Blast it!Lucyan swore. He shot upward, and Alistair followed, hiding behind the clouds as they watched the battle below. Two of the warlocks were incinerated instantly. The mules, waiting on a sturdy ledge far below with one of the warlocks, tried to bolt back down the mountainside, but their collars blazed with magic, and the mules stopped in their tracks. The remaining warlocks, including Count Kianor, held fast, using a blue, glowing shield to combat the worst of thefire.
Unfortunately for the warlocks, the shield couldn’t withstand the onslaught—Alistair saw it flicker, and he knew Dragomir did too. Baring his teeth, the giant dragon swooped down, drawing close enough to incinerate the warlocks with one bellow of fire while remaining well away from theirswords.
Before Dragomir could unleash the flames, Count Kianor raised his hands. Alistair caught the glint of brass bracelets around his wrists, and his father’s form blurred. The three of them watched in horror as Dragomir shifted back into human form, plummeting toward the jagged, rocky ground. He disappeared into a crevice, and the warlocks cheered while Alistair’s stomachsank.
By the gods,Lucyan said, sounding shell-shocked.Tariana said the elves had a device that could rip dragons out of the sky, but to see it in action…He shook his great head, disbelief in hiseyes.
“We can’t get any closer,” Dareena said, her voice trembling. She stared down at the mountain, watching the warlocks continue their ascent with a mixture of anger and fear in her eyes. “If they see either of you, they’ll take you out of the sky aswell.”
Lucyan leaned in and nuzzled his giant snout against Dareena, reassuring her they weren’t going anywhere. She smiled, leaning into him, and Alistair felt a momentary flash of jealousy that he couldn’t do the same. Staying out of sight, they watched the warlocks finish making the climb and enter the cave, carrying empty sacks in with them. Quickly, they began bringing the sacks back out, filled to the brim with gold and treasure, and lowering them back down using theropes.
“Sothat’swhere the treasure is!” Dareena exclaimed. “The warlocks are taking it forthemselves!”
Fucking thieves,Lucyan fumed, his eyes blazing withanger.
Go find out what happened to Father,Alistair said.Dareena and I will take care of the warlocks. Your amulet should shield me against the effects of the bracelet,correct?
It should,Lucyan confirmed.But why doyouget to have all thefun?
Because,Alistair said, sticking out his tongue,I’m the one who has thegirl.
Alistair tucked his wings in at his sides and dove out of the clouds before Lucyan could answer. Dareena shrieked, or perhaps that was the sound of the wind screaming in his ears—Alistair couldn’t tell. He pointed his body directly at the cave just as two of the warlocks were coming out. Their eyes widened as Alistair opened his mouth, blasting them with fire. Their screams briefly rent the air before their lungs crumbled to ash, and the fire cleared, leaving nothing behind but charred human and plant remains. Count Kianor ran out of the cave, brandishing his bracelets, but as Lucyan had said, they had no effect. His face paled as Alistair movedcloser.
“Wait!” Dareena cried. “Let me!” She jumped off Alistair’s back, her whip already crackling at her fingertips. The warlock tried to jump to the side as she flung it at him, but the whip coiled around his legs and brought him tumbling down. He screamed and writhed in pain, his body shaking uncontrollably. Dareena yanked on the whip, tightening it around him, and the warlock loosed a cry of such agony, it sent a shiver throughAlistair.
“Go and get the last one,” Dareena said, meeting Alistair’s gaze calmly. “Before he gets away with thetreasure.”
Alistair dove toward the ledge below, where the remaining warlock was busy ushering the mules down the mountainside. He’d been forced to leave several sacks of gold behind, but there were still three on the mules’ backs. Snarling, Alistair grabbed the warlock and flung him away, sending him tumbling into the vale below. The mules brayed in terror, frantically trying to get away, but Alistair used his bulk to block them while he ripped the sacks from their backs. Once they’d been unburdened, he let them flee, then flew back toDareena.
“I didn’t want you to accidentally melt these,” she said, holding up the count’s bracelets. He lay on the ground behind her, passed out. “I think this is what the warlocks have been using to force the dragons to shift back to humanform.”
Alistair rumbled his agreement. He landed on the ledge so Dareena could climb onto his back, then grabbed two sacks of the treasure and flew back down the mountainside to meet Lucyan. Even with the amulet to shield him, he could sense thewrongnessemanating from those bracelets; if Lucyan tried to fly up here, he would be incapacitatedimmediately.
Lucyan was already on the ground waiting, still in dragon form. Their father was laid out at his feet, and Alistair’s heart clenched at the sight of Dragomir’s broken, bloodied body. As he moved in for a landing, Lucyan’s form blurred, the bracelets Dareena held forcing him to changeback.
“Bloody hell,” Lucyan growled, a scowl planted on his face. Alistair shifted back into human form so the three of them could talk. It was a bit strange for them to be standing around naked, with his father naked on the ground between them, while Dareena remained fully clothed, but there was little they could do about it unless they found clothing up in the treasurehoard.
“Is he still alive?” Dareena asked, staring down at their father. She looked like she was torn between wanting to approach and wanting to get as far away from him as possible. Alistair couldn’t blame her—his father had threatened and demeaned her, and even tried to rape her once. The man who had raised them had turned into a truly despicablebeing.
“I think so,” Alistair said softly, crouching next to the body. He felt for a pulse and found one beating at his father’s neck, faint butpresent.
“I think his back is broken,” Lucyan said roughly, folding his arms across his naked chest. “His leg is at an odd angle, too, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he has broken ribs. It will take him quite some time to heal, and the bones will need to beset.”
Alistair sighed. “I know he’s done terrible things, but we cannot leave him like this,” he said. “He’s our father,Lucyan.”
Lucyan nodded tightly. “We cannot bring him back into the Keep, though,” he said. “It would be impossible to hold him in a cell or put him under housearrest.”
“Not necessarily,” Dareena said thoughtfully. She held the bracelets out to Lucyan, who backed away hastily. “These will keep Dragomir confined to his human form. It likely also hampers his ability to breathe fire and heal, which means that he is effectively rendered mortal so long as these arenearby.”
“And so are we,” Lucyan complained, his face screwed up in disgust. “Just what is the range on those blasted things anyway? Alistair was still a ways up when I was forced toshift.”
Dareena smiled. “Let’s test it then, shall we?” She slid the bracelets onto her wrists, then backed away. “Let me know when you stop feeling theeffects.”
Alistair dropped the amulet into the dirt so he could participate. The moment he did, he felt something squeeze him tight, as if a band were wrapped around his chest, except the feeling wasinsidehim. A shiver of revulsion rippled through him, and suddenly he understood Lucyan’s reaction when Dareena had held those bracelets out to him. He would not have wanted anything to do with themeither.
Thankfully, the farther Dareena walked, the looser the band around Alistair got. When she was around a hundred yards away, it disappeared completely, and he and Lucyan let out twin breaths of relief. Looking down at their father, they noticed that the scrapes on his body were healing, a large gash on his inner thigh almost completely closedalready.
“Stop there!” Alistair called. “That’s theradius!”
