Page 19 of Sapphire Seas

All in due time.

Yes, Dragon, yawn, all in due time.

Mattias had an arm around Kes and me, as we settled in. Both our heads lay on his chest, Kes and I holding hands across his belly silenced my thoughts and eased me into a peaceful sleep.

“Wow.” I stopped at the edge of the pitch, taking the massive area in. “This is both medieval and modern. How did you manage to pull that off?” Every hand, and there were easily twenty or more of us here, pointed at Ionus. “Alright, I’ll remember not to invoke his ire.” There were practice dummies burned and maimed. Bales of hay strewn about, some of which were scorched beyond recognition. No weapons were to be found, given this land belonged to the Protectors, physical weapons wouldn’t be of any use to them. The Goddess blessed them with gifts no others had.

Mattias chuckled. “Wise choice, mate. Come on, let me introduce you to the rest of them.”

Drakemyre’s, Blackburn’s and many others in between. Dragons of many shapes and sizes were present. I seriously hoped there wouldn’t be some sort of drill where we call out each other’s names. There’s no way I’ll remember them all or who’s mated to whom.

“Alright, gather around,” Ionus said. No reason to shout given our dragon hearing. “By now, you’ve all been briefed on the dragon trapped in the ice that was brought to our attention last night and are acutely aware this could be a trap. It’s imperative that we all be in battle-ready mode. We know war is on the horizon and with Mattias, Kes, Caspian, Caro and Quint taking to the seas in search of him as well as to help Caspian’s herd, collectively we must be prepared for whatever comes our way.”

Baird, ha, I remembered a name, stepped forward. “Ionus, the Drakemyre clan will be here to assist as well.” A round of aye’s followed Baird’s declaration.

“Thank you, Baird. It’s a dangerous mission but one we can’t ignore and will need all hands prepared for whatever comes. Training today will be focused on our affinities. Quint, you and I will work together along the beachside today. Water dragons, please steer clear of where we’re at.”

Another aye rang through the crowd.

We spread out and shifted. I’d never seen so many dragons in one place before. Their magnificent colors reflective in the sunlight, pinging off their scales like a prism. My mates were brighter than the rest, or maybe I was just a bit biased. Mattias was a brilliant sapphire, Kes, an amazing bright white and me with my opaque hues and silverly tones. Our dragonets are going to be gorgeous.

Focus, human.

Yes, dragon. He can be so bossy sometimes.

Mattias and Kes dove into the water with me as well as a couple of other water dragons. Mattias was clearly stronger than Kes and I, given how deep he’d traveled on his initial dive, but it was good to see how our affinities aligned.

I dodged Kes’s ice shards, but he narrowly missed my water trident. Okay, that is seriously cool, Kes said. You can wield weapons from water?

I can. Makes you love me a whole lot more now, doesn’t it? Kes blushed, but the love coming through our connection was strong.

Mattias and Caro broke through the surface at breakneck speed and into the skies with the greatest of ease, like rockets shooting high in the air only to gracefully plummet toward the earth, and back into the water, engaged in their fight. Neither could catch the other yet they were right on the others tail the entire time. Completely invisible now, I wondered if they used a cloaking spell or had they gone well past visibility? The water wasn’t that deep here.

Suddenly, I was covered in ice.

That’s what you get for not paying attention. I shook it off and sent a massive wave toward Kes and the crazy dragon surfed through it on a board of ice.

Playing games, are we now?

Yup, it’s the Dragon Games. Didn’t you hear?

Game on, Mate!

I’m not sure, okay, I’m totally sure, that our antics weren’t on Ionus practice agenda today. Thankfully, he was too busy with Quint to notice. I hoped…

He might be, but I’m not. Mattias’ voice rattled us both and whatever force he sent our way knocked us back several feet. Imagine how far he could send an opponent he wished to rid himself of? Caro, you take Caspian and I’ll handle Kes.

That did not sound good.

Before I had a chance to figure out what was going on, I was scooped up and hurled through the air, flung from a giant claw.

Protect yourself, Caro said, I won’t go easy on you.

Great…

No matter where I was, air or sea, Caro was on me.

Come on, Caspian, how did you manage to fight off your assailants before? Show me what you’ve got.