by Pierce Smith
“There’s no fixed day and date for this. This is very powerful venom we are dealing with. Any normal dragon would be dead by now, but Xeg’s body is resisting and fighting relentlessly, which is good for us, but we don’t know when the venom could overpower everything.”
“Will he recover?”
“We’re hoping so.”
Chapter Ten
Almost Reunited
Sam sat on a small stone, staring at the beautiful waterfall before his eyes. But the beauty was faint as his lover was not there. With Kyg, he could have enjoyed the real splendor of this place. Dwarves all around were keeping an eye on him but Sam never attempted to run away. He knew he couldn’t. The forest was too big. The dwarves were smarter and he was weaker to do so. One of the dwarves came with fruit and a few flowers.
“Do you eat these?” Sam lifted a yellow petal in his hand.
“Yes. It’s good for health in the forest. It will heal your body and provide you with a natural strength,” the dwarf replied, plucking the petal from Sam’s hand and eating it himself. He showed how enjoyable it was to eat the flower.
Sam smiled and started eating the fruit. He knew someone was visiting them today. They had received a message in the forest. The smile and joy on their faces were clear. Sam should have been worried, but all the mess had made his mind perplexed. He didn’t know how to react to every action happening in his life and it was so fast. Dwarves bought big gunny bags and were filling them with the gold plundered from the nearby villages. It was an enormous hoard. A person having that much on Earth would be counted among the richest dicks. Silently, he kept watching them doing their dirty deeds, and ate those delicious petals.
A dwarf, who startled Sam, came running through the waterfall, soaked to the skin. Collecting everyone they talked in their own language. Sam knew it was time for his bounty exchange. He had to go with another exploiter. His eyes tried avoiding them, so he continued to stared at the beautiful forest reflecting in the curtain of the waterfall. When suddenly, he felt turmoil in the trees. Birds flew away, animals ran to safety and the trees started falling apart. Something bigger approached them. His heart quivered, but he controlled himself.
Dwarves came running to him and two of them made Sam stand and dragged him back into the cave. Another dwarf gathered some mud and started rubbing it all over Sam’s body. Two of them tied his hand and legs and helped another to coat Sam in the mud. Soon Sam was a statue of mud, he could move, but his mouth was pressed tightly shut by the dwarves. Surprised at what made these little beings do this, he heard a loud roar. A roar which he could identify among millions. The roar of his king, of Kyg. He attempted to shriek, but they pressed his mouth harder and Sam saw Kyg shifting from his dragon to human form, to stand majestically on top of the mountain across from the waterfall. He could see how greatly worried Kyg was.
NEITHER THE HEART NOR the stars were taking Kyg’s side as he flew beyond the mountains. The clouds turned darker and lightning spread across the sky. He stared at the darkened heavens and cursed them in not supporting him, but his prayers went unheard. The lightning turned thunderous and thunderbolts clashed all around. He made a sharp turn, then flapped his wings hard to rise high into the sky. Passing through the clouds, he rose above them. Below him the black clouds thundered and heavy rain started. He knew his men would have a tough time searching through the forest. “Wait for me, My Love,” Kyg sent a message in the clouds. He would never forgive himself if anything happened to Sam. His eyes peeking through the clouds, down to the ground to look for clues to find Sam.
Flying around, he didn’t know when he came to the other part of the forest which bordered the auction city. A city notorious for its sins and bounty hunters. He rarely planned to visit this side and then it was in the capacity of his royal duties. Last time he came, before he was king, was when he was ten years old with Cezzot.
Today, would Cezzot venture into the city to buy a bounty, which might be dangerous for the throne, or a sex slave for herself. How long did she cheat his father and that man never said he raised a finger? He hated her more as he thought of her. The disgust filled his throat and fire spurted from his mouth with an almighty roar. The flames and smoke filled the air. Flapping his mammoth wings, he turned from the city of sin, flying high into the sky. He looked for the solitude to look for his lost peace; a place to cry out his faults and mourn his loss.
The storm had moved across the heavens to torment other parts of his planet. Up ahead he spotted a peaceful waterfall, in a lush green forest. A paradise in that hell. Water flowed off the mountain, tumbling over rocks in its continuous journey down through the forest. After destroying many trees in the forest with his fiery anger, Kyg felt the need to stop near the waterfall.
TEARS ROLLED FROM SAM’S distraught his eyes, as he watched his lover in distress. He tried biting the hand over his mouth, but a sword came around his neck, then dropped down to his pregnant belly. Sobbing, he looked at the dwarf holding the sword. He pleaded with his eyes, but those greedy dwarves weren’t meant to read it.
Kyg sensed foul play behind the waterfall. Shifting to his dragon, he flew down to investigate. Craning his big neck through the waterfall, he wasn’t able to see much. His nostrils and an eye were able to enter the cave, but it was empty except for the remains of a lingering scent. He tried peeking further inside, but the rocks hindered his way. He pushed harder but a part of the roof caved in. The dwarves dragged Sam further inside without making a noise. Kyg could smell Sam had been there, but now his scent was fading. His beautiful smell was lost, hidden under the thick mud, masking Sam from Kyg’s rescue.
On not finding anything there, Kyg returned to his palace. His telepathic mind caught Xeg’s awakening senses. He wanted to be with his brother at least in this anguished time;. together, they could console each other. If only Kyg’s mind was clear, he would have realized he could have searched the caves in his human form and taken Sam from the dwarves.
Chapter Eleven
Search and a Rescue?
Xeg opened his eyes and after a few minute, he walked out of his room. Hospital orderlies tried to stop him but kicking everyone away, he walked outside. Duty called. His kingdom was in danger.
Xeg collected his soldiers and warriors outside the castle to begin the search and the rescue plans for Sam. He had a detailed map in his hands where he hadn’t done any hunting yet. This time he wanted his men to go beyond the forest, to the slave auction area and into the lands which were given to booty traders. There was a possibility that booty hunters had gotten away with Sam. Each of the soldiers were ready to find Sam, except for a few who were still unable to accept a human as a Consort and above them. They were ready to delay the salvage operation.
“Xeg, I object!” A young recruit resisted the action. His adolescent face reflected his naivety in understanding the complexities of the military rules. His dress was colorful with a big metal helmet over his head. He definitely belonged to the Right Wing. “The human isn’t precious. A mere human and the entire dragon clans are before him. We are fighting among them for him. We don’t know yet if he’s the spy from Earth to destroy us or just a mated love of King Kyg. What if he is creating all this turmoil? Do you think this much drama will be accepted by dragons?”
“Boy, this should not be words of valorous blood. William, do you think you have dragon’s blood in your veins? That blood cannot defend your cowardice. Sam is our King’s Consort now. A marriage accepted by our laws and the dragon egg. He is bearing our King’s baby. That is enough to make him worthy for us. Can we leave our future heir to die somewhere in the hunter’s dungeon? Can we leave our Consort in the greedy hands of kidnappers? Can we leave the needy without any help?” Xeg’s pitch rose higher with each word. Motivating and arousing each of his men standing before him.
“Still... a human?” William, the soldier, resisted, not able to understand how a dragon could fall in love with a human.
“That’s fate. Your poor heart canno
t accept it. Not at all.” Xeg blurted. “I’m glad our King was not listening to your nonsense, otherwise you would be torn in pieces.”
“I hope my commander is not scared of being torn either.”
“Either shut up, or you’ll face a court martial.”
“I seek your apologies, Commander Xeg,” William shut his mouth. He didn’t want Xeg to mean his words.
“Now, none of you should have any confusion, right?” Xeg asked his troop.
“Right, Commander,” the troop replied with one voice.
“Returning back to the matter, I want to clarify each one of you. Sam is our King’s Consort. It doesn’t matter if he doesn’t belong to any dragon bloodline, but the dragon egg has accepted him as the fated love of our King and has endowed him with the future heir. It’s our duty to save our Consort and get the buggers down on their knees.”
Soldiers understood Xeg’s demand. They knew they had to look for Sam, their King’s Consort. Xeg understood too, there would be many Williams in their kingdom, but their voices were suppressed as of now, but not for much longer. Kyg and Xeg had to do something that everyone would accept Sam as their Royal Consort, and delivery of a healthy royal baby would be the best option. As their subjects would love their king’s baby; their thoughts would be diverted, and thereafter they will focus on the baby rather than on Sam. But, Xeg wasn’t sure whether the hybrid baby would be inclined more towards which parent, human or dragon.
Xeg gave less thought on what others were thinking rather than their duty. Since Xeg was old enough to understand, he was taught it was his duty to serve the royal bloodline and protect them. Even before Sam had left the kingdom, his mind was more lost than Kyg’s, but he did his best to keep it clear. He knew Sam was in the utmost danger, and anything could happen to him. Booty hunters were known to trade with ruthless buyers from this planet and other planets willing to break sanctions enforced by Byndra’s interplanetary laws, or would Sam be sold to Cezzot and her men? They could cut Sam to take out his egg and sell it on the interstellar market. A human/dragon hybrid egg would be worth a fortune to them. The possibilities ran in infinite directions. Although, part of his mind wanted to assure Xeg that Sam was safe, wherever he was, the larger portion of his mind sent him into a panic, fearing for Sam’s safety.
He watched soldiers leaving for their duties, assigned earlier. They flew in the direction and locations allotted to them. His spies were already assigned their jobs and he was getting feedback from them, though nothing positive was reported. Their success in finding Sam, resulting in zero clues.
Kyg watched Xeg from his balcony. He knew no one could stop Xeg. He was a born commander and would fight for Kyg and Sam with his life..
THE SUNS WERE SETTING and the forest were getting darker. The dragon packs were out to get a clue about Sam. They were worried. First, they didn’t know what they were looking for. Second, they didn’t know in which direction they should hunt. The possibilities were endless and they had to perceive anything that looked out of place as a possible clues. Ukud and Tyrset led their packs and were confused how to proceed .
“What should we look for?” Ukud whispered, calling Tyrset over, while he jumped the trees and walked in his vicinity. “Sam himself?”
“I wonder if we can find Sam here,” Tyrset spoke, chopping wild growth around him. “Maybe clues of Sam? Like a piece of cloth, or at worst his body parts...”
“Maybe the kidnapper’s clue too?”
They nodded, while their packs climbed up the trees, lighting their lanterns to look into the forest. Fireflies were lit up too, but their dim light was nothing before the sharp night vision of the dragons. They sighed as there was no hint of either Sam or his kidnappers in there.
“I wonder how we can hunt anything when we weren’t present at the time of the incident. Isn’t that irony?” Ukud said sadly, wishing he could do more.
“Aren’t we meant to turn the fates to our side. And how can you forget it’s a matter of our King’s Consort?” Tyrset barked at Ukud, to remove his negativity.
“True. I completely agree with you.” Ukud nodded, and jumped on a tree .
“Still, my instinct is guiding me. It should be Kyg and not us looking for Sam...” Tyrset finally agreed with Ukud.
“And we are in the wrong direction of the search.” Ukud added. “Either the kidnappers will take him off the planet to keep him in their custody, or he will be in the auction area.”
“True, but Xeg has taken that side, believing his spies are better suited to search there.”
“Hey, I think I found something...” Ukud chuckled, while he examined a piece of wood with a metal carving on it. The metal shone under the moonlight and Ukud recognized it right away. “It’s Sam’s, of course, but I doubt it was left while he traversed this forest. He abandoned this metal piece quite a long time before.”
“But, we should produce it before Xeg, right?”
“Right,” Tyrset agreed with Ukud and in a low howl, they called their packs back. The rest of the soldiers were empty-handed and hopeless.
Both commanders walked out of the forest. Preserving the item safely in his backpack, Ukud shifted and flew into the air, Tyrset followed him. The rest of the pack followed on the ground. They were allowed to make limited commotion as they trudged ungraciously through the night, searching endlessly for their Consort.
The old discarded item of Sam’s, was the only thing they had found in the last two days, and in the corner of their hearts, they knew it was useless. Apprehension clouded them, but they had to report it to Xeg tonight. Those two big dragons soaring silently through the air, drifting with heavy hearts towards the palace, felt like they had been flying for hours, when in reality it only took a few seconds.
Tyrset walked into Xeg’s room, where he found him reclining on a comfortable lounge chair with a nurse standing beside him. “I hope to hear some good news,” Xeg said, looking at Tyrset with hope in his tired eyes.
“We wish to grant you that,” Ukud said, placing the wooden item before Xeg. The nurse stepped closer to bring it forward, but Xeg denied it. He examined it from his place. “Is it of any use?”
“Not much,” Xeg sighed, followed by the sighs of both commanders. “You got it from the nearby forest, right?” In response both the commanders nodded. “I knew. It was from Earth, which Sam carried with him. I feel this was lost when we shifted his valuables to the palace. You can keep it and gift him with it whenever we find him back.” Xeg sighed again. The nurse continuously checked the monitor accessing the functioning of his bodily organs.
“You must take more rest, Xeg,” the nurse interrupted.
“Oh, must I? In this situation when the palace is at war with internal factions, the Consort is missing with the future heir, and our enemies hidden all around. I feel you need to look for another job, nurse,”
“She is correct, Xeg. You need to take your rest,” Kyg commanded, while he entered through the balcony unchecked.
Ukud and Tyrset stood in response. “We are sorry, but it is longer than we expected.” Tyrset apologized.
“Yes, it is. And I don’t want to blame anyone else except myself for all these things. I wish I could have controlled my impatience, so Sam could be among us,” Kyg cried.
Xeg stood and gestured everyone to leave. “It’s useless crying my dear brother.” Holding his hand, he sat beside him on the couch. “You know you didn’t do it knowingly. Your only purpose was to please him. That wasn’t wrong. Mistakes happen, you can fix it.”
But, Kyg remained silent and stared into the void. “Why don’t we look at the auction side?”
“I’ve sent my men.” Xeg responded shortly. “They’re looking for any clues. Aren’t you asking Zamza?”
“I did, but he said he’s not getting any hint...”
“Kyg, I’m not getting a good hint about him. My instincts are warning me. He’s not a friend.”
“Stop suspecting everyone... he’s a prisoner, a slave, no
thing else. Trying to help me...”
“Suspecting is my job. I’m not meant to trust everyone like you. I said what I felt about him.”
“Okay.” Kyg thumped his chest and left the room. Xeg remained sitting on the chair watching Kyg’s ass going away from him. He knew Kyg was wrong and would never accept his faults. He also knew Kyg was in his rutting season, and a fragile pregnant human could not help him. Being a transgender, Xeg never felt a true rutting like most male dragons, so didn’t understand the mating call, mated dragons had with one another. Kyg was loyal to Sam, but Xeg thought if Kyg fucked someone it would help both of them. He needed a fucktoy who could appease his sexual needs and please him in all the possible ways. But, his destiny was twisting in a bad way. Kyg wanted to be loyal and yet fulfill his rutting demands. He wanted to rule his kingdom and yet didn’t want to be harsh against his enemies. He wanted to love everyone and be loved by everyone, but life was not so easy. Like a baby, everyone wanted to lift you in their arms, stretch your cheeks and make some sort of love words.
It was the dragon kingdom which looked for the strong decision maker. The ruler who could bathe in their enemies’ blood and punish them with his wrath, that would put the fear of God into the rest of their opponents. The king should be making their enemies shiver like dead leaves, but Sam’s love was making Kyg polite and humble, more husband material. He needed to safeguard his tough personality for the throne.
Xeg sighed when Kyg was out of his sight. He rang the bell and the nurse came back. He asked her to get a vial kept in the drawer. The nurse pulled the blue liquid filling the long vial and removed the cover from the syringe. Xeg was ready for his anti-venom.
NOT LONG AFTER KYG had left the destroyed cave, the dwarves came forward climbing over the fallen rocks. They saw Kyg flying off, his powerful wings taking him away from their caves. Their breathing relaxed, and they sighed with relief. Looking back they witnessed Sam sitting on the ground crying his heart out. His shouts went unheard before Kyg’s roar. Two of the dwarves untied Sam, then helped him climb over the rubble littering the cave after the rockfall. Pulling Sam before the waterfall, they made him wash, then sent him back inside.