she was running and jumping. She was damn fast and had endless energy but crashed into a deep sleep the moment he put her down for the night. 

At the end of the first week, the kin began interacting with her. Though initially defensive, Rhiannon quickly gained confidence and began climbing all over the dragonkin. She seemed to favor the drakes. Wyverns and amphipteres could fly off when they got annoyed, and the wyrms, serpents, and lyndwerms were skittish and unwilling to get too close. The drakes were patient, gentle giants who let her investigate thoroughly as they presented any news to Nekros.

She bonded particularly well with an enormous drake who had a surprising soft side when it came to hatchlings. He had twins of his own and knew how to entertain children. It was odd seeing a creature bigger and heavier than a Panzer tank playing with an infant dragon smaller than his claw. He was the only one Nekros felt confident leaving Rhiannon with when he returned to the house to spend a night with his neglected mate.

Phoenix was angry and distant with him only for a few minutes. Once he proved that he wouldn't mention their daughter, she relaxed. They had a nice dinner, watched a crappy movie, and retreated into the bedroom where he spent hours reminding her exactly how much he loved her. It felt good to have her in his arms and sleep at her side again.

The seemingly blissful and peaceful night was interrupted by an explosion that shook the entire island. Nekros was on his feet in a second and running for the courtyard doors. He was halfway across the yard before he could comprehend the scene in front of him. 

Humanoids wearing black body armour stood over the lifeless body of the drake, an enormous, bloody hole in his neck, inches away from severing his head completely. One of the intruders had wrapped Rhiannon in her baby blanket, keeping her from hurting them or herself, and someone else was holding open a heavy metal cage. She was screaming and crying and biting at the protective glove of her captor. At the sight of his daughter in such distress, Nekros' vision went red. He let out a roar of fury and shifted.

Shifting from a six-foot humanoid to a hundred-fifty-foot dragon was not an instantaneous process. It was quick, but there was a brief moment of vulnerability when they were too far along to stop the transformation, but not far enough to be essentially invulnerable. It never once crossed his mind that these intruders not only knew about the vulnerability but knew exactly when and how to exploit it. One of them raised a long spear-looking weapon and threw it. There was a sharp pain where his neck and shoulder met and a second later a second later there was a second explosion.

Nekros jerked back, an indescribable pain rocking his body from his shoulder, down his chest, and up his neck. He tasted blood, his ears were ringing, and there were spots in his eyes. He screamed through the mental link he shared with Nyx. She wouldn't raise a talon to protect Rhiannon, but she would slaughter anyone who hurt him. He expected to see her own dragon form explode through the wood and concrete of their house and bathe the intruders with fire hot enough to melt tungsten.

Above them, another group of intruders descended from a helicopter with a heavy crate. They pulled huge chains from the crate, moving quickly and efficiently. They wrapped the chains around his muzzle and head tightly, locking his jaws shut. Where the hell were the dragonkin? Where the hell was Nyx?

Rhiannon cried out again from the cage, writhing in the tight wrap of the blanket and biting at the walls of the cage. Fighting through the pain, Nekros forced himself up, jerking at the chains and sending three of the intruders flying. A flick of his tail rid him of the others around him. He rose onto his hindlegs and spread his wings. Even with the presence of the helicopter, he had an advantage in the air.