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“I said that I was going to find a better life. You know that Zeke ruined us. We should be kings and queens of this planet, and I knew that there were other dragons, who felt the same way. It just so happened they had an even better plan, and they have a far more impressive leader,” she looked at Ilvar in such away that I knew she was in love with him. She had fallen under his spell. I pitied her. She swayed her hips as she walked over to him and draped herself over his shoulders.
“Ilvar is going to take us home,” Jade said.
“We are home,” Mason said through gritted teeth.
Ilvar had had enough of being silent. “You must be Mason. Jade has told me so much about you,” Ilvar spoke with glinting eyes and a smooth tone, as though this was just some everyday chat, and it wasn’t like the world was going to crack around us. “I find it such a pity that there are my brothers and sisters out there who have lost sight of our history. We belong on Drakon. This place is merely a waystation. We should never have settled here. I have great respect for our ancestors, but their great failing was in believing that we could build a life here. They should never have condemned us like that, but I will raise us back to the stars again. I will take us home, and we can be the dragons we were always meant to be.”
“No, you’re not Ilvar, because we’re here to stop you,” I said, having to shout to be heard over the boiling and blazing fires. Ilvar narrowed his eyes, but he still wore his serpent’s smile.
“Ah, Kadie. It’s so good to see you again. I did wonder where you had scurried off to. I thought you might have found yourself a dark hole to crawl into. You know your father was so upset after you left. He had such high hopes for you. Neither of us thought you would turn out to be such a disappointment. You could have had everything…”
“I didn’t want any of what you had to offer, Ilvar. This future you want for us is wrong. You can’t just destroy a planet.”
Ilvar laughed. “Oh, but I can Kadie. I can do anything I want because I am a dragon, and we do not have to bow to the same rules as the humans.”
“You’re mad,” I said, shaking my head. He looked angry.
“Visionaries often get called mad by the people who don’t understand them. But no matter. You will all be left behind. You could have come with us, you know,” he looked at Mason as well as he said this. “I would have forgiven your transgressions, if you were willing to swear loyalty to me and accept your destiny.”
“This isn’t destiny,” Mason shot back.
“Mason, just stop it. You must see by now that the way we were taught to live was wrong. Do you really want to spend your entire life living in some hole, hiding from the world when we could be free?” Jade asked.
“I know it’s not ideal, but this is the way. We can live in peace,” Mason said.
“Peace is a curse to dragons,” Ilvar spat.
“And to think my father wanted me to marry you,” I sneered. Jade looked shocked at this. He must not have told her. Ilvar approached me with heavy strides and glared at me.
“You would have been a queen, Kadie, but instead you have become a traitor. You are even worse than the rest of them because you were a part of our thunder, and you turned your back on us. I should see you skinned and beheaded so that you can set an example for anyone else who might seek to doubt me.”
I looked in his eyes and I saw the fervent craziness that had set in. I knew there was no coming back for him. He was clutching at this future because it was the only one that seemed possible for him. He wasn’t about to relinquish it, and there was no way to talk him down, no way to stop him.
Except maybe for one…
I took a lingering look at Mason, and I hated what I was about to do. I thought about Buck and Brett and all the moments that glowed with promise, but sometimes, we didn’t get our happy endings. Sometimes, the visions never came true. I thought about the billions of people in the world, people who were living their lives in ignorance of what was happening here.They didn’t deserve to die just because Ilvar thought they were an inferior species. I thought about the animals of the air and land and sea, none of which should have been punished for the crime of living. What Ilvar planned was utterly, totally, horribly wrong, and I could not let him succeed.
So, I offered him something that I thought he wouldn’t be able to resist.
Me.
“Ilvar, fine, I’ll marry you, okay? I’ll be your wife. I’ll be your queen. I’ll do whatever you ask. I’ll give you many children and I will never complain. I will never speak out against you. I will do as you ask, and I will fulfil every order. You will have me completely, my body, my soul, my heart,” I glanced at Mason as I said this. My voice caught on emotion, but I forged ahead. “But you have to stop this. I will give you everything you ever wanted from me, but you have to step back and make a life for yourself on this planet. I’m sure that we can build a kingdom together, but it has to be here, not on Drakon. And you have to respect the life that already exists here.”
Ilvar closed the distance between us. He clasped my hands and looked deep in my eyes. I tried not to shudder. I tried not to show fear.
“Oh Kadie, you are so sweet in the way you try and protect these people. If only you cared about your own kind as much as you do everything else,” he sighed. “I was deluded before.” He turned and walked away from me. “I thought that you were my perfect mate, but I was wrong. You never had the heart of a dragon. You see? I am not so bad. I can admit that I make mistakes. Thankfully, I have rectified it now and found myself a new queen, one who sees the same future for dragons as I do.”
He turned to Jade and stretched out his arms, beckoning her forward. He took her in his arms, and they shared a sickening display of affection. She arched like a bow, and hethrust his tongue in her mouth. It was shameless, and then they both turned towards me and laughed. It was a mocking, cackling sound that was borne from the very worst instincts they had, and I hated him more than ever.
“And you shouldn’t worry, Kadie. You can mourn with your father. I’m sure there will be time for you to find him again before this world cracks apart for the final time.”
I furrowed my brow. “What are you talking about? You’re taking him with you. He’s back there with the others, waiting for you.”
Ilvar arched his eyebrows and tilted his head to the side. Jade murmured a laugh, as though this was all just a joke to her. “I’m afraid that’s not quite accurate. You see, when we return to Drakon we are going to need only the strongest dragons to build a new society. There are some who don’t quite make the grade, so unfortunately, they are going to have to remain here. Their sacrifice will not be forgotten though. Their names will live on in the hearts of us, survivors.”
The one hope I’d had was that Dad was going to survive this. “It’s hardly a sacrifice if they don’t even know they’re making it,” I said. Ilvar merely shrugged his shoulders.
“So that’s it then,” Mason said. “You’re willing to sacrifice human lives, dragon lives, this entire planet, all for this idea you have of a draconic utopia. You don’t even know whether you’re going to find Drakon!”
