Ride the Wave

1 Jasin I glared at the man in front of me with his all-too-familiar hazel eyes. Doran, the Azure Dragon, was one of the men I’d spent months training to defeat. It was my destiny to help overthrow him and the rest of the Black Dragon’s mates to restore balance to the world. They’d only brought chaos, misery, and death to the four Realms, and now they’d kidn*pped the woman I loved. I wanted to rip his head off, set fire to his body, and watch his bones turn to ash, but I couldn’t—because he’d just told us he was Kira’s father. Doran had the tanned, weathered skin of a man who spent his days in the sun, and his long sandy hair was wind-tossed and a little wild. While Isen, the Golden Dragon, had the bearing of a prince, and Sark and Heldor, the Crimson Dragon and the Jade Dragon, were obviously warriors, Doran looked more like a sailor or a pirate, especially with his scruffy beard, plain white shirt, black trousers and boots. I wasn’t fooled by his appearance though. The man was dangerous, and he was our enemy. “Why should we believe anything you say?” I asked, while my hand lingered on the hilt of my sword and fire burned inside me, begging to be released. Slade and Auric tensed beside me, ready to join me if things turned ugly. We stood in the ruins of the Earth Temple surrounded by shimmering crystals on the stone walls, a broken Dragon statue, and two bodies on the ground. One of them was Reven’s. Doran held up his hands as if in surrender. “I realize you have no reason to trust me, but Kira’s life is in danger and we need to rescue her before it’s too late.” “You knocked her out and carried her away, but now you want to rescue her?” Slade asked, his voice a low growl. His green eyes were hard as stone and a thin layer of sweat coated his dark skin despite the chill in the air. He’d been unable to stop Kira from being kidn*pped, only minutes after he’d completed the bonding with her that allowed him to turn into a Dragon, and it obviously weighed heavily on him. Auric’s gray eyes flashed with anger. “If you’re her father why would you kidnap her in the first place, knowing it would put her life in danger?” “Kira was obviously going to be captured one way or another,” Doran said. “I took matters into my own hands to make sure she wasn’t injured in the process. The others would not be as careful with her life as I was.” “You could have helped us stop them,” Slade said, crossing his thick, muscular arms. “Perhaps, but I’m not ready for Nysa or the others to know my true loyalties yet. The Black Dragon still trusts me, which allows me a great advantage.” Doran’s eyes narrowed. “But I won’t let my daughter be killed either. I’ve spent my entire life protecting her and making sure the other Dragons never found her. I’m not about to stop now.” My fingers still hovered near the hilt of my sword despite his words. I wanted to believe him, but we had no reason to trust anything he said. “I don’t like this,” I said to Slade and Auric. “For all we know he could be leading us into a trap.” “I could be,” Doran agreed. “But you’re never going to be able to rescue Kira without my help. Especially with one of your men down.” Reven’s body was encased in a thin layer of ice, the only thing keeping him alive after the Dragon attack. Beneath the ice, his black hair was thick with dried blood, and his side was horribly burned. He’d sacrificed himself to protect Kira, and her magic was the only thing that could heal him. By saving her, we’d be saving him too. Unfortunately, we couldn’t save the life of the man lying beside Reven. Parin had been the leader of the Resistance and despite his uncomfortable past with Slade, he’d led Kira and the others to the Earth Temple. He’d died trying to protect Kira from the Dragons, and he’d be remembered as a hero once this was all over. Auric ran a hand through his short blond hair, his face pinched. “I don’t trust Doran either, but he has a point. Without our bond it could take us a long time to find Kira.” At his words, I searched for Kira again and found only emptiness. Ever since I’d bonded with Kira at the Fire Temple, I could feel her presence, but something was blocking me now. Somehow the Black Dragon was making sure we couldn’t find her. “Tell us where she’s being held,” Slade demanded, squaring his broad shoulders as he faced down the Azure Dragon. “Then we’ll decide whether or not we need your help.” “She’s in Soulspire,” Doran said, naming the capital of the four Realms, where the Black Dragon ruled with her mates. “Inside a secret part of the palace.” Damn. He was right that rescuing Kira would be nearly impossible for us. I’d been to Soulspire once, back when I was a soldier in the Onyx Army, and the palace was heavily guarded. Not to mention, the other Dragons would be there, and we weren’t yet a match for them. Having Doran on our side could tilt the balance toward us, but I still wasn’t convinced this wasn’t a trick. For all we knew he was luring us to our own deaths or to a prison cell beside Kira’s. “What’s your plan exactly?” I asked. If he told us how to rescue her, perhaps we’d be able to accomplish it without his help. “Do you even have one?”