The Scars of Her Dragon (Dragon Guard Series Book 14) (2 page)

With his hands once again free, he picked up the two next smallest, tucked one under each arm, and shouted, “Come on, ladies, keep up!”

Literally pushing the two whose feet remained on the ground as fast as they could run, he attempted to get them to safety with the deafening whine of the missiles dogging his every step.

We’re not going to make it!

Looking up, he saw Rory and Brannoc less than fifty feet away. Roaring into their minds, he commanded,
“Ror! Brann! Heads up!”

“Close your eyes, girls,” he yelled.

From one second to the next, Rory and Brannoc spun around and lifted their arms as Kellan launched the two small girls he’d had tucked under his arms at his brethren. Relief filled his being as the Guardsmen caught the girls and disappeared into the bomb shelter.

Clouds of sand and debris whipped in every direction, leaving him all but blind as the air current from the now visible missiles made the huge Guardsman sway on his feet. Scooping up the two girls still barely on their feet, Kellan dove for the grassy area to the right.

“Where the fuck are you, Kell?”
Rory roared.

“Not gonna make it. Lock it down,”
Kell answered as he hit the ground.

“Kellan...”
Rory growled, the rest of his words cut off by the screech of the bombs.

Tucking the girls under his massive body a split second before the world around him exploded in a fiery mass of acrid flames and shrapnel that tore through his fatigues, shredded his skin, and embedded deep within his muscles, Kellan focused on keeping the girls from harm. Explosion after explosion tore through the tiny village as the Guardsman pushed his excruciating pain aside and tucked the girls even closer to his body.

Finally, after what seemed like hours but was really only six minutes, the bombing stopped. The immediate silence was all-encompassing. Sand mixed with smoke and ash filled the air, making it impossible for the Guardsman to see even his hand in front of his face. Holding completely still, still deafened from the blasts, Kellan opened his enhanced senses wide, searching for enemies on foot.

The silver poison from the shrapnel buried deep within every inch of the side of his body made keeping his focus difficult, but he vowed to himself that there was nothing that would keep him from getting the girls, still huddled under his body, to safety. While searching for combatants, he had to wonder who their enemies really were. It had to be someone or some organization who knew they were dragons and that their only weakness was silver. And since that information was most
definitely
not public knowledge, he had a good idea who they were dealing with and that pissed off both man and dragon even more.

“Kell? You there?”
Rory’s voice in his mind pulled the Guardsman from his inner grumbling.

“Yeah, I’m here. You thought a few half ton A2S’s could take me out? Come on, now, I’m not that old.”
He chuckled, trying to hide the pain and weakness.

“I swear to the Heavens. One day I’m gonna...”

“Have a heart attack and die if you don’t learn to chill out,”
Kellan interrupted. Changing the subject, he continued,
“Looks like it’s all clear out here. We’ll be heading that way momentarily.”

“Good, cause Brann’s about to wear out the bottom of his boots. Poor SOB’s been pacing since the lock clicked with you outside.”

“Shut the hell up, Ror,”
Brannoc growled.

And just to add insult to injury and because he couldn’t resist, Kellan teased,
“Aww, Brann, I didn’t know you cared.”

“Just get your ass down here,”
Brann grumbled and left their conversation.

“Yeah, what he said,”
Rory chuckled.

“Will do. Have you heard from Lenn and Pearce?”

Right on cue, the dynamic duo answered in unison,
“We’re here, boss. Hid in a handy dandy little abandoned fox hole and weathered out the storm.”

Then Lenn added,
“Headed back now. All clear this way.”

“Mostly because the mad bomber here blew them all up,”
Pearce snickered.

“And that’s why we love him,”
Rory laughed out loud
.

“All right, knuckleheads, come on in. We gotta helluva lotta people to find new homes for.”
Kellan’s hearing was quickly returning despite the growing silver poison in his veins. Thankfully, the wind had cleared enough of the crap out of the air that he could see a clear path to the bomb shelter.

“We’re on our way.”

Kellan cut the connection with his brethren and focused on the girls who were just now daring to peek at him from under their scarves. Using the softest voice he could muster and working hard to tone down his natural brogue, the Guardsman asked, “How about we get you ladies to the shelter? Sound good?”

Slowly, the girls nodded but still didn’t move. Their soft brown eyes were as big as saucers and their cheeks stained from their tears. It broke his heart to know this was the norm for ones so young. These sweet little children who wanted nothing more than to play in the sun, sing songs, and make crazy colored bracelets had never known anything but war. They had suffered more loss in their short lives than most adults would in all their years combined. It was one of the many things Kellan would never understand about war.

Pushing his anger aside and taking a deep breath to fight the excruciating pain of the silver still stuck in his back, the Guardsman got to his knees and smiled at the girls. Holding out his hands, he said, “Okay, climb on.”  

Without a second thought, the children got up and jumped into his arms. The burly old Guardsman’s heart filled to bursting that these kids trusted him with their safety. Quickly getting the tiniest one on his back with her hands tightly clasped right under his chin and the other two under his arms, Kellan rose to his feet. With his little passengers onboard, he did an about face and started his jog to the bunker.

The doors opened and Rory’s head popped out, complete with his patented shit-eating grin. Brannoc was right behind him glaring his disapproval.

It has to be hard to be the mother hen for a bunch of adrenalin junkie dragons.

“Are you two the welcoming...”

The words were stolen from his lips as fire tore through the back of his right thigh. Stumbling to one knee but still moving as fast as he possibly could, Kellan sat one of the girls on the ground right in front of him before swinging the smallest one off his back.
Pfft
...the sound of another shot from a long range sniper rifle reached his ears, giving the Guardsman the split second he needed to duck and once again cover the little ones with his body.

“Grab the kate, Dec. We gotta reaper out here,”
Rory bellowed, referring to the bravo 501 sniper rifle and the man with Kellan in his sights.

Thinking of every possible scenario as he dodged another bullet, he called to Rory,
“He’s using silver. Bastard knows who we are. I think it’s past time we know who the fuck he is.”

“Already on our way,”
Pearce immediately responded, closely followed by Lennox’s,
“SOB is by himself and heavily warded. I can only see him. Can’t get a read on who or what he is.”

Hearing Rory answer and having faith in his brethren to handle the enemy, Kellan scooped up the little girl now sitting on his knee, bundled all three against his chest, and jumped to his feet.

“Hold on, ladies,” he ordered as little fingers dug into his arms, chest, and neck. White hot agony ripped through his body. His dragon roared, pushing wave after wave of healing magic through the Guardsman’s system but hardly making a dent in the toxin.

Another
Pfft
had him swerving to the right. Then another had him ducking and twisting to the left just as Declan finally began returning fire. Using a bonfire of debris still burning from the bombing as cover, Kellan jumped over the flames. It was apparent the sniper knew the village well and was working as hard as he could to keep the Guardsman from getting his passengers to safety.

Heading towards a metal shed that had miraculously survived, Kellan maneuvered around several still smoldering piles of rubble while constantly telling the girls that everything would be all right.

It has to be all right...

Running full out the last fifty yards, Kellan could finally see light at the end of the tunnel. He was going to make it. The girls were going to be safe. Thanking the Heavens above, he poured all his energy into his run. Counting the yards, he listened to his brethren keeping the sniper at bay and once again couldn’t believe how lucky he was to be dragon.

Looking over his shoulder one more time, he saw that Declan had moved out of the bunker with his kate and was laying on the ground, while Rory was standing above him firing a smaller Enfield. Both were taking their cues from Lennox and Pearce, who were less than a hundred yards from the reaper.

Turning back to the front, a flash in the corner of his eye drew his attention just as the thud of a grenade hitting the ground mere inches from his feet had him spinning on one foot. His incredible speed coupled with his size and the extra weight of his passengers made it impossible for him to stop.

Assuming the explosive had a five second fuse, Kellan ran faster than he ever had in his life. He commanded his dragon to stop healing and shove all his magic into getting the Guardsman and the little girls to safety.

Three...two...o...

He wasn’t fast enough. The blast from the grenade threw him forward. The girls were forced from his arms and as they flew through the air he heard the tell-tale sound of ‘Pfft’ Pfft’ Pfft’. Silver shrapnel shredded his face and hands.

His world slowed. He could hear himself screaming. Hear his brethren shouting his name. He pulled at the sand, dragging himself towards the girls as their lifeless bodies fell to the ground. Reaching the smallest of them, both man and dragon roared as the life drained from her big brown eyes.

Uncaring of the danger around him, Kellan got to his knees and carefully lifted the child into his arms. Holding her to his chest, he walked on his knees to where the other girls lay side-by-side, their dead eyes staring back at him.

Laying down beside them, he curled himself around all three tiny bodies and simply wept. It was the first time in over a hundred years that tears had wet his cheeks. Pain unlike anything he’d ever felt wracked his already wounded and failing body. His heart slowed, struggling to beat against the crushing anguish of such useless loss.

His soul grew dark and empty. The dragon within pushed against the confines of Kellan’s mind, needing to tear free, demanding to destroy the ones responsible for stealing the precious lives from ones so small and innocent.

Lost in his anguish, the Guardsman heard his brethren trying to reach him. Heard Rory give the orders for Lennox and Pearce to bomb the area where the sniper still lay with a false confidence that he’d remained hidden while killing the children. He heard Declan take off after the combatant who’d thrown the grenade. Knew the moment Dec’s hand had closed around the man’s neck and felt an unrivaled satisfaction when he heard the unmistakable crack of the bones in the bastard’s neck. Kellan’s only regret was that he hadn’t been the one to kill him.

Ignoring his brethren’s screams to move, to get up, to do
anything
but remain where he was, like a sitting duck, trying to get himself killed. Kellan growled when large, gloved hands grabbed at his shoulders. Acting on pure instinct fueled by a fiery fury, the guardsman lashed out, grabbed his oldest and best friend by the throat, and kicked his feet out from under him. Rory threw his hands in front of himself as a sign of surrender while speaking directly into Kellan’s rage filled mind.

“Kell...let go...It’s...me.”

Somewhere in the deep recesses of his mind, Kellan knew he didn’t want to hurt his friend; knew he needed to remove his hand from Rory’s throat, but his wrath and that of his beast’s overrode all else. It consumed them.

“Kell.”
Rory struggled to speak, his voice going high from lack of oxygen.

“Kellan...”
The voice was now pleading with a pitch so much softer...smaller...that he began to doubt it was his longtime friend speaking.

More hands than he could count slapped at his arms. Thin, sharp nails tore at the skin of his fingers as he fought against his and his dragon’s instinct and tried to let go.

More female voices cut through his frenzy. The desert faded to black. Kellan struggled to open his eyes. Shouts of sheer terror tore away at the haze of his mind.

“Dammit, you big oaf, let go!” a low gravelly voice yelled before a small hand smacked him in the side of the head.

“Let go of her!” an obviously female voice shrieked. 

“Wake the hell up, asshole!” a deep, husky voice growled just as a fist much smaller than any of his brethren’s punched him in the gut.

Why did Rory let the villagers out of the bunker?

As if hearing his question, Rory’s voice boomed through his mind,
“Wake the hell up, Kell! You’re killing Olive!”

Kellan’s eyes flew open. His fingers released their grip as if they were spring-loaded. He scrambled up and over the back of the couch, horror and regret filling his entire being as he saw the deep purple bruises already forming on Olive’s beautiful neck and the fear in her eyes.

Throwing his hands out in front of himself as he backed away, unable to speak and shaking his head so quickly he was dizzy, Kellan stumbled as his back touched the cool glass of the patio doors.

Reaching behind him, unable to break eye contact with the gorgeous dove, he slid open the door with such force it bounced on its tracks just as he spun on his heels and ran barefooted and bare-chested into the darkness. Racing across the countryside, Kellan fell farther and farther into despair as Olive’s feeling of fright and confusion flooded their newly formed mating bond. Her thoughts were chaotic. She didn’t want to be scared. Was fighting hard to push it all aside. Was working with all her might to convince herself as well as her cousins that he hadn’t meant to hurt her.