Find out what happens to Alliah’s best friend Katia in…
He's never met a dragon he couldn't master—until her.
Katia’s been lost since her liberation. Her wicked former master held her under his cursed thrall, forcing her to do his bidding, but freedom is its own prison. Red Dragons of Tarakona are warriors and defenders. But she has nothing left to defend, only a portal to guard, the portal that leads to a place called Earth and the enchanted realm of Magic, New Mexico. A distress call from the other side of the portal provides her the perfect opportunity to be the hero she was born to be.
Too bad a beastly, bossy, sexy earthborn dragon keeps getting in her way.
Dragon Master Ju-long Shi has seen it all. The anthropomorphic dragon shifter line from which he’s descended has tamed every species from tiny fairy dragons to great serpents and everything in between. But the enigmatic—not to mention annoying—new dragon in town intrigues and infuriates him with her infernal antics, as if she has something to prove. He meets his match in the red dragon who will not surrender to his will or his charms.
When a pack of three-headed giants shows up in town looking for trouble, the dragons of Magic find themselves outnumbered and outmatched. Katia is their only hope, if Ju-long can persuade the alluring fireball to follow him into battle. Will the epic battle of wills end in a passionate alliance or a fiery disaster?
NOTE
No dragons were harmed in the making of this novella. The three-headed giants were, but they had it coming.
Alternate tagline: She’s a hero without a mission. He’s a rebel with the perfect cause.
***
The bat dove for Katia’s hair again, its high-pitched squeals the proverbial straw that broke the saddle dragon’s back. She’d spent weeks sitting in this miserable chamber that lay hidden in the miserable labyrinth of ancient, decaying caverns beneath the miserable prison of a city in which she had once lived as a slave.
“Stand down, you ugly, moth-eaten, winged rat!” She shook her fists at the creature, which had retreated to the safety of a high rock ledge, its beady eyes glowing light of the phosphorescent mold that covered the chamber and surrounding caverns. It was not alone. At least six pairs black, shimmering eyes peered out of the shadows, their unblinking gazes fixed on Katia. What were they about?
Grabbing her sword, she took a swing at the crumbling stone beneath the bats’ ledge. The impact jarred her from wrist to shoulder and sent the bats flying in all directions. Rather than fleeing, however, they darted too and fro in the shower of mold spores released by her foolish exercise in frustration, swooping through the shimmering motes and then diving for her hair, the cursed beasts.
Freedom had yet to live up to Katia’s expectations.
Not that she was ungrateful, of course. Being under the thrall of a wizard, forced to bow to his every whim thanks to the enchanted control crystal forced upon her in adolescence, had been a terrible existence. Her master had even deluded her into thinking him a kind and trusted guardian. Once rid of the crystal, she gained both clarity and perspective.
How unfortunate that there was no crystal to alleviate the weight of her ennui. Oh, the irony of this invidious situation. While under the thrall of a wizard, she’d had purpose, direction, and the illusion of a meaningful life. As a free dragon, she had no idea what to do with herself, aside from guarding the interdimensional portal that led from Tarakona to Earth. It had been her first decision, truly her own, as a free dragon.
“If the citizens of this world will not aid us, then I shall defend the portal. To my very last breath. None shall pass.”
She’d meant it, too.
She shook her head, dislodging more of the nasty spores that clung to her disheveled locks like fleas, thoroughly frustrated. Of course she’d meant it! She simply hadn’t realized how the minutes, hours, and days would drag on. No companionship, save for the wretched bats, no distractions, no basin, ewer, or sweet soap with which to wash—and she had no magic, or rather, no magic she could wield. She couldn’t even shapeshift into her fearsome dragon form in the confined space. If she had either magic or the space to shift, the bats would be roasting over a spit by now. Not that bats would make a satisfying meal, but their incessant attacks wore on her already frayed nerves.
Would this torment never end?
A sudden crash of stones and rush of wind triggered her instincts. Sword raised and stance at the ready to attack or defend, she scanned the chamber, but the sounds that echoed through the space and faded into the caverns beyond had come from the other side of the portal.
“Phil! Get back in there and kick some ass!”
A booming voice from the other side of the portal raised the hairs on the back of Katia’s neck. What the bloody hell? No one on the Earth side should be so close to the portal, except friends and allies.
And none of her Earth friends sounded like that.
A shiver ran down her spine. Curse this infernal twitching. She’d never been so skittish in her life. Perhaps the tedium of guard duty had finally caught her up. After all, she was a red dragon built for battle, not idleness.
Not that she’d been able to assume her dragon form of late, or engage in glorious battles. That honor extended to members of the Dragon Liberation Front who’d recently started a rebellion while she waited in a dank cave, growing more restless by the hour.
A barrage of excited whoops, barked commands, and growls joined the chorus of chaos beyond the shimmering swirl of colors and sparks that formed the gateway Tarakona and Earth.
“Sonic! Slingblade! I’ll drop kick your scaly tails into next Tuesday if you don’t get your heads in the game!”
Her blood boiled as threats of violence and vile insults echoed throughout the chamber. The bearer of the booming voice was clearly a bully and a fiend. And what of his targets? The unfortunate souls who would have their “scaly tails kicked into next Tuesday?” Oh, dear—could the bully do that? Only a powerful wizard could bend time to his will, just as the wizards of her homeland bent the wills of dragons to do their bidding. Torren Transom, her former master, had held her and dozens of other dragons under his thrall for years before they gained their freedom. And not all were truly free yet, would not be free until the Earth pixies removed their thrall crystals.
Wait, scaly tails…bending time…
By the Sword of Cecilia, Matron Saint of the Red Warriors, could it be? Did the booming voice belong to a wizard? She’d only visited Earth briefly, but she knew the hamlet of Magic in the Province of New Mexico was home to wizards, witches, and all manner of shapeshifting creatures.
Like dragons.
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You can find out more about Katia’s book . Thanks for reading and be magical!