He chewed them and took several deep breaths before standing again. Circe held his elbow, keeping him steady.
“I’m fine, Circe. I feel much better now. We’d better find a car and some clothes. The coast is a long way from here.”
“How far is it back to the bear cave?” she asked, holding his hand as they walked through the woods.
“At least five miles.”
“They’ll probably give us a car, since we saved their butts back there.”
They walked slowly through the woods, conserving their energy as they went. The early morning light grew brighter as the sun rose in the sky.
Even in the warmth of the sun, Xavier shivered, though he was hot to the touch. Circe feared the worst. He needed more rest and nutrition than he’d been allowed in the last few days. It was taking a great deal out of him, much more than it had taken out of her.
The dragon and human inside him were fighting for dominance of his body and mind. Even though she’d helped bring him back to his humanity, a war still raged inside his body. Circe’s herbs and magic had not yet been enough to heal it.
As the sun rose high into midday, they made it back to the bear cave. Xavier had scorched a massive swath of land around the entrance to the cave, and the bears were busy picking up the pieces of their destroyed gate.
As soon as the bears spied them, cheers went up. Angus came to greet them and help them inside. They furnished Xavier with a new set of clothes similar to the ones he’d torn. The bears then fed Circe and Xavier a big midday meal.
Angus offered Xavier and Circe a pint of their warm homebrewed beer, which they accepted. Circe sipped the bitter ale, enjoying the feeling of relaxation as it slid into her belly.
“You can stay as long as you need,” Angus intoned, ale foam on his curly beard.
“What we really need are supplies,” Xavier said. “A car, weapons, extra clothing, tents, water, food. We are on our way to the coast, and we don’t know how long we’ll be away from civilization.”
“If that’s what you need, that’s what you’ll get,” said the robust bear clan leader. His nose was already red from indulgence in beer. The events of the day had led to a jovial celebration as the clan repaired their cave.
Several shifters were tasked with packing supplies while Angus took Circe and Xavier outside on a short hike to where the cars were parked. He suggested they take a small truck. It got good gas mileage and had a camper they could sleep inside if it rained. The shifters brought out their supplies-everything they needed for a long journey.
Circe thanked the clan and then shook Angus’s hand. Xavier gave the big man a quick hug and patted his broad back. The men exchanged a warm handshake and promises of visiting again with news of the outside world.
Circe insisted on driving, then the clan moved on, and she and Xavier got inside the car. Xavier was far too fatigued and ill to exert himself driving. She pulled out of the clan’s parking lot and handed him a bottle of water, making a mental note to find more nettle root. He needed all his strength for what lay ahead. The dragon lord had come to save the world.
Touched By The Dragon Lord Part 2
Circe pulled a clump of nettles from the soil and dusted off the dirt that still clung to the roots. Xavier lay sleeping in the back of the truck as he had for several hours.
Circe worried about his health. He had taken a turn for the worse after they’d left the bears’ cave. Winding along the narrow back-country highways that lead from the main thoroughfare into the central valley had taken a toll on Xavier, and they had had to stop for him to empty his stomach. Finally, he’d climbed into the camper shell in the back of the truck and had fallen asleep.
They had only made it to the rocky foothills of the Sierra Nevadas by early afternoon, and Circe wanted to find Xavier more medicine before they crossed the arid central valley where they would find none.
She put the herbs into a cloth bag and carried it back through the forest. She stopped briefly to look out at the view below where she had parked the pickup on a highway turnout. Dry air blew up from the valley over yellow, rolling hills.
Opening the tailgate of the truck, she heard Xavier moan and turn over. The camping stove the bears had given them was neatly packed within reach. She grabbed it and quickly assembled it. After pouring water into a small pot, she lit the stove and put the pot of water over the gas flame.
She cleaned the nettle roots in water, removing all the dirt, before slicing them up and placing them in the boiling water. The water slowly turned brown, and the roots softened and lost their shape. She turned off the heat and covered the pot with a lid to allow the roots to steep a bit longer.
Xavier stirred in his sleeping bag, groaning. He sat up, rubbed his handsome face, and then looked around as if in a daze.
“Where are we?” he asked, his voice thick and gravely.
“We’re about thirty miles from entering the central valley, about sixty miles from Sacramento. How are you feeling?”
“Better, I guess.”
“How is the fever?” she asked, climbing into the camper shell to feel his forehead. He was still burning up. She frowned. His illness confounded her. It seemed to be brought on by shifting, but he should have been better at this point.
“I’ve made you a tea of nettle root. It should be stronger than just eating the raw root. The medicinal qualities will get into your bloodstream more easily.”
She poured the cooling brew into a metal camping cup for him, and he slowly sipped the bitter liquid.
“I didn’t think the taste could get any worse, but I was wrong,” he said with a weak smile. His body shivered as he hunched over, clasping the cup in both of his large hands. Circe hated seeing him like this. His wavy blond hair tangled around his chiseled face, which had taken on a bluish pallor. The skin under his eyes appeared sunken and bruised.
He drank the horrible bitter tea and lay back down in one of the all-weather sleeping bags the bears had provided for them. Circe’s heart hurt watching him struggle. He was a big man, over six feet tall, with well-developed musculature, a commanding presence, and piercing blue eyes. To see him laid out, weakened by illness, made her feel utterly vulnerable.
She brushed his hair away from his face and watched his labored breathing. Part of her feared she might be losing him. He wasn’t getting better. For all her effort, all the healing energy she’d given him, all the medicinal herbs she’d offered, he was still getting worse.
The effort it had taken for him to overcome the zombie attack and summon the local dragons had taken a great deal out of him. He’d been able to walk back to the bear cave by sheer force of will, but as soon as they’d rounded the corner, away from the den, he’d nearly passed out.
“How is your stomach?” she asked gently.
“Raw,” he uttered.
“Are you hungry?”
“I couldn’t eat right now.”
Circe sighed helplessly. She’d need to find a better tactic. Maybe a local herb in the valley or along the coast would do the trick. She had to keep hoping. Xavier was meant to heal the dragons of their psychosis and lead them in the battle against the Anu. Without him, the dragons would remain mindless beasts, wreaking havoc on the world.
Without him, Circe would be lost. She wiped his sweaty brow with a damp cloth and gazed down at him. She never would have admitted it to herself if he weren’t so ill, but Circe knew she was becoming attached to him. The aching she felt in her heart for his weakened state and the thought that it could take a turn for the worse made her aware just how important he was to her.
Circe was falling in love. Her breath caught at the realization. She put her hand to his chest, just over his heart, and ran her healing energy into his body. It was amplified by her budding affection and the tumult of awakening love. He had to get better. She needed him more than she’d ever needed another person.
They had only been together a few days, but those few days had been filled with such extreme emotion
that they were equivalent to months or years in a normal setting.
She slid her hands down his body, focusing healing energy into his chakra points and along his meridians. Once she’d covered his entire system, she climbed out of the back of the truck and connected herself to the earth. Bringing herself back to connection with the earth was always important when using healing energy. It prevented her from absorbing illness or phantom injury.
After breaking down the camping stove and saving the rest of the nettle-root tea for later, she closed the tailgate.
“Xavier,” she said in a low voice, “I’m going to start driving again. How do you feel?” He didn’t respond. His heavy breathing signaled deep sleep. She looked down at the rocky ground and said a silent prayer to the universe for her lover. She closed the camper shell and latched it to the tailgate before getting back into the driver’s seat of the small truck.
She opened a sack of food, nibbled a few salty crackers, then leaned through the window between the front and back of the truck to quietly place the crackers where Xavier could find them. Maybe if he woke up, he’d eat something. Settling back in her seat, she took a deep swig of water from her canteen and turned the key in the ignition. She put the pickup into gear and pulled out onto the road.
Chapter 16
The temperature increased as she descended from the foothills into the central valley. She worried about Xavier in the back of the truck. It would be hot inside the metal camper shell. She’d turned on the air conditioning in the cab, but she wasn’t the one who needed it most.
She pulled off the highway along the rolling yellow hills dotted with oak and walnut trees and got out of the truck. She’d passed several towns along the wide highway leading toward Sacramento but hadn’t bothered to explore them. The ever-present threat of zombies made her wary. When she opened the camper shell, she found Xavier sitting up in his sleeping bag, eating the crackers she’d left for him.
His color seemed better; he no longer looked pale. Circe sighed with relief at his improvement and smiled at him. His cobalt-blue eyes sparkled, and he grinned, showing his perfect white teeth.
“Feeling better?” she chirped, pulling down the tailgate.
“Much. That horrible drink did wonders.”
“Hopefully. I am still worried that shifting is making you sicker each time.”
“I think it’s passing. I should be at full health again in no time,” he said confidently.
“Well. Let’s just take this slowly. I don’t want you shifting again until we know you are well.”
“Yes, Mother,” he said, eating another cracker.
She glared at him. The last thing she wanted him to call her was Mother. She would have slapped his shoulder if she hadn’t been worried for his life forty-five minutes ago. Xavier chuckled and wiped crumbs from his stubble.
“How far until we get to Sacramento?”
“We’re about twenty miles away. I don’t know these highways well enough to find a way around, so we’ll have to drive through town.”
“Are you concerned about zombies?”
“Always. I’ve yet to see a city that wasn’t infested.”
“We had wiped out the hive in San Diego. They’ve been much more active lately than they had been.”
“I know Pyramid Corp. is feeding them. It’s giving them energy. Even the isolated populations seem to be on the move. It’s as if they are controlled by some kind of overarching hive mind.”
“Interesting theory,” he said, scooting out of the camper shell to sit on the tailgate. He pulled on his boots, laced them up, and jumped to his feet on the gravelly ground. He took a deep breath and smiled.
“I’m driving.”
“Xavier,” she protested.
“Just give me the keys, lady. I’m tired of playing invalid. Take a break. Eat something. You look sick yourself.” He put his hand on her forehead and frowned. “You’re feverish.”
“It’s just the heat.”
He looked at her skeptically and patted her on the back. “Either way, Circe, I’m driving.” He beamed at her, his eyes shining and his grin wide. Even with his affable demeanor, behind it she could feel his iron will. She relented and handed him the keys.
She climbed into the passenger seat as Xavier hopped in beside her. He started the truck and pulled into the road, accelerating at a furious rate. She’d been driving slowly so as not to jar her sleeping passenger. Xavier had no such concern. Her eyes widened as their speed hit one hundred miles an hour.
The highway was flat, wide, and amazingly clear of cars. It headed straight into the heart of California’s capital city. Circe looked at Xavier with concern in her eyes, and he smiled at her.
“What?” he asked. “No highway patrol. There aren’t even any other cars on the highway, so let’s see what this baby can do.”
She put on her seat belt and gripped the door handle. He laughed as he pushed the truck to its limits. For all the careful authority Xavier had shown back at the compound in San Diego, he could be spontaneous and reckless when relieved of his leadership role.
Like Circe, Xavier was in his mid-thirties, but before the war, he’d been a rock star. He clearly had some of those personality traits. Circe had never been much of a thrill seeker. She was methodical, determined, a planner.
The velocity pinned her to the back of her seat, and the feeling of power running through her body gave her a tingle. She giggled and smiled at Xavier. The stress of post-apocalyptic life didn’t have to pull them down all the time. She could let herself have a little fun once in a while.
They entered the city in record time, plowing down the wide streets like a demon out of hell. Xavier started to sing some heavy metal song and bob his head up and down to his own internal rhythm as he zoomed around the few cars on the road that slowed his furious pace. Circe’s giggle turned into a squeal as they took a turn at a dangerously high speed.
The poor little truck hadn’t been made for street racing, and its body and engine groaned from the exertion. Finally, Circe patted his forearm.
“Don’t you think you should slow down?”
He looked at her for a brief second. In that split second, Circe saw what had come into view in the distance on the wide-open expanse of road and screamed. Xavier slammed on the brakes. In the hot afternoon sun, a troop of zombies scuttled across the highway, led by a being that appeared to be twenty feet tall.
“What is it?” she whispered, as if they could hear her.
“I have no fucking idea. Is that an Anu?”
“I don’t think so. The Anu look more human from what I’ve heard, except with elongated skulls and long fingers.”
The being that led the zombies had spindly, elongated limbs and a similar torso. It had a perfectly round head that sat on top of a slender neck, making it look like the head of a pin. Its hands and feet were tiny in comparison, and it moved in slow strides in front of the zombie horde.
The horde turned all at once, acknowledging Circe and Xavier’s presence. Circe drew in a quick breath. Xavier spun the truck around and headed back in the opposite direction. Circe looked behind them as Xavier sped down the highway.
“We need to get the hell out of this town,” he said through gritted teeth.
“What is that thing?” Circe said again, not expecting an answer.
“Maybe it’s the hive mind you were talking about,” Xavier offered.
Circe sat down in her seat and contemplated his words. That being was not an Anu. Pyramid Corp. was feeding the zombies, and they seemed to act as if guided by an external force. Could there possibly be some kind of zombie master? That thing was not a zombie. Zombies were mutated humans. But it could be their puppet master.
Circe leaned back, confused. The radiation pulse that had turned all the humans on earth into mutant shifters, witches, and dryads had also turned a large portion of the surviving humans into zombies. Yet there was no hive-mind leader for other mutants. Had the Anu intended to create zombies? Had the
y intended to create all the other mutants in the world?
Her mind spun with the implications. She struggled to understand the motivations of the alien mind. None of it made any sense. It was all so sadistic and disrespectful of free will. A normal human mind could not comprehend what appeared to be psychopathic behavior.
Chapter 17
Xavier sped through the city and turned onto a highway going north out of town. They would have to find another route west to the coast. Circe had gone to Stanford for college but had spent little time traveling the byways of the state.
Xavier, however, seemed to know the highways like the back of his hand. He took the road north out of Sacramento and assured her that they would be on course again in no time.
She settled into her seat and ate some venison jerky. She handed a few strips to Xavier. The salty, smoked flavor was a welcome pleasure after the stress of the zombie run-in. Circe chewed a few strips and moved on to the baked crackers and dried apples.
They’d been lucky to run into the bears, even though defending their cave had cost Xavier his health for a time. Circe examined her love, scanning his body with her inner sense. He appeared to be getting his strength back, but she suspected the moment he shifted, he would fall ill again.
They traveled north through Sacramento without further incident. The main highway curved west, and when it turned north again, Xavier pulled off onto a smaller highway headed toward the coast.
They took the long slog through the hot rural farmland of central California. Yellow hills dotted with green oak groves dominated the landscape. Crickets chirped in the dry heat as they zoomed down the two-lane highway.
The road became progressively more rutted, forcing Xavier to slow down. Most of the way had been free of cars stalled along the highway where drivers had died. Circe had seen many highways littered with the cars of the dead, but this part of California was clear of them. Perhaps the population had been advised to stay home, but that hadn’t stopped this rural highway from deteriorating in the years since the war.
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