Shared By The Dragon Clan Complete (28 page)

CHAPTER
SIXTEEN

The base of the Human / Dragon
Affairs building had been torched to pieces by two of Zane’s dragons below. The
upstairs boardroom where they’d organized to meet was about to be incinerated.
Zane watched as Quraal grappled onto that part of the structure, as the base of
it began to lose its sway. He broke through the glass with his clawed hands and
then sent a tidal wave of fire through, killing the so called leaders he and
Zane had united against.

Zane felt
sick. He had yet to kill anyone himself (focusing his own destruction on
inanimate objects like parked cars and statues) but the horror of seeing his
men commit these atrocities was enough for him. People were dying. He could
hear them screaming in the wind. How he wanted to say to the clan,
Stop what
you’re doing – We don’t have to do this –
but as before, Quraal’s hold over
him was far too great.

“Zane!” the
Dark Dragon screeched as the latest destroyed building toppled over. “Why aren’t
you helping?”

Zane could
hardly hear him. His eyes were far away. Looking out to the distance.

Thinking
about Stacey.

It was his
job to protect her, to protect the people she loved, and he had failed in that
role. What he needed now was a miracle. Some kind of twist of fate that would
open the dark sky up and reveal the answer to him.

If it could
only save him from himself…

“ZANE!”
Quraal shouted again.

Zane took his
eyes off the sky and stared back down into the havoc they were wreaking. There
would be no miracle. It was impossible. Narses was dead. The clan was under
Quraal’s command. And Stacey, oh Stacey…

His Blossom was
just too far away.

Zane’s wings
extended further as he dived down towards the city’s surface, blindly spraying
fire in all directions.

Then, out of
nowhere…

Something hit
him. It fell from the sky and landed on his back.

What was it?

Who was it?

“Master,” his
beloved pleaded in his ear. “What on EARTH are you
doing
?”

CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN

Her tears were so cold. Her skin so
gentle. Zane couldn’t believe it was her. What had he done to deserve this? What
had he done to deserve this undying love?

His eyes
shifted to the sky. It was the Red Dragon, in full spread of his wings. He
looked so strong. As if he were indestructible. The glorious reality swept over
him…

“FIREBOUND
DRAGONS!” Horatio shouted from his dragon’s mouth. “I HAVE RETURNED TO YOU!”

The dragons
stopped what they were doing. They rose up and formed a ring around Horatio and
Zane.

“I AM YOUR
TRUE KING, AND I SAY STOP THIS MADNESS AT ONCE!”

Zane’s eyes
darted around searching for Quraal.

He couldn’t
see him.

King Horatio
was flying down to meet Zane at his level.

“I am utterly
disappointed to see you take sides with that monster,” Horatio scolded him.

Zane opened
his mouth. It had been so long since he’d used his dragon’s voice.

“Well?”
Horatio demanded.

“I’m s –
sorry,” Zane stuttered. “P – please forgi – ve me.”

“You can have
my forgiveness,” Horatio declared, “when you bring me that monster’s head.”

He shot a
glance off into the distance. Zane could see the outline of Quraal retreating.

“Yes, my
King.”

Zane took off
through the clouds over the burning city, Stacey’s arms still wrapped around
him.

“I hoped you
would come back to me,” Zane whispered to her softly.

“It was my
turn to save you,” Stacey whispered back.

She kissed
his neck and they both knew Zane wouldn’t have to ask for her forgiveness as
well.

Because as he
had always loved her, she had always loved him. And there wasn’t anything the
pair wouldn’t do for each other.

Up ahead, in
a clearing beyond the city, Quraal’s dragon had come to a stop.

Weird lights
surrounded him. He had changed back into human form.

The final
battle approached.

CHAPTER
EIGHTEEN

Zane landed with Stacey in the grass
several meters from Quraal who was motionless. Stacey slid off his back and
landed on her knees, before being quickly confronted by Zane, having morphed to
human form.

“You should
run to somewhere safe,” he whispered to her. “I don’t know what’s going to
happen here.”

“No,” Stacey
insisted. “I’m staying. We don’t leave each other … right?”

Zane sighed.
“Right.”

“Never fear,
never fear, I will not harm the girl,” Quraal spoke up behind them.

Zane helped
Stacey to her feet and together they approached.

Quraal’s
hands were comfortably placed behind his back. Stacey searched for something
protruding from his sides, because she felt at any second he might launch a
weapon at them.

“So it
appears the Mage has betrayed me,” Quraal said. “I should have expected as
much, given he is a human after all.”

Zane moved
closer towards him.

Stacey
followed Zane.

“So now
you’ve come to betray me too,” Quraal accused. “Is that it?”

“Horatio has
returned,” Zane said simply. “He is our true ruler.”

“A
human-lover, that’s what he is,” Quraal spouted. “What happens now? Everyone
just gets along? You know that’s not what the humans want.”

“Well, we
dragons, don’t want you.”

Quraal reared
his head back. “I’m not going back to the otherworld, Zane. Not when I have so
much to do here. Not while I have a child on the way.”

Stacey
shuddered.

“That’s no
business of ours,” Zane said. “You can find some other place to torment.”

“I don’t
think so,” Stacey interrupted.

Zane turned
to her. Blinked.

“Yes, please,
do speak up again, my little bug,” Quraal said mockingly.

“We can’t
just let him go off and kill more innocent people,” Stacey said defiantly. “He
must be stopped.”

“Oh must I?”

Zane turned
from Stacey back to Quraal.

“Let’s finish
it,” Zane said. “By sword, or by fire?”

“What
difference does it make?” Quraal murmured. “Either way I’ll destroy you.”

He then
whipped out a giant green sword and threw it at Zane’s feet.

Zane reached
out and pulled it out of the ground.

With Quraal’s
other hand he pulled a red sword out from his back. He waved it through the
air.

“Last chance,
Zane,” Quraal said. “We’ll take back the clan together. Take over the whole
fucking world.”

“No,” Zane
replied.

He ran hard
into Quraal and their swords connected.

CHAPTER
NINETEEN

Sweat. Blood. Dirt.

It all flew
through the air as the dragon men fought each other with as much strength as
possible. At times they moved so fast, Stacey could barely make them out beyond
a blur. She stood at the sidelines, her adrenalin racing, hoping Zane would
achieve a victory.

But with each
passing minute, he appeared to becoming more and more tired. Stacey could see
the frustration in his eyes. The fatigue. Not only was Quraal faster than him,
his blows had a greater amount of strength. Between both of them, she saw flashes
of their dragons emerge into the light, as though the battle wasn’t just taking
place in front of her here, but also in some other world.

Then came the
tragedy. The last blow Quraal delivered was so strong it knocked Zane off his
feet. His whole body collapsed into the grass, writhing in pain. Quraal wiped
his sword on the ground next to him, whilst kicking Zane’s sword out of reach
at the same time.

He put one
foot on top of Zane’s back to hold him in place.

“This brings
me no pleasure,” he muttered. “But just as the Dragon Masters and their
kingdoms will burn for their treachery, so shall this cursed earth. And any
other dragon who stands against me.”

Quraal’s
blade quickly moved down through the air so as to silence Zane.

But the
blade, never made it…

While Quraal
had been gloating over the body, Stacey had rolled across the ground to
retrieve Zane’s cast aside sword. At first she was going to hand it back to
Zane, but then she felt something within her. Something, not human…

The rage was
magnificent.

The fire. The
strength.

Their little
baby inside her knew his father was about to die. And he wasn’t having a bit of
it.

Stacey, now
merged with their unborn child, swung Zane’s sword with tremendous strength
towards Quraal and sliced through his body cutting it completely in half.

Quraal’s
scream was throttled as he hit the ground in two separate pieces, and almost at
once the skin of his face blackened and melted away to reveal a hollow corpse.

Stacey
dropped the sword, her arms shaking, and then was confronted by Zane’s powerful
embrace. He was in just as much shock as she was, and they stood there, holding
each other, not quite comprehending the miraculous outcome that had occurred.

Their lips
soon connected, along with the rest of them, and it was the greatest moment of
their lives.

Because now
it was real.

Now it was
true.

Nothing.

No man. No
woman.

No dragon or
mage or god.

No force from
this world or the other, would ever come between Zane and Stacey again.

They laughed.
They cried.

And all they
could think about was each other.

And the world
they would create for the child they shared.

CHAPTER
TWENTY

Stacey and Zane’s wedding was held on
Firebound Island one week after Quraal’s demise.

With King
Horatio’s help during the week, they had visited the journalist Steve Sherper
with evidence that exposed the government’s corruption at the research facility
team and Stacey was cleared of all convictions and wrongdoing. They were able
to arrest Walter and the rest of the security team, and Stacey felt much safer
knowing they were behind bars and in the process of giving up the names of
which government officials had been involved in the corruption.

Although he
was sought for high and wide, the one person who got away clean, was the Human
Mage who seemed to have vanished off the face of the earth. Stacey hated that
he was still out there, but now that the dragons were back under Horatio’s
rule, it was made clear that should he ever resurface, he would be dealt with
swiftly.

The wedding
was held outside the palace in the middle of the afternoon, on a hot, sunny
day. Birds were chirping, squirrels were giggling, and all other matter of
reptile or rodent on the island seemed to erupt with delight as their ceremony
began.

Stacey was
inside the palace with her father, whom had flown in with her mother and
cousins to witness the ceremony. While he found it odd Stacey had chosen to
marry a dragon, he couldn’t say much other than how sorry he was for not standing
up for his daughter when she had been wrongfully accused of murder.

While it had
hurt Stacey at the time, it was okay for her now.

She forgave
him.

Stacey’s
bridesmaid’s dress was the most extravagant and beautiful dress she had ever
seen. It was a shiny, emerald green, with white lacing stitched around the
shoulders and waist. Inside it, she felt invincible. Marvelous. Miraculous.
Something she had only once dared to dream about…

Blissful
sounds of violin strings echoed through the courtyard as Stacey walked the
isle. Jasmine was standing up the front to the left side, smiling at her, so
gorgeous and happy. In the crowd she also knew Dennis was looking on to show
his support. Although there had been some trying times with him in the recent
past, he had assured both her and Zane that he now knew the error of his ways,
and hoped they could remain friends in the days to come. While Stacey wasn’t
completely assured of his transformation, she wasn’t going to knock it back
either. Zane seemed to believe him at least, and that was more than enough for
her.

On the
groom’s side, Horatio Hurux was standing there in a formal tuxedo. He had been
elected best man.

Beside him,
Zane.

The groom.

He was
waiting for her.

Stacey
stepped up to the alter beside Zane, the pair of them unable to stop smiling.
The violin’s ceased and their attention was turned to the celebrant.

“Some of you
know me,” the celebrant began. “Some of your don’t. I am one of Masters of the
otherworld, which means I know much about the affairs of dragons and humans
alike. We are gathered here today, in celebration for the union of these two
people, and I want you to pay attention to the word I’m using there. When I say
people, I mean both the groom and the bride, because humans and dragons are
both people to one another. We are not animals of another species. We are
people, who understand one another as clear as day. There needs to be no divide
between us. That is who we are all today, dragons or humans alike. We are the
same.”

Zane’s warm
eyes looked down on Stacey, making her blush.

“Zane and
Stacey. Two people who have met and shared an experience,” the celebrant
continued. “Two people who have not only had to battle corruption and evil –
who not only endured hardship – but put an end to the hardship of others. Both
of them, are people. But they are heroes for us. They are true leaders who set
an example of how two people, when in love, should act towards one another. I
know you all will have your own experiences with the couple, but as I have only
met them today, I can say I have never before seen, two people who have been as
in love as much as Zane and Stacey.”

Tears fell
from Stacey’s eyes first.

Then they
fell from Zane’s.

“Stacey would
you like to say your vows?”

Stacey’s face
went bright red.

“My dearest
Master,” she said meekly. “I have never met anyone as brave, or noble, or
awesome as you. You fill my heart will a thousand stars, each one of them a
wish coming true. I love you so much … And I know the love I have for you, is
nothing compared to the love our baby has for both of us…”

Stacey could
hardly say those last words. She was faint. Her blood pressure was off the
charts.

And Zane
shared the moment with her.

“My
wonderful, beautiful, amazing Blossom,” Zane gushed. “You are the strongest woman
I have ever met. You are the most pure. The most perfect. But that’s not why I
love you. I love you, for the girl I see inside of you. She’s so hard to find.
So secretive. Although you are the kindest and most giving person among
strangers, you still keep that little girl hidden from everyone. I know who she
is. I know who you are. You were the girl who was going to break me in two.
Because it’s only once I’m broken so badly, that I can find the little boy
inside of me…”

The tears
were coming out of her like a bucket.

Even their
family and friends were crying.

“Stacey
Caversham, do you take Zane Hunter to be your lawfully wedded King?”

Stacey smiled
through the tears. “I do.”

“Zane Hunter,
do you take Stacey Caversham to be your lawfully wedded Queen?”

Zane smiled
through his tears. “I do.”

“Then I am
proud to announce to world, King Zane and Queen Stacey. Husband and wife for
all time. You may kiss the bride.”

Zane put his
lips to hers hungrily, and she wrapped her arms around him.

Confetti flew
in the air and the crowd cheered for their union.

Music played.
The animals all sang.

And a little
dragon in Stacey’s tummy, began to gurgle in delight, because he knew when it
was time for him to come into the world…

How he would
be loved…