Awakenings (18 page)

Together with his dragon lover, Aurus joined the twins on the beach. He discarded his breeches, loving the way the hot sun caressed his skin. The sand felt warm and soft underneath his toes, and Aurus understood why the two young mer liked to play in it so much.

Vaar took off his pants as well and dumped them on the ground. They sat down next to each other, watching Jaden and Chrys laugh and roll together in the sand. "They never really had a childhood," Aurus said. "I'm glad they can be happy now."

He leaned against Vaar's muscled shoulder, reveling in the intimacy of the moment.

"Sometimes I wonder if they aren't too young," Vaar mused.

Aurus nudged Vaar with his hip. "Hey, now! What's all that? So you're ten times older than the three of us put together. Who cares? Certainly not us."

For a few seconds, Vaar didn't answer. "I suppose," he finally said. "You need someone to protect you."

Aurus smiled, knowing Vaar needed them as much as they did Vaar. As if guessing the topic of their conversation, the twins stopped their playful banter. The sibling battle turned into lovers' caresses. Aurus's mouth watered as he watched Jaden and Chrys kiss and rub against each other.

"I guess they're not so childlike, after all," he noted.

"Quite right," Vaar replied, all doubt gone from his voice, replaced by desire.

The dragon got up, obviously intending to join Jaden and Chrys in their sexual frenzy. But then he tensed and looked up at the sky.

"Get Jaden and Chrys and hide," he threw at Aurus.

Vaar's voice held urgency and Aurus shot to his feet. "What is it?" he asked as they raced down the beach.

The twins must have heard them or felt their anxiety as they broke apart. When Vaar and Aurus reached them, Chrys inquired, "What's wrong?"

"Something's coming," Vaar replied. "Go with Aurus and find shelter."

Jaden's eyes went wide. "But what about you? We can't leave you."

Vaar pressed a chaste peck on Jaden's forehead and squeezed the twins in his arms. "Don't worry," he whispered. "I'll be fine."

Breaking the embrace, Vaar turned toward Aurus. Aurus's heart fell at his lover's expression. Whatever the dragon sensed, it had to be bad. "I'll protect them with my life," he told Vaar.

"I know," Vaar answered. "Take care."

Aurus took Chrys and Jaden and led them away. Just as they went up the hill, Aurus instinctively felt the change in Vaar. His lover had shifted into his beast form. The moment they entered the forest, Chrys and Jaden pulled away from his hold.

"We can't go any farther," Jaden protested. "We have to at least know what's going on."

Aurus took a deep breath, struggling against an avalanche of emotions. On one hand, he had to keep the twins safe, on the other, he couldn't leave Vaar behind. Loving three men sometimes proved very difficult.

The choice was taken out of his hands when a cloud of dark spots appeared on the horizon. He cursed, knowing it would be useless to go farther away from the beach. Motion would draw attention to them and if Aurus had guessed right about the sudden intruders, it would only make things worse.

They hid inside the heavy foliage. Aurus held Chrys and Jaden close and kept a watchful eye on the beach. Vaar launched himself into the air and hovered in one spot, waiting.

Aurus's eyes finally confirmed the approaching forms as dragons. Unlike Vaar, they didn't seem black, but from the distance, Aurus couldn't be certain. The horizon darkened from the number of the flying beasts and Aurus counted at least a few dozen of the creatures coming in fast.

As much as Aurus would have liked to help Vaar with this battle, he knew he'd just be in the way. He'd be useless against something so powerful and would only make things harder.

As if the dragon battalion didn't suffice, the water suddenly began to ripple. Aurus gaped as hundreds of mer emerged from the sea.

His father had come for him.

* * * *

Vaar glanced toward his enemies, anger and hatred coursing through his veins. The past few weeks had been too good to be true. Animals no longer died, plants bloomed and flourished. At last, his curse had been lifted. In his moments of doubt, he'd been waiting for something to go wrong, to separate them. Now, it had finally happened. But Vaar would die before he allowed any harm to come to his three lovers.

Why had his people come now, of all times? Why couldn't they just leave him be? According to the terms of the exile, the banished dragons were allowed their lairs, and this island had belonged to the black dragons for a long, long time. He hadn't broken any rules. What did they want with him?

Then, Vaar saw it
.
T
he sea
opened
up to reveal the army of mer.
Of course
. Aurus was prince of Atlantis
and the king would undoubtedly want him back. He must have talked to the dragon sovereign
about the need to
eliminate Vaar.

A smart strategy, since even with all the mermen of Atlantis, Vaar would most likely still win. It would be difficult and he'd end up injured, exhausted, maybe on the brink of death, but he'd win. Not so with dragons. Only one creature existed in this realm that Vaar could do very little against—his king.

For the first time in too many years to count, Vaar felt trapped. His situation defined the meaning of "impossible odds". He wouldn't have minded so much if he'd been alone, but he had three loved ones to protect.

He watched the mermen approach and he threw a shield around the island. It took quite a lot of magic to surround it in a protective screen, but it would keep anyone but the dragon king from entering.

At first, the mermen didn't seem to notice, but once they came closer, they immediately recoiled, Vaar's dark power pushing them back.

"There!" one of the Atlanteans shouted, pointing to Vaar.

Vaar flew higher up, knowing the mer would start to attack him with their elements. Indeed, several started to summon their magic, spears of different colors appearing in their hands. Strikingly enough, the assault didn't begin. A tall, white-haired mer lifted a hand and spoke out, "No. We wait."

Vaar easily identified him as the king of Atlantis. He looked much like Aurus, but there was something in his bearing, in his voice, that Vaar loathed. This man had wanted to hurt Jaden and Chrys. Vaar would make him pay.

Vaar shook himself, knowing that surrendering to his instincts now would only bring about disaster. The other dragons were very close now, and the Atlantean king obviously expected them to do his dirty work. Vaar wouldn't allow the mer to get his filthy hands on the twins and Aurus. If all else failed, he'd swamp the water with his power and kill the entire mer army. His lovers would hate him for it, but he'd most likely perish in the process anyway.

The dragons took their time in approaching, deliberately making an entrance or pointing out they didn't consider Vaar a threat. "Greetings," he rumbled. "It is an honor to have you here."

"Greetings, Vaarlieongshaolith," the dragon king replied. Vaar mentally winced upon hearing his full name for the first time in centuries. Only those belonging to their race could speak the full, elaborate names, and Vaar had long ago given up on it. He'd left it behind the day he'd been exiled.

"My name is Vaar now, Sire," he answered calmly.

"I see," the king replied. He seemed just as Vaar remembered him; cool, collected, the same Ghaankeloalitoth Vaar knew and hated. "Very well. I suppose you realize why We are here."

"Actually, I don't, Sire," Vaar answered. "To my knowledge, I have done nothing that goes against Your commands."

Ghaan ignored him. "King Diamond has brought to Our attention that you lived within the borders of Atlantean lands for the past few hundred years."

Vaar wanted to laugh. "Nobody said I couldn't." As a matter of fact, Vaar had been granted permission to use the area by the ancestor of the current merman king. Apparently, the Atlantean had conveniently forgotten about that. "I had an agreement with the mer to establish my lair there."

For a few seconds, Ghaan paused. The dragon king would know if Vaar didn't speak the truth. Vaar found it annoying they danced around the real issue.

"This is true," Ghaan said at last. "However, you also kidnapped King Diamond's son."

"Not so," Vaar answered. "I have no need to kidnap mer princes."

He deliberately phrased his reply in an ambiguous way, since he had, indeed, stolen someone. Only Jaden was not a prince, and therefore, Vaar didn't lie.

Ghaan seemed annoyed. "Is Prince Aurus here or not, Vaar?"

"He is," Vaar replied reluctantly, "but he stays because he so desires."

He loathed having to be respectful to their dreadful excuse of a sovereign, but he didn't have much choice. The dragon king was the one creature in existence that could withstand the power of Vaar's death magic. The royal line belonged to blessed, fae dragons, immune to all spells. No element or enchantment could hurt them, only physical force. Vaar might be larger and more powerful from a physical standpoint, but his claws and jaws were no match for the strong fae magic.

"You must return him to his father at once," Ghaan rumbled.

"Aurus is not an object," Vaar shot back. "He goes where he wants to. I cannot order him to stay or to leave."

"Vaarlieongshaolith…" the king began threateningly, "I am sick of the impudence of your kind. Our nation has been at peace since your exile—and the moment you appear once more, we risk war."

This time, Vaar couldn't suppress his laugh. "War? How exactly do you risk war? You can crush the Atlanteans by yourself. They are not a threat to dragon kind in any way."

Why were they playing this game anyway? They all knew why Ghaan had come here in the first place, to get rid of Vaar.

Vaar understood now why the island had been so barren and unlived in. Most of his kin had already been killed after being cast off. Vaar and the saurion had probably been among the few who'd gotten away, saved by their choice to go into slumber.

Vaar held his tongue with difficulty, trying to figure out a way to get his lovers out. Ghaan would very likely kill him and hurt the three mer just out of spite. He would have tried to block the dragons' way with his own body, but the island was surrounded by Atlanteans.

"Be silent!" Ghaan growled at him. "You've gone against the Great Dragon Nation for the last time. Die now."

That was the only warning Vaar got before his king sent a wave of magic toward him. At first, Vaar managed to dodge it and retaliated with his own power. He didn't get the chance to see if it had any effect, because the second blow hit his wing. A third and a forth came, showering his body with shocks of pain. From every direction, the dragons assaulted Vaar. Vaar tried to resist and fight back but it was hopeless.

A powerful spell from Ghaan cut off his breathing and drained him of all energy. Defeated, Vaar collapsed from the sky and fell into the sea.

* * * *

Jaden watched in panic as the battle raged on. Blasts of magic filled the sky, surrounding Vaar in an eerie spectacle. But Jaden had no eye for the beauty. He could only feel Vaar's pain, anger, and hatred.

Vaar was fighting a losing battle. A powerful blow from the leader of the attackers took out the final remnants of his resistance, and Vaar fell, his majestic body sinking into the sea with a sickening splash.

Jaden stared at the spot where Vaar's body had disappeared for the longest time. He couldn't believe his eyes. He simply refused to think Vaar was gone.

"Jaden!" A voice reached out to him, warm and concerned. Jaden turned to look at Aurus. The heartbreak he could see in the older mer's eyes drove a knife through his chest. The numbness and shock vanished and he finally acknowledged what had happened. "Vaar!" he cried out. "Vaar! Vaar…"

He repeated his lover's name over and over, the dragon's absence a physical pain more acute than anything he'd ever experienced. He shouted until his throat was raw, hoping that perhaps it might bring his lost love back to him.

Aurus wrapped his arms around Jaden, rocking him gently. Jaden buried his face in Aurus's shoulder, while Chrys hugged him from behind. The knowledge of Vaar's sacrifice tore Jaden apart. The dragon had left them in Aurus's care, knowing it would most likely come to this.

"Breathe, Jaden," Aurus murmured in his ear. "Breathe and focus."

Jaden did his best to comply. He realized his connection with Vaar remained in place. That meant his dragon lover had to still be alive. "We have to save him," he told Aurus.

Chrys and Aurus nodded at the same time.

"Perhaps if we try hard enough, we can lend him our power," Chrys suggested.

Jaden had only done something like that with his twin, but it would be worth it to try. "Okay. Let's do it."

Ignoring the mer and dragons currently circling the island, Jaden, Chrys, and Aurus positioned themselves in a triangle and took each other's hands. Jaden thought about Vaar, about his black eyes and mysterious smile. He recalled meeting Vaar, back when the dragon had been just a presence, a distant entity. He remembered their first kiss, their first time together and the way Vaar had taught him how to shift. Images of the four of them together flashed through his mind's eye, their love and union solidifying their bond.

His magic answered his call and Jaden flooded the connection to Vaar with it, gasping as two more streams of power joined his.

Jaden's eyes filled with tears when Vaar responded, the dark flame he identified as his lover. Their powers fed the black fire and it flared brighter than ever. Jaden collapsed on the grass, his body exhausted, but his mind still bonded with Vaar's.

His vision cleared just in time to watch the waters part and see Vaar emerge from the dark depths once more. His appearance sent powerful waves crashing against the shores, making the army of mer scatter in panic. The dragons seemed shocked, having believed they'd taken Vaar out.

They were in for a very nasty surprise, Jaden thought. If Vaar had been tremendously powerful before, he now had three lovers to back him up—and it showed. Vaar's black skin seemed to be bathed in a weird blue-green glow, and a thread of gold whispered around the scales on his back. He'd also become larger, more imposing, double the size of what he'd been before.