The Last Shifter (a Loki romance)

Chapter 16

The horns could only mean one thing. Someone had discovered that I was missing. Someone who wasn't an ally.

"I have to get back!" I made to get up but Loki pulled me back down.

"You are safe here."

"Have you seen a full-scale search? It won't just be the grounds that are crawling with guards, the sky will too. They'll see us!"

"Arista, this maze is a mile in width and in length and the walls are tall. They have no reason to look here. You're safe."

"But what if–"

"If you want the final dragon, I suggest you sit still." That's right! I looked at the tiny creature. Female, constant kaleidoscope eyes that matched her scales, four limbs, and something I had never seen on a dragon before: a trident tail, split into three smaller parts connected by scaly membrane that would function like wings, and tipped with a single black spike. Both of the other dragons had simple tails that ended in a mace-like collection of sharp spines all pointing in the same direction. My dragon's were a shimmering blue and Loki's dragon had black ones. But it was her scales that made her so rare. I had seen several dragons in my life and while only one had been up close, I knew enough to know that every dragon was different. A dragon's looks were not limited to the genetics of its parent. Of course, it got most of its physical structure from them but the gender depended on what temperature the eggs were kept at, warmer temperatures resulted in males just as cooler ones resulted in females. The scales were also decided during the incubation period, where the egg was kept and on what. My dragon had probably been kept on a hard, possibly metal surface of some sort, perhaps it had rested on a spare piece of metal in the nest, Loki's dragon had probably rested more on a grassy surface or on leaves and that lead to the emerald green color in her scales. The highlights were probably hereditary, I wouldn't be surprised if they were, Kayerith had had a pattern of highlights that looked very similar to hers but her scales had been white and orange. The only trait that was guaranteed to any dragon was the hardness of the scales. Nothing but another dragon's claws could pierce them. There are several types of breath weapons, all dependant on where the egg was during incubation. The most common ones are probably fire and ice although Kayerith had told me of others that included acid spit, plasma, and water but then again, that depended on the environment. Water bred water, warmth bred fire, cold bred ice. I wasn't sure what brought about plasma or acid.

It wasn't the first two that concerned me, it was the scales of the third. Her scales looked black at first glance and they probably would be if she was placed in an environment with no light, but it was when light hit her. Her scales shown all colors of the rainbow, depending on the angle. The only other material I knew of that did that were opals. But not just any opals. Black opals, the rarest type of natural opal in existence. In fact, the only black opals that were known to exist rested in the settings of one of my rings. They were a stone unique to Arda, the Lost World. Black opals had a very special ability not found in any other natural resource. They could absorb magical energy. Should I wish it, I could use my ring to suck any magical ability or energy out of any inanimate object and into those opals and it would stay there forever, recharging after I used it. The only way to tell if they had absorbed magical energy was by the colors that flashed off it when it hit the sun. The more vibrant the color, the more powerful the magic. All of my rings were specially enchanted to hold energy but they couldn't hold magical energy like my black opals could. Was it possible that there was another black opal in existence? No, it couldn't be. If there were, she would be all black right now. Perhaps she had rested among jewels for a time, I wouldn't put it past Kayerith, she, as well as all other dragons, had a soft spot for shiny, sparkly things. That was probably it, this one had been laid on a black surface, molten lava perhaps, and had been placed in a nest of jewels. The only question was: why were they all so different? Had Kayerith deliberately tried to influence the colors of her children's scales? Again, I wouldn't put it past her, a lot of mother dragons did that.