The Pygmy Dragon (34 page)
“Not in a thousand–”
“Then I will crawl to you.” Half a dozen friends leaped at her, shouting ‘no!’ Pip ignored them. “Silver, please. Let me go, Oyda. I must … go to him.”
“Silver,” Oyda pleaded. “She’s hurting herself.”
“Bah. Now I’m supposed to care?” But his hearts were not in his words. Silver’s back muscles rippled as if he were fighting an urge to rush back to her bedside. Pip was certain he muttered something about ‘Onyx enchantress’ and ‘heart of stone’. But she was flesh and blood, and the ache of her heart was greater than any of her injuries.
She said, “Silver, why did you rescue me?”
He shuddered. “Evidently, because I’m a prize fool.”
Perhaps she was the fool. Zardon the Red Dragon had once advised her to test everything against her heart. Her head said he was a killer, the enemy, a Dragon who had not truly explained the evil he had wreaked with his power, and why. Her instincts disagreed. And her heart disagreed most eloquently of all. She knew she might never understand the magic that inhabited her heart at this moment, and which sealed what she was about to create by a few simple words.
Pip sucked in an everlasting breath, and let out the tiniest whisper, “Silver, when you first saw me in the Natal Cave, did you feel as soul-struck as I did?”
His Dragon hearing caught her words perfectly. He heard her friends gasp as one, their indrawn breath signifying words which carried a different, special magic all of their own. He whirled, trembling; his eyes, gentler than she had ever seen them, a clearing of the swirls of darkness to the pureness of burning silver, confusion and angst yielding ground to hope.
Pip said, “This magic is my power over you, as you said, but it is also your power over me.”
With a lithe half-bound, Silver closed the space between them. His muzzle lowered toward her. Pip reached up to caress the small scales below his eyes, as high as her little arms could reach. They both spoke at once, spluttered to a halt, and found rather silly grins spreading across their faces. After a long, breathless pause, Pip added:
“I don’t think I could face this war without you, Silver.”
“Nor I. Nor life. Nor anything.”
Pip smiled, “I don’t think I dare ask you to repeat your question, do I?”
“No.”
“But if I did …”
His paw caressed her cheek, just the touch of a knuckle, claws sheathed. “And I did …”
“I can’t promise to be a Rider for long. After all, I’m a Shapeshifter and an Onyx Dragon. Maybe an occasional Rider,” she mused. His grin only broadened. “Would that work for you?”
“You’re just being stubborn again. The word you are looking for, Pip, is–”
“Yes,” she said.
“Yes,” he agreed. “A thousand Islands shout yes!”
Quietly, a Silver Dragon and a Pygmy girl began to laugh together. Two hearts, entwined. She who was born in the jungle and caged in a zoo, knew what it was to be free and loved, body and soul.
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The Pygmy Dragon is the first part in a planned two-book series called
Shapeshifter Dragon Legends
, which supplements the bestselling
Shapeshifter Dragons
series.
Aranya: Shapeshifter Dragons Book 1
, which is packed full of adventure, romance, battles and intrigue, is also set in this world near the end of Nak and Oyda’s lives.
Click here for Aranya
. But Nak and Oyda still have a great part to play in the fate of the Dragons. Look out for
Western Isles: Shapeshifter Dragons Book 2,
coming soon.
Marc is a South African-born author who lives and works in Ethiopia with his wife and 4 children, 2 dogs, a rabbit, and a variable number of marabou storks that roost on the acacia trees out back. On a good night you can also hear hyenas prowling along the back fence.
When he’s not writing Marc can be found travelling to remote locations. He thinks there’s nothing better than standing on a mountaintop wondering what lies over the next horizon.
Other Books by Marc Secchia
Aranya: Shapeshifter Dragons Book 1:
(Teen & Young Adult and older readers)
Chained to a rock and tossed off a cliff by her boyfriend, Aranya is executed for high treason against the Sylakian Empire. Falling a league into the deadly Cloudlands is not a fate she ever envisaged. But what if she did not die? What if she could spread her wings and fly?
Long ago, Dragons ruled the Island-World above the Cloudlands. But their Human slaves cast off the chains of Dragonish tyranny. Humans spread across the Islands in their flying Dragonships, colonising, building and warring. Now, the all-conquering Sylakians have defeated the last bastion of freedom–the Island-Kingdom of Immadia.
Evil has a new enemy. Aranya, Princess of Immadia. Dragon Shapeshifter.
Aranya (Shapeshifter Dragons Book 1)
The IsleSong series:
(Young Adult and older readers) A story for anyone who loves the ocean and its whales, salt water in their hair, and the gentle rasp of beach sand between their bare toes. This story will transport you to a beautiful, unspoiled ocean world where people have to rely on Whales to travel between the islands. A world where danger can, and does, lurk beneath any wave.
The Girl who Sang with Whales (IsleSong Book 1)
The Shioni of Sheba series:
(Middle Grades and older readers) Unique African historical fantasy adventures set among the myths and legends of ancient Ethiopia.
Shioni of Sheba #1: The Enchanted Castle
Shioni of Sheba #2: The King's Horse
Shioni of Sheba #3: The Mad Giant
Shioni of Sheba #4: The Sacred Lake
Feynard:
Epic fantasy with a tongue-in-cheek twist (Young Adult and older readers)
For Kevin Jenkins, nothing good can come from being kidnapped out of his comfortable old slippers to save Feynard’s mythical Forest from the Blight. He’s bedridden, afraid of beetles, and he doesn’t believe in magic. But his abductors, a Unicorn and a Dryad, think differently.
The Unicorn Zephyr believes he’s the champion the Forest has been waiting for. The Dryad Alliathiune thinks he needs a jolly good slap. Everyone else thinks he’s a wet blanket, an impostor, or by complete coincidence, some sort of mighty High Wizard.
Throw in a Dark Apprentice with a fondness for shiny black boots and slaying everything in sight, a ten-foot swamp monster, a lethal romance, and a prodigal Faun. What could possibly go wrong?
A quest to save the Forest.
A mismatched set of companions.
Feynard needs a hero, and his name is Kevin.
The Legend of El Shashi
(Young Adults and older readers) An extraordinary life. A terrible fate.
El Shashi, man of many names. Some say he is a miracle-worker. Others, a god. Many call him an abomination, spitting at his name.
And these are his names: Soulstealer, Kin-Reaper, the Burning One, the Whisperer, the Running Man, Stormtide over Gethamadi, Benok Holyhand, Scourge of the Westland, the Plague-Rider, and, worst of all, Bringer of the Wurm.
Be it known: legend is his mantle,
Eldest of his race, the awesome progenitor of all burrowing creatures,
Name him God-mountain, sleeping at the root of the world,
Exalted and cunning in ancient ways,
The Great Wurm, the wellspring of power.
A mighty sorceress, bent on revenge. The man who dared to cross her. A curse of limitless power. The rest is history. This is the legend of El Shashi.