I WOKE UP, drenched in sweat. It was quiet except for the sound of a fire dying, and water babbling in a nearby stream.
A faint light emerged from an electric lamp inside the tent. Lucian slept next to me. He looked so peaceful, and I reached out to stroke his cheek.
A deep growl emerged from my stomach, telling me I desperately needed food. I tried to slide out from beneath Lucian’s grasp, but when he flinched, I stopped. He went back to sleep, and I waited another five minutes. Crickets chirped like crazy and the singing sound rang in my ears. I decided to make another attempt to get free. This time I managed and made sure that the pillow I slept on was tucked underneath his arm, just in case.
I just needed some time alone, without his constant worrying.
The zip noise sounded as if it would wake the entire campsite, but once I was out of the tent, I realized it was still quiet. I stared at the glowing coals that must have been a huge fire a few hours ago. There was no food left.
Not one bite? I picked up a log and chucked it in the fire. Orange coal dust rose into the sky. I jumped when I saw Blake leaning against a tree in the distance. My heart beat fast, and I took deep breaths to calm my nerves.
Blake guarded the entrance of the campsite and the moon lit up his face, making him look extra mysterious.
I swallowed hard.
Crap! Why do I feel like this around him? I shook my head. Every girl feels like this in Blake’s presence.
He was writing in a small journal but stopped. I stared at Blake. He looked up as if he was searching for something in the sky then went back to writing in the journal. I assumed by the cloudless night, he was stargazing.
He didn’t look at me when I reached him, but he buried his journal under his ass.
“Do you mind?”
“Sure, whatever,” he mumbled.
His promise jumped into my mind—the one where he would give me his respect if I made it out alive. It’s so not going to happen, Elena.
I sat opposite him, resting my back against one of the trees.
I don’t think Blake likes anyone much, except his precious Tabitha.
“It was really brave what you did tonight,” he said.
What? Is that a compliment?
“I guess anyone in my position would have tried their best,” I said.
He huffed, and the corner of his mouth twitched. “How’s the arm?”
“Hurts like hell.”
He gave a lopsided smile and stared into the night again.
What does he hear?
The crickets started to work on my nerves again. I sighed and decided that maybe it was time to go back to the tent.
“You’re wrong about everyone being able to do what you did.”
“Blake, please. I did what I said I would do.” I didn’t want to talk about it. It might be his way of trying to find out what I saw inside the cave.
I can’t break my promise.
It was already hard enough not being able to tell them anything. I was dying to know a number of things myself. Like, who were those ladies playing in the dragon’s garden?
“That’s exactly my point. What people say they’ll do and what they actually do are two different things, Elena. I learned that the hard way.”
I felt sorry for him again, but knew exactly what he meant. Dad also said things and instead did the opposite so many times. “I always do what I say I will.”
“You don’t get it.” He chuckled. “You could have asked to see anything.”
“And your point is?”
“You have no idea why your dad died? Or why that dragon was after you? The pond would’ve even shown you where your mom is?” He looked away the minute he’d mentioned Mom.
How?
“How do you know about her?” My voice broke at the end.
“Just forget what I said.”
I swallowed hard and felt angry; no one was supposed to know she might still be alive. The witch must’ve told him. After all, he was the highlight of her week.
He was right; I could have asked to see where my mom was or why those dragons attacked Dad that night. But what good would it have been? “It doesn’t matter. The past isn’t going to save us from any of this. I went in that cave to find out about the sword, and I did.” I tried to hide the fact that I’d lost the only chance of ever knowing if my mom was still alive. Maybe I wouldn’t even like what it would’ve shown me, and then what?
I made the right choice.
“It’s brave of you to have given up that opportunity.”
Whatever. I wanted to say it out loud, but knew if I did, I would probably say more things I would regret later on. I had to admit, a part of me would always regret not asking the pond where my mom was instead.
I pushed it from my mind and focused my full attention on the guy in front of me. “You guys were brave for coming with me.”
“We’re dragons, Elena. What kind of a Rubicon would I be if I chickened out?” Blake said with a soft smile.
“Still, it was very brave.”
He sighed. “You have much to learn.”
“So everyone tells me. Thanks for asking that dragon to give me the gift to understand Latin. I would never have been able to go through it, if it wasn’t for that.”
“Tell me about it,” he mumbled, and I gave him a sarcastic smile.
“So, you guys really don’t understand English when you’re in your other form?” I asked. It sounded so stupid. Why didn’t I just say dragon?
“No, dragon is what I am. My true colors show when he comes out. I don’t have to hide the way I feel.” He lifted up the left side of his butt and took out his packet of smokes. I started to cough as he lit one.
“So you know every time you end up hurting someone, during a claim?”
He nodded.
“You don’t care?”
“It’s not who I am.” He released a deep breath. “I don’t know how to explain it to you. A part of this form doesn’t want to be a dragon and it clashes when I’m one. It’s hard to explain.”
“Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” I thought out loud.
“Exactly. The only thing that we’ve ever agreed on is this mission.”
“Is it why you and Lucian are no longer friends?”
He glared at the tent where Lucian slept. His jaw muscles tensed.
Me and my big mouth.
“I knew he would tell you about us.” He grunted.
“You didn’t answer my question,” I probed.
“Yes, Elena. The older I get, the more I want to be a dragon. The more I’m a dragon, the less I will stay human, which means I’ll end up losing this.” He gestured at his human form. “Believe me, I did Lucian a big favor.”
“How can you say that, Blake? It’s selfish to make that kind of a decision on his behalf.”
“Elena, it’s not that easy,” he growled. “I know Cheng gave you the breakdown of what I’ll turn into if I’m not claimed by a certain date. That part of me grows stronger every single day. My human form can’t fight this. It’s just too much, and you have no idea how much it hurts when I’m forcing myself to do the opposite of what he wants.” He sounded defeated, as if the dragon in him had already won.
“Will it change if Lucian claims you?”
He started to laugh. “He will never claim me.”
“He could, Blake.”
“You live in a dream world. I’ll become evil, and it’s something I struggle to make peace with, but sooner or later, I’ll have no choice.”
“You don’t have to,” I said. “You have to fight it, Blake, don’t give up.”
“You think I’m not trying. I’m seeing the Viden on a daily basis just for one ounce of hope. Just so you know, I haven’t found it yet, and to be honest, every time I leave that tower, I become happier. That’s not a normal reaction,” he snapped with a few cuss words in between.
“She did predict your true Dragonian being born.”
He narrowed his eyes. “My Dragonian didn’t get a chance to take a single breath. Goran made sure of it the night he killed them.”
“You don’t know that. What if he’s born and no one knows about it? Like maybe not with Queen Catherine.”
He looked at me with disgust. “Are you implying that the king committed adultery? The king loved the queen; he would never do that.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because his dragon would have known.” He was starting to get annoyed with me, but I didn’t care.
“Oh, and you know Sir Robert?”
“Yes, he’s my father.”
I stared at him for a short while. Sir Robert is Blake’s father. The wax doll of him at the museum jumped into my head. His eyes were the same as Sammy’s. I should have seen it. “Your father’s the Night Villain King Albert claimed?”
“My dad knew everything about them. He would’ve told me if that kind of hope existed. There is none, Elena. I’ve got no Dragonian.”
For a second, I felt his pain and tasted his bitter defeat. It seemed there was no hope, and Blake would eventually become evil.
“Just try to give Lucian a chance to claim you, Blake.”
His jaw muscles tightened again. “I can’t. I’m already giving everything in me not to kill him.” He got up while flicking his cigarette butt away.
I listened to him zipping down his tent with force. He was angry, and it was my fault.
I started to feel bad. I was insulting—not only to him, but to his father and the king. I sighed. He was right, there was no hope. If the dragon in him was already stronger, he would kill Lucian in the end.
My eyes stung, as I considered how this mission might end up being worthless. If Blake turned evil, we didn’t need to worry about Goran destroying Paegeia. Blake would.
My stomach growled as I walked to the tent, and I crawled back inside to snuggle up next to Lucian again.
As I struggled to fall asleep, I silently wished that Constance was here to heal my shoulder. Heck, I would even welcome Julia with her drip. Then my mind shifted from the pain and began dwelling on Sir Robert. I couldn’t believe he was Blake’s father. How had he escaped that night, leaving his Dragonian alone? Night Villains were not known to be cowardly.
A series of scenarios played in my head. In some of them, I did see the Night Villain escaping, leaving the king and queen to fight for themselves. Maybe the Royal Council was right. Maybe the dragons had sided with Goran and his evil plan to destroy the king and queen.
Then an opposite scenario appeared.
What if King Albert ordered Sir Robert away, because he was Blake’s father? Goosebumps ran down my entire body. Yeah, it sounded like something the king would do.
My eyelids started to feel heavy, and I drifted away.
I WOKE TO the smell of fish roasting over a fire. Lucian’s place was empty, and I crawled out of the tent.
“Good morning, sleeping beauty.” His voice came from the fire pit.
I smiled. “You know that story too?”
“We know all kinds of fairy tales. They have been told here for centuries,” he joked. “How’s your arm?”
“Much better,” I lied. I would get it fixed once we were back at Dragonia.
“I’m glad to hear that. Are you hungry?”
I nodded without taking my eyes off the fish.
“It’s almost done.”
“I’ve never had fish for breakfast, but I don’t care. It smells too good.”
“Fish for breakfast?” Becky said in a singsong tone.
“Hey, I can only do so much,” he said, shrugging.
“Where’s Blake?” Becky asked as Tabitha crawled out of their tent.
My heart tightened at her words. “Is he gone?”
“He’ll be back. He just needed some time alone,” Lucian said and tasted a piece of fish.
I almost burst out laughing when he discovered that it was too hot. It was comical as he jumped around, spitting it out and frantically trying to cool his mouth.
“He better be. I’m not waiting for his brawny ass,” Becky said as she disappeared back into her tent. “Wake up, George.”
We chuckled softly when we heard ‘oomph,’ and I imagined her kicking a sleeping George.
She came back out with two bottles of water. “The food supply is getting low.”
“It’s only for tonight, then we’ll go home. Right, Elena?”
I nodded. The dragon said that I was only allowed to tell them what I saw in the vision.
“Where’s it we have to go?” Becky asked, curious.
“A mountains with a volcano. You guys know where it is?”
“The Mountain of Ekwador?” Arianna shouted.
I jumped a little. I hadn’t even seen her walk up.
“Yes, it’s where he’s going to take the sword to destroy it.”
“He wants to destroy it?” Lucian’s eyes narrowed. He had so many of Blake’s habits in him. “Who is it?”
“I don’t know. He was old with dark brown hair that had started to turn gray. His dragon is a Sun-Blast.”
“You saw him destroying the sword tonight?” Becky asked.
I nodded.
“We need to hurry up then,” Lucian said. “Ekwador is a push from here.”
“Which way?” I hated the fact that I was going to be astride a dragon again, even if that dragon was Sammy. Where is Sammy?
“It’s northwest of Areeth,” he said. “Brian, see if you can find Blake. We have to pack up soon.”
“Got it.” Brian yanked off his jeans and exploded into his dragon form. His wings made such a thunderous noise that we all covered our ears with our hands. I unfortunately could only use one hand.
It was weird how everyone else went back to what they were doing, pretending that they hadn’t just witnessed a human transforming into a dragon. I still watched Brian flying in the distance. I guess I needed to get used to the idea that it was normal to see dragons sharing the sky with birds.
Master Longwei was right about how easily someone like me could lose her mind.
As I stood thinking, Sammy emerged from the surrounding woods. Her hair was soaked, and she had a towel in her hand, which I assumed meant she had gone for an early morning swim in the river. She came over to me, and gave me a small hug.
We all dug in when the fish was ready. Lucian must have woken early to catch all of them. I didn’t know if I should tell him about my conversation with Blake last night.
Brian came back and morphed the minute he landed with Blake not far behind him. I looked away as both of them pulled on their clothes. They hungrily took the plates Tabitha dished up for them.
Blake glared in my direction, and our eyes met for only a second.
I felt bad about last night, and I knew I shouldn’t have said those horrible things. He was right—I had a lot to learn—and I hoped he could forgive me for what I’d said.
We finished breaking down the campsite after breakfast.
“So where do we go?” Blake asked.
“Ekwador, he’s going to destroy the sword tonight in the volcano.” Lucian said while breaking down our tent.
“Who is it?”
“Don’t know, Blake, Elena had never seen him before.” Lucian sounded irritated.
“Let me guess, we wing this one too.”
I rolled my eyes behind Lucian’s back.
“Yeah, and if you got a problem with that, you’re free to leave.”
“Lucian?”, and he just looked at me. I begged him with my eyes.
They had been best friends, for crying out loud.
“I hope you’re right about this, Elena,” Blake snapped at me, and closed the bag he carried with him.
The five dragons started to take off their clothes again, and I looked away. The people of Paegeia were so at ease with naked bodies. It was something I still needed to get used to. I listened to them changing and then the beating of their wings as they flew away, except Sammy and George.
I took a deep breath as Lucian helped me onto Sammy’s back. I really didn’t like flying and held on to Lucian again. I shut my eyes and yelped as Sammy took off.
I didn’t open them, but concentrated instead on her breathing. Her body expanded every three-seconds and the sound coming from her wings made me wish that I had an iPod like Becky.
The trip wasn’t as far as the one to the Sacred Cavern, but it was a stretch, as Lucian had said. He tapped my leg and I opened my eyes. In front of us was the picture I’d seen in the millpond. It was Ekwador.
