Years ago I had fallen in love with Val Robbins, one of the best pilots in the military.  A strong, gorgeous man with a heart of gold. We were inseparable, until a horrific plane crash took him from me.

To this day I have never stopped loving Val, and I never will. I still wear my engagement ring.

A few years later, I was moved to Antarctica to work on a new top secret project with the military.

You see a while back, deep in the heart of the continent, a major discovery was made…dragons.

The military used their extensive knowledge in genetic engineering to adapt and modify these creatures to serve them as the perfect all-purpose weapons.

But their plans quickly went astray as the dragons started to show chameleon-like abilities to shapeshift themselves into men. Men that walked, talked and looked exactly like my Val.  The lead dragon, the Sapphire spoke to me like it was Val all along. 

My brain struggled to grasp what was going on.  By the time I was coming to grips with the thought of him being back in my life, everything went black.

No one knows what really happened that night. We suspected that an asteroid slipped through the defenses and took out damn near everything in an instant. The world had gone silent, in a hurry.

It was becoming a kill or be killed kind of world, and the dragons, our former weapons were taking their place atop the food chain. 

Do I rely on this new Val for protection, or am I better off on my own?

Sapphire Embers is a unique sci-fi / shifter novella with lots of action and steam. It has no cheating, and an HEA, which means no cliff-hangers! Mature themes and language. Most definitely for 18+ readers only. 

CHAPTER ONE

May, 2025

At a non-existent military base in the USA

"It's just a routine flight, Cara. I'll be back in plenty of time for dinner with you tonight," Val said, his blue eyes twinkling.

"Dinner, Val? Tonight? Well, let me see. You're offering me a dinner date in a small and boring mess hall, with no view except the open desert surrounded by mountains." Cara Windborne smiled up at him, squinting a little in the bright sunlight. He looked just as sexy as ever, with his soft dark hair slightly windswept and his bright smile contrasting with the olive of his skin. Cara felt slightly breathless just thinking about dinner with him. “That sounds perfect."

"Good, good." Val Robbins tucked his helmet under his arm, took Cara's hand, and kissed it. "I'm so glad you're here, now, even though they won't let you work on me anymore."

"No, your fiancée is not allowed to be your flight surgeon. But I'm glad I'm here, too." She withdrew her hand, still smiling. "I think you know I'd go anywhere with you, Edward Valiant Robbins . . . anywhere at all."

He did laugh at that. "I never should have told you that my mother named me after a romantic comic strip hero. But I guess it's too late now."

"It certainly is."

He looked a little more serious. "I know it's been tough to find the time around here, but I promise you – we're going to find more time for ourselves from now on. And Las Vegas isn't that far. Maybe next time, we'll have dinner at your favorite restaurant. At our favorite hotel."

Cara found herself blushing at the memory of the last time they were together at that hotel. Val always knew exactly how to play her body, but that night he'd brought her to the brink over and over again before finally letting her crest into a mind-blowing orgasm that had left her shivering in incredible pleasure like she'd never felt before.

She smiled crookedly at the man, knowing that he must also know exactly what she was thinking. "I'd like that. Be careful out there."

He stepped back and flashed her a smile. "Hey, you're the doc, Dr. Winborne. Nobody knows better than you do about the great shape I'm in – ready for anything.” He winked. “See you tonight."

"See you tonight."

Though the two of them had only been here at this top-secret base for a few weeks now, Cara had met Val nearly a year before at another military base where she'd been assigned as a flight surgeon – someone who took care of the pilots and made sure they were fit to fly.

Val was a fine man. He was smart. And funny. And handsome. Cara thought he was perfect.

Four months ago, he asked her to marry him, and offered her the small but perfect platinum diamond ring she wore now.

She watched him go striding out towards the hangar along with a few other men in flight suits, heading towards those ominous, featureless black planes.

To Cara, those planes always looked more like supernatural creatures than conventional airplanes . . . They were like vicious bats, like the fiercest ravens, like fire-breathing dragons . . . Like no other aircraft in the world.

The men who flew them were like no others in the world, either. "Please stay safe," she whispered, as he walked away.

Cara returned to her office, where she worked as one of several flight surgeons for the base. Her nerves were on edge at the thought of Val flying one of those, but reminded herself that somebody flew those experimental airplanes virtually every day from this base. She certainly knew that from being one of the doctors who took care of those pilots, but she'd never been engaged to one of them before, either.

She kept telling herself that she would have to get used to this. Keeping busy was the best cure, so she sat down and started catching up on some charts and dictation.

An hour later, Cara suddenly sat up at the desk. The fire engine sirens were wailing outside – a lot of them – moving fast, as though racing at top speed to the end of the runway –

#

May, 2030

At a secret location in Antarctica

The first time she ever saw a dragon, Dr. Cara Winborne thought she would, in time, get used to the sight. It was her job to work with them, after all, and she saw them every day. She was sure that eventually, they would not make her heart stop and her breath catch in her throat anytime they were near.

But Cara was wrong. She never did get used to them. And she knew, now, that she never would.

Right now, she smoothed her long light brown ponytail and straightened the fur-lined hood of her parka where it rested on her shoulders. Approaching her from the far end of the underground corridor was a group of five handsome young men, all wearing uniforms and the same kind of heavy parka that she had on.

Handsome, yes, but she did not even want to know their names if she could avoid it. She had no wish to become attached to any man again . . . at least, not for a very long time. Cara folded her hands, somewhat comforted by the feel of the platinum diamond ring that she had never once taken off, and faced the group.

"Welcome to Antarctica. I'm Dr. Winborne. If you're here, it's because you have well above top-secret clearance and you're needed here. It's my job to help prepare you for what you will be doing.”

"You think you're here for some advanced weapons training. In a sense, that's true, but I can only tell you that whatever you've heard will not even come close to what you are about to see. Please stay together and do not make any sudden moves. Do not speak above a whisper when you are close."

The men all looked at each other briefly, but then faced her in silence once more.

"Very good. This way, gentlemen," Cara said, and the group of five men followed her down the long, brightly lit, underground steel corridor.

She spoke to them as they walked, wondering if they realized that the long and zigzagging corridor had a very gradual downward slope . . . that it actually led far underground, though the slant was difficult to detect.

"There was one purpose to this project, which began some thirty years ago. And that purpose was to save lives."

The only sound was the shuffling of their polished boots as they followed her. "Some said it was done to save money. But not entirely. Anytime one of those multi-billion dollar planes crashed, it almost always took the lives of the pilots with it.

"Yes, I know it was an accepted risk. But I am a medical doctor. For that reason I, and many others here, always hoped that somehow we'd find a better way – a way to defend our world without wasting the finest men our country has to offer.

"The blue-sky dream was creating the perfect fighting weapon that did not require a pilot in the cockpit. Yes, there are drones, even full-size ones, but they cannot do everything. And they are still incredibly complex and mind-blowingly expensive to create – never mind to replace.

"We never thought anything like that would actually happen, of course. It was just a daydream. A fantasy. And then – one day – when an ice slide uncovered what looked like a huge cave in Antarctica, the fantasy became real."

Cara stopped in front of a set of massive steel doors at the end of the corridor and entered her passcode. "Gentlemen, I give you Project: Reborn Fire. I give you – dragons."

She pushed open the doors and walked inside, with the five staying close beside her. They all seemed to have stopped breathing, but she couldn't blame them.

The dragons had that effect on her, too, even after all this time.

CHAPTER TWO

Cara and the five men stood inside an enormous and brightly lit natural cavern, at least the size several large aircraft hangars. The center of it was filled with computers and screens and tables and cabinets and all the rest of the equipment needed for a large and complex workplace.

But all eyes were drawn to the three large caves set into the cavern walls – two along the side they faced, and one more at the far end.

The vast opening of each cave was covered with thick, transparent, glass-like material from floor to ceiling, clearly revealing what was inside. The first cave held an enormous bright blue dragon. The second held one that was gleaming, glassy black. The third cave, down at the far end, held a dragon that was dazzling, shining white.

"You'll notice that each one of the creatures is about the size of the B-1 Stealth Bomber," Cara said. "That's really not a coincidence. Some of us think it's the other way around."

But the men weren't really listening to her. They were just staring. And she couldn't blame them.

She walked towards the first of the three caves. "Yes, you're seeing what you think you're seeing. Dragons. With a little engineering, of course. But dragons nonetheless."

"Where – where did you find them?" one of the men finally said, his voice low. "Or do you mean you – made them?"

"Well, it's a little bit of both," Cara said, smiling. She stopped again, before the men got too close, and let them have another few moments to absorb what they were looking at. "I'll give you the short version.

#

"Just over thirty years ago, that cave I mentioned was discovered not far from here. It was investigated, of course, in case some hostile force was using it as a secret base. But there were no people there. Only dragons.

"It was an entire colony of actual live dragons. Twenty-five of them, and hibernating when first uncovered. They were all different sizes, not quite as large as the ones you see here. Living, breathing, leathery white dragons who did everything the legends said they did once they were slowly warmed and awakened.

"They flew. They breathed fire. They were powerful, dangerous, and absolutely magnificent. They were just like the most powerful fighter planes ever built, only these didn't have to be engineered and constructed at massive expense. They either reproduced on their own or could be cloned, which is all in an afternoon's work for scientists today.

"It was immediately realized that if these creatures could be controlled, they would be the perfect defensive – and offensive – weapons. All it would take was some genetic engineering and we could grow fighter planes and weapons instead of building them. Living creatures instead of machines. DNA instead of metal and plastic.

"A team was sent to Antarctica to build a complex near the dragon cave where the scientists could live and work. Once this place was ready, all that was needed was just one dragon for dissection and DNA."

"Wait. Wait." One of the men caught her by the arm. "You're saying that you found a bunch of actual real live dragons – and then turned around and killed one of them? Just to experiment on?"

Slowly Cara turned around to look at him and withdrew her arm from where he held it. For a long moment she was silent, but then finally began to speak.

"Allow me to tell you a little more about myself," Cara said, looking at each one of the five. "I'm Cara Winborne, MD. I'm a flight surgeon. One of those responsible for the health and fitness of the pilots who fly those super-top-secret black aircraft.

"Make no mistake: I'm proud to help those pilots. But I know how risky their work really is. I know better than many others do. Five years ago, one of those magnificent planes crashed out in the American desert. It took with it billions of dollars – and the lives of the two exceptional men who were piloting it."

She tried to smile, though it was difficult to do that and still remain professional. But these men had to realize why this project was so important.

"I was engaged to be married to one of those pilots. He and I would have been each other's future. And then in an instant, he was gone. It was a terrible loss and nearly insurmountable, both for the military and, for some of us, personally.”

"I certainly realize that I'm not the first to lose a loved one like this. But I guess that's the point. No one else was ever in a position to stop that from happening again. But I was. And there was no way I would turn away from that.”

"I love the dragons, too. They are magnificent, beautiful animals. But they are animals. They are not humans. And I must be sure you understand where the entire team stands on this question."

Cara set her jaw and looked each of the five men straight in the eye. "None of us are in this place, doing this work because we were looking for easy answers and simple choices. You won't find any of those things here. If a decision must be made between human life and animal life – and in this place, it does – I will choose human life. I would have chosen him, every time.”

"Make no mistake: That's what I'm doing by working on this project. Choosing him, and all the others like him."

Cara paused. The brilliant, gleaming blue dragon in the cave nearest them was beginning to raise its head and slowly swing it in their direction.

She took a deep breath, regaining her composure. "So. The three magnificent creatures that you see here are the result of those three decades of experimentation and work.”

"There are more of these engineered dragons, of course. We call those the Fleet Dragons and they are all cloned from these three. But these, the originals, are so valuable that they never leave this place. They are studied every second of every day. Everything they do is documented. It always will be."

She glanced back at the silent men. "Now, gentlemen, if you'll follow me, I'll introduce you."

Cara led the five men to within just a few feet of the heavy transparent wall. "This is The Sapphire," she said quietly, as the enormous creature crept very close. "Like all three of them, he carries fifty-five percent dragon genes. But in this case, there is also thirty percent human genes and fifteen percent falcon."

The men in her group all seemed to talk at once. "Wait – wait – you're saying – this dragon is part – human?"

The Sapphire raised his head to look at them, and they all fell silent and stepped back a pace as Cara answered their question. "Yes. They are all part human. Gene splicing. Cut right into their DNA in the laboratory as part of the cloning process."

"But they don't look human," one of them said softly.

"No. But it's there. Just not in the parts you see."

"So – who contributed the human genes?"

"It was three different men. Military men. A number of them volunteered, but only three were chosen. No one was ever told who they were. Their names will never be known to anyone, but they will live on in these truly magnificent creatures."

"And you also said – falcon genes?" whispered one of the men.

"Yes. Dinosaurs, of which the original dragons are a type, did eventually evolve into birds, so they're actually close relatives. Falcons are birds that can be trained to work with humans. They added both intelligence and a predatory nature that could be controlled."

"That color," said another man. "It’s so bright, it looks artificial. Like – jewel plating, or something."

"No, I assure you, it's quite real. The sapphire armor was incorporated into their genetic makeup, too. And though it is quite stunning, it's there to protect them. And to camouflage them. You'd be surprised at how well a shining object can hide in the sun's light or over water when the entire surface is sparkling like a jewel."

The dragon curved his head and, as he always did, gazed steadily at Cara. "Those eyes," said one of the men, clearly fascinated. "Those eyes – they look – "

"Human," Cara said. "Yes. They do. That's where it is most apparent." He was right – The Sapphire did have very large and intensely blue eyes with white around them, just like a human being.

"We've found that the Fleet Dragons cloned from The Sapphire are bright, but easily distracted. They tend to flock together and are not entirely as independent as the other two types of dragons, which can be good or bad. They are a little more animal-like due to having slightly less human DNA.

"Does he have a name?" one man asked. "What do you call him?"

"He doesn't have a name. He is The Sapphire. That's all the name he needs."

CHAPTER THREE

The Sapphire turned away from them and moved to face the other direction. He raised his wings slightly and pointed his long slender head up in the direction of the sky, rocking back and forth and sliding his long, slim feathered tail across the floor from one side to the other.

With the dragon's head pointed up, the jeweled collar around his neck slid down on the feathers and was clearly visible.

The men continued to watch the creature's every move. "Do they stay in these caves all the time?"

"Didn't you say they never leave this place?"

"He doesn't look too happy."

She smiled patiently. "It's true that they will never leave this base. But we quickly learned that the dragons had to be allowed to fly at least once a week, or they would descend into something like madness.”

"They would attempt to fly inside the cave, again and again, crying out and injuring themselves. They would refuse to eat the meat brought to them. They had to be allowed out periodically to hunt their own food and fly in the open for at least a little while."

"I'm betting that collar is what lets you control him."

Cara took a deep breath. "Yes. The collar functions to bring him back and keep him from straying too far, and from drinking seawater."

All of them frowned at that. "Seawater? What kind of animal drinks seawater?"

Cara went on as though she hadn't heard. "The controllers can keep the dragon flying in big circles until it's had enough exercise, and then bring it back. Quite simple, really."

"Is that how you control the fighters, too? The Fleet Dragons?" one of the men said. "With – shock collars? Like you'd use on a dog?"

Cara smiled patiently. "No. We went one better with the Fleet Dragons. When they are very young, just a week or so out of the egg, they receive implants along the spinal column. Implants have the same effect, but cannot be lost. And they cannot be removed without killing the creature."

"You didn't use implants on these three?"

She shook her head. "We didn't want to take the risk. Once we realized that spinal implants could be done, these three were so large that there was really no way to work on them. And no need to. They will never be used in battle. Their sole job is to stay here and provide us with clones. Nothing else."

All five of them were silent. The Sapphire went on rocking back and forth with his nose pointed straight up. She always found it difficult to leave him. He was such a beautiful creature, who seemed so lonely while living a life he had never asked for.

Cara said nothing to the men in the group about how, whenever she felt alone, or could not sleep, she would sometimes come down here to sit with The Sapphire and just quietly enjoy his presence. The other two dragons felt animal-like, hostile and dangerous, but she always found The Sapphire to be a peaceful and beautiful creature.

But she pulled her thoughts away from him for now. She had a job to do.

"Please follow me, gentlemen," Cara said, and led the five of them to the front of the next cave.

"This is The Obsidian," she said. "He is fifty-five percent dragon and forty-five percent human."

"No falcon genes?" All of the men stood tall in an effort to see The Obsidian, who was curled up far in the back of the cave.

"No other genes of any kind. Just dragon and human. We believe that these are the most intelligent of the dragons, but they are also what some call 'sharp and hot.' Almost too clever. Too independent. But they are such fearless fighters that it's been worth it to use them."

"He looks like he's made of glass."

"In a sense, he is," Cara said. "Obsidian, of course, is volcanic glass. Very strong, very sharp. Their wings have a distinctive sound as they cut through the air. And Obsidians – 'Glassies' – are, of course, very hard to see at night."

"He looks smaller than the other one, though."

Cara frowned. The Obsidian was curled up like a cat far in the back of the cave and not moving. "Well, he's just hard to see all the way in the back. But he's the same size as the other two, I assure you."

"Yes – but – I can see the face. The skin is smoother. The face is – more human-like than the other one."

Cara just shook her head. "He may seem smoother because of the glassy appearance. The face is no different. I'm sure it's just because he's lying down and far in the back of the cave."

Of course that's all it was. How could he look any different? These men just were not accustomed to seeing dragons. Cara deliberately looked away from The Obsidian and led them to the third of the caves.

"This is The Diamond," she said, and stopped a few yards away from the transparent wall. The dragon was very close to it and looking very agitated, rocking from side to side, raising his wings, and lowering his head with his mouth open as if meaning to roar. "Fifty-five percent dragon, forty percent human, and five percent falcon."

"He looks angry," whispered one of the men, apparently remembering what Cara had told them before they'd come in here about keeping a low voice.

She nodded. "The Diamond clones – the Shinies – are the most powerful. They are nearly invulnerable, but they have a very fierce and independent nature. In a clear sky, close by the sun, they are nearly invisible, as well as on a snowy surface."

Suddenly they all jumped back as The Diamond Dragon arched his neck and did roar at them, with his huge mouth open and his rows of teeth bared. The transparent wall wavered and shook.

The men all stood in shocked silence until he finally closed his mouth and stalked away, apparently to go sulk near the back of his cave. "I thought you said they breathed fire?" one man finally said.

"They do have that ability," Cara said. "That's why we had to dissect one of the white ones when we observed them doing precisely that. We had to understand how any living creature could actually breathe fire.

"It turns out that dragon's fire is created from pure magnesium. That makes it blinding white and extremely hot – somewhere around five thousand degrees Fahrenheit."

"That's why you can't let them drink seawater," said one man, nodding. "Because of the magnesium."

"That's right," Cara said. "Seawater contains magnesium chloride. A dragon's system breaks it down into pure form for use in creating fire. All they have to do is drink from the ocean."

"Is that why there's no danger of these three dragons breathing fire?"

"That's right. Only purest distilled water for them. No seawater, no fire."

Cara led the five men back to the center of the cavern again, watching how they could not resist turning to look at the creature one more time. "Now you've seen our dragons, gentlemen. The original models – the white ones we first discovered – are simply called Lizards. They remain in their own cave with collars to control them and keep them from straying, or from challenging and fighting with any of the other dragons.

"The ones you see in here are known individually by their names, but together they are the Three Jewels. They are our originals, the most valuable of all. The rest of them are all clones of these three and are called the Fleet Dragons. They are being conditioned for use as fighting weapons and are commonly known as Birdies, Glassies, and Shinies."

She paused, taking a deep breath, and then made herself look each one of the men in the eye. "All of you are here because you were drone pilots in your former lives. You piloted full-size aircraft remotely, either from a station on the ground or from the secondary cockpit of another plane. Now you will learn to pilot another kind of craft. A dragon."

#

Cara led the group of five men out of the great cavern and into another long corridor running under the ground. "This will be the last stop on our tour today, gentlemen. We're going to the other cave complex. It's the one where the Fleet Dragons are kept – the ones you will be piloting."

This next cavern was even larger than the first, but most of it was given over to three enormous caves with the same transparent fronts as the caves of the Three Jewels.

"The Glassies – the Obsidians – are outside right now, being flown," Cara said. "So the Shinies and the Birdies are here, inside their own caves."

"Don't they ever mix?"

"Never," Cara said. "They must be housed and trained separately because the different types see each other as competitors. One vicious fight between a Glassy and a Shiny, resulting in the loss of both dragons, was all it took to prove that to us."

She led them all to the stairs and up to a viewing platform behind a huge window. The sun shone blindingly bright over the snowy landscape and the distant ocean. "If you look closely – give your eyes a moment to adjust to the brightness – I think you'll see them."

And they did. Some thirty-two Glassies, black and gleaming, flew both independently and in formation over the white land and white-capped sea. Cara watched all five of the men, feeling just a little smug at their stunned reactions.

"All this – all those dragons – are piloted from the ground?"

"Through those implants?"

"Yes. They are. And responding perfectly, as you can see."

"I'm noticing," said one man, "that some seem larger than others. Is that true, or is it just the perspective?"

Cara glanced out of the window again. "No, you are correct," she said. "You will see some smaller ones among each group. It takes about three years from hatching until they are trained and big enough to fly and fight. By contrast, the Lizards need only about a year to reach full maturity." "Three years," said one of the men. "You mentioned losing a couple to a fight. Have any others been lost?"

"Yes. They have." Cara's voice was firm. "I must remind you that these are animals. Not people. With that in mind, you should know that two years ago, one of the cloned dragons – a Shiny – died in a training accident. Its pilot misjudged its capabilities and it became exhausted, falling onto the rocks near a small island far out in the ocean.

"But no humans died in that accident. All we had to do was clone another dragon, and let it live and grow. No billions of dollars spent and – far better – no pilots killed."

She turned to face all of the men and looked each one in the eye as she spoke. "They are animals. Much as I do love them, these dragons are animals. They are not people. They need pilots, and that's why you are here."

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