Oberon Dragon
Page 1
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Oberon Dragon
Star-Crossed Dragons Book 1
By: Sage Hunter
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Table of Contents
Oberon Dragon: Star Crossed Dragons Book 1
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
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Oberon Dragon: Star Crossed Dragons Book 1
Chapter 1
Oberon
I stood up, dazed and disoriented. The planet I was on was extremely bright, and I winced at the sun, my pupils dilating. I looked down at my hands, and groaned. I had been mid-shift when the engines gave out, and our ship began to hurtle toward the surface of the earth.
Now, my skin was half scale, and I had to focus an excessive amount of energy to return to my human form. Although it was quite difficult, I managed to do it, but it took my last ounce of strength. I slumped to the ground, putting my head in my hands and trying to remember what had happened.
The ship had started to smoke. Everything felt terrifying and dangerous as the alarms began to sound through the cabin. The attack had been swift and fierce, and I knew that whoever attacked us, believed us to be dead. Otherwise, they probably would have followed us to Earth.
Fortunately, that had never happened. At least, not that I could recall. Everything was so fuzzy, and my head was searing in pain.
But where were the other dragons? What happened to my crew? In fact, where was the ship?
I got up, still feeling a little bit unsteady after regaining my consciousness. I was in a desert, and the sand was hot beneath my feet. My uniform was gone, probably ripped to shreds. I had to shape shift into my dragon form during the attack.
I had nothing to protect me against the elements, nothing but my own skin. And yet, I was completely weak, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t stay on my feet. It was alarming. I crumpled back to the ground, furious at the futility of my actions.
I had no crew, no ship, no resources whatsoever. I was alone in the middle of the desert, with nothing but an aching body and pounding head. I knew I was wounded, but I had no idea what exactly the issue was. I just knew I was tired and sore. The pain was bold and throbbing, and everywhere. My body was in agony, and I had no idea what to expect from the world I had landed on. Our navigation systems had shown that we were near Earth, so I presumed that was where I had landed. But what had happened to me in that gap of time I could not remember? And where was the ship?
Again, I tried to get to my feet, but it simply left me dizzy and I sank to the ground and closed my eyes, completely worn out by my efforts.
I tried to call out, but there was nobody to hear me. Even if they did, I had always heard that humans were a brutal and selfish species. It would be impossible for me to get any help from such a race. I was doomed.
With that thought lingering on my mind, I slipped into the darkness behind my eyes and found myself feeling very heavy, unable to keep my eyes open. I closed them, still completely aware of my surroundings but far too weak to continue taking them in.
Before I knew it, I was slipping into a deep, miserable sleep. It was a lot more like unconsciousness, but I was in too much pain to think about it. The last thought on my mind before I slipped into blackness was my planet, and my people. Where were they now? Would we ever end up seeing each other again? Was I going to die here? I didn’t know any of the answers to these questions, and somehow, I had to try to find peace within that. No matter how hard it might be.
Finally, I was no longer able to keep my consciousness. I would just have to hope that, no matter what happened, it was for the best.
Chapter 2
Jenny
“No,” I said, frowning at my father. “I already told you. The cows are going to be fine. You hired good help. I’m not going to move back home.”
In fact, the last thing I would ever do in my life was live with my father again. My childhood had been wrought with horrible instances of emotional and verbal abuse. I wasn’t going to subject myself to the man’s unpredictable temper any longer.
“But nobody understands the way this place is supposed to run as well as you do. You were raised here. Come on, Jenny, this is your duty. You owe me!”
“I don’t believe I owe you anything, Dad. I mean, I appreciate you putting food on the table all these years, but I don’t owe you the last shred of my self-esteem, and I’m not going to hang around while you try and make me feel like crap about myself. It just isn’t going to happen. I hope that, one day, you can try to understand that.”
My father looked sourly at me. “If your mom could see you now, she would think you are the biggest disgrace she ever put forth on this green earth.”
I shook my head, “If my mother was here, she would be mad at you for the way you treated me all those years. She would be glad I married a man and we had managed to save enough money to buy our own home, our own land. She would be proud of me. Unlike you.”
“You wouldn’t have anything without your mother’s inheritance, don’t kid yourself. That rotten husband of yours left you deeper in debt than he is in his grave. You wouldn’t have any land to speak of if it weren’t for your mother. Cashing in on her death like that, it’s shameless!”
I scowled, the words stinging me even though I knew he was just trying to get under my skin.
“I don’t think that’s true. I did everything I could to work my way out of this debt. And on top of it, I have to deal with the emotional hell pit that you dug me into. And I’m going to keep working until I’m out of it for good. I don’t care if that means I never speak to you again after this. You can’t control me, no matter how entitled you think you are in trying.”
I turned my back on my father for the first time, his angry eyes burning a hole in my back. But I wasn’t going to give in. It wasn’t going to be the way it used to be when I was a kid and didn’t have any power. I had already done everything I could to put myself through school and get the emotional support I needed to understand my own worth, so he would no longer try to hurt me. It was the best thing I had ever done for myself, and I wasn’t going to let him wreck it.
“You’re making a huge mistake. I’m not going to give you a damn cent when I go. And I’m old, that should be any day now. You just made yourself an enemy of your old man. I hope you understand what that means. And you’re going to regret that.”
I shook my head, holding my hand up. To my surprise, it silenced my father. Maybe he wasn’t so tough after all.
“I don’t need your money. I don’t need anything from you. All I ever needed was love, and you were not able to give that to me when I needed it the most. I don’t want you to try to guilt trip me about what I’m doing to figure out my way through life. Please, just leave me alone or get
used to the fact that I’m not going to let you push me around anymore.”
He didn’t speak, and I continued out of the house, letting the wooden screen door slam shut behind me. I was tired of this shit. I have lived in the middle of nowhere, in this godforsaken desert, my entire life. I was going to go home and do my best to try to wash off this experience with my father once and for all.
But when I finally made it out onto the open road, I sighed heavily. I didn’t feel like driving right now. I felt like going for a run, or just going out to my favorite spot and looking out over the sunset. It was the only thing I had ever been able to do to relax after my father’s emotional tirades against me.
I took a sharp turn down along County Road as an afterthought, and parked my car. It was a beater, but it did everything I needed it to do, and I loved it and took care of it as much as I would have if it cost me a lot of money.
I got out and stretched, taking a deep breath of the fresh, dry air. It was going to be evening soon, so I knew I had to hurry up, so I wouldn’t get stuck in the cold desert. It was always more dangerous to be out in the sand at night, never knowing what kind of creatures might be underfoot.
And so, I headed out, my legs carrying me automatically toward a very specific destination. To most people, it would seem impossible to tell where they were going, but I knew this place like the back of my hand, and was determined to reach my spot as quickly as possible.
I felt the cool wind caress my shoulders and shivered involuntarily. It wasn’t even cold outside yet, but I was beyond caring. I needed to clear my head, and this was the best way for me to do it.
As I made my way up the hill, I froze. There was something out there. An animal, maybe?
I had to take a second look. At first, I was worried that it could be something dangerous. Something that might want to charge or hurt me. But the longer I looked, the more concerned I became. It was the form of a human. Lying in the dirt, half covered by sand. Something about this wasn’t right.
I rushed over to it, no longer concerned for my own well-being. All I could think about was trying to get this human, a man, to safety.
When I reached the figure, I gasped. He was completely naked, and quite possibly the most beautiful living thing I had ever seen. His skin seemed to glow, almost as if made of ethereal matter far beyond anything I had ever witnessed before.
I gripped his shoulder, trying to shake him awake. The man’s eyes suddenly fluttered open and looked at me, and I felt my chest tighten. They were made of the most beautiful golden color. I couldn’t help but stare at them, lost and unable to speak for a few moments.
Finally, I managed to get a grip on myself and swallowed hard. “Are you all right?”
“I don’t know,” he said, his voice a deep, silky rumble.
“Can you stand up?” I asked, alarm building in my chest. I had to get him out of here. Before night came. Who knew what might happen to him if I couldn’t?
“I do want to,” he said, laughing weakly. It was a pleasant sound, even considering the circumstances, and I found myself gazing at him once again, enrapt by his remarkable presence. “But whether or not I can is another story.”
“Here, let me try to help you,” I said, surprised by my forwardness as I leaned over and helped the man to get his arm over my shoulder. “I grew up on a farm, so you might be surprised by how strong I am.”
“I don’t think anything, at this point, would surprise me,” the man said grimly. Something about his tone gave me a little chill, but I couldn’t quite tell what it was.
Instead of pushing the matter, I braced myself to give a boost, and we somehow got him unsteadily to his feet, as he leaned most of his weight on me.
“What are you doing out here?” I asked. It looked like he had been the victim of some kind of serious crime, or a prank gone very wrong. He was battered and bruised, but still, more or less, intact. My eyes wandered down to his groin despite my valiant efforts to ignore it. Very intact.
I tried to ignore this, and we made our way slowly through the desert and until we came upon my car. When he saw it, he burst out laughing, although his voice was still fairly weak, and he ended up dissolving into a fit of coughing.
“It’s primitive!” he exclaimed.
I felt myself prickling Sure, it was old, but he didn’t have to be such an asshole about it. I was trying to help him.
“Yeah, but it gets the job done,” I said, glowering at him.
He was still smiling crookedly when I opened the door to the back seat and motioned for him to get inside.
Suddenly, the smile on his face faltered. “You expect me to ride in that? It doesn’t seem safe.”
Now this guy was trying to lecture me about safety? This was too much.
“What other choice do you have? You want to go back out into the desert and die there? Because I could totally let you.”
I frowned at him, and he smiled weakly. “No, I see your point. But are you sure it’s safe?”
“I’m sure, just get inside or I’m leaving you behind.”
He seemed to seriously consider this for a moment and I gaped at him in disbelief. He would really weigh his options at a time like this?
But he seemed to finally settle on taking his chances, and got into my car.
I shook my head and sighed. “We have to get you to a hospital.”
“No!” The man barked. “No hospitals!”
I sighed, my heart constricting tightly in my chest. So this was some kind of crime. Whoever he was, he didn’t want to go to a hospital. He was probably on the other side of the law, and if I brought him there, they would take him in and have him arrested. To some small degree, I didn’t really care, but for some reason, something in me compelled me to listen to him.
“Well then, where do you live? I will take you home.”
The man was silent. Quiet for a lot longer than I was comfortable with. Finally, he sighed. “I do not have a home here. I have nowhere to go.”
For a brief moment, I considered whether or not he was just toying with me. I wondered if he had some friends who would come out and attack me. But, if that were the case, he probably wouldn’t have gotten into my shitty little car. Instead, I turned to him and knitted my brow. “You want to come to my house? I will try to patch you up the best I can, but you really look like you need a doctor. This is no good.”
“Trust me, I will be fine. I have survived much worse.”
The words chilled me, but I had no choice but to believe them. There was something very grave about his voice.
“All right then,” I said, my heart drumming in my chest. “Home it is.”
Chapter 3
Oberon
I was completely unprepared for the encounter with the human female. I had never seen anything quite like it before. Although our forms were very humanoid, just as many other creatures throughout the universe tended to be, the unfortunate fact is that I had never seen a human before. She was my first, and I found myself instantly intrigued.
For one thing, she had long, cascading brown hair and it framed her face in such a way that I found myself mesmerized by every detail of her features. From her rosy cheeks and pink lips to her beautiful green eyes, I was immediately drawn in by her incredible energy.
She didn’t look as if she had very much negativity in her heart at all. In fact, she had a battle worn look about her, as if she had survived a great many difficulties in her short lifetime. I had to admit that I found it intriguing, and despite my wariness of the human race, somehow, I found myself trusting her implicitly.
“All right,” she said, after the curious rumble of the wheeled craft came to a stop. I had to admit, I was relieved. The strange, primitive vibrations were starting to make me feel a little bit nauseated. “Home sweet home.”
I waited for her to get out of the vehicle, and she rounded the craft until she came to the door where I was sitting nearest. She opened it for me and offered her hand to help me out.
I hated to admit, in any capacity, that I was too weak to hold my own, but the truth was that my head was still feeling foggy, and the combination of that with my nausea was overwhelming.
I allowed her to help me to my feet, and again, found myself supporting my weight on her delicate shoulder. She didn’t complain, though she once let out a soft, strained groan of effort. When we made it inside, she led me to a small, comfortable room, and allowed me to collapse onto the sofa inside.
“I am going to get out my first aid kit now,” she said to me, standing nervously in the arched doorway separating this room from what appeared to be a kitchen. “Please, don’t try to go anywhere. It will only injure you further.”
It struck me suddenly how strange it was that this human should trust me enough to leave me alone in a room of her home. On my planet, we rarely visited each other’s dwellings, and when we did, unless we were with a crew member or friend that we had trusted for many years, they were not to be left unattended. You couldn’t trust anybody.
I heeded the human’s advice, and remained on the couch. I knew it would only strain my body more to try to put it through something that it cannot handle quite yet. After the crash, it was probably a lucky thing that I had survived at all, there was no sense in pushing it.
“Got it,” the human said cheerfully, returning to the room a few moments later. She had a small white case, and sat down beside me, rifling through it eagerly as she searched for the proper tools to tend to my wounds. I felt suddenly very lucky that I had run into a human such as this, as opposed to the type that I had been cautioned against. Perhaps this wasn’t Earth after all. Maybe I had landed somewhere else.
“This might hurt a little bit, but try not to let it bother you. It’s for your own good.”
I felt no pain as the human began to clean out my wounds and dress them with clean gauze. Well, I assume she was human. She would be human if I had actually landed on Earth as I suspected. If not, she was one of many other humanoid races out in the universe. I would find out soon enough.