We wait, and the minutes start to drag by. We haven't even reached the Asian World yet, and we’re already facing problems. Jorgen’s heartbeat is unsteady as tension starts to rise.
I think about my parents, and about that one member of my family who forced my aunt and uncle to take care of me. I still don't know why Ruscal murdered my parents or why he so desperately wants to kill me. Even if I am the last Wyvern, that doesn't change anything.
I manage to release some energy to cover mine and Jorgen’s scent with the smell of herbs and spices. The shifters shouldn't even be sensing us, I took care of protective spells earlier on. The voices are closer now and I'm still too weak to fight.
Someone must have been waiting for us, or saw my dragon in the sky. More time drags by, and a steady stream of heat rushes throughout my body. I'm suddenly feeling very aroused and don’t know what to do with myself. Jorgen’s touch is too much to bear right now. I shut my eyes, counting, doing anything that can help to distract me from being an emotional, hormonal wreck.
This just couldn’t have happened at a worse time.
"All right, I think they’re gone now," Jorgen says after some time. I’m listening in, realising that he’s right. I can finally breathe steadily, feeling relieved that my spells are holding up. "We should stay here and sleep for a bit, then leave in the morning. Neither of us factored in your exhaustion. We should have taken a few more breaks."
Jorgen’s right. We should’ve made more frequent stops. We hear another round of thunder and lightning breaking through the sky outside the cave and then the noise follows. We would’ve been completely screwed if they discovered that we were inside the cave.
"That's a good idea, I'm still pretty tired."
"It’ll be warmer if we sleep together," he suggests in much softer tone, however my mind is already projecting what might happen if we spoon together somewhere in this cave.
"I'll be in heat season, Jorgen and I can barely stand when you're touching me. We can't risk it. It's mortifying that I can't even control myself right now," I mumble, rubbing my deformed cheek. I don't want to wake up on top of him in the morning not remembering a thing. It's bad enough that I have no idea what to expect.
"I barely remember going through heat myself. All my memories are hazy," he says and I bite my tongue, I really want to ask him about it.
We don't talk about it anymore and I start the fire again. Jorgen makes me a small bed and when I lie down, I sense him moving around the cave. At some point he lays down too, and then falls asleep. I can hear him snoring, trying somehow to bring my body temperature down and think about something other than his sculptured body. For the next hour, I fight with my arousal, eventually drifting away.
The next morning, I'm freezing cold and my teeth are chattering. The good thing is, that my energy’s back and my inner beast is demanding to be unleashed again. I shake Jorgen and shortly after that, he gets up too. He sparks up another fire and then we eat a small meal. Once we get outside the cave, I feel a little warmer.
"Stunning," Jorgen mutters, looking around the empty green field and the blissful sunny morning. The sky is clear blue now, and there’s no sign of the storm from last night. We both look at the beautiful fields that stretch for miles and miles. "I never realised that this part of the Eastern World could be so beautiful."
Then he leans over and kisses my forehead. It's an innocent sign of affection that turns my body into a puddle of mush. Masses of purple flowers can be seen in the distance and the landscape is breathtaking as the morning sun slowly rises. We must be far away from any human or shifter populated area.
"We should get going. The shifters from the Rivendale Clan might come back," I say, hating to be a party pooper. Being alone with Jorgen feels so right, but we have a job to do. We can't afford to waste time and we’re still in the Eastern World.
We leave the cave, and head towards the higher point in the valley. My transformation into a Wyvern is less painful this morning. Jorgen climbs back on top of me several minutes later and then we both rise up into the sky. Soon after, we start passing a few villages and small towns. Humans in this part of the world coexist with shifters, but we can't afford to stop again. We have several hours before we reach the Asian World.
The weather is perfect today as my dragon circulates above the beautiful valleys for a bit, before flying southeast again. We pass other cites, finally seeing the landscape starting to change, and the temperature begins to drop.
Around six hours later, I touch down at the edge of the forest, nearby a small village, finally crossing over into the Asian World borders. The land is much drier in this part of the world, and in the distance, we see snowy mountain caps, hidden within the misty clouds.
The ground is filled with rocks, and mostly dry soil.
Once I shift back into my human form, my legs and hands are trembling. Jorgen’s watching me from the distance. I sit down, and take a few deep breaths of fresh air until my heart stops jackhammering in my chest. This is the downside of turning into a dragon; I feel like death afterwards and have no energy to do anything for several hours.
The climate in the Asian World is harsher, and I suspect that we arrived in the middle of winter season.
"We should hide in the forest, we’re too exposed out here," Jorgen shouts, jogging towards me.
Then he helps me to stand back on my feet. I can barely walk, but I know he’s right. Anyone could notice us from the distance.
We reach a small forest, and once I'm sitting down again my body starts to absorb the energy from around me, mainly soil and trees. I ask Jorgen to look for red potion bottles and pass them to me. Emilia gave me several energy boosting liquids that should be able to put back together faster than normal. I drink several at once, feeling my energy slowly coming back to me. Sweat keeps dripping down my face, and my muscles are still aching badly.
Now, we just have to wait here until I’m able to fight again. Thanks to Emilia’s potions, I should be back to normal within half an hour. We also need to let her know that we arrived safely, so she won’t worry.
"Before I left, Emilia gifted me a magical object in order to communicate with us. It's called an upside down mirror," I say, and take the old dusty box out of my rucksack. Jorgen studies me for a moment, and then sits next to me. His body always feels so warm.
"Wow, I've heard about it, but never thought it actually existed. It's a powerful object and I shouldn't be surprised that Emilia has one. She's an incredible witch," he says, looking at the box.
I open it and unwrap the object slowly. Inside, there’s just an old silver mirror and it doesn't look special in any way. Tingling starts in my fingers and then moves slowly down my spine. Jorgen seems mesmerised by the mirror, even if he can't sense its magic.
"Did she explain what you’re supposed to do with it?" he asks, then glances around just to be sure that we’re alone. My senses register humans, and I find it hard to figure how much time we have before they reach us. Something or someone is blocking my energy. Then I don't sense anyone at all, so I think that maybe it was just a false alarm. We’re truly in the middle of nowhere, far away from any human villages.
"Yes, I’m supposed to think about her and then we can make a connection," I explain, staring at my own reflection. I look tired, and have dark circles under my eyes.
For a brief moment, I wonder how we’re going to locate the druid. We need someone who can take us to him. Humans and shifters have been hunting these dragons for over a decade, even before the Great War started. Because of that, none of them survived, so this is a huge deal for me, being able to see a real dragon.
I try to concentrate on Emilia, but it's hard when Jorgen’s so close to me. I imagine her in the shop, while she’s introducing some handsome shifter to her next female client or brewing her love potions.
"Unbelievable," I hear Jorgen whisper and then see my own reflection fade away as Emilia’s appears.
"Hello my lovelies, I hope everythin
g is okay with you two?" she asks. It seems that she must be in her shop, I recognise the background.
"Yes, we just wanted to let you know that everything’s all right and we made it safely to the Asian World," I say, thinking that isn't entirely true, but I don't want her to worry about us. "In case you were worried."
"I won't keep you then, I appreciate that you got in touch. My lord, as far as I know, no one in the city suspects that the two of you have left. I hope that both of you return before the rumours have a chance to spread," she adds, with a smile.
"Great, we’re going to head to the nearest village to find out if anyone has heard about the druid. We should be in touch again tomorrow," I tell her.
"Good luck and my lord, make sure you take care of our Astri," Emilia says and winks at me.
Moments later, her face is replaced by my own. Jorgen laughs, easing the tension and I feel a little less anxious. We’ve been gone a maximum of one day, so it's too soon for anyone to realise what’s going on. From now on, we just need to make sure that we stick to our plan and everything should be all right.
"I'll be back in a sec, nature calls. We should head to the nearest town first. Maybe someone there can point us towards Kimsu valley," Jorgen suggests, getting up. I nod, glad that he’s giving me some space.
The heat’s back, scorching my skin and instantly raising my blood pressure. I watch Jorgen as he disappears into the forest, leaving me alone. Lenin’s probably with Jetli now, telling her about his day. Tom and even Alex mentioned that humans from parts of the Asian World don't consider shifters as their equal, so we need to keep our eyes and ears open. The druid must want something that we have; the mirror is powerful, but would he accept it in exchange for venom?
I try to look for more bread, when my senses suddenly register several humans nearby. It's strange, but it seems that they only just appeared, even if I briefly sensed them earlier. My energy’s slowly returning and I stand up, hoping that Jorgen won't be long. He has his sword with him, and he knows how to defend himself.
For some reason, the niggling feeling inside of me isn't going away. How long does it take to relieve himself?
Lenin would always find a silver lining in a situation like that, mostly by cracking an inappropriate or silly joke. I wait a few more minutes, but Jorgen still hasn’t returned.
Then suddenly I hear roars, then other noses. I'm not quite ready to run around the forest, but I pick up my knives and head towards the direction where Jorgen went. My breathing is laboured, and sweat surges down my face. I still feel a little drained, and five minutes later I'm forced to stop.
Moments later, I see at least fifteen humans further down, and they’re all surrounding Jorgen. Two men are on the ground, one is bleeding and the other looks dead. All of the humans look like Asian warriors, dressed in black kimonos.
The Duke has his sword out, and he’s moving in a circle, breathing hard. His arm is bleeding, and I know that he doesn't stand a chance, fighting all the warriors at once. They all have typical Asian features, slanted eyes, and dark hair.
"I mean you no harm. I was only trying to defend myself when they attacked me. I'm the Duke from the city of Rivenna," he shouts, and my heart shudders in my chest. It looks like those men don't care who he is, and I don't understand why I didn’t sense them sooner. My potions might just do more harm than good, and I can't shift now, not after travelling for hours.
"You're one of them, the shifters, and around here we hang traitors like you. General Ming will reward us kindly for bringing him such a prize," one of the men says, taking a step towards him. He has a long, white Asian sword in his hand, wearing a black kimono, with red markings. There’s something wrong with my energy, and I was certain that we were miles away from any human populated area. Where did those warriors come from?
Jorgen wipes the sweat from his forehead, moving his eyes around, hesitating. He knows that he can't fight them all.
"They attacked me first," he shouts back.
"You entered human territory, shifter, and you killed two of my men, die now or come with us. The choice is yours," the same man shouts.
I try to think of something, anything, but I'm too weak to help him. Jorgen looks towards the forest with desperation, but he can't see me, then he drops his sword. Moments later, two other humans grab him and push him to the ground.
Panic slides into my gut as I watch how they quickly tie him up. This wasn't supposed to happen and it's my fault that I let him get captured. What the hell am I supposed to do now?
I’ve let him down once before, and because of me he’s not a mage anymore. Seconds later, he’s lifted back to his feet and the man in charge shouts at his men to start moving.
I concentrate and use my invisibility spell, knowing that this way I can follow them without being seen.
"Welcome to the Asian World shifter scum, this is where you’ll die and be buried. Forever!"
Chapter Seven
Another Wyvern.
Two Asian warriors keep pushing Jorgen telling him to hurry up, and he trips a few times, falling on the ground. They all laugh at him and I want to treat them with my fire magic, remembering well enough when all the kids at school laughed at my deformed face. He’s injured, but his arm isn’t infected as far as I can tell.
I squeeze my hand over my rucksack, knowing that it's not wise to attack now. There’s just too many of them and I haven't brought enough arrows with me.
My energy’s back, but I can't shift yet, so scaring them with my beast isn't an option either. I follow them over the hill as they enter a beautiful, widespread valley, situated right underneath the Surenu Mountains. The temperature drops down again, and I shiver with cold chills, wearing only a light leather jacket and t-shirt. The warriors keep singing a song in a language that I don't recognise, now climbing, and heading higher up the mountain.
The ground’s covered with mostly rocks, and a harsh wind starts blowing from the north, as my breathing becomes laboured. The warriors are walking at quite a pace and I'm having trouble keeping up with them. Dark clouds slowly begin gathering overhead, and the higher I climb, it's becoming more difficult to breathe. I walk a few meters away from them, seeing that Jorgen keeps glancing behind, probably wondering what's happened to me.
I spot a few goats jumping up and down, trying to blend into the background when the warriors pass through. Several minutes later as I move higher up, I notice that there’s some kind of temple built on the edge of the mountain. There’s more people here; more humans walking down, and wooden type houses, all suspended along the rocky mountainside.
All shifters in the Asian world have their own God's that they believe in, but in this small village, magic seems completely absent. Most of the people that I see are humans, not shifters. Soon enough the group of warriors enter this little town hidden within the mountain. I keep passing human women, men and children along the way. Some of them are pointing at Jorgen, others laugh and whisper to each other.
Most of them are wearing kimonos in various colours, and women have large baskets attached to their backs, many carrying children in them, others food and water. I need to figure out a plan of action; General Ming, whoever he is, won't let him go. Jorgen killed two of his men and it won't matter that it was in self-defense. According to the warriors, Jorgen’s a shifter who illegally entered their territory. I’m not sure why they believe that, considering his dragon and magic is gone.
I glance down, feeling a little dizzy when I realise how high up I am. The view is mesmerising, stretching over the entire valley. For a split second, I forget about why I'm here, but then I spot a man who keeps glancing up towards me, climbing towards the village too. There’s something different about him, he just doesn't look like one of the local people. His emotions are reaching inside of me, connecting and entwining with my Wyvern energy. This has never happened to me before, but then I remind myself that I shouldn't be worrying about some stranger, Jorgen needs me right now.
The
warriors and their leader, stop in front of the entrance to the temple. There are two flags with strange shapes and symbols waving over this little town. It seems like I’ve seen these symbols somewhere before, but I’m not sure I remember where.
A lot of humans stop, then bow and greet the warriors. Some spit on Jorgen, who stands silently waiting to see what might happen to him next. I pass the stands with food, drinks and strange-looking figurines being sold on the side of the road. More and more people start to gather at the temple, pointing toward the sky then at the duke. The whole temple is impressive, built with a low red slated roof, and several towers. There are marble gargoyle statues sitting calmly on each pillar, looking very much like deformed dragons.
Tension bleeds through the crowd and everyone seems to be waiting for something. Moments later, the leader walks up to the door and pounds a few times, probably letting the guard outside know that they need to enter. A nervous tremor crawls over my spine. I'm running out of time, but I can't remove my invisibility spell right now, I might cause a panic and that won't do any good for Jorgen. The giant doors begin to open, and I move closer, trying to be careful not to bump into anyone. He has two warriors standing too close to him, and there’s no way that I can get anywhere near enough to pass him a message.
After running out of ideas, I decide to hide in one of the outbuildings near the temple. I push through the door, hoping to wait until evening and then try sneaking inside once there are less people around.
I release my invisibility spell and wait until my blazing fire is completely restored. After what happened with Ruscal and then Pollock, I’m too anxious to even try using my fire magic. It's only been an hour since we touched down, and we haven't even located the druid. This is all going horribly wrong already.
The warriors are walking through the gate now, and one of them kicks Jorgen when he doesn't move. He falls down, and I'm ready to forget about my plan. I pull out my knife, ready to leave my hiding place, use the fire magic and teach those bullies a lesson. Blood starts pounding in my ears, as potent anger flushes through me. Then, I feel a strange presence and suddenly someone grabs me from behind when I approach the door. A giant hand slams over my mouth and I start kicking my legs, trying to get away from whoever’s holding me.
Wyvern's Passion (Mage Chronicles Book 3) Page 5