A quick run-down on the Fireblood Dragons universe if you haven’t read the series or if it’s been a hot minute! It’s okay! Here’s the gist: A hole was ripped in the space-time continuum 8 years ago and dragons invaded. They destroyed EVERYTHING. The setting is now post-apocalyptic. The drakoni have 2 forms, dragon and […]
Chapter One DAKOTA “Do you have this postcard, Rabbit?” I ask my daughter, bringing it to her. “There were a few by the register.” She looks up from the bookshelf she’s emptying, setting the precious contents on the ground. Her face brightens as I approach, and then her mouth twists in teenage disgust. “Mom, that’s […]
Chapter Two DAKOTA My body immediately goes cold, flooding with panic. The urge to grab our things and run sweeps over me and I have to hold myself still, not show my daughter the fear her words automatically trigger. I inhale deeply a few times, carefully putting my book down. We’re not in a fort […]
Chapter Three MURR That human female just stole my cat. I stare after the female, her scent drifting through the air, mixed with fear and sweat. I hadn’t noticed a human had come close to my nest today. Sometimes they wander close, but they’re easily scared off. This one scooped up one of my cats […]
DAKOTA I race inside the bookstore, frantic. The kitten in my hand is scratching it and crying out, but I can’t put him down. Not when he’ll be killed immediately. Rabbit appears, a huge smile on her face. “Mom, you brought me a kitten–” “Get your things,” I say quickly, racing towards my backpack. I […]
Chapter Five MURR The female is more intriguing than she should be. Even though she tried to injure me, her fear scent and the scent of the smaller female nearby tells me that she is a mother protecting her young. It is admirable, and it eases away the burning anger I feel. My cat […]
DAKOTA I just had a conversation with a dragon. I think. Kind of. More like he just repeated me a lot, but he petted the kitten, looked at me with interest instead of anger, and then just…left. I lower my crossbow and stare after him, but he doesn’t come back. I lean against the door, […]
Chapter Seven DAKOTA I’m shaking as I slowly creep toward my crossbow. I need my weapon back. I won’t feel safe until it’s in my hands again — not that it’s done much good against him so far. The dragon-man nudges the meat towards us again, even as the cats rub against his legs […]
Chapter Eight MURR The two human females are such curious creatures. I observe them as they move about. The older female keeps watching me with nervous flicking glances, even as she murmurs sounds to the younger female. She touches the young one frequently, caressing her head or touching the arm, more signs that this is […]
Chapter Nine MURR The females sit next to each other, across the fire from me. The younger one is bright eyed and eager, the older one more wary. “Da-koh-taaah,” the younger one says, patting her mother’s shoulder. “Daaaa-koh-taaah.” Do-tah gives her an irritated look. But I am intrigued. These mouth noises are long and she […]
Chapter Ten DAKOTA It’s the weirdest night of my life. We sit around the fire with a naked dragon (in the shape of a man) and roast meat for hours. The cats climb all over us, fearless with Murr nearby, and cry to be fed until they’ve gorged themselves. Part of me wants to […]
Chapter Eleven DAKOTA I need a grill. Fourteen cookbook shelves later, I’ve find a book that details how to smoke meat without a dehydrator, and it goes into great detail about smokers and grills. Which is perfect…except I have neither. The good news is that I can probably find one at an old […]
MURR I’m learning a great many things about humans from watching Dakotah. I’ve never had an interest in them in the past, and my vague memories of the time before when I was lost in my mind are filled with very negative thoughts about humans. Of wanting to destroy them and rip them to pieces. […]
Chapter Thirteen DAKOTA “Murr? You okay?” I dust off my hands and move to the back of the old pharmacy, alarmed by the hissing noise that came from him. He turns to look at me, eyes wild and swirling with black, his hands bent to make his claws like sickles. Smoke trickles from his […]
Chapter Thirteen DAKOTA The pharmacy is pretty picked over, as most buildings are after so many years, but I’m happy with my finds. I dig through the old employee break room and find a few condiment packets and some sugar that’s dried into a hard lump at the bottom of a canister, but I’ll […]
Chapter Fifteen DAKOTA When I return to the bookstore, Rabbit has a small fire going out front, a hint of smoke in the air. She’s got the spit going over the flames, and gets to her feet when she sees me approach with the cart. “Mom, I’m cooking the rest of it,” she announces. […]
Chapter Sixteen DAKOTA The next day, Murr brings a dead deer, with small three-pronged antlers. The meat is delicious and we season our portion and roast the larger amount into shreds to feed the cats. Murr doesn’t eat with us, but he never does. He probably eats deer when he’s out hunting. He hangs […]
Chapter Seventeen DAKOTA The nomad keeps smiling at us, and it’s unnerving me. He stops his bike and puts up the kickstand which makes my heart drop. “You’re not being very friendly.” As if he deserves friendliness simply because he’s shown up? “What do you want?” “Thought I’d come say hi. Been smelling smoke […]
Chapter Eighteen MURR I take my time choosing a fat animal for my humans to eat. I don’t want to give them another sick one, because I don’t want to make them ill. I’m a bad provider if I can’t give them good meat, so I find a herd of bucks and settle atop […]
Chapter Nineteen DAKOTA I don’t sleep at all that night. I keep having nightmares that the nomad is going to return, and he’s going to hurt Rabbit. My crossbow remains clenched in one hand, a knife in the other, and I stare up at the ceiling. There’s a cat on my feet on the […]
Chapter Twenty MURR It is a book of glyphs. How fascinating. My clever Dakotah is trying to teach me more of her words by showing me some of the stylized glyphs of her people. I have vague memories of something like that from my home, but not nearly as colorful or foolish-looking as these. She […]
Chapter Twenty-One DAKOTA The next day’s weather dictates our actions. It’s rainy outside and cold, a sign that the weather’s changing. There are leaves littering the parking lot outside, and I’m dreading the winter. Texas winters are always mild compared to a lot of states, but they still get colder than I’d like, and […]
Chapter Twenty-Two DAKOTA I’m not sure what to be more afraid of – the dangerous black eyes of the dragon-man sitting in front of me, or the noise outside that tells me the nomad has returned. I knew it was just a matter of time. Murr surges to his feet. I jump to mine, […]
Chapter Twenty-Three DAKOTA If they didn’t have guns, I’d go out and introduce myself. As it is, I’m trapped in a closet with a big, naked golden man who’s growling. Not an ideal situation. My daughter is hiding in the old bathroom, which adds to my tension. I want to protect her but […]
Chapter Twenty-Four MURR It seems we are collecting more human strays. These two have arrived upon my doorstep, with strange scents and loud voices. They have the drying scent of old age despite their strange trappings, and wave two sticks around as Dakotah talks to them. Ribbit still hides away, and I can […]
Chapter Twenty-Five MURR I drop three cattle – one for my cats, and two for my humans – before shifting back to my human form and returning. Dakotah has started a tiny fire as she likes to do, and Ribbit is chopping up bits of meat for the cats. They crawl all over her, […]
Chapter Twenty-Six DAKOTA The loin wrap is pretty much an utter failure. It’s great in theory. It’s great when Murr is standing up, hands on hips. But the moment Murr sits down, he spreads his thighs like it’s his personal duty to take up as much space as possible, and the fabric rides up, […]
Chapter Twenty-Seven DAKOTA “What fort were you in?” I ask, oh so casually. I squeeze Murr’s hand in mine without realizing I’m doing so, and when he squeezes back, it startles me. Dottie is the one that replies, her tone calm and measured. “We came from Kansas City.” “That’s a long, long ways away. […]
Chapter Twenty-Eight DAKOTA We settle the two ladies into my ‘room’ in our bookstore with my extra blankets and my bedding. “I’ll sleep with Rabbit tonight,” I tell them. “We can talk more in the morning.” The women take off their shoes and set down their gear by the bed, and Aggie takes off her […]
Chapter Twenty-Nine DAKOTA I freeze at her earnest words. Rabbit wants to stay. Rabbit has never told me before that she wanted to stay anywhere. She knows as much as I do that a permanent location usually isn’t in the cards. “You want to stay because of the cats?” “Not just the cats.” I […]
Chapter Thirty MURR I rub my cheek, startled. Dakotah just gave me a kith. It was on the side of the face, just like she gave to Ribbit, and not on the mouth with extended lips like I have seen in some of the pictures. She has fulfilled our bargain, and I feel a twinge […]
Chapter Thirty-One MURR After much hand-gesturing, I learn that the finger-waving means going on a journey. Learning their strange sounds are bad enough. Now I must learn hand-signals too? Just when I think I am catching on to their strange language, they change it on me. I try not to show Dakotah how defeated the […]
Chapter Thirty Two DAKOTA My sweet daughter is selling me out. Here I am, trying to help Aggie and Dottie move their gear to our home and she’s trying to distract me. All day I’ve been watching the two women, looking for clues that they might be misleading us, or telling half-truths to hide something. […]
Chapter Thirty Three DAKOTA As we tie pillows onto my backpack, there’s a rustle in the bushes. I look up just in time to see a trio of deer bounding away. Aggie immediately points at them. “Look, Murr! Big meat!” It’s like he’s been waiting for this moment. With a growl low in his throat, […]
Chapter Thirty Four DAKOTA I must look like I’m ready to explode. Rabbit gives me a worried look, touching my arm. “Mom, are you okay?” “I kind of want to kill a man right now, actually,” I say, keeping my voice cheerful. “Just find that guy that’s trying to ruin our lives and put a […]
Chapter Thirty-Five DAKOTA A dog. I’m so relieved that I start laughing. It’s not a woman being held captive, but a dog. That takes things down a few notches from ‘absolutely dire’ to ‘just shitty’. I look over at Rabbit, though, and she’s got an absolutely devastated look on her face. I know she’s thinking […]
Chapter Thirty-Six DAKOTA It’s strange, but with Murr on the roof, watching over us, I feel safe. Protected. It’s like I can relax, knowing that we truly aren’t in danger in the slightest. It’s a rare feeling in this day and age, and a dangerous one. I can’t allow myself to get used to it. […]
Chapter Thirty-Seven DAKOTA Why am I not surprised that the nomad was a prick running a scam? I should have guessed. “Curtis took us in circles,” Aggie says. “Running our tab up just for fun cause he didn’t have anything better to do. And we were stuck, so we had to go along with him […]
Chapter Thirty-Eight MURR I soak up the sunshine atop the roof, and down below, I hear the comforting babble of human language. Out of habit, I push my thoughts towards Dakota, trying to make contact with her mind. I get nothing in return, but that’s not surprising. Whatever ability I used to have is completely […]
Chapter Thirty-Nine MURR Nothing I have ever experienced is as entrancing as the touch of Dakotah’s soft hand against mine. I do not dare breathe, because I do not want her to flinch away. Was I fascinated by how soft her lips had been against my cheek? It is nothing compared to her hand against […]
Chapter Forty DAKOTA I did not come onto this roof to flirt with a dragon. Yet it seems that is what I am doing. My brain has gone out the window, and the moment he started kissing my palm, I stopped thinking about dragons and enemies and nomads and, well, everything, really. Rabbit and I […]
Chapter Forty-One DAKOTA If anyone notices that I’m flustered, they don’t comment on it. We make plans to go out tomorrow to look for the nomad. We work on a crossword puzzle aloud, because Aggie doesn’t like to do them on her own. I don’t even know if she likes to do them as much […]
Chapter Forty-Two DAKOTA Sleeping with my daughter is out. Given that Murr is still on my heels, following me inside the building, I’m not about to go curl up with her…because what if he goes with me? I don’t think he would do anything to Rabbit, but I’m not about to put all of us […]
Chapter Forty-Three MURR It is as I suspected – lip kith are much, much more interesting than cheek kith. I’m pleased that Dakotah offered one to me, and if she wishes for me to be silent, I will be as silent as can be. I suspect we are hiding from the others as we sit […]
Chapter Forty-Four DAKOTA “I’m just saying, Mom,” Rabbit says as we walk the next morning. “If you wanna date him, I’m totally cool with it.” “We’re not dating!” I tell her for what must be the eleventh time in the last hour. “It was just sleep!” It’s my fault she caught us this morning. I’d […]
Chapter Forty-Five DAKOTA I scan the parking lot with my binoculars, but my brain is busy dreaming of kisses and warm golden skin and even warmer golden eyes. I’m so focused on the thought of kisses that when I hear the shrill sound of a whistle, it makes me jump. Biting back a swear word […]
Chapter Forty-Six DAKOTA It takes far too long for me to get Murr to set me down, but he eventually does. I immediately move to my daughter, running my hands over her limbs. “You’re okay, aren’t you, baby?” She rolls her eyes at me. “Mom. I’m fine. All I did was blow a whistle.” Yes, […]
Chapter Forty-Seven DAKOTA Rabbit and Aggie take off for the vet’s office, after getting some very grudging instructions from Curtis. Dottie and I sit on the hood of a nearby car to wait for them to return. We’re more or less babysitting Curtis, who’s still trapped under Murr’s claws. Dottie can’t resist being a little […]
Chapter Forty-Eight MURR There is a lot of talking amongst the females, but one thing is clear: I am not to eat the male under my claws. He deserves eating, or at the very least being chewed up and spit out, but perhaps Dakotah will not like putting her lips on mine after I have […]
Chapter Forty-Nine DAKOTA “She looks so good, doesn’t she?” Aggie straightens the little hat she’s put atop Stella’s head and beams at the dog as if she’s cured cancer. “Such a smart girl.” The smart girl has twin strings of drool hanging from her jowls. Her tail thumps on the ground and she settles herself […]
Chapter Fifty DAKOTA Rabbit wants to know all about Murr’s journey and where he dumped the nomad, and what it looked like from above and if there were any landmarks and and and… “He can tell us all about it tomorrow,” I reassure her, picking up a random cat that rubs against my leg and […]
Chapter Fifty-One MURR One Month Later No wonder humans wear a dozen layers of clothing at all times. I pull my loin-wrap tighter around my hips, wondering if I should switch to my battle-form, where the wind and cold does not bother me. The skies clouded overnight and instead of the normal balmy ‘ween-turr’ weather, […]
Chapter Fifty-Two DAKOTA No one goes to sleep early that night. Stella has decided to have her babies, hence the smell of blood. The dog pushes out puppy after puppy, much to Aggie and Rabbit’s delight. By the time she’s done, there are nine of them, like little wriggling sausages curled up against her belly. […]
Chapter Fifty-Three MURR The next morning is extremely cold. Even I, who am not usually bothered by the weather here, find it uncomfortable. My limbs in my two-legged form feel the pinch of the chill. I offer to make a fire inside the bookstore for the humans so they can warm themselves in the shelter, […]
Chapter Fifty-Four MURR I shift into my two-legged form and follow after Rabbit, curious. She says we need to talk, but I find this confusing, as she is already talking. “Do we talk same time?” She turns and gives me a weird look. “What do you mean?” “You say talk. You talk now. What different?” […]
Chapter Fifty-Five MURR “Dakota…not love Murr?” I ask, disappointed. Have I been wrong about all of this the entire time? Am I a fool for imagining that someday she will ask for my bite? Rabbit puts her hands up, surprise on her face. “Wait, whoa, that’s not what I said. Back up.” I take a […]
Chapter Fifty-Six MURR I take to the air immediately, a natural instinct in response to a threat. Power surges through my wings, my shift from two-legged form to battle form something that takes place between one breath and the next. As I rise to meet the other drakoni, I send my thoughts out automatically, looking […]
Chapter Fifty-Seven DAKOTA Thess is gorgeous. Unabashedly naked and perfectly made, she’s got the same scale-patterened skin that Murr does, but instead of a rich gold, hers is a dull brick red. Her features are sharp and almost catlike, making her seem impish and fun. Her hair is a thick, wavy fall of red that […]
Chapter Fifty-Eight DAKOTA “I can’t believe we’re meeting another dragon,” my daughter says, squeezing my arm. “I’m freaking out.” “Me too,” I whisper, but probably for different reasons. Thess sits by the fire, wrapping a blanket modestly around her long, beautiful limbs. She takes the cup of tea handed to her and smiles sweetly at […]
Chapter Fifty-Nine DAKOTA I’m not going to cry with relief that Murr wants to stay. I’m not. If he wanted to go to a fort and meet more dragons, I’d wish him the best. I’d understand it. I wouldn’t follow, but I’d understand it. He’d be choosing his people over our motley little crew. It […]
Chapter Sixty DAKOTA “Where walk?” Murr asks me. “Where go?” “No place in particular,” I say. I move to his side and take his hand in mind. “Just to walk around and talk, and think.” Murr nods slowly. “Think…good.” “Thinking is good,” I correct. Thess spoke so well that I wonder if I’m doing a […]
Chapter Sixty-One MURR Thess’s arrival has cleared my mind of all its shadows. For so long, I have feared that there was something truly broken inside of me, something to be ashamed of. That all the drakoni are struggling with the loss of our mind-touch is a strange relief. It is not something because of […]
Chapter Sixty-Two MURR The thought of my bite makes her nervous. It’s evident from the way her scent has changed from sweet arousal to an acrid tang. My teeth are much sharper than hers, and perhaps it is that which unnerves her. Should I tell her the bite is not to take a chunk of […]
Chapter Sixty-Three MURR The sounds Dakota makes when I touch her breasts are incredible. Her scent is everywhere, full of arousal and need, but still smelling uniquely like her – human. My fangs throb again, instinct reminding me that when I give her my bite, our scents will mix. She will smell like she belongs […]
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