Dragon Blood

Chapter 30

Rhia stared up at Dáithí. "I don't understand," she said quietly. "How does Nolan getting turned into a vampire make it so you don't have to listen to the dragons?"

He sighed heavily and looked up at the canopy of trees. They were beginning to thin out now that they were closer to the edge again. A sky filled with twinkling stars and only a faint sliver of the waning moon danced above them.

"You have to understand that this was a different time." his voice sounded very far away. "Ancient and mortals were far more integrated than they are now. The dragons themselves were well known and prominently involved in politics. The kin were more widespread and weren't so rigid in their traditions. The territories were far less defined, and we weren't seen as these aloof creatures that keep to themselves. We were peacekeepers in many cases. And the idea that one creature, even a human, could be turned into another didn't exist even in creative works. No one could quite believe that it was possible. No one wanted to believe it was possible. I didn't believe it until I saw him myself. And then all hell broke loose.

"When Soleil confirmed it, he went ballistic. It was the first time anyone had ever seen him so angry. He went for Constantine's head. Luna stood in his way. The fight between them is legendary amongst us who remember. The destruction they caused made new landmasses and eliminated others. Soleil was stronger, but Luna knew he would never actually hurt her. She refused to let him kill Constantine. The dragonkin implored her to reconsider. I fell on my knees and begged her to kill him herself. What was this creature, already known to be parasitic in nature, compared to a yfeerie? She refused. It broke our whole faction.

"They had been mates at the time, Soleil and Luna. Her choosing Constantine over his yfeerie was a betrayal in his eyes. Not just his, either. Many of us saw her chose a vampire over one of the most loyal kin, a descendant of one of the greatest wyverns who ever lived. Many abandoned her for one of the other dragons. A few, like me, broke our bonds. If Luna of all the dragons, could turn her back on us, and if Soleil would just let her get away with it... what was the point of serving those who would not protect us?"

Together they stepped out of the trees. The contrast between the regular, arid desert east of the city and the lush pocket of magical forest was bizarre. "After all of that," Rhia stared out towards the road where her old Fiesta was waiting for her. "After all this time... Why does Nolan still work for Constantine?"

"I don't know."

She looked up at the male. His yellow eyes were heavy with the events of the past. "Come with us." She said quickly before she could change her mind. "You said it yourself, you're the only one who can help."

"And what? Be your bodyguard?" he snorted and turned to retreat back into the trees. "I don't think so."

"Wait!" Rhia rushed after him and planted herself between him and the woods. When he tried to step around her, she put her hands on his chest and pushed him as hard as she could to make him stop. "Please! I don't know what else to do!"

"You can leave him." he shrugged. "His life is tied to Constantine. Yours doesn't have to be."

"And be another person to betray him? I can't do that to him."

"He's been betrayed by more people than you've ever met. Even if you do have magic in your blood, it's not likely you'll live long enough to find a place in his memories. Leave him now before either of you get attached."

When she tried to stop him again, he shoved her aside so hard she almost stumbled to the ground. "You turned your back on him too." She seethed. He froze. He was so still it looked like he wasn't breathing. "You have a chance to make it right."