It was all over now. The dragon had been beaten, and he had his mate right here in his arms. From now on, nothing and no one would ever harm Naomi again.
“Hey, boss! You want to take a look at this!” sheriff Banner called out behind him.
With a sigh, Gregory reluctantly released Naomi.
The others had gathered around the mount of rocks that had toppled to the ground there, burying the fire dragon beneath them.
By now, some of the larger rocks had been dragged aside. Several of the animals with sensitive noses were all over the mount, sniffing at every opening. Jared had climbed the rocks as well, the phial of dragonsbane still in his hand, and was now carefully crouching down.
A moment later, there was an agonized cry—a human cry, not the roar of a dragon. Still, the dragon inside Gregory’s own heart recognized it straight away.
The fire dragon.
“It’s safe!” Jared shouted a moment later. “I got him with the dragonsbane, he can’t shift now. Sheriff, you got some handcuffs or something?”
“Do I look like I do?” the sheriff, still naked, called back.
Next to Gregory, Naomi snickered.
“Fetch some,” Gregory ordered, “the strongest you got—manacles for hands and feet, just to be safe.”
A moment later, the sheriff had already shifted back into his wolf, running off quickly towards the town. On top of the mount of rock, Jared now shifted as well. His powerful eagle’s wings beat the air. He rose and hovered—and there, in his grip, was the figure of an unfamiliar man.
Slowly, the griffin descended with his prisoner still in his grasp, until the groaning stranger found himself unceremoniously dumped onto the ground in front of Gregory.
“Dragonsbane,” Jared said with a smirk once he had shifted back as well. “Hurts like hell, doesn’t it? Well, you brought it on yourself.”
Protectively, Gregory wrapped an arm around Naomi.
“He can’t shift now,” he explained for her benefit. “Dragonsbane keeps us trapped in whatever form we are in when we touch it. A drop is enough to keep you from shifting for hours.”
“I gave him most of the phial,” Jared said. “He won’t be able to shift for days—probably a week. Enough to get him to Sky Home—and enough to see him judged for his crimes.”
“Anything you want to say?” Gregory demanded of the man.
The stranger gave him an angry look. He had black hair that now looked ragged and tousled, as though it had been singed. He had scrapes and bruises all over his body. He was clad in black jeans and a black leather jacket, a red shirt beneath that showed through the slashes that had ripped the leather. His left arm dangled uselessly by his side.
“Fuck you,” the stranger spat. “You’ll all pay. You’ll all pay, you just wait.”
“I have no idea who you are—or what you are,” Gregory said calmly. “Or what your problem is. Fire dragons have been extinct since the Middle Ages—”
“That’s what you all like to think,” the man hissed. “You abandoned us. You—all of you high and mighty dragons, content to hide from the world like cowards, while knights slaughtered those of us who’d been born with the courage of the fire in our heart!”
“But not all of you,” Jared now pointed out.
The stranger scoffed. “Some of us lived. Some of us remembered how you left us to die. If all of you had risen up against the humans with us back then, the world would be a different place now. We’d no longer cower in fear, hiding in secrecy, letting humans rule lands that should rightfully be ours. We’re dragon! We command the elements! We rule over fire, over air, over earth and ice! This world is ours! But you abandoned us—and for that, you will pay.”
A soft growl escaped Gregory. “You attacked my mate, just because a long time ago, my ancestors didn’t join in with some crazed fire dragon’s attempt to subdue all of humankind? Are you insane?”
The man gave Gregory a cold smile. “We’ve learned patience. Almost completely wiped out, the last of the fire dragons hid away. Wounded and defeated, they waited for the day when they’d have their vengeance on those who abandoned them. That day has come now. I don’t care about your precious humans, your council, or your rules of secrecy. You’ll be wiped out, just as you were content to watch us being slaughtered by knights. And then, at last, we shall rule, as we were always meant to be.”
Next to Gregory, Naomi suddenly straightened.
“Listen to yourself,” she said, outrage in her voice. “It’s not the Middle Ages anymore! And you can damn well look me in the eye when you say things like that. Can you even hear yourself talk? This is the twenty-first century. We’re not just... cattle for you to rule over.”
Taken aback, the fire dragon stared at her. “You’re not supposed to talk like that, human!”
“Ha!” Naomi stood with her hands on her hips. “You don’t tell me what to do. And I have a name. It’s Naomi. The least you could do is learn the name of people you’ve kidnapped and nearly killed. And if you had any manners, you’d apologize as well. But clearly that’s too much to ask from a fire dragon all bent on revenge. I’m sorry you noble fire dragons have less manners than even the most infuriating teenagers I’ve had to tutor.”