Rhyolite
“Woo-hoo!”
Aimee whooped with delight again as he reached the top of his climb and angled downward, spreading his wings wide to catch as much air as possible.
“This is amazing!”
He didn’t reply, letting her simply enjoy the moment. They were deep within the mountain range, hopefully out of sight of any humans at this point. The sky was still gray, and clouds of a darker nature were starting to move in. As he looked around, he knew that their time would be limited. They would have to head for cover shortly.
She fell silent and he craned his head around, enjoying the look of sheer joy plastered on her features. He wished he could see through the orange covering of her facemask, but the smile was enough. Gods, she’s beautiful, he thought to himself, admiring her even as he pulled up, angling them through a soft banking turn, heading toward the nearest thermal to help him gain some more ground.
“I can’t believe you get to do this any time you want,” she said, sounding stunned as the panoramic landscape of mountains scrolled by on either side of them, the ground shrinking below them once more as he beat his wings steadily.
“Are you giving me permission?” he rumbled, tossing his head gaily as he laughed.
“Take me up like this, and just maybe,” she fired back, unashamed.
He turned to make an even dirtier comment, but as his head swung around on the end of his long neck, Rhyolite’s eyes narrowed, the inner set of his triple eyelids dropping into place protectively.
“Aimee,” he rumbled, all humor gone from his voice. “Hang on.”
“Eeep,” she said, snatching at the rope and leaning forward so that she was firmly pressed into his neck.
Rhyolite dove for the tree line, wings tucking in alongside his body, taking a steeper angle than anything he’d dared do earlier. But there was no time to think as behind him another dragon roared in anger, beating its wings as it tried to close.
They reached the treetops and he snapped his wings out, tendons screaming in protest as they caught the air and billowed wide, slowing his descent and angling him sharply to the left.
He glanced back just in time to see a spear of black stone shoot through the space he’d just occupied and impale a tree lengthwise through its trunk before continuing on to impact in the ground.
Conscious of the fully exposed human on his back, Rhyolite bellowed his fury. How dare they threaten her! He pumped his wings furiously, the ground beginning to blur as he built up speed. Behind him came a sight straight out of his memories, a bronze dragon gaining ground on him, eyes glittering with anger.
Ahead of him the ground dipped away into a gorge. A plan appeared in his mind at the same time. He went over the edge, pulled his wings in, and dropped like a stone. A split second later though he spread them wide and pulled up, wings pumping like never before as he sought to lift himself up out of the gorge.
Behind him the bronze dragon howled with fury as it dropped over the lip and kept going down, having thought it had a chance to catch him if it dropped hard and fast enough. Rhyolite slowed to a halt and opened his mouth, using his power to send several spears of rock after the other dragon, forcing it to keep flying down the gorge, giving him some time.
He perched on the edge. “Get off!” he shouted, but Aimee was already sliding down his neck and onto the ground.
The instant she was free he fell over backward and into the gorge, twisting in midair as he increased his speed, trying to catch up with his attacker. Now that his mate was safe, he could fight with abandon. Knowing that fireballs would attract unwanted attention, he stuck to lances of black rock, firing them in a steady stream that forced the other dragon to slow.
“You!” he roared as he closed. “I finally have you, after all this time!”
Without warning his opponent pulled up and out of the gorge, just when Rhyolite was about to deliver a blow that couldn’t miss.
“COWARD!” he screamed, moving in pursuit. “GET BACK HERE!”
“No,” came the simple response, and he gasped as the bronze dragon banked around and put on speed as he headed for the one thing Rhyolite couldn’t have predicted.
Aimee.
They were headed on a straight-line course. If Rhyolite used any more of his breath weapon and missed, he stood a chance of it killing Aimee. He would need to be perfect.
Or just smart, he thought suddenly as he saw an opportunity. It was going to hurt, and hurt bad. But it would work, because the other dragon would never see it coming. Forcing his body to move faster, he gained speed, more and more of it. The bronze dragon was low to the ground, and if Rhyolite tried to angle upward, he would lose precious ground.
So instead he did what any lovestruck idiot would do, and sacrificed his own body to protect the one he loved.
Flipping over onto his back he plummeted down, the extra burst of speed allowing him to get close enough he couldn’t miss. Rhyolite hissed and a ten-foot-long bolt of rock shot from his mouth with a crack and impaled the bronze dragon right where his wing joined his body.
Rhyolite howled in triumph as his enemy peeled off, but it was short-lived as he plowed into the ground, the rocky landscape catching silvery-platinum scales and popping them off with painful results. The noise from his mouth quickly became pained as he bounced and rolled, crushing trees and sending snow everywhere.
Before the snow had even settled the ground thumped with noise.
“Haven’t you had enough?” he roared, struggling to right his battered body so that he could confront the relentless juggernaut.
Beside him he saw Aimee pause, unsure on whether to run away, or come to his aid, though there was little she could actually do to help.
“Run!” the bronze dragon ordered as it stumped across the ground on three legs, one wing drooping, the injury preventing him from fully controlling it.
“I will not run from you again!” he shouted.
The other dragon hesitated. “I was talking to the human. She is safe now, and no longer in danger.”
Rhyolite bit back a scathing retort as Aimee entered the conversation, and as she spoke he was reminded that she was fully capable of handling herself in a verbal conversation.
“Danger? The only danger I see around here is you. We were having a lovely time, and then your overly-tanned scales come in here like a bull in a damn china shop, wrecking everything.”
The bronze dragon hesitated. “You…are not in danger?”
“Ding ding ding!” she shouted, waving her hands around, golden-blonde hair bouncing frantically as she mocked the other dragon. “I’m so glad you finally picked up on that. The only time I was ever at risk was when you started chasing us like the schoolyard bully. It’s a good thing you got the drop on Rhyolite here, or else he would have kicked your ass all the way back to the Stone Age.”
“Umm, Aimee,” he tried to interrupt.
“Not now, flyboy, I’m busy giving this third-place wannabe a piece of my mind. You can beat his ass later, okay?”
The bronze dragon chuckled. “Well, that would certainly be the first time he’s managed that.”
“Rhyolite, what’s he talking about?”
“I’ll tell you later,” he said, happy that in his dragon form he couldn’t go red in the face.
Staring daggers at the bronze dragon, he readied himself just in case the momentary truce went south. It wouldn’t be unheard of, and he knew that the two of them had unfinished business.
“Men,” she snapped. “Fine. Listen, I’m perfectly okay. In fact, I was on a date that you so rudely interrupted. So why don’t you take your scaly hide back to whatever rotten hole you emerged from and fill it in behind you, okay?”
“She certainly has a way with words.”
“That she does. Now, what do you want, Obsidian?” he asked, finally speaking the bronzed dragon’s name.
The bronze dragon suddenly pulled its injured wing in tight alongside its body, showing that he was now healed from the earlier attack.
“Drake’s Crossing, the valley, and these mountains are under my protection,” Obsidian replied. “I’m sure you’ve found out that times have changed. These humans are different than the ones we left in the past.”
Rhyolite’s eyes narrowed at that. He felt that there was a story there, but he didn’t press the issue.
“I’m aware of that,” he admitted warily.
“Then if you wish to stay, you aren’t to do any more damage.”
“What damage? I’ve not done anything.”
Obsidian loomed up large. “Do not lie to me. You know of what I speak. Cease your actions.”
Angrily he spread his own wings, not backing down to the challenge. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve not done anything!”
Behind them there was the sound of snow as it cracked loose from a peak and began to plummet down the slope. Both dragons turned to watch. Aimee, with her human eyes and lower level of vision, was unable to see much.
“Ooops,” Rhyolite said. “I didn’t think that would happen.”
Obsidian’s yellow eyes flashed. “We must be careful. This is a risky season, and several lives have already been lost because of the avalanches.”
“That’s not our fault!” Aimee snapped, obviously feeling like the comment was a shot to her team.
“Calm,” he urged, ignoring Obsidian’s questing look. “Is there anything else you want?” he snapped, getting tired of his enemy’s presence.
“Yes. To speak to the woman. Alone.”
“Absolutely not,” he said without hesitation. “Whatever you want to say to either of us, say it.”
Aimee nodded her agreement.
Obsidian sighed. “I wished to ensure that he isn’t using his powers on you.”
“Don’t,” Rhyolite hissed, but it was too late. He’d opened the can of worms, and now Obsidian was going to bury him via other means.
“Have you not told her yet?” Obsidian asked, sounding at first surprised, then unimpressed. “She cares for you, isn’t this information you should have shared?”
“The time hasn’t been right,” he said defensively.
Aimee broke in at that point. “Umm, excuse me. But what the hell are you two talking about?”
Rhyolite felt a wave of fear wash over him with an uncanny abruptness. He ignored it, fortifying his mind against the sensation. Beside him though, Aimee went white with terror.
Just like that, it was gone again.
“What the fuck was that?” she snapped, regaining her composure.
“That was fear. It is my power.” Obsidian nodded in Rhyolite’s direction. “His is lust. A much more insidious power, one that you might not know is truly affecting you.”
“I swear,” he protested as Aimee looked at him calculatingly, her eyes narrowing. “I have never used my power on you. Not since I awoke, not once.”
“Get out,” Aimee hissed.
“If you wish a ride back to the city, I could provide one,” Obsidian offered.
“I was talking,” she said, acid in her voice, “to you. Leave us alone.”
The bronze dragon gave Rhyolite one last glance, before he lifted his wings and jumped into the sky. It was clear he was still in pain, but any satisfaction that might have been gained from that was lost as Aimee advanced on him.
“Take me to the car. Now.”
His first instinct was to argue with her. To get her to speak to him, to tell him why she was so mad. He was telling the truth: not once had he even considered using his powers upon her. But she seemed to think otherwise, and until she calmed down, he judged she would be unreasonably angry.
“Of course,” he said, slumping to the ground in defeat as she climbed back aboard, refusing to meet his eyes.
Once she was secured he took to the skies as well, the pain in his heart worse than anything else he’d experienced that day.