Rhani (Dragons of Kratak Book 3) by Ruth Anne Scott (2)

Carila interrupted her thoughts by murmuring in a hushed voice. “Look down there. It looks like we’re just in time to see history in the making.”

“What do you mean?”

Carila laid her finger to her lips and leaned over the railing to peer down to the floor below. Moira followed her gaze and saw Royce, Rarik, and Connal standing in a huddle directly below. If the three women remained silent, they could pick up snatches of their conversation.

“You never supported my patriarchy, Connal. You were always disloyal. If you don’t watch out, I’ll have to discipline you, and that would end your career for good.”

“I don’t have a career, Royce. I’m your brother, and I’ve always been loyal to this Clan. This is more important than any expansion. I don’t understand why you’re ignoring such an urgent message from the people who know best what’s going on.”

“What you say is going on, is going on on the other side of the planet. You can’t really expect me to drop everything I’ve worked so hard to achieve on the word of one woman.”

“It’s not the word of one woman. We have Rahni’s word, too, and we can consider him an emissary from Rowan. Rowan and Fay have these Allies researchers living under their very roof. Rahni wouldn’t come to warn us if the threat wasn’t real.”

“So, this is all about Fay again, is it? It’s always you and Fay. Connal and Fay, Fay and Connal. That’s all it’s ever been.”

Connal stiffened. “Don’t you dare say a word against Fay.”

Royce waved his brother’s concerns aside. “Rahni didn’t come as an emissary from Rowan. He came on his own, to deliver a message from that new mate of his. Until I hear some more convincing evidence supporting it, I’m not changing my plans.”

“You fool! You’ll ruin us all. You’ll ruin the whole Ingasore race.”

Moira whispered to Pariri. “What’s Ingasore?”

Pariri chopped the air with her hand to cut her off.

Royce glared down into his brother’s eyes. “If you say one more word about this, now or any other time, I’ll remove you from the Council. You understand what that would mean. I’ve shared power with you and Rarik all these years for the sake of peace in our Clan, but I draw the line here. Put this to rest and don’t bring it up again, or I’ll have no choice but to take drastic action.”

Royce spun on his heel and stormed away across the hall. Connal watched him go with brooding eyes, but when he turned around, he found his brother Rarik smiling at him. “If it means anything, I agree with you.”

Connal rounded on him with his fists clenched. “Then why in heaven’s name didn’t you say something?”

“You know I can’t cross Royce. He’s patriarch of our whole Clan. If I crossed him the way you have, he would censure me ten times harder. Royce controls everything, and my position depends on his good favor. My family could be driven out of the Keep.”

“That’s nonsense, Rarik. Royce couldn’t control anybody if he didn’t have you to support him. He only commands the Clan the way he does because he can point to you as his ringer. He would be nothing without you.”

“I’m sorry, Connal, and I’m sorry for Rahni and his Clan, too. They’ll just have to take the brunt of any invasion until Royce sees the light. He won’t change his mind until the bombs start falling.”

The two men kept talking, but Moira didn’t hear. She backed away from the railing. “I have to go. I have to find Rahni.”

Pariri and Carila spun around. “Don’t go yet. We haven’t finished showing you around.”

Moira waved to them. “Maybe another time. This is more important. Thank you both. I’ll see you later.”

Chapter 9

Moira hurried away. She had to tell Rahni what she heard, but where could she find him? She raced down the passage. Maybe he went back to his quarters for the night.

She crossed a smaller hall where several passages converged and darted down the one heading back to Rahni’s room. She passed clusters of people in high spirits, but after a while, they stopped appearing from the other end. She strode down the vacant passage and turned the corner she knew led to their room when a lone figure stepped out of the shadows. It was Yorik.

She gave him her best friendly smile and a nod before hurrying past, but he stepped into her path. No matter where she turned, he moved to block her going any further. His eyes burned, and the patterns flowed across his face thick and fast to darken his countenance. “Where are you going?”

His expression told her everything she needed to know, and her voice stuck in her throat. “I’m going back to my room. I’m looking for Rahni, and it’s getting late.”

He took a step closer to her. “He should know better than to let a fine woman like you walk around alone. You might get into trouble.”

No one could mistake his intentions, but Moira’s fear turned to rage. “That’s funny. I told him the same thing about you after the way you and your brother threatened him. If someone is getting into trouble, it’s you.”

He laughed under his breath, but his eyes glinted with hidden danger. “You’re fiery, aren’t you? I like that in a woman.”

“If you like it in a woman, maybe you like in your own wife. Shouldn’t you be telling her that, instead of a stranger.”

He shrugged. “My wife understands things like this. She understands how a flesh-and-blood man would admire a nice-looking woman like you.”

“I’ll bet she doesn’t know you’re out here talking to me, though, does she? She doesn’t know you’re ambushing me in deserted passageways late at night.”

He squared his shoulders. “No, she doesn’t, and she’s not going to find out.”

“She’ll find out if I tell her.”

Faster than she could think, faster than she could react, he flew at her and grabbed her with unimaginable strength. He grabbed her around the waist with one hand and clamped the other over her mouth. He moved so fast she never had time to fight back before he slammed her against the wall. “You’ll never tell her. You’ll never tell anybody if you want to live to see morning. If you tell a soul about this, I’ll slit your throat and throw your bloodless carcass over the cliff so no one will find you.”

She batted at him with her hands even as she knew it was useless. He overpowered her by main strength. Her combat training did her no good against a foe twice her size.

He pinned her head against the wall with his hand over her mouth and tore his hand down her shirt to free her breasts. He crushed one of them in his massive paw before he dove his hand down her pants to finger her still-excited slit. “Oh, yeah, I knew you’d be ready for me. You’re a keen little fox, aren’t you? You like it rough, I’ll bet. I’m gonna enjoy you, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me. Go on. Let me hear you scream for your beloved Rahni. He can’t help you now.”

She kicked him in the knees and clawed his shoulders with her fingernails, but she couldn’t budge him. He tormented her clit until she moaned in spite of herself. He teased her wet opening until the juice gushed down his fingers. “That’s it, baby. Let me hear you moan. You know you love it. I’m gonna take you again and again, and Rahni will never know you love it from me more than you love it from him. You’ll dream about me bending you over and nailing your sweet ass when you lie in bed with him. Won’t that be nice for you? Yeah, you know it will be.”

He grabbed her ass and ground his bulging crotch against her vulva. “Who’s bigger, sweetheart? Me or your Rahni? I love that ass sticking out for the world to see. You like putting yourself on display for the whole Clan with these tight clothes, don’t you? You like showing a man what he’s gonna get when he grabs that ass.”

He let go of her mouth and spun her around. He hurled her against the wall hard enough to make her scream. In a flash, he was on her. He ripped her pants down, and his raging cock nudged between her butt cheeks. She couldn’t stand here and take this. She couldn’t let this happen, but he held her in place with one mighty hand pressed against her head. She couldn’t kick or claw her way free.

He drove his hand back into her crotch from the front while his rock-hard tool bothered her from behind. He paid no attention to her screams to get off her and leave her alone. If anything, they only encouraged him.

He crushed her against the wall with his body, but she couldn’t stop her body responding to his touch. He knew exactly how to touch her to make her excitement rise to the surface. He licked his fingers and spread his saliva over her clitoris, and it worked its intoxicating magic on her the way Rahni’s saliva did.

Hot lust flooded through her. She couldn’t stop it. He would nail her, and she would orgasm all over his cock the way she did Rahni’s. She almost welcomed his shaft between her legs, and the burning sugar covered his throbbing meat with its luscious sizzle.

He already knew. “Come on, baby. Come on.”

She closed her eyes against the inevitable. What was the use in fighting? He sensed victory and leaned back for the final plunge when a flash of red shimmered up the passage. All of a sudden, Yorik wasn’t there anymore.

Moira whirled around. She yanked her shirt closed and pulled her pants up just in time to see Rahni’s spiky dragon head dart past her. He struck Yorik again with his pointed, smoking snout and sent him flying away down the passage.

Yorik tumbled over the stone floor and came to a stop some dozen yards away. A moment later, Rahni appeared as a man at Moira’s side. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine. Thank you.”

Yorik got to his feet and pulled up his pants, but he limped when he tried to walk. He glared back and forth between Rahni and Moira. “You’ll pay for this.”

Rahni narrowed his eyes at his cousin. “Your father would have something to say about that.”

“You don’t have the balls to tell my father anything. He wouldn’t believe you anyway. He doesn’t believe a word you say, and I don’t blame him. You’re cracked in the head. You always have been. You belong in the basement where you won’t bother anybody.”

Rahni turned away. “I’m going to find your father and tell him right now what you just did to Moira. We’ll see who he believes and who he doesn’t. I’m willing to bet this isn’t the first time you decided to take what you want without asking.”

Yorik jumped in front of him. “Stop right there. You’re not going anywhere.”

“What are you going to do to stop me? You might be able to overpower Moira, but you won’t have such an easy time with me.”

“I could smash you with one hand tied behind my back.”

“I would love to see you try.”

“We can’t fight here. There isn’t space.”

“Name the place.”

Rahni shook his head. “This is your fight. You decide.”

“The Great Hall, then.”

“The Great Hall! What for? We can settle this just between you and me.”

Yorik pulled himself up to his full height. He stood several inches taller than Rahni, with more powerful shoulders and immovable bulk. “This isn’t just a friendly fight between cousins, Cousin. I challenge you, and the winner take all.”

Rahni glanced at Moira. “All?”

“All. If I win, you’ll be dead. You won’t be able to stop me taking your woman for myself.”

Moira spoke up. “Don’t you think I have something to say about this? I won’t go with you, Yorik, and that’s final.”

“When Rahni’s lying in a pool of blood on the Great Hall floor, not you or any Harkniss or anyone else will be able to stop me. You and your Clan will be humiliated in front of all our Clan. Any designs you and your brothers have against my Clan will be crushed. Do I make myself clear?”

He didn’t wait for an answer. He shoved past Rahni and his footsteps drummed down the passage out of earshot.

Moira rounded on Rahni. “What in God’s name is going on? Why did you let him challenge you like that? He’ll kill you and take me. You have to stop him.”

“Accepting his challenge is the only way to stop him. Anyway, he doesn’t really care about you.”

“What are you talking about? You just saw him almost rape me. Do you know what he’ll do if you’re not around to stop him?”

“My guess is he’ll ignore you. You heard what he said. This has nothing to do with you. He’s doing this to help Tam.”

“What? What’s Tam got to do with this?”

“Don’t you remember? Tam is worried I’m here to take over his Clan. He sees me as the next patriarch of Clan Harkniss, and he thinks I’m here to depose him. He roped Yorik into attacking you as a provocation. Yorik wanted to challenge me, and he knew I wouldn’t refuse if you were at stake. That’s what this is all about. He wouldn’t have challenged me to fight him in the Great Hall if this wasn’t a full Clan challenge. Yorik doesn’t really want you.”

“You could have fooled me.”

Rahni faced her for the first time. He put his arms around her and held her close. “I’m sorry you got caught in the middle of this. Are you still scared?”

Moira shuddered in his embrace. Her hands shook, and her knees wobbled. “I’m...I’m okay.”

“He didn’t do anything, did he? I got to him in time, didn’t I?”

“He didn’t do anything. He just scared me. That’s all.”

He took her hand. “Come on. Let’s go home.”

He led her the rest of the way down the passage and closed the bedroom door behind them. He sat her on the bed and sat down next to her. “Now tell me exactly what he did.”

“Nothing. He fingered me, and he said I would like it better than I liked it with you.”

“Anything else?”

“He put his saliva on my.... That’s why I....I couldn’t stop it.”

He frowned. Her lip quivered. She couldn’t say the words out loud.

He pulled her against him and kissed her hair. “I understand.”

He laid her back on the bed and lay down next to her. He took her in his arms and kissed her, again, again, until their lips entangled in that delicious dance bringing them together as one flesh.

Moira put her arms around his neck and took shelter in his presence. She was safe as long as he remained at her side, but what if Yorik won that challenge? She would never be able to leave Prowiss Keep without the help of some Kratak—Ingasore.

Without anyone explaining that name to her, she understood. That was their true name. The Ingasores. Only the Allies called them Krataks. Only the Allies didn’t understand their true nature.

She couldn’t think about the challenge. She couldn’t think about Yorik without fear eating away at her guts, but all wound up with that fear, she couldn’t stop the burning excitement rising along with it.

His saliva brought her tissues to life, and they wouldn’t stop twitching until they achieved their full release. She ached for it. Her body needed it.

Rahni breathed his heady breath into her nostrils, and her pulse quickened. His passion erased the shame and fear of Yorik’s touch. His hands wiped the filth of Yorik’s invasion out of existence. His kiss consumed it and burned it to ash.

He unfastened her shirt, button by button. He kissed down her jawline to her neck and pushed the sides of her shirt aside with his cheeks. He kissed down her cleavage. “Did he touch you here? Did he touch you here?”

She caught her breath and gasped. “Yes!”

He cupped her breast in one warm hand. “Like this?”

“Yes!”

He kissed her brown wrinkled nipple. “Did he kiss it like this?”

“No.”

He kissed it again. “No? Are you sure?”

She sucked her breath through her teeth. He ran his tongue around the nipple, and the skin tightened when the air touched the wetness.

He licked down her belly. “Did he lick you?”

“No.”

“But his saliva turned you on.”

“Yes.”

He rose up on his knees and slid her pants down to expose her heavenly triangle. She turned her head aside and closed her eyes. She couldn’t watch him work his alchemy to heal her fear and pain.

He took off her pants and shirt and stretched her out naked for his examination. He caressed her thighs with long, loving strokes. “Did he touch you like this?”

“No.”

“Did he finger you?”

“Yes.”

“Show me. Let me see?”

She moved one glowing thigh out of the way, and her cleft cracked open for him. The rosy petals glistened with sweet droplets. Rahni explored her opening with his fingers and circled her clit to bring the panting mews to her lips. “Like this?”

“Yes.”

He quickened his tight circles, but he didn’t kiss her again. He leaned back and watched her chest rise and fall with quickening breath. He watched her quake from head to toe in consuming passion.

“Did he make you wet?”

“Yes.”

“Was it his saliva or his touch that made you wet.”

“Both.”

He bent down and kissed her heaving mons. “Like this?”

She couldn’t whisper. She could only form a silent “Yes,” with her parched lips.

He touched his tongue to her flaming tissues, and her whole body burst into torrents of unstoppable desire. She tossed her vulva against his mouth, and her elixir flowed out to join his saliva washing her away. Nothing could stop it.

Before she knew what was happening, his fingers penetrated to her core and stirred her pleasure to a raging inferno. His words echoed in her mind, without end. Like this? Like this? Like this?

She could only answer Yes! with all her soul. Just like that. That’s how he turned her on when she didn’t want to be, but she wanted it now. She wanted those fingers. She wanted that warm wetness ruffling her spongy cunt to a throbbing cavern of bliss.

He plowed his muscled fingers in to her cervix and out to stimulate the G spot just inside her opening. He touched all the spots along her channel to wind her tight to spring apart in orgasmic fireworks. His attentions filled her with infinite pleasure until not one blot of discomfort or worry remained to disturb her.

He ate her to a state of high tension, but he left her dangling on tenterhooks when he reared back to kneel over her. She stared up at the dragon rising above her. His chest spread to monstrous wings, and his head stooped forward to blow his sulfur breath into her face.

What was he? Who was he? She didn’t have to understand. She loved him. She worshiped him in all his magnificence. His cock stabbed the air with its giant veins throbbing in naked lust.

He dropped onto all fours above her and rolled her sideways. He lay down behind her, and one hand found its way into her quivering cunt from the front while his massive cock burrowed between her butt cheeks from behind.

She thought of Yorik, but this time, a glad shout of pure joy floated to the skies. He couldn’t touch her. He would never interfere in her desire for Rahni. He could do his worst. Rahni would always conquer. Rahni would always possess her.

He stroked her clit with his hand, and his thick tool found its way into the dripping hole prepared for it. Her flesh surrounded it, and her inner muscles spasmed to milk it of its precious concoctions. His essence filled her every sinew and made her clean and bright and whole.

She pushed her ass back against his strokes, and surge upon surge of blissful delight sparkled through her being. She undulated back and forth between his driving cock and the fingers titillating her from the front. No matter where she went or what she did, he completed her.

He murmured in her ear. “Did you want it? Did you want it like this? Did he make you want it?”

“Yes! I wanted it just like this. Oh, yes!”

He slammed his hips against her ass and made her ivory flesh quiver. “Like this? Is this the way you want it?”

“Yes! Yes!”

“Let me hear how much you want it. Let me feel how wet it makes you to take it like that.”

Her deepest self answered him with rapturous cries. His cock burned over her G spot until the squirts of golden honey coated it. Did her nectar bring the patterns swirling around his skin the way his saliva did hers?

She didn’t have to see to know they did. Golden filigree twinkled down his shaft and snaked down his thighs when she sucked him. Rainbow fractals followed her fingers around his ass and belly and chest when she tickled and licked and caressed him.

He brought his other hand around her shoulders to her neck. He pulled her head back and stuck his fingers in her mouth. “Suck.”

She sucked. She sucked the patterns from his cock. He pumped them into her waiting fissure and squirted them from her pussy when he pressed her button. He injected them into her squeezing cunt and filled her with drunken dreams.

Chapter 10

Moira walked down the passage toward the minor hall to join Rahni and Connal’s family for the morning meal, but the Keep gave her a strange feeling this morning. People hurrying about their business didn’t smile or laugh, and more than once, Moira thought she noticed people withdrawing to the other side of the passage to pass as far away from her as she could.

At first, she dismissed the notion. She must be imagining things, but after it happened again and again, she couldn’t deny it. They lowered their eyes rather than look at her.

Moira’s cheeks burned, but she couldn’t explain it until she found Pariri and Carila standing against a wall outside the breakfast hall. Carila cast a sidelong glance at Moira and whispered something into Pariri’s ear.

Moira tried to smile when she came up to them. “There you are. I’ve been looking for you two. When are you going to give me the rest of my tour?”

Carila looked away without answering. Pariri snapped over her shoulder before leading Carila away. “Maybe later. We’re busy right now.”

Moira’s hand shot out to stop them. “Hey! What’s going on? Why won’t anybody talk to me? They treat me like I’m some kind of pariah. Did I do something to offend you or your Clan?”

Carila pursed her lips and turned her back on Moira, but Pariri rounded on her. “Everybody knows all about what happened, Moira. Everybody knows Yorik challenged Rahni for you. The whole Keep is talking of nothing else.”

Moira stared at her. “They are?”

“Do you know what this challenge means? One of them will wind up dead. Do you hear me? Either your mate or Carila’s will be dead, and if Yorik wins, Carila might as well be dead because her mate will have taken you instead of his own wife. Is that what you really want? Can you really stand there and ask if you did anything to offend our Clan when this is how you act?”

Moira moved again to stop them walking away. “Please, Carila, you have to believe me. I never did anything to encourage Yorik. He forced himself on me in the passage late last night, and when Rahni intervened, Yorik challenged him. I had nothing to do with it, and Rahni says he did it to support Tam. Tam thinks Rahni came here to steal his Clan, and he somehow got Yorik to challenge Rahni to get rid of him.”

Pariri’s mouth tightened into a hard line. “We all know that, Moira. We all know what kind of man Yorik is. Carila knows better than anybody. He’s a marauder, and he’s Tam’s bulldog. That doesn’t change the fact. Yorik challenged Rahni, and that can end only one way. The challenge will destroy generations of peace between Clan Prowiss and Clan Harkniss. Whoever dies, his Clan will probably wage war against the other Clan and that will lead to more deaths.”

Moira opened her mouth to say something, but Carila cut her off. “Just stay away from us from now on, Moira. You’re bad news. You and Rahni never should have come here. You’ve done nothing but destroy all our lives since you first showed up.”

Moira watched them walk away with her mouth hanging open. What could she say to answer that? She never meant to ruin anybody’s life, but Carila was right. Everyone they touched wound up in trouble. Connal was in trouble for supporting their message about the Allies invasion. Rahni was in trouble for stopping Yorik attacking Moira. Now Pariri and Carila, Tam and Yorik’s wives, got dragged into this mess, for no other reason than being married to the players.

Moira turned around with a sigh to find Rahni coming toward her. “Let’s get out of here.”

“But I haven’t eaten anything yet.”

“You can eat in our room. It isn’t safe in there right now.”

At that moment, the hall erupted in loud shouts and crashes. Rahni turned around, and Moira caught sight of a scuffle in progress. Five teenaged boys up-ended a table and leapt across it at a line of three more boys sitting on the opposite bench. Food, plates, and cups of liquid flew in all directions. Women screamed and snatched their children out of the way.

In front of Moira’s eyes, the first five boys pulled knives and clubs from under their clothes. They beat the other three boys and stabbed here and there before the defenders could respond.

Across the room, another table exploded into violence. Two men jumped off their bench and grappled with each other. One man clenched his fingers around his adversary’s throat while the other man pummeled his ribs with his fists. Behind the first man’s back, a woman rose from her bench, pulled a dagger from her waist, and stabbed him in the back.

He shrieked and let go of the second man to confront her when the second man pulled a knife and stabbed him again. The woman and the second man stabbed him again and again until he fell lifeless to the floor.

Across the room, the eight young boys fought a pitched battle over the ruined table. People flooded past Rahni and Moira in their haste to get out of the hall. Rahni ushered Moira away in the scuffle. “What’s going on?”

“Everyone is up in arms over....”

“The challenge. I heard.”

“It’s not the challenge. It’s the news we brought about the Allies threatening the planet. Half the people want Royce to arm the Clan. The other half want to stop anybody even talking about the Allies. Everyone is taking sides.”

“My God! What are we going to do?”

“There’s nothing we can do.”

“Let’s get out of here. Let’s go back to Harkniss Keep and leave all this insanity behind.”

“I’d like nothing better, but we can’t leave until I answer Yorik’s challenge. If I ran away, everyone would call me a coward.”

“Let them call you whatever they want. You’ll have to kill Yorik or wind up dead yourself. The challenge will lead to war between your Clans. You can’t want that.”

“I didn’t offer this challenge. Yorik did. If I ran away from the challenge now, that would cause more problems than if I stay and fight. If I beat Yorik in a fair fight in front of his whole Clan, they’ll have to accept the result. Maybe then Royce will listen to us.”

Moira cast a glance over her shoulder. More young people rushed into the hall against the stream of bodies escaping it. They threw themselves into the fight. “Who are they?”

“Those five that started it are Yorik’s sons. The other three are Connal’s grandsons. That man they just cut down over there is Tam’s nephew on his wife’s side. They all want to support their relatives.”

“But they’re all one Clan. Don’t they realize they’re killing their own relatives?”

“That’s exactly why they feel so strongly about everything that happens. It’s the same in every Clan.”

“Not yours. Your Clan doesn’t fight like this.”

“My Clan is too small to fight like this. If we were bigger, we would have the same problems.” He closed the door to their room. “Stay here, and I’ll get you something to eat.”

She caught his hand. “Don’t go out there. I’m worried something will happen to you.”

“No one will touch me. No one will interfere with the challenge.”

“When will you have to fight Yorik?”

“Tomorrow morning.”

“So soon?”

“The sooner we get this over with, the better. As soon as I beat Yorik, we can leave.”

“Is there anything I can do to help you?”

“Just stay safe.”

“I can’t stay in this room for the rest of the day.”

“It’s a small price to pay. I couldn’t stand if anything happened to you, and it only takes one of those hotheads to get a crazy idea to get rid of you. It would be all over in seconds.”

Moira sank down on the bed. “I hate to believe it, but after the way Pariri and Carila just talked to me, I can have no choice. They blame me for Yorik challenging you.”

“No one blames you for Yorik challenging me, but they might see getting rid of you as a solution. No one is thinking clearly right now.”

A knock sounded on the door, and Rahni opened it to find Connal standing outside. Rahni stood aside. “Come in.”

Connal didn’t move. “I can’t. I’m already in over my head, so I better stay here.”

“What can we do for you?”

“I just came to warn you. As soon as the challenge is over tomorrow, make for the south landing and beat it out of here as fast as you can. Yorik’s sons are telling everyone they’ll kill you if you win the challenge tomorrow.”

Moira rocketed off the bed. “They can’t do that! They can’t kill him for winning a fair fight.”

“They’ll do anything, and Royce won’t be able to stop them. No one will be able to stop them. Between Yorik’s sons, Tam’s sons, and all their cousins and nephews, I wouldn’t be surprised if the challenge turns into a civil war.”

“What are you going to do? You can’t stay here with Royce and Rarik against you. You could come to Harkniss Keep, too. I know my mother would love to see you again.”

Connal hung his head. “I have to stay. My own grandsons are arming to fight Tam and Yorik’s sons, but they’re vastly outnumbered. I have to support them. I can’t leave them to die without fighting to help them.”

Moira’s hand flew to her heart. “Is it really as bad as that?”

“I’m afraid so, but you mustn’t blame yourselves. All these elements have been simmering below the surface for years. It only took one spark to bring them out in the open.”

“I only wish there was something more we could do to repay your kindness to us. You’re the only one who believes us.”

“You can repay my kindness by getting out of here with your lives.” He clapped Rahni on the shoulder. “I always liked you, even when everyone else said you were stupid and strange. You have no loyalties here. No one will blame you for killing Yorik and getting out alive. You can fly home and forget all this. I wish I could.”

“I’ll never forget you.”

Chapter 11

Rahni and Moira didn’t sleep that night. They lay awake in one another’s arms. Moira listened to Rahni breathing and followed the rise and fall of his chest with her hand.

This could be the last night she held him in her arms. How could she find such love, such belonging, only to lose it just as fast? What would become of her if he died in the morning, now that her team was gone? She was the last human left on this planet, with no way to contact the Allies and get back to her old home.

She shoved that idea out of her mind. She would never go back to the Allies, no matter what happened to Rahni in the morning. She belonged here, on this planet, among these people, the people of the pattern. The pattern was part of her now, and that made her one of them.

Somewhere far to the south, a Clan of these Ingasores lived in peace without all this fighting. If Rahni died in the challenge, she would ask Pariri or Carila or Connal, or even Royce and Rarik, to fly her back to Harkniss Keep. She would tell Rahni’s Clan what happened, and they would take her in. She would make her home with Rahni’s people. She might even go live alone on Rahni’s mountain, the way he used to.

She couldn’t think about that now, with a living, breathing man in her bed. He wasn’t dead yet. In spite of Yorik’s superior size and weight, Rahni wasn’t the least concerned about winning the challenge—at least he didn’t show it if he was. He listened to Moira breathing.

Only once, just before dawn, she let a whispered, “What if...?” escape her.

He laid his finger on her lips. “I won’t lose you. I won’t let them take you away from me. I waited too long for this. Yorik’s hatred can’t defeat what we have.” That’s all he would say about it, and she didn’t have the heart to bring it up again.

That night lasted an eternity, but eventually, light glowed in the ceiling windows and lit the room. Rahni gave her one last kiss and got out of bed. His eyes bored into her soul while he pulled on his pants and shirt. He hung his buckler over his shoulder and positioned his medallion exactly in the center of his chest. He combed his hair back from his face with his fingers and gave Moira a nod. “I’ll see you down there.”

He left Moira in turmoil. She would have torn out of the room after him, but he needed this time to himself. She covered her head with the blankets, but she couldn’t settle down. She threw them aside and paced around the room for what seemed like hours.

When she couldn’t stand waiting any longer, she jumped into her clothes and hurried down the passage. The halls and chambers stood eerily silent. The few people out of their rooms whispered instead of talking. No one paid Moira any attention.

She hurried back to the observation platform where she looked down on the Great Hall. To her surprise, she found Connal there first. He gazed down at the floor.

Moira looked over the railing and drew in a sharp breath. Just below her stood Rahni, her own Rahni. He stood with his feet planted wide and his hands clasped behind his back. Across the Hall, Yorik paced back and forth with his hands on his hips. He glared at Rahni before looking around the Hall again. Rahni followed Yorik back and forth with his eyes, but he never moved.

Moira whispered to Connal, “How long have they been like this?”

“I came down here as soon as it got light, and they were already here. They’ll stay like this until Royce gives them the word to fight.”

Moira spun away. “I have to get down there. I have to be with him.”

Connal held her back. “Leave him alone. This is his fight. Let him fight it. If anyone interferes, Royce will have no choice but to declare the challenge invalid. They’ll have to face off again another time. Better they do it now and get it over with.”

Before she could respond, a bunch of people entered the Hall from the far end. Moira craned her neck to see Royce and his wife Orana, along with Rarik and their closest relatives take their places at the far end of the Hall.

Yorik kept pacing, but Rahni stayed motionless. He never looked right or left, and he never acknowledged his uncles’ presence. He kept his eyes on Yorik to the exclusion of all else.

Royce’s arrival opened the floodgates, and hundreds of people flocked to fill the Great Hall. They lined the walls and left a wide space empty between the two combatants. Yorik kept up his incessant pacing, while Rahni stared him down with maddening composure. Even Connal shook his head. “How does he do it? How does he stay so calm?”

His calm drove Moira out of her mind. Connal restrained her from leaving the observation platform or she would have raced to his side. They would have had to drag her away from him.

The Hall filled to bursting with men, women, and children. Yorik’s sons and nephews lined up behind him, while Connal’s son and grandsons lined up behind Rahni. At last, Royce stepped forward and raised his arms. The Hall fell silent. No one moved a muscle.

“We all know why we’re here,” Royce boomed. “Yorik Prowiss has challenged Rahni Harkniss for possession of his mate, and the winner take all.”

Without another word, he moved back into his place. Not a hair twitched. Moira held her breath, but she couldn’t stop knitting her fingers until they ached with the tension. She couldn’t watch this. She couldn’t watch Rahni fighting for his life, but she couldn’t tear herself away. She had to be near him. She had to see him triumph.

Would he triumph? Would she wake up a widow tomorrow morning? Would all her struggles and experiences come to nothing?

Yorik paced back the other way, but he didn’t turn around and come back. He kept walking. His eyes wandered over the crowd until they found Rahni as if by accident. He paced in a circle around Rahni, and Rahni turned to face him.

A crooked grin spread over Yorik’s face and he circled closer. He dropped his hands from his hips, and his fingers flexed. Rahni unclasped his hands behind his back, and hung them at his sides.

Yorik shrugged and moved one hand closer to his sword. Rahni mirrored him until both men rested one hand on their swords. They circled, but neither man made the first move. Moira whimpered in anxiety. At least let them start fighting. She couldn’t stand waiting any longer.

All at once, Yorik stretched his mouth to its widest limit and let out a roar that shivered the Keep to its foundations. In a flash, that mouth stretched wider than his body would allow, and his head stretched along with it. The roar rippled down his body, and his body grew to accommodate it. His head shot up on a slithering neck, and a tail whipped the air. Two giant wings rose out of his back and a black dragon took the man's place.

Yorik’s neck thrashed the air. His head whipped around and lunged for Rahni, but still Rahni didn’t move. He watched the dragon dive at him. Moira screamed, but she couldn’t tell if that scream made any sound or if it existed only in her mind. Why didn’t Rahni change? Why didn’t he fight? Was he petrified with terror?

Rahni stood impassive. The black dragon didn’t concern him at all. He watched Yorik’s antics from afar with a sympathetic smile on his lips until Yorik spread his wings and took a rapid dive across the room. Rahni jumped aside just in time to escape the jaws snapping shut on the spot he just stood.

Before Moira could comprehend what was happening, Rahni whirled around. The red patterns swept over his face and down his bare neck and arms to his hands. His arched fingers sharpened into claws, and his mouth yawned open to reveal rows of razor sharp fangs.

The red dragon reared back and screeched at the black dragon. The adversaries exploded into action and hurtled toward each other when a shout went up from somewhere across the Hall. “Stop!”

The two dragons wheeled toward the sound, and the Hall burst into commotion. Royce boomed out, “What’s the meaning of this? Who interferes with this challenge?”

The crowd parted, and a young boy rushed into the Hall. He raced across the field of battle, right between the two dragons. He ran so fast he ran full tilt into Royce.

Royce caught the boy. “What is it? What’s so important?”

The boy panted up at him. “Messenger. Messenger in the landing bay.”

“What messenger? What could be so important to interrupt this challenge?”

Before the boy could answer, the crowd split apart one more time. The whole Clan fell away to make room for a tall man striding into the Hall. His long brown hair swept his powerful shoulders, and he surveyed the crowd with one hand resting on his sword hilt.

Moira ripped herself out of Connal’s arms and raced down the stairs to the Great Hall. She elbowed her way through the crowd into the center floor, where she laid her grateful eyes on the newcomer resting his hand on Rahni’s shoulder. It was Rohn Harkniss.

Chapter 12

Moira hung back in the shadows of a minor hall and listened to Rohn and Rahni talking.

“I’m sorry, man. I didn’t know I was walking in on this viper’s nest.”

“Don’t apologize. You did me a favor stopping the fight when you did.”

“Is Royce really ignoring your warning? How can he be so blind?”

Rahni closed his eyes and shook his head. “Never underestimate the power of a fool. Yorik is the same way. Ten people have already been killed over this.”

“Maybe I should leave.”

“Don’t. I’m glad you’re here. Maybe Royce will listen to you, since he wouldn’t listen to me.”

“Even if he listens to me, he won’t be able to convince those people who turned against you. He would have to stand against half the Clan. He won’t do that.”

“I don’t know how he’ll deal with this situation. It’s a mess, either way. I only know I have to finish this challenge, and that means putting Yorik in his grave. I’m glad you’re here, even if Royce doesn’t listen to you. I’m glad I don’t have to face this alone.”

“You’re not alone. You have your mate here, and Connal and his son and grandsons to support you.”

“It’s not the same as having your own Clan, your own family.”

Rohn turned to Moira. “You don’t know how delighted I am to find you here. The last time I saw you, you were near death in Rahni’s nest. Your friends all think you’re dead. I’m sure Rose and Reyna will be equally delighted to know you’re safe.”

“Rose and Reyna? Aren’t they gone? We saw General Duncan land in front of the Keep. Didn’t she take them back with her?”

“General Duncan came to withdraw the team, but Rose and Reyna decided to stay.”

“What made them do that? They must realize they’ll be cut off from the Allies with no way to get back.”

Rohn smiled. “You’re not the only woman on your team to find love on this planet. Rose is staying as my mate, and Reyna is staying with Damen. Even young Ben decided to stay and be mated with Asya.”

Moira’s mind reeled. “This is incredible. I thought I was the only one. I thought I was alone.”

“No one is alone here. You’re mated to my brother. That makes you part of our Clan.”

Just then, Royce strode into the hall with Rarik and Connal, but Rohn and Rahni clenched their fists at the sight of Tam and Yorik coming behind them. “What are they doing here?”

“This is a Council of War,” Royce replied. “The leaders of our Clan all need to know what’s going on. Since Rohn backs up your message about the coming invasion, I have no choice but to arm for war. Tam will be patriarch in my place after I’m gone, and I think you know Connal’s son Joon and his three grandsons.” He waved to another group entering the hall last. “These are Ulf, Tuva, and Kassin.”

Rohn nodded to the three young men standing with their father behind Connal. Moira recognized them from the battle in the breakfast hall. “We know them all.”

“The time has come to put aside our differences and face this threat as a united Clan. Your father’s message to close ranks against the Allies is a good one. We must all delay and refuse cooperation unless all the Clans on the planet agree to negotiate.”

“The other Clans won’t close ranks if you don’t send fliers to inform them of the danger,” Rohn replied. “That is my father’s message. He sent me here to tell you to send three or four fliers to the next four Keeps. If you can’t spare any more than three, I will fly onward to spread the word. As long as some of the northern Clans don’t know the threat exists, the Allies can still gain a toehold on this planet by ingratiating themselves with ignorant Clans.”

“I can’t send fliers now,” Royce replied. “We have a challenge underway.”

“You don’t need fliers for that. This is more important than any challenge”

Royce closed his mouth and faced Rarik. “I’m leaving the preparations to you. Gather all our weapons stores in the Keep’s lower levels, and step up the fliers’ training. Set watches around the landing bays to keep a lookout for any Allies ships surveying the planet.”

Rohn swelled up to twice his size. “None of that will matter if the Allies win another Clan to their way of thinking. They almost had Clan Harkniss, and they would have succeeded if these three human women hadn’t decided to join us.”

Royce grimaced. “Maybe the other Clans will offer some of their men to mate with women from the Allies. Maybe you think that’s the more effective way to defeat them than fighting them.”

Connal exploded. “How can you joke about this when all our lives hang in the balance?”

Rohn kept his voice steady. “We can’t fight these Allies. They have the military might of hundreds of planets and all the technology we don’t have. It was Rose Cooper who came up with the strategy to align all the Clans together in a common strategy. She came up with the idea to obfuscate, to gain time and delay them so they never gain a foothold on our planet. We wouldn’t stand a chance if we didn’t have these women advising us.”

Tam darted forward. “So now you want to start taking advice from women? Maybe you should join them in the Keeps and leave the fighting to the men.”

Royce raised his hand for quiet. “This arguing gets us nowhere. I’m in charge here, and I make the decisions. We can’t move until we settle this challenge. Rahni and Yorik will meet again tomorrow morning. In the meantime, Rarik will prepare our battlements to repel any presence from the Allies.” He held up his hand once more to stop Rohn interrupting. “That’s my final word. Now all of you go home. We’ll finish this challenge in the morning.”

Everyone filed out and left Rohn and Rahni alone in the hall with Moira. Rohn’s shoulders slumped. “This is the worst disaster imaginable.”

Rahni didn’t answer. He stared after the receding procession. Rohn’s head shot up, and he studied his brother. Then he sighed again. “I shouldn’t have brought this up. You have more important things to worry about.”

Rahni shook himself out of his trance. “At least I’ll have you behind me tomorrow.”

“Don’t tell me you were worried about that black puffball.”

“I wasn’t worried, but I won’t rest easy until I see him on his back.”

Moira spoke up. “Thanks for trying, anyways. We can only hope for the best tomorrow. Hopefully, after you settle this challenge, Royce will see the light and take this threat seriously.”

Rohn snorted. “If he doesn’t take it seriously now, how can we count on him after this challenge is over? He’ll just find some other distraction to get in the way of doing what he has to do. He’s useless. We ought to depose him and put Connal in his place.”

Rahni turned around to face him. “Don’t talk like that around here, and don’t let anyone else hear you talking like that. Don’t let me hear another word about deposing Royce. We have enough to worry about with Tam and Yorik, and I’m in this position now because Tam thinks we want to depose his family. Don’t make it worse by confirming his worst fears.”

Rohn’s eyes flashed and he opened his mouth to reply, but when he saw the expression on Rahni’s face, he wilted. “All right. I’m sorry. I’ll follow your lead.”

“You better.”

Moira watched the interplay between the brothers. Rahni’s tone surprised Rohn. He never took Rahni any more seriously than the rest of his relatives. Everyone expected Rohn to take over Clan Harkniss. Now Rahni asserted his authority for the first time and told his brother what to do. He would take over as patriarch after all, against all odds.

Rahni went back to staring at the place Yorik disappeared. He couldn’t get his mind off the challenge. He would concentrate on Yorik and nothing else until he defeated his cousin in battle. He wandered in that direction without a word to Moira or Rohn.

Rohn frowned at his brother. “I’ve never seen him like this.”

“He’s been like this since this morning. He went down to the Great Hall long before the challenge, and he hasn’t taken his eyes off Yorik since. He’s crossed over into a different world where only he and Yorik exist. He won’t come out until he defeats Yorik or Yorik kills him.”

“I only wish I’d gotten here a few hours sooner.”

“It wouldn’t make any difference. Nothing would have made any difference unless Rahni and I never came here.”

“He wouldn’t be the man he is now if you hadn’t. I can see that. You made him the way he is. He never would have faced Yorik before. Tam and Yorik would never have seen him as a threat if he hadn’t met you.”

“That’s nice of you to say, but now his life is in danger because of me. Sometimes I wish none of this ever happened.”

“This will pass. He’ll defeat Yorik, and you two will come home with me. You’ll see your friends again, and our Clan will thrive.”

Rohn went to his own room in a different part of the Keep, and Moira wandered back toward the quarters she shared with Rahni. On the way, she noticed groups of people whispering and nodding toward her.

She came upon Pariri and Carila walking side by side toward her, but when she stopped to talk to them, they walked right past her without saying anything. Pariri made a sour face and swept her eyes down to Moira’s feet and back up to her face, but Carila looked straight ahead and pretended not to see Moira at all.

Moira’s heart sank, and she turned her feet toward home with a heavy heart. She would follow Rahni’s advice and lock herself in her room until tomorrow. Whatever the outcome of the challenge, she would leave this Keep tomorrow and return to Clan Harkniss. That’s where she belonged now. She didn’t belong here, with enemies hemming her in on all sides.

A little farther along the same passage, she came upon Tam and Yorik with their heads together. Yorik glanced over his shoulder at Moira, but he gave no sign even of recognizing her. Rahni must be right. Yorik got what he wanted when he dragged Rahni into a fight to the death. He didn’t really care about Moira at all.

That realization should have left her relieved, but being used as a political pawn by these unprincipled brats annoyed her no end. How dare they! How dare Yorik attack her, for no other reason than to provoke Rahni. Didn’t he have any scruples at all?

Moira turned away from them to find Orana coming toward her. Moira shrank from confronting Royce’s wife, but Orana marched right up to Moira with flashing eyes. “Don’t pay any attention to them. They’re idiots for ignoring your message. I told Royce that, but he won’t even listen to me.”

Moira’s eyes widened. “Really? I thought maybe there was something wrong with the messenger.”

“The only thing wrong is he didn’t think of it himself. Now he has to throw more obstacles in the way by refusing to send out fliers until after the challenge. He turns against anyone and anything that interferes with his plans.”

“That’s what Rarik said. He told us he agrees with us, but he has to remain silent to keep his position with Royce.”

“Well, I don’t have to keep my position and I don’t have to remain silent. After all, what can he really do to his own wife? I’ve given him half a dozen children and dozens of grandchildren. I can tell him to his face he’s being an obstinate old fool.”

“How did he react to that?”

“He blew up, of course.” Orana chuckled. “He ranted and raved and threatened the way he always does, but he can’t do anything about it. Once Rahni wins the challenge, Royce will have no choice but to send out fliers to warn the other Keeps the way Rohn told him to. He’ll have to put the expansion on hold while we arm and prepare for invasion.”

“I wish I was as certain as you that Rahni will win the challenge. Yorik is bigger and stronger than he is.”

“Bigger and stronger doesn’t win fights.” Orana tapped her greying temple. “This wins fights, and Rahni has that all over Yorik. He always has.”

“That doesn’t do me a lot of good. No one in this Keep will even talk to me anymore. The women I thought were my friends think I provoked Yorik into challenging Rahni.”

“If they really think that, you’re better off without them. If you want to come talk to someone, you come and talk to me. Connal’s wife Rega and Tuva’s wife Alana support you, too.”

“Thank you. It’s nice to know somebody out there supports us.”

“A lot more people support you than you might think. You just have to look beneath the surface.”

Chapter 13

Moira got all the way back to her room when she spotted Rahni farther down the passage. He stood in a circle in the big bay window at the far end of the passage with Connal’s three strapping young grandsons, Ulf, Tuva, and Kassin. Rahni wasn’t as tall or burly as they, but he commanded their attention with his presence. They kept their eyes locked on his face while he spoke to them.

Moira couldn’t understand what he was talking about. “And don’t bunch up, either. Spread out. Don’t give them a single target. If you get too close to each other, they’ll surround you. Play to their weaknesses. Their great strength is their numbers, so we have to turn that into a weakness. Spread them out and keep them busy. Don’t let them trap you into depending on each other. Any one of you can take four or five of them, but the three of you together can’t take all of them working in unison.”

Tuva nodded. “Yes, sir. You can count on us.”

Rahni clapped him on the shoulder. “Good.”

At first, she thought he meant the Allies. Could he be planning an alternate strategy to defend the planet? Then she understood. He was giving them orders for the next day’s challenge. He expected Tam and Yorik’s sons to make trouble, and these three young men gave him his only support.

Moira counted up the number of men who would stand behind Rahni tomorrow. In addition to these three, he had Rohn and Connal. That was all he could expect to cover his back against Tam and Yorik’s sons, not to mention all their cousins, nephews and other distant Clansmen.

In the middle of Rahni’s orders, Rarik appeared. He frowned at the little group. “What are you all doing standing around here? Every able-bodied man should be downstairs getting armed and receiving orders to respond in case of invasion.”

Ulf nodded to Rahni and followed Rarik. “We’re coming.”

Rahni watched them out of sight. When he turned around, he smiled at Moira, but she recognized that far-away mist in his eyes. He still traversed the Great Hall floor in search of Yorik’s blood. He wouldn’t return to her until he found it.

They entered their room together. Moira sat down on the bed, but Rahni went to the window and gazed out over the frozen landscape. A kaleidoscope of shimmering icicles reflected the sun in rainbow prisms over the jagged ice spires, but he didn’t see any of that. He saw only Yorik.

Moira watched him, but he didn’t move. He didn’t even know she was there. She tiptoed up behind him and put her arms around his waist. She nuzzled her face into his back and took a deep breath of his pungent dragon scent.

That scent smarted in her nostrils stronger today than she remembered since he first brought her to his mountaintop nest. He changed to fight Yorik, and some residue of the dragon clung to him. It would remain until he removed the threat hanging over his head.

He leaned his head back against hers and stroked her hands across his chest, but he didn’t turn around or speak to her. She hardly recognized him. So, this was what taking over as leader of his Clan did to him. It changed him into a hardened fighter. Everyone saw it. Even Rohn, who spent his life preparing to take over his Clan when his father died, bowed to the new Rahni.

How did she become this, the consort of a dragon lord? How did she get caught up in these political intrigues of competing loyalty and betrayal? Would it always be like this from now on?

At least she had Rose and Reyna to look forward to back at Harkniss Keep. She wouldn’t face this unknown future alone after all. So, Rose fell in love with Rohn and Reyna fell in love with Damen. She wasn’t the only human woman to fall under the spell of these dominant men.

Rahni pried her arms away, and her heart sank. He would drift farther away now, and she wouldn’t see him again until after the challenge. Maybe she wouldn’t see him again at all.

He didn’t pull away, though. He turned around inside her arms to embrace her himself. He gazed into her eyes and kissed her, but even then, he was long gone.

Without looking, he removed her clothes. She displayed her nubile flesh to his touch and his eyes. Maybe that would bring him back to her. She would feed him her strength for tomorrow. He could take what he needed from her, and she would ask nothing in return.

She searched his eyes for some sign of the man she knew and loved, but found only this warrior instead. The red dragon smoldered just beneath his skin. When he kissed her, the swirling shapes and organic forms showed the dragon’s pointed face and spiked head. Smoke roiled from his nostrils.

His tongue explored inside her mouth in search of anything he could use against Yorik. It found her churning passion and drank it down in one gulp. He licked around her mouth and nibbled at her lips and tongue. She offered him an untapped well of energy, and he merged it with his own to become more dominant and unstoppable than ever.

Nothing could stand against his power. He devastated every obstacle with his straightforward gaze. He had only to lock his eyes on what he wanted, and it fell into his hands. Everyone saw it in the Great Hall. Even Yorik saw it and could not stand still before his own inevitable defeat.

Rahni lifted Moira off the floor with massive arms. He set her on his hips with her legs wrapped around her waist. She couldn’t look into those eyes anymore. He devastated her, too, with his fierce glare, and she crumbled into his hands.

He kissed her while he appraised her naked body with his hands. He checked it over and judged what to use and what to leave alone for now. He cupped her breast to his mouth and snacked on her nipple.

Moira moaned and writhed, but he held her where he wanted her. His teeth brought the slippery jiz to her nether lips, and she tortured her clitoris against his crotch. He propped her against the window frame and jammed it into her with rapid strokes.

He held her against the frame to free his hands, and he attacked his pants to free his brutal cock against her. It never raged so big and hard. His own dominion made it bigger and more powerful than ever.

As soon as he let it loose, it took on a mind of its own. It embodied his indomitable will to conquer, and she would be his first conquest. She would be the first domino to fall before his kingship. They both knew it. Everything else was just formality.

His cock trailed through a moist stream of her spunk to find her delicious opening. Each bounce of her hips against his prick drove it closer to her umbra until he hung on the very threshold.

Moira caught her breath, but she was all his to take any way he wished. He hooked his elbows under her knees and held her legs wide while he plowed his wicked point into her furrow. Her flesh fell apart before him, and the arrow stabbed to her center.

Moira cried out, but she couldn’t escape. She didn’t want to escape. She wanted him to devastate her. She wanted him to subsume her into his body, to feed what strength she had to serve his purpose.

He bit down hard on her lower lip and pounded up into her with sure, swift blows. His cock shattered her defenses, and his dripping passion filled her with his presence. Every stroke of his piston crushed her cervix from inside and her clitoris from the outside. She couldn’t stand it.

Her cunt pinched around his shaft, but nothing could stop him. He bulldozed over her and nailed her to the window frame. He blasted into her and through her, out the other side, and left her in the dust.

Moira yelped at every thrust, and her yelps mounted to a chorus of screeching cries. They echoed through the window to ring off the mountainsides. She shrieked in the throes of annihilation.

Rahni’s eyes glowed bright silver, and the red tumbling images of dragons and morlocks and birds of prey competed for space on his skin. He grunted into her mouth, and his teeth indented her lips with hard bites. He soared high above her on thermal blasts of his own tormented passion.

Moira’s eyes rolled up into her head, and she gave herself over to tempestuous orgasms rocking her world across the galaxy. She saw the Allies far away in space and Kratak floating alone in its corner of the cosmos. Her orgasm encompassed all of it and filled it with glowing bright honey.

When she thought she couldn’t contain so much pleasure and would erupt in a ball of burning gas, Rahni dropped her legs to the ground and spun her around. He pushed her down on her chest on the windowsill and pulled her head back. He planted his hand on her back so her ass stuck up to the ravages of his spike.

Moira looked out on the scene outside the window. Endless razor-sharp canyons cut between the ice mountains and shone blue in the light. The sun moved around behind Prowiss Keep, and the beams turned every shade of blue and purple and green. The whole mountain range lit up before her eyes.

Dragons soared back and forth between the peaks. They flew through mountainside entrances, tumbled together through the air, and returned. A few flew farther away and disappeared among the colored spires.

Moira’s heart went out to the scene. Oh, to be one of these dragon people, who could fly anywhere on this unsullied planet. She could fly south to the mountains around Harkniss Keep. She could travel out to the ocean and beyond, to return to these icy reaches untouched by the Allies and their technology.

Rahni held her in place and hammered his rod between her legs to find the delicate cavern waiting for him. His work made it tender and responsive to his ministrations, and he hadn’t glided into place a moment before she exploded once again into passionate bursts of fulfillment.

He pumped her full of his burning seed and sent her rocketing over that magical landscape. She flew on wings of delight to faraway countries. Pink and purple clouds held her aloft and carried her with no effort wherever her dreams took her.

Her bare breasts rocked against the rough wooden window frame, and Rahni’s hips pounded against her ass. He bumped her pelvis against the frame with every plunging blow of his hammer, but Moira knew only uncontained rapture. She sang her song to the mountains. The mountains understood.

She cried out to those dragons to take her with them. She begged them to let her join them in their flying games, in their thundering chases between precipitous crags. She pulled in her wings to dive through cracks and swoop up into the bright sky again. They tumbled and tagged until the sun slumped behind the peaks.

The colors deepened to indigo and finally grey-purple-black before the dragons gave the game up. Then they alighted in the Keep’s landing bays and changed into young men who slapped each other on the back and related all their daring exploits. They changed into young women who chattered and laughed and promised to do it all again tomorrow before hurrying home to their families for the night.

Rahni kept her facing that charming scene. He kept her head back when she no longer retained the strength to do it herself. He kept her flying with his pounding spike. He kept her soaring with his spell-binding potions gushing from her font. He pushed her beyond her limit to the very reaches of endurance, and still he wasn’t finished.

She peaked over and over on that windowsill, and his jiz spattered her thighs and ran down her lips before he picked her up and carried her to the bed. She lost track of how many different positions he put her in, and how many different times she peaked and relaxed and peaked again. Sometimes she didn’t relax and come down at all. She stayed out there, flying on her newfound wings, to the end of the spectacular sky.

Chapter 14

She woke the next morning to find herself alone. The bed next to her came up cold to the touch. How long had Rahni been gone? He could only be one place. She sank back into the blankets with a sigh. She couldn’t help him now. Nothing remained but to walk down to the Great Hall and see Rahni and Yorik decide their fate.

What if Yorik won? Would Royce turn his back on her message? Would he forget arming and go back to expanding his Keep?

None of that mattered now. Moira would go back to Harkniss Keep, no matter what. She would join forces with Rose and Reyna and the rest of Clan Harkniss.

That sounded strange to her ear, but so right. Clan Harkniss. That was her Clan now, and Harkniss Keep was her home Keep. She held that simple idea in front of her eyes. She could stand aside and watch Rahni battle Yorik if she just kept that forefront in her mind and let nothing distract her from it.

She got dressed. Today would be the last day of her life she wore these clothes she brought with her when she landed. These clothes didn’t fit the new Moira anymore. She would change into some proper Ingasore clothes as soon as she got to Harkniss Keep.

She strolled down to the breakfast hall, but she couldn’t summon the appetite to eat anything. At least everyone ate in peace today. No fights broke out and no one dragged the corpses of their dead relatives home with blood staining the floor.

She walked on, but a few turns later, she found Rarik confronting one of the bands of young people she saw flying around yesterday. He jabbed his finger in their faces. “How many times do I have to tell you? I ordered you to report the armory first thing this morning. Not only did you not report when I told you to, I find you here fighting instead. What do you have to say for yourselves?”

One of the young men tried to answer back, but Rarik cut him off. “Fighting won’t settle this challenge. Isn’t it enough they’re fighting themselves? You don’t have to do it for them.”

A different young man spoke up. “Yeah, but they said...”

“I don’t care what they said. None of you is called upon to make these decisions. You’re not called upon to do anything but report to the armory when I order you to. Is that clear? If I catch any of you fighting again, I’ll report you and have you disciplined. You know what that means.”

He started to turn away when he caught sight of a frown on somebody’s face. “Let me guess. You’re waiting until the challenge is over before you start fighting amongst yourselves again. What’s the point of having a challenge if you’re just going to keep fighting after it’s over?”

No one wiped the frown off his face.

Rarik swept the group with one more terrible glance before he turned on his heel. “You have four hours to see the challenge. After that, you’ll fall in line and do as you’re ordered, or there will be hell to pay.”

He stomped off in the direction of the Great Hall. As soon as he turned his back, the young men put their heads together and whispered their secret plans. Moira went on her way, but came across Rarik again talking to Connal’s son Joon.

“I can’t get anybody to report downstairs. They’re all too wrapped up in the challenge. They either stand around talking about it or fight over who will win it. No one wants to think about arming for invasion, let alone stand out on the battlements keeping watch. We’re more exposed now than before Rohn came.”

“I’ll tell my father. Something’s got to be done.”

“Where is your father? I would tell him myself, but I can’t find him anywhere.”

“I know where he is. Follow me.”

Joon led Rarik all the way down the passage to the Great Hall. Moira tagged along, just out of sight, but when she got to the Hall, her shoulders sagged. Connal wouldn’t do anything about the battle preparations any time soon.

Rahni stood in exactly the same spot as yesterday with the same impassive expression on his face. He clasped his hands behind his back and stared straight ahead, but Yorik didn’t pace back and forth across the Hall. Yorik was nowhere to be seen.

Connal and Rohn stood behind Rahni, with Connal’s three grandsons lined up behind them. None of them moved a muscle. They stared straight ahead at the spot where Yorik should have been. Adrenaline burned in Moira’s chest. Where was Yorik? Did his absence signal some new catastrophe?

Royce and his entourage entered the Hall at the same moment from the other side, and Rarik hurried to his place at his brother’s side. Joon didn’t join Connal’s family behind Rahni, though. He faded into the crowd.

Moira watched him in mounting alarm. What did he plan to do? Would he betray his family and Rahni at the last critical second? Her eyes swept the crowd. Every man in the Hall carried a sword, and how many women carried weapons concealed beneath their clothes? If the opposing factions came to violence, this challenge could turn into a bloodbath. How Moira wished then she’d brought along a dagger or even a club to defend herself and her friends.

Moira caught sight of a few people she knew. Joon’s wife Mura and Tuva’s wife Alana took their places in the crowd behind Connal, and Moira moved around to join them.

The Hall filled up with onlookers, and still Yorik made no appearance. He couldn’t be such a coward as to run out on the challenge at the last second. Rahni said withdrawal would be worse than defeat.

At the last second, Yorik strode into the Hall with Tam at his side. Their sons and supports came behind them, followed by the wives and women of their extended family.

Moira stood directly across from Pariri and Carila, but they never acknowledged her. Both groups stared straight across the Hall as if the enemy faction wasn’t there.

Yorik started pacing again. He fumed and puffed out his cheeks to get started. He cast quick glances at Rahni, but he wouldn’t hold that penetrating gaze. He could only read his own defeat there.

Dozens of men lined up behind Yorik. Their ranks stretched from one end of the Great Hall to the other. They outnumbered Rahni’s supporters by a mile. If this challenge degenerated into a bloody battle, the Harkniss brothers and their friends didn’t stand a chance.

At last, Royce stepped forward for the second time and spoke the same formula as yesterday. “Yorik Prowiss has challenged Rahni Harkniss for possession of his mate, and the winner take all.”

He moved back, but before he got back to his place, Rahni burst forward and rushed across the room at Yorik. He didn’t wait for Yorik to change. He didn’t wait for anything, but launched his attack before anyone expected him to.

Before he got across the room, he changed. His wings slapped the air, and his neck shot out to its full length. Yorik never had a chance to change before Rahni’s dragon head slammed him backward into the crowd.

Yorik knocked over Tam and Carila before he knew what hit him. In a flash, Rahni’s jaws closed around his helpless body. Yorik screamed in pain and surprise, and Rahni’s fangs pierced his skin to crush the life out of him before Yorik recovered.

He twisted around in Rahni’s mouth, and his own lightning change pried Rahni’s jaws apart. His tail whipped around and struck Rahni in the flank. His neck arched, and he brought his head around to shoot a blazing jet of flame at Rahni’s neck.

Rahni screeched in pain, and his head flailed on the end of his neck, but Yorik brought his tail around again and knocked him rolling across the floor.

Before he stopped rolling, Yorik was on his feet. He flew across the Hall and bowled Rahni away. He launched himself at Rahni and pinned him to the floor with his monstrous weight. He shredded Rahni’s soft belly with his claws.

Rahni shrieked in pain and let out a spurt of fire, but that fire flickered across the ceiling. It never came anywhere near Yorik. Yorik beat him with his wings and dove for his throat with glistening fangs.

Moira hugged her arms around her chest. She shivered all over in anxious dread. She couldn’t stand here and watch this. She couldn’t watch her beloved Rahni killed before her eyes, but she had nowhere else in the world to go. If Rohn could watch Yorik kill his brother, if all Rahni’s Clansmen could stand by and watch, what choice did she have?

Rahni thrashed under Yorik’s weight but couldn’t free himself. Yorik dove again and again to bite him in the neck, but Rahni deflected him each time with a lash of his tail or a rapid dodge of his neck. He snapped his jaws at Yorik and slashed the skin open along his neck until the black blood flowed.

Blood ran down Rahni’s sides and pooled on the floor underneath him. The fight couldn’t last this way. Already he fought back with less power than before. He surprised Yorik early on, but he couldn’t overcome Yorik’s bulk and power.

Yorik sensed his enemy weakening and redoubled his efforts. He lowered his weight on top of Rahni so he couldn’t move right or left. He brought his leathery wings down on either side of Rahni to hem him in. He dug his claws into Rahni’s flesh and tore him to pieces.

Rahni reared back in desperation. He knocked Yorik just a few inches upward to create a tiny space between their chests. Into that space, he brought up his hind legs and kicked out with all his might. His claws scored Yorik down the abdomen and into the hip joint of one leg.

Yorik flew off with a screech, but when he landed a few paces away and faced Rahni, he couldn’t put his weight on that leg again. He limped, and the blood dripped down his claws to spatter the floor.

Rahni got to his feet, and the two dragons confronted each other. They circled one way and then the other, but both trailed blood behind them and neither would engage first. Yorik bellowed so loud the ice lenses in the ceiling popped, and a delicate snow of crystals floated down through shafts of light.

All at once, Rahni stepped back. He straightened his long neck, and it sank down between his shoulders. He folded his wings, and they disappeared into his back. His legs shortened, and his elbows straightened into two round chiseled arms. He changed back into a man.

Yorik let out another bellow and thrashed his pointed head against the sky. What was Rahni doing? He couldn’t face Yorik as a man unless Yorik changed, too. Rahni stopped circling and drew his sword from the scabbard at his side. He nodded his challenge at Yorik.

Yorik needed no second invitation, not when he tasted certain victory. He plunged across the Hall at the insignificant man facing him with a toothpick. His head shot out, and he opened his mouth to pulverize Rahni in one bite.

Rahni let one foot drop back, but he stood his ground. He raised his sword to meet the black dragon. Yorik paid no attention to the sword. It might not be sharp enough even to pierce his scaly hide.

Chapter 15

Rahni never flinched. He waited until Yorik towered over him in all his lethal grandeur. At the last possible second, he thrust out with his sword and impaled the black dragon in the soft spot where his neck met his torso. The sword point glanced off one of those tough scales. It slid between two scales and buried its tip in Yorik’s hide.

Yorik screamed and retreated with one flap of his wings, but it was too late. Blood covered the last four inches of Rahni’s sword. Rahni didn’t wait for Yorik to attack him again. He leapt forward and slashed the long whipping neck with the sword’s sharp edge. It seared through the scales, and the skin underneath separated into a bloody gash.

Yorik tried to fall back, but he ran into the crowd. Rows of his own supporters stopped him from getting away, and Rahni pursued him with lightning strokes of his sword. Rahni slashed and stabbed again and again until Yorik spread his wings and took to the air.

Yorik flew over the crowd and took refuge up near the ceiling. He circled again and again and peered down on Rahni from far above. Rahni looked up at him with sweat pouring down his face, but he didn’t change back into a dragon. He let his sword hang at his side and strode back to his place. He turned his back on Rohn and Connal and waited.

From her place behind him, Moira saw his chest and shoulders heaving from the effort. Blood stained his shirt front, and long scratches darkened his chest where Yorik tore his shirt open. A man couldn’t fight a dragon, but here he was, alive and well, while the dragon hovered in safety overhead.

Rahni stood still until his breathing settled. At last, he took a step into the open arena and turned all the way around in a circle. He swept the crowd with his eyes and lifted his voice to a bellow. “Come down here at once, or admit defeat.”

Yorik didn’t come down. He flapped his great wings, and the rustling noise brushed over the crowd. A person here and there looked up at him. The silence lengthened until even Royce looked up. His voice boomed out over the Hall. “Come down here at once, or admit defeat.”

Yorik couldn’t hide up there by the ceiling forever. He flew lower and eventually landed on the ground in front of Rahni. In the blink of an eye, he changed back into a man and faced his cousin on equal footing. Rahni raised his sword, and Yorik drew his weapon to fight.

Yorik must have known he put his honor on the line when he flew up to the ceiling, and he didn’t wait around for anyone to question him again. He rocketed at Rahni and slashed with his sword, but Rahni blocked him and returned the stroke with full force.

They fought back and forth across the floor with neither man gaining the upper hand. They backed into the crowd one way and then the other, but people pushed them into the center where they had enough room.

Sweat and blood flew in all directions. Both men grunted with the effort every time one of them swung his sword and came up against his opponent blocking his swing. Their noises rose to whining little cries, and each stroke demanded more strength the men couldn’t bring themselves to summon.

Yorik bared his teeth in Rahni’s face, and Rahni gasped for breath, but neither fell to the other until Yorik found the strength to make one last assault. His sword clanged against Rahni’s but he didn’t drop back for another strike. He spun his sword around to disengage it. Rahni tried to catch it, but Yorik jerked it sideways and knocked the sword out of Rahni’s hand.

The sword skidded across the floor, and Rahni faced Yorik barehanded. Yorik followed up his advantage and raised his sword to cleave Rahni’s head in two. Moira screamed, but at the last second, Rahni dodged forward and caught Yorik’s hands in mid-air. He held Yorik’s arms upraised against Yorik’s efforts to bring them down.

The two men grappled in matched hostility. Yorik yanked Rahni’s hands one way and then the other to free himself. Rahni growled in his face through bared teeth, but neither could best the other.

Yorik kicked out with one foot and hooked Rahni around the ankle. Rahni’s legs buckled under him, and he went down on one knee. Yorik tugged at his sword hilt, but Rahni hung on. His knuckles turned white around Yorik’s wrists to hold that sword above his head.

Yorik took matters into his own hands. He shoved Rahni over backwards and knocked him onto his back. He dove on top of his cousin with their hands still locked around the sword hilt above their heads.

Yorik pinned Rahni to the floor with his superior weight and hammered his fists against the floor to free the sword from his grasp. Rahni yelped in pain at every blow, but he kept hold of that sword. If Yorik got his sword free, the fight was finished and so was Rahni.

Blood darkened Rahni’s knuckles. He couldn’t hold out much longer, and when Yorik heaved himself up and impaled his knee into Rahni’s sternum, Rahni coughed and groaned, and his fingers loosened.

Yorik got the sword out of his hands with one jerk. He launched himself upward and came down with all his weight with his knee across Rahni’s neck. Rahni choked and gagged and doubled over on his side.

Yorik rose to his feet with his sword lifted over his head. He took one step to position himself at Rahni’s neck, but Rahni didn’t see him. He writhed in agony on the floor in a desperate struggle to catch his breath.

Yorik raised his sword for the final blow. He would sever Rahni’s head from his body, and the challenge would be over. Moira covered her eyes. Yorik let out a triumphant roar, and the sword whistled through the air.

A deafening clang knocked Moira backward. Her eyes flew open, and she beheld Yorik on one knee with his sword between the floor stones. She didn’t see Rahni anywhere.

She blinked, and Rahni dropped out of the air. His knee struck Yorik behind the neck and pounded him to the ground. Yorik slammed his face into the floor, and Rahni collapsed on top of him.

Before Yorik could pry his sword out of the crack it made in the floor, Rahni hooked his elbow around Yorik’s neck and tumbled backward with him. Rahni fell onto his back on the floor and pulled Yorik down on top of him. He clamped his elbow around Yorik’s neck and choked the breath from his body. With his free hand, he held the sword out sideways where it could do no damage.

Yorik kicked and struggled, but he couldn’t breathe. The harder he struggled, the tighter Rahni cut off his throat. Yorik’s face turned pale. Then it turned black. His neck stretched, and the black scales broke out along its length. The spikes poked up along his dragon head, and he whipped it back and forth through the air, but he couldn’t get away. Nothing could break Rahni’s grip around his neck.

Yorik’s arms and legs went into a death spasm, but that terrible thrashing diminished to uncontrollable twitching and Yorik lay still. Rahni held him in place until his head changed back and his neck shrank to its normal size. Yorik slumped against him and lay still.

Rahni didn’t move for a long moment. The crowd stood in hushed amazement. Moira’s heart flipped in her chest. Rahni had won! The challenge was over. She could breathe again.

Rahni rolled Yorik to one side and got to his feet. His hair hung limp and damp around his head, and he fought for breath through gritted teeth. He kicked Yorik’s sword away and walked in a complete circle around him. From across the Hall, Moira saw Yorik’s ribs move. He wasn’t dead.

Rahni studied his fallen opponent. Then he paced across the Hall and picked up his own sword. He slid it into its scabbard and came back to his friends. He nodded to Connal, and he caught Moira’s eye over his shoulder. His eyes shone with the old light of recognition.

Moira could laugh and cry at the same time. Rahni was back! He was restored to his old self. They could go home and put this whole sordid affair behind them. She started forward to throw her arms around him when a feral shriek split the silence.

Behind Rahni’s back, a black shape hurtled across the room. Moira just had time to recognize Yorik’s contorted face before his outstretched hands closed around Rahni’s neck from behind. A gasp went up from the crowd. Moira’s glad shout died on her lips. Yorik would kill Rahni after all.

Rahni stiffened against the threat. Faster than the eye could see, he put out his hand to Connal. Before anyone knew what was happening, Rahni pulled a dagger from Connal’s belt, flipped it around, and drove its point under his arm into Yorik’s chest. He gave it one twist, and the crunch of bone echoed around the room.

Yorik flew back just as fast as he flew forward, but Rahni moved faster. He yanked the dagger from Yorik’s chest and slashed it once across Yorik’s neck. He severed the carotid artery, and blood spurted across Rahni’s face.

Yorik clutched his neck in horror, but he couldn’t stop that fountain of life’s blood flowing out of him. He reacted in an instant and attacked Rahni with wild animal ferocity. He put out his hands to grab, but Rahni planted a well-aimed kick on Yorik’s chest.

Yorik stumbled backward and hit the floor. His arms flew out to his sides, but it was too late. He kicked and flailed to get to his feet, but the blood welled up in his neck and strangled him. A horrible gurgle drowned out the ringing of his heels on the stones.

Rahni stood back and watched the pool of blood growing around his cousin’s body, but no one moved to help Yorik. He clawed at his neck in blind fury, but his arms moved less and less with every passing moment until they made only the feeblest motion toward his head.

His legs kicked once, twice, and lay still. He lifted his hand to his neck, but it never got there. A moment later, it fell, and a convulsion rocked the prostrate form. Yorik lay still, never to rise again.

Rahni didn’t turn his back on Yorik again. He remained standing in the same place with his eyes fixed on his enemy until Royce stepped forward. Sorrow and care weighed down the patriarch’s shoulders when he looked on his dead son. He turned to Rahni, and everyone present hung on his word.

Would Royce give the word for Tam and Yorik’s faction to wipe out Rahni and his supporters after Rahni won the challenge fair and square? They could do it easily with their numbers. That would be the perfect ending to this disaster.

If he gave the word to attack, another Clan war would erupt. That’s the last thing Kratak needed right now with the Allies moving in. If all the Clans didn’t stand together, they would fall together before the Allies’ might.

The crowd waited in shocked silence to hear what Royce would say. He glared at Rahni. Then his shoulders sagged and he let out a shaky breath. He nodded at Rahni and called out in a voice loud enough to be heard at the far end of the Hall. “Rahni Harkniss wins.”

Royce cast a flashing glance over Yorik’s faction. He caught Tam’s eye and surveyed the young men standing with him. Pariri put her arm around Carila’s shoulder, and Carila buried her sobbing face in Pariri’s chest.

Royce repeated the words louder than ever. “Rahni Harkniss wins.” He faced Rahni, but his voice shook when he murmured for only Rahni and his friends to hear. “No one will bother you. You won in a fair fight. We all saw how you left him alive, and he attacked you from behind. You had to kill him to save your own life.”

Rahni bowed his head. “Thank you, sir.”

Royce didn’t smile. “We can send out the fliers now.”

Rohn spoke up. “It’s about time.”

Royce nodded, but he hung his head. “You better go now before anybody gets any funny ideas about paying you back for killing Yorik. We all know you won, but some of these hotheads don’t know when to quit. You aren’t safe here. Go home before someone starts a battle. I’ll stand behind your victory, and I give you my word of honor I’ll keep everyone in line until the bad feelings blow over.”

Chapter 16

Moira took one last look around the room she shared with Rahni. She wouldn’t see it again any time soon, if ever. She took one last loving look through the window. A few young fliers swooped across her view. She trailed one hand over the embroidered coverlet on the bed before she let herself out of the room and shut the door behind her.

No one talked to her on the way down the passage. Everyone returned to their own business, and Rarik took most of the young men down to the armory immediately after the challenge.

Yorik’s family took his body away and never showed their faces again. Whatever funeral rites they performed over their dead, they did it in private. Moira stopped short in surprise when she found Pariri and Carila in the passage.

They sat on a bench outside the observation platform overlooking the Great Hall. No one had cleaned up the blood stains yet. An enormous pool of black darkened the stone floor. Pariri held Carila in her arms, and Carila’s shoulders shook with sobs.

Moira started to walk away without saying anything, but she couldn’t leave Prowiss Keep with this tragedy hanging over her head. She stood in front of the two women who used to be her friends. “I’m so sorry about all this, Carila. I really am. I know there’s nothing I can do to fix it. I just want to say I’m sorry. I hope we can be friends again someday.”

Pariri straightened up. She compressed her lips in a hard line, and Moira feared the worst until Pariri said, “You have nothing to be sorry for. Yorik got exactly what he deserved, and our Clan will be better off without him. You’re not the only person he tried to hurt to get his way, and he hurt Carila more than anybody. If anyone tries to blame Rahni for killing him, Royce and Rarik will straighten them out.”

Carila lifted her head and wiped the tears off her cheeks. “Have a nice journey home, Moira. Don’t worry about us. We don’t hold any hard feelings against you and Rahni or anyone else. I’m only sorry our Clan started this conflict when we should be working together against the Allies. I hope you can forgive me for treating you so coldly, and I hope we can still be friends.”

Moira blinked back tears. “Of course, we can. I would love to.”

They three friends embraced, and Moira went on her way to the landing bay where Rohn and Rahni waited for her. She drew back around a corner when she found Royce and Connal there first.

Royce shook hands with Rahni. “I’m sorry you have to leave so soon. I wish things could have turned out differently.”

“I would leave anyway. I don’t feel safe here anymore, and my mate isn’t safe around Yorik’s friends. I’ve been away from my own family too long, and I want to introduce Moira to my parents—I mean, really introduce her to them this time.”

Royce nodded. “Give Fay my regards. Tell her I miss her more than she probably realizes. I miss the little girl she used to be.”

Rahni smiled. “She’s not a little girl anymore. She’s a grandmother.”

“Aren’t we all?”

Royce walked away, and Connal came forward to embrace the brothers. “Have a good flight. I almost wish I was going with you.”

“So do I. Thank you for your support. I couldn’t have done it without you. You’re welcome at our Keep anytime.”

Rohn spoke up. “Why don’t you come? Mother would love to see you.”

“I can’t leave now. We have all the armaments to prepare, and everyone is upset because Yorik spoiled generations of good relations between our Clans. I wouldn’t be surprised if Royce bypasses Tam for his part in this mess.”

“That wouldn’t be the worst thing that could happen. Joon or one of your grandsons would make a better patriarch.”

Connal gave the brothers one last hug and left them alone. Moira came forward, and Rahni gave her his old warm smile. He kissed her. “Are you ready to go?”

“Ready when you are.”

Rahni clasped his arm around his brother’s shoulder. “Let’s go. I can’t wait to get home.”

Rohn pulled back. “I’m not going with you.”

Rahni gasped. “You’re not? Why?”

“I’m flying on to Rapsiss Keep. We’ve lost two days with this ridiculous challenge, and I stayed longer than I should have to support you. We have to alert the other Clans as soon as possible.” He turned to Moira. “You’ll have to give the news to your friends yourself that you’re still alive.”

Moira laughed. “I don’t mind doing that. I’ll surprise them out of their boots.”

“You certainly will do that.” He gave her a hug.

Rohn turned around to face the bright mountains stretched out before him. He took two steps and hurled himself off the ledge into space. In the blink of an eye, his wings extended from his back and his neck and tail unraveled from his body. He flapped his wings, and a great green dragon soared over the Keep and away to the south.

Rahni watched him out of sight. “There he goes. I almost wish I was going with him.”

“You just said you couldn’t wait to get home.”

“I’m just thinking what it’s going to be like when we get back to the Keep.”

“What’s it going to be like?”

“Oh, you know how it is. My mother will cry, and my father will want to put on a big feast. They’ll celebrate my return to the world of men and women. They won’t have to worry about their strange son living alone on a mountaintop for the rest of his life.”

Moira groaned. “I see.”

“I understand you really want to see your friends again. Otherwise I would try to convince you to put it off for a little while longer.”

“I don’t have to see my friends right away. They already think I’m dead. It won’t hurt them to think it a few more days. What did you have in mind?”

“I don’t know. I’m looking forward to seeing my family and relieving my mother’s anxiety, but I’m not really looking forward to living inside walls again. I much prefer the mountains.”

“I feel the same way, now that you mention it. We had a nice time in your nest before we came here. I’m sorry to lose that time we had together. We’ll probably never have anything like that again.”

He cocked his head to one side. “Would you like to go back there first, before we go back to the Keep?”

“That would be nice.”

“Just for a little while, you understand. Eventually we’ll have to go back.”

“Of course, but we don’t have to stay in the Keep all the time. We don’t have to get trapped there.”

He passed his hand over his forehead. “I’m glad you feel that way, because I couldn’t face living in the Keep all the time. I’m used to the freedom of the open mountains.”

She put her arms around him. “I feel the same way.”

He closed her in his embrace, and their lips met for a long time. His kiss ignited the passion in her soul, and his arms tensed around her. His hands started to range over her body and down to her supple ass, and his crotch tightened against her hips when he tore himself away. “Let’s go.”

He moved to the ledge, and his wings unfurled. Before she could follow him, the red dragon stood before her. He bent his head to lift her onto his back, and his great wings carried him into the air.

Rahni made a few circuits of Prowiss Keep. He soared past Moira’s old window. She could almost imagine herself in it. She looked back on herself in that window where she dreamed of flying over the ice mountains the way she did now.

The young fliers noticed Rahni and came to flutter around him. He dive-bombed them and swooped all around them. They tried to keep up, and a friendly contest of follow-the-leader broke out.

Rahni dove straight down toward the ground and banked at the last minute. The others screeched upwards to follow him, and he cut into the mountainside at top speed. Moira clung to his neck and lay down low out of the wind prickling with ice crystals.

Rahni made one last rocketing sweep over the Keep’s high towers and launched himself high into the violet sky. The others trailed him all the way, but he didn’t bank and come back. He kept going, far over the mountain range.

The young ones called good-bye, and Rahni flapped away out of sight. Moira rested her cheek against his neck for the long trip back, but she cast more than a wistful glance back at Prowiss Keep growing smaller and smaller in the distance over her shoulder.

What would visiting that Keep be like without all the unpleasant muddle of danger and confusion? Maybe someday she would return and see her friends again. They could all sit around in peace and comfort and enjoy long-ago memories of times past.

Rahni passed through the snow fields into the wide grasslands beyond. The sun sloped below the horizon before they crossed those trackless territories, and Moira fell asleep against his warm skin.

In her dreams, she flew by herself over the planet. She flapped her wings and soared with the other Ingasores around their Keep. She carried messages from one Keep to another and hunted morlocks in the forests. She rested on mountain peaks steaming with volcanic heat.

She woke to a bright dawn with the sun glinting off the black mountains. One peak after another slipped by until Harkniss Keep loomed up large on the horizon. Rahni circled and landed on his mountaintop.

Moira slid to the ground and looked around. The same old nest waited for them with plumes of warm air rising from under the boughs. It wasn’t as luxurious as Prowiss Keep, but so much more welcoming.

The Keep stood across the valley, but Moira didn’t see anybody around. They must all be inside. Then again, Rohn, Damen, Haya, and Callan were all away, flying to distant Keeps to raise the alarm about the Allies. Now could be the perfect time to go inside, when her friends would be alone.

As she watched, a lithe little dragon rose over the Keep and crossed the valley. It took a turn around the mountain. It craned its neck to peer down at Rahni and Moira. The sun shone off its golden scales. “Who is that?”

Rahni flexed his wings. “It’s Asya. She’s come to welcome us home.”

He took to the air, and the two dragons tumbled and played in mid-air. Rahni pretended to bite Asya, and Asya screeched with glee. She let out plumes of flame, and when he bellowed at her, she pretended to run away in fright. She fled to the Keep and disappeared through an open entrance.

Chapter 17

Rahni curved his long body around the nest. “Well, here we are again, just the two of us.”

“Will Asya tell them we’re back?”

“Hard to say. I’ve always been close to her. She comes up here to visit me every now and again, so she’ll be excited to see us back. Then again, she might be too busy with young Ben to bother anybody about us.”

“I didn’t know you were close to her.”

“She might be the most sympathetic person in our Clan to the way I feel about living away from the Keep. Certainly, she makes the most effort to spend time with me. She comes up here to talk to me when something is bothering her, and we’ve flown long distances together many times.”

“That’s nice you have each other.”

“She’s very nice. I’ll be glad when Rohn and Damen start having children. Our Clan needs another generation to build it up.”

“What about us? What will happen when we start having children? We still don’t know if humans are reproductively compatible with Ingasores.”

“No, we don’t. You’ll have to talk to your friend Rose about that. Maybe she knows a way to make it happen.”

“The Allies have ways to make it happen, but those ways all involve high technology we won’t have here.”

“Then we’ll just have to do it the old-fashioned way.”

He got up and moved away. He unwound his long body in a series of movements Moira recognized now as the prelude to changing form, but she jumped up and laid her hand on his shoulder. “Don’t change yet. I want to see you like this a little longer.”

“I thought you wanted to…”

“I do, but I want you like this.”

He turned back to face her. “What would you like me to do?”

She came closer and leaned her body against his big side. “Touch me.”

He bent his head and ran the length of his neck along her back. She laid her cheek against his scaly skin, and his heat radiated into her. She closed her eyes. She was with him. Nothing else mattered.

He purred under his breath. “What is it you want, Moira? You know I can’t have you like this.”

She didn’t open her eyes. “I wish you could.”

“Don’t you want me as a man?”

“Of course I do, but this is just as much you as the man. I want all of you, even this.”

He rumbled inside his chest, and the sound traveled through her bones to shake her loose from her moorings. She floated on that sound into something unrecognizable. He turned her into something alien to herself.

She moved around by his weaving head. She peeled off her clothes and left them in a pile at the edge of the nest. She stood before him with no fear or inhibitions. Fireworks exploded before her eyes. Sizzling energy streams surrounded everything and fizzed in her eyes.

Her skin sparked with mad desire, but still he did not change. He watched her with inscrutable eyes. His nostrils flared, and a whiff of smoke billowed out of them.

Moira turned her back to him. In a trance, she got down on her hands and knees on the rough boughs. Her desire moved her into position. She could be anything to him. She accepted herself and all her desires. Everything she was and everything she wanted was good and right in his eyes. “Lick me. Lick me like you did that first night.”

She waited there, with her ass turned up toward his face. She gasped in tense desire and waited for the warm supple softness to sweep her away. Her breath grated through her lungs. She fought to contain her mounting passion. She couldn’t stand the anticipation.

His scales rustled over the stony ground, but she kept her eyes closed. “Take me like this. I don’t care what happens. I want you like this.”

The mountain wind whistled between the rocks. It bit her skin and chilled her wet genitals to icy tightness. It tortured her exposed skin. She needed his touch to keep her warm. What was he waiting for? Did he admire her bent over like this, an instrument of his pleasure? Did he enjoy seeing her submit, a creature of the dragon?

In an instant, all the cold and tension blew away in a gush of warm wetness washing over her. It touched her freezing petals and filled her with its delirious delight. She arched her back, and her loose hair fell over her face. She threw back her head and moaned to her heart’s content.

She undulated her hips back and forth against his dragon tongue and threw herself back against it in the fullness of her desire. It slithered into her openings and titillated her to raw ecstasy. Her spunky juice seeped from her vacuous hole to dribble down her thighs.

She rode his tongue with gusty cries of delight and bucked her hips back to drive the penetrating discoveries of her deepest insides. Was he on her? Was he taking her as a dragon after all?

All at once, he fell forward on all fours. The arms of a man dropped on either side of her shoulders, and a man’s hands widened to break his fall against the ground. When did he change? She was too excited to tell.

He landed on her back and latched his mouth around her neck. His face smelled of sweet pussy. “So good. So good.”

His stiffening cock jabbed her sensitive cleft. He rotated it through her pool of spongy goodness to coat its rugged end with her moisture. He growled inarticulate noises into her ear and drove her out of her mind.

Moira rocked back and forth on hands and knees against that hard spike ramming into her back door. Bring it. Bring it closer. Bring it into herself. Make it hers. Make her his.

He rocked back and forth along with her. His chest rubbed her back, and one hand cradled her swaying breasts. He supported them and warmed the pricked nipples with his touch. His prick split her asunder with his massive bulk.

Where did the man end and the dragon begin? To Moira, there was no man and no dragon. When he took her as a man, he took her as a dragon. When he spoke to her as a man, he spoke to her as a dragon. When she rode him through the skies as a dragon, she rode his brimming shaft the same way she rode him in bed. His muscles rippled between her legs and sent her careening through the skies on zephyrs of contentment and delight.

She bumped back against his cock and screwed it into her innermost cavern. She embraced it and let it tell her of forgotten secrets only Rahni could tell her. She hung her head and hid behind her hair to let her wildness burst from her in untamed screams.

He let go of her breasts and threaded his fingers through her hair. He yanked her head back to stop her rocking. He forced her back against his pounding hips. He took control of her and imposed his own rhythm on her. He muttered in her ear. “Is that hard, baby?”

“Oh, God, it’s so hard.”

“Is that big enough for you, baby?”

“Oh, my God, it’s so big.”

“Is that what you like, baby? Tell me that’s what you like.”

“I like it. Oh, God, I want it so bad.”

“Say it, baby. Let me hear you say you want it.”

“Oh, yeah. I want it so hard. Oh, God, I can’t stand it. It’s too big. Oh, yeah. Oh, please.”

“What? What did you say?”

“Please. Oh, please.”

“Say my name, baby. I want to hear you say my name.”

“Oh, please, Rahni. Please give it to me. Oh, God, Rahni, you know I need you so bad.”

“That’s right, baby. You know you need my cock. I’m gonna give it to you so hard. I’m gonna make you scream my name.”

With every word, he sent his spike burning into her. With every thrust, he broke her to pieces. His pelvis slammed against her ass and made her tits flap in the breeze. He held her hair back in his fist. “Yeah, yeah, yeah.”

She would say anything he wanted her to say. She would do anything he wanted her to do. She would be anything he wanted her to be. All roads led to one place for her, and that place was a garden of delight in the dark depths of her velvet vulva. Fountains of glistening foam sprouted to meet him from that patch between her legs. He had only to whisper his beckoning call to it, and it would jump and run to him.

He stirred her cauldron with his tool, and her potion bubbled and creamed down his shaft to stain his dark hair with her juices. He sucked her into him through his straw. He leaned back with one hand tangled in her hair and the other on her shoulder. He angled his hips into her and bounced his weight against her voluptuous ass. Her ass slapped against her own wetness spackling his hips, and every slap of his skin sent a new shower of droplets to spank her lily-white skin.

She lost awareness of the hard boughs digging into her knees. She lost any sense of the cold wind whispering across her bare back and tickling her erect nipples. She knew only the relief of cool air bathing her sweating brow and the molten hot anvil beating her cunt to glowing red.

His hands possessed her. His strength overpowered her. His arms surrounded her. He lifted her off the ground and held her suspended over the ground. He pulled her legs around behind his back so she stuck straight out from his waist. He supported her under her ribs and punched his weapon up into her from below.

She sailed above the ground on his hands. Her legs clasped him around the middle and rode him to her fulfillment. She hooked her ankles behind his back and let her glad screams rise on the wind.

He glared at her with his teeth clenched. Every upward thrust of his piston touched the cervix buried in her center. When he loosened his hold to let her drop with gravity, he raked his wicked prick over those pleasure points inside her channel to bring her to fresh peaks of orgasmic bliss. Then he lifted her up again with a hard jab of his lance to stab the very core of her being.

How long could he last? She learned a long time ago not to ask that question. He could destroy her all night long and put her back together again a thousand times before the sun came up. He was master. She could orgasm continuously on his rabid machine cock and never come down until he curled around her and let her sleep. As long as he desired her, he would keep going. He would hold her suspended between one joyful orgasm and the next so she never knew a moment’s delay.

The sun winked between the mountains. Rahni huffed with the effort of holding her up, but his shaft gave no sign of failure. He eased back on the nest and let his legs fold under him. He sat down on the boughs and lay back.

His weight rested on Moira’s legs until he shifted them around along his sides. He settled himself on his back and positioned her knees on either side of his hips. He never let go of her hair, so she couldn’t turn around to look at him.

He tugged her hair to pull her head back even as his hammer drove into her fissure once again. He bumped her up and let her fall down on his hard spike. He pounded into her welcoming hole with all his unimaginable power to rocket her into another spiral of passion and completion.

The terrible quivers shuddered through her bouncing ass. Her tits galloped along with her on his dangerous steed. Her mouth gaped open to let the ecstatic screams rise to the ether. She could jump off him and touch the stars. She could launch herself from this rocking horse into deep space and never come back to her mortal coil again.

Chapter 18

Moira poked a stick into the dying embers of a fire set in a circle of rocks a few paces away from Rahni’s nest. “That’s the last of it. As soon as these coals die, we can go.”

Rahni rolled over on the bed of boughs and pillowed his head on his elbow. “Don’t look so sad. We can always come back here. In fact, I plan to bring you up here every few days to have my way with you.”

She dove on top of him and elbowed him in the ribs. “Is that so? Well, did it ever occur to you that I might want you to have your way with me in a real bed every once in a while?”

He grabbed her by the wrists and wrestled her over on her back. He climbed on top of her and pinned her under his weight. “Don’t you worry, you little vixen. I’ll have you in a real bed every night. I’ll just bring you up here when you start to forget where you really belong.”

She struggled, but he kept her down. “I won’t forget. Don’t you worry about that.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.”

He lowered his body onto hers and covered her mouth with his kiss. She started to relax into it when she burst out from under him. “Come on. The bones are all burned up. Let’s go.”

He propped himself up on his elbow. “What’s the hurry? I can always hunt us another morlock. We can stay up here as long as we like.”

She stirred the fire again. “It’s taken us a week to eat the last morlock, and we agreed we would go back when we finished it. We ate the last scraps this morning, and I just finished burning the bones, so that’s that. You can’t back out on our agreement now.”

He shot her a wicked grin. “Come on, baby. Come on over here and give it to me one more time, just for old times’ sake.”

She threw a stick at him. “Get up and put your pants on, Lover Boy. I’ll make you a deal. We’ll do it again as soon as we get down to the Keep and your tearful mother assigns us a room—unless you already have a room. Do you still have your own room in the Keep?”

He threw his bare legs over the side of the nest and picked up his pants. “For all I know, she kept it as a shrine to me all these years. The bed is probably too small now.”

“We shouldn’t tease her. It must have been hard for her to watch you out here all these years.”

“I’m glad you can see it from her point of view. It must have been a lot harder for her than it was for me to hear people making rude jokes about her idiot son.”

“Well, no one is saying that now after the way you acted at Prowiss Keep. Will your father give you any static about taking over the Clan?”

“Not once he hears from Rohn. The question will never come up. Once Rohn gets back from Rapsiss Keep and my father and Callan and Damen see he’s taking orders from me, the rest will be history. No one will stand up to me, and my father will be free to hand over the reins.”

“Is that likely to happen soon?”

“Any day now, I suspect. He’s old. He’s been working on Rohn to take over as soon as possible. I wouldn’t be surprised if he expects Rohn to take over when he gets back.”

“I hope Rohn gets back soon. I want everyone to know what you’ve done.”

“Don’t tell them.”

“Why not? Don’t you want them to know how you won that challenge?”

“And killed my own cousin? I’m not looking forward to it.”

“Well, I’m proud of you and I know Rohn is, too. You should be proud of yourself. Anyone who was there would be proud of the way you handled yourself.”

“And how as that?”

“Like a man who’s fit to be patriarch of his Clan. I was proud to be yours, and I still am. You’re ten times a man as anyone else there.”

He pulled up his pants and swept her toward him with his arm around her back. “I’m proud to call you mine. Now let’s go and get this over with.”

She threw her stirring stick on the ash pile inside the fire circle. “Let’s not fly down.”

“How else are we going to get there?”

“Let’s walk through the forest.”

“Walk! Are you nuts? I’m a dragon, not a mouse.”

She grinned up at him. “It will take longer.”

He frowned. Then he shook his head with a chuckle. “You really are devious, aren’t you? I didn’t know you could think of such a devious plan.”

She swatted his shoulder. “Don’t get any naughty ideas. We don’t have any food, so we can’t take too long.”

“We don’t have to take too long, but I know some nice spots we can stop to rest.”

“Rest? You? Ha! That’s a good one.”

He took her hand. “I’m glad we understand each other.”

He led her away from the nest, down a narrow defile between the boulders. Going down that mountain on foot took a lot longer than flying off the precipice, but Moira didn’t mind. She kept hold of Rahni’s hand, and he supported her when the going got rough.

No doubt he could have traveled faster by slinging her over his shoulder and hauling her down the mountain like a sack of potatoes, but he showed no sign of impatience.

The treeless rubble around the peak covered miles of jagged mountainside before lichens and scrub sprouted around the rocks. The path sloped at a gentler angle, and the going got easier.

Then came the miles and miles of woodlands. The path ended at the tree line, and Rahni struck out through the dark forests. Moira tightened her grip on his hand. She didn’t want to get lost out here again. At least she was with Rahni now. If anything happened, he could shift and fly away with her, the way he did last time.

That thought gave her comfort. He would keep her safe, no matter what. Even when they got back to the Keep, he would make sure nothing bad happened. What could happen, with his own family around? Rohn wouldn’t make any trouble. They would never face the same dangers in Harkniss Keep that they faced in Prowiss Keep.

Her heartbeat quickened when she thought of the Keep. Her friends waited there for her, but they didn’t know she was coming. They thought she was dead. They would make a big fuss over her, and no mistake.

At least she didn’t have to worry about explaining her romance with Rahni to Rose and Reyna. They wouldn’t treat her as an alien, and all the formal tension of working together on the Allies team would vanish, too. Rose wasn’t the commanding officer anymore, and Moira wasn’t the Allies representative.

They were all just human women, equals, with the same concern for Krataks’ future. They all knew the danger the Allies posed to this planet, and they would work together to meet it. No one would doubt them, and no one would argue their message should be ignored.

She had a long time to mull over the possibilities. The trail went on and on through the forest until Rahni halted by the stream. “Do you recognize this?”

Moira looked over the bank at the waterfall. “This is where it all started.”

“Would you like to stop here for a while?”

The color mounted to her cheeks. “It looks like you want to stop here for a while.”

He put his arms around her, and his hands took two generous helpings of ass. He tugged her against him. “I always want to stop for a while with you.”

She got lost in his kiss for a long moment, and his massaging hands lit a fire between her legs. She would be ready when he finally took her to his room. Then again, the grass here was nice and soft and cool and inviting. He could cool her ardor here for…. a while…. maybe longer.

Ah, yes. One hand moved around in front of her and scratched the crease between her legs. Her pussy swelled with hot blood, and her drenched tissues ached for him. He fingered her slit through her pants until he pulled back. “I can’t wait for the day you start wearing dresses.”

She pulled out of his arms and took his hand. “The sooner you get me home, the sooner I can change.”

They passed through the rest of the forest in silence. They both traveled the same future landscape of passion, belonging, and togetherness. They made love and worked with their Clan, down through the years. They raised their own family and visited other relatives in other Keeps. They attended gatherings and renewed their friendships with acquaintances from long ago.

The trees parted, and the sun on Moira’s face brought her out of her reverie. She looked up and saw Harkniss Keep standing over her, the way it stood over her the first day she landed here with her team. So much had changed since that long-ago day, but nothing had changed as much as Moira herself.

She came to life in those days. She was born and grew up. She died and came back to life as someone completely different. She found her place in the woven fabric of a planet. It held her here and nourished her when she cut the roots tying her to the Allies.

A lone figure appeared in the Keep entrance and looked down on her. It was Rose. Rose wore a long gown trailing the ground. Intricate woven designs decorated the embroidered hem and covered the bodice with colored shapes and stylized images. She wore her long brown hair hanging down over her curving shoulders, and she lifted her dress when she walked to avoid treading on her skirts.

The two women shared a long moment of recognition. Then Rose gave a glad shout and set off running down the hill toward Moira. Moira let go of Rahni’s hand and ran to her friend. They threw their arms around each other’s necks and embraced with shouts and tearful laughter. Then Rose put her arm around Moira’s shoulders, and the two friends climbed together into the Keep.

THE END