Once Upon a Dragon Heart (Once Upon a Dragon Series Book 2)

The next few days sped by fast. Lucian was going to come back to Dragonia soon. His recovery was spectacularly fast. He carried the same breezy scent that Blake had after he gained his extra ability.

They had found Tabitha again, but I didn’t take any note of what was going to happen. The only thing I knew for a fact was that the snow dragon was going to grace us with her presence soon, as she was part of a dent and belonged with the other royalty.

Blake was right about his ‘oh crap’ statement. When he had said that, I did not know what that meant, but when news came out that Lucian was part of a dent and that he had ascended, news spread like wildfire and the royals of Areeth wasn’t happy that the dragon law annulled the arrangement of their daughter marrying the prince of Tith.

I had little interaction after her horrible introduction of us royals’ need to stay together and not mixed with the peasants. I heard her bitching and moaning about the arrangement. A tantrum I almost walked into if it wasn’t for Blake’s crazy fast reflexes that steered us to the safety of not to be seen.

The princess of Areeth had lost it completely.

Blake was happy that Lucian didn’t have to marry her anymore, and I’d pushed him, wanting to know what had happened. What had he done to break it up between them?

He stared at me as if I didn’t get the picture.

“C’mon, Blake, just tell me.”

“I slept with her to find her biggest fear, Elena.”

I gaped. “While she was still with Lu.”

“I cared about nothing that time. I just didn’t want to be claimed by her.”

“Arianna, claiming you.”

“She is well advanced with spells, Elena. She even knows a few forbidden ones.”

“What?”

“Don’t forget who her father is.”

“How can he be a royal if he dabs into the forbidden spells?”

“He wasn’t always like that, to be honest. He was quite the opposite. He always made jokes, was the first one to back your father up, the rest usually follows.”

“What changed?”

“That night, your mother died. He didn’t just lose your dad. He lost his dragon, Yvonne, too. The two of them were inseparable. Not a dent, but close, like my dad and your father. They said he went bat shit crazy. Lost it for good.”

I huffed. I couldn’t imagine Caleb laughing. He was always so serious.

“I’m not proud of what I have done now. I even told Lu I did him a favor. He felt like an idiot when he told me he had no choice. He had to marry her and which could’ve been something that had a smidge of love, it was going to be a lifelong sentence.”

“Well, it’s not. So you don’t have to feel bad anymore.”

He chuckled.

“But I swear, if you ever do that to me.”

He gasped. “You insane, what don’t you get? I’m your Dent.”

I kissed him, laughing against his lips. “A friendly warning.”

“I’ll die before thinking of doing that to you.”

“You are right about the dying part.”

He chuckled and hugged me tighter. “I’m so glad I’m not the only jealous idiot in this relationship.”

“We are both pathetic and messed up.”

He kissed me against the cheek and his stubbles tickled my skin which brought on a full tickle fight. I hated laughing like that, as I couldn’t breathe.

“What is a blood brother? I mean, we learn about it in class as a dragon and rider bond, but Lu isn’t your rider.”

“At a stage we thought he would be, so he made a blood promise to me. We were about thirteen when my darkness showed itself. I got the beating of my life and cried my eyes out afterward. Lu made a blood promise to me that he would claim me.

He showed me his palm. “My scar healed a long time ago, but Lucian still had his.”

“It’s barbaric that they hit the chromatic dragons.”

“Not all of them can’t be a Dent. Be glad that you don’t have to beat me.”

“I could never do that.”

He chuckled as we kissed again.

On Thursday after Art of War, I went to my room to take a shower. One of the plus points, not having the same schedule as my roommates, was having the shower to myself after Art of War.

During the next class, Lucian showed up, and he won himself an applause from all the teachers. He handed Professor Gregory his schedule and got a congratulatory slap from the professor as he walked to the open seat next to Blake and plopped into the seat.

“Not the way I always thought we would have Dual classes together, but here I am.”

“Starting all over again,” Blake said.

“It’s fine.”

“So, when is your dragon going to grace us with her presence?”

Lucian shrugged. “She is apparently not happy with this arrangement, but who cares? I got a dragon.”

Blake snorted as I had to keep my laughter at bay.

Tabitha was lucky that the prince of Tith was her rider. If anyone else, she would never set foot on Dragonia soil again.

The days progressed, and the snow queen made her appearance.

I stayed away from her, but not that easy now that she had the same schedule as us. Lucian didn’t give her much of his time too, and finally they hung the banners of when Lucian was going to claim her.

Everywhere in the hallways, flags of the snow dragon and the prince of Tith reminded us what was coming.

They couldn’t stop talking about it either.

The tabloids were filled with the second royal claiming. Lu had to do a couple of interviews, and he was just as gracious in front of the cameras as Blake.

On Thursday afternoon, everyone came to school to watch. They did not hold it at Tith the way they held mine. I guessed because my dragon was the alpha of all the dragons.

Reporters were there, and my heart galloped as we neared the colosseum.

Blake squeezed my hand that was inside his.

“Blake, Blake.” Every single one of them wanted our attention as they spurted out a string of questions.

He walked slower as cameras clicking noises reached my ears. Blake lifted his hand, lips quirked, and said, “What I can say, the prince of Tith will walk away with his dragon today. But good luck is still in order. Snow Dragons are brilliant, and he has to watch his back.”

Chuckles filled the air as he pushed through all of them, dragging me along as they kept screaming their questions. We went through the gate.

“The day Master Longwei is going to stop letting them in here is the day Dragonia might fall from the sky.”

“Why does he?”

“It’s not him, it’s the royals. It’s a cosmic event because Lucian refused to hold it in the colosseum of Tith.”

“He had a choice?”

“Always. I had one too, but thought you deserve the chaos.”

I shook my head with lips fanned into a smile as we walked through a hallway that led to the colosseum.

Everywhere, gold and blood red flags flapped in the breeze. Every second flag carried the snow dragon.

Students either rooted for the dragon or the rider and plenty painted their faces either white or red and gold.

I followed Blake up steps toward an open seat and sat down next to the aisle.

“Today you might actually experience what it could’ve been like if my dragon part wasn’t that crazy about you.”

I squinted at him and looked at the fighting area again.

There wasn’t anyone in sight.

“That snow dragon has fled a long time ago,” Brian yelled. Everyone laughed.

“So he can speak in first person too?”

Blake laughed.

“Are they really that scared?”

“They are not your typical fighting dragon, but Tabitha can be scary if she wants to be.”

“You don’t have to remind me.”

He planted a kiss on my cheek and rubbed my back.

Loud music played from the speakers and I laughed as Taylor Swift’s Bad blood played. “You know Taylor Swift?”

“We get merchandise from the other side. I used to have a huge crush on her.”

“On Taylor Swift?”

“She can be glad the ancients didn’t allow me behind the wall back then.”

Lucian appeared wearing long leather pants, boots that came to his calves, and a black shirt hugging his biceps. A black vest hugged his chest as he lifted his arms in the air. Everyone yelled their approval and whooped.

Then the metal gate opened and the Snow Dragon trudged out. She had a swagger to her steps and the crowd with the white faces went crazy.

“You think he is scared?”

“Who, Lucian?” Blake asked, not taking his eyes away from the two of them. He shook his head. “I think Tabitha is.”

“He is only human.”

“One who owns her ability.”

I got what he was saying. “Is he allowed to use it?”

“Yeah, how do you think a dragon gets claimed if the riders don’t have their abilities yet?”

“I had to claim you without my abilities.”

“Oh, did you now?”

“You know what I mean. They forced me and I was barely sixteen.”

“We were a different situation. Tabitha isn’t nearly as lenient as me.”

I punched him playfully. “I was ready.”

His smile reached his eyes, and his vertical dimples dented. “No, you weren’t.”

“Well, we could still face each other soon.”

“Over my dead body. We showed him your fire and now, with the snow incident, they cannot question that anymore.”

The crowd went ballistic when the colosseum’s walls vanished. Mountains and snow replaced the colosseum, and a couple of snowflakes landed on me.

“It’s snowing?” I rubbed my arms.

“No, this is Tabitha’s doing. She is excellent in snow, and she can change this entire arena to make it look like snow.”

I knew this, and I looked around. “You want to tell me that everyone is seeing this, not just Lucian?”

“You learned about this? I’m impressed.”

“Oh, it’s a bitch to change it back.”

His eyebrow raised. “Did you actually change it back?”

“I’m the Rubicon’s rider. You bet your sweet butt I can change it back.”

“Ouch!” Blake’s head lifted, yelling it at the crowds.

All I saw was a meadow covered with snow. “Where is Tabitha, anyway?”

“Oh, she is there. Why do you think she chose snow? Snow Dragon’s blend in perfectly.”

I tried to see where Tabitha was as I kept rubbing my arms and Blake passed me a hoodie. “Knew you would forget one.”

“I didn’t think it would be this real.” I pushed my arms through the sleeves and felt better as the warmth spread around my arms. It helped too that Blake’s arm curled around me.

The colosseum changed back at once and no hint of snow. Tabitha was ready to prance on Lucian. He got out of the way with seconds to spare.

Lucian maneuvered so fast that it was hard to see what he was going to do, and in two ticks, he was on her back.

The crowd cheered as Lucian grabbed her ears, and the fight started.

Tabitha tried everything to get him off. Spears of ice racketed off an invisible wall that protected us from their fight, and it missed Lucian by mere inches. Her aiming was spot on.

“Told you she was smart,” Blake said.

He blasted one away that he knew he wouldn’t be able to duck with his snow.

She growled and the snow scene appeared again just as I tried to unzip my jacket. I zipped it up pretty fast as the cold slipped through and made me shudder. A few seconds later, we were back in the colosseum.

She threw Lucian off and then she trampled on the ground, trying to crush him when the snow scene appeared again. He disappeared into the chunk of snow and my heart almost stopped.

We couldn’t see anything. Lucian was gone, Tabitha wasn’t visible, and everyone held their breath.

Twittering started, voicing where the prince of Tith was.

“Is Lucian okay?”

“Shh, he is there somewhere, waiting.”

I kept watching. A stir gave one of them away and Tabitha plow through the snow. At once, Lucian appeared, skidding on a slope of ice that he created with his ability, and the crowd cheered like mad.

He froze every part he could of her, and seeing that stiffness entering Tabitha put back that feeling of what it felt like that day she used it on me.

Blake wrapped his arm around me, as if he could sense it, and I wished something else other than fighting could happen.

It was a struggle again as more ice thumbed off the wall, the way Tabitha tried to gain the upper hand.

I closed my eyes. This ability was plain scary.

The crowd cheered like crazy, including the surrounding guys. Even Blake cheered and hollered a laugh. I opened my eyes as Tabitha was on the ground.

Lucian had his hands in the air, and I assumed she yielded. Everyone jumped from their seats and cheered with fists pumping the air. If that was how a snow dragon fought, I couldn’t imagine how the alpha of the dragons would fight. I mean, I saw his recordings, and it gave me nightmares at the beginning. There was even that one incident when I peed in my pants the first time I faced him inside the simulator.

I was understanding why the ancients were putting up such a fight against our claim.

Lucian dropped to the ground, and I gasped.

“Relax, the same thing happened to you. You gave me the biggest scare of my life that day.”

I remembered that pain that came from my stomach. I screamed the roof off. Lucian didn’t even voice it.

“Let’s go.” Blake got up, and I followed. We rushed down the stairs as everything about a claim poured through my head. It was hard to process it.

I didn’t know if I should thank my lucky stars or felt as if I got my dragon by default.

If that was what I had to do, then why was Blake against it?

Still, everything happened the same as it would’ve happened if I had claimed him.

The one thing I knew, if Blake would have fought, I wouldn’t have had a dragon now. Not if Lucian had struggled like that with a snow dragon. Blake was already half her size bigger, and not to mention the abilities he could’ve used on me.

We rushed to the infirmary just as they carried Lucian inside. His body was lifeless.

“Is he going to be okay?”

“You are here. He’ll be more than okay. I promise.”

My throat tightened as I saw how Constance placed a brace around his neck.

“Can a Dragonian die from this?” I asked, biting my nails while staring at his still body. He just went through a tremendous ordeal, and now he was going through another one.

“Constance was close. Besides, Tabitha is his dragon. There are those occasions when you try to claim a dragon that isn’t yours, then things go haywire.”

I remembered the one recording where the Rubicon actually killed someone that tried to claim him. I felt so bad for asking this question now. It wasn’t cool, Elena. You know they can die.

I felt like crying again.

“Stop doing that,” Blake said, and my gaze flickered to his.

“What?”

“Worry about everything.”

I shook my head. “Sorry about that stupid question.”

His lips curved. “You have nothing to be sorry about. I wanted to ask how that was possible for you not to know that. I’m sure they drilled all my past claiming in your head.”

“Yeah, they had, and every single one scared the living crap out of me. Especially the one where the Dragonian didn’t get up. Who was he?”

“Someone that shouldn’t ever think of getting into that ring with me. It was before I had any hope of having a rider. Thought that my only destiny was to be slain or either belong to Goran.”

“Do you remember him?” I asked as we walked out of the coliseum, trying to ditch the reporters.

“I do, and I know it’s easy to hate him when you didn’t know him. Everyone of them was constantly in my life because of my father being your father’s dragon and the prophecy that linked me to them. It was a tremendous shock that it was him that betrayed them. For months, I refused to believe it. He wasn’t as bad as everyone thinks. But he is evil. To hide your true nature like that is difficult. I’ve fought that war, and I’m truly grateful that I don’t have to anymore. So please, when they rule against our claim, just fight with me.”

I nodded. “After seeing that, I’ll fight to my last breath.”

A chuckle escaped his lips. “Oh, so you were scared.”

“I’ve watched your claiming. It gave me nightmares.”

“Cool to know that you perceived me as a vicious beast.”

“Oh, believe me, you were the scariest of them all. It had to take the queen to force me on top of my dad’s back in order to see a different side to dragons. Not to mention that weekend you spent at the castle in your dragon form.”

“Yeah, I should’ve shown you it was me. Sorry.”

“It’s okay. Your submission made up for all of it.” I grabbed his arm and gave him a side hug as we rushed up the boy’s stairs before the professors were going to come back.

“I would like to hear what you are going to spin the day Master Longwei is going to catch us,” I said as we reached the fourth floor where the elevators were situated.

“They have to catch us first. In my experience, that is difficult to do.”