“Right.” Braith took the weapon from her cousin’s outstretched hands. She hefted it a bit, held it up. “Lovely. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Braith turned and showed Addolgar the weapon.
He stared at it for a long moment before he asked, “That’s what you got her?”
“What does that mean?” Delyth snapped.
“That’s a bloody toothpick.”
Delyth marched around Braith until she faced Addolgar. “It’s not for when she’s dragon. It’s for when she’s human.”
“As human she can break dwarven steel into pieces.” He reached over and took the sword from Braith’s hands. “It’s a beautiful weapon. One my sister Ghleanna would adore. But this isn’t for Braith.”
“Then what is the right weapon for Braith, Lord Smarty Claws?”
Addolgar, his brow going up at the challenge from Delyth, slipped off the table Braith had just put him on and hopped back to their chamber.
“Addolgar!”
“I’m fine!”
Owena shook her head. “That leg will never heal if he keeps running around on it.”
“I know.”
A few seconds later, Addolgar returned with his oversized carrying bag. He hopped over to the table, tossed the bag on it, then sat down again. Once comfortable, he reached into his bag and pulled out a large-headed hammer.
“A hammer?” Delyth asked, hands on hips. “A sword, Cadwaladr, is elegant. A beautiful extension of a warrior’s arm. But you want to give my royal-born cousin a thick, heavy, clumsy weapon like a hammer?”
Addolgar studied the weapon in his big hand, looked over at Braith, and threw it at her.
She caught it, easily. Swung it once, twice, then lifted it with both hands. It felt right in her hands. Comfortable. The way, she assumed, a weapon was supposed to feel.
Braith grinned at Addolgar. A grin he returned.
Owena nodded. “He’s right. She’s a hammer dragon.”
Disgusted, Delyth glowered at both Braith and Addolgar. “You know,” she finally said, “you two certainly are perfect together. You’re both bloody know-it-alls.”
Addolgar sat on the table between Owena, Aledwen, and Crystin. Together, they watched and gave pointers to Braith while she became acquainted with his hammer.
Wait. That came out wrong.
Crystin poked Addolgar in the ribs and he had to grit his teeth from crying out. It seemed the Penarddun “poke” was equivalent to the Cadwaladr head-butt after a night of heavy drinking.
“Yes?” he asked Crystin, once he could do it without crying.
“That niece of ours,” she said low, so only he and the other aunts could hear her, “she’s a nice lass, isn’t she?”
Addolgar thought on that for a moment. He didn’t know if he’d call Braith “nice.” Bunnies were nice. Braith was more . . . lusty! Yes. She was lusty. And beautiful. And adorable. And—
“You don’t think she’s nice?” Crystin demanded and that’s when he realized Braith’s aunts had been waiting for a response. When one hadn’t come, they’d taken that as a bad thing.
“No,” he replied honestly. “I don’t think she’s nice. She’s anything but nice. And when you get to know her again, you’ll also realize she’s not nice.” He looked over the three She-dragons in human form glowering at him. That’s when he added, “Because nice is boring. And that’s the last thing your niece is. So, no, my ladies, I don’t think she’s nice at all.”
“You know,” Braith said, unaware of the other conversations going on around her, “I think with some training, I could wield two of these at the same time. Oh!” She looked at Addolgar, her eyes wide with excitement. “Or an ax.”
With a shrug, he reached into his bag and pulled out his ax. He tossed it at her, but Braith wasn’t ready for it and she instinctively ducked. The weapon collided with her cousin Ffraid, who’d been standing behind her. Thankfully, the She-dragon was hit with the flat of the blade so it just knocked her on her pretty little ass.
Everyone stopped and stared at poor Ffraid stretched out on the ground, the ax resting on her chest.
Owena leaned over so she could look around Braith. She gazed down at her inert daughter. “You all right, Ffraid?” she called out.
Ffraid raised a hand but her only answer was a groan.
Owena leaned back, nodded. “She’ll be fine.”
Before Addolgar could dispute that—he had thrown that ax rather hard, knowing quite well that Braith could handle the power of it—Aledwen suddenly jumped off the table, her hand to her forehead.
“Sister?” Crystin asked. “What is it?”
“It’s Heledd. She comes this way.” She suddenly tore off her fur cloak. “She is not alone,” she announced to the room.
Addolgar didn’t really know what that meant, but based on the way everyone suddenly moved with purpose, he knew it couldn’t be good.
It seemed to be a practiced thing. Several of the older offspring hustled the hatchlings, who were still too young to shift to human, to some other place inside the vast cave while the aunts and older cousins and sisters, retrieved weapons and shields.
Braith still held his hammer. “What’s going on?” she asked.
Aledwen, now shifted to her dragon form, faced her niece. “Your father sent Lightnings after Heledd and her cousins.”
“How many?” Addolgar demanded, horrified any Southland male would set Lightnings upon the females of their kind.
Aledwen blinked, then answered, “She thinks . . . nearly a horde’s worth.”
Braith let out a breath and, in that instant, Addolgar saw her resolve. He knew what she would do.
“Braith, no.”
“You stay here,” she told him. “You’re not fit enough to fight.”
“Please,” he said, grabbing Braith’s arm. “Let me call to my kin.”
“We don’t have time, Addolgar,” Crystin said. She looked at her niece. “But you should wait here, Braith.”
“I won’t.”
“Braith . . . this isn’t your fault.”
“Perhaps. But you’re my kin. I’m coming with you.”
Crystin looked at her sisters and they all nodded. Not the reaction Addolgar had been hoping for.
While the aunts and cousins began to head out of the chamber, Addolgar shifted to his dragon form, as did Braith.
“This is reckless, Braith,” he warned her. “You’re not a warrior. Not yet.”
“I know that.”
“The Lightnings, as much as I hate them, are fierce warriors. I trained for decades with me uncles before I was ever allowed to face them in battle. You’ve only been actively kicking ass for the last few days.”
“I don’t plan to be foolish, Addolgar. But I can’t just let them go out there and face this alone.”
“They’re not alone. They’re a crowd.”
“Addolgar—”
“Your aunt is right. This isn’t your fault.”
“I never said it was. But I didn’t have to bring you here. I did, and my father knew I would. He sent Lightnings knowing there would be mostly females here. Just what a Lightning Horde would want to hear.” She stepped closer, placed her claw on his forearm. “But I need you to stay here. You’re still healing and, to be honest, Addolgar, I can’t afford to lose you.” She shrugged. “I’ve been swinging your hammer around and it hasn’t bothered you once that I haven’t grown tired. Most males I’ve known . . . that just makes them nervous.”
He took his hammer from her, rammed the base on the rocky floor. It extended into a weapon that could only be held by a dragon in its natural form.
“That’s remarkable,” she said, smiling as he handed the weapon back to her.
“My sister and I got tired of needing two sets of weapons, one for when we were dragons and one for when we shifted to our human forms. So a Volcano blacksmith made this for us.” He wrapped his claw over hers, looked deep into her eyes. “Use it well.”
“I will.”
She stepped back from him, and that’s when Addolgar added, “Their natural weapon is lightning. When they open their maws, be prepared. That shit goes everywhere. Just like in a storm.”
“Okay.”
“And if they’re in armor, well, their armor doesn’t cover all their important bits. Feel free to attack the groin if necessary. Use your tail.”
“It’ll be fine,” she tried to assure him. “Just please . . . stay here. Keep safe.” She leaned into him, nuzzled her head against his. Then she was gone.
As Addolgar sat there, already missing her, Caron walked by, heading toward the exit. She smiled at him.
“Don’t worry, Mountain, we’ll take good care of our cousin.”
Addolgar growled. “Stop calling me that.”
Chapter 17
Braith had just reached the chamber where she’d met her cousins only a few days ago when Heledd flew in. She was going so fast that when she tried to touch down, she hit the ground hard, and turned into a rolling ball of blue scales and black claws until she hit the far wall.
Braith ran to her side just as her other two cousins followed Heledd in. This time, the aunts caught them, preventing them from ending up like Heledd.
Helping her cousin up, Braith asked, “Are you all right?”
“They’re right behind us.” Heledd looked over at the rest of the kin. “We need to move.”
“You all know what to do,” Crystin said. “Now go.” And Braith’s kin did, charging out of the cave and into the open. “You,” Crystin barked at Braith. “Stay by my side. I don’t want to face The Mountain if something happens to you.”
Heledd patted Braith’s shoulder before heading back out. Braith did as she was ordered and went to her aunt’s side. Together they moved toward the exit, but before they reached it, Lightnings dropped from the skies. There were so many, Braith didn’t even bother to count, concerned that she would let the number make her feel defeated before she even began.
And without a word, the Lightnings charged, attacking Braith’s kin inside and outside of the cave. They had no intent to harm; they wanted to bring the females in alive and relatively healthy. So they were trying to disarm, which was exactly what two Lightnings did to Braith.
She’d barely raised her hammer before it was ripped from her claws and tossed aside. Then the two males were on her, slamming her to the ground.
All she managed to hear was, “Get her wing!” before the panic set in.
He wanted to pace, but he didn’t want to do it while hopping. He had no idea what was going on outside and he was completely and utterly not happy about it!
“Fuck it!” he finally muttered. “I’ll just bloody hop.”
But before Addolgar could move from his spot by the hall table, he scented what some would consider a thunderstorm. That scent of lightning in the air. But he knew there was no storm deep inside these cave walls.