Contraptions that looked like glorified skateboards waited outside. Sir Robert and Dad Herbert changed into their true forms. Emanual and a couple of King Helmut’s fleet dragons took the opportunity too to take part in a bit of fun.
Lucian grabbed his glider, and Blake opened his new present. He pulled a beautiful, white, sleek board out of the box and chuckled as he brushed his fingers over it.
“It’s not a Ducati, Dad, but it sure is beautiful.”
Sir Robert shook his gigantic head, flapping in the air.
Blake gave me another kiss again and then told me to back up a bit.
Lucian’s board spat out fire, and I backed away from Blake more than just a few steps.
He pressed a button, and a flame blasted from the end. It quietened down and only fumes hovered around the boards, keeping it suspended in the air.
I remembered seeing them when I went with Lu that night to see the shifters performing.
Lucian jumped on his board and metal crawled up his shoe and kept him in place.
His balance was exceptional, and Blake followed. The same metal liquid crawled over Blake’s feet too as he put on his goggles and winked at me. His knees bent and he darted forward in the air, passing Lu. The two made a game of it and raced to reach the others.
“Come,” Queen Maggie said, and she took me to a steel structure that had way too many steps.
I followed her, climbing the steps to the top, keeping my eyes on the dragons and those on the flying skateboards.
My dad was quite fitting on one, too. He didn’t even wobble on the board to keep his balance.
To think if I’d grown up on this side, this would not have been so foreign to me.
We reached the top and found Mom with Arianna’s mom in a deep discussion. Isabel and Constance were there with Annie and Sammy, too. Becky sat next to Tabitha, with Lucille and a few of the other men’s loved ones. I sat down next to Sammy, eye level of the play.
Two huge bells appeared in the air as King Helmut came flying in with something that looked like a hammer in his hands.
“Time to pick teams.”
“You against me,” Dad Albert said, looking at King Helmet.
“You first.”
“Blake,” Dad said, without taking his eyes off King Helmut.
“Emanual. Always choose your dragon first, Al.”
Dad smiled. “You always play right into my hand, Helmut. Lucian.”
Queen Maggie laughed.
“That is my son. He should be on my team.”
“Sorry, Dad. I’m not playing against Blake.”
“Fine, Robert.”
Groans filled the air as Dad Albert just stared at King Helmut.
“Nobody is choosing the other king,” King Caleb said, eliciting more laughter.
“Caleb,” Dad Albert said, and King Helmut lowered his head. “I’ll trade you, Caleb, for Robert.”
“Deal,” Dad Albert said.
“Thank you, Al,” King Caleb didn’t sound thrilled. They were hilarious.
“One gift, Blake, and not the pink kiss,” Etienne, who was going to be the referee, said.
“My acid.”
“That’s my boy,” Sir Robert yelled in Latin as his figure hovered above Dad.
“Keep casualties low, please.” Etienne blew a whistle, and the game started.
Dad Albert chucked the hammer at Lucian who caught it, and without even aiming, threw it in the air, and Blake swooped down, grabbed it before Emanual’s fire connected with him and the bell sounded.
Everyone around me cheered as Blake laughed at Emanual.
They took their positions again, and Etienne blew the whistle.
King Helmut and King Caleb were fast on their flying skateboards as Sir Robert and Dad Albert tried to trap them; they dodged each other barely and the bell rang.
The whistle blew, and Blake and Lucian laughed as they took their positions again.
Everyone around me cheered again when Blake hit a bell. He was really fast on top of his flying skateboard.
“Have you caught on yet what the game is about?” Queen Maggie asked.
“The other teams have to hit the bell with the hammer?”
“Correct, and they have to dodge the dragons’ gifts. The game is still very relaxed, as Warbel players usually end up in hospital, those that the Swallow Annexes can’t heal.”
“Can’t heal?”
“When a rider got a dragon’s essence, like Caleb and Helmut and your dad, Swallow Annexes can’t heal them anymore.”
So that was why she didn’t heal my father’s burn. She couldn’t.
“Why?”
“Because they have the essence of a dragon. Swallow Annexes can’t heal other dragons.”
It was making sense now. “So if they get sick, they can die?”
“Well, they don’t really get sick, but they can get horribly hurt by an ability that is not theirs. It’s why the dragons are so important on this team. They have to protect their players.”
It was amazing to watch them, and I kept skipping heads between Blake and Dad.
The bell gong came once more, and Dad’s team whooped as Lu hugged Blake. Dad Albert held his hand high as his flying skateboard hovered next to Blake’s. Blake slapped Dad’s hand.
“How do they stay on those boards?”
“They grew up with it, Elena,” Queen Maggie said, grinning at them.
Emanual almost pushed Blake off his board, but he gained his balance fast and went after the Sun Blast. Laughter erupted from the team and from us on the bleachers.
I followed Blake and Emanual as they really went for each other.
We jumped out of our chairs as it looked as if they were going to crash.
They connected hard with the ground, but their laughter from below reached our ears.
The rest of the teams cheered.
I finally understood what Queen Maggie had meant by this game could get dangerous.
The players kept getting exchanged as guests started leaving, requiring the kings and their dragons’ presence.
Queen Maggie even disappeared for a couple of hours.
Spotlights came on when the sun set. Blake and Lucian played the entire game. Nobody got badly injured, thanks to Isabel and Constance, but I got a feeling if they weren’t here, we would’ve done a couple of trips to the hospital.
No wonder Dad Herbert had called the football players Patsies if he grew up with Warbel.
They played another few rounds. Dad’s team score was almost unbeatable when they finally called it a match.
I followed the girls down the steps, and when we exited, Blake jumped off his raider.
He pulled me around the corner and planted his lips on mine. His spirit was high, and I loved his energy.
“I’ll give you your present later tonight. Your dads would skin me alive if they knew what it was.”
“Oh, man. What did you get me?”
Blake laughed, sucking on his lip, which made my stomach flip.
He winked as he grabbed my hand and pulled me into the open.
Lucian and Blake couldn’t stop speaking about their moves during a couple of plays.
“I hope you have enough energy left, as it’s my turn to try out my gift,” I said.
Blake gasped as he stared at me. “I need to see this one, too. Go get it.”
I rushed into the house and grabbed the sphere.
The guests that were still here followed us all outside when they heard I was going to try out the saddle that Sir Robert had bought me for Blake.
Some of Dad’s men were among them.
They all voiced how big Blake was when we got out.
“He is one mighty dragon,” Dad Albert said. “Submitted too.”
My chest swelled as we walked toward Blake.
“He definitely grew into his tendrils.”
It elicited a couple of laughs, and Dad Albert came with me as we walked up to Blake’s dragon figure.
Dad tapped his wing and Blake brought his head close to Dad. “Who are you tapping like that?”
Dad’s men laughed. “Lower your wing so that I can show my child how to put this on you, please.”
Blake gurgled as he lowered his wing, and Dad stepped on as if it was the most natural thing in this world.
He held out his hand for me, and I grabbed it, jumping on Blake’s wing next to him. Blake hoisted us toward his body, and we jumped on top of his back.
“Never thought I would ever be on a Rubicon’s back,” Dad Albert joked. He walked to behind the last of Blake’s dragon thorns on his back. “It’s a natural seat, Elena.”
“Yeah, it’s what I’ve been using before the sphere.”
Dad put the sphere right behind his back horn. It had a funny rainbow glint spiraling behind the glass.
There was a small white button in the middle.
“When the sphere is in place, you just press the button.” Dad Albert hit the button.
We got pushed onto our backs when straps came out and laughed at how Dad had forgotten the normal part of physics.
Blake blocked with his wings and body so we didn’t roll off and when we gained our balance, a beautiful white saddle sat on his back.
“How does it feel, Blake?” Dad asked.
“Tight, but manageable.”
“Okay, let me see.” He pushed another button and the straps expanded, shifting everything out of place and then back into place.
“Much better,” Blake said.
“Told you it’s expandable,” Sir Robert yelled from below, now back in his human form.
I looked at all the straps that hung from the saddle, and Dad Albert nudged with his head to sit.
I plopped my butt into the seat as Dad Albert worked fast and brought the ends of the straps together. They melted into each other and then slapped against my legs, strapping me tightly into the seat. My one leg was in.
“I love magic,” I said. “I got it.”
Dad Albert winked. “Enjoy.”
“Ten o’clock, Blake,” Dad Herbert yelled from below, back in his human form too.
“Be like King Albert,” Blake teased as Dad slid off his wing. I took the straps of the other leg and brought them together.
“You ready?” Blake asked.
“No, I’m strapping myself in. Hold on.”
“Strapping yourself into what?”
“The saddle.”
“I can fly at full speed?”
“No,” both dads yelled, eliciting more laughter.
When the last strap connected with my leg, I put on my goggles.
“Okay, you can go,” I said, holding onto his horn that was in front of me.
He lifted off the ground and I had to admit, in a saddle, this entire ordeal was so much better.
We flew high above the clouds. Blake made a few somersaults, and I didn’t even lift out of the saddle. It felt like a gigantic rollercoaster ride. I wanted more.
He went faster, and my heart pounded at the speed. I got why everyone said that he was one of the fastest dragons in Paegeia. The wind blew so hard in my face that I struggled to breathe.
I tapped him slightly against his back. I guessed I would need something like an oxygen mask to fly at this speed with him. He slowed down immediately.
“You okay?”
“Yeah. Just struggling to breathe at that speed.”
“Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. It’s amazing.”
He turned the direction, and it was hard to see in the dark where he was heading. He descended, but there wasn’t any sign of lights below us.
I felt the jolt when he landed. I called on the pink kiss and the silhouette of trees flashed past me in the orange glow. We were on another mountain again.
“You okay?”
“It was fun. You are crazy fast.”
“That was nothing.”
“You’re faster than that?”
“Yup.”
I struggled for a few seconds to get the straps to break loose. My eyes landed on a silver shiny button and I pressed it.
The straps fell off my legs like slithering snakes, and I was free.
Blake unfurled his wing for me as I got up from the saddle and pushed the button just below the big one. The straps retreated from around his body. The saddle disappeared, and the sphere was the only thing left on Blake’s back.
I picked it up and slid off Blake’s wing.
Blake changed into his human form then and there. He immediately pulled me into his arms and became all grabby, pinching my butt, forcing my leg around his waist.
“Stop, I don’t have protection with me.”
“Party pooper. Why not?”
“I didn’t think that this was on your mind. We are in the open, Blake. One of my Dads could be near.”
“Probably Herbert”
We both laughed at that.
“I’d be so dead if they discovered the truth,” he said.
“They won’t.”
“Are you sure about that?”
Oh crap. “Yes.”
“Then why is your mom calling me her SIL?”
It took me a while to figure out what it meant.
Son-in-law. “She found out, okay?”
“How?”
“When I panicked inside the core that time. She asked if we were safe and also said she thought I wanted to wait. It was a sticky situation, and she read it on my face. She is okay with it but said to tell none of my dads.”
“So your mom knows?”
“Yes. She knows. My mom is your lenient parent, Blake. She was a Dent herself.”
“Just a pity she isn’t with your dads twenty-four seven. How is she doing it without your real mom, Elena?”
I knew he was talking about the Dent. “She said because of me. My mom gave her me.”
Blake hugged me, still buck naked. I couldn’t keep my hands off of him either.
