The Dragon's Queen

Chapter 11: Cleanup

Gabriel’s POV

“ Well, hold on a moment, Riley. I can make this go a lot faster for all of us.” I said as I stepped up towards them. Both Kai and Riley looked confused for a moment. I had not gotten a chance to show them this skill since so many people were around when I was still learning it… But now that I have a better hold on it, Uncle Parker thinks it is ok to use in front of others. I hold out my hand and focus on all of the dead grizzlies. “Awaken.” I growled out in my alpha tone. I could feel my eyes glowing as mana seemed to pour out of me and into the dead bears. Then, within moments, shadows burst from all of the corpses.

Riley and Kai both let out a gasp as shadowy versions of the hell flame grizzlies started standing all around us. The flames on their backs were as green as their eyes. Flowing through the wind. The alpha grizzly knelt in front of me and bowed its head. I think naming the alpha one would be ok. I don’t have 45 names off the top of my head, but he will be the leader of my pack of shadow flame bears. I placed my hand on the alpha’s head. “Your name will be Blaze.” I said. Blaze raised his head and let out a victorious roar as if to say he accepts the name.

I then turn to Kai and Riley as they watch, with a smile on their faces. “Now we can collect the corpses for Uncle Parker and Uncle Estarossa much quicker.” I said with a grin as each bear grabbed its corpse and carried it on its own back. Leaving only the smaller limbs for us to collect. Kai gives me a wicked grin while Riley laughs. “Way to get out of doing the heavy lifting.” She said as she snapped her fingers, making a gust of wind flow through and collect the smaller limbs up, and placing them within her magic bag she always keeps in her back pocket.

“Where did you learn that trick?” Kai asked.

and a vortex in a nearby pond opened up.

Kai shakes his head and jumps through first, and one by one, my shadow bears follow him through. I simply shrug my shoulders. “Hey, whatever gets the job done. I don’t think they will complain as long as their ingredients are intact when we get there. “How true your statement is. You will be a wise king.” Riley said as I headed towards the portal. I jumped through and allowed the current to take me back home.

“Well, when I turned 10, I got a gift of my own. Just like how my Uncle Ethan can manipulate fire and Uncle Terrence can manipulate lightning… I can manipulate shadows.” I explained. “It was something new that Uncle Parker had never seen before, so he asked me to keep it quiet until we learned more about it. It took some training, but I can even move through the shadows… well, so long as they are connected in some way.” I said while scratching the back of my head.

“Wow. That is incredible.” Riley said. Kai nodded. “Yeah, but I can only call forth shadow beasts that I have beaten and extracted their shadows.” I said. Then I focused on my shadow and summoned the only other magic beasts I have taken down. Twin tigers then stood between me and Kai. Their tails are moving back and forth like a cat watching its owner. “These twin tigers were from a mating pair of thunder tigers that had slipped onto our pack lands and started causing chaos a few months ago.” I said.

“Oh yeah. I remember that. Kai was off in the dragon lands helping the dragon king, and I was in Raven Moon with our parents.” Riley said as she walked around Rain and Storm. Studying them from every angle. I nodded before looking down at them. At first, I thought they were regular tiger shifters that went rogue and wanted to cause trouble. That was until they both shot lightning out of their mouths towards me. If I weren’t patrolling with Uncle Terrance, then I would have been killed.

He was able to deflect their lighting attacks while I went for their throats. In my opinion, the only thing that makes magic beasts worse than rogue shifters is the fact that all magic beasts have some kind of elemental defense. Looking around me, I made mental notes. ‘Hell flame grizzlies have fire, the thunder tigers have lightning.’ The biggest problem with magic beasts is that if you don’t study up on them and make notes, then you have no way to identify what a beast uses to defend against themselves, and then you can be in for a world of hurt or die.

After the thunder tigers, I learned that I could extract the shadows of magic beasts to serve me… It was almost like they called to me. Though I can only extract shadows from dead magic beasts from Edolas. I tried it on some regular rogues and hunters after my parents dealt with them, but it didn’t work. Aunt Jasmine’s brothers, Parker and Estarossa, think that it is because of the magic flow in Edolas.

Beast humans, magic beasts, and even the humans of Edolas are constantly soaking up the magic of their world… that is why even the humans can use their mana, even though not as much, or as effectively, as a beast human. Plus, Estarossa did some kind of ritual in Edolas with my mom, and I have been able to use skills that normally only beast humans can do. Like growing ears and a tail and connecting with their beast soul before shifting age… I grew bear ears and a wolf's tail when I first heard my bear, Koda, and my wolf, Tyson, when I was six years old… but I still have to wait until I am 18 to shift. Which was only a few more months away.

Kai nods as he gives me a decent-sized smile. I puff out my chest with pride. Kai was not an emotional type of person, so his smiles are very rare and only for those he is close with. Aunt Jasmine says that things will change once Kai meets his mate. I already know that whoever the Moon Goddess gives him as a mate will be the luckiest and most deserving girl in the world.

Especially since Kai is 28 years old and has never even had his first kiss. He is not ashamed of that either. Girls always come after him, too, because of his looks and his status within the packs. In the Royal Moon pack, he is the Luna Queen’s personal bodyguard… but in the Raven Moon pack, he is the eldest son of the alpha family. Even though he declined the alpha title from Uncle Ethan and Uncle Terrance.

He always tells any female who tries to get with him the same thing… that his body is for his mate only. His d**k has no place being with anyone other than his mate. It kind of struck a chord with me as well. I have escorted girls to dinners and dances, but I have gone no further than kissing them on the backs of their hands like a gentleman. Plus, my mom told me about an ex-girlfriend using a potion on my dad to force his hand into mating with her, even though he ended things with her before he turned 18.

“Well, now we've got everything gathered up, we can get back to Royal Moon.” Kai said as he looked around. “Uncle Estarossa and Uncle Parker are going to be in heaven when we bring back 45 hell flame grizzles.” Riley said as she rose to her full height and started heading for the pond.

She bit her finger and dropped a drop of blood into the water, and then snapped her fingers. A swirling vortex started up and grew larger and larger. Then, within a few minutes, we could see clearly through it. The sight of the pack house from the back garden made me smile. I could already see Uncle Parker and Uncle Esstarossa coming out the back doors.

“See you on the other side.” Riley said in a teasing tone as she jumped through the portal and back home. “I will never get used to these things.” I said as I jumped forward into the vortex after a handful of my new shadow bears went through. My stomach lurches forward as I feel the force around me. I then get spit out of the portal on the other side. Landing on my feet, though only barely. I sigh before smelling the air and knowing that I am home once more.