by Juniper Hart
Yup.
It was loaded.
The bullet zipped into the glass, completely shattering it. A little piece of glass rocketed from the small explosion into her chin, but she hardly noticed. The rain began pouring through the window.
How in the hell is it still raining?
Sarah turned to Ember to see him still fighting with the creatures. “It’s open!”
He darted away from the drake and away from the long swing of the two orcs and started running towards her. The creatures took their focus away from Ember and turned their eyes on Sarah.
Oh my god! I’m going to die!
The orcs couldn’t outrun Ember, but the drake stood a solid chance of beating Ember to Sarah. Ember’s form changed and Sarah’s courage dropped through her feet.
“Ember, what are you doing?”
“Brace yourself!”
“No! No! We are not—”
And with that, he tackled her out of the door, wrapping his body around hers to shield her from the broken glass.
She heard screaming and it took her a second to realize it was her. The drake jumped out of the door after them, clawing at them. One of its paws caught her leg, ripping her jeans and probably cutting her, but the adrenaline pumping through her veins made it impossible to feel any pain.
She’d gone skydiving once. It was fun and predictable and somehow beautiful. This was not like that. This was horrifying.
She couldn’t see. She couldn’t hear. She couldn’t think. She felt Ember’s body around her but that was about it. Every glance she got was stolen by raindrops flying into her eyes and mouth, and down into her nose. She simultaneously confronted the fear of falling, drowning, and being blinded all at once.
She kept waiting for the inevitable smashing into the ground. As high up as they were, it would probably be painless. But it never came. Instead, she kept feeling the wind whip by.
“We’re safe.” She could just barely hear Ember’s voice over the wind. “You can relax.”
Suddenly, the world opened up around her and she stopped spinning. She was flying between the buildings in a fully stretched-out pose. She glanced up to see what she could only assume was Ember in full dragon form.
He had brilliant, sleek red scales, like those of a well-animated dragon. His head, although she couldn’t see much other than the underside of his jaw, had similarities to a lizard, and yet Ember was majestic. He twisted his head to see her, showing the same mane of spiked up hair, but instead of hair, he had a series of frills. His eyes, oddly, looked the same. His clawed hands were around her waist, pinning her up against his underbelly as they flew.
Perhaps this would have calmed another woman, but Sarah was past the point of consolation.
“What is happening?” she yelled.
“We escaped,” he said matter-of-factly.
It was a strange thing seeing a dragon talk. His face didn’t move properly, but it still made the sounds.
She was panicking, though her fear was justified. Just because she was attracted to the guy didn’t mean she entirely trusted him. She was still not quite sure about the whole nightmare thing. She was willing to talk to him and give him the option to explain himself. Hell, she was even willing to sleep with him. She was not, however, ready to take a ride through the city with him. Although staying in the hotel room would have been worse.
She felt utterly helpless. If he wanted, he could clench those claws around her stomach and lop her in two without even trying. But he wouldn’t do that, right?
“I won’t hurt you,” he assured her.
He must sense my fear.
She could just barely see his wings angle to take them off in another direction.
She tried to calm herself and look anywhere other than down. “Where…” she took in a deep breath. It was okay. She would be okay. “Where are we going?”
“My kingdom,” he replied as if he were telling her they were going to the grocery store.
“That clears everything on up,” she complained. “What was that thing that found us?”
“A drake,” he replied. “He was just tracking us. Roland’s orcs were following him.”
With that, he shifted around his hands to grip her more tightly. On one hand, she wouldn’t fall as easy, but one of his fingers was uncomfortably close to her throat, stretching across her breasts. She didn’t think he was trying to make her uncomfortable. All the guy was trying to do was keep her from plummeting to death, and she couldn’t think of a reason to fault him for that.
She looked out across the city, trying to keep herself from panicking. The initial terror of being launched out of a window high up in the sky was beginning to wear off. Ember’s large dragon body shielded her from the rain. Sure, she could still feel the cold wind on her face, but his chest was amazingly warm. She was willing to bet he was working on creating some fire in there. She snuggled up against him as they flew.
“Why didn’t we do this in the first place?” she marveled as they glided past a tall skyscraper.
“Same reason you own a car instead of walking everywhere,” he replied. “It’s easier.”
“Huh.”
“Have I convinced you that I’m telling the truth yet?” he asked. His chest rumbled when he spoke.
“You’re getting close,” she replied.
Sarah felt him laugh from deep within his chest.
“I hope you’re not too cold,” he said.
“I’m a little chilly.”
The heat from his chest intensified, warming up her back. She purred with pleasure.
He exhaled smoke with amusement. “Try to get some sleep, my angel. I’ll wake you when we arrive. We have a long flight ahead of us.”
She wanted to say no. She wanted to stay awake and look at all the buildings and people below, but her mind lost to her body, and she curled up in his arms. She closed her eyes peacefully, feeling Ember’s warmth surround her. All she could hear was the gentle pitter-patter of rain against Ember’s scales and the methodic swishing of air as his great wings moved up and down.
It was a strange night.
Unsurprisingly, her dreams were strange. A person doesn’t go through a day like that and sleep like a baby. She’d been introduced to dragons, orcs, possibly goblins, and drakes. The world as she knew it had been turned upside down and her mind was opened to a reality that most people would never know about.
Almost as soon as her eyes closed, she had the dream.
But this time, it started before she saw the scales and heard the scream. Her brain somehow pieced together that they were the same scenario.
Sarah was in her body from one-thousand years ago. She didn’t know she sensed the time period, but immediately, she knew it was the last time she’d seen Ember. They were in bed together. He was sleeping beside her while she was sketching something on a thick notepad. He looked the same, except his hair was longer and he wore different clothes. But other than that, it looked like it could have been yesterday. She couldn’t see herself, but somehow she knew the same applied.
In the dream, Sarah whispered to Ember. “Are you awake my love?”
He stirred sleepily. “I am now.”
“Do you ever wonder what it would be like if the earth suddenly stopped moving?”
He brought up a hand and placed it on her thigh. “Darling… Go back to sleep.”
“I can’t.”
“Try.”
“I have tried.”
He sat up and let out a ferocious yawn. “What’s going on?”
She kissed his lips. “Thank you for listening to me. I know you’re tired.”
“Well, I love you and I want to know if something is bothering you,” he replied, blinking lazily.
“Will I ever be able to go back to humankind?” she asked. “Or will I live out my days here?”
His glimmering orange eyes shifted over to her. “If you’re not happy here, we can—”
“No! No, it’s not that at all. I feel at hom
e here. I know I’ll love it. I’m just… I’m going to be immortal. What happens when I want to explore the world?”
“You explore,” he replied. “With me, if you’ll have me.”
She smiled, running a hand across his smooth chest. “Of course I’ll have you.”
Then, abruptly, the door flew open and there stood a woman with a menacing look. She held a mean-looking crossbow that was aimed straight at Ember.
“Die, you dragon bastard!”
“Marilla!” Ember jumped up in surprise, trying to push Sarah out of the danger zone. Marilla pulled the trigger once. The bolt zipped into Ember’s chest, about three inches away from his heart. Stunned, he fell off the bed. Marilla was there, reloading while he tried to shift into dragon form.
“Sarah, get out of here!” he yelled, clawing at the bolt stuck in his chest.
He spat fire at Marilla, but she dodged aside. She raised up the end of the crossbow and Sarah leapt to block Marilla from the man she loved.
“No!” Ember had fully transformed into his dragon form. Marilla’s finger squeezed the trigger. The bolt started from the crossbow in slow motion. Her aim had been off, ever so slightly. It was headed for Sarah.
Ember jumped in front of Sarah, spreading his wings to catch the bolt. She saw a flash of red scales and watched the bolt slip under his wing and sink into her chest. She let out a scream and fell back onto the bed. She clutched the wound, feeling something seeping between her fingers.
She fell and watched a blurry red shape rip into a small, white shape.
And then she woke up.
She was still in Ember’s protective arms as he flew. They were starting to descend. The rain had stopped, and the first signs of sunrise were peeking over the mountains.
“Good morning,” Ember said, not looking down. “Did you sleep well?”
She looked around at the city landscape with its twinkling lights. She took a deep breath. “Yeah,” she said. “I slept really well.”
8
After flying a few minutes longer, Ember landed at the base of a mountain with no signs of civilization in sight. The sun had risen, illuminating the landscape that surrounded them. The grass was a vibrant green and palm trees swayed in the gentle breeze.
Upon further examination, Sarah realized the mountain was actually a volcano.
Ember morphed back into human form and seemed completely unaware that he was not wearing any clothes—not that Sarah minded.
“What are we doing here?” asked Sarah.
“We’re going inside.”
Sarah looked around, but all she saw was nature. No buildings were in sight. “Inside what?”
Ember pointed to a set of doors carved into the side of the mountain.
“We’re going inside the mountain? It’s a volcano, right? I don’t see how that would be even remotely safe.”
With a stoic look, Ember explained, “It’s safe if you control fire.”
Sarah shook her head. “Breathing fire will not protect me from hot lava. You have to remember that I am human.”
“Allow me to explain. As I mentioned, my father is the Dragon King and my mother is Gaia. My brothers and I were all born as dragons, but we inherited power of the elements from my mother. My brothers control earth, wind, and water. I control fire.”
To demonstrate his abilities, Ember cupped his hands together as if holding an imaginary ball. Lava spewed from the top of the volcano and began to pour down the sides.
Before Sarah could scream, Ember un-cupped his hands and the lava disappeared.
With wide eyes, Sarah said, “And now I have a whole new round of questions.”
Ember responded, “Hopefully we’ll have an eternity together so I can answer them all.
“I had the nightmare again,” she admitted to him as they continued to wait.
“What nightmare?”
“The one where I died.”
“Oh.” he didn’t say anything else, but she saw his body tense up. “Same thing as normal?”
“No.” She looked deep into Ember’s eyes. “I believe you.”
“You do?”
“Yes. I believe we were married and I believe what you said about being soulmates. I feel it. In my dream, my feelings for you were so deep and they haven’t changed since I woke up. I can’t explain what I’m feeling, but I’m drawn to you and I trust you implicitly.”
Before she could blink, he grabbed her around her waist and was tossing her in the air happily like a kid tossing around a favorite toy. He lifted her with such ease, that his strength was unmistakable. He crashed his lips against hers and Sarah melted in Ember’s arms.
She felt color rise to her cheeks. “I didn’t expect you to have such a strong reaction.”
“I’ve been trying to find you for one-thousand years, and you’ve just told me that you feel the same connection that I feel. What did you expect?”
She couldn’t help smiling at his obvious delight.
He winked at her seductively as he lowered her to the ground. “C’mon,” he said. “Let’s get out of here. Roland and his brutes won’t be able to do anything to us soon enough.”
He grabbed her hand and walked towards the barely-visible doors. Her feet were sore. She needed a shower desperately. There was a headache starting in her skull. But despite all that, she felt inexplicably peaceful. It was a wonderful sensation. She leaned her head against his shoulder affectionately.
“I thought you said Roland wouldn’t stop trying to kill me.”
“He won’t. But he can’t come after you in my domain. He’s a wolf and can’t win when faced with fire.”
“But I thought you said Roland was powerful like you.”
He led them across a crosswalk. “He is. Not anywhere near as strong as me, but he’s a wry little bastard. He’ll track us with his drakes, but they’ll just report back that we’re out of his reach.”
Feeling nervous about Roland, she reached into her jacket pocket. She’d somehow managed to hold onto the chrome gun he had given her back at the hotel room.
He took them inside the doors, which surprisingly opened into a large lobby. Just before she went in, she saw a red dragon head on the doors—the same image she’d spotted on his car just outside her apartment.
The lobby was elaborate with black marble floors and smooth, luxurious couches. The lighting was dim and the walls were dark, so it took Sarah’s eyes a moment to adjust. Another surprise was that there were people inside. Guards with large guns stood guard at the hallways leading out from the lobby.
Sarah tugged on Ember’s hand and whispered in his ear, “Who are all these people.”
“They’re dragons, mostly, and part of my kingdom. Some are soldiers and some are civilians. Everybody has a role.”
A hush came over the room when the other people noticed their presence. Some of them bowed, while others saluted. Five serious-looking beings shimmered into existence. Two of the creatures were orcs, from what Sarah knew of orcs, who stood tall and regal. Two of the beings looked like humans—one man and one woman—who were dressed in suits. The fifth was a red-skinned woman with a tail and tiny horns protruding from her forehead. They each had earpieces and bulges under their jackets, which Sarah assumed were guns.
“Oh my,” she said, suddenly feeling rather intimidated.
The beings, who Sarah could only assume were part of his security detail, bowed in respect to Ember as he walked past. The big ones, even while on a knee, stood as tall as he did. She scampered after him. They watched her silently.
“What’s going on?” she hissed. “Who are these people?”
“My top guards,” he replied, giving them a thankful signal. They stood up and once again shimmered out her line of sight. “They keep unscrupulous people out.”
“There are only five of them…”
“There are only five you saw,” he replied. “This place is shielded in magic from the floor to the roof. They can handle anything.”
�
�All to protect you?”
“Well…yes…and no. All to protect my region. Without me, fire would take on a life of its own.”
“Oh, are they part of the EDJ?” She had remembered Ember talking about the Enchanted Department of Justice when they first met.
“No. The EDJ protects the magic underground, and they also deal with rogue beings, such as Roland. Hopefully, they will catch up to him someday.”
Well that’s not confusing at all, she thought sarcastically, but kept that to herself.
Ember held her hand and guided her to an elevator before pushing open the door and gesturing for her to move in. “Please.”
She stepped inside the seemingly ordinary elevator. “I have a feeling that this is about to blow my mind.”
“You’re probably right.”
She swallowed nervously as he pushed the button that closed the elevator. There was no music. Just the sound of their breathing. She was vaguely aware of the elevator moving.
“Are we going up the mountain?” she asked. “It feels like we’re going up.”
“Well… not exactly. We’re going up and down, and left and right.”
“Ah. That makes sense.”
He laughed. “It’s a spell. It never makes sense.”
The elevator stopped. He put his hands over her eyes, blocking her vision. “Are you ready?” he asked.
“I hope…”
“Are you sure?”
“Probably.”
“Are you—”
“Just show me,” she said while slightly raising her voice in mock annoyance.
He pulled his hands away to show her…nothing. She hadn’t turned and the elevator was still shut.
“So exciting,” she droned.
“It opens on the other side,” he told her.
She turned to see where Ember called home.
Whoa.
“These are my private quarters,” he said. “And if you’ll have me, this will be your home, too.”
A huge, spiraling marble staircase led to the second floor. A stunning chandelier was high overhead, casting an iridescent light over the foyer of Ember’s home. Where there wasn’t white and gold marble was solid stone, lending the whole place a strange mix of beautiful regality and brutal humbleness. What appeared to be molten lava glided through the walls, giving a wonderfully warm feel to the room.
