Awakening of the Dragon: Mark of Redemption Book 1
Page 17
“Hey back,” Jennifer answered.
“I can’t talk long, I just wanted to say Merry Christmas, and I miss you.”
“Miss you too. And Merry Christmas.”
“Well, my parents are waiting for me. Maybe next year you can join us.”
“That’s a nice thought. Please be careful. I guess I won’t get to talk to you until school starts.”
“I will call you as soon as we get back to Charlotte, okay? And the weekend after, we can catch something to eat and a movie.”
“Sounds good.” Jennifer reached over and grabbed a roll.
“Bye, my sweet Jennifer.”
“Bye, my sweet Matt,” she replied, and she hung up the phone.
Jennifer’s mom looked up from the potatoes she was peeling. “He is a nice boy. And it was nice of him to call you while he is on vacation.”
“He is a nice guy.”
Barry appeared before her; the musty-campfire smell returned. Jennifer could see her mom run over to the oven and open it, making sure nothing was burning.
“So, dragon girl, this lack of a boyfriend means we can practice.”
Jennifer walked over to the green beans and continued her job of separating the bean-stem from the bean.
Christmas was a wonderful day. Her present this year was the car, so she didn’t expect to have a present under the tree, but there was one from her parents. They had given her a new laptop to take back to school with her.
Randy had also received a computer from their parents and gift cards for games.
When bedtime came around, Jennifer felt warm and happy.
47
Training
“Wake up, sleepyhead,” she heard, and the musty smell of Barry lofted into Jennifer’s room.
Jennifer rubbed her eyes. “And what did you dream?” Barry asked.
“I was my father,” she said, half awake, and sat up. “I went to architecture school. And you were eating popcorn. No one could see you,” she said accusingly. She looked around the room. “Where are you?” she asked.
“I’m here,” Barry said, and the bed creaked, leaving a dent in the bedspread as if someone was sitting there, but Jennifer couldn’t see Barry. “I did eat popcorn. See, told you, your dreams would be easier.”
Barry appeared, sitting in the dented area. “But if you think hard enough, you can remember everything that happened.” A green apple appeared from nowhere in Barry’s hand. “Remember when your Dad lost his first tooth? It happened the same day as the earthquake.”
The image of Jennifer’s dad standing in front of the mirror looking in his mouth as the ground shook played in Jennifer’s mind.
“I remember,” Jennifer answered.
Barry took a bite of the apple, and Jennifer could taste the apple as he chewed and swallowed. Her stomach growled.
“The reason,” he said, looking into Jennifer’s eyes with his mouth full of food and his slightly curly hair in front of his face, “you don’t remember the earthquake from your mom is the year it happened.”
“Why would that matter?” Jennifer asked.
“It was the year after your mom was born. She was too young to remember it,” Barry said and took another bite of the apple. He patted Jennifer on the leg with the non-apple hand. “Get up and get something to eat. We are taking your new car on a drive.”
That made sense to Jennifer. An earthquake in North Carolina is a rare event.
She went to the bathroom and brushed her teeth and her hair. She grabbed the same jeans and loose-fitting shirt she had on the night before. She made sure her face looked okay.
“Hey,” Barry said when she put her hand on the door. “Take your cell phone.” Barry picked up the phone, but immediately the phone fell through his fingers to the ground. He sighed, shoulders falling. “I’m not quite solid enough,” he commented. Jennifer leaned down and retrieved it. “Go, dragon girl, get some food.” She put the phone into her pocket and headed towards the kitchen.
48
Second Stage
Johan stretched inside of the rental vehicle. He had been waiting for days to see when Jennifer would leave the house. Maybe, if he could get her alone, he could claim her as a mate.
He wondered what her parents were like; after all, one of them descended from Jormungant. Did they have blue eyes or some other color?
Johan watched as Jennifer came out the front door and walked to the sedan with the new car tag on the bumper. She got into the vehicle and backed out.
“What are you doing, little girl?” Johan said to himself, sitting up straighter and preparing to drive. When she pulled out of the driveway, he began his pursuit.
At first, he thought she was heading back towards campus, but she surprised him and headed towards the Blue Ridge Mountains. A few hours later, they were in the Great Smoky Mountains. Eventually, they were driving through the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, with green signs and parking areas off the sides of the road.
This would be the perfect opportunity to take Jennifer.
Jennifer kept driving, weaving through this road and that. Johan cautiously stayed a few cars back.
In Dragon 101, he had learned that after a human-dragon goes through their ancestral dreams, they meet their Samarbied. A Samarbied, their dragon guide, wasn’t real but a representation of their dragon ancestor. The Samarbied was a clone of the human-dragon ancestor at the time of conception. The Samarbied Jormungant and the living Jormungant would have some differences due to life experiences.
The teacher had shown them a brain scan of a person before and after meeting their dragon guide. There was a significant change in their brain activity. The most considerable change in activity was in the occipital, parietal and temporal lobes – basically, the area that senses things on the outside. This indicated that there was a visual element to the process.
Johan wondered what version of Jormungant was sitting beside her in the car right now. Would it be the Jormungant from his Viking days or something more modern? He would have to ask her after they were mated.
During Dragon 101, Johan wondered how they could get such detailed information. In his mind, he pictured a boy strapped to a table. He wasn’t sure how they would know the boy would become a dragon. But he didn’t question it.
According to his class, the dragon guide will take the child to a private area to practice changing. The purpose of the process was twofold: a dragon is more potent than a human and thus will have a decisive advantage. Practicing allows the dragon more efficient transformations and better defense. And second, changing helps ground the mind back into reality. After months of different people’s thoughts, the dragon child would need the stability of knowing they were sane.
“Not what I wanted,” Johan said. It would have been easier to pursue a relationship with her if she didn’t know she was a dragon. And if she were confused, it would have been easier to gaslight her. Jennifer was heading to the forest to be alone and in touch with her transformation. She was now aware she was a dragon, and convincing her to fall in love with him would be more of a challenge. It didn’t matter, though. Either way, she was going to be his, and he knew it.
The phone played the song Johan had programmed to show Jormungant was calling.
Cussing under his breath, he hit accept. “Yes, Father?”
“I missed Jennifer’s picture this week. Is there a problem?”
“No, sir.”
“Where is she now?”
Jennifer pulled into a parking lot. Johan followed.
“She is parking. I have followed her.” Father would know what that meant for Jennifer to be seeking solitude, and Johan didn’t want him to know.
“Is she shopping? It is early in the morning for someone experiencing the dreams to go shopping.”
“No, sir. She is not.”
“Johan, let me be more specific. What is Jennifer doing?”
Johan sighed. He watched her look around the area for anyone close by. He was close, but she
didn’t seem to care that he was sitting in a car, watching her. Jennifer walked into the woods.
“Johan!” Father said again.
“Jennifer just walked into the forest, by herself.”
“I see.” Father paused and then added, “You were planning on taking her by force?”
“I was thinking it was an option.”
“No,” Father declared. “And I will ask her if you took her by force.”
“That doesn’t sound like you. Are you okay, Father?”
“Johan, do not question me.”
“But,” Johan wanted to protest and remind him of his earlier declaration, that Johan could take her.
“Johan, do not question me. Do you need to be removed?”
Jennifer was heading deeper into the woods. He could scent her trail to find her if necessary.
“No, sir.”
“Good. Let Jennifer bond with her Samarbied. Give her two weeks with Samarbied Jormungant. That should be enough time. You may still attempt to win her heart during that time. But, if she has not come around to the Family in three weeks, you may take her by force. I expect you at Wing-It Laboratories in no later than three weeks. Let’s make it a month. See, I am a good father. I will give you a honeymoon.” He hung up the phone.
Johan hit the steering wheel. Before he took Jennifer by force, he would attempt to woo her. She was within his grasp, but he would wait three weeks, as his father instructed. Until then, no other dragon or human was going to touch his mate. And Jennifer was his mate. Johan started the car and headed towards South Holt University. He knew his next task was to woo the dragon, and if that failed, to take her by force.
End of Book One, Awakening of the Dragon
Acknowledgments
I want to thank my family for allowing me the time to pursue my dreams. I love you all very much (Mom, Dad, Christina, Brenton, Jacob, and my wonderful husband, Joe).
Thank you, Madison and Christina for being models.
And, my editor Vicki—thank you for your patience and helping me learn along the way. If you would like to contact Vicki, her website is www.vickiedits.com.
About the Author
N.A. Hydes found writing at a young age, when her third-grade teacher asked her to write a story. She dreamed of far-off places above the clouds. In college, she chose to pursue engineering, but never stopped writing. Now with advances in technology that can help with spelling and grammar, she is hoping you enjoy far-off places she has only imagined.
Find out more at www.nahydes.com.
Also by N. A. Hydes
Series: Mark of Redemption
Book 2—Legacy of the Dragon, July 2021
Book 3—Mark of the Dragon, October 2021
Book 4—Claiming of the Dragon, January, 2022
Book 5—Mountain of the Dragon, April, 2022