The Dragon Legion Collection

Chapter Four



The firestorm was blinding in its brilliance as Thad kissed Aura. She reveled in his kiss, not even caring that they were being watched. Finally he lifted his head and smiled down at her, his satisfaction so clear that Aura smiled in return.

She knew what she had to do.

“So she did,” she murmured aloud, and changed to a breeze. She flew through the leaves of the solitary tree, making the silver leaves tinkle against each other. They made a beautiful music, more beautiful than Aura had ever heard before, and she dared to believe that her mother approved of Thad.

That was when the man beneath the tree caught his breath. “You tell a story well, my friend,” he said, his voice weak with pain. “I can almost hear the music of that tree’s leaves. I could believe myself to be there.”

“You are there,” said the cloaked woman beside him. Aura caught sight of the woman’s smile and knew her identity without doubt. She spun around the tree, making the leaves tinkle with joy, suspecting that Hera would reveal herself in a moment.

But the goddess had no chance to fling back her hood. A cold shadow passed over the tree. Aura even shivered in her breeze form, her move making the leaves vibrate tunelessly.

A heartbeat later, a woman with hair the color of a flame stood a dozen steps away from them, her smile so malicious that Aura was chilled. She hadn’t been there before, Aura was certain of it.

“Murderer and thief!” she said, her voice dropping low with threat. She pulled a knife and twirled it, then advanced upon Thad. “I will avenge my sister’s death upon your kind, Pyr, one dragon at a time.”

“She-who-should-not-be-named,” Aura said in the speech of her kind and Thad started. She knew from his expression that he didn’t fully understand and wished she’d told him what she’d learned from the other nymphs.

He remained calm and spoke reasonably to the woman stalking toward him, and Aura appreciated that he tried to find a peaceful solution.

“Why don’t we talk about this?” he suggested. “I don’t know your sister, but I’m sure we can work out any misunderstanding...”

The woman laughed, and Thad cringed at the harsh sound. She snapped her fingers and changed shape in a flash of brilliant blue. She became a winged hag with eyes that dripped blood on the ground. She looked like something from a nightmare, but Aura knew this was the truth of her appearance.

Tisiphone’s naked body was smeared with blood and perhaps something darker. The smell of her was foul. Her hair writhed, and Aura saw it was composed of glistening black snakes. When she laughed, her rotted teeth were visible. Her fingernails were yellow and her breasts sagged low. She was ancient and withered and should have commanded sympathy, but the fury of her expression and the large bat wings sprouting from her back inspired only horror.

When Tisiphone leapt toward Thad, with all the vigor of youth, Aura feared her dragon would not survive. Thad suffered from no such doubt. Aura saw him change shape and leap into the air in his dragon form, roaring as he lunged at Tisiphone with talons bared, more than ready to fight.

* * *

Jorge huddled behind a rock, sniffing. He had a keen sense of smell, keener even than that of the other Pyr and Slayers. His senses had sharpened when he’d drunk the Dragon’s Blood Elixir. Now, he inhaled deeply of the dying pilgrim’s scent, trying to identify the man’s illness.

It was fierce, whatever it was, a kind of pestilence that was rotting his body from the inside out. It had worked insidiously, leaving the man oblivious to the true state of his health, only revealing itself when there was no hope for him. Jorge admired that kind of stealthy assault.


It wasn’t cancer.

It wasn’t plague.

It wasn’t smallpox or influenza or SARS or ebola. It wasn’t any of the familiar suite of illnesses that plagued mankind in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

It was, perhaps, something that had been lost and forgotten over the centuries, much as the Dragon’s Tooth Warriors should have been.

That intrigued Jorge. He had no doubt it was contagious, given the right circumstances, because all living organisms multiplied to survive. He had no doubt that he would be spared whatever foulness it might do to a body, both because his body was Slayer not human, and because he had sipped of the Dragon’s Blood Elixir, the source of immortality for his kind. He could recover from any illness or injury, in time.

And if this one took him a while to recover, it just might be worth the price.

Because Jorge knew that the darkfire wasn’t done with him. It had some mission, some quest that would ultimately favor the Pyr. The darkfire was closely associated with them, after all, and favored their efforts over those of the Slayers. He wouldn’t have been surprised to learn that the darkfire had swept him back in time to see him eliminated forever, for example.

But Jorge wasn’t that easy to eliminate.

Plus Viv Jason was here. He guessed that she had somehow been created in this journey of Drake’s Pyr to the past, but that meant she had to be flung into the future. He knew her in the early twenty-first century, so somehow the darkfire had to get her there.

Jorge intended to tag along.

In fact, he intended to take a piece of this pilgrim with him when he went. Whatever disease plagued this pilgrim might be just what the Slayers needed to exterminate the human race for once and for all.

The remaining Pyr would probably die of loneliness.

Jorge couldn’t wait. He crept out of the shadow of his rock in his salamander form, watched the Pyr fight the creature that Viv Jason had become. He judged the distance to the pilgrim, mustered his strength and waited for his moment.

* * *

The hag was strong.

The smell of her wasn’t the worst of it.

Thad had known there was something wrong with the red-haired woman, because her scent had seemed off. He’d sensed that she was hiding something, but hadn’t been sure of what until she changed shape.

He guessed that this guise was her reality, and she thought it wise to hide this form from casual view. She was hideous and terrifying, the sight of her so horrifying that he’d almost recoiled and taken a blow. In this form, the scent of her was an assault in itself, a horrible mixture of blood and excrement. Thad lunged toward her, wanting to defend the others, even as she leapt at him.

He breathed dragonfire, but the flames didn’t stop her. He smelled her hair burning and heard her manic laughter at the same time. She darted through the flames, blood running from her eyes, and jumped at Thad. She locked her arms around his neck, cackling into his face. He was appalled by the feel of her skin. It was cold and clammy, like the skin of a corpse, and when he tried to toss her aside, his talons sank through the soft rot of her body.

She beat at him with her wings, kicked at him with her legs and spat in his eye. It was against his nature to injure an elderly woman, even one so awful as this, but revulsion convinced Thad that she needed no concession from him.

Thad bellowed with fury as he took flight. He guessed this was a fight to the death and wanted this creature away from the others. Even if she killed him, he wanted it to be difficult for her to claim anyone else. He tore the hag free of his neck and cast her into the air before him, exhaling a ferocious plume of dragonfire at her. The flame burned hotter and whiter than he expected and he knew Aura was helping him by fanning the flames.

The hag laughed and turned in the air, flying hard against the wind that would have driven her out to sea. That was Aura again, and Thad was encouraged that together, he and his mate might win the fight. Thad pursued the hag, breathing fire all the while. He heard the screams of the black snakes as they were fried and smelled her skin burning, but she didn’t surrender.

She dropped suddenly like a stone, and too late, Thad realized she did it to duck out of the wind. In an instant, she was behind him and latching on to his back. He felt her nails dig in to his shoulders and spun in an effort to shake her free.

“First you, then all the Pyr,” she vowed. “I’ll kill all of you and see your kind exterminated for your crime.”

“But what crime is this?” Thad demanded. “We defend the treasures of the earth, the four elements and humankind.”

“There are others you slaughter,” she muttered and tore at his skin with her nails. The snakes in her hair tried to bite at him, but his scales protected him.

Thad guessed she was trying to rip a scale free, so those snakes could poison him with their venom.

“What others?” He flew a tight somersault, twisting hard, and her own weight pulled her free. He slashed at her as she fell, catching one of her wings with his claw. His talon tore through the leather of her wing and she screamed in anguish. The snakes that made her hair writhed with greater agitation, and she leapt on him again. She had hold of his leg, her grip holding fast no matter how Thad shook.

“Your kind owes me for the death of my sister,” she declared.

“I know nothing about your sister!” Thad flew at the mountain and swung his leg hard against a precipice. The woman hit the rock with her back, and blood flowed from her injury as she released her grip on him.

The wound didn’t slow her down, though. She was after him again, flying unevenly, but determination bringing her closer. “Ask your friend, then,” she whispered. “Ask Damien.”

“Damien! You’ve seen Damien?” Thad held off from striking the hag at this news of his fellow warrior. “You’ve been to the Underworld? Is he still there?”

She smiled coldly, and he knew she’d keep any knowledge of Damien from him, just because she could. “You show great concern for a murderer. But then, I expected you’d be two of a kind.”

“If Damien killed anyone, it must have been in defense of himself or his mate...” Thad began, then caught a whiff of a scent he’d never expected to smell again.

Slayer!

But there were no Slayers in this ancient world. The dragon shifters who had chosen the darkness were creature of the future...unless the darkfire had cast one back in time, along with the Dragon Legion. Because Thad knew that scent of rot and decay, a smell that made him shiver even more than the stench of the hag he found. He struck her hard then pivoted in the air, seeking the Slayer.

There!

“Slayer!” he cried, pointing at the yellow salamander that was racing toward the pilgrim. He scanned the area for Aura, but she must still be a breeze. “Look out, madam!” he shouted to the old woman who crouched beside the dying man. She looked up at him in confusion and Thad knew he had to help her.

It was the creed of the Pyr to defend mankind, after all.

The hag’s vengeance would have to wait.

He flew hard toward the old woman and the pilgrim, determined to ensure their safety. He felt the hag snatch at the end of his tail, but didn’t have time to do more than try to shake her off. He saw the yellow salamander that was the Slayer look up from the dirt road. He heard the Slayer snarl and saw him swing his tail.

He recognized this Slayer. It was Jorge, a particularly mercenary Slayer from the twenty-first century.

Thad had time to blame the darkfire for Jorge’s presence, then everything happened very fast.


* * *

Aura couldn’t watch.

She couldn’t not watch.

Tisiphone fought hard, clearly as determined to kill Thad as she’d said she was. She wouldn’t rest until her sister’s death was avenged, although Thad’s companion Damien probably hadn’t realized what he’d set in motion. He probably had been defending his mate.

Maybe Aura hadn’t seen a child in her shared future with Thad because Thad didn’t have a future.

It was a terrifying idea.

Aura was deeply afraid of the Erinyes and their lust for vengeance, yet she tried to help Thad by blowing against Tisiphone when possible. She fanned the flames of his dragonfire, too, making it burn hotter and whiter. She liked to think she had made some difference, but Tisiphone’s thirst for vengeance was powerful.

She saw Thad catch a scent of something, for his nostrils pinched shut and his manner became even more alert. She saw him scan the ground, averting his attention from Tisiphone for a dangerous moment.

She didn’t understand why he called the yellow salamander a Slayer, much less what a Slayer was, but she understood his sense of urgency. He saw the creature as a threat. Thad dove toward the salamander, claws outstretched and fire billowing from his jaws.

The salamander snarled, then shimmered blue.

In an instant, the salamander had become a yellow dragon, just as large and powerful as Thad. Aura gasped as the yellow dragon took flight, meeting Thad part way, and the pair locked talons. They spun end over end in a bid for supremacy, biting and slashing at each other. The contrast between them was striking, Thad’s scales so dark as to be almost black with orange around the perimeter and the Slayer’s scales brilliant yellow.

Their tails entwined and Aura could see the strength of their grips. Their talons dug into each other and the dragonfire they exhaled burned hot and bright. Aura smelled burning scales and swirled around Thad, trying to cool his burns.

Thad bit suddenly at the chest of the Slayer, sinking his teeth deep into his opponent’s flesh. The Slayer cried out as his blood ran black from the wound. It dripped to the ground and hissed on impact, emitting a plume of steam.

The Slayer tore himself free, slashing at Thad so that his shoulder was torn, including the tendon to his wing. Thad’s blood ran brilliant red, and Aura guessed this was somehow indicative of the difference between them. Thad’s flight faltered because of his damaged wing. He dropped a bit in the sky, and the Slayer laughed.

Then the Slayer did a strange thing. He hovered in the air, narrowed his eyes and breathed slowly. A moment later, Thad jerked backward, as if he’d been struck in the chest. He faltered again and couldn’t seem to keep his eyes open or his wings flapping.

He fell toward the ground, flailing as he tried to regain the momentum of flight. The Slayer pursued him, grinning even as he continued to breathe slowly. Aura could almost see a glitter between the two of them, like a tendril of sparkling smoke, but when she tried to look directly at it, it disappeared.

She leapt into the air and blew through the space where she’d glimpsed the tendril. She felt something cool in that space, then the Slayer swore and slashed at her. His claws slid through the breeze she’d become, not injuring her at all. Thad recovered a little, but not quickly enough. He hit the earth and didn’t move. He was on his back, his eyes closed, his breathing shallow. Aura couldn’t believe that her dragon had been felled.

The Slayer seized Tisiphone and threw her at Thad. She landed on his chest, and the Slayer leaned down to touch the tip of his talon to a spot on the fallen Pyr’s chest.

“There,” he breathed, and Aura realized with horror that it was the place where Thad’s scale had fallen away.

“No!” she cried, shifting shape and landing in human form beside the pair of them. She couldn’t be responsible for Thad’s death. It couldn’t be her fault that his firestorm’s promise wasn’t fulfilled.

Tisiphone looked up in dismay.

The Slayer’s eyes narrowed and he bared his teeth. “Ah, the mate,” he murmured with some satisfaction. Aura supposed that was what she was.

“Take me instead.” Aura offered her bared arm to the snakes that twined around Tisiphone’s hair. “It’s my fault he’s vulnerable.”

The Slayer chuckled, as if he found her foolish. “Take them both,” he suggested.

Tisiphone looked between the two of them, then smiled darkly. She leaned forward and the snakes in her hair vibrated in their anticipation. She took one in her hand and offered its hissing head to Aura. “Kiss this one,” she commanded. “Show me that you mean what you say.”

“And you’ll let him go,” Aura insisted.

“I’ll take him if you don’t. See if you can satisfy my hungry vipers.” Tisiphone made no promise, and the Slayer laughed, but Aura had to do what she could. She looked at the snake with its flicking tongue and its gleaming eyes, then bent closer to welcome its bite. The snake opened its mouth, revealing its fangs, and Aura closed her eyes in anticipation of pain.

“I forbid this!” a woman roared, just before the snake made contact.

There came a flash of brilliant blue-green light, like a crack of lightning out of a clear sky, even as the woman shouted.

The moment that the world was lit with that blue-green lasted far longer than an instant. Aura saw the yellow dragon lunge toward the fallen pilgrim. The Slayer seized the man’s arm in his mouth, tearing it away from his body with savage force. The pilgrim’s body was dragged across the ground as the dragon tore the arm free, and blood flowed copiously when it did. The man moaned in agony as his limb was ripped away.

Tisiphone caught her breath and stepped back, her gaze fixed on the old woman who had been huddled beside the pilgrim. That woman had leapt to her feet and flung out her arms. Her cloak had fallen away, revealing that she was young and beautiful.

Hera in one of her favorite guises.

Tisiphone gasped.

The yellow dragon vanished.

The pilgrim closed his eyes and looked to be breathing his last.

Hera pointed her finger at Tisiphone. “Your battle was your own until you dared to threaten a child of mine. I banish you from this age and this realm!”

“You can’t banish me!” Tisiphone replied, drawing herself up to her full height. In the strange blue-green light, she looked even more like a nightmare come to life.

Hera walked toward her regally, shaking her finger as she spoke.



“Across the centuries and the years,

You will wait and shed your tears,

Until the darkfire is freed again;

Your vengeance can cause Pyr no pain.

I close the portal, for once and all,

To see those I love out of your thrall.

When darkfire will burn once again,

Your sister’s death can be avenged.

When daughters of all elements are mates

Then will the dragons face their fate.”



“No!” Tisiphone cried, even as she was changed to the woman with hair the color of flame again. She had a moment to glance over herself before there was a clap of thunder loud enough to make the earth shake. The blue-green light faded as abruptly as it had appeared and when it was gone, so was Tisiphone.

Thad was still lying on the ground, his breathing so shallow that Aura could barely discern it. Worse, he was changing shape on the ground before her, shifting from dragon to man and back again, and she knew it was involuntary. He didn’t open his eyes and even the pale blue shimmer that accompanied his shift seemed pallid instead of vigorous. He was flat on his back and too still, the blood flowing from his wounded shoulder.


The spot of unprotected skin where he had lost the scale looked terrible. The flesh looked burned, and as if it was festering. Aura feared the Slayer had done something that would kill Thad. Aura dropped to her knees beside him, feeling more helpless than she ever had. Even the glow of the firestorm was subdued, no more than a pale glimmer of light when she touched him.

Could it all be for nothing?

Could Thad’s dream of a fulfilled firestorm not come true?

* * *

Jorge held fast to his prize as he was cast through the air. He didn’t doubt that he was being flung through time and space, as well. It was imperative that he return to the future with the pilgrim’s arm.

But he had no control over the darkfire, and what it might do. His hatred of that unpredictable force redoubled as he endured the wind and the fog.

Then he was slammed down hard on what had to be asphalt.

Jorge smelled car exhaust. He could almost taste the tar of the road. There was a yellow line painted on the asphalt right beneath his chin.

He smelled the salt of the sea and felt rain pattering on his scales. He heard car brakes squeal and tires smoke as vehicles skidded to a halt all around him. People began to scream.

Jorge sat upright, wondering where he was, besides being in the middle of a road.

Hundreds of astonished people stared back at him, some from behind the windshields of cars, others from the sidewalk. The cars were either very small hybrids or very large SUVs. Jorge’s heart skipped with hope. He looked up and saw a tower that had to be the Space Needle in Seattle, and the rain and the sea confirmed his theory.

Then the people turned their cellphones on him, filming and photographing him. Others began to talk into their phones, all of which were models recent to the world he’d left not long before.

Jorge would have thrown back his head and laughed if that might not have cost him his prize. He was back in the future, or close enough to it.

Why not use his weapon now?

He chewed on the arm even as he reared up. He flapped his wings and bellowed without slackening his bite. They filmed him from all sides, some hanging back, others pressing closer. He’d be featured on every news outlet on the planet, which would give fair warning to all the Pyr of the world.

Jorge suspected that wouldn’t make any difference. He took flight, jubilant that the darkfire had finally turned in his favor. He’d survived so much and now he’d have his revenge. He shook the blood from the severed arm, letting it fall like rain over all the pitiful human spectators. Some of them screamed. Others ran. More of them kept filming his triumph.

This could be big.

This could end it all.

He could be bringing a plague to the world. Jorge wasn’t one to admit his limitations, but he knew that he needed the help of a devious mind to ensure that his plan came to full fruition.

Although he feared he might regret his choice, Jorge knew he had to go to Chen. He gave one last triumphant turn over the crowd, then spun in the air and disappeared.

He would manifest in the middle of Chen’s own lair.

* * *

Tisiphone flailed and howled as she was cast bodily through the air. She couldn’t see anything except swirling mist and couldn’t feel anything but a buffeting wind. There were occasional flashes of blue-green light in the mist near her, but she couldn’t even see the source of the light. It just illuminated the clouds, as if she was in the midst of a thunderstorm.

She was powerless to change her situation, and that infuriated her almost as much as being cheated of the chance to claim the first of the Pyr. How dare Hera interfere with her quest for justice? How dare Hera cast her away? If ever she saw Hera again, Tisiphone would ensure that goddess paid dearly for her intervention.

Tisiphone felt herself falling. She tried to stop her descent and failed completely. The sense of helplessness didn’t improve her mood. Nor did being slammed into a rocky shore, as if she’d jumped from a great height. She was dazed from her ordeal and bruised from her landing. She heard water lapping a shore close by and smelled smoke in the air. She opened her eyes to discover that it was night and she was on a rocky excuse for a beach. The mist was rising slowly.

She heard footsteps and smelled a mortal. Tisiphone shifted shape quickly, taking the guise of the woman with hair the color of flame. It would be less frightening to a mortal than her reality.

“Hey, there. Are you okay?”

Tisiphone rose to her feet and turned to see a woman dressed in black making her way closer. She had dark hair and red lips, and wore a silver bracelet shaped like a snake.

“It’s not that safe down here, especially at night,” the woman said. “Are you all right?”

Tisiphone nodded and brushed down her clothing, as if she loitered in such places all the time.

“Do you live around here?”

Tisiphone shook her head, not trusting herself yet to speak. Being divine, she could understand the languages of mortals, but this was a new one for her. She wanted to listen longer before she spoke herself, to be sure she got it right.

“You look like you’ve had a rough night,” the woman said with sympathy. “I can totally relate, but you don’t have to tell me about it if you don’t want to.”

Tisiphone looked down at her feet, as if embarrassed.

“I don’t blame you,” the other woman said cheerfully. “Men can be such bastards. Look, I’m Viv Jason. I’ve got a place near here, if you need somewhere to crash or maybe something to eat.”

Tisiphone nodded. She was going to make a polite comment, but the mist chose to burn off in that moment. She stared in amazement at the world revealed. There was a massive structure before her, unlike anything she’d seen before. It had clearly been built by man, but stretched taller and straighter than she could believe. It spanned the broad expanse of water that lapped at her feet, providing a path to a glittering city of impossibly tall buildings. She could see rows of lit windows, more than she could count, all glowing with the same intensity. There couldn’t be enough candles or lanterns in all the world to make that much light, but it was there before her eyes just the same. The night sky was clear overhead, but the light of the city even obscured the light of the stars.

“Manhattan at night and the Brooklyn Bridge,” Viv Jason said with a smile. “It’s a sight that stops me cold every time, too.” She shivered with apparent delight, then beckoned to Tisiphone. “Come on. We’ll find a snack and you can tell me about yourself.”

Tisiphone was skeptical that that would happen. She eyed the bridge and knew she was in the future, maybe even at the point in time forecast by Hera when the darkfire would be set free. At the very least, she’d need time to orient herself, to locate the Pyr and to discover whether the elemental daughters had mated with the dragon shifters.

Viv Jason might be of assistance in Tisiphone’s quest, or she might provide a nice snack herself.

* * *

Aura looked up to find Hera watching her.

“You will love him more even than you do now,” the goddess murmured.

“Not if he dies! Can you help him, Hera?”

Hera didn’t reply, just extended her hand. Aura knew exactly what she wanted, and dared to hope its power would be enough. She removed the golden apple from her tunic and surrendered it to the goddess to whom it rightfully belonged. “I am sorry that I stole it, Hera. I am sorry that I gave him a bite...”

“But you had to know the truth of his heart.” The goddess smiled. “I know you would not be cavalier with such treasures, Aura. I raised you, after all.”


Aura bowed low. “Thank you for banishing she-who-should-not-be-named...”

“She’s not gone, Aura, not really. She is outside of time, waiting for her opportunity. I can’t undermine an edict of Hades, but I could delay it. You and your Pyr will be safe from her, as will your children and their children, but one day, the dragons will have to answer for her sister’s death.”

“I understand.” Aura smiled at the goddess who had been like a mother to her. “Thank you.”

Hera smiled back at her, then considered the apple. She took a bite of it herself, then to Aura’s surprise, the goddess knelt by the fallen pilgrim. Aura had thought he was dead, but he moaned softly, apparently realizing Hera was near.

“Great lady, I am sorry that you see me in this state. I would worship you, if I could,” he whispered.

Hera removed the piece of apple from her mouth and smiled. “You have shown your true measure in being kind to an old beggar woman,” she said quietly. “And by offering the last of your provisions to another.” She touched his lip and placed the piece of apple in his mouth. “And here, pilgrim, is your reward.”

He closed his eyes and sighed, as if overwhelmed by the taste. “This can’t be...”

“But it is. My gift to you, friend. Savor it, and it will see you healed.”

A tear slid from the corner of the pilgrim’s eye, creating a track in the dust on his cheek. “I knew that only the goddess could save me,” he whispered.

“And so she has,” Hera agreed, bending to kiss his forehead.

Aura could see the pilgrim’s color changing, his skin turning to a more healthy hue even as she watched. She was impatient for Hera to share her gift with Thad, but knew better than to rush the goddess. She waited, hands knotted together, gaze flicking to Thad, and watched.

“Sleep now,” Hera bade the pilgrim. “When you awaken, you will be healed.”

But he clutched at her hand, apparently amazing himself with his audacity and ability to move. “But lady, I would serve you, wherever you bid me to. You have given me back my life, and I surrender it to you.” He gestured to his missing arm. “Whatever I can do.”

Hera stood up and looked down at him, her expression benign. “Would you be happy if you worked in my garden?”

“I can’t imagine anything better.”

“Then sleep,” Hera said. “And when you awaken, you will find yourself there.” She bent and kissed his brow again, and the pilgrim fell into a peaceful slumber.

Then Hera turned her gaze upon Aura.

She held up the apple, clearly anticipating Aura’s question. “It won’t help him,” she said quietly. “He has already eaten of it and you have seen the sum of its influence on him.”

“He can’t die!”

“All creatures can die, Aura. Only his own kind can help him.”

“But I don’t know where to find them, or how to summon them.”

Hera watched Aura for a long moment, clearly noting the dimmed glow of the firestorm. “What will you do, Aura?”

“He said we were destined mates. I will stay with him, until the end, whenever that is.” The tree shimmered over Aura’s head, a sweet melody that made her feel her mother agreed with her choice.

“And what of the firestorm?”

“Maybe the heat of it will help him. Maybe if I stay close, he will remain warm.”

“Do you understand why it wasn’t satisfied?”

Aura shrugged. “Because I didn’t want it to be?”

Hera shook her head. “Even your will isn’t enough for that,” she said. “Tell me about the firestorm.”

“It’s the sign that a Pyr has met the woman who can bear his son...”

“Woman,” Hera repeated, interrupting Aura. “You are a nymph. A woman is mortal. A nymph is immortal. The firestorm is keyed to the connection between Pyr and the treasures of the earth they defend.”

“Mortals,” Aura murmured. “And the elements.” She looked up at Hera. “Can you make me mortal?”

The goddess stilled “Are you sure?”

“He wanted the firestorm to be satisfied so badly. Maybe it would make a difference to him.”

“It would make a difference to you,” Hera reminded Aura. “And it would be no guarantee. You would be unable to find my garden, ever again, for example.”

A lump rose in Aura’s throat. She considered Thad and knew that if he’d been healthy, the choice would have been no choice at all. As it stood, she was taking a chance. But she remembered the joy of flying with him, the risk they’d taken together and their exuberance when they had succeeded in reaching this place. She thought of his conviction and his sense of purpose, and she knew that even if the chance of fulfilling his firestorm was small, she had no choice but to try.

She would willingly have Thad’s son.

She knew that being mortal would allow her to do that, but she didn’t want to lose the magic of their flight together. She liked that they were both shifters and they way they had frolicked in the air. She was glad that she’d been able to help him in his battle against Ladon, too. She didn’t want to surrender all that she was, even to make his dream come true.

She wanted them both to remain what they were and be stronger together.

Then she remembered Nephele’s story. “Those daughters of the elements,” she said to Hera. “The ones you included in your prophecy.” The goddess inclined her head. “Are there Airdaughters in their number?”

Hera smiled. “Of course. There are daughters associated with each of the four elements, although they are few in number.”

Aura got to her feet and met the goddess’s gaze. “Would you make me mortal, Hera?” she asked. “Would you make me an Airdaughter, please?”

The goddess took a step closer and framed Aura’s face in her hands. She bent to kiss her cheeks, one after the other. “I promised your mother to raise you as my own, and to do my best to ensure you found happiness.” She looked into Aura’s eyes. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, Hera. Please,” Aura said with conviction, then bowed her head.

She felt the touch of the goddess’s lips on the top of her head, even as the air cooled all around her. “Blessed be,” Hera whispered and Aura felt a strange shimmer pass through her body. It was like the tingle that accompanied her changing shape, but was colder and more vehement. She understood that her very nature was being changed.

And she was glad.

She shivered then opened her eyes, wanting to see the world shift as a result of her changed nature. For a moment, everything was just as it had been. Hera stood before her, her lips curved in a sad smile. The goddess blew a kiss at her, then bent to lift the pilgrim into her arms. He might have weighed as little as a feather for all the strain she showed.

A fine mist was descending, one that obscured the hills and the road and filled the air with moisture. Hera turned and stepped into the mist, her figure lost to view, even as she took the road that led uphill.

“I’m sorry, Aura,” whispered Nephele. Aura was glad the shrouding mist was someone she knew.

“I’m not,” she replied in kind. “I never will be, Nephele, although I will miss you all.”

The tingle slid from the tips of Aura’s fingers and toes, releasing a faint shimmer in the mist. Aura didn’t know if she would be able to see Nephele or the other nymphs again, or whether they would have to reveal themselves to her by choice. She wasn’t sure what would remain of her powers and what would be lost.


But she wanted to explore it all with Thad.

She wasn’t really surprised to discover that she was alone on a deserted hillside, Thad unconscious at her feet and the tree with silvery leaves casting shade over the two of them. There was no sign of Hera or the pilgrim. Aura knew that if she followed the road up to the high pass, she’d never see the garden.

A soft rain began to fall, and it made the leaves of the tree tinkle softly, as if in sympathy. Aura fell to her knees beside Thad, who remained now in human form, and kissed his cheek. Their lives were bound together now, whatever came to be.

She knew she shouldn’t have been surprised that no spark emanated from the point of contact between them. The firestorm was satisfied, just as he’d desired. She looked at him, letting her fingertips trail across his cheek and lips. Even though the firestorm was extinguished, he was still the most alluring man she’d ever known.

She would have his son.

Aura bent and touched her lips to his, then she twined their fingers together.

She would sit vigil and wait for his kind, no matter how long it took.

Then she remembered his old-speak, how she had been able to hear it and how he had been able to hear the way she spoke to her sisters. Aura closed her eyes and tried to send a beacon to the other Pyr.

“The firestorm is satisfied, but the Pyr has fallen. Help us, please. Come to us, other Pyr, and help your own kind, please.” She broadcast the words, over and over again, Thad’s hand held fast in her own, and hoped it was enough.