I WOKE, AND for a second I couldn’t remember where the hell I was until I remembered that awful mountain and my almost death of climbing it, while being attached to Blake. Then came the memory of that horrible mermaid who had almost drowned me while Blake searched for his stupid orb, and then the picture of the Elemental dragon or what I assumed was the Saadedine, with Blake the size of a fire-breathing crow. We were never going to beat this if we didn’t find that missing ingredient.
Still, Blake had saved my life twice now, because the Rubicon had given his Dragon Oath. It kept reminding me of those times in Professor Pheizer’s class. Our bond was so different from all the others, so, so different. I viewed Blake as if he was the Keeper of The Rubicon, trying to keep us apart.
I had seen it in his face yesterday too, he was worried. I didn’t know if it was about the first part, After the true bond has been cast, or that one of us was going to turn to dust part, maybe both.
Me, I didn’t care anymore, I knew how it felt when I thought I’d killed him. I couldn’t live like that. Paegeia needed the Rubicon. The only thing they needed from me, was my blood, and that I could donate.
It had been so clear about what it was he was afraid of, until he had spoken those words of bravery and courage. He confused me so much.
I flung my arms over my head, and I stretched my body as hard as I could. The bed was soft and perfect. I didn’t want to get out, but I had no choice.
I got up and got dressed before I went down.
David and Connie were in the dining hall. Both looked at me.
“Breakfast, princess?” Connie asked. “How did you sleep last night?”
“Like a log,” I lied, “and it’s Elena, please. Breakfast would be nice.”
I sat down and scanned the area. There was no sign of Blake at all, and I thought that he must’ve been exhausted from this journey, or he didn’t want to look at me after seeing that horrible scene. Still he had no idea what it meant and I had to tell him.
Connie placed a plate of scrambled eggs, bacon, toast and hash browns right in front of me. “Bon appétit,” she said.
“Thank you, it looks delicious.” I dug in, but halfway through I just couldn’t take another bite, so I tried to make conversation, asking about the Creepers, and how these people could have stayed so close by, tolerating that humming noise.
We talked for almost an hour. When I realized Blake was still nowhere to be found, I started to get up.
David smiled. “He left early this morning with a backpack and promised fish for tonight’s dinner.”
“He went fishing?” I said with a raised eyebrow. It didn’t sound like the Blake I knew.
David started to laugh. “Dragons are good at fishing, it’s also soothing and something guys like to do just to clear their minds and to get away from dark foretellings. It’s calm too, really soothing for the spirit. I don’t know how you can live in the city. I’d miss the stars at night and the quietness. Nope, I’m happy right here.”
“Is it safe to go for a run?” I asked, and David started to laugh. “The opposite direction of the Creepers is usually the safest.”
I laughed too. “Thank you, I’ll remember that.”
I got up, ran to my room and put on a pair of sneakers, my running shorts and a sports jacket that had a hoody.
David was right, a few miles away from the buzzing noise that the Creepers made, it sure was peaceful. I didn’t love the many trees that seemed to be Paegeia’s thing, but I loved the open sky.
I ran on a road that led past the forest, and came to a small village that made me miss Annie, and for some reason Charles and August. I prayed they would be fine one day and wished I could just find that stupid village on the map.
The buzzing of a flea market came up ahead, and I could hear people shouting out orders that customers wanted. It was so alive, so different from the flea market run by people without hopes and dreams in Eikenborough.
I put my hoody over my head so that they wouldn’t recognize me.
Blake had done so many interviews the past two weeks since Irene told us it was time, it was now or never to find a way into Etan.
To be honest, I was shit scared, scared of facing those Creepers, just scared of what I would find in Etan.
Were the people still alive at all? Their supplies must have run out by now, I was sure of it, but then again, they had part of the ocean and a large part of forest, and all those landscapes I’d seen in Lucille’s lounge when they had the remembrance program playing – a show nobody wanted to look at anymore, as they had all lost hope of freeing the people on the other side.
Well, I had to go and change that too, and now I was stuck with this destiny that scared me to death.
I’d promised my father we wouldn’t free Etan, a promise I’d regretted so many times, but today, I was selfish. We were so close and I didn’t know if I had the courage to go through with it, even if Blake was right next to me.
He was plenty of nasty, but if he was one thing it was brave. It had been bestowed on him as a baby dragon, and he didn’t own a hair of fear on that head of his. Well he feared, but it lasted only a few minutes and then it was as if he just made peace with it. If only it was so easy to make peace between us.
It was a relief but then again it was my curse too.
I didn’t know how we were going to make this arrangement work, not a clue.
I walked past the first stall that sold dairy products; the next had fruit and poultry. It carried on and on. They had all sorts of selections and stalls that sold various things.
I found another road past the last row of houses and started to run up it. I steered clear of going inside the forest and ran on the path right next to it again. The rushing sound of water made me stop and look past the trees.
David never said anything about a waterfall. There was a lake somewhere, as Blake apparently loved fishing, but that was all he’d said.
Curiosity, like always, overcame my fear, and before I knew it, I’d moved through the huge, tall trees toward the rushing of the waterfall.
Past some other trees the view opened. I gazed upon the most beautiful waterfall I had ever seen. It looked like it belonged in a travel magazine.
It took my breath away.
My eyes caught on something standing in the water and I found Blake bending over from the waist down, wearing no shirt, with his hands in the water, at a distance.
I squinted as he stood so still, one might say he’d fallen asleep.
I gazed over to the shore where a heap of fish glistened as the sun reflected off their scales. I looked back at Blake and sucked in my lips.
I moved closer on the rocks as quietly as I could so that I didn’t wake him, if he’d fallen asleep on that spot. Not that it looked very comfortable.
“What are you doing?” I asked and he grunted as his hands dove fast into the water.
My mouth hung open as something else in the water splashed for dear life. Then with one scoop he brought it over his arms in a swift motion, and another fish landed on the heap.
I stared at it like an idiot then looked back at him.
“I’m fishing.” He grinned.
“Fishing?”
He started to laugh and bent his body over the water again with his hands disappearing beneath the surface. “Now, shhh, you are scaring the fish away.”
I couldn’t help but sit on the rocks and watch how he patiently waited for another fish.
I’d only seen this in cartoons, and never thought in a million years that someone could actually catch fish with their bare hands.
I watched his hands as the side of his body was facing me.
I didn’t even see the movement when he caught the fish, just watched him throw it onto the pile.
“You’ve got to be shitting me.” I looked at the pile again.
“What, you’ve never caught fish with your hands before?”
“No, on the other side they use fishing rods.”
He smiled. “Come, I’ll teach you.”
“No, it’s fine, I’ll probably suck at that too.”
“Come. It’s fun.”
“It doesn’t look like much fun from here.”
He chuckled again. It reminded me so much of that time on the mountain. I really didn’t want to trust it, but I started to loosen the laces on my sneakers and stepped out of my shoes. I put my one foot into the water and sucked in a breath. “This water is freezing.”
“It will get better soon.”
“When? When you don’t feel your feet anymore?”
He laughed softly. “Stop whining. You’ll really scare the fish away.”
I walked over to him and it was really, really cold, ice cube cold. The rocks were pressing hard against the soles of my feet but the closer I got to Blake the warmer the water became.
I was stunned that it was the heat radiating from him. I knew I shouldn’t be surprised, his core was filled with fire so hot it incinerated bodies on the spot.
I’d seen it myself that night it’d appeared for the first time in the forest. I glimpsed the mark on his back again. I felt bad about that. It was the Rubicon’s fault, flying too close to the Creepers. No one knew why, but I refused to believe it was a death wish. Blake had way too much life in that body of his.
“Now bend down and put your hands up to your wrists in the water.”
I looked away fast and did what he said and just stared into the water. “How?”
“Quiet.”
I rolled my eyes and just stood there. A couple of deep sighs followed in the next ten minutes and then I saw a fish, I grabbed at it and it got away. Blake laughed.
“What did I do wrong?”
“Everything.” He kept laughing. “You don’t grab it, otherwise you are going to waste your time. You wait patiently for it, let it swim into your hands and then just close them.” He showed me with his hands the closing procedure as if I didn’t know how to catch something.
“Fine, let’s try this again.”
We both stood with our hands in the water, quiet as mice, and I saw a fish swimming in his direction again. It was so close and yet, Blake didn’t grab it. He waited until half of the fish’s body was in his hands when he just closed them and threw the fish out of the lake. “See, easy,” he gloated and raised his eyes.
“It’s not easy,” I replied.
I waited for mine, and Blake didn’t take his position again. He stood right next to me and waited to see if I understood what he’d said.
Fifteen minutes later, another fish swam up, and I waited just like he said. It was a big one, and as it was halfway into my hands I closed them and tried to bring it up. The fish shook for dear life in my palms and I struggled to keep it still. It started to slip and I tried to get a better grip on it, when I stumbled and plunged flat on my ass into the water. The fish got away, and Blake was shaking with laughter.
“It’s not funny,” I said and splashed him with water.
It didn’t even bother him, and he kicked more water in my direction.
It was a splashing contest to see who could drench the other one the most before we called it a truce.
“You think we have enough fish?” I asked.
“No, you haven’t caught one yet.” He grinned. “Besides, that tavern caters for six humans and fifteen dragons tonight, we are going to be here a long time.”
“Oh now it’s we,” I joked.
“If you want to go, you are more than welcome, princess.”
“Haha, funny. I hate that.”
“What, being called princess?”
He shook his head and put his hands into the water again. We waited for a long time until Blake got back up. “I think it’s time to move further down. There are no more fish up here.”
I walked over to my sneakers as he put all the fish onto hooks attached to thin lines then tied it up in a noose over something that reminded me of a whipping rod. He flung it over his shoulder and took his bag and moved further down.
I followed him over boulders and stepped where he stepped so that I didn’t fall on my ass again. Something told me Blake liked when I made him laugh and was not avoiding particularly treacherous spots along the river. So I foresaw plenty of falling escapades in my future.
He was quiet as we walked, didn’t make a peep, and when he was sure we’d found the right spot, he put down the fish and his bag and went into the water again.
I put down my shoes and followed him.
“Okay, piece of advice,” Blake said. “When you catch it, just swoop it out onto the shore.”
“Swoop it out?”
“Yeah, why do you think I do the flip action with my arms?”
“You could’ve mentioned it earlier. Then maybe the fish that could have fed one dragon wouldn’t have gotten away.”
“Nice to see you are still sarcastic as ever.”
I giggled and put my hands into the water again.
I got what David said, that it was soothing – painfully soothing as my back was killing me – but I didn’t think about any negative things.
Blake caught about two more and I lost a couple, making him grin like an idiot.
“See, I told you, I’m going to be useless at this too,” I said right after another one got away.
“You are not useless. A bit impatient and still getting the hang of things, but not useless.”
“Impatient? Okay, whatever, you’ll spin another story soon enough,” I said with huge eyes as I thought about how long I’d waited for his sorry ass to finally take on a bit of responsibility.
“Come, here. Let me show you.” He grabbed me by the hand gently and pulled me toward him. I stood right in front of him as we both bent into the water. His hands were barely touching mine but they were there, to help if a fish was near.
I could feel his breath near my ears, it was steady. His body was blazing warm as he stood over me. I was feeling a bit uneasy but not so much that I wanted to run away.
A fish eventually came, and when it reached the right distance into my hands, Blake gently touched mine and caught the fish. He led me into the flipping action, and the fish flew in the opposite direction because I hadn’t let go of it when I was supposed to.
The fish landed meters from us and plopped back into the water.
I couldn’t help but laugh. I hadn’t laughed like that in a long time, and when I stopped laughing, Blake just stared at me with a look of surprise.
“I seriously don’t have any words for what just happened. You were supposed to let go of the fish.”
I laughed again. “I told you I wasn’t good at it.”
“Yes, you did. I guess some people cannot be taught,” he joked.
“Oh, shut up. I’ll catch a damn fish,” I said and put my arms back into the water.
He just stood there again, watching and after a couple of minutes, the fish swam straight into my hands and I lifted it out of the water and flipped it toward the shore. It landed perfectly, a couple of meters away from his pile, but it wasn’t in the water, and it didn’t get away.
“Ahh, who is un-teachable now?” I joked and he clapped his hands.
“Well done. Now a couple more, and I’m sure we can go home.”
We stayed there for a long time, catching fish with our bare hands. I really got the hang of it, but I wasn’t a master like him, yet, and lost a few between the four that I caught.
My sports jacket was wet and so were my shorts, but it was worth it. I couldn’t remember the last time I had laughed this much.
We both waited for more fish to come when I saw one swimming into Blake’s hands. He lifted it up but lost his grip and the fish smacked me right in the face.
“Shit,” I heard him say as I had an extremely strong fish smell on my face and my head throbbed where its body had connected with my eye and its tail flapped straight on my nose.
His hand cupped my face. “I’m so sorry.” He didn’t laugh this time.
I tried to clean my eye. “Hold still, it will only take a few seconds.”
I felt a soft tingling sensation running up the side of my face as his healing ability kicked in. It was gentle and only a soft warming sensation pulsed through my face, erasing the pounding against my eye and nose.
I opened my eyes and found him staring at me.
I couldn’t look away.
His eyes were so different. They were always beautiful but never this soft. His thumb stroked the side of my temple gently and then he pulled my face which was still lodged in his huge hands closer to him.
Our lips touched, and I didn’t pull away. My one hand touched the one that cupped my face gently.
The kiss was not like the first time, it was sweet and soft, gentle.
It made my stomach clench in all sorts of directions – flutter even – and fresh goose bumps flushed my skin as he pulled me closer to him.
Our tongues danced around, a rhythm known by our hearts as if we’d kissed for years, and our breathing became heavier. Then at once images of blood pouring though his nose and eyes filled my head. The promise I’d made to Tabitha that I didn’t want him, just his dragon form, flashed through my mind. I broke it off and pushed myself away from him.
“I can’t do this, I’m sorry,” I said, turned around and walked out of the lake.
“Elena?” Blake called after me but I didn’t stay.
I picked up my shoes and started to run back to the tavern.
How the hell could I have let that happen? How could I have let him get so close to me? He was with Tabitha and I’d promised her. I started to get angry with myself as a part of me did want him, but at what cost? What if this spell was going to wear off and he was going to tell me again that he didn’t want me? That could never happen again. I had to keep my distance from him.
I rushed through the front door.
“Elena, where have you been?” Connie sounded worried as I ran past her and up the stairs to my room.
I didn’t even look back to apologize for being so rude, and once I was in my room, I felt the need to be alone. I wielded my shield around me and just sat on the floor against the door.
This was not happening. How could I have fallen for him again? I’d promised myself no more, but it was those stupid dreams of seeing his dragon saving me every time, and that stupid fishing lesson. I should’ve turned around when I found him standing in the water. I shouldn’t have stayed.
I MUST’VE FALLEN asleep, because when I opened my eyes again the sun was starting to set.
I was freezing in the damp clothes still on my body, so I got up from the floor and took a hot shower.
I pulled on a pair of jeans, a sweater and stepped into my slippers after I pulled on a pair of socks.
I couldn’t stop thinking about that stupid kiss, and had no idea how I was going to face him tonight at dinner.
I couldn’t skip it because I was starving.
I took a deep breath and had to go and find out if the blood had started again, if Blake was fine.
Not to mention how ratty I felt that I had made a promise to his girlfriend.
Still, I couldn’t get that kiss out of my head.
I found David sitting at a table with a cup of coffee, speaking to one of the other guests.
There was no sign of Blake. Shit, is he okay? I hadn’t even looked back when he called my name to find out. What if he was badly in pain again?
“Princess,” David acknowledged me and I grunted inwardly as I hated that word. “Blake is helping Connie with dinner. The kitchen is right through there.”
“No, it’s fine.” Relief washed over me. “When will dinner be served?”
“Give it another half an hour.”
“Thanks.”
I went back to my room and waited until a knock sounded at the door. My heart beat a million beats per second hoping that it wasn’t Blake. I really didn’t want to speak to him about what had happened at the lake.
Connie smiled. “Dinner is ready.”
“Thank you, Connie.”
“Are you okay?”
I nodded and closed the door behind me as I followed her downstairs.
Blake was missing again, and I found oven-baked dishes filled with a creamy fish sauce in almost all of them. It smelled amazing. A salad bowl with beets, beans and potato salad took up the other part of the table.
“Good, the dead has finally awoken,” Blake said as he placed another casserole dish on the table, and everyone chuckled.
I just rolled my eyes.
“Are you hungry?”
“Yes, very,” I said.
He beamed. “Nothing tastes better than the food you caught.” He raised his eyes once. “But you already know that.”
I frowned a bit. I assumed it must be something the Rubicon showed him, or images of our time spent together. The way Cara and I shared things. Did they speak the same way we used to? Probably. Still, it was a conversation I didn’t even want to think of.
Everyone sat down. They made one long table that could fit about thirty to forty people. I didn’t like the fact that Blake took the seat opposite me.
He passed on everything to me after he dished up and I would pass it on to the person next to me.
He spent the entire night speaking to Connie, and I really didn’t like that he was friendly. The Blake I knew was an ass, he was mean. The one from the mountain, well he would’ve never kissed me; he would’ve done the pushing away.
This was something straight out of the twilight zone.
I wanted to help clear the dining table afterward but Connie regarded me with huge eyes. “Over my dead body, go. I’m sure you kids want to go and see the village or something. It’s beautiful this time of night.”
Blake laughed. “No, it’s fine, but I can help you clear everything.”
“Blake,” Connie protested.
“C’mon, you worked hard tonight,” he said and took the dish towel from her shoulder and placed it over his own.
I gaped at him. Who was this guy?
“He sure is a huge help, Elena. You are lucky to have him as your dragon.”
The Rubicon was my dragon; Blake was just the vessel that transported him. I wanted to say that, but I didn’t.
I smiled, seriously not knowing what the hell that was all about a few moments ago. Isabel would’ve died of shock if I told her this.
“We have a small library, just down the hall, if that might interest you.”
“Sure, why not?” I said and followed her down the hall.
The library wasn’t big, but it shelved plenty of books, and I started scanning the rows to see what she carried.
I found a book about maps again and opened it immediately.
I read one page after the other, and halfway through, Blake entered the library.
David was having a cognac and offered Blake one too, which he declined.
Another shocker.
My heart started to pound as I heard him coming over to me.
“So, you enjoyed dinner?” He squeezed one of my shoulders.
I froze. “Yes, thank you it was satisfying,” I said without taking my gaze off the map, and my heart raced. I drew a deep breath as he chuckled.
“Is that how they teach you to speak in princess school?” He took a chair that was shoved underneath the table and sat on it, well, lounged in it was a better word. “What are you reading?”
“Why the million questions?”
“Curious.”
It’s nothing,” I said and sighed as I closed the book and pushed it away.
He glanced at the title. “More maps?”
I squinted. How the hell did he know that? The Rubicon.
“Yes, I’m actually trying to find the wyvern city, but it’s not on any one of these maps. I think I’ve looked through every single one of them.” I fell back into my chair and stroked my face. I was never going to find Annie or Charles.
“What is the city’s name?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Elena, I can help.”
“It’s fine.”
“Why do you do this?” He was serious.
“Do what?”
“Someone offers you help, and you just decline it.”
“Because it’s not that easy, okay.”
“What, accepting help?”
I shook my head. No, coming from you. I should’ve said that, made him back off again, especially after this afternoon.
“Fine, don’t answer, let me find out if David has any old maps. David!” Blake yelled his name before I could protest, and got up from his chair.
I heard them speak about maps, and I was wondering why Blake had asked for an old map and not just a map.
David came over with a very old piece of parchment, well it looked old, and opened it carefully in front of me.
“Blake said that you are looking for a place.”
“Well, yeah, but I’m sure the names are wrong,” I said as he unfolded this map that looked slightly different from all the others I’d read. There were many more places on this one.
I scanned all the names I’d learned ever since I’d started searching for Eikenborough, and it went up higher. I’d never seen this part of the map on any of the others, and just like that, I caught the little words of the village I was searching for. I scanned toward the sides, as I knew the farms were away from the villages. On the left, there were unknown names but on the right, I saw in big bold letters, Alkadeen.
I closed my eyes and smiled.
“What is it?” Blake asked.
“I’m not crazy. It’s on here,” I said and pointed at Eikenborough and Alkadeen.
Blake squinted at my finger and so did David. Their eyes shifted toward mine.
“Are you sure that was where you were?” Blake asked, as David’s expression was one of pure shock.
I nodded. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Eikenborough?” Blake asked.
“Yes, you heard of it?”
“You were in Eikenborough?” David asked.
“Yes, and in Alkadeen. The farms are in Alkadeen.” What was wrong with them?
“Elena, Eikenborough used to be part of Etan.”
“And?” I didn’t understand a thing he was saying.
Blake shook his head. “You don’t understand, it’s still a part of Etan.”
