She laughed, “Kadd, didn’t you hear me? I’m having Naga issues as well. I don’t need to take on any more.”
“Well we all know Kalara’s busy.” Kadd said emphatically.
The Acamas were quiet in thought.
‘What did Kadd mean by that?’ Kalara wondered, but more than that she couldn’t believe she had mated with him. Who was her mate? Had Ravanan been lying about everything?
Kadd went back to his point. “Oh, and then also in Nikhadelos Dialo, you know that little area the cattle call “North Korea”?”
Tristan roused at the name “So, what is going on there?”
“Their old leader died and the son took over. Things have gotten pretty delicate and the dragons can’t agree on who is doing what. There is great opportunity to eat at leisure but at the same time everything could bust wide open.”
Tristan had heard enough “I’ll care for North Korea, don’t concern yourself with it any longer. The dragons in that area owe me, especially Jung and Mortiff. Leave it at that. But before I help I’m taking Tamtoc to Viptryx with me. He’ll be safe enough, my lands are less dangerous. And then when I think he can be left alone to do Acama work I’ll go handle that crisis for you.”
Kadd looked away but didn’t argue.
“Alright. Is there anything else?” Tristan looked around. “OK then, why don’t you two go get your son” he nodded to Kalara and Kadd, “while Morada and I prepare the rite.”
“Fine.” Kadd stood up, ready to go then paused “Where are we meeting up? You know Vya Matros has become too crowded since we did the rite.”
“Well, the end destination is my lair so how about there?” Tristan offered.
They all agreed while Kalara kept silent and nodded.
Tristan and Morada left the lair by anchor.
Kadd turned to Kalara who was still sitting down. “Are you ready?”
“No.” She wasn’t going anywhere except away from him.
“Why?”
“Because you don’t need me for this and I’ve got to get back.”
“Right.” Kadd thought she was joking. “Let’s get this over with.”
“OK.” She snapped then stood up. Kalara’s control of blocking her thoughts was straining with fatigue. It had been a long unexpected day and she had no more ideas on how to escape. She waited for Kadd to make the first move. All she could do was mimic and not ask any questions. At least she was with someone who knew who she was; Kalara tried to keep focused on that. Isn’t this what she’d been wanting for so long?
But dying because she was a half-breed was what she wanted to avoid and Kalara feared that the longer she stayed she’d accidentally make it happen.
Kadd walked around the dais until he found his anchor and opened it for them. Kalara watched the dark red runes appear and then they stepped onto them. Their lightning balls sped along to the next anchor. Kadd wasted no time in taking them through all the anchors until at last they stopped.
It was still dark and dawn was hours away. The moonlight on the countryside told Kalara they were in a grassland with only a few sparse trees. The horizon looked like table top mesas and there were lights from a few small towns. But for the most part they were in the middle of nowhere.
Kadd walked over to a gap in the rocky ground where he stopped and turned to Kalara, smiling. “You did it! He’s finally gone.” then he caught her off guard with a hug. Kalara didn’t know what to think so she hugged him back, hoping she was doing what her old self would have done.
“I know we gotta get Tamtoc but I just had to pause for a moment now that we’re alone. So Ravanan accepted it without argument?”
Kalara wondered what was going on. She kept hugging him while thinking of an answer. “Well what could he say?”
“I know.... right?” Kadd commented. He released her and took in the full sight of her. “I’m glad he took it well. He had to admit it was practically over anyway.”
Kalara’s skin was blushing from his stare.
“That robe is nearly in chaos. You do look incredible though. Are you trying to enchant me with it? Because it’s working – not that you need any help.” He winked and wrapped his arms around her waist.
By now she had a pretty good idea what her old self would be doing at the moment and struggled to quickly decide if she should do the same.
She smiled and followed her gut.
In between fervent kisses he got the words out “You’re OK with doing this here?”
“What do you have in mind? She asked.
Kadd moved down, kissing her neck. “Its fine with me but I thought you may want our first time to be somewhere special or at least go to the overlook at Palmeiras.” he nodded towards the mesas.
That jolted Kalara. How could they have a son together if this was their ‘first time’?
He noticed her pause and she answered quickly to cover it up “I do! I do. Let’s wait.”
“Wait?!?” Kadd asked incredulously. “For what? We’ve waited 200 years. I say we go inside and tell Tamtoc to go say his good-byes while we give my old lair a going-away party.” Then he led Kalara into the gap in the rock and down to the edge of a beautiful clear pool.
After a quick anchor the two Acamas were standing in the lair where Tamtoc had been sleeping and was now gone to settle his affairs. The rock was still warm.
“Finally.” Kadd remarked then kissed her all the way to the furs in the wardrobe chamber. There was no stopping it now. Not that she wanted to, it wasn’t difficult to love a body like his.
He held her at arms-length and twirled her around, studying her body, “I’m thwarted!” he exclaimed, “I see no way to get that metal cage off of you. You are going to make me work for this aren’t you?”
Kalara smiled devilishly “It doesn’t have a clasp.” then she dismissed Heed.
The way he looked at her told a lot. It was far from his first time but it was a first to be with her and he was relishing every second of it. His kisses warmed her skin and made the little hairs rise up for more. She tasted his lips again and held onto his strong arms, she was no longer acting, wanting to reflect back to him how great he made her feel. Yet it all seemed bland when compared to the driving rhythm of his resonance as it joined with hers. There was nothing like it and Kalara was instantly hooked. More powerful than just auras, more than the Acama hum, it was all made stronger with the fuel of desire. It beckoned them to do more, calling them to dance harder and longer, demanding their sweat. Their energies combined. She had no idea it could be this good.
Neither did Kadd. Sure he had been with Morada, and their Acama hums had joined but it was nothing like this. The contact of his hands on her bare ankles, her feet, her thighs, anywhere he grabbed her was simply amazing. He couldn’t kiss Kalara hard enough and pushing forcefully against her body was pure joy.
The ring of fire growing into licking flames was the most brilliant purple. The flames of passion grew higher and hotter. At their powerful zenith Kalara lost control of her hidden thoughts and Kadd saw them plainly but for a brief split second. He kept his eyes closed to ride the storm and then after his final thrust he rolled onto his back, perplexed.
They laid there in silence, both deep in their own thoughts. Kalara scooped up her emotions like they were money dropped on the ground, hoping he hadn’t noticed while Kadd sorted his shock from the heady clouds of romance.
“We need to talk.” Kadd finally said “But it’s going to have to wait. Tamtoc will be back any time. Let’s just carry on as before for now. Try to keep your head about you.”
He knew. From inside her dark void Kalara chided herself for slipping up and wondered how much he heard. She rubbed her face to wake up.
As he found his robe Kadd asked “Do you at least remember Tamtoc and that he loves us as a human child does his parents?”
Kalara wanted to lie but figured it wouldn’t work so she shook her head no.
Kadd hid his disappointment. “I’ll explain it later but rig
ht now I don’t need you acting strange around him. Can you try to act like a mom?”
“I think so.” Kalara said as she draped Heed.
He noticed her wardrobe choice. “Hasn’t that robe done enough already or are you wanting more?”
Kadd was so seductive it made her feel warm all over.
“Oh,” Kalara brushed the dark purple fabric off. “It’s my favorite. I feel good in it.”
“Yes you do.” Kadd came up behind her and held her close, she could feel his warm breath in her hair as he whispered “I know we’ll talk later but for now know that I love you.” His hands found her breasts. “You don’t need to be afraid of me.”
“OK, ok.” she wiggled away with a grin. “How about this?” She dismissed Heed and draped a skirt and top.
They returned to the main lair to wait. After a couple of minutes Kalara asked “So can you start telling me about Tamtoc just until he gets back?”
Kadd gave her a smile “I can but tell me first, you really don’t recall any thing about us?”
“No I don’t.”
“OK then,” His purple eyes opened wide in disbelief. “We’ll get to that later but for now I’ll start with our son. You know dragons have never been attentive parents. As hatchlings our auras protect us so there is no need to get involved. Before now no dragon has ever given thought to his heritage. But Tamtoc is different. He is so important to us and represents 500 years of trying. You placed his egg in your lair to guard it as you do with all your Acama eggs, Morada does this too. When he hatched and you saw he was purple you summoned us immediately.
“The four of us brought him here, my old lair, and we stayed with him for weeks. We laughed and cried with him and from the start he was taught family terms for us. So he has Uncle Tristan, Aunt Morada, Sire, and Mother. You can see how this is different; a different dragon for a different age of dragons. It’s new for us. We don’t know the future implications of being parents to him but how bad can it be if it works so well for humans?”
“What did I do with my other hatchlings?”
“You let them fly away.”
“Oh.” Kalara looked down. “Well how often do we go see Tamtoc?”
“Not so often anymore. But he doesn’t mind when we do.”
She tried to think how to act around her son. “Do I hug him or kiss his cheek?” Kalara remembered watching Annette with Todd.
“You have before, mostly when he was younger. I’d just be calm and natural. You don’t have to do anything. Do like you did with me” Kadd winced to himself, “Act the shadow and let him make the fir....” he stopped. “He’s returned.”
Tamtoc appeared before them. His black horns reached high from his amethyst scales to extend into the dark ceiling beyond, they were shiny with youth.
Kalara felt so small. It was something she was going to have to get used to.
“OK, I’ve taken care of my business here.” Tamtoc looked at them both. “It’s nice to see you both at the same time and without Ravanan. Does this mean what I think it does?”
“It sure does son.” Kadd wrapped his arm around Kalara’s waist, pulling her close.
“That is fantastic news!” Tamtoc lowered and brought his head to them.
Kadd sent a strong message right to Kalara’s brain to mimic him as he rubbed Tamtoc’s purple snout with his human hand.
Kalara felt the warmth of Tamtoc’s scales, they were slick and hard. As they embraced her hand was brushed by Kadd’s. The family hug felt a little odd and was a first for her, but at the same time there was also an enjoyable love between them.
Kadd ended their embrace as all men do, its universal. “We should head out. Are you two ready?”
And after a trap inspection they left by anchor for Viptryx.
Kadd’s last anchor placed the three of them in Tristan’s grand hallway, it put Black Blade’s to shame. The temperature in the room was warm and it dazzled with sparkles everywhere. The walls were white mica schist adorned with columns of glossy black tourmaline. At the top of each black crystal was a golden sun. While Kalara took in the grandeur Tamtoc morphed to human and draped some comfortable sweat pants and t-shirt.
Tristan’s mate, Vritra the Gold, greeted them at the entrance. “Tristan and Morada will be here tomorrow since they have to travel without anchors. I’ve prepared a feast for you while you wait, and you can rest here as well” she turned her golden head to Kalara. “Tristan said you’ve been up all night on business.”
Kalara noticed that Vritra had the same two sets of feathered wings like her mate. Feathered wings were so different to look at, she tried not to stare. Vritra also had diamond studded horns and talons. Her horns were big, bigger than Tristan’s were. Kalara wondered how old she was.
Vritra led them across the main chamber, it had a gentle river along one wall that had been worked into stepped waterfalls. “We are pleased that you will be staying here.” she said to Tamtoc. We’ve located a lair Tristan thinks you’ll like. It’s not as close to a magma chamber as ours is but it’s still good.”
When they crossed the room she stopped and gestured towards the table for them to sit. “Tamtoc, I’ve heard you don’t eat humans. Good. We don’t either. We hate them, filthy things.” Vritra spat the words out like poison.
The table was spread magnificently with toothfish and penguin waiting for them. There were even vegetable dishes and bread, Kalara could not believe it. The feast was fit for even the pickiest of human kings.
“Don’t get used to this Tamtoc. If you’re going to live here and convince these dragons you are an Acama you won’t be in human form much if any. Your parents know, this is the best and cleanest fishing village in the world. Humans don’t belong up here and you’ll do your own fishing.”
Vritra gave a final look at the feast. “That about does it. I’m going for a swim and leave you alone.”
Kalara heard the golden dragoness mumbling to herself as she left “Disgusting human form! I don’t know why every dragon down there likes doing it so much.”
Kadd took the opportunity at dinner to prepare Tamtoc for the rite. The love he had for his son shown in his purple eyes.
“We’ve told you the rite will be painful, but it won’t kill you – and you’ll have all four of us here to keep that from happening.” Kadd said.
Tamtoc nodded.
Kadd went on “I want to also make sure you understand exactly what we are doing.”
“OK....” Tamtoc said with apprehension.
“We will be re-creating the impact inside your heart for the rite. That meteorite nearly ended all life but it also brought magic to us. You know this. Even before you hatched we knew this day would come. The four of us did this same rite to become stronger, able to carry out our duty to all dragonkind. By doing this you will be able to cross the door into the Acama lair, you will give off a low resonance that only we feel and look for. You will add to our power, five is better than four in a fight, and your individual magic will increase. You can live your life as you please but know that you will be forever bound to uphold Dragon Law.”
“Sire, Uncle Tristan says we only share information on research to keep humans from discovering us. We’re not the police.”
“I know what he says. And he has a point. But we’re not just a telephone either. He sits up here, well-hidden from humans, thinking that every dragon will hide like he does, but that is not so. He’ll find out soon enough when he comes to Nikhadelos.”
After dinner Kadd left the table where they were sitting and dismissed his robe. Kalara watched the man she’d made fire with release his human form. His hair flew up into horns and his wings spread out. Kadd roared freely just because he could. “It’s been a while.” he chuckled.
He lowered his head to look at Tamtoc with true tenderness in his eyes. “Son, learn all you can up here. I know you’re going to be fine. You’ve got to know that I tried to get you more time but Uncle Tristan wants to start training you now. And really, you’r
e doing this now because of me. The work I’m doing in Nikhadelos has grown and I need help, but I didn’t want to take you there yet, I wanted him to come. I need his age and knowledge. Your Uncle Tristan is a fighter, an old salt from a harsh land. He is not limited by his 4,000 years, instead his age gives him power.”
Kadd flicked his tail. “Well, I’m sure you’ll get an ear-full from him about our differing ideas of the role of Acama so I’m not going to squander this short visit on it.”
“It’s OK Sire, I’ve been around the globe a couple of times starting my treasure. I’ve spent time with humans, watching them. I’ve got a pretty good idea what our job is.”
“I know you do.” Kadd arched his back to work out a kink. “Remember that week we spent at that conference?”
They both burst out laughing, Kadd’s deep draconic voice resonated louder than Tamtoc’s human laugh but their sincerity was the same. Tamtoc smiled at Kalara. “Did Sire tell you about that?”
“I don’t think he has.” Kalara acted the part and winked at Kadd. “Do I need to know what you two did?”
“Probably not.” Kadd interjected and then asked Tamtoc “This is your first time to Viptryx right?”
“Yes. It’s nice.”
“Wait till you go diving through the waves. There is nothing like it.”
Tamtoc excused himself from the table. “If you don’t mind I’m going to go check that out.”
“Have fun.” Kadd said, “And get familiar with the lair and area because trust me, after the rite you won’t feel like it.
“Hey, one more thing.” Kadd said.
Tamtoc paused.
“You’ll have to be in your base form for the rite. The human body is too frail for it.”
Tamtoc nodded and left.
Kadd looked down at his new mate. “How are you holding up?” He asked.
Kalara shrugged “I’d really like to go to sleep now.”
“Why don’t you release your form and rest with me?”
“How about I curl up next to you instead?”
“What? Why?” Kadd asked.
“It’s just.... look, can’t I just rest right now?”
The Cursed Dragon Page 37