The man, Ethan, Melody guessed, was lounging on a chair in the corner, blowing smoke rings. He was weaponless and dressed in elegant, if somewhat weatherbeaten, coat and leggings. There was a tricorn hat hanging from a peg by his shoulder. Ethan smoothed his leggings and stood up.
“I should have known that Trent would underestimate you,” He said, looking from the sword in her hand to the blood on her side. “He’s strong enough but he’s reckless.”
Melody backed away, carefully putting herself between Ethan and her friends. Her eyes flashed and her voice became a rumbling snarl. “What did you do to my friends?”
“Nothing,” he said as Mary stirred, mumbling fitfully in her sleep. “Certainly nothing as bad as you would do.”
“I won’t hurt my friends,” Melody snapped, louder than she wanted. Mary groaned and she softened her voice. “And I won’t let you hurt them either!”
Ethan sighed and took off his coat, folding it carefully and draping it over the back of the chair. “You don’t belong in their world anymore young one. If you stay, they will get hurt… eventually will lose control and kill them.”
“Then let me go,” Melody said, the tip of her blade starting to waver. “Let me find my own court.”
“No,” Ethan replied, the sudden cold in his voice belying his pleasant smile. “The Court of Blood hardly needs another vampire within its walls… they have more than enough monsters as it is. Besides, your maker was a renegade… Courtless.” His smile turned wicked. “For all I know you would turn out the same.”
He paused and his face changed, lengthening as his eyes turned to cat-like slits. “You were born of dragonfire and now you will die by dragonfire!”
Melody’s eyes widened as the man’s mouth gaped open. She cried out, diving forward and throwing her arms around his waist as a river of flame roared out of his open jaws. The man howled as her hand closed on his jaw, forcing his fire-breath up and away from her friends. The terrible heat ignited her sleeve and blackened the beams supporting the ceiling, filling the room with thick, acrid smoke. Mary and her husband awoke in fright as Melody roared and drove he knee into Ethan’s groin. The man’s eyes crossed and the fire stopped as she lifted him into the air and threw him through the door.
“Run!” she cried, pulling Mary upright. “Go! Out the window!”
There was a flash of light and something hot hit her between the shoulderblades, the strange energy causing her muscles to spasm and her teeth to click painfully together. She cried out in pain, shielding her friends with her body as a second bolt thundered in. The dragon bellowed inside her as Mary and her husband scrambled to safely and she turned in a fury to catch a third blast in the palm of her hand. The pain put her on her knees and suddenly Ethan was towering over her.
“You’re no vampire,” he rumbled, grabbing her by the hair and slamming her to the floor. “The courtless made a dragon!”
The floor splintered and cracked as Melody tried to resist his strength. His foot caught her where her neck met her shoulder and suddenly she was in the air, turning a wall into rubble. She was on her feet an instant before Ethan reached her. Her hand closed on a fallen beam as she rose and she used it like a club, her dragon’s strength sending Ethan reeling. She followed, dropping the ruined beam as she closed in, her torn dress flapping in the wind.
Ethan gave ground, rocked back on his heels by the power of her blows. He howled in pain as her fangs closed on his neck, her arms closing around him in a backbreaking hug. He grabbed at her head, his fingers lengthening and twisting into talons as she ripped free, the wound on his neck oozing black blood.
Lightning lanced from his mouth, nearly bowling Melody over as it struck her in the face. This bolt hurt more than the rest and she stumbled away, tears streaming from her eyes. The dragon’s roar became thunder in Melody’s ears and the heat in her throat changed, dropping into her chest. Her mouth opened and she turned blindly, spitting fire the color of blood.
“Dragon’s don’t fear the flames!” thundered Ethan as his clothes began to smoulder and steam. He reached out and caught Melody by the throat, stopping her burning breath.
“Then fear my thirst!” Melody gasped, her anger lending her strength as she bent Ethan’s hand back on itself. The mage dragon’s eyes widened as her furious power forced him to his knees. Her fangs glittered in the dark and she leaned closer, eager to taste his blood again.
Within the Endless Skies 