Drake joined us at the edge and grinned down at the water. “Precisely. The fabled water of our ancestors, and the true source of our strength.”
“A puddle of water is the source of your strength?” I quipped.
He shook his head. “Not just a puddle of water, Maiden, but a-”
“Miriam,” I corrected him.
Drake chuckled. “Perhaps not for long, but on the matter of the Sæ it is a very unique body of water. It grants to anyone who touches it the power of their ancestor. Unfortunately, it also has the effect of changing one into that ancestor. “
Xander frowned. “And you intend to use that power to rule the world?”
Drake bowed his head. “But of course.”
I rolled my eyes. “Typical.”
Drake’s dark eyes flickered between us. “It will be fitting for a dragon lord to kill his Maiden as this mess started with a Maiden.”
Xander curled his lips back in a snarl. “I would never stoop to your level.”
He stepped back and chuckled. “The Sæ will change your mind.”
The three Red Dragons who held Xander tied ropes around him and grabbed me. Together we were shoved to the edge of the hole. Our toes peeked over into the abyss.
Drake swept his arm over his chest and bowed to us. “Goodbye, and may the best species win.”
Xander and I were thrown through the hole. We dropped the hundred feet into the muck of the thick, sticky, yellow-colored miasma. I swam to the surface and gasped for breath. Xander did the same close to me. We swam to the wide edge of smooth-stoned floor that surrounded the entirety of the pool and climbed out. Ancient bones littered the ground and fell to dust if we even brushed against them.
I stood and wiped some of the green muck off my sleeves. That’s when I heard the growl. It was a deep, guttural noise. I turned around to face the pool. Xander knelt beside the edge. His breathing was harsh and his hands grasped the floor so hard he left deep claw marks.
“Xander?” I whispered as I stepped toward him and stretched out my hand.
My eyes widened as my hand was illuminated by a blue light. I held out both hands with the palms toward me. The skin was smooth and pale. My eyes flickered left and right as my hair lightened and grew longer so that it teased my waist. The light in my hands grew brighter, but through it I saw a change in Xander.
He lifted his head and let loose an echoing roar. His clothes were shredded as his body expanded and transformed into his dragon form, but nearly twice as large as usual. I stood and rushed backwards against the wall to avoid his massive clawed hands as his tail dipped into the pool.
Drake knelt beside the edge of the hole and smiled down at us. “Now you see the true power of the Sæ. Can you imagine what chaos would ensue if I were to drop even a small bucket onto a single dragon lord city?”
I saw all too well as Xander raised himself off the smooth stones and turned his head to and fro. His bright eyes swept over the area, and in their depths I saw none of his humanity. He was a creature of pure instinct.
“I look forward to your transformation, Maiden,” Drake called down to me with a chuckle. “I have heard humans were once great apes. We shall see how long you can swing against our ancestor.”
Above us the Red Dragons laughed and cheered. Some bet on the winner. I imagined the odds were against me.
Xander reared his head back and gave a great, echoing cry that shook the walls. I tried to scoot along wall, but he spotted me and whipped his head in my direction to glare at me. I stopped dead in my tracks. My heart thumped against my ribs.
I swallowed the lump in my throat and took a step forward with my hands in front of me. “X-Xander, come on, this isn’t you. You have to get a-” He dug his claws into the pool stones and charged me.
I shrank back and flung up my hands. A bright blue light blasted out of my palms and struck Xander in the chest. Steam rose up from him as my brilliant light burned away the miasma that covered his body. He let out a weak cry and collapsed onto the stones, cracking them beneath his great weight.
The steam rose through the hole in the ceiling and forced the Red Dragons away from the scene. One of the dragons didn’t back up fast enough and was covered by the steam. His wings burst from the mist and he let loose a fierce roar before he lunged at his nearest companion.
Xander’s body began to shrink, but only to half his great girth. My eyes traveled down his form and I saw his tail still lay in the pool.
I pursed my lips and rushed past him. He growled and raised himself to follow me to the edge of the pool. I turned so one side was toward him and the other to the pool. I pointed one hand at the pool and other at him. Another pulse of blue energy blasted from my hands, hitting both the pool and my charging dragon lord. The dragon was pushed back and slammed against wall. He slumped to the floor unconscious.
The pool released steam, but most of it didn’t evaporate. I turned to face the horrid water and pointed both glowing hands at the liquid. Bright streams of light shot from my palms and hit the water. Great billowing columns of white steam rose up and escaped through the hole in the ceiling. Some of the fog floated away from me and hit the opposite wall. The white mist slipped into a doorway-shaped crack in the wall, revealing a hidden entrance.
A heavy fatigue hit me. I dropped my arms and stumbled back. The blue light faded, but didn’t disappear. I turned around to see Xander, naked and back in his human form, spread over the ruined rocks.
I stumbled over and knelt beside him. He lay face-down, but I could see his chest moved up and down. Another roar from above us made me look over my shoulder and up at the ceiling. The rampaging Red Dragon was throwing his comrades around the large room. Some of them were fighting back trying to restrain him as his clothes burst, revealing thick, scaly muscles.
I whipped my head back to Xander and shook his shoulders. “Xander! Xander, you’ve got to wake up!”
His eyes fluttered open and zoomed in on me. He frowned. “Who are you?”
I smiled down at him. “Your guardian angel.”
His eyes widened and he reached up a hand to cup one of my cheeks. “Miriam?”
“That’s my alias, but enough talk.” I grabbed one of his arms and gave a tug. “We need to get out of here.”
I helped him to his feet and draped his arm over my shoulders.
I heard a roar and looked up. The Red Dragon from above was stabbed in the back by one of his comrades. The force pushed him through the hole and he disappeared into the great mist. There was a loud splash as he hit water.
My eyes widened as my heart skipped a beat. “Uh-oh. . .”
A huge shadow rose from the mist. It let out a terrific, familiar roar that shook the dome. Bits of stone fell from the ceiling and rained down upon us. The Red Dragons at the hole disappeared as they scuttled away.
Drake was the last to leave the opening. His eyes glowed a hideous red color as he glared down at us. He turned away and disappeared with the rest.
Another roar returned my attention to the large, scaly problem at hand. Wings as long as houses stretched out of the mist and a single flap blew it away to reveal my efforts at destroying the water. The deep pool was now little more than a shallow wading spot, but the Red Dragon had become immersed in the four feet that remained in the center.
I swallowed the lump in my throat and readjusted Xander’s weight. “I think it’s time to leave.”
“Leave me here,” he hoarsely whispered. “I am too heavy and will only weigh you down.”
“I won’t argue with that, but I’m not leaving you here to become dragon chow,” I argued as I dragged him around the pool toward the hidden entrance I had seen. “Besides, you owe me a big, nice dinner for almost making me into chow.”
The dragon’s eyes rested on us. It curled its lips back and revealed fangs half my height and as sharp as a well-loved dagger. I hurried along the edge of the pool with Xander stumbling along beside me.
The dragon let loose another earth-shaking roar and leaned down to snap our heads off. I flung up my free hand at the shallow water between us and the dragon. A wide, thick column of steam sprung up and hit the dragon in the face. It reared back and cried as the steam struck its sensitive eyes.
Xander lifted his head and studied me. “You are capable of controlling water from afar?”
I looked down at my hands and pursed my lips as the blue light disappeared. My dazzling, goddess-like beauty also left me, leaving me back to my old self. “I think that trick just ran out, so let’s do the same and get the hell out of here.”