by Maia Starr
“Amelia, we are going to stay out on the beach as late as we can. Others are going to build a fire, and we are going to drink the Hiwa and have a good time. Please say that you will stay,” Brenda said.
“Yes, say that you will stay and have some fun. You have had a scowl on your face for the last two days,” Stephanie said.
“No, thank you. It is nice of you to want me to have a good time, but I am very tired. I am going to make my way back home. You two have fun,” I said to them. They groaned at me as I left. I walked through the pass headed to the tree staircase that would take me up into the tree canopy. As I walked, I heard hushed whispers. Then I heard my name.
“Yes, Amelia Sanders. She is a human female with red hair, very small. I want you to get rid of her. Take her back with you, or kill her. I do not care. You decide. Just make sure that it is done within the next few days,” Talia said.
I put my hand over my mouth to stop me from shouting at her. I could not see her, but I recognized her voice now. I could not see who she was speaking to. I was scared to move because I did not want to step on a twig and create a noise. She already wanted to kill me. If she found me alone like this in the bush, she would just do it now.
“It will be done,” the deep voice said. I did not recognize it. My heart was beating so fast I thought that they could hear it. I was holding my breath so that I would not breathe too loud. I did not know if they could sense my presence. I was so scared.
“Good. Tell no one of this conversation, or that you even know me,” Talia said before she turned and walked away.
I waited until the coast was clear and then ran all the way back to the beach where I joined Brenda and Stephanie. They rejoiced in my return, and I had to pretend like everything was okay. I needed to gather my thoughts and figure out what to do. I was going to have to tell Ravinn. He was the only one that could stop her.
CHAPTER EIGHT
RAVINN KEED
I was completely pissed off. Where did Ephane get off kissing Amelia? I could still see it now. I had walked out of the communal kitchen towards the beach. I was making my way back to my home when I saw Ephane and Amelia standing in the water. He was showing her how to cast a fishing net. Then out of nowhere, he kissed her. The bastard! At that moment, I wanted to shift into dragon form and fly over him. I would pick him up and toss him across the ocean. I was so filled with rage when I saw it. I could only take a second of watching it before I turned my back to it and walked down the path. That was a day ago. Yet, I was still in a rage about it. I hoped for his sake that I did not cross paths with Ephane.
It has been a couple of days since I had been with Amelia, inside of her. Yet it was constantly on my mind, as though it had just happened. I could not remove her from my nighttime vision. It was very irritating.
I kept myself busy, and as I walked toward the port to check on a ship, I heard a familiar voice.
“Ravinn! Ravinn, there you are; I have been looking for you everywhere,” Amelia said as she ran after me down the thick jungle pass.
“Why? There is nothing for us to say between the two of us,” I said to her. Then I whispered very low, “I told you it is a secret. Never speak of it again.”
“What? No, not that you idiot. This has nothing to do with that… well, sort of,” she said.
“Then what?” I said, very angry with her. I knew that it was because she had kissed Ephane. I wondered what else they had done. Did she let him do what I did to her? My rage boiled as I thought about it.
“It is Talia,” she said.
“What about her?” I said, even angrier as she said the name. “You did not tell her, did you?”
“No. I did not. Yet, she is trying to kill me,” she said hysterically.
“What do you mean? You are not making sense,” I said to her.
“I overheard Talia asking someone to get rid of me. She wants me dead,” she said to me.
“Saying this to whom?” I asked her, not believing her. I knew that Talia was too kind hearted to even think of such a thing. She would not even hurt a bug. She was pure of heart, and that was why I loved her so much. So that meant that Amelia was lying for some stupid reason. She was probably wanting to destroy Talia so that she could have me to herself. I should have never slept with her.
“I do not know. I did not see his face. His voice was very deep, deeper than any I have ever heard. But she wants me dead, and it is because of what Ephane told her,” she said.
“What?!” I roared at her.
“Don't be mad. I didn't realize that this was a secret,” she said to me.
“I am trying not to be mad, but it is too late. Now tell me what has happened,” I said as I grabbed her shoulders and pulled her to me.
“I had to tell Ephane that I had been assigned to be your wife. He wants me. He wants me to be his wife. I had to tell him that I had already been assigned in order to stop him from thinking that. I didn't realize that Talia did not know. Your father set it up, and I figured in time everybody would know anyway, including her. But then I saw Ephane telling her.”
“Fuck!” I said as I realize that Ephane told Talia on purpose. This was a big mess.
“Yes, exactly. And now that she knows, she wants to get rid of me. I am in danger; don't you see? Your crazy girlfriend is a psycho!”
“Do not say that of her. You are overreacting. If she does know, she is just heartbroken. I must go find her. I must reassure her that I love her and that you mean nothing,” I said as I pushed her away from me and shifted into dragon form. I flew straight up into the trees. I searched the living quarters of Talia, but she was not there. I searched the entire island for her. But as I was searching, I saw him; I saw Ephane.
“Ephane!” I shouted as I landed in the sand in front of him. He was by the freshwater tank system of the island.
“Ravinn. Good to see you as always,” he said with a grin.
“What the hell have you done, you idiot Draqua?!” I said, pushing on his chest. He took a few steps backward.
"I do not know what you mean,” he said in a very condescending way.
“I think you do. Why did you tell Talia that I had been promised to a human female? She did not know. I was going to fix it,” I said to him.
“I was only telling her the truth. She deserved to know, just like I deserved to know before I spent all my time with Amelia trying to get her to marry me.”
“Oh, I see. You told Talia simply because you were angry that you got rejected,” I said, laughing at him.
He did not like this. The smile on his face faded. He growled. Then he ran straight at me. His shoulder dug into my belly. He pushed me back, catching me off guard. I fell onto my back. We rolled in the grass. He punched me in the ribs. I punched him in the jaw. We went rolling across the grass, into the sand, and then into the water. I did not realize just how much rage Ephane had bottled up. He must really hate me, I thought as he put his hands around my neck and strangled me. He pushed me under the water, holding me down. We Draqua could hold our breath for a very long time, but not forever. He was trying to drown me. I kicked him and pushed him off of me. We fought in the sand.
“What is going on here?! Break it up!” Four warriors ran toward us and pulled us off of each other. Ephane sneered at me.
“You have always gotten everything that I wanted! Ever since we were young hybrids. You got everything, and I got the second. I am sick of it!” he shouted. Then he stomped off.
“Everything okay here?” one warrior asked.
“Yes, fine. I am fine. Thank you,” I said as I flew away. I had to find Tallia. I had to fix things with her.
I found her sitting on the beach alone on the far side of the island. She was crying.
“Talia…” I said as I landed next to her and walked to her.
"Don't come near me, Ravinn,” she said in anger.
“I am sorry, Talia. I was going to tell you that my father was forcing me to marry a human, but I did not think it was necessary
because I am not going to do it. You know my father. You know how he is. This was just him trying to get his way. But I told him no. It is only his orders. I will defy them for as long as it takes,” I said sitting next to her.
“You lied,” she screamed at me.
“I had to. I did not really lie; I just did not tell you my latest conversation with my father and his schemes. I did not want to alarm you any more than you needed to be. That is all,” I said to her.
She narrowed her eyes at me in hate. “Even now you still lie!”
“No, I do not,” I said to her.
“Yes, you do! You told me you went to an island on a mission alone. But now I have heard that you were with the human female Amelia! She was with you! Your father forced you to take her with you. Why did you not tell me this? What happened while you were there? You cannot tell me that you did not mate with her!” she shouted at me between tears.
I was in shock. How did she know such a thing? Amelia must've told somebody. After she promised me that she would not. She promised to keep it a secret, and she had betrayed me. I looked at Talia with sorrow in my eyes.
“I knew it! It is the truth isn't it?” she said.
“It is. I am sorry. I lost myself in the moment. It is no excuse. You have every right to hate me. I am not worthy of your love,” I said to her.
“Do not apologise. That is not what I want!” she screamed at me as she stood up.
“Then what is it that you want, if not my apology and admitting that I was wrong?” I said to her.
“I want you to fix this. I want you to make it like it was before. I want you to go to your father and to tell him that you will not marry the human, no matter what. I want you to tell him that you and I are going to marry once and for all and there is not a damn thing that he can do to stop us!” she said as she stomped in the sand away from me.
Her anger and hurt stabbed me with pain right in my gut. I had to fix this. I had to make this right. Yet a part of me felt some relief that she knew. It was a weight that I had been carrying for days. I knew that she would never get over it and that it was over between us. But I had to try for her sake. I spread my wings out far and then took off into the air. I flew to my father’s home. I landed on the veranda and walked in.
“Father! Father, where are you!” I shouted as I walked into every room. He was not in his living quarters. I opened the door and went to find one of his posted guards.
“I am looking for my father. Do you know where he is?” I asked.
“Yes, he is at the port. He is overseeing a merchant trade to be shipped to Tiok. You will find him there,” he said.
“Thank you,” I said as I ran and jumped off the bridge and flew to the busy port. There was a lot of activity, and I finally found him looking over some information.
“Father,” I said as I walk to him.
“Son, what can I do for you? I am very busy here,” he said as he handed the information off to another warrior, who nodded to him and then walked away.
“I have to speak with you it is very very important,” I said.
“I am listening. You have my attention,” he said.
“I have come to tell you that I am going to marry Talia once and for all. If you do not allow it, then I am going to do it without you. I do not care if I have to run away with her to live on Tiok. I will do what I have to do,” I said, making my stand.
“So being with the human female overnight did not change your mind?” he asked.
"It did not,” I said to him.
“But yet you mated with her?” he asked quietly, looking around to make sure that no one hurt us.
“I did, but that is none of your business. It is no one's business. Talia found out about it, and she is very hurt. I'm going to fix things with her, and I am going to marry her,” I said in anger.
“But what if she is already with child? Have you thought of that yet? The human female is not like Talia. The human female is fertile,” he said.
The moment he said it, I remembered releasing inside of Amelia. I was so caught up in the fact that I had betrayed Talia that I did not give it another thought. But he was right. It was possible that Amelia was already carrying my child. I could not abandon my child.
“Callisto! I saw it! It took her!” a warrior said as he came running. It was the same warrior that my father had handed the information to only seconds before. The warrior was very panicked.
“What is it?” my father said.
“It took her. It took a human female. She was screaming for it to let her go!”
“What took her?” I asked.
“It was a dragon. It was a red dragon, an opposition elder,” the warrior said.
“What did the female look like?” I asked, already knowing the answer. I felt it in my gut.
“I could not see her. But I did notice her long red hair, like fire,” he said.
“Amelia,” I said, looking at my father. My father went into warrior mode. Hearing that his possible grandchild had been taken, if Amelia was pregnant, threw him into action.
“Then you know exactly where they are taking her,” my father said.
“Yes, I will go now,” I said, knowing that only my father and I knew about the opposition base camp on the island that he had sent me to. I was ready to take off.
“No! You are not going alone! Come with me now to the king. We will rally forces in a matter of minutes and go after her together,” he said as he took off straight into the air. I followed him. Together, we flew recklessly through the trees, almost hitting the tree trunks. It was then that I knew that I was more like my father than I ever wanted to admit.
Together, we landed on the veranda outside the Kings living quarters.
“We must see the king; it is of the utmost importance! The opposition is here!” my father shouted to the warrior stationed outside the door. He nodded and disappeared into the Kings quarters. Then he came out and let us in.
“Callisto? What is this all about? You have news of the opposition?” the king asked my father.
“She has been taken! The human female Amelia has just been taken by a red dragon! We must go after her. We must go to the base camp I told you about,” I said to the king. I could not wait for my father to answer him. I was in a crazy rage knowing that Amelia had been taken. I did care for her even though I did not want to admit it to myself. But now, realizing that she probably carried my offspring, I felt a deeper connection to her than I ever did before. My father had been right. I did want to produce offspring. Just thinking that one would soon to be born in my likeness and shared my own blood created a different feeling of joy inside of me than I had ever felt in my entire life.
“What my son means to say, King, is that the human female that you assigned him to and that he has already mated with has been taken. He has a mind to go after her alone. I have a mind to let him, but I stopped him and told him that we must see you first. What should we do, King?” my father asked, being the logical one.
“Gather forces. My scouts have returned with the information and the numbers on the island. We will send double the amount. Let us go meet at the training grounds,” the king said. Then he looked at his card and said, “Go ahead of me and gather a force of 200 of the best and have them ready for me; I am only five minutes behind you,” he said.
The warrior nodded and took off running and flew at a high speed in the direction of the barracks.
I was glad that I was not going to have to take on the entire opposition myself. But waiting five minutes was excruciating. But as I waited, I had time to think. She was right. Amelia was right. She had overheard Talia saying that she wanted Amelia gone; now Amelia was gone. This could not just be a simple coincidence. There was no way. My sweet Talia that I thought of as a kind heart and pure soul was actually a very vindictive, envious, and dangerous Draqua female. She was willing to take the life of another simply for her own happiness. That was wrong. That was very very wrong. I realized how awful it was that
the Draqua female that I loved had put into action the possible death of my unborn child.
“Let's fly!” the king said as he shifted. He ran and jumped off the veranda, and my father and I followed him. We were a force to be reckoned with.
CHAPTER NINE
AMELIA SANDERS
I was so angry that I could barely see straight. How dare Ravinn accuse me of lying about Talia? He wouldn't even listen to me. He was the only one that could talk her out of whatever the hell she was doing, and he wouldn't even take me seriously. I had to admit that it really bothered me. Not just because Talia was a danger, but because I did not like the fact of Ravinn seeing me in that way. I did not like thinking that he thought I would lie about such a thing just for attention. That was what really, really bothered me. I did not want to admit that to myself, but I knew that was what it was.