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Epilogue 2: Zephyr
Last Updated:
2024-10-29 19:42:56
CooperI hope you enjoyed Zephyr and Ishir's story.
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The Assassin Chapter 1: Zephyr
**This is the third book in the Elemental Dragon series. While it can be read as a standalone, references will be made to previous events that occurred in those books. It is recommended that you read The Arena and The Dark Protector before reading this book..........“Momma! I don’t want to eat, I want to fly!”“Ancalagon, if you don’t eat, eventually you won’t be able to fly. You’re a dragon, you have to eat.”It’s a constant fight to get my son to eat. You’d think as a growing dragon that he’d eat everything and maybe he will when he’s a little bit older, but ever since he flew with his father a few months ago, he’s wanted to get stronger.Ancalagon’s father, Avani, the last earth dragon, is not my mate. He found his mate after Ancalagon was conceived. I wasn’t around at the time. I had flown out to the desert to lay my egg and sit on it until Ancalagon hatched. Then, we stayed another month until Ancalagon was strong enough to fly. It had taken us a long time to get back here, to
The Assassin Chapter 2: Ishir
I watch as my mate flies away, and I see when she turns to look at me as she’s leaving.“Yeah, that’s right, you’ll remember tonight,” I say quietly to myself.I knew instantly that Zephyr was my mate when she landed in Cedric and Tana’s pack lands three months ago. I have one of the best noses in the shifter community, which is saying a lot about how good my nose is. And saying that, I knew I had smelled her in the last arena we took down, but there were so many shifters, so much chaos, that I could never pinpoint where the scent was coming from.Then, she ignored me. Ignored our mate bond. I’m friends with Tana and with Avani, so I know how a dragon feels when they find their mate. Well, any dragon other than Kaylani who doesn’t seem bothered by finding her mate. But Zephyr is more like Tana and Cedric. She will fight the mate bond. Fight being claimed by me. But I’ve been waiting for my mate for decades, and I have no intention of letting her go.So, I searched for her. In between
The Assassin Chapter 3: Zephyr
I would hate my mate if I could. I want to blame him. I do blame him, but I know that it’s not all his fault that Ancalagon is gone. The probability that the hunters stumbled across my son, killed a herd of shifters and were prepared to transport a baby dragon while I was away for one night, is highly unlikely. So, I’m angry at myself for not realizing that I was being watched but I’m putting that blame unfairly on Ishir.When he comes for me, I can’t be with him. The pain in my heart, the agony of knowing that those hunters have my son, makes me unable to listen to Ishir. And why would he want me anyway. I’m a dragon. I’m supposed to be the strongest of the supernaturals. I’m supposed to be the protector of the supernaturals and I can’t even protect my own son. What man or shifter would want a mate that can’t protect their own child?No one, that's who.So rather than wait for his verdict that I’m not good enough for him, I leave. Okay, I knocked him off the mountain first. I couldn’
The Assassin Chapter 4: Ishir
After leaving the mountain that Zephyr threw me off of, I followed her for awhile, then, her lament stopped. I tried searching for her, but I couldn’t find her.I went back to searching for Ancalagon and finding the laboratory dragons. I’ve been searching everywhere, in constant contact with Avani and Cedric and none of us has a clue where they’ve taken him.In a group meeting, Kenna, Tana and Cedric's daughter, mentions that we might be looking in the wrong place and it makes sense. Ancalagon isn’t where we expect him to be, so we need to switch where and how we are looking for him.I head back to the city, back to the penthouse. As soon as I walk inside, I smell her scent of freshly fallen snow. Zephyr has been here. I follow her scent to my room, seeing that some of my clothes are missing. Then I follow it to Tana’s room, seeing that several more of Tana’s clothes are missing and some of Kenna’s shoes.I make note of the sizes that she’s taken from their rooms before going to showe
The Assassin Chapter 5: Zephyr
I think the owl had been a test. Oliver, that’s the guy’s name, wanted to see if I would actually do it. I did, I killed him with my bare hands, then I took a picture of his dead body, before racing off and vomiting on a mountain. The force of my dry heaves started an avalanche which thankfully covered what little I had vomited up.I send the picture to Oliver before deleting it from my phone. Then I stay on top of the mountain and begin a lament for the owl. He had been a kind shifter, and he had trusted me as all shifters will because I’m a dragon. I betrayed that trust and I hate myself for it. I can only hope that one of us can find Ancalagon quickly so I can stop this before I completely lose myself.The look on that owl’s face and his desperate “Why?” as I killed him, will haunt me the rest of my life.When I finish my lament, I shift back, waiting for instructions. It took me two weeks to finally be able to kill the owl and I haven’t seen my son in that amount of time. I have n
The Assassin Chapter 6: Ishir
It’s been two months since Ancalagon went missing and I can’t find him anywhere. Of course, the one time I desperately want to find someone, I can’t find them. I know that Zephyr is hurting. My mate is hurting and I should be able to help her. This is what I do, after all, and I’m damn good at it. Or at least, I used to be. Now, when it’s most important to me, I find I’m incapable. Incapable of doing the work I’m usually so good at and incapable of taking away my mate’s pain.I’ve been working closely with Avani and Cedric and we’ve searched the city, even found places that had Ancalagon’s scent, but it was faint, as if Oliver is moving Ancalagon around so we can’t find him. It’s maddening because it means that he’s been planning this for a very long time and he’s more than a couple steps ahead of us.If that wasn’t bad enough, shifters have started to turn up dead. I have no idea if Oliver is responsible for the deaths of these shifters or not, but since Avani and I found the owl shi
The Assassin Chapter 7: Zephyr
I can’t get the smell of blood off of me, the blood of the innocents that I’ve killed. I scrub and scrub, but their blood is still on my hands. I hate it, and I hate myself.None of them, not one, worried about being in my presence. Why would they, dragons have always been the protectors of the shifters, the strongest and most fierce of us all. And yet, as much as I hate myself, as much as I know I’ll be tormented for the rest of my life, I would do it all again, and I know I will have to, in order to ensure my son stays alive.Oliver had finally let me see him. He looked drugged when I saw him, but at least he was breathing. In the short time that I got to see him, I could see the sores around his mouth where he’s been fighting against the muzzle, see the bruises and patches of spots where the scales have worn away or been ripped out from the restraints that are holding him down.Afterward, I came back to the penthouse. It’s become my central point. So far, I’ve been lucky and haven’
The Assassin Chapter 8: Ishir
I watch my mate across the table from me. She’s holding herself together, but the cracks are starting to form. She’s falling apart.I’m not sure she realizes that she’s been creating gusts of wind when she has strong emotions. It makes it a lot easier to read her because outwardly, she’s not giving me anything. But she’s having a harder time controlling her element.I can imagine that the thought of Avani taking his pregnant mate to his cave of treasures hurts Zephyr in more ways than one. First, if he’s there, he’s not helping to find Ancalagon, which could feel like he's choosing that son over his son with Zephyr. But also, he’s protecting his mate and their child, when Zephyr can’t protect hers.I’ve been watching her push her food around on her plate, after the first bite that looked like she barely got it down, she hasn’t eaten anything. She’s struggling, not letting me in so I can help her, and I’ve had enough.I stand, her head whipping up to look at me as I move around the tab
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The Assassin Epilogue 2: Zephyr
Three months later I’m in the kitchen of my new home, my daughter in a swing out of the way but where I can still see her and my newborn son in a bassinet in the next room. Having two children four months apart has been a challenge, especially when you add on that our house was being built and the surprise that we have planned for today. It’s a big one and I’m so nervous that I feel sick. ‘Easy Zephyr. Everything will be fine, you’ll see,’ my mate coos at me through our mind link. I tap into his mind and realize that somehow my mate snuck in, and my daughter is now strapped against his chest while he’s outside setting up the fire pit for the dragons. We decided to cover up our surprise with an ‘open house’, inviting everyone so all of our friends could be here ot witness the event today. “I can’t believe you had another baby before I had mine,” Merethyl says coming in with Terra, their little girl, another dragon. “Tiger and dragon gestations are similar so I’m only pregnant 3 mo
The Assassin Epilogue 1: Ishir
One month later “Take a look at this, Ish,” Cedric says to me. He and I have been hunting the hybrids that we know are out here, but so far, they are adept at evading us. However, they leave their trail of devastation behind them. “They’re getting more violent,” I say to him. “Yes, I’m starting to be able to distinguish between the two groups. The first group of hybrids seems to kill to eat and they clean up everything but the blood. This group…” “They’re starting to enjoy the kill,” I finish for him. “And they’re upping their game. It’s as if they are practicing, almost like they are planning on attacking something larger, or stronger,” he says looking at me meaningfully. “If they come for our dragons, they will meet their match, and their end,” I say. “If they come anywhere near my children or my pack, I’ll destroy them. I was willing to help them before and maybe we can still help the other group, but this one? I’m not sure they want our help.” “This is the group that had a
The Assassin Chapter 65: Zephyr
When we couldn’t find Sunshine, we went back for Oliver, only to find that he’d been killed and eaten. “Hybrids,” Ishir had confirmed when we landed and saw the blood everywhere, more blood than when we’d left behind. Through our combined senses, I could smell them. “Should we go after them?” I ask him. I stay in my dragon form in case I need to quickly attack or defend, as Ishir is kneeling on the ground near the blood. “Zeph, this is violent. There's a lot of blood here. I mean, you and I are used to violence, we’re animals, but this is something else, this is vicious. I don’t want you near this,” he tells me, standing. “Ishir, I’m a dragon. I can handle vicious.” “You’re my dragon, Zephyr and you’re the mother of my kitten. You may be a strong and powerful dragon, but you have a soft heart. Let me protect you from this. I’ll get Cedric and we’ll go searching for them. You’ve suffered enough violence at Oliver’s hand. I’ll take it from here,” he says, stroking my snout as he ta
The Assassin Chapter 64: Eliane
I lay here, strapped to the bed, like I have been for what seems like forever. It’s been a long time, two weeks, if my calculations are right, which is questionable since there are no windows in this room. But if I’m right, it’s been two weeks since my father was here. I’m not sure which is worse, the pain or the hunger. It only felt like a couple days after he left, that the man who gives me the injections left too and he hasn’t been back. I was okay for awhile because I had the IV fluids dripping into my body, but that dried up over a week ago. I’ve relieved myself multiple times and now everything in here smells terrible, the area between my legs feels raw and I'm worried it's getting infected, which it probably is. I hear the pitiful sound of the creature in the other room. He sounds so much like Ancalagon. I have no idea if it’s him or not, but I hope not. Once again, we’re trapped underground. “Cal, if you can hear me, I’m here. I know, I’m hungry too. I’m sure my father will
The Assassin Chapter 63: Oliver
I hadn’t expected them to be back so soon. They’ve never returned so quickly after finding one of my laboratories. In fact, the last time, they burned it down, releasing all my subjects. This time, my subjects had escaped on their own. I had been watching from my personal laboratory since my lead scientist told me that the shifts were imminent. He wasn’t wrong, but what we didn’t expect was that they would grow to sizes that burst through their cages. They had become wild, killing the scientists before helping the others escape. The dragon and the tiger wouldn’t have known that some of the humans that had been laying on the ground, had become snacks for the vicious creatures, as they fed on their way toward freedom. Once again, I’ve been thwarted because my scientists don’t seem to know what they are doing. Thank goodness my “daughter” and her future mate are both still under my control. Eliane has been responding well to the treatments, almost as well as the dragon. I’m hoping tha
The Assassin Chapter 62: Zephyr
The voices in my head have started screaming again, only this time, they are telling me to do something, anything to help the children that this monster is killing. I’m stronger now, so I shut my mind off from Ishir. He is helping that boy, helping Everett and Kaylani try to save him, and while he does that, I go to Cyrene. I know what I have to do even if it kills me. I pick her up, kissing her and smelling her sweet, exotic scent, a mix of mine and Ishir's. “Zephyr?” Nova’s quiet voice asks from the doorway. I take one more deep breath of my daughter’s scent, then put her back in her crib before turning to Nova. She’s breathing heavily and there are tears in her eyes. “What’s going on?” “I have to go end this Nova. I can’t let Oliver and his men hurt you or any of these children any more. It will never stop while he’s alive.” Her lips quiver and she rushes to me, wrapping her arms around me. “Please come back to me. You’re the only family I have, Zephyr, you and Ishir. I love
The Assassin Chapter 61: Ishir
I pick up the boy, which is about all I can tell about this poor creature. He shifted and his body didn’t take it well. Whatever his primary DNA is, it isn’t elf or dragon. “Here, call Everett and let him know we’re coming in with one," I say, handing Zephyr my phone. "Did you check the other rooms?” “Yes, the others are dead, but he’s alive,” she says as she dials and heads outside. I race back to the office, grabbing as much as I can carry in one hand including the computer, while carrying the boy with the other. I don’t have time to rip out the cameras, so it’s possible Oliver will see that we were here. Hopefully, I can tap into the feed online and block it, but I need to take care of this boy first. I run outside, picking up my phone where Zephyr left it before racing up her back. I’ve barely gotten settled before she’s lifting off and flying faster than she’s ever flown before with me on her back. “Hang on, buddy. We have a doctor that can help you. Just hang on until we ca
The Assassin Chapter 60: Ishir
‘Have you ever been to this city?’ Zephyr asks me in the mind link as we fly. ‘Just once,’ I say hesitantly. It was when I was searching for the assassin, before I knew that it was her. ‘Oh,’ she says. ‘So, anything in particular I need to know about this city?’ ‘It’s smaller than the one where Tana’s penthouse is,’ I tell her. ‘So, hopefully it will be easier for us to find him?’ she asks. ‘Let’s hope,’ I say. We land outside the city and once again, I take in the gorgeous view of my mate in her dragon form. She is spectacular. I missed seeing her while she was pregnant. I stroke my hand down her chest and under her wing. She turns her head to watch me as her body quivers at my touch. “Truly, I have no idea what I did to deserve such a beautiful, wild and fierce creature like you,” I tell her, opening up to her so she can feel my love for her. At times like right now, it hits me like a freight train. “Sometimes, I love you so much that it hurts, Zephyr,” I tell her, leaning ag
The Assassin Chapter 59: Zephyr
After Ishir told me that the hybrids must have been close when we were there and that they came back and finished off the animals that they had started to eat, I knew we needed to get back out and start looking for them again. Avani took Merethyl to his cave of treasures. He has done that with all of her pregnancies because his DNA in their child mingles with hers and she begins to talk and act like a dragon. This time seems a bit easier than what I’ve heard of the first two, or maybe Avani is better at reading the signs and getting her away earlier. He took her early this time, so they will most likely be gone for two to three months, meaning we've lost one of our search party. He told Ishir that he will continue to search for the hybrids near his cave of treasures, but he won’t leave Merethyl for long periods of time and once she is completely overwhelmed by the dragon DNA, thinking she’s a dragon, she won’t leave the cave until she delivers. They’re having a girl this time, anothe
