Battling Lochness

MADDIE

In the dark, a smile stretched across my lips.

I gazed at Lochness’ red eyes.

It was time that he turn back to Loch.

My muscles twitched with energy and excitement. My senses were sharp.

The scents of our bodies tickled my nose, and Loch’s cum, as it dripped from my sex, electrified my nerves.

I wanted to lean over and drink his blood. I wanted to kick him squarely in the chest so that he bounced off the cave walls.

Violence tinged every desire that raced through my addled brain.

I was no longer afraid of the man before me. Just days ago, I wasn’t sure whether he was a monster or a man.

Now, as I thought of the violence he let loose on the city, I didn’t feel fear…

I understood.

The anger that drove my mate to unthinkable acts of brutality was no longer a mystery to me.

I felt his rage, but I would not let it drive me down his path of destruction.

I had a simple goal, and though the process might be violent, the result would be ~healing.~

I would bring my mate back.

But I would have to put him through hell first.

And though energy screamed through my veins, I hesitated.

My body wasn’t my weapon.

No. I narrowed my eyes at Lochness, who seemed to be somewhat sedated, almost sleepy, after our outpouring of passion.

Even though an unknown strength enlivened me, my weapon was the same it had always been.

My voice.

I opened my mouth.

The sounds, not quite words, fell from my lips like rose petals.

As usual, I fell into a trance the moment my melody began.

My voice sounded foreign to me.

I was singing, and I was being sung to.

My song was fundamentally familiar, as if I had been born while it played.

But it was also mysterious; spiraling down a hundred unknowable paths.

The song was someone else’s, but it was mine.

My song wore on until my voice formed words from raw sounds.

I realized that this was the song I knew…

This was what I heard in Club Emerald the night it burnt down.

The song the weeping woman sang to her child.

~“Oh, dark is the wind”~

~“When it blows through the cave”~

~“And the wolf gets the poor shepherd’s flock”~

~“Loud is the blood”~

~“As it lands in the mud”~

~“When it spills from the red, cursed rock.”~

~“Oh, cold is the night”~

~“When the wind pulls the lights”~

~“Cold was the night you were born”~

~“Tell me, where is your grave?”~

~“Oh, little one, where is your grave?”~

~“Tell me, where is your grave?”~

~“Oh, little one, where is your grave?”~

As my voice grew in volume, the water of the cave became iridescent. It gave off light, and I was able to see around me.

I saw Lochness as he fell under the spell.

His red eyes closed, and spit foamed at the corners of his mouth.

His neck jolted sharply to the right in an inhuman movement.

As I sang, Loch’s body seized and began to twitch involuntarily. He fell down into the water and splashed madly.

I was powerful beyond fear.

I understood that in order for Loch to return, I needed to ~kill~ Lochness.

He writhed in the water, choking and thrashing.

Like he was exorcising a demon.

As the chorus built once more, Loch lost himself.

I knew that my mate wasn’t here anymore. It was only Lochness. And he wouldn’t give up without a fight.

He thrashed madly. Scales began to appear in patches on his skin.

I felt a break in my confidence. In my supercharged state, I could fend off Loch as a human...but could I fight off a ~dragon?!~

Suddenly, Loch disappeared in a burst of black mist, and everything went silent…

But not a moment later, he reappeared.

He was a fearsome monster. I had seen Loch’s dragon before, but never was it as terrifying as this. His stilted movements made him look like he was possessed by an evil spirit.

I’d always been sure Loch wouldn’t hurt me…

But Lochness was absolutely unpredictable.

I sprinted through the water across the cavern.

I tried to get away, but Lochness’ enormous red eye glittered at me like a blood moon.

He blasted black flame to the ceiling, and the cavern became a furnace.

The few clothes I was still wearing burned off of me until I was totally naked.

I surveyed Lochness’ lair. It was a big open cavern with nowhere to hide.

I opened my mouth to sing again when the air filled once more with black mist.

Hael soared into the cavern, ramming into Lochness.

As the dragons tussled, Hael gave me a nod.

I had to keep singing.

Lochness struggled and dug his claws deep into Hael’s skin.

The song began again, and I sang with renewed strength. My partner was here.

Together, we could defeat the monster.

But even as my voice held, my vision faded.

I became lost in an all too familiar feeling…

I was accessing some reality outside of my own. But it was still mine, somehow…

~Beneath me, I saw a forest racing by. I was flying.~

~Laughter filled the air and I knew it was mine… I was a child. And beneath my little hands were the green scales I knew so well.~

~It was Hael.~

~Before I had a moment to process, I was transported again. I was tiny, merely a child.~

~A woman stood over me, smiling at me with love and pride. ~

~She was thin, and her skin was pale...it was clear she was sick.~

~She kissed my forehead with her papery lips.~

~“My Maddie,” she whispered.~

~And then, once again, everything went black.~

When I came back, my mates were still fighting, and my mouth was still singing my song.

When my song ended, the last word rang in the air like a bell.

The dragons immediately disappeared in a puff of black mist.

I felt like I’d fought a battle. My legs gave out from under me, and I collapsed into the glowing pool. I splashed around, trying to catch my breath.

Hael and Loch materialized in front of me. They were naked in their human forms.

I met Hael’s eyes, and his face cracked into that heart-stopping smile.

And then I looked at Loch. I let out a breath I hadn’t known I was holding.

His eyes were green once more, not red.

Lochness was gone.

“Who knew the little brat was such a talented singer,” Loch joked, fixing me with his closest approximation of a warm smile. “I’ve never heard anything so...enchanting.”

Hael and I shared a knowing look.

“Let’s go home,” I told my mates.

ZAYDA

I slid down the wall until my ass hit the ground.

I’d been sitting in the entryway to the Dobrzyckas’ apartment for almost an hour. I had practically had to work magic to make the doorman let me up; I wasn’t about to leave.

There was only one person I wanted to see right now.

Maddie.

She wasn’t answering her phone, but she needed to come back ~sometime…~ right?

Suddenly, the elevator pinged.

And when the door opened, I saw Maddie and Hael inside...naked.

Even more surprising, Loch was there, too.

The three of them were ~all~ naked, and they were kissing…

“Um—hi!” I blurted out.

I figured it was better to say something before ~they~ saw ~me.~ And before their make out session got any more intense.

Maddie looked in my direction and gasped as if she was seeing a ghost.

She was surprised to see me, sure, but I also looked like hell.

I’d been up all night, drinking and crying.

The threesome piled out of the elevator, none of them making much effort to conceal their nudity.

It wasn’t like I hadn’t seen Maddie’s body before. I mean, we used to be best friends.

“Are you okay?!” she asked, rushing toward me as the twins sauntered toward their front door.

“Loch’s back,” I replied, ignoring her question and trying to smile. I really was happy for her.

“Yeah,” she said, tucking her hair behind her ear. “It’s been a long night.”

As she inspected me, I couldn’t keep from breaking out in tears all over again.

“Wanna come in?” she asked. “I could make us some tea?”

I took her hand and let her pull me up.

“I was wondering if we could go for a walk, actually,” I said.

“Totally.” She winked. “Just let me just put on some clothes first.”

***

“I’m sorry—Xander ~what?!”~ Maddie demanded.

We had been walking for nearly ten blocks, and the sun was starting to rise.

We made up immediately, both of us apologizing for the things we had said and the times we weren’t there for each other.

When she asked how I was coping, I told her the whole story of Xythor’s death.

“He ~dosed me,”~ I elaborated, “with an absorption potion. So, whenever Xythor and I made love, I was taking away his life force. Until there was nothing left.”

Maddie stared at me with wide eyes.

“Oh my fucking god.”

“I know,” I agreed. “You were right about him, Maddie. If I’d only fucking listened…”

My voice cracked under the weight of my regret.

“Don’t say that,” she said. “You were working on a healing potion ~for dragons.~ And there was no way you could have known.”

She gripped my hand.

Maddie’s decisive tone soothed me. She had always been a fighter, and I was unspeakably glad she was fighting for me now. Not against me.

“Did you feel...different? Like, while it was happening?” she asked.

Now I saw the awful irony of it all. While Xythor was on his deathbed, I’d never felt so full of life.

“Yeah, I did. I felt more powerful. I had unlimited energy. I just had no idea what the fuck was happening.”

Maddie gasped. Just talking to her lifted a weight from my shoulders. I knew she was the only one who would understand.

“You know, Zayda, the same thing happened to ~me~ last night! I slept with Lochness...and then I had the strength to break that fucked-up curse!”

I stared at her. “Freaky.”

We walked on for a moment, lost in our own thoughts.

“There’s something else, Maddie,” I began. Though really, I wasn’t sure how she would respond.

“It’s just what Xander told me, so I don’t know what it means…” I gulped. “Apparently, since I have Xythor’s power, I’m a dragon ~and~ a Blood Raven.”

Maddie raised her eyebrows. She avoided my gaze for a moment; then stared right at me.

“You’re your own mortal enemy,” she said with a grin. “So, you’re either the most powerful being either of us know...or a walking timebomb.”