Chapter Eight – Ian
Ian cracked an eye open, the smell of bacon rousing his senses. The room was dark, but he knew it well enough that he didn't need to turn on the lights to find the spare suits he kept in his closet. They smelled a little stale, but he dressed and headed out, drawn by the scent of frying meat. He found Lydia in the kitchen wearing nothing but a shirt and her panties. Her makeup was smeared, her hair a mess. The only way she could look better was if she were wearing nothing at all. She smiled at him as she flipped over a set of pancakes.
"How do you get electricity in here?" she asked. "I see you've got enough food for a year in your freezers, but what I don’t get is how you keep them running."
"Generators. They're tapped into the thermal dynamics, so it's an unlimited source of energy."
Lydia nodded. "I see. And the plumbing?"
"Ancient aquifer."
"Okay. Well, breakfast is almost ready. I found some eggs, but I'm not sure that—"
A shadow caught Ian's eye just in time for him to surge to his feet. He threw the table at Lydia. She yelped. A solid thump sounded as a black arrow impacted the table, spinning around. It hit Lydia. She fell to the floor, crying out again. Ian was on her in a second, wrapping his arms around her as the demons poured into the kitchen.
Ian acted on instinct. He spun Lydia around, putting his back to the demons, and shifted. His wings burst out, sending the table, chairs and demons flying. As his form changed shape, the rock walls around him cracked. They pressed in against his scales, but he pushed back. Hard. A deep, terrifying rumble filled the mountain as rocks broke. He sent a burst of fire towards the demons as the electricity cut out.
Rocks rained down on him, so he tucked his head in under his wings, keeping Lydia under his massive body. She was pressed against him. He could feel the frantic beating of her heart and curled tighter, wincing as the rocks bounced off his body.
When the mountain stilled, Ian tested their weight on him. Rocks slid to either side, but he hadn't brought the entire mountain down on them. That was good, at least. He shifted slowly, making sure things wouldn't collapse on Lydia, and pulled her into his arms.
"Are you hurt?"
"I don't think so," she mumbled. "So… What was your big plan here? Squish the demons?"
Ian frowned. "Hey, it worked."
"Yeah. It did. Could have squished me, too."
"No, I was careful."
"Okay."
She sounded like she was slipping into shock, but there was no time for that. He grasped her hand and breathed out a puff of fire so that he could see the damage, then led her towards a secret passage. The mountain was crawling with them. On the other side of the fallen rock, he could hear the demons screeching. His fires grew hotter and he growled softly.
He wasn't going to lose anybody else.
The secret passage was hidden by a rock wall, one he had to shift to break through, but the other side was too narrow for a dragon to go through. It was hardly big enough for him in his human form. He kept an arm around Lydia's waist, pressing her tight against his chest as they moved forward. There was no sound of pursuit. The demons must still be trying to dig through the rock.
They emerged onto a grassy plain. Spots of heather grew here and there. Ian's heart jumped to his throat. It was the field from his vision. He spun around, his grip on Lydia slipping. She stumbled back from him, her face green. He cried out, reaching for her, but even as he did so a streak of gray flew through the air. Ian threw himself at it, but only got the end. The spear hit its target.
Lydia's face went white. She gasped for breath, hands wrapped around the shaft of the spear. As if she were falling through thick water, she collapsed to her knees.
"No!" Ian caught her, the only sound in the world that of his own voice. "No."
Lydia gasped. Her terrified eyes locked on him.
Another spear flew at them, but this one Ian was able to knock aside. He lowered Lydia to the ground, trying not to jostle her, and leaped to his feet. His eyes sought out a figure standing some distance away. A demon, as tall as an elephant, spears strapped to its back and two more in its hands. Ian snarled.
Bursts of dirt shot up from all around them. Debris showered him and he bent over Lydia to protect her. Demons, everything from quick, goblin-like creatures to more of the elephantine creatures, charged towards him. He shouted in fury, flames erupting from his mouth. They scorched his tongue, but the line of demons didn't hesitate.
The Dragon burst from him. He swept away half of the demons with a single swing of his tail and reduced another quarter to ash. Crouching low over Lydia, he threw out both wings, bowling over his enemies, and took in another deep breath. Spears sailed through the air, but they clattered off his scaly armor.
There was a reason Dragons guarded the gates to hell.
Ian flung his tail back and battered the demons into his wing. He tossed them into the air and burnt them as they fell. The army tried to round back behind him, but he whirled, careful to keep his stomping feet from Lydia as he let out another burst of fire. A few of the demons tried to run and he snapped them in his jaws, breaking them in half. The only one left was the elephantine one that had struck Lydia with the spear. Ian grabbed it in his hands and twisted it into two parts, tossing both away. He snarled, daring any other demons to advance. None materialized.
Alone again, Ian shifted. Blood trickled from Lydia's mouth as her body shook. Her mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out. Ian's stomach churned. He had failed her.
No, not yet. As long as she was breathing, there was hope.
"It's going to be okay," Ian promised her. He didn't dare try to remove the spear, and so he snapped off the shaft. Lydia cried out when he did so, and he flinched with her pain. "It's going to be okay. I'm going to shift again and carry you to a hospital."
The world would see him as a Dragon, but he didn't care. He didn't care about anything but making sure Lydia would survive.
***
People screamed and scattered in all directions when he landed in the hotel parking lot. He ignored them, shifting back to his human form as he cradled Lydia in his arms. Her breath was shallow, her eyes rolled into the back of her head, blood staining them both. She didn't have much time left.
If she died, he would descend into hell itself and destroy everything he saw. It didn't matter if that was their realm, he would declare war on the pits and he would make them pay for taking her from him.
"Somebody help me!" he shouted as he charged through the doors. A few people from the parking lot stumbled away from him, eyes wide and mouth agape. The nurses inside stood frozen, stunned at what they had seen.
Ian growled. "Help me now!"
Two more nurses came running in from the hall. Neither of them had seen him as a Dragon, so they ignored their coworker's squeaked protests as they ran to Lydia and Ian. One of them checked her pulse while the other ordered one of the nurses at the triage to call surgery. Confusion and fear still sat heavy in the waiting room, but slowly things began to move. More nurses came out to help.
Humans were good at convincing themselves that they hadn't seen what they thought they saw – maybe they would ignore the fact that they had seen him as a Dragon. The nurses got a gurney for Ian to lay Lydia down upon, then drilled him with questions as they headed to the elevator doors. He snarled in impatience.
"Don't ask questions, just save her. If she dies, I swear I'll burn this building to the ground!"
"Sir, it is nae going to help anybody if you dinna calm down," one of the nurses said.
Ian ignored her. If they were mates, just being near him would heal her rapidly. But they weren't mates.
"Sir, are ye listening to me?"
Ian forced himself to focus on the nurse's face. As much as he hated it, he had to let the nurses take Lydia away, so she could be properly looked after. He had to stay behind and take care of the mess this whole incident had caused. Would his clean-up guy here in Scotland be able to handle it? Giant dragon… would his clean-up guy decide he didn't want to work for him anymore?
"I need you to answer some questions," the nurse said, her grip tight on his wrist. "Can ye do that for me, sir?"
Ian nodded hollowly. He pulled himself free of her. "I need to make a phone call first."
"Nae, I think you need some clothes first. Come with me." She gently prodded him down the hall. Reluctantly, Ian followed.