Molten Heart

By Katie Salidas

Contact between the human world and the dragon realm is strictly forbidden.

No one knows this more than Dax Hyland. Drake Enforcer of the Pacific Colony hidden on a carefully protected island chain, Dax has dreamed, for the last hundred years, of his coming of age celebration and sets his sights on Hawaii for his excursion into the human realm. 

Volcanologist, Dr. Jane Calman has been monitoring strange activity on the big island of Hawaii. As if someone had put a stopper in the volcano, the constant lava flows have all but stopped their two-decade trickle toward the ocean, and now the mountain is threatening a full blown eruption. 

Dax thought he knew everything about fire, but when he meets Jane, she ignites an entirely new kind of blaze within him. Smart, sexy, and obsessed with the molten heart of the earth that is home to his people.

It's almost as if she is a Drake trapped in human form. The passion they share burns hotter than any flame he's ever felt.

Jane doesn't know Dax is a dragon. Seeing his true form is forbidden. But when he discovers another Drake tampering with the volcano, forcing an eruption that will destroy Jane's island home, Dax will have to risk life and newfound love to save her.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rising Sign Books
• Release date: Nov 15, 2022
• ISBN: 9781386195078

Book preview

MOLTEN HEART

A Fire Dragon Love Story

THE HUMAN REALM HAS always been off-limits for the fire drakes of the Pacific colony. Hidden on a carefully protected island chain, Dax Hyland has dreamed for the last hundred years of his coming of age celebration and sets his sights on Hawaii for his one and only excursion into the human realm.

Volcanologist Dr. Jane Calman has been monitoring strange activity on the Big Island of Hawaii. As if someone had put a stopper in the volcano, the constant lava flows have all but ceased their two-decade trickle toward the ocean, and now the mountain is threatening a full blown eruption.

Dax had been warned to stay away from humans, but from the moment he laid eyes on Jane, something awoke within him. She doesn’t know he’s a dragon, and he would prefer to keep it that way. But when he discovers another of his kind tampering with the volcano and threatening to destroy Jane’s island home, Dax will have to reveal his true form, and risk losing her forever, to stop the other dragon.

MOLTEN HEART

(A Fire Drake Love Story)

Copyright © 2016/2018 by Katie Salidas

Second Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

Editing: Sharazade

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To my own precious hatchlings.

You might make me breathe fire every day,

But I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I love you three crazy kids!

Alyse, Hunter, & Zoey.

CHAPTER ONE

DAX HYLAND

Soaring high above the mountain peak, letting the current guide him, Dax gazed out beyond the island’s edge into the vast expanse of ocean. The world beyond begged him to explore with the promise of adventure, but the law of his people forbade those childish fantasies. Thousands of years before, his people, the Dragonkin, had been scattered to the wind by overwhelming human forces. His colony, believing they were the last of their kind, had survived through isolation.

Humans lived in the great beyond, savage creatures ruled by their own destructive instincts and lust for power. Dangerous beings that spread like a plague to every corner of the world, they threatened all creatures big and small that dared to cross their paths.

Angry clouds gathered on the horizon, ominous gray masses that blocked out the sun as they merged, plotting a torrential downpour for anything that dared cross into their territory. Flashes of lightning striking the water highlighted a curiosity trying to navigate the rough airways. Far in the distance, almost too tiny to make out at first, Dax spotted it – another winged creature.

His keen eyes soon focused on the beast struggling in the distance. But unlike him, that beast reflected the lightning’s glow with a stiff metal body. Wings of steel jutted out from either side, but they neither flapped nor bent to use the currents to maneuver.

Dax beat his own wings and rode the wind, watching with interest as the metal creature fought its way through the storm.

Filled with life though it was, the beast was not itself a living being, despite roaring with an angry voice that could be heard for miles around. In its wake, it left trails in the sky like ghostly clouds but produced no rain.

Human made. Human driven. Legends spoke of their jealousy of the Dragonkin. Unable to change form or take to the air, they created things to do the work for them.

In spite of their savagery, the creativity of humans had to be admired.

A sudden shift in the air sent Dax into a dive. He beat his massive wings a few times and picked up speed before spreading them again and catching the current once more. Gliding in a wide arc, he headed for the beach.

A boisterous laugh rumbled like thunder, followed by the voice of his friend Ramos. You fly like a hatchling when you see those airforce-ones

Dax glanced left and caught sight of shimmering green scales. He and Ramos had been in the same nest, part of the same hatchling group. More than friends, they were as close as brothers, and inseparable for most of their lives until it had been time for their colony duties to be assigned.

Built long and lean, Ramos had always been the better flier. Taking to the sky was instinctual for their breed, but he could maneuver through hurricanes with ease and had speed unmatched by any Drake Dax had ever known. Dax had always secretly thought Ramos part wyvern, but would never insult his brother by saying so out loud.

Where Ramos had the gift of flight, Dax had been given the opposite. Lacking grace of flight but more than making up for it with pure muscle mass, Dax had been assigned to the Peacekeepers, where his colony felt he had been naturally suited.  

Claws on the ground, guarding the temples and acting as security during trading days with the wyverns and Hydra clans, Dax often gazed up longingly when the Air Guard flew over. They were the few who were permitted to leave the island and have real adventures.

You’ve seen those an airforce-ones up close – how do they move with stationary wings? Dax beat his own massive wings to punctuate his question, and angled toward the beach for a landing.

Ramos laughed again. I could ask the same of you. Flying for nearly a hundred years and you’re still just as stiff as a newly hatched Wyrmling.

I don’t get to fly every day like you, Dax snorted jealously.

I don’t get to shift every day, like you, Ramos replied, sounding equally put out.

You’re not missing much. Two legs are clumsy. And human form is tiny. Dax flapped his wings harder and put out his back legs as he approached the ground. Landing with a loud thump, he sent up a cloud of sand in his wake as his claws dug deep into the sand.

Ramos touched down behind him with hardly a sound and gently folded his wings. It’s not your human form that makes you clumsy. He chuckled. You’re just too damn big to be graceful, my friend.

Dax craned his long neck around to look at his friend. Size might have made some difference as far as flying was concerned, but he didn’t feel he was that much bigger than Ramos. Maybe a foot longer. A hundred pounds heavier, perhaps. But who was really counting? Not that it mattered much. They were both drakes. Dragonkin. Brothers.  

Their kind came in a variety of shapes and colors, none being more or less magnificent than any other. His brother might be smaller and green of scale, but those visual differences held no weight compared to the heart within that beat with a pure flame. Dax himself had been blessed with scales of blue and gray, at times murky like the ocean after a storm, but when the light hit them just right, they shimmered around the edges like diamonds. All colors were beautiful, and that was what made his people so unique.

I’m just joking. Ramos nudged his friend in the ribs with his snout. Don’t get all fired up.

Oh, I’m not, Dax lied, and quickly changed the subject. Just thinking about where I’ll go for my time abroad.

You’re not really going, are you? Ramos’s voice turned sharp with concern.

I am, Dax boasted. C’mon, this is our chance. We’re of age now. Once a century we get the freedom to see what lies beyond the borders of our islands.

Strict laws enforced by the Elders forbade young drakes from leaving the island. The dangers of the human realm and the necessity of their isolation were drilled into each and every young hatchling. But once every hundred years, a short visit was permitted to help reinforce the Elders’ teachings.

Humans are dangerous and destructive creatures with no regard for the land Mother Nature blessed them with.

Dax had been counting down the days to the anniversary of his hatching. He picked up his pace, nearly skipping on all fours as he padded down the beach toward the temple of the Elders.

Ramos kept pace behind him, but his steps held no eagerness. I see what lies beyond our borders. More islands. And those islands are filled with humans who do nothing but kill each other.

That’s not all they do.

Do you remember a few years back, when the sky was filled with tiny Airforce Ones?

That was more than a few years ago, Dax scoffed, remembering how the Elders had called all the drakes into the mountain and sent the Air Guard on patrol.

I was there. I saw what they did. They flew to the closest island and rained down fireballs unlike anything I have ever seen before. They destroyed their own people. And since then, it has been our mission to ensure they never do that to our island. Don’t you understand?

They were at war then. But they aren’t now, Dax argued.

How soon before another war breaks out? Ramos asked.

All the more reason to go. I want to see them up close, Dax sighed with impatience. While they’re peaceful.

You can watch them safely on the Teevee in the market square. It’s always showing their news. Ramos sighed. Nothing but anger and hungry children. Always fighting among themselves. They’re savage beasts in peace or at war, Dax. Don’t bother with them.

Dax refused to be deterred. Sure, he saw horrible things on their Teevee. But he also saw good. And all societies were flawed, even his own. If not for the Peacekeepers, relations between the wyverns and the Hydras would not exist. Elders could preach all they wanted about tolerance, but even among their own kind, disputes rose up every now and again. 

It’s my right. I’m of age. I just wish I could have my wingman with me. Dax punctuated the finality of his statement with a stop of his foot.

Ramos hung his head and let loose a steamy breath. I’m not going. I deal enough with the humans on patrol. Every year it gets harder and harder to keep them at bay. I fear the day they do finally set their sights on our home.

That’ll never happen, Dax scoffed.

In the last twenty years, we’ve seen more and more airforce-ones on the horizon. Ramos turned his head skyward. In the distance, the metal beast still hung in the air, making its way through the clouds.

I’m going to ride on one when I get my chance to see the world beyond. Dax turned and winked. Just you watch.

Ramos snorted, and a puff of smoke came out in a ring from his nostrils. You ride in them, not on them.

Either way, I’m leaving the island, and I’ll see what the world beyond is like. Cocky as he was on the outside, a tiny kernel of worry clung to the back of Dax’s mind. He’d always expected his brother to go with him. They had both shared the dream together of enjoying the freedom of a new world. They’d planned together all the ways they’d live it up in the human realm, spending the treasure they’d amassed over years from salvaging sunken ships.

Something had changed in his brother. He’d never been adamant about staying home before. And after a hundred years on the same small island chain, why would he not want to expand his horizons a bit?

Their home island and the two lesser islands nearby were part of an active volcanic ring, often erupting with little warning. That was one of the many reasons humans had shown no interest in their home, and the primary reason his people had settled there in the first place.

The beach was a narrow strip of sand that lay between the rushing tide and the sheer side of a volcano that still ran hot with Mother Nature’s blood.

Dax and Ramos walked silently around one steep wall of the mountain until they reached a large cave formed from an old lava tube that had ceased to flow.

Why would anyone want to leave this? Ramos commented, as he entered the steamy path into the volcano, making a show of breathing in the heavy air and blowing out smoke rings.

Their home was perfect, no question about it. Food aplenty. Glittering treasures piled