by Eric Vall
“Really?” I turned and looked at the lion with wide eyes. “None of you have ever even tried to work things out before?”
“No.” He shook his head. “The other Houses said they didn’t want another dictator, and I didn’t want to let any of them tell me or House Oel what to do. I was stubborn and proud, neither of which are good qualities for making great leadership changes.”
“Wow,” I mused as I studied the older male. “I have to say, I’m impressed with your honesty now. It’s felt like you didn’t really want things to change since I got here. I mean, you were the only one who required a full dragon appearance to even give me a chance to talk to you.”
“Ah, yes,” Kinba chuckled ruefully as he finally looked up from the sand. “I’m used to having a bit of a reputation for being harsh or even cruel, which normally scares off anyone who tries to come talk to me, so your dragon form took me by surprise. And as for my previous behavior, yes, I have been wary of you. We have never had anyone try to help Tikal in all the decades of its misery. Why should anyone want to change it now?”
“I am sorry it’s taken so long,” I apologized. “His Eminence has spent so much time guarding the Breach that he hasn’t been able to fully care for the people of Rahma. I’m just glad I’m here now to help.”
“I agree,” Kinba said. “Rahma has needed someone to step up for a while. I wish it could be King Rodion, as I’ve always heard he is close to godly, but if the Breach is as bad as you say--”
“It is,” I growled and clenched my fists. “I’ve seen the creatures that have escaped from it, and they are not anything to fuck with.”
“Then I trust your judgment and the timing of your arrival,” Kinba conceded with his hands up. “You have made an ally in House Oel, and I hope in the other two Houses of Tikal as well. All of us need to believe in the renewed Rahma for everything to work out well.”
“I completely agree,” I said with a nod.
Just then, I noticed a small blue flame appear above us like a falling star. I watched as it arched across the sky, and then it dropped down onto the ground several feet away. Sand billowed up into the air with the impact, and Kinba and I turned away as the debris settled. A moment later, Ravi stood up and brushed the sand and ashes from her red robes, and I couldn’t help but grin.
“What an entrance,” I laughed.
“Sorry, I just--well, they told me to get here … I flew so fast, but it’s not an emergency …” Ravi gasped out, and she bent over a little as she tried to catch her breath.
“Okay, if it’s not an emergency, then breathe a little,” I advised the phoenix with a hand on her shoulder.
Lord Kinba looked at her as though she’d lost her marbles. He apparently still wasn’t used to the young bird’s high energy.
Ravi nodded and took in a few slow, deep breaths. Her tanned skin was flushed from exertion, and she ran her fingers through her unruly orange hair as she tried to tame it. Several golden streaked feathers fluttered down to the sands, and Ravi grumbled under her breath as she stooped, snatched them up, and shoved them into the pockets of her red robes.
I thought the action strange, but then I realized phoenix feathers probably packed some potent magic, so it would make sense for Ravi to try and keep her shedding to a minimum.
The phoenix took one final, deep breath, and then she straightened up with a smile.
“Lord Jai received your message,” Ravi reported. “He’s gathering some jaguars to help bring back water, and then they will all come here so he can plan the next few days with Lord Kinba.”
“Perfect,” Kinba responded, and he looked at me with raised brows and smiled. “They can come in through the front door.”
“That’s the spirit,” I laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. “Now, let’s keep that positivity going while the jaguars are here, and make sure your staff sees it. We need support from every level of the community.”
“Of course.” Kinba nodded and took a bow. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll grab Kalem and meet the House Onca group upon their arrival.”
Then the lion Demi-Human turned and made his way back into the palace.
“How is the research going?” I asked Ravi once we were alone.
“Ugh,” she grunted and swiped a strand of orange hair from her eyes. “Not as quickly as I thought it would. I figured with both of us looking, we should find it pretty quick, but it’s like we both have an idea of what to look for, so we’re each looking for that, and we end up looking in every book twice anyway! I think we need to focus on purity, but Alyona thinks we need to focus on dark magic.”
“She’s reading up on dark magic?” I questioned with a furrowed brow.
“Well, she thinks we need to focus on finding the dark curse on the river to reverse it, rather than try to find a strong enough spell to purify it,” Ravi clarified.
“What would be the difference exactly?” I asked.
“Well, if we can reverse the curse, it would be guaranteed to work,” she explained, “but it’s hard for pure creatures to dabble in dark magic. On the other hand, if we can simply purify the water of the curse, then it should work, but it isn’t guaranteed to work or to last forever.”
“Seems like reversing it makes the most sense for a guaranteed fix,” I murmured. “But both of you are pure, so that is difficult.”
“Maybe I’m not as helpful to the princess as I thought,” Ravi pouted.
“Oh, come on, now.” I pulled her face up toward mine and pressed my lips to her brow. “I don’t believe for one second Alyona doesn’t appreciate your help. I’m sure you two will figure it out eventually.”
“If you say so,” Ravi grumbled with a half-smile. “You always know what to say, Lord Evan.”
I smiled back at her, but my thoughts were racing now. Why would Alyona risk her purity to check the dark magic option? I didn’t like that one bit.
Then I heard the large, front doors on the other side of the palace creak open, and Kalem’s booming voice followed soon after as he greeted someone.
“Sounds like the jaguars are here,” I muttered. “We’d better go and make sure everything goes well.”
“I have faith it will,” Ravi chirped with a smile.
“Oh?” I raised an eyebrow.
“Mmm-hmm.” Ravi nodded. “Jai and his jaguars have become our friends, and look at what the dryads have done for the lions here.”
She spun in a quick circle and gestured to the blooming garden.
“So?” I laughed.
“Soooooo,” the phoenix drawled as she faced me with her hands on her hips, “you’re fixing the things they’ve been fighting about for generations. Soon, everyone will have adequate, no, abundant food, water, and other necessities. Why would they want to fight anymore?”
Some might have called the phoenix naive, but I found her faith and trust in people endearing. Ravi was a pure soul, and that was one of the things I loved about her.
“You’re right.” I grinned and pulled the orange-haired woman over to kiss her full on the mouth.
“I like being right,” Ravi giggled against my lips, and I couldn’t help but chuckle as I kissed her again.
After a few moments, though, the sounds within the pyramid grew louder, so we turned, made our way out of the farms, and walked back inside the palace. Then I grabbed Ravi’s hand and pulled her to the great hall, where four jaguar Demi-Humans and Jai waited for Kinba to make his appearance.
“We meet again,” I joked with Jai as we walked in.
“You only meet once, Lord Evan,” Jai responded and raised a brow.
“Never mind.” I shook my head and laughed. “Kinba should be in here any minute, but I need to get back to House Onca and touch base with my future bride.”
Just then, Kinba swept down the hallway and entered the great hall.
“Sorry for the delay!” he said with a cheerful smile. “Lord Evan, are you staying while we make our plans for the week?”
“No,” I a
nswered. “I have some other things to do, but I believe I can trust you to be a courteous host for the group from House Onca?”
“Of course.” Kinba gave me a deep bow. “In fact, I just told our staff to bring us a round of drinks and fruits for our little meeting.”
“How generous,” Jai responded, but his yellow eyes narrowed suspiciously.
“I know I haven’t shown the most … hospitality lately,” Kinba began with a wince, “but we are all making efforts to change Tikal, and I am grateful for that.”
“As am I,” Jai agreed, and some of the tension faded from the jaguar’s shoulders, but he still seemed a little suspicious.
A moment later, several lion Demi-Humans swooped into the room with trays full of prickly pears and pitchers of cactus juice, and they set the platters in front of the House Onca party.
“Please, enjoy.” Kinba smiled and gestured to the food.
The younger jaguars dug in, and I watched Jai’s face as he considered what he thought of the lion’s statement. After a moment, Jai grabbed a small cup of cactus juice and took a seat, and I couldn’t help but grin.
Hopefully, this would ignite some real change in Tikal.
For now, though, I had to get back to House Onca and see what we could do to change that damn curse.
Chapter 9
As I walked out of House Oel, I shifted into my dragon form, and Ravi transformed into her phoenix body. I had barely stretched out my massive black wings, though, when I heard one of the dryad sisters calling me.
“Lord Evan!” Polina yelled as they stumbled out of Kinba’s palace. “Can we ride back to House Onca with you?”
“Sure,” I agreed. “Hop on.”
The three girls clambered onto my back and gripped me tightly, and Ravi took her usual perch on my snout.
I snorted a plume of hot air from my nostrils just to hear the phoenix squawk indignantly, but the small fire bird just floated on the updraft above my head.
“That feels kind of nice,” Ravi giggled, and I repeated my action, this time to hear her laugh. Then I flexed my wings and waited for the sisters to get settled. I was a little less tense after the pantry session with Aaliyah, and I smiled to myself as I remembered being deep inside the lioness.
After a moment, I craned my long neck around to look at the dryads perched along my spine. “Ready?”
“Almost,” Marina chirped, and her green eyes glinted mischievously. “First, we have a question for you.”
“Oh?” I asked.
“Did you enjoy your time at House Oel, Lord Evan?” Trina inquired and innocently batted her green eyelashes at me.
“You seemed to have taken up an interest in food while there,” Polina added with a smirk. “I didn’t know how much you enjoyed hula grass. Especially since it’s mostly used in tinctures and not for eating.”
“I did enjoy myself, and would you look at that, I learned something about hula grass today,” I snickered. “Did you three learn anything interesting out on the farms?”
“Oh, hush, how was she?” Marina cut to the chase.
“Oh, my, did you finally make love to Aaliyah?” Ravi gasped from atop my snout. “She’s been giving you the eyes all week!”
“Is she as beautiful naked as she was in that dress?” Trina wondered.
“Because she was soooooo beautiful in that dress,” Polina agreed.
“She has an amazingggg body,” Ravi remarked as she fluttered her wings. “Have you seen all those muscles?”
“Oh, I’d love to see her naked while Evan fucks her,” Marina sighed with her hands clasped together.
I growled with pleasure at the idea. All three of the dryads plus Ravi and Aaliyah in one bed? I’d be the luckiest dragon on the damn planet.
The dryads and Ravi giggled at my growling, and the sisters rubbed their hands on my spiky spine.
“You would enjoy that, wouldn’t you?” Trina teased.
“I know we would!” Polina declared.
“Oh, one day, it will happen,” I said through gritted teeth.
These women sure knew how to get me worked up, so before I could get worked up even further, I took to the air and rose above House Oel. The golden, jeweled pyramid fell away beneath us as I spiraled along an updraft, and soon we were gliding just under the fluffy white clouds that floated across the clear blue sky. Within minutes, we coasted over the fountain in the center of Tikal, and the dryads gasped and giggled as they pointed to the people far below.
“They look like ants!” Polina tittered.
“I love flying!” Trina exclaimed, and I couldn’t help but agree.
Unfortunately, however, we couldn’t fly through the skies all day, so I angled my wings and descended until we landed in the clearing in front of House Onca’s palace. The sisters slid off my back and waited for me at the bottom of the stairs, and Ravi flitted over next to them and took her human shape. Her feathers gave way to smooth, tan skin, and if I hadn’t just satisfied myself with Aaliyah, I would have considered taking the phoenix to bed.
Another time, though. Right now, I had important things to attend to, namely my future wife.
“I need to go check on Alyona,” I told the girls as I also shifted into my human body. “Ravi, do you want to come, too?”
“I’ll give you two some alone time,” Ravi answered with her head down, and she kicked at a stray stone. “I’m worried about her, so maybe you should talk to her first.”
“Okay.” I nodded. “I’ll come find you ladies later.”
Ravi and the dryads walked together up the stairs into the palace, but I had to go talk to my bride-to-be and make sure she wasn’t doing anything crazy. I was worried her hunt for dark magic would lead the princess to whoever had tried to sic the jaguar Demi-Humans on her.
I made my way up the stairs to the palace doors and nodded to several jaguars as I turned toward the library. I didn’t even have to reach out with my dragon senses to find her there. Alyona loved the library, no matter which city we were in.
I strolled through the door to the library and looked around for the princess. This room had fewer openings to the outside, probably to save the books from the elements of the jungle, and because of this the edges of the library were bathed in perpetual shadow. There were tables and chairs of different sizes scattered here and there, and in between were free-standing racks of books. More shelves lined the walls from floor to ceiling, and I noticed several humans and jaguars dusting and reorganizing the numerous tomes of House Onca.
Finally, I found Alyona sitting at a long, dark wooden table. Her hair was braided down her back, with the white and black strands twisted together. She’d apparently changed outfits since I last saw her, because now she wore a silky, white robe that dusted the floor next to her chair, and I couldn’t see her face, but I knew her amethyst eyes were scrolling across the pages of the book she was reading.
I quickly snuck up behind the princess, laid my hands on her shoulders, and leaned down to kiss her on the cheek.
Alyona jumped at the contact and almost head-butted me.
“Oh, gods, Evan!” she cried out as she realized it was me. “You scared me.”
“Sorry, you were pretty engrossed in your book,” I chuckled and motioned to the table. “How is the research going?”
“Ugh.” She frowned and pursed her lips. “Every time I think I’m close to an answer, it doesn’t actually give me a solution, just more questions. How was House Oel?”
“Kinba actually seems to be coming around,” I remarked. “He gave me a whole spiel about coming together for Tikal and stuff. It really surprised me.”
“That is surprising.” Alyona raised her eyebrows. “Do you think he’s being truthful?”
“I sure hope so,” I answered with a shrug. “I didn’t get any negative vibes from the conversation, and he was super nice to Jai and the other jaguars who showed up as I was leaving. But back to you and your research, what exactly are you looking for?”
I didn’
t want to throw Ravi under the bus with her worries, but I also wanted to hear from Alyona exactly what she was doing.
“A solution,” the princess mumbled and looked back down to the book on the table. The cover was made of aged black leather, and the pages were thin and yellowed. I could tell the tome was written in a language that wasn’t English, but thanks to the charm Alyona had embedded in the earring I perpetually wore, I could understand a slew of languages just at a glance.
My eyes skipped over the page Alyona was reading, and while I could understand the words, they didn’t mean a lot to me. Still, from my experience on Earth, ingredients like “blood of a white bat” and “teeth from a scaled beast” were generally not associated with good magic.
“Alyona,” I started gently as I sat in the chair next to her. “What kind of magic is this?”
The princess was silent for a long moment, and her purple eyes shied away from my face.
“Alyona,” I pressed, and she sighed before she finally relented.
“It’s dark magic,” she whispered. “I hate reading it, but I have to know what we’re up against to figure out how to solve it.”
“But at what risk to you?” I asked. “You were already in deviation once, thanks to magic like this. How do you know this won’t put you back in it?”
“I know, I know!” Alyona wailed and dropped her head into her hands, and her fingers tore at her previously pristine braid. “But I can’t just do nothing. These people need us, and part of being a priestess is knowing all parts of the craft. I was only in deviation because of who I am, and I still came back from it.”
“I know you did,” I sighed and tapped my fingers on the table. “I keep telling you you’re the strongest person I know, so I guess I’d better start treating you that way. How can I help?”
“You really mean that?” She looked up at me with wet purple eyes.
