The Dragon Stirs by Lynda Aicher

and fluttered with their expansion to extend five feet out on either side.
    Two wings that hadn’t been seen on a dragon in thousands of years.
    Two wings.
    Softly, she flapped the silken extensions, the air stroking over them in a ruffled purr. She looked at him with leery eyes, the big chocolate orbs waiting for his reaction. She shuffled backward a step before she tossed her head to stare at the others in the room. 
    In challenge. In pride.
    No one moved. No one had so much as breathed since she’d revealed her wings. What did it mean? Wings.
    She fucking had wings.
    He didn’t need to see what the others said. Their reaction meant nothing because only pure joy pumped through his chest. Through his heart.
    In one large leap, he used the air and lifted himself up to straddle her back. He sat astride her body and felt the power surge through the two of them. Her body twisted, her wings stretched wide and her head tilted up to let loose with a long, blazing stream of flames.
    Pride puffed up his chest and crushed right next to the other emotion that blasted through with the clarity of a bell. Love.
    Damn, he loved her. 
    Loved her spunk. Loved her smart mouth. Loved her will and nerve. Loved the fact that she never backed down from a challenge. Loved that she was a challenge. The feeling spread through him and into her, riding on the energy and encircling them with the richness of the feeling.
    And together, they waited. 
    Louk rubbed a hand over the long line of her neck, the scales cold and smooth beneath his palm. She rumbled low in her chest and turned her head to look at him. Her big eyes gave a slow, lazy blink as if she was communicating her approval. But he didn’t need her words because he felt it in the energy. It sung on a high note of joy. Of unity and rightness.
    A movement from the group forced Louk to bring his attention back to the others before them. Cronus had stepped forward, a bright smile lighting his face that alleviated some of the tension that strung through Louk’s body.
    “Beautiful,” Cronus boomed. “Stupendous. Marvelous. Amazing.”
    The clear awe in his voice caused everyone to pull his gaze from the enormous dragon to the tiny Elder in an almost humorous move of synchronicity. Louk had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing as the others gaped at the Elder as if he’d lost his mind.
    Cronus continued to approach them, completely oblivious to the commotion he was causing behind him. Or at least he gave that impression. Cronus smiled up at Louk and gave him a conspiratorial wink. You see now why you needed to wait?
    Louk smiled at the words in his head and gave Cronus an appreciative nod. 
    “Wings,” Cronus said loud enough for all to hear. “A dragon with wings. A sight that hasn’t been seen since the benevolent dragons of the West were all hunted down and destroyed. This is truly a glorious sight to see once again.” He was close enough now that he reached out and stroked the tender scales along the dragon Airiana’s snout, displaying his lack of fear at being so close to the dragon’s sharp, deadly teeth.
    “Gog, with his slanderous words and gift of persuasion, manipulated the world into believing that the winged dragons of the West were dangerous and harmful to the humans. Much like he has tricked them into thinking the wingless dragons of his serpentine form in the East are the kind and generous dragons. The winged dragons are our lost comrades in the struggle for balance. The Shifters who understood what we had to lose. The ones who fought by our sides until they were eradicated from existence.” 
    Louk couldn’t believe what he was hearing. There were stories of the winged dragons of the West, but he never took them for meaning that much. Never clearly understood the importance they had played in the battle for the energy. 
    Cronus circled around Airiana until he stood before her. Before them. “Now, a winged-one stands before us, emerging from the very ones