Forgive us.Layla spoke quickly inside her mind as all her Bound mates snorted in amazement, seeing this magnificent creature with her.But the dawnfire Dragon we battle in this place has consumed the lives of everyone here with terror, and has ruined more lives than we could ever count over millennia. He has a sickness inside him; a sickness of lies to himself and dominance over others that he will not face. He needs to be brought down… and we are the only Dragons in the Twilight Realm left who are strong enough to do it.
Strength and dominance have no magic here,the massive Vittrian Dragon snorted back at her in the ether, its shimmering outline actually appearing in the real world now from the vastness of its power.The only thing that creates miracles here is love – as was set down ages ago when my ruined people came to this place. Battle here upon our grounds, and you will lose everything. But open your heart… and watch miracles occur.
Open my heart to make miracles…
And suddenly, Layla knew what she had to do.
Moving quickly as Hunter and Nadia fought, Layla used her tired winds to lift her up from her men’s coils; even though with strangled roars, she felt how much her drakes thought her leaving their protection was a very bad idea. But Layla was firm in her heart as she moved forward, walking upon a smooth flow of winds directly into the carnage with her drakes forming a protective ring around her as they came with, holding their every-magic dome. But as Hunter and Nadia’s fight careened around them, both badly damaged and exhausted, bleeding now from countless injuries, Layla moved to Nimir’s sarcophagus. Taking a deep breath as all her Bound drakes surrounded her and the sarcophagus both, Layla opened herself wide to the etheric universe and the flood of love that made everything.
And sent out a prayer from the very depths of her heart.
She felt a pulse leave her, flooding deep into the sapphire-diamond sarcophagus and into the man within. It was a pulse made from pure etheric love as she felt Nimir gasp, his eyes blinking open. A tremendous shockwave of power from Nimir waking suddenly blasted out Dusk’s sarcophagus, as the shield of every-magic from Layla’s drakes prevented her from getting hurt. But as Nimir heaved deep breaths now, blinking around with stunned disorientation from his ruined bier, Layla felt Hunter and Nadia’s fight cease.
As Hunter shifted down fast into human – and rushed to Nimir’s side.
CHAPTER 26 – PEACE
Love flooded the early desert morning as Hunter rushed to Nimir’s side. As the revived man woke, struggling up to sitting in his blasted crystal sarcophagus with Hunter’s aid, Layla stepped back and motioned her drakes back as well, giving Hunter and Nimir space. Encouraging her drakes to do nothing just yet, Layla witnessed Hunter and Nimir’s reunion as Nadia swirled back down to human now, heaving hard breaths and healing injuries as she stepped to Layla’s side. Watching, they all waited as the confused Nimir finally registered his surroundings.
And knew the man beside him.
“Orrin!” Nimir rumbled, in the smoothest basso voice Layla had ever heard.
“Nimir!” Hunter gasped back with a radiant smile as he grasped his lover’s neck, pressing their foreheads together with a deep and incredible passion. Kissing, the ancient lovers reveled in each other as Layla and the others watched. At last, Nimir seemed to notice other people were present, including five viciously wary drakes surrounding his broken bier. As the presence of disturbed Dragon spirits settled all throughout the canyon now, watchful rather than furious, Nimir beamed a perfectly radiant and confused smile at Nadia.
Extending his hand to her.
“Nadia, my love!” Nimir spoke in a strangely-accented language that Layla could understand through her Bind to Hunter, his beautiful basso voice rolling through the canyon. “Come to us! Why do you stand so aloof, like you’ve been stung by desert-scorpions?”
“The desert-scorpions are long gone, Nimir, lost to the winds of time. And my love is gone with them.” Nadia spoke calmly in the same language as she stood back, watching Nimir and Hunter, though Layla could see how much she was aching to go to Nimir.
“What are you saying?” Nimir frowned now as he rose from his shattered bed, holding a hand out to stall Hunter as he set his feet to the earth and stood unsteadily. “Do you not love me anymore, Nadia?”
“It is not you I have lost love for, Nimir.”Nadia spoke softly, her pain careening through the ether as she glanced at Hunter. “But him.”
“You do not love Orrin any longer?” Nimir blinked, as everyone held their breath. Turning, he glanced between Nadia and Hunter. “Why? What has happened?”
Layla would have thought Nadia might have used mind-magics then, to pour her memories of Hunter’s terrible deeds into Nimir – but instead, a miracle happened. Swallowing hard, his face ashen but steady, Hunter rose from beside the shattered bier as he faced Nimir, answering in his Bind’s ancient language. “Nadia does not love me any longer… because I killed you, Nimir. Long ago.”
“What?” Glancing back at Hunter, Nimir frowned. And then his beautiful chocolate-almond eyes blinked, as if remembering. “You killed me. I came to rescue you from that horrible sage in the mountains that was making you scream through our Bind for so many moons… and I remember now. You attacked me… and you killed me.”
“I didn’t mean to. I was insane, Nimir! I didn’t know you were you, and not the sage in disguise. I’m sorry! I’m so sorry…!” Hunter gasped now as he approached Nimir, a tear shedding from his dawn-bright eyes as true dawn colors lifted in the sky all around them. The sun was rising as Hunter found his honesty and contrition at last; with a small gesture, Layla indicated for her mates to back off even more from their tight ring, to give Hunter and Nimir space. As they did, she stepped back also – her mates forming a semi-circle around her now as they watched Hunter admit his wrongdoings.
No longer lying to himself.
“But you fought me. And you killed me.” Nimir spoke with a dark frown upon his handsome chocolate-caramel features, watching Hunter as he took a cautious step backwards, towards Nadia and out of Hunter’s reach. “Orrin, could you not feel our Bind, glowing with such dawn-bright love between our hearts? Did you not know me, for as long as it took us to have our fight and for me to be struck down by you?”
“I did.” Hunter rasped, tears of agony truly shedding down his cheeks now as he came clean with himself at last. Taking a step towards Nimir, Hunter tried to close the gap between them, but with a wary grace, Nimir slid back again. “I knew you for who you were, after a moment or two of battle.” Hunter choked, devastated.“But I had gone into such a black pit of rage and despair that I couldn’t drag myself out of it and stop the fight, Nimir. I had descended so far into that blackness that I couldn’t tear myself out. I couldn’t stop my animal nature from descending into that pit… and dragging the rest of me down with it.”
“Are you saying that killing Nimir was your fault?” Nadia spoke softly then, watching Hunter intently as Nimir backed up yet again, closer to her. “Are you accepting responsibility for what you have done, Orrin?”
“Yes.” He breathed as he stared into Nimir’s beautiful chocolate-brown eyes, bereft. “It was my fault. I could not control my darkness, nor rise back up into my light. And it has led us all to this.”
“But Nadia’s heart is as wide as the sky, her nature as loving as the endless dunes to our scales, Orrin,” Nimir spoke softly back now, watching Hunter closely as he moved back all the way to Nadia now. “What could you have done to make her turn from you? For I am certain that killing me in a moment of wrathful confusion was not enough. So what is it that you have done, to make her hate you so?”
“This. I have done this.” Hunter spoke just as softly.
As he stretched a solemn hand towards Nimir.
