Marie
She had barely cleared the walls of the barn with the ice-creating stranger when one entire end of it exploded outward like an overblown balloon. Pieces of wood and other shrapnel flew through the air.
The fair-skinned stranger placed himself between her and the oncoming debris cloud before taking her to the ground. She screamed as her protector was pummeled with all sorts of pieces of barn.
“That hurt,” he groaned as the avalanche of wooden slivers stopped.
She rolled out from under him, her eyes drawn to the two behemoths currently battling it out. Scale-covered titans battered each other with claws and tossed gouts of black hissing acid and purple-tinged liquid metal at one another. Tails clubbed flanks and huge snouts hissed like snakes as wounds were drawn and inflicted.
“Come on, we need to get to a safer distance.”
Marie glanced at the third man, the one who had put a wall of ice between her, Liam, and the other dragon. She assumed the onyx one had to be Garath. That would explain why his eyes always went dark. Liam’s had a tendency to go bright silver when he was mad. He’d revealed to her that he was a silver dragon.
What she couldn’t figure out was why he was covered in deep violet purple scales. Even as she watched the last remnants of silver in them were absorbed, replaced by the purple. What the hell did that mean?
She let herself be dragged away from the barn, the last of the walls battered down by the purple dragon’s wings as it spread them wide.
“Who are you?” she asked as they finally stopped, watching the battle raging in front of them.
“My name is Cowl. Garath has tasked me with your safety.”
Marie closed her eyes at his stilted speech. “Turn around.”
The fair-skinned man with sky-blue eyes didn’t move. “Pardon?”
“Let me see your back.”
Confused but not sure how it could hurt, he spun around. His white shirt was shredded, but his skin was unbroken, blemishes of pink indicating already-healed wounds.
“Of course you’re a dragon too,” she despaired. “I can’t seem to get away from you!”
A pained roar drew her back to the fight, and she watched with rapt attention as Garath used the spikes on his tail to rip through the wing membrane of the purple dragon, preventing it from taking flight. The two titans clashed on top of the barn floor, which somehow hadn’t collapsed under their weight, bearing them down into the depths below.
The purple dragon responded by splashing its breath weapon across the side of Garath’s snout. She screamed as he bellowed in pain, slamming a shoulder forward into Liam’s chest. The purple dragon went down and Garath dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding getting raked across the side by the dragon’s paws.
“Get in there and help them!” she shouted at Cowl. “End this already!’
“No. This is more than just a fight for Garath. This is about him defending your honor. I must respect his wishes to do it alone.”
She looked at Cowl wide-eyed, in disbelief. “You can’t be serious? He’s getting hurt in there! Liam could kill him.”
Cowl shook his head. “No, I think not. Watch.”
She ached to go to him, to try and do something to help end the fight, but what good was she? A human could not enter that tempest. Not with any expectation of surviving for more than a second. It was suicide.
So Marie stood her distance and prayed for Garath to emerge victorious.
A gob of acid englobed Liam’s head and the purple dragon scraped at it with his paws, trying desperately to get it off.
“Get him!” she hissed as Garath darted in and slashed with his claws. Purple scales rained down as he split them apart like they were butter, his claws delving deep into Liam’s flank.
The purple dragon lifted its head and spat quicksilver, though it was all purple now, no remnants of silver remaining. It still worked as intended, clearing the acid from its head. Liam reared back and latched his teeth onto Garath’s neck, shaking his head violently.
Black blood rained down everywhere, scales flying free as the teeth dug in deeper the more Garath struggled.
“He’s killing him!” she cried.
Cowl shrugged, disinterested. “No, it’s a ploy. Watch. The fight is already over. Liam just doesn’t know it yet.”
How the hell could that be? Liam had him in a dragon headlock! But she continued to watch intently. Cowl seemed positive of the outcome.
Garath’s yellow cat-like eyes closed and she saw him prepare to spew acid everywhere. Instead of directing it in a gout with his mouth, however, he slammed the pointy snout closed. What was he up to?
The purple dragon pulled back with a howl as acid burst free of the holes he’d dug in Garath’s neck, filling his mouth. As he reared back he exposed his entire chest. Garath didn’t miss. Already crouched down from where he’d shaken the headlock, he dove in close and slashed upward with one paw.
Three massive dragon claws ripped Liam open from the human equivalent of waist to throat, laying bare the flesh below. Without hesitation, as Liam reeled from the pain, Garath poured acid into the open wound. No scales could stop it now, and the flesh hissed and popped as it literally dissolved under the attack.
“YES!” she shouted, pumping her fist as Liam fell back out of the barn, gravely wounded.
She watched him return to his human form, lying on the ground, remnants of the ruined barn scattered all around him. He looked pale and weak. She doubted he was going to survive for much longer. Just then, she didn’t give a shit about his well-being. Marie had other priorities.
Garath was hurt too, and she ran to his side as he limped toward them. His neck was a mess, and he had numerous other wounds on his body. It was his head that worried her most, however. One entire half was swollen nearly beyond recognition.
She got under one of his shoulders, letting him rest some of his weight on her. Marie gasped. He weighed a ton!
“Keep an eye on him,” Garath said, pointing to Cowl and then back at Liam. “Make sure he doesn’t go anywhere. I need a breather before round two.”
Cowl nodded, walked over to Liam, and calmly snapped both of his legs. Liam screamed in pain and then thankfully blacked out.
“Damn. That’s one ruthless dragon.” Everything Garath said was slurred, but she could make out the words well enough to understand what he was saying.
“You’re hurt,” she said, finally convincing him to sit on the ground, his back resting up against Liam’s car. “You need to rest. To recover.”
Garath nodded. “I’ll be okay. Rest sounds wonderful.”
“It better. That was one hell of a fight. Why did you go after him like that?”
Garath’s eyes darkened. “Nobody touches my mate and gets away with it. I saw the fear in your eyes.”
“Your mate?”
Something sparkled in his eyes before he spoke again. “Lover. Whatever.”
Lover and mate were not something she would equate in her mind, but Marie let it slide. He was in a lot of pain, and probably not thinking straight after that blow to the head.
“If you say so.” She leaned in and kissed him on his good cheek. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For coming for me.”
Garath shook his head wearily. “Didn’t come for you. Was already here.”
She didn’t understand.
“We were laying a trap. Located dickbag over there, came after him. Teach him for hurting you, get your car back.” He was still breathing heavy from the fight, but at least the swelling appeared to have stopped. “Didn’t know you were here.” He looked at her. “Why are you here?”
She thought he was mad about it, but his arm closed around her when she tried to pull away, keeping her close. Careful of his wounds, she snuggled back into him as best she could. It felt good to be so close to him, and Marie regretted sending him away earlier.
“Fluke,” she answered, explaining how she’d seen him on television. “Pure chance, really. If I hadn’t been upset about everything and turned on the news, I would never have seen him.”
“Well, you’re safe now. I don’t think you’ll be in any more danger.”
“Can I ask you something?”
Garath nodded. “As long as you stay at my side and don’t push me away again, you can ask me anything.”
“Did you know Liam? ‘Cause he seemed to know you.”
Garath smiled. “I suppose we both had our secrets, didn’t we? You don’t seem too startled to have just witnessed two dragons fight. I guess Liam told you?” He pursed his lips. “No, that doesn’t feel right. You found out by accident?”
She nodded. “Yeah. We went to a ski lodge one winter, and he went out to stretch his legs for an hour after I was tired, as he put it. I eventually followed, trying to catch up. Saw him take off in dragon form. Waited for him to come back, he was still in dragon form. Confronted him about it.”
“Ah.”
“And you? Your secret?”
“My secret.” Garath glanced away, embarrassed. “My secret isn’t something you want to hear.”
“Try me,” she said dryly. “The past few days have sort of dulled me to any news I don’t like or want to hear.”
Garath nodded. “When I was younger, he approached me. Befriended me. We talked, we were friends. I trusted him with everything. Including where my treasure was located.”
“Treasure?”
“Yes. I am a dragon. We like treasure. Have you not read any books before? They got that part right.”
She giggled, linking her left hand with his. “Right, of course. How could I forget. So, what happened?”
Garath took his time. “One day not long after I showed him my horde, he betrayed me. Attacked me while I was sleeping, and stole it all.” Garath snorted derisively, awakening a pain in her at his self-doubt. “Can you imagine that? A dragon without a treasure?”
Marie wanted to laugh, but it was obvious that this meant a lot to Garath. He was deeply troubled by his lack of “treasure.” She owed it to him to respect that. “Why does this matter so much to you?”
He looked at her. His right eye was still swollen shut, but his left caught her gaze and held it. The hurt and failure in that gray circle was almost more than she could take. How could someone so strong be in so much pain?
“What use does a mate have with a dragon with no treasure?”
There was that word again, mate. It had a solid feel to it, a permanency that she wasn’t used to. Even when she and Liam had gotten engaged, nothing had felt as real, as forever, as hearing Garath say the word mate.
“Maybe that’s why you’re interested in a human,” she offered, unsure of what else to say. “We’re far less obsessed about material wealth.”
“Interested? Is that all you think it is?”
Her throat constricted. “That’s all you’ve told me it is.”
“Well in that case, I have something else to say.”
Hoarse, barking laughter reached their ears before Garath could continue. Both of them leaned forward to see Liam awake again, his face stretched tight in agony, the screams at least under control.
Cowl walked back over at that point, speaking to Garath. “He wants to talk to you.”
“What do you want?” Garath spat, the pair of them stopping ten feet away from him. “You lost.”
Liam sneered, hacking coughs racking his body for long moments before he could speak. “Did I, you penniless pauper? Are you so sure of that?”
Marie was forced to hold her dragon back. She could see the bloodlust in his eyes. He was ready to kill Liam.
“I’m positive. You’re crippled and broken, and I am here, standing and victorious.”
“I was dead long before you got to me,” Liam gasped. “You have no idea what’s going on. You’re so blind. You think you know, but you don’t.”
She tightened her grip on Garath’s hand as Liam rolled onto his knees, his broken legs nearly piercing through the skin. He began to crawl toward the lower level of the barn.
“What the hell is this?” Garath snarled. “You can’t seriously think you’re going to escape? Must you do this just for a few more pitiful seconds of life? Nothing can save you now.”
He dropped Marie’s hands and strode after Liam. The other dragon reached the barn doors and flung them open with a cackle. “I think not, you onyx bastard.”
A blue tinge ran from his body into the shadows, where a shadowy outline was visible.
“Garath,” she asked nervously. This was beyond her. “What’s going on?”
Liam’s body went limp as the blue glow faded, and he fell to the ground. Marie wasn’t sure how she knew, but she did. He was dead.
“Get behind me,” Garath said slowly.
She did as he said. To their right Cowl stepped up alongside Garath. She saw frost begin to appear between his fingers once more, while in front of her Garath’s acidy armor flowed freely for a second time.
The last bright spot in the sky winked out as the sun dipped below the mountain. At the same time, a matte-black figure stepped out from under the barn into the waning afternoon light.
An Outsider.