by Carly Fall
“I feel you looking at me, Eorricris.”
He lowered his gaze to his feet, his cheeks burning with embarrassment that he’d been caught staring.
Glancing up at her to apologize, he gasped. His heart began thundering in his chest.
What was this? He scrambled to his feet as he tried to get his bearings.
It was as if Tirvu and the forest as he knew it had disappeared. Instead, he stood in a place with fluffy, yellow trees hundreds of feet tall, a purple sky above him, and rich, black dirt below him.
He turned around in a full circle, taking it all in as sweat broke out on his brow. Fear curled at his stomach, but at the same time, he was fascinated by this world he’d been settled in.
He stood in a small clearing. The trees had trunks that were at least ten feet round, the branches reminding him a bit of tufts of cotton candy. His shoes sank an inch or two into the earth, and he wished he could feel and hear the breeze that moved the thick trees and the smells that accompanied it. It was as if he’d been put into some type of hyperbolic chamber where he had been deprived of all of his senses, except his sight.
“Where am I?” he whispered, knowing full well Tirvu was responsible for his journey.
“You are home,” she said, her voice sounding far away. “Where you belong.”
He wanted to argue with her, to tell her that his home was on Earth, that this place wasn’t even a memory for him, but then, something to his right caught his eye.
Tirvu ran through the forest stark naked, her white hair like a cape behind her. Her breasts bounced as her thick, sturdy legs carried her across the ground with strength. She smiled and laughed in a way he’d never seen before—completely carefree and happy. The Tirvu he knew rarely smiled, and even then, there was heaviness to it, as if she carried a huge problem on her shoulders. Well, being responsible for the future of her world, he supposed the weight would be almost debilitating.
Behind her came an eight-foot black dragon, its scales shining in the bright day. It seemed as though it could catch Tirvu in a second, but instead, held back. The gleam in its dark eye almost looked evil to Eric, and his breath caught in his throat as he balled his fists at his sides, worrying if the dragon would hurt her. But then again, Tirvu wouldn’t be laughing if she were really in danger. He relaxed upon imagining she’d shift into her dragon form and defend herself, now more curious as to what she was trying to show him. It definitely was different than anything she’d displayed before.
Tirvu stopped running and turned toward the dragon. It came to a halt, as well, then slowly walked around her as if it were sizing up its prey, its gaze never leaving her. Puffs of smoke billowed from its snout, and it looked like it could destroy her with one flick of its thick, black tail or one swipe of its large claw. It reminded him of Tirvu’s story on how she got the scar down the side of her face, and he inhaled deeply to try to tamper down his anxiety once again. Although her smile indicated that she wasn’t in any danger, he still shifted his weight from foot to foot and rolled his head, as if he were ready to jump in to defend her.
A white light caused him temporary blindness, then a Black man stood before Tirvu. He gasped as he realized he was staring at a mirror image of himself, with only slight differences to his bone structure, and maybe he now held just a lighter skin tone.
Good God. Was he watching the guy she called Eorricris?
This brought on a whole new dimension to her story, her insistence that he had once been her lover, as well as a dragon shifter. Even as he watched himself wrap his arms around Tirvu’s waist and pull her close, he still found it hard to believe that his previous life as she’d described it was real.
As she slipped her hands around his neck, their lips met in a slow, lazy dance while he ran his hands over her arms and down her torso.
Eric became aroused seeing himself with Tirvu, and he couldn’t believe Eorricris didn’t seem to be at all. His cock remained completely flaccid, but perhaps he ran around with her naked all the time, so holding her wouldn’t be that big of a deal.
Eorricris’ hands palmed her buttocks and lifted her off the ground, the muscles in his arms flexing and rolling. She wrapped her legs around his waist as she kissed his neck and ran her hand over his thick, curly hair. The kiss became more urgent, and Eorricris slowly dropped to his knees, still holding on to Tirvu. Laying her gently on the black dirt, he then settled himself on top of her, holding most of his weight in his shoulders.
He spoke in a language Eric didn’t understand, but Tirvu smiled and held the sides of his face in her palms, then said the same words. It didn’t take much to guess they were proclaiming their love for each other—it was written all over their faces and showed in their gentle caresses and smiles.
As Eorricris lowered his mouth to hers, Eric’s heart galloped in his chest. He wanted to see what happened next, but at the same time, he felt he was intruding on a private, intimate moment, a time no one should witness.
Suddenly, the beautiful and strange world began to spin, and he stumbled backwards trying to catch his balance. A second later, he stood in the forests of Saint’s Grove with Tirvu, who sat on the ground stuffing blueberries in her mouth, the area around her lips now blue.
He sank down next to her, unsure of what to say.
“My mission was to return the Moonstone to our people,” she said, not meeting his gaze, but focusing on the large bush in her lap. “But that has changed for me now.”
He crinkled his brow, thoroughly confused. If she didn’t want to find the Moonstone, why were they hiking up this damn mountain?
“I showed you that because it is one of my favorite memories of us. We were alone in the forest. No one was around us. Usually, our association caused both of us great distress, because we knew that we could die for loving each other. But at that one moment, it was perfection.”
What did she expect him to say? Did she want him to declare his undying love? He was definitely attracted to her, and he cared about her quite a lot—something he couldn’t quite understand himself—but he couldn’t say that he loved her.
“I want you to come home with me, Eorricris. After we find the Moonstone, please, come home.”
His eyes widened as he stared at his shoes. From what he’d just seen, yes, he was Eorricris, or she’d somehow put a likeness of him into the scene. He’d told her many times he didn’t recognize himself as one of her kind, but she seemed to be certain he was her old lover from so long ago.
It did seem possible, but highly unlikely. His world in computers was black and white. There were very few grey areas, if any at all. Even when he found one, it didn’t take much to put it into one category or the other. That’s the way it was and had always been with computers. Programming didn’t offer a lot of anomalies. There were very few ways to take X’s and O’s, except for what they were—a sequence of numbers and figures that led to the outcome the programmer intended.
“You’re needed at home,” she whispered.
Her words hit him like a fist to the gut. Even though the birds sang in the trees, the water ran in the creek, and the sound of the insects played all around him, it felt like she’d just screamed the words in his ear.
He looked over at her to find her eyes shimmering pink. At first, he wondered if they were somehow bleeding, but against the bright blue orbs, he realized he was about to see her cry.
She turned her gaze away from him and wiped her eyes.
“I’m sorry for crying,” she said.
“Hey, it’s okay,” he replied as he placed his hand in hers. “Everyone cries every now and then.”
A sound somewhere between a sigh and a snort emerged from her lips, and she shook her head.
“Our kind doesn’t. We’ve been taught from a very young age that we don’t cry. Tears are for the weak and fragile, those who can’t defend themselves. We are part dragon, one of the fiercest animals in the universe. We are strong and resilient; therefore, crying is not something we do.”
“Here, tears aren’t for the weak and the fragile,” he said. “They represent many emotions.”
“Like what?” she sniffed.
“Well, let’s talk about my mom, one of the biggest criers I’ve ever seen.”
She slowly turned her head to him, as if she were curious. Then, he saw two pink tears rolling down each of her cheeks. In a way, they looked like diluted blood, but he still found them beautiful.
“She was also the strongest person I knew,” he continued. “But she cried all the time. She cried when she was happy, when she was sad, when she was angry. She bawled at certain commercials on television, especially around the holidays. She cried at all my school graduations from kindergarten to college.”
“Why?”
“She said because she was proud of me.”
“It sounds as though she lived most of her life with tear tracks on her face.”
He shook his head as he grinned. “No. She spent most of her life with a smile on her face.”
“What made her so strong? Someone like that would be cast aside in our world.”
He bit his tongue before he answered. He couldn’t tell her again that this was his world, especially when she was so upset. Instead, he ignored it.
“She raised me, took care of my father and our house, paid all the bills, volunteered at hospice care—that’s a place where dying people go—and also gave her time to my school. She was busy, always there for others, the backbone of our family and community. She carried a lot of weight on her shoulders and did it with strength and dignity.”
“And she cried?”
He chuckled as he reached out and swiped one of the tears with the pad of his thumb. “Yes, she cried. There’s nothing wrong with it, Tirvu.”
She pursed her lips together as she stared at him, but then finally spoke. “When I came here to get the Moonstone, I knew that the chances of you remembering me or our world would be very slim. I braced myself to shut off my feelings for you and concentrate on my mission, but I don’t think I can do that anymore, Eorricris.”
He sighed, wishing they could go back to talking about blueberries or even demons.
“Come home with me,” she said, her gaze imploring him. “When I return to our world, the war will stop, but I will still be left with the pain of losing you all those centuries ago. I’ve just found you, and I don’t want to lose you again.”
Her words crippled him, the weight of them resting on his heart like a boulder. Wasn’t it just a little while ago that he’d thought about going to her world, just to check it out? Now, she wanted him there permanently. He couldn’t imagine leaving Earth and heading to a place so different and ancient. Plus, how would he survive in a world full of dragons, when he was a mere human man, Eric from Chicago?
Yet, the way she looked at him, he realized that he was seeing the real Tirvu for the first time. All of her defenses were down, and she had revealed her heart to him. He wouldn’t take that lightly, and he would cradle her feelings with gentle hands. However, he wouldn’t give her false hope.
“Tirvu, I don’t belong there,” he whispered, unable to meet her gaze.
“You won’t even come back for me? For us? For what we had?”’
He shook his head and looked her directly in the eye. “I care about you, but we’re too different. You’re a dragon shifter. I’m a man, a human man. I’d never survive in your world. Maybe at one time, I belonged with you there, but I don’t think I do anymore. I’m here, on Earth, and that’s where I feel I should be.”
And just like that, she closed up on him. The old take-no-prisoners, get-down-to-business Tirvu was back.
She reached for her berry bush and grabbed a handful of them, shoving them into her mouth.
“We better get going,” she said, getting to her feet and walking ahead of him as she dragged the bush behind her.
He scrambled to stand, then grabbed the pack and threw it over his shoulder, wanting to say something to smooth over the situation, but no words came.
Instead, he sighed and fell into step behind her.
16
She wouldn’t allow her world to crash around her; she wouldn’t allow his words to cut into her heart. And she certainly wouldn’t allow more tears to fall. She hated those damn things, no matter what Eric said about his mother being so strong and crying all the time.
In reality, she just wanted to collapse, curl up into a ball, and cry until there was nothing left inside of her. If she allowed that, how long would it take until all her emotions were spent? Days? Weeks?
All she wanted was a little slice of happiness, the type of joy she’d had before the last time the seams of the universe had opened. Once she found the Moonstone, she would return to her world and end the war. That would be the first step in finding it. At least then, she wouldn’t fear for her life every day and have to fight to the death. Maybe she’d be able to rebuild her life and once again find peace and contentment.
She had hoped that by showing Eorricris what they had been together, it would somehow make him want to come with her. She’d known it was a risk opening herself up to him, to have him see the pain she was in, but it was a chance she’d been willing to take. From now on, she would use all of her focus to finding the Moonstone. Thinking beyond that was useless. Happiness, despair, the future … none of it was relevant until the Moonstone was located and home on the pedestal in the Grand Dragon castle, overlooking of the lands.
Glancing up as she ate the berries from the bush she carried, she considered how much farther they had to go. She contemplated shifting into her dragon form to make the climb easier for her, but doing so required so much energy, she wondered if it would only wear her out more.
Behind her, Eric’s stare burned her. She felt his gaze roaming all over her body, but ignored the feelings it brought. With a sigh, she promised herself that his presence would no longer affect her. He’d been correct when he’d said Eorricris was dead. Her beloved had truly died all those centuries ago, even if he’d been reborn to his current form.
A scent tickled her nose, and she stopped as she tried to place it. Inhaling deeply, her throat clenched, and her stomach rolled. Acrid and repulsive was the only way to describe demons.
“What’s wrong?” Eric asked from behind her.
She sniffed the air again, trying to figure out what direction they came from, but she couldn’t place it. It seemed to be coming from all sides.
“Tirvu?”
“Alexander was correct when he said that legend stated Devil’s Ridge was inhabited by evil,” she whispered loud enough for him to hear, but not so that they’d draw attention to themselves.
“What do you think is in there?” he asked, his voice low as he stepped up next to her.
“Demons, Eric. I smell demons.”
“Demon or demons? If it’s plural, how many?”
She raised her head again, closing her eyes as she concentrated. The putrid smell caught in her throat as her stomach heaved.
Her experience with the awful creatures was limited, but the smell overwhelmed her to an extent that she wanted to vomit, then run down the mountain and leave the area as fast as she could.
“A lot, I think.”
“Shit.”
“Yes.”
They stood in silence for a moment as she focused on the area around her. She heard no one approaching, which she hoped it meant that the demons hadn’t detected her and Eric’s presence yet. Or, it could mean they were under watch at this moment and the demons would attack.
She wished for the former.
By the strong scent, she knew they were outnumbered. Eric would be dead within seconds of encountering them, or worse yet, be dragged to Hell to suffer for eternity. She would most likely perish, as well. If she shifted into her dragon form, at least she could take out as many as possible before they killed her.
She sta
red up the mountain, considering her options. If she proceeded, she would die fighting for her world and saving her people. It would be a noble death. Of course, there was always the slim chance that she would be able to retrieve the Moonstone, which would be the best outcome.
However, she didn’t foresee this in the future.
But, what to do about Eric? Yes, he had been correct when he’d said he was only a human male. He was terribly unequipped and offered nothing to this battle.
He had to go.
She turned to him and took a deep breath. “I want you to leave this area immediately. I will stay and take care of the demons.”
He furrowed his brown and scoffed. “Are you out of your fucking mind? I’m not going anywhere, Tirvu. I’m not leaving you here.”
Of course he’d say that. Despite only being a human male, he had pride that would not allow him to run from a fight and honor that kept him at her side, both noble qualities. However, demons couldn’t care less about such things, and they would rip him apart in seconds.
“You were right when you said you do not belong in my world,” she hissed, fisting her hands at her side. “You were also right when you stated you are nothing but a human. You have no business being here on this mountainside right now. I’m the one fighting for my people. This isn’t your battle.”
He shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest, his features suddenly calm and all emotion removed from his face. It was a look she knew well. Eorricris used to do the same thing when they’d had their rare arguments.
“No.”
There was no argument given, just blatant defiance, which made her clench her jaw and grind her teeth. He was so infuriating!
“You will die. I will not be able to protect you.”
“I can handle myself,” he replied.
“Yes, I remember it well. Just a few days ago when the seams opened, you were flat on your back with a demon straddling you. You were feeble and defenseless.”
She hated bringing up his weakness, but if it got him off this mountain, then she would do whatever was necessary.