The Witch and the Dragon Ch. 00-01

"You were exposed longer."

Zak pulled his arm from Seth's grip and stopped. "Don't you mean I'm weaker than Remi? Go on," he snarled, "say it."

He clenched his fists wanting to strike something. He wouldn't hit Seth, though. He loved Seth like the baby brother he never had. He'd punch Remi—if I can catch the slippery son-of-a-bitch. The last time someone tried nailing the red weredragon, Zak ended up getting clocked in the eye. It had been the pretty Arborian witch.

"You're not weaker," Seth grated. "There's no such thing as weaker, only less trained." He looked around before settling his pale gaze on Zak again. "Now, are we getting our asses out of here, or are you going to wait for the serum to wear off so you can get mauled by dozens of ravenous vamps intent on draining you of your precious dragon's blood?"

Zak winced at the mention of dragon. Strange, how he didn't mind being temporarily turned into a blood-sucking vampire, and yet the reminder that he could shift into a dragon made him shudder like an idiot. The thought of not being in control did not sit well with him. Zachariel Wilder must never lose control.

"Fine," he grumbled just as a few female vamps approached. They watched Zak and Seth with wide bright eyes, their nostrils flaring a bit.

Next to Zak, Seth growled and the vamps took a step back when a few of his tiger stripes became visible on his forearms. They darted by Zak and Seth, one of them hissing at them.

"Shit," Zak huffed as they took off in the opposite direction, quickening their pace.

"Forget about changing. Let's go directly to the spaceport. Devon is waiting there with our Vipers."

They wove through the tunnels until arriving at the transportation hangar. Boarding a shuttle, they exited the arena via a protected transport chute. The crystal-clear tube dove beneath the ocean a few miles before resurfacing and merging with more common transport chutes above.

Zak was amazed at how quickly the new planet had become populated. Made mostly of ice, the buildings of the city they passed through soared into the night sky, glittering with millions of lights. It amazed Zak to think his commander, Devon, had used his telekinetic powers to haul a dead planet into the exact spot the destroyed planet of Crystalia had once orbited and recreate it almost exactly. This he had done for his love, Angel, who was Crystalian.

Zak took a deep breath. "It's so beautiful, isn't it?"

"Devon's a fucking god," Seth murmured next to him.

Zak turned back to him with a raised brow. As always, the weretigri's expression was blank.

"Yeah. He's really powerful." Zak pursed his lips. "Good thing he's on our side."

Seth remained mute, his sky-blue eyes glued on the glittering city around them.

"Geez, Seth," Zak sighed in exasperation. "Spit it out already."

Seth leaned back in the plush velvet seat of the shuttle, the glow of lights shining through the glass windows illuminating half his face. "I keep dreaming that a golden-haired angel with black wings breaks open the gates of Hell."

Zak felt his skin prickle with fear. "Davariel?"

"The angel has Devon's face."

And Devon was the living replica of his fallen angel father, except that the son's hair was blacker than pitch. All images of the fallen Angel di la morte had been removed from the galactic databases, as though his very likeness could reach out and destroy again. The most beautiful Seraph ever born was feared that much—Devon and Lucien's father. "But Davariel turned before being pushed into the realm of shadows. Dev and Luke's mother, the Master Guardian Luciel, redeemed him."

Seth was silent a moment. "Angel is pregnant."

Zak frowned. "You think Devon and Angel's child is going to be the new dark prince? The baby is wingless. We saw him on Quinn's scan."

"Whenever a mortal passes into the realm of demons they transform...acquire wings."

The image of Lucien and the demon wings he sported came unbidden to Zak's mind. The ex-second in command's eyes glowed with the same unholy light as Devon's bioluminescent eyes. However, Seth said he saw black wings. Lucien had dark red demon's wings.

The feel of Seth's hand sliding around the back of his neck startled Zak. The wereling slid over in his seat and pressed his forehead to Zak's. Pale eyes gazed into his, pupils dilating impossibly wide, the black flickering with a fiery glow. Zak stiffened, wanting to pull away, but the void sucked him in.

Beneath Zak's booted feet lay snow and ice, the color of blood and ash; overhead, a sky boiling with poison and absolute cold. He fell to his knees in terror, his hair whipping across his face in the raging wind. Around him, blackened trees twisted in agony, limbs raised to the sky as if in supplication to a god that no longer protected them. He swore inwardly as he peered through the mangled dead trees. A vast ocean, frozen for centuries, and beneath the black depths lay the gates of Hell. Zak knew exactly where he was.

"Megdoluc," he rasped.

He knew the gates weren't completely sealed. Over three hundred years ago, the fallen angel Davariel tried to break them open and managed to crack the portal, and somehow Zak was now standing at the very edge of the entryway to Hell. The frozen whirlpool had to measure at least a mile across, with congealed waves arching around it about one hundred feet high, like icy jaws. The funnel yawned down into black eternity.

Zak wanted to back away, but his body would not respond to his mental commands. The sound of beating wings drew Zak's gaze up. He almost expected to see Remi in dragon form swooping down to rescue him from falling into the pit... and into Hell, but that wasn't what he saw.

A golden-haired Seraph hovered overhead with the blackest wings Zak had ever seen. He held a sword, blood dripping from the silver blade. The angel was hurt, his wings beating weakly, and then he plummeted into the void.

"No," Zak screamed, his hand reaching out in futility.

The beautiful creature disappeared within the darkness and a rumbling started.

The stench was so overpowering, Zak began to retch, his eyes watering and nose running. Turning around, his hands hit the unforgiving ice as his body convulsed, the contents of his stomach spattering everything beneath him. Zak cursed and spit with a grimace, feeling the ground shake harder. Behind him, the sound of wings multiplied, as if billions of bats were flying out of the broken portal. Without looking, he knew they weren't bats.

Zak turned, fist against his mouth, tears leaking from his eyes. A black shape rose from the pit, in its arms laid the bleeding angel. Zak's heart raced until he thought it would explode. The dark shape lifted its head to stare at Zak.

"Stop," Zak screamed.

Zak was down on the floor of the shuttle, heaving, gagging as his whole body shuddered in revulsion and terror. He didn't know when he'd fallen, but his whole being shook, and sweat covered his body.

"Fuck, Seth," he panted. "Do that shit again and I swear I'll tear you to pieces."

Seth only stared at him with emotionless eyes. "Get your shit together. We're entering the spaceport."

***

Devon stood by their Vipers, a pair of dark glasses covering his bioluminescent blue eyes. Nonetheless, he still drew the gazes of those that passed him. Standing an inch shy of seven feet, clad in black from head to toe, with glossy midnight hair and milk white skin, he had a way of attracting the eye. Devon was the epitome of male beauty, rumored to be the exact replica of his father, Davariel. The only difference was that Davariel had been blond.

He grinned when they approached him and soon Zak found himself engulfed in strong arms.

"Hey, Dev." Zak patted his commander's back before they released each other. "How's Angel?"

Devon's smile faltered. "She's being difficult."

Seth scratched his head. "Don't most females get moody when they're gestating?"

Zak winced at Seth's wording. Remi was right. The kid talked like he had a stick up his ass.

"The baby's growing at an accelerated rate." Devon said with a sigh. "Dr. Quinn says it's because of my Seraphian genes."

Unbidden came the image of the blond angel with the black wings that looked exactly like Devon. It couldn't be Dev's son. Zak hoped it wasn't.

"Zak?"

Zak started, looking into Devon's face, only to see his own sullen reflection staring right back at him from Dev's glasses.

"We'd better get moving," Seth said. "We're drawing attention."

Zak looked around the spaceport to see a great number of humanoids pointing and gesturing in their direction.

Devon chuckled. "That's right. Zak's a rock star now. Let's go before we get mauled."

Zak turned, locking his attention on his black transport. The Viper's top opened, the gleaming black glass rolling into the body of the metal, tear-shaped pod.

Lights began flashing around them, Zak realizing they were being vid-recorded. The press of energy around him also warned him that beings were indeed advancing upon them.

Gripping the edge of his small transport, Zak hopped inside. The velour interior immediately accommodated to his bulk, cushioning his body into a comfortable reclined position. The glass top rolled shut again. Closing his eyes briefly, he sighed.

Time to go back home, boys—Devon murmured into their minds.

Zak nodded, opening his eyes again to look at the Black vipers to either side of him. Their transports were identical. There was no instrumentation, no dashboard. They did have a screen for incoming communication from external sources, but it was rarely used. The Viper's sole source of power came from its occupant, a Master Guardian—or as they were now known, an Alpha Angel.

Zak took a deep breath, already feeling the tendrils of Seth's power and the definite sizzle of Devon's linking them.

Home—Devon's deep voice echoed in his mind.

To the onlooker, it probably seemed as if the three black Vipers had just vanished from the spaceport, but in reality, the Alpha Angels had the ability to bend space to travel beyond the speed of light. Before long, the presence of Alpha 7 loomed before them.

Zak opened his eyes as they slowed, letting the image of the ring-shaped space station fill his vision.

Home.

He remembered the dread he'd felt the first time he'd laid eyes on Alpha 7. He felt as though he were being exiled into a purgatory. How many times had his father spoken of Alpha 7? It was the home of the demonic freaks Edenians called Master Guardians. Humans with telekinetic powers so strong, they weren't allowed to remain on any of the inhabited planets for fear they might try to take over.

Now he was one of them, and Alpha 7 was his home...the freaks his family.

The silvery hull of the space station glowed in the all-consuming black of space. Millions of lights delineated its form to help keep other spacecrafts from running into it.

He knew the exact location of his suite of rooms, knew where everyone else's was too. Devon's rooms were brightly lit signaling that Angel was occupying them. Annie, their Alpha Angel sister's room was dim.

Zak frowned. He wondered if she was still suffering from depression. They'd been in suspended animation for three hundred years, losing everything and everyone they knew, including Annie's half seraph son, Gareth. Her baby had only been five-years-old at the time.

Unbidden came the memory of the little boy running down the corridors of Alpha 7, his one white wing flapping n the air as he screamed in delight playing hide and seek with them. Zak would sometimes hide him but Gareth would give away his location with a fit of giggling.

The image of chubby cheeks and laughing golden eyes were replaced with another pair of golden eyes looking at him in fascination. The Arborian witch.

Full breasts straining against the tight material of her golden gown, pink tongue wetting plump lips, "Mine, dragon. You are mine."

Zak frowned, hers?

The top to his Viper sliding open snapped him out of his daydream. He stared at Devon, feeling a bit of irritation mixed with embarrassment.

Devon eyes searched his. "You okay?"

Zak rose from his Viper looking away, his face warm. Clearing his throat, he tried to sound nonchalant, "Yeah, man." The gruffness of his voice made him wince. Zak Jumped over the edge of the Viper, the thud of his boots hitting the charcoal grey hangar floors echoing. The sooner he got away from Devon and Seth's probing stares, the better he'd feel.

Devon's pale hand shot out and gripped his biceps.

About to glower at his commander, he sucked in a shocked breath and instinctively threw his arms around Devon instead when Remien's Viper slid into the hangar inches from their boots, leaving a trail of fire and ice in its wake.

"Crazy-assed fucker," Seth spat, brushing off the ice particles that glittered on his once pristine black uniform.

Zak felt his face heat up considerably when he realized he still had his arms wrapped around Devon's neck in a strangle hold. Devon was biting his lower lip trying not to laugh.

"Sorry," Zak murmured disentangling himself.

Remi's Viper opened and out jumped the crimson-haired Alpha Angel, his green eyes lit with mischief.

"What'd I miss?" he said striding toward them, a grin slashed across his face as his fingers shook his mop of wild hair.

"Maiming us and destroying our Vipers by a hair," Seth snarled.

Remi gave him an amused look, shrugged, and then flipped him off.

Stripes appeared on Seth's skin as he hissed at Remi. Zak rolled his eyes. It was a typical night in Alpha 7.

"Knock it off you two," Devon sighed. "Need to call a meeting."

That got their attention. As usual, Zak focused on their conference room and teleported himself there.

"And Annie?" he asked seating himself in one of the clear plastiform chairs around the table. His hand smoothed over the cool gloss of the black table before lifting his gaze to Devon who chose to sit across from him.

The glow of the wall sconces made his commander's long hair look like liquid satin. "She's with Angel." Devon replied.

From his faraway look, Zak surmised he was mentally linking to Angel and Annie.

Zak felt the swell of power raise the hairs on the nape of his neck seconds before both women appeared, Angel standing next to Devon, Annie standing between Remi and himself.

Zak grinned and stood again. He hadn't seen Annie in a few month cycles and welcomed the hug she gave him.

Annie was almost as tall as Zak, her body lush and curvy. Rounded breasts flattened against his hard chest as he buried his nose in her neck and sniffed her sweet scent. He'd always loved Annie's coloring; rich and dark, her eyes a lighter brown with green and gold flecks in them. She'd swept up her long, reddish-brown hair into a ponytail, the loose curls coming to the middle of her back.

"Oh, Goliath," she cried, then pulled back and glared at the others. "Why didn't anyone tell me Goldie-locks was coming back?"

"We wanted to surprise you." Devon smiled as he pulled Angel against his side, his hand automatically caressing her pregnant belly.

Angel grinned at Zak. "Welcome back, Zachariel."

Annie released Zak and he leaned over the table to kiss Angel's forehead. Unable to resist, he splayed his fingers over her rounded belly. What would it have been like?—he mused as the memory of his first girlfriend and lover came back to haunt him.

He could still clearly visualize the enraged and disgusted face of Tanya's father too. My daughter got an abortion—the man had declared. Don't you ever come near her or our family again, you freak.

Zak pushed the painful memory to the back of his mind, along with all the other little monsters that tormented him in the middle of sleep cycle.

"Hey, I haven't seen you in a while either," Remien protested, folding his arms over his chest as he scowled at Annie. "Don't I get any love?"

Seth snorted in disgust as Annie laughed and hugged Remi too. "Just don't try anything lewd, Red, or I'll tie you up and tickle you until you cry like a little girl."

Remi's eyes widened. Zak barked out a laugh, knowing that the red weredragon deemed tickling as cruel and unusual torture.

Annie released Remi and pounced on Seth, cupping his face in her hands and baby talking to him, "Kitty-cat. Oh-my-god, baby-look at you! You've filled out so much." Zak saw when her eyes misted over, Seth, who'd begun to scowl, froze, his expression turning into concern. "You're almost too big to be my baby anymore, aren't you?"

Seth's hands clamped over hers, his pale blue eyes wide. He shook his head slowly from side to side, "N-no, Anniel, never. I'll always need you."

Remi smirked. "Yeah, especially now that a girl reaper stomped all over his heart."

Seth snarled at Remi and Zak wanted to groan as once again Devon ordered them to abstain from violence. Unable to help himself, Zak ended up grinning as he shook his head. Home had not changed much at least, despite the life-altering shifts they'd all endured.