by Eric Vall
“They don’t hate you, princess,” Nike assured her. “They are just frightened. The Breach has been a blight on Rahma for centuries, and it just keeps growing stronger.”
“Which is why we need to come together now more than ever,” I said with a frown. “I don’t know exactly how I’m going to convince the people of this, but Rodion entrusted me with this mission, and I won’t fail him.”
“Us,” Alyona corrected as she squeezed my hand, “he entrusted us with this task, and we will see it through to the end no matter how difficult the hardship.”
“Exactly,” Nike agreed as he clapped me on the shoulder. Then he broke away from our group and gestured to the second wagon in the caravan line. “I’ll be riding in this one, and I’ll keep an eye on the dryads and other wagons. As the future king and queen, and their royal bodyguard, you three will ride in the first cart.”
“Royal bodyguard, huh?” I asked as I turned to Laika with a smirk. “Talk about a promotion.”
“I have promised to protect Milady with my life,” the wolf replied with a stoic expression. “I do not need a title to tell me my mission.”
“Yeah,” I grinned, “but you gotta admit, it sounds pretty badass.”
A smile twitched across Laika’s mouth, and her tail wagged behind her. “Perhaps.”
“Wait,” I said as a thought occurred to me, and I turned to Nike with a furrowed brow. “Why do we have to ride in the wagon at all? Can’t I just transform into my dragon body, and Alyona and Laika can ride on my back.”
“You do realize we are trying to win over the nobles, yes?” Nike asked with a quirked brow. “Not scare them to death?”
“The country already knows I’m a dragon, though,” I pointed out, “and the lord of a city.”
“Knowing is one thing, but seeing a massive black harbinger of death descending on a city is another thing entirely,” Nike explained. “We want your first impression to be a good one, so we’ll win some favor by cordially entering cities with the proper deference.”
“Fair point,” I laughed. “Okay, so I’ll keep the omen of death thing to a minimum. No problem. I’ll just win people over with my smile.”
I flashed my pearly whites, and Alyona giggled at my side.
“We’ll win over the people yet,” she laughed.
Nike chuckled and clapped me on the shoulder one last time before he went to take up his position in the second wagon, and then I turned to help Alyona and Laika up onto ours.
“Uh, I have a question,” I said as I lifted Alyona onto the wagon’s bench. “Who’s driving this caravan?”
“I’ll be steering this wagon,” Laika responded as she climbed up after the princess and took the horses’ reins.
“And the others?” I asked as I glanced at the line of carts behind us. “Are we really trusting the dryads with driving?”
“Of course not,” Laika snorted. “The other wagons will follow behind us.”
“On their own?” I questioned with a frown.
“Yes, of course,” Alyona giggled beside me.
“But how?” I asked as I settled between the princess and the guild leader.
“You’re forgetting something, Lord Evan,” Laika intoned with a smirk.
“What’s that?”
“Magic,” Alyona laughed before she whispered a spell under her breath.
Then Laika snapped our horses’ reins, and the wagon lurched into motion. I glanced over my shoulder as we started to roll through the city gates, and I watched as the rest of the caravan followed behind us as dutiful as a line of ducklings.
“Have I mentioned how much I love this world?” I sighed as I sat back on the bench with a broad grin.
“Once or twice.” Laika shrugged.
We bumped over the threshold of the city, and the caravan followed behind us. At our backs, a deafening cheer rose into the air to see us off, and between the screams and whistles, I heard a clear chanting of my name.
It was fucking awesome being a dragon lord.
Hatra loomed behind us as we left it behind, and the Crimson Canyons rose up before us as we slowly made our way down the road.
“How long will it take us to go through the canyons?” I asked as I glanced at the morning sun high overhead.
“Should be about a week,” Laika replied while she flicked the reins and kicked the horses up a notch.
I exhaled sharply and puffed my cheeks out. “Well, it’s not as fast as flying, but if this is what needs to be done to win over the people, I’ll do it. I’ll do whatever it takes.”
“Spoken like a true king.” Alyona smiled.
I grinned in return and looked out at the Crimson Canyons that stretched before us.
“Well, Tikal,” I murmured as I thought of the first city on our tour, “here we come.”
Chapter 10
“Halt!”
“You know you don’t have to say ‘halt’ every time you want me to stop, right?” Laika smirked.
“I know, but it’s fun,” I snickered as I started to swing myself out of the wagon.
“How long do you think it will take you this time, my lord?” the wolf Demi-Human asked.
It had been nearly a week since we left Hatra and started to make our way through the Crimson Canyons toward the city of Tikal, and in that time, we thankfully hadn’t encountered any murderous monsters.
I did, however, find lots and lots of buried treasure in the sands. Some of the smaller stuff I left behind for when we returned to Hatra, but for the larger finds, well … I was a dragon, after all. Hoarding was in my nature.
“Hmm,” I cocked my head to the side and zeroed in on the sensation pulsing in my chest, “probably less than half an hour?”
“Perfect,” she replied. “That will give me just enough time to water the horses.”
“We work well together, Laika of the Royal Guard,” I said with a wink.
Laika rolled her gray eyes at me, but I saw a smile flash across her mouth.
“Lord Evan!”
I whirled around just in time to catch Polina as she launched herself at me.
“You’re getting faster,” the dryad giggled while she pressed her body against mine.
“Well, you and your sisters certainly keep me on my toes,” I laughed and set the green woman back back down on her feet.
“We came to see if you were going to find more treasure!” Marina chimed as she rounded the back of the wagon, followed by her sister Trina and Ravi.
“I am,” I said, and then I smirked when I noticed the phoenix and dryads were sporting matching braids and pink flowers in their hair. “I like the new hairstyles, by the way.”
The dryads tittered and nudged Ravi.
“We told you he’d like it,” Trina mock-whispered.
The phoenix’s pale cheeks flared a cherry red, and I had to suppress the desire to pick her up, press her up against the wagon, and have my way with her.
“It’s very pretty, Ravi,” I assured her, “just like you.”
“Stop it, Lord Evan,” she muttered and kicked the ground in embarrassment.
“Never,” I laughed.
“We did the braids,” Polina boasted with a grin, “but Ravi was the one who pointed out the pretty pink cactus flowers as we passed by them! She even changed into her phoenix form to fly out of the wagon, pluck them, and bring them back to us!”
“So, I did see a flare of fire behind us,” I mused and arched my eyebrow at Ravi. “I told you, Alyona.”
“You were right, dear,” the princess giggled from the wagon bench behind me.
“It was just for a minute,” Ravi muttered sheepishly. “I was back in the wagon before the sisters could even miss me.”
“That’s not true,” Polina frowned, “we missed you very much.”
“Well, now that we’re all here,” I laughed, “who wants to come with me to find some buried treasure?”
“Oh, we do, we do!” the dryads cried out in unison, and their arms shot up int
o the air so fast, I was surprised they didn’t come out of their sockets.
“I’d like to come too,” Ravi admitted with a shy smile.
“I think I’ll stay behind with Laika,” Alyona sighed as she fanned herself with her hand. “It’s a little warm out for me.”
“I’ll remain with the wagons too, if you don’t mind, brother,” Nike said as he joined our little group. “I think one of the rear horses has a slight limp, so I wanted to check and make sure it isn’t anything serious.”
“Oh, the poor thing,” Alyona frowned and started to slide down off the wagon bench, “I’ll come help you.”
“I would be honored, princess,” Nike intoned with a bow.
“Okay, well, we should be back in half an hour tops, and if the horse is still limping, I’ll heal him right up,” I told the rest of the group before I glanced at the canyon walls around us. “In the meantime, keep an eye out for each other, and don’t let your guards down.”
“Do you think we’re in any danger?” Laika frowned sharply as her ears flicked atop her head, and her hand went to the broadsword on her hip.
“I don’t think so,” I said, “but we can never be too careful. Just because we haven’t encountered anything weird in the canyons yet doesn’t mean we won’t.”
“Understood.” Laika nodded before her alert gray gaze found the dryads behind me. “Sisters, protect Lord Evan and Princess Ravi. That is an order from your guild leader.”
“Yes, ma’am,” the dryads chirped in unison, and I was surprised to see them give Laika serious salutes.
The façade was ruined, however, when they broke out into giggles.
“We’ll be fine,” I assured the stoic wolf Demi-Human.
“I know,” she sighed, “I can be hard on the dryads, but I trust them implicitly. They are good warriors.”
“Then you have nothing to worry about.” I grinned and kissed Laika on the cheek. “We’ll be back soon.”
“Take care, my love.” Alyona smiled from beside Nike and leaned forward to embrace me.
“You’ll forgive me if I don’t kiss you.” Nike smirked as he held out his arm.
“I’m a little hurt, brother,” I snickered as I clasped his hand, and then I jerked my head at Alyona and Laika. “Keep them safe for me?”
“Why, of course.”
With that, I nodded one last time at my lovers and fellow noble before I turned to Ravi and the dryads.
“Ready?” I asked.
“Yes!” the sisters cheered as they whirled around in circles, and then they took off to the east in a burst of giggles.
“Um … ” Ravi stared after them.
“Just give ‘em a moment,” I laughed, and sure enough, the dryads sheepishly came trudging back to the wagons.
“I think you should lead the way, Lord Evan,” Marina muttered.
“Yeah, we don’t know where we’re going,” Polina admitted with a shrug.
“Well, if you insist,” I teased before I began to head west.
The dryads and Ravi filed in behind me, and we gradually made our way to the western canyon wall.
The Crimson Canyons were far vaster than I’d first thought. I knew they were huge, and I’d flown over them numerous times on my patrols with Valerra and when we’d gone to find Ravi’s tribe. Seeing the canyons from the air, though, was completely different from walking through them.
The red rock native to this region arched up toward the sky at dizzying heights, and sometimes it felt like the canyon walls were going to close in and crash down on top of us. We’d seen very little vegetation on our week long trek from Hatra, and what we did find were dry and prickly plants made for this arid environment.
Thankfully, with how tall the canyon walls were, the heat wasn’t as stifling since the sun was blocked out for most of the early morning and late afternoon, but the middle of the day could be brutal, and we often had to take breaks to rest and water the horses.
During the past week, I’d expected to run into at least one wayward traveler, or several bloodthirsty beasts, but it seemed Valerra’s reputation had preceded us. The canyons echoed emptily around us, and the wind howled past huge, looming boulders as it kicked reddish dirt up into the air.
“How much farther, Lord Evan?” Polina chirped as she skipped up to my side.
“Not much,” I replied as I focused on the yearning sensation that pulled me deeper into the canyons. “Few more minutes maybe.”
“I can’t wait to see what we find,” Trina said while she bounced on her toes.
“I miss adventuring,” Marina sighed before she blinked up at me with big emerald puppy eyes. “Will you take us on more adventures, Lord Evan?”
“Yeah, it’s been so long!” Polina pouted. “Do you remember when we fought those stone giants together?”
“How could I forget?” I smirked. “That’s how we first met.”
“What?” Ravi gasped, and her blue eyes went wide. “You faced stone giants?”
“A pack of them,” I nodded, “it was when I first arrived in this world. I woke up in a cave in the mountains, and then I heard the sounds of fighting. I followed the commotion and found Laika, the dryads, and Anton holding off several giants.”
“We thought we were dead for sure!” Trina cried as she threw her hands up into the air. “And then this giant black dragon comes bursting out of the underground lake, and he takes out all the stone giants single handedly! He reduced them to pebbles!”
“I’m pretty sure I had help,” I chuckled, but the dryads weren’t having it.
“Lord Evan saved us like the hero he is!” Marina swooned and batted her jade eyes at me. “Then he shifted into his human form, and we saw how handsome he is.”
“How very handsome,” Polina agreed with a serious nod.
“Sounds familiar,” Ravi said as she smirked at me.
“What can I say?” I shrugged. “I have a sixth sense for beautiful women who need my help.”
“Yeah, but then he became the Lord of Hatra,” Trina sighed, “and he didn’t have time to play with us anymore.”
“I am very sorry, ladies,” I apologized and tried to keep a straight face. “But I’d like to think I’m making up for it now, right? You have an awesome room to return to when we get back to Hatra, and you’re on a very important quest with me right now. Two quests, actually.”
“Two?” Marina cocked her head at me.
“Well, the campaign is the main quest,” I clarified with a smirk, “and treasure hunting is the side quest. And speaking of which, we’re here.”
“Where?” Polina gasped as she turned in a rapid circle.
“Here.” I pointed to the dirt beneath my feet.
The spot we were standing in didn’t look any different from the rest of the canyon. Red dirt and sand shifted across the ground, and dry grasses poked out of cracks in the earth here and there. Rocks and boulders of various sizes were scattered around us, and some were larger than even my dragon body. I could tell some of the stones had fallen from the lip of the canyon before they crashed into the valley floor, so I kept a cautious eye on the sky while I inspected the spot under my shoes.
“What’s down there?” Ravi asked as she stared at the ground curiously.
“Treasure,” I grinned, “lots and lots of treasure.”
“Lots?” Trina’s green eyes went wide.
“Yup,” I chuckled, “I think with this last find, I’ll have enough gold and jewels to make a whole second dome for the Lunar Palace.”
“Well, what are we waiting for?” Polina gasped and bounced on her toes in anticipation.
“Hold your horses,” I laughed.
“But Laika has the horses,” Marina pointed out with a frown.
“I mean be patient,” I teased, “and stand back a bit with Ravi over there. I’m going to shift into my dragon form and start digging.”
“Oh, yay!” the dryads giggled and clapped in unison.
“You are very handsome in your dra
gon body,” Trina told me with a serious nod.
“Very handsome,” Marina echoed.
“Sometimes, we wonder how big your cock must b--”
“Alright!” I cut Polina off and cleared my throat. Then I gestured for them to move back. “Ladies, if you will?”
“Yes, Lord Evan,” they giggled in tandem and did as they were told.
I shook my head at their antics, and then I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. The transition into my dragon form was as seamless as blinking now, and when I opened my eyes a moment later, I towered over the three dryads and the one phoenix.
“Okay, here goes,” I growled as I reached into my spiritual sea.
“Wait!” Trina cried out. “Lord Evan, we can help you!”
“What?” I bent my long neck down so I was level with the dryads. “What do you mean?”
“I think we’re almost to the end of the canyons,” Trina replied.
“Why do you say that?” Ravi questioned with a frown.
“And why does that mean you can help?” I followed up.
“Oh!” Marina suddenly gasped as she turned to Trina. “You are very smart, sister.”
“Yes, I just noticed it, too!” Polina grinned.
“Could you three explain to me what you’re talking about?” I sighed.
“We must be near the end of the canyons because we can feel so many roots now!” Trina clarified as she spun in a circle. “And we can help you dig up the treasure with roots!”
“Oh, yes, please let us help you, Lord Evan,” Marina begged as she clasped her hands under her chin.
“Sure,” I laughed, “it’ll save me some energy. Have at it.”
“Yay!” the dryads cheered and hugged each other.
“Now, you are the one who needs to stand back, Lord Evan,” Polina giggled.
“As you command,” I teased and bowed my head. Then I shifted around to stand beside Ravi. “The treasure is right where I was standing, probably about a hundred feet deep.”
“Got it.” Trina nodded before she corralled her sisters and had a hushed conversation.
“They seem very excited,” Ravi noted as she leaned against my massive scaled foreleg.