by Erin Bedford
When Herbert looked to me for confirmation, I nodded vigorously. “I’m sure you would be great in battle but with your arm…”
“I’d just slow you down.” Herbert sighed in defeat. “I understand. I will wait with bated breath for your return.”
I smiled at the driver, patting him on the arm. “We’ll be back as soon as we can.” I dropped my hand with a frown. I said the words to comfort Herbert, but I didn’t believe them, not one bit. Firestar wasn’t a one and done kind of dragon. He was more of a down in the flames of glory kind. Which was bad for everyone all around. Including me.
Worse, the direction to the volcanoes was vague at best, but luckily, the monstrous mountaintops weren’t hard to miss.
Since we didn’t have the carriage anymore, the trek took longer than it would have. I had to admit I had gotten soft in my time on Earth. I wasn’t as fast as I used to be or as stealthy. But I hadn’t really had to be. If I needed to get somewhere quickly, I simply took a cab or the subway, and when it came to stealth, there really wasn’t much call for it as a computer engineer. Not unless I was game testing and then the virtual world took care of it for me. Sadly, those skills did not transfer over to me.
After the sixth time I tripped over a tree root, Raiden called us to stop. Groaning, I flopped down on the ground. I didn’t want to seem weak in front of them, but I couldn’t be more thankful for the break. My feet were killing me. Running on a treadmill had nothing on hiking. I really should have taken better care of myself while on Earth, but I hadn’t expected to come home so soon, if ever. Now, my feet were hating me for it.
“Maybe you should let one of us carry you. Then we could fly the rest of the way?” Raiden suggested, pulling out a flask of water and passing it around the group.
I shook my head before I drank from the container. The water soothed my parched throat, and I sighed. “No, they’ll see us if we come from above. We have to stay on foot. They won’t be expecting it.”
“Agreed.” Jack nodded, taking the water from me. “We will have a better chance to survey the threat if we are undetected.”
He tipped the container back and drank from it, but some of it slipped from the side and slid down his throat. Even in my tired and worn out state, I could still appreciate the long line of his neck and the expansion of his muscles. While I’d seen more than my share of Raiden’s spectacular body, I had yet to get even a glimpse of what Jack had to offer. After last night’s kiss, I could safely say I was more than a little giddy to find out.
“This is going to take forever.” Raiden threw his head back and groaned, snapping me out of my little fantasy.
“Well, sorry,” I growled, more upset that I had been fantasizing than Raiden’s whining. “I haven’t had much need to trek through the woods while on Earth. There aren’t that many chances of being attacked either.”
“Oh yeah, I forgot.” Raiden grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his multitoned head. “What’s it like over there, anyway? Your father never let you answer.”
“It’s different,” I mused, not really wanting to get into it. Talking about it only made me miss it more. Which I found ironic since I had hated it from the moment I stepped into the dimension. Funny how that worked out.
“Oh, that’s a lot of information please slow down.” Raiden teased, making me grin.
I didn’t answer him even with his jokes, but when he only stared at me waiting for an answer, I sighed. “Fine. You want to know?”
“Please.” Raiden leaned his elbows on his knees as eager as a kid having his first flying lesson. Not that I would know. My wings still hadn’t graced me with their presence. Part of me hoped this little adventure would suddenly make them sprout up. Though, it was a small hope.
Jack shifted at my side, coming a bit closer. The pure focus in his eyes made my heart jump in my chest a little. He placed his hand on my knee as if to make sure he had my full attention before asking in a low voice, “I, too, wish to know. So far, all you’ve mentioned is that the food is excellent.”
Well, how could I say no to that?
You can’t, a dreamy part of me replied.
The problem now was where to start? I could tell them so much. The food, the clothing. While there are similarities between our two worlds, Waesigar relied on magic, and while it had limitations, it didn’t have as many as science did. I thought of telling them about Ryan and Bianca, but a selfish part of me wanted to keep something for myself. I already had to give away so much for this world. My body. My future. If I could keep one thing, it would be them. Then again, I might not ever see them again.
“It’s not like here,” I finally said, but before I could get any further into it, Raiden interrupted me.
“Obviously,” he snorted and readjusted his feet.
I made a noise in my throat and glared at him. “Do you want me to tell you or not?”
“Sorry, sorry.” He held his hands up in defense before mimicking a zipper across his lips. “My lips are sealed.”
“Good.” I nodded and settled in to tell them all about my life on Earth. “I know my father spread the lie that I was in some prestigious group to study abroad, but it’s not even close. In truth, they dumped me in the middle of some human city without a clue as to what to do next.”
“You mean they just left you all by yourself?” Raiden asked. His mouth dropped open, and his eyes widened, showing his disbelief.
I nodded with a frown. “They gave me the documents I needed to be over there, of course. So I wasn’t completely helpless, but I might as well have been.”
“Documents?” Jack raised a brow. “You need documentation to live somewhere?”
I chuckled. “Crazy right?” The guys nodded in agreement as they tried to wrap their heads around that little bit of knowledge. If that part blew their minds, the next one would be a game changer. “They have to keep track of people somehow. It’s not like here. You can’t just pop between countries without permission. They say it’s because they’d have a hard time tracking down criminals and the like.”
“Why can’t they just send a messenger to all the kingdoms and have them track them down?” Raiden waved a hand in the air. “That’s how we captured Melona.”
“Melona?” I glanced at Jack to see if he knew what Raiden was talking about.
“Melona was an ice dragon from two years ago. You weren’t here,” Jack explained, his mask firmly in place. “He killed twenty-four others before he was finally caught trying to sneak into the Eastern Region.”
“Yeah!” Raiden jumped in with a shout. “It was great. I got to help with the interrogation.”
The lightning dragon was a bit more enthusiastic than I would have been at the prospect of torture. Something I didn’t expect from the easygoing guy. However, if his bedroom self told me anything, there was more to Raiden than just a boyish smile.
“So what else?” Raiden prompted, the excitement flashing in his eyes. “Why all the crazy control? Last I heard, they weren’t under some kind of tyrant.”
My lips curled up into knowing smile. “Well, you try keeping track of billions of people without all hell breaking loose.”
“Did she just say billions?” Raiden gaped, shaking his head.
Jack nodded his own mask coming down briefly from his shock. “I believe she did, though I hardly believe it.”
“Where do they put them all?” I smiled at Raiden’s question as he tried to comprehend what I had told him.
“They have lots of buildings. So tall they block out the sun.” I raised my hand high above me. It had shocked me as well when I first arrived. The big cities. The crowds of people shoving each other as they try to get to where they were going. It had taken a lot to get used to.
“That sounds…” Raiden trailed off, and Jack finished for him. “Claustrophobic.”
Laughing at their description, I couldn’t help but agree. It had been a bit like that. It took me weeks to get used to the air and the sky. Once I had figured out
how to call a ride, the first place I had gone was to the countryside. It was only then, when the stars were shining down on me, that I had been able to breathe. My many trips out there had been the only things keeping me sane while I learned to blend into my new home.
Now the quiet of Waesigar was strange to me. I hoped it didn’t take as long to adapt to being back in Waesigar than it had taken to adjust to Earth. With any luck, I wouldn’t have to find out.
“Do you miss it?” Jack asked so suddenly, I thought maybe he might have read my mind, but the curiousness in his gaze assured me he hadn’t.
“Very much so,” I murmured, staring down at the ground. “You already know I wasn’t brought back by choice, and if I had my say in it, I wouldn’t have come back at all.”
“Then why did you?” Raiden’s question held a hint of accusation in it I didn’t like.
I leveled my gaze at him and sighed, “You’ve met my father. Do you really think he would let me stay when they needed me so desperately?”
“Then why do you stay?” Jack prodded, his face guarded. “Why did you agree to this if your heart was not in it? Do you have someone back on Earth? A lover?”
Raiden seemed to catch on to what Jack had asked and his gaze settled on my face as he waited for my answer as well. It took me a moment to realize they were jealous and possibly a bit hurt. Who could blame them? Here they were trying to woo me, and I didn’t really want to be wooed. However, I had done a good job hiding my discomfort for this whole thing. I had slept with Raiden after all.
I sighed and rubbed my hands over my eyes. Things were getting complicated. They would be even worse once we reached Firestar. I couldn’t see that going any way but bad.
“Well?” Raiden urged me on. There was an insecurity in his question, which made my heart ache. I didn’t want to hurt him, either of them. Thankfully, I didn’t have to lie about this one.
“No, there was no one on Earth.” As I finally answered, they both seemed to relax. “That’s not to say there weren’t people there I care for though. I had friends. A job. I’d just achieved something really big right before I got jerked out of there and forced back into all of this.” I gestured around the circle of our little camp.
“Then what’s keeping you from going back?” Jack raised a brow. “We certainly aren’t stopping you.”
“Well, I…” the words stuttered out, and I found myself embarrassed at the only answer I had. “I don’t exactly know how to open a portal on my own, and besides, I have you guys now.”
“What about us?” Raiden eased forward closer to me. “Finding someone to make you a portal shouldn’t be that hard. There’s plenty of people who are skilled in such magic.”
“Maybe I don’t want to leave right now.” I snapped, not liking the interrogation. I wanted to leave sure, but other things were going on now, and my conflicting emotions were giving me a headache. I needed to be done with this conversation.
“Maybe it would be better if we kept going?” Jack, ever the insightful one, suggested.
He climbed to his feet and held a hand out to me. I handed Raiden back his water jug before taking it. Pulling me up, I found myself closer to him than I expected. My eyes darted to his lips and last night’s events came rushing to the front of my mind. Licking my own lips, I let out a shuddering breath.
“I think that would be a good idea,” I said, stepping back from Jack.
Raiden and Jack exchanged a knowing grin, which only added to my irritation. I rolled my eyes and didn’t wait for them to start moving before I headed toward volcano valley.
I made a conscious effort to not trip over anything and thankfully, managed only to fall a few times. Each time Raiden or Jack was there to catch me, their hands wrapping around me, caressing my body more than they needed to. By the time we arrived on the outskirts of Firestar’s camp, I was a ball of quivering need.
“Are you all right?” Raiden asked with a condescending smile. “Do you need help with anything?”
“Yes,” Jack added, stroking his fingers along my cheek. “We are happy to help you in any way possible.”
Oh, I bet they were. My pulsating need only added to my irritation, and I jerked away from Jack and Raiden’s touch with a glare.
“We have a job to do, and if you know what’s good for you, you’ll stop teasing me.” My beast let out a low warning growl as I stomped over to a bundle of bushes. I ignored the chuckles coming from the men behind me and focused on the scene in front of me.
A dozen or so tents were set up around a clearing. More dragon warriors like those who had attacked us in the woods prowled the camp. Some practiced with their weapons in an arena while others cheered them on. Those who weren’t at the arena were cleaning weapons or doing other daily tasks. It all seemed so normal, it was hard to believe they were bad guys.
“There has to be at least twenty or more.” Raiden came up beside me and looked through the bushes with me. “What are we going to do?”
Jack stepped up beside us, peering over my shoulder. “We can’t just rush in. We might be able to take out a few, but we would never reach this Firestar person before getting caught. I suggest we wait until nightfall and use the cover of darkness to sneak through the camp. Then hopefully, we will be able to surprise him in his bed.”
“It’s a good of a plan as any.” I sighed, clapping my hands on my knees as I prepared to stand but a tap on my shoulders topped me. The sharp end of a sword met my gaze, and I followed it from my shoulder until I reached the form holding the weapon.
Dressed in the same clothing as the men who had attacked us in the woods, the dragon with the sword stood in front of a dozen others.
13
We didn’t even try to fight them. The likelihood we would win was considerably low, even with Raiden’s new trident. Instead, we let them march us out of our hiding spot and into the middle of the camp.
There were a few catcalls shot my way, which I responded to with a special one-finger salute. The men hadn’t bothered to bind our hands, but they did surround Jack and Raiden so completely, I almost couldn’t see them.
“Hey,” I cried out when they started to lead them to a different tent. “Where are you taking them?”
“Our lord will want to see you,” one of the men informed me as he took me by the arm and led me to a large tent.
“Screw that,” I muttered, and as he raised a curious eyebrow at me, I kicked him in the knee. The sound of tearing cartilage filled my ears as a shriek of pain burst from his lips. As he crumpled to the ground gripping his knee, I darted for Jack and Raiden.
The sky overhead began to crackle, and lightning split the horizon. Thunder cracked so loud, I could feel it in the pit of my stomach. A wave of frost swept outward, fast-freezing the two guards on Jack’s left right before a bolt of lightning shattered them into bloody chunks.
As bits of guard rained down around them, I saw the flash of Raiden’s trident. He swung it through the air, driving the guards backward, funneling them away. For a moment, I was confused, but as the first of them slipped, I realized Jack had frozen the ground behind the guards.
“Maya, stay back!” Raiden called, right before he drove his trident into the ground. The Lightning traveled along the frozen earth before leaping up over the guards. Their bodies spasmed, muscles locking together as they crumpled to the ground in smoke-filled heaps.
“Get back here,” the guard behind me cried, and I spun to see him back on his feet. His face was lined with pain as he flew toward me on wings of flame.
I drew on my powers, pulling the vines from the earth and gestured toward him. They wrapped around his injured leg and pulled. An earsplitting shriek filled the air as his wings faltered and he crashed to the ground like a bag of wet cement. I whipped my hand out, and my vines wrapped around him, binding him to the earth and holding him in place.
More men rushed out of the surrounding tents, and while some were dressed for battle, most were bare-chested in a way that made me
think we’d awoken them. Even still, they charged toward us as I moved beside Raiden and Jack.
My two men quickly sandwiched me, blocking me from the coming attacks with their bodies. I never imagined I’d be standing here between an army and the two men who had suddenly come into my life. The two men, who had become so much more to me than just a pair of suitors my father had chosen for me. I didn’t know which one I would choose or if I even would, but at that moment, it didn’t matter. I just knew deep in my gut my place was there between them and anyone who would try to separate us. Even if that meant dying in the process.
Raiden stood in front, his trident gleaming, and Jack stood just behind, his hands glowing with frost magic, and that was when I realized how they’d won so quickly. They were fighting together with Jack using his ice magic to slow the enemies while Raiden finished them off.
Oddly enough, as the bandits surged toward us, they seemed to realize that while they could overwhelm us, they’d be unlikely to succeed without taking even more casualties. A tense silence filled the battlefield before a half-naked man with a flaming tattoo emblazoned across his chest strode forward. He gripped a massive sword in one hand, and as his eyes raked over us, he sighed.
“Our orders are not to harm you, but if you don’t come quietly, we might just have to go against them.” He gestured behind him toward what had to be over a dozen archers. “Your magic is formidable, but will you be able to fight back when we blot out the sky with arrows?”
“Are you sure?” Raiden asked, his trident crackling in his hands. “Because my buddy here is pretty sure he can stop all of them before they even fire. Isn’t that right, Jack?”
“Yes.” Jack nodded solemnly, his hands glowing white with unspent ice magic. “I will shatter their hands before they even pull back their bowstrings, and even if I do somehow miss one, Raiden commands lightning. The whole of the sky will protect us.”
“Then we are at an impasse because our lord very much wants to speak with you.” He met my eyes. “Privately.” The man’s expression darkened. “If you do not come peaceably, we will make this happen, and this time, I will not have my men hold back.”
