Cecilia’s head was spinning. Ragnar took her home and left before her father found out she was with him. She carefully opened the massive and ornate front door of her father’s mansion and stepped inside. The foyer was dark, she was hoping he was gone, or had gone to bed.
The lights came on all around her. Lucius was standing in the center of the entryway. His arms were crossed and his eyes glared into Cecilia with a furious rage.
“You left a celebration organized entirely for you, and then I have to find out from Sebastian that you’ve been fooling around with another dragon? And Ragnar of all people, he is exiled, Cecilia! He is lower than dirt, and you let him touch you?”
Cecilia didn’t know where to begin. For starters she wanted to know how Sebastian knew she had eloped from the party with Ragnar. He had no right to spy on her, but she didn’t know how to handle her father either. Her hands shook uncontrollably as she gripped the fabric of her dress.
“Well? What do you have to say for yourself?” Lucius asked.
“He was kind to me; he wasn’t full of himself like Sebastian. I just wanted to be with someone who wasn’t a fake.”
“I’m not doing this with you, Cecilia, you can answer to Sebastian. He will decide what to do with Ragnar. I for one hope he’s executed for his crimes.”
“Father, no! He didn’t do anything wrong! It’s my fault, not his!”
Lucius chuckled. “Tell that to Sebastian, I’m going to bed. You’ve embarrassed me enough for one night. He’s waiting for you in the bedroom.”
Cecilia slowly made her way up the stairs to the bedroom. She was still reeling from the shock of everything. She didn’t know how Sebastian would react. He didn’t seem like the forgiving type. She reached her door and slowly opened it. Sebastian stood on the far side of her room. His shirt was unbuttoned and dangled from his sides. The window was open and sent a cold draft through the room. He held a glass of scotch in his hand. Judging by the way he was wavering, it wasn’t his first.
“Sebastian, listen, I didn’t do this to hurt you,” she said.
Sebastian gulped down the last of his scotch.
“Really? Then why?” He asked.
“I don’t believe in this arranged marriage shit, I just wanted to be with someone who actually cared about me. I wanted to be loved.”
Sebastian turned around and looked down to his glass. He gripped it tightly and threw it at Cecilia’s head. She ducked out of the way as it shattered on the door behind her.
“I could have loved you!” He screamed.
Cecilia froze in fear.
“Sebastian, I’m sorry. I just don’t have feelings for you. Not like that.”
He stepped forward and she instinctively stepped back.
“I don’t care how you feel! The dragon shifters are dying out! It’s so difficult to bear a shifter, and the Dragonslayers are killing more and more of us by the day!”
“Sebastian, you’re scaring me,” Cecilia said.
“Did he impregnate you? Did he?” He asked.
“I don’t know,” she said.
Sebastian slammed his fist down on the surface of the nightstand next to him.
“Answer me!”
“No, alright no! We had sex, but he didn’t come inside me. I didn’t want him to. Is that what you want to hear?” She asked.
Sebastian nodded. “Good.”
He reached up to his pants, unclasped the belt and then pulled them off.
“What are you doing?” Cecilia asked.
“I’m making you an offer,” he said.
“What is it?”
Cecilia watched as he stripped naked. He had a chiseled body and smooth dark skin. Physically he was attractive, but even seeing him naked she still felt nothing for him.
“I will get dressed, hunt Ragnar down, and execute him myself.”
Cecilia’s heart stopped. “No, you wouldn’t!”
“Don’t test me! He’s been exiled. As far as the dragons are concerned he’s already dead.”
Cecilia felt something when she shared that special moment with Ragnar. She felt the seeds of love planted in her heart. She couldn’t lose him.
“Maybe I can convince you otherwise?”
Sebastian grinned. It was a smug and satisfied expression. It made Cecilia sick to her stomach.
“Just let me take care of you. By the time I’m done, you’ll forget all about what happened,” she said.
Cecilia walked over and knelt before his naked body. She took him into her hands and gently guided him into her mouth. She took it in slowly, but Sebastian wasn’t satisfied with that. He wrapped his hand around the back of her head and pushed her down onto him.
Cecilia gripped his legs and pulled him out of her mouth. She wanted to get up and walk out, but there she knew she couldn’t. If she was going to do this, she had to channel her anger. This didn’t mean anything. It was the only way to save Ragnar.
She wrapped her hands around his muscular thighs and took all of him into her mouth. He gripped her hair and held her head in place as he thrusted forward. He moved with a swift and vengeful rhythm. She closed her eyes and focused on Ragnar. After several minutes he stepped away. She wiped her lips and looked up at him.
“Walk over to the bed and bend over,” Sebastian said.
She stood up and walked to the edge of the bed. She leaned over the railing at the bottom and wrapped her hands around the metal bar. Sebastian pulled her dress up and ripped her panties off. He grunted like an animal as he positioned himself behind her. His hands gripped her waist as he slid into her.
He thrusted forward with a loud grunt, he wasn’t gentle like Ragnar. He was angry and it came through in the way he made love. Her entire body shook with each powerful thrust. He didn’t last long before she heard him roar and felt him finish inside her. He stepped back and she stood to her feet. He was satisfied, she was not.
“We’re done here.”
Cecilia was disgusted; she could never love someone like him. She left the bedroom and held back her tears. She didn’t want Sebastian to see her cry that would let him win. There were other bedrooms in the house, but she didn’t want to sleep there. She ran downstairs and out of the front door.
The tears flowed like water as she stepped out into the massive front yard. A hand wrapped around her mouth and gripped her tightly. She struggled by the person was too strong.
“Cecilia Roven. How nice to finally meet you. You’re going to stay right here with me while my friends go fetch your father and your future husband. We have some talking to do,” a man said.
He let her go and she stood perfectly still. Four other men appeared from the shadows and made their way into the house. The man in front of her was dressed in what looked like the armor of a medieval knight. He had a golden bow and arrow with a quiver hanging from his back.
“Who are you?” Cecilia asked.
“I am the Dragonslayer Apollo. Those other men you saw are my associates Jason, Cadmus, Perseus, and Heracles. We’re here to simply do some business, and then we’ll be on our way.”
Cecilia eyed him suspiciously. “You’re not here to do business; you’re going to kill them!”
Apollo shrugged. “In our work they are one and the same. Don’t worry though; I’ll kill you first so you don’t have to watch.”
He reached down and plucked a dagger from his waist and walked toward Cecilia.
“This will only hurt for a moment,” he whispered.
She considered running, but knew she wouldn’t make it far before he used the bow on his back.
“Apollo!”
He stopped. Cecilia looked over and saw Ragnar standing at the entrance to the mansion grounds.
“We have unfinished business!” Ragnar shouted.
Apollo dropped his dagger on the ground and grabbed the bow from his back.
“Yes, we do indeed!”
Ragnar shifted into his dragon form. He was a majestic beast covered in shimmering black scales. He charged forward on foot and let loose a column of icy wind from his gigantic mouth. Apollo rolled out of the way and Cecilia ran toward the entrance of the house. Her father and Sebastian came out, escorted by the other four men that had arrived with Apollo.
Sebastian immediately broke free of the others and shifted himself. He was a smaller dragon than Ragnar, but still incredibly large. He had coarse leathery skin. He swung his tail around and knocked over the Dragonslayers as he flapped his wings and hovered above them. He released a torrent of fire upon them.
One of the Dragonslayers was badly burned. His skin was blackened and raw from the blast. He cried out in pain. Apollo rushed to his aid and miraculously healed his wounds with a simple touch of his hand. Cecilia realized that he was the leader. Without him they would fall with ease.
She ran forward and picked up Apollo’s dagger. One of the other Dragonslayers hurled a ceramic pot filled with flaming liquid at Sebastian. It exploded across his skin and he fell from the sky. His body crashed into the face of the mansion. Windows shattered as the entire corner of the home collapsed into rubble.
Ragnar came to his aid with another hurricane of ice. Apollo was caught in the blast. Cecilia ran towards his frozen form as the Dragonslayers approached Sebastian. He was clearly wounded and in need of help, but if Apollo broke free from the ice, he could potentially kill Ragnar with a single arrow if he shot true.
The ice around Apollo cracked. Ragnar flew to Sebastian’s aid just as the other four Dragonslayers leapt onto him. With swords and spears they plunged their weapons into his side. Blood spilled from his body as Ragnar breathed ice across the four warriors, freezing them in place.
Apollo broke free of his ice and readied an arrow. Cecilia approached from behind and raised the dagger above her head. Apollo pulled back the arrow.
“Today you die, dragon!” He shouted.
Ragnar turned to look at him. Cecilia drove the dagger down into his back, right between the shoulders. The arrow fired askew and missed its target. Apollo fell to his knees and desperately tried to reach the dagger as blood flowed from the wound.
Cecilia ran away as Ragnar blasted ice over Apollo. He was frozen solid, his face locked in a state of fear. Ragnar raised one of his scaled feet and brought it down on top of the frozen Dragonslayer. He shattered like glass into a thousand crimson crystals. Almost immediately after his demise, the other four Dragonslayers who were frozen also shattered. Sebastian had transformed back into his human form.
Ragnar shifted back as well. They approached Sebastian, but it was clear he wasn’t going to survive.
“You fought well, Ragnar,” he said, gripping the gushing wound in his side.
“As did you, Sebastian. I wish our first meeting was not like this.”
“You must protect her. You entered into this fight, now you must live with the consequences.”
Ragnar nodded. “No harm will ever come to her.”
Sebastian nodded. “Good.”
He took one final breath before his eyes became like glass and his head fell limp. Ragnar took Cecilia into his arms. She was confused and terrified. Lucius approached and stood silently watching over Sebastian’s body.
“You must take her and go,” he said.
Cecilia looked up at her father. “Why must we leave?”
“Ragnar has slayed some of the most powerful Dragonslayers ever to have lived, but one of our own was also killed in the fray. The other members of our tribe will not take kindly to these events. They will say that he brought them here. Ragnar, you’ve earned my respect and my blessing. Take care of my daughter and see that she lives a long and happy life. Should she bear a shifter, I expect to see him when things have quieted down.”
Cecilia wiped the tears from her eyes and smiled. “Or her, it could be a girl, you know.”
Lucius smiled. “Yes or her; now go, the others will be here soon.”
Cecilia hugged her father tight. Ragnar transformed into his dragon form and she climbed onto his back.
“Just start flying; we’ll go someplace where no one knows our names. We’ll start over.”
Ragnar shot up into the sky with Cecilia on his back. After so much suffering and hardship, they both had found hope in each other.