with one goal of protecting it. However, there was one last element of his change that had me gasping in shock… his handsome face was now consumed by hatred. That once easy smile was long gone to sneering lips that curled as the beast in him snarled. Fangs emerged down that full bottom lip of his and his skin darkened at his cheekbones and around his eyes. Eyes that were now lost to an abyss of swirling darkness. Even his dark auburn hair looked as if it now floated under water, rising from his shoulders as if the power was rising from him in waves. But it was his scar that had my attention as it was glowing, as if there was a crack made in the Earth’s crust and burning hot magma could be seen beneath.
Simply put… he was utterly terrifying!
“It can’t be possible!” I heard the King at my back mutter, making me want to ask what it all meant, because it seemed to me that the Land of Dragons wasn’t the only myth discovered today. I knew this when the King sucked in a deep breath when Trice’s face darkened further before the shadow of a crown of ice hovered over his head.
This was before his demonic voice spoke and it was one that had not a single hint of an accent, but more like something that had been forged in the deepest levels of Hell.
“I CAN DO AS I WISH!” he roared in answer to the King’s threat of not making demands of him.
“Calm yersel' doon, laddie, fur yer frightening th' lass,” Gryph whispered, cautiously nodding in my direction where I knew even without a mirror that he was right… I was terrified. This was when he took a deep enough breath so that the next time he spoke his demon didn’t roar his words, but instead drove home the threat with the depth of his voice.
“I can make you a promise, if you hurt her then my brothers and I will shift into something you have never seen before, something that will have your dragons cowering at the very sight of us and then we will slaughter every one of you and lay waste to your lands in a sea of flames and chaos!” I was left open mouthed and in total shock. Because if I hadn’t believed before now that Trice had been destined to be a King of Hell, then now I was utterly convinced that this was his destiny!
It was of little wonder how he believed himself capable of fighting Lucius when it came to trying to win my hand. And it was only now that I was coming to understand one of Trice’s greatest weapons. Because this was one of his secrets, the level of power he had at his fingertips. The one he held onto, that was captured deep within him as if too afraid to let it loose on the world. Gryph, seeing the situation as it was, could be seen speaking to him again, only this time it was in a language I couldn't understand. But whatever it was he said it invoked a deep and demonic growl from the powerful being now stood dominating the space.
I expected the King at my back to be more afraid of this side of Trice but other than being clearly shocked, he showed no fear. And the reason for this turned out to be because Trice wasn't the only one in the room with immense power. Meaning, that I soon realised there was a reason the man at my back ruled this Dragon Kingdom and it had little to do with being crowned but more to do with being...
Born in Dragon fire.
I knew this when the King’s voice changed too as he became our next surprise. A darkness of his own spoke next and informed us all,
“Be careful, stranger of my lands, for you and your brothers… you are not the only shifters in this room.” It was in this moment that I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up and a crawling feeling creep along my skin. This was before I felt the hum of power coming from my back and rise up around me. This all happened before I felt the skin of his hand started to change at my neck, becoming hard as if it was now being covered in scales.
Dragon Scales.
“Oh shit,” I whispered the second I felt it, something that ended in