Snow dragon, p.1
Snow Dragon, page 1
Dragon Knights #16
Snow Dragon
by
Bianca D’Arc
Copyright © 2021 Bianca D’Arc
Hawk Publishing, LLC
New York
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any or by any means, or stored in a database retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the Author.
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.
www.biancadarc.com
OFFICIAL BIANCA D’ARC NEWSLETTER
In the far reaches of the snow lands, a special group of dragons not only survives, but thrives.
A dangerous way to meet…
Sent by her King to seek alliance with a reclusive enclave of fair folk living in the snow lands well north of her home, Lilly is nearly frozen to death in a blizzard before a blinding white presence comes to her rescue. A fabled, dazzling white snow dragon, Shilayla, drags her heartmate, Luc, out beyond the protections of their home to rescue the human caught out in the snow.
An even more dangerous task ahead…
Luc and Shilayla are tasked with returning with Lilly to her homeland with a message for her King, but they are being hindered by an unseen enemy. A magical whirlwind blows them far off course and in strange lands they encounter other dragons and warriors who help them get back on mission, with the addition of an intensely magical black dragon as guide.
Missions thwarted. Missions completed. And new missions only they can take on…
Returning triumphant to her King is something Lilly desperately wants, but she also desires to spend more time with Luc. He has quickly stolen a large piece of her heart and she fears she will never get it back from the fair warrior who is too handsome for her peace of mind. Luc is also deeply attracted to Lilly, though he knows any romantic relationship between fey and human is likely doomed from the start. Against their better judgements, they fall in love, but events overtake them, and they must battle and take on a new mission - brokering alliances with unexpected players. All the while, they fall deeper and deeper into a forbidden love. Will it end as badly as they both fear, or will some kind of unknown magic rescue their tender hearts?
DEDICATION
I’d like to dedicate this book to all the enthusiastic fans of this series who have stayed with me over the years. Without you, I could not continue to write in this magical world and for that, I am very, very grateful. Special thanks to Peg McChesney, who helped sort a few things out with the timeline.
And, as always, to my family. Particularly my father, who celebrated his 96th birthday while this book was being finished. Love ya, Dad.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Epilogue
About the Author
Other Books by Bianca D’Arc
PROLOGUE
The past…
Luc, an adolescent warrior of the Veil, stood firm in the driving wind as tiny crystals of snow scoured his fair face. He awaited the imminent arrival of his heartmate, the creature that would share his life and his battles for the rest of their existences. Like many of his kind, he listened closely to portents and visions.
Today was the day his heartmate would come to him.
He’d seen it in dreams. The giant iridescent egg, the swirling snow that matched the hue and sparkle of the creature inside. The crack that had become many and the creature that had emerged.
In the distance, Luc saw a solid blur of white standing within the driving snow. A massive wing took shape in his vision, then another on the other side. A moment later, a draconic head loomed between them on a long, sinewy neck and crystalline eyes blinked open, meeting his for the first time.
Even across the distance of the snowfield separating them, a connection was made. One that would last a lifetime.
CHAPTER ONE
The present…
“There’s another one camped on the south side.” Roja stowed his tack in the chamber common to all dragon scouts in the enclave. He’d just come off duty with his dragon partner, Bruuk, while Luc was preparing to go out with Shilayla. They’d spent years training together for this duty while Luc had grown into a man and Shi had blossomed into a lovely juvenile dragon. She was not quite full size yet, but she was larger than most of the other dragon scouts already, having been hatched in the wild. On the verge of full maturity, she was already a force to be reckoned with physically, if still a bit immature in other ways.
“There’s always a new one camping on the edge of the Veil.” Luc shrugged as he buttoned his fur-lined cloak. “What’s so special about this one that made you mention it?”
Roja paused, a strange look passing over his sharp features. “This one looked up.”
All activity in the bustling room ceased. “Did he see you?” Luc asked.
Roja stopped to consider. “Hard to say. I thought for a moment when we banked to the left…” The young scout scratched his head. “But it was not meant to be. When we came back around, she wasn’t looking upward anymore.”
Luc’s curiosity piqued enough to make the tiny hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. He knew enough to pay attention to such feelings. In his years of training with his heartmate, Shilayla, he’d learned the value instinct.
“A female, then.” Shivers of fate coursed down his spine.
Roja shrugged. “From what we could see. Bruuk says she smelled female. And human, with a hint of magic.”
“Strange.” Luc said no more, though he was intrigued. Humans rarely had magic of their own, but a dragon’s senses were seldom wrong.
A sparkling white scaled head loomed through the massive archway. Shilayla had less patience than other dragons. She used her long neck to reach in and butt her nose against Luc’s back, almost knocking him over with her urgency.
“Must go. Must go now!” The young dragon’s voice sounded through Luc’s mind as it had since even before she’d hatched. She’d been just a baby, orphaned in the snow. It had been a prophetic vision paired with the baby dragon’s anguished cries from inside the egg that had led Luc to her in the middle of a blizzard.
“Hold on, precious.” Luc turned to stroke her scaled head. “We’re going.”
“Now! Must go now. She needs me. She needs us.”
Luc came to full attention at the dragon’s startling words. “Who, Shi? Who needs us?”
“Must go!” The young dragon opened her huge jaw and took hold of her partner’s arm. Such an action was unprecedented among the dragons of the Veil Lair. All of them knew the danger the dragon’s razor-sharp teeth presented to their fragile-skinned fighting partners. Shilayla had certainly never done anything like this in all their years together, no matter that she’d been born wild.
Luc tried to reach her on the pathway that connected them mind to mind, soul to soul. “Let go, sweetheart. I’ll go with you.”
“Go now!” He felt the distress that made her nearly incoherent as their minds connected.
“Yes, my love. We’ll go right now.”
She loosed his arm and backed out of the room, waiting impatiently for him in the cavernous hall, shifting her weight from foot to foot in agitation. Luc felt the eyes of his brethren on him in the silent room, but he didn’t take time to acknowledge their curiosity. Something had his dragon partner in a fit, and he suspected the human woman camped out on the border had something to do with it. Though how Shilayla could know about the trespasser, he didn’t yet understand.
Luc climbed onto the white dragon’s back, and a split second later, she launched into the air in one powerful push. Massive wings unfurled on either side, flapping in great sweeps to give them lift. The exhilaration of flight was something Luc never took for granted, but this frenzied launch into the cold morning air was even more powerful than usual for his young dragon partner. Shilayla was truly agitated. So much so, she’d reverted to the stunted sentences of her babyhood.
“There!” she cried into his mind, her voice laced with both distress and triumph.
Luc felt them cross the Veil that separated the Lair from the surrounding barren landscape. The ripple of magic against his exposed cheeks was followed a moment later by the blistering cold of the unprotected lands.
Squinting against
Snow Dragons were not to be seen. The sparkling white of their hides and the special magic they wielded made it nearly impossible for them to be detected in the snowbound lands by ordinary folk. For a supplicant to be aware of their presence was rare and usually rated a closer look and invitation beneath the Veil. The only way for a stranger to enter the hidden enclave of fair folk and dragons was by invitation. Needless to say, such invitations were rarely issued.
Shilayla made a hasty spiral downward. Even in her rush, she was an elegant flyer, and Luc had no difficulty sticking to the giant dragon’s back as she plowed up only a small amount of snow with her massive clawed feet. She came to rest not far from the stranger, though only the woman’s head followed their progress.
Why hadn’t she gotten to her feet? Wouldn’t the appearance of a sacred Snow Dragon merit some display of courtesy or even alarm? Something was very wrong. He felt it in his bones.
Shilayla trotted over to the fur-bundled figure, not even giving Luc a chance to dismount before she was hovering over the stranger, her wings blocking most of the wind. Shilayla created a warm little shelter between her natural inner fire and the protection of her wings that would bring comfort to a near-frozen traveler, but still, the stranger didn’t get up. She only followed Shilayla’s movements with wide, wonder-filled eyes.
Luc slid down from the dragon’s back and approached the woman slowly. Her dark eyes stayed trained on Shilayla until he moved. When the woman caught sight of Luc and their gazes locked, a tingle of magic made the ground ripple beneath his feet—at least, that’s what it felt like. Shock spurred him to motion.
“Are you an angel?” A soft whisper reached him as he moved toward her. The sound of a woman near the end of her strength.
Luc was surprised enough to chuckle at her question, though he worried about the low level of life energy he could just barely feel emanating from the creature coated in fur and a crust of snow. He knelt at her side and tried to assess her condition under the thick covering of fur.
“You are very much alive, mistress.” Luc touched the pale cheek. It was soft, and colder than any living being should rightly be. “But you’re frozen clear through. What’s your name, mistress?”
“I—” The woman cleared her throat and started again. “I’m Lilly.”
“Well met, Mistress Lilly. I am Luc, and this is my partner, Shilayla. Why do you seek entrance under our Veil?”
“I seek a woman with silver hair worn swept up in complex braids. She had sparkling stones of ice among her tresses. A vision sent me on this quest.”
“I know the one of which you speak.” Luc sat back on his haunches. The woman described a vision of the Council elder. That alone made her worthy of invitation beyond the Veil. Now that he was near her, he felt the tingle of magic. It was potent, though a bit wild—almost like a child’s power—untrained and pure. That merited further scrutiny, as well. “Shilayla and I will take you under the Veil.”
The smile that lit the girl’s face transformed her from merely pretty to exquisitely beautiful. Luc was not unaffected by her earthy loveliness.
“Bless you.” Her voice was weak, but he could easily read the relief in her tone.
“Can you stand?”
To her credit, she tried to move, but her strength was gone. Luc grew even more concerned when the effort seemed to tax what little energy she had left, and her eyes drooped.
“She is sick,” Shilayla said with great distress. “Her light fades.”
“Not if I have anything to say about it.” Anger burned in Luc’s belly. He’d only just found this beautiful waif. He was not going to lose her now. The strange thought should have bothered him, but this woman’s presence changed all the rules. It didn’t matter that she was human. It didn’t matter who or what she was. His soul recognized her and knew she had to survive.
To what end, he had no idea, but his task was clear. He had to help her. To make her warm and bring the light of life back to her sparkling eyes.
He pulled off Lilly’s threadbare hat, exposing lustrous dark hair that fell in waves down her back. The wrapping of damp fur and hides she’d used for warmth was removed in short order, exposing a body that was far too thin and much too cold.
“Shi, can you give us some more heat? She’s frozen.”
The dragon did an unexpected thing, scooping one of her massive wings under the girl so she rested not on the cold ground, but on warm dragon scale. Luc was surprised any dragon would pin themselves to the ground in such a way—even if only temporarily—but today had been a day of strange occurrences where Shilayla was concerned.
Luc removed Lilly’s tattered cloth cloak, taken aback when he found fighting leathers worn warrior style beneath. There were facets to this woman that intrigued him, but he’d have to wait until later for answers. He peeled back the cloak and the thickest of her damp leathers until she was clothed only in a dry cloth tunic, pants, and the dragon’s warmth. Color seemed to return to her cheeks as blood began to flow, but she was still incredibly weak.
“What ails you, mistress?” Luc stroked her cheek when he’d finished making her comfortable in the dragon’s embrace.
“Nothing that rest won’t cure. I overtaxed myself in the last village.”
“In what way?” He watched her face with concern, sensing she was uncomfortable with their words—or worse yet, trying to hide something. He would not allow her to hide anything. Not if he was going to take her under the Veil. He must uncover all her secrets, for that reason, and for others he didn’t care to examine at the moment. “The dragons scent magic around you.” He tried a different tack. “I’d prefer to know just who and what it is I invite into the heart of our enclave.”
“It’s nothing dangerous.” She turned away, and he saw a flicker of annoyance in the cast of her eyes. “It’s damned inconvenient, as a matter of fact.”
“What is?” He grew more intrigued by the moment as she began to breathe easier and the spark of life took hold within her being once more.
Those luminous dark eyes turned back to him. “Healing.”
“But that is a noble calling.” Luc didn’t understand the consternation that passed over her lovely face.
“It’s new to me and draining. It pulls at me, demanding service whether I wish it or not.”
“What happened in the village?” he asked more gently.
“An accident. A young boy. I couldn’t let him die.” It seemed her small amount of strength had peaked and now began to wane as warmth returned to her body.
“Are you a true healer, then?” Luc was intrigued by the idea. True healers were rare among human folk.
Lilly nodded, a bemused expression on her face. “The power rose a few months ago. It drains me, but never before to this extent.”
The sheltering wing lifted so Shilayla could poke her head underneath. “Is she all right?” Worry filled the dragon’s tone.
“I don’t know.” Luc spoke into the dragon’s mind so as not to worry the woman who shivered in the dragon’s warmth. “She’s thawing, but slowly. I fear she’s frozen through, but more troubling is her weakness. I’ve heard that true healers drain their own energy in order to heal others.”
“I can do something.” Luc was surprised by Shilayla’s gathering power. She was still a comparatively young dragon and had never manifested the healing fog known as the Dragon’s Breath, though Luc saw evidence of white wisps of mist gathering around her head as she leaned closer to the frail woman.
He was further shocked when Lilly reached up with one trembling hand and touched Shilayla’s scaled cheek.
“So beautiful,” she whispered, wonder and trust in her eyes that was rare to see among those who did not know dragons. The awe in her expression touched Luc deeply. Shilayla was the dearest being in his life. Even his family came second to the bond he shared with his dragon partner—his heartmate.
The healing mist intensified, and Luc felt the wash of Shilayla’s power against his skin, though it was directed toward the frozen woman. She dropped her hand, a beatific smile lighting her face as she fell into unconsciousness, but Luc wasn’t worried. Shilayla’s energy was restoring the drained healer even as it overwhelmed her.
