Fated Souls (The Fated Saga Book 1)

by Sariah Skye

  I grumbled some more as I stripped down to my birthday suit, shoved the clothing items in my backpack and willed the change. I felt my appendages tingle as they changed to four feet with pink skin, and the slight disorientation as the rest of me shifted into my pink dragon self. Shifting was about the only time a dragon was vulnerable, and the thought made me insecure. I was relieved when it was over.

  I stretched my iridescent wings to the side and up again, letting out a low growl.

  "Admit it. That does feel good," Kiarra said, smiling.

  The corners of my mouth turned up slightly. "Okay. A little bit."

  Kiarra stared momentarily. "Those…wings. They are amazing like…well I don’t know what. I have never seen anything like it."

  I snarled. "No one has," I said.

  We emerged from behind the tent, me following behind her, looking down at the ground as I walked. There was a gasp, and I felt warm human hands on either side of my face. I looked up, expecting Gabriel but it was Daniel who gazed into my eyes tenderly.

  "Do not ever walk with that ashamed look. Forget what you knew in the past, the reality is you are amazing. Walk with your head held high, and make sure everyone who ever doubted you never forgets the name Leorah, got it?" He said it with such earnest and conviction I almost believed him.

  "Something you’ve seen?" I asked.

  He smiled. "I didn’t need to have a vision. From everything my brother says about you, there’s no doubt you’re bound for greatness. He doesn’t speak highly of just anyone. We’re behind you, in all that you do. So if nothing else, remember that—you have friends, and a family. Okay? That alone should give you something to hold your head up on high for, right?"

  I nodded. "Right."

  Maxxus emerged from behind the tent then, in his very large, formidable green dragon form, and he towered over both Kiarra and I (she was larger than I, not surprising…most were), and Daniel fetched all our packs from behind the tent and slung them over his shoulder. "Shall we?" he motioned for Kiarra to lead the way.

  Chapter 15

  "It’s just another two hundred paces or so," she instructed. "Well, for you," she said with a chuckle. Gabriel grabbed Sona’s carrier and another bag from the car (Kiarra insisted we could get the rest later) and we followed Kiarra into the town.

  Gabriel stayed by my side as we walked. We couldn’t hold hands or anything, obviously since right now I didn’t have them but he did wrap his arm around one of my wings that I held out at my sides. "They feel…like silk almost. So cool…" he mused. "I do hope you learn not to hate them, someday."

  "As do I," I replied. I had to admit to myself, I did enjoy watching Gabriel’s reaction to me in my dragon form. So often I was looked upon with scorn, and it was thoroughly nice to be myself—all myself—around someone. Even as a human I often had to hide who I was, really. I think he got the message because he nudged me with the side of his body. I grinned my dragon grin (which probably looked more like a snarl) and nuzzled his neck with the end of my nose.

  "Oh my gawd stop! Just stop!" Daniel’s excitable voice chimed in from behind us, Maxxus bringing up the rear. "That’s just too cute."

  "Shut up, Daniel!" Gabriel threw back at him. I just snorted a low growl, causing a steam of sparkles through my nostrils.

  Kiarra chuckled from her position as lead. "Just a little further."

  I began hearing sounds of life as the trees finally gave way to a handful of rather small, simple brick buildings.

  "This is the outskirts of the town. The nymphs generally live closest to the forest because they fall ill when they’re away from the woods for too long," Kiarra explained, shouting back at us.

  The dwellings were nothing more than four walls, a couple of windows and doors with a wooden roof. There were a couple small children outside chasing after a small furry creature—I couldn’t tell what it was—and they stopped in their tracks to stare at us as we walked in.

  "Whoa…." one of them—a small boy with bright green eyes and hair so blonde it was nearly white—said as we walked past.

  "Oh! Look! A fairy dragon!" the other one—a girl with the same white hair and eyes brown like a tree said, with glee, pointing right at me.

  I looked around nervously, and tried to smile. The girl started slowly walking up to me.

  "Hello. Who are you?" she asked out of curiosity. She was reaching out for something, but pulled her hand back nervously.

  I let out an anxious cough. "I—um…I’m Leorah. Leorah James. What’s your name?"

  "Willow," she said. It was a moment before I could figure out what she was staring at: my wings. "What are you?"

  "I’m a dragon. Ever seen one before?" I asked, feeling a bit calmer.

  "I have but never one the color as you. Are those your real wings?" She asked, reaching out again.

  Feeling a smirk on my face, against my better judgment I squatted down on my haunches to allow her access to my wings. She squealed in delight, and reached out carefully, stroking a section of my wings with her fingertips. "Wow! Leif, you need to try this!"

  The boy—watching carefully from behind the girl—stepped forward slowly. I stretched out my wing a little to give him easier access. He swallowed anxiously, but reached out and touched my wing as well.

  "Oh…it’s…cold! And…smooth. Like water!" he mused.

  Willow nodded. "Yeah! But they’re strong—even though they look like fairy wings!"

  I grinned. "You know many fairies?"

  Willow smiled. "Yeah, my best friend is a fairy. You should meet her sometime! I bet she’d love you!"

  "That would be fun," I said. The two children pulled away, and I folded my wings up back at my sides and stood back up.

  "And, what are you, a Nymph?" Gabriel had been hanging back in fascination. He handed a very calm Sona over to Daniel who gently set the cat down on the ground nearby; she was glaring at him fiercely. She was not a happy cat.

  Leif nodded. "Yeah. What are you?"

  Gabriel looked expectantly at Kiarra, who just smiled and nodded. I knew what he was going to do. He held his palms together and after a brief moment, a small blob of water appeared between them.

  Both children gasped. "Wow! How’d you do that?" asked Leif, his brown eyes wide.

  Leif reached out, and Gabriel nodded. The boy ran his fingers through the water. "It is just water. That is so cool."

  "Aren't there any other sorcerers here?" Gabriel asked the two children.

  "Yes, but it's still always cool!" Willow insisted excitedly. Gabriel beamed widely.

  From slightly behind me, I heard Daniel make a sniffing sound. I stepped back slowly. He was wiping his nose with the back of his hand, and he blushed when I caught him.

  "I’m sorry," he said, in a hushed voice, from behind his palms as they covered his face. "It’s just…after years of being ashamed of who he is, it’s nice to see people…see him for the amazing person he is."

  I smiled knowingly, watching the happiness radiate from Gabriel’s face as the two children crowded around him as he conjured random elements and shaped balls of earth into different shapes. "I can relate," I said quietly.

  Daniel gave me an earnest look, and placed his palm on what would be my upper arm. "I have a feeling you really do relate."

  Kiarra came up beside Gabriel. "We need to get to town, now. You can come see us whenever you want, okay?"

  The children nodded. Willow bounded up to me, pulling on one of my legs. "Can I have a ride sometime?"

  "Ride?" I asked, confused. "Just like…around the woods?"

  "I mean fly!" she said excitedly, jumping up and down.

  I tried not to frown. "We will see." I didn’t want to break her little heart and tell her that I couldn’t fly.

  She hugged my leg. "Bye, pink dragon!"

  "’Bye, Willow."

  We left the children to play outside in their yard, running and squealing around and continued on further into the town.

  There weren’t a l
ot of people out around this time but what there was is fairly interested in our presence. We came to a small village block, dotted with trees, tall and sprawling gardens and small, modest houses in all different materials…some looked like dirt or clay with flat roofs, others brick like a regular house you’d see in a city, some were like log cabins…there was no real rhyme or reason.

  What people—and I use that term loosely—were out and about were murmuring and tittering about to each other and staring at us. I saw an orange dragon speaking to what I assumed was a yellow dragon in human form—he was young but shirtless and he had a tell-tale yellow mark of his clan on his right bicep. Across the gravel street was a rather stunning couple with multi-colored hair and—I’ll be damned—wings.

  "Are those…?" I whispered quietly to Kiarra as I nodded acknowledgement to them.

  She grinned, and nodded. "Yes. Fairies."

  I bit my lip and tried to contain my excitement. "Wow!"

  Gabriel whispered to me: "See? I told you!"

  The dragons were behind us now, whispering.

  A couple of short—very short, little people short with blaze orange hair and musical laughter emerged from one of the gardens.

  "G’day!" Both male, they made little bows as we passed. I nodded at them and tried to smile.

  "Leprechauns?" Gabriel questioned Kiarra, quietly. She nodded. "Wow…" he said, trailing off, amazed.

  Before we reached a two-story stone building, with regal gargoyle statues out front and a heavy wooden door, I gasped as something I never thought possible emerged.

  "Oh my…" Standing on four hooves with snow-white fur and a silvery mane stood a horned horse—a goddamned unicorn—with a horn on its forehead that shimmered pearlescent in the afternoon sunlight.

  "Afternoon, Donovan," Kiarra greeted.

  "Kiarra!" he greeted in reply. "Good to see you back. I see you have friends?"

  I stood there, mouth agape. I took a brief glance at my companions and saw the o’s of surprise on their wide-eyed faces as well.

  Kiarra nodded. "These here are the only reasons I left Castle Danger…"

  Donovan the Goddamned Unicorn trotted up to me. He was shorter and smaller than I, but not by much. The top of his horn was nearly eye level with me, but his very presence was much larger than I, if that made sense. Maxxus towered over him by nearly double but even he was in awe.

  Donovan bowed his head at me slightly. "So you’re the one. We’ve been waiting for you for a long time. Do let me know if there is anything I can do to assist you, will you?"

  "I, uh, I mean," I stammered, dumbfounded. "You're a friggin' unicorn."

  He chuckled—more like snickered and whinnied—but it was meant as a chuckle. "I guess my appearance may appear overwhelming to your kind. Yes, I am a Unicorn. Yes, there are others but not many left. We’re scattered all over safe-havens like this one here around the world. I do hope we’ll get to know one another as you stay here, yes?"

  I nodded. "I would…like that."

  He smiled—inasmuch as a horse could smile and let out a nickering sound. "Very good. I’ll let you get to it. Finnian is waiting for you." He bowed again first at me, then towards my companions and trotted along his merry way along the gravel road.

  "Really? A unicorn?" I was still at a loss, so I let out a peal of giggles.

  Gabriel chuckled at me. "Ain’t that a surprise?"

  Kiarra just grinned. "Let’s go see Finnian, and then I’ll show you to where you’re staying. There are guest quarters on the other side of the Square where you will all stay. I have a cabin nearby with a spare bed and an underground lair if they are not comfortable enough or if anyone wants…just until we know how long you all will be here. Then you will get assigned an actual stead where you can build your own home."

  "Build?" I wrinkled my nose and snorted. "I don’t build."

  She laughed. "Sure you don’t. But between an earth dragon, a sorcerer and yourself…I think you can conjure up enough magic to make suitable homes for all of you," she said, pushing open the large door.

  "Umm…how am I supposed to fit through that?" Maxxus paused and wondered aloud.

  I wondered the same thing. The door was large, and heavy but it was large enough to barely fit myself, was about the size of Kiarra—and there was no way Maxxus in his dragon form would be able to fit through. Actually, I didn’t think there would be enough room for us all inside, period.

  She smirked. "Trust me. It’s magic."

  I glanced back at Maxxus and we shrugged our faces, since we couldn’t actually shrug shoulders.

  Kiarra stepped in first and I watched somehow as the door magically appeared to adjust to her size. I raised a brow, watching the door shrink back down to normal and paused before I stepped through. It didn’t have to move hardly at all for me and not at all for Gabriel or Daniel but opened wide for Maxxus.

  Upon standing inside, we were in absolute awe.

  The simple stone building outside was a grand, beautiful atrium inside, with a water fountain in the middle, shiny, sparkling marble floors and walls at least twenty feet high and long, winding staircases that led to separate areas of the building.

  "Holy shit!" I mused out loud, hearing my curse echo through the walls. I bowed my head in shame, for some reason it felt wrong to be cursing in such an amazing building.

  Needless to say, the inside was at least twice if not three and four times larger than the building appeared outside. I was about to comment but I didn’t have to; Daniel did it for me.

  "Ohmygawd, really? What kind of magic is this?" He elbowed his brother. "Gabe, can you do this? What is this? How did they…." He trailed off, bewildered.

  "I don’t think I could do this…how on earth?" Gabriel was just as awestruck. "It's like the damn T.A.R.D.I.S!"

  I glanced at him and grinned; appreciating the reference. He just chuckled and winked back at me knowingly; it's always fantastic when another geek understands your geek references.

  "It’s spelled this way. Hard to explain how it works, but they take space from another dimension and…oh forget it. I don’t even understand it! But even I still think it’s awesome, no matter how many times I’ve seen it. Probably some sort of really complicated arcane magic," Kiarra said. "This way." She nodded down a hallway that headed east, dotted with different colored marble slabs and many pieces of fancy artwork on the walls. The hallway was so large that Maxxus comfortably moved through them, not hitting a single wall or painting.

  We came to a room at the end of the corridor, and Kiarra didn’t knock, but pushed the French-style doors aside and we entered a room that looked very much like a typical office, with a desk in front of the window, file cabinets and bookshelves filled with books everywhere.

  The only thing that wasn’t typical of an office was the tall, dark and wavy haired God perched on the desk, one of his long legs was tucked underneath him, and the other was resting on a chair seat. He was leaned over some kind of…something (a paper maybe), tapping a pen on his heart-shaped lips.

  I tried hard to keep my jaw shut, but it was hard. Until I saw this man, I didn’t really believe that a man could truly be beautiful. Gabriel was hot, Maxxus was gorgeous but this man was beautiful; like a sculpted work of art.

  Clearly that observation wasn’t lost on me: next to me. Daniel was muttering, wide-eyed, "Sweet Jesus…" and watching him intently. Gabriel and Maxxus both appeared to be uneasy.

  I fixed my face to be serious. But it was hard.

  Then he looked up, his eyes stared directly at me, the color of the Minnesota sky in the afternoon on a cloudless day. He smiled, and I swear, his eyes changed color…to somewhat of a spring green. And I was toast. I felt my knees start to buckle under me.

  Kiarra must have sensed my troubles, because she came over and let me lean on her. "Don’t look directly into the eyes," she muttered into my ear, "they’ll bespell you."

  "No shit," I said out loud. Everyone jumped, but the man on the desk just grinned.
It was a wide, intoxicating smile but it wasn’t bespelling like the eyes.

  "Sorry about that," he spoke in a proper British accent. "You must be Leorah, the last pink dragon and company. So glad to meet you." He slid off the desk on onto his feet, bowing at the waist slightly before me. "I am Finnian, Head Loremaster of Castle Danger. Welcome!"

  I smiled. "Thanks?" was all I could offer, desperately trying to avoid his gaze although I could swear they again changed color to a stormy gray.

  "I generally wear contacts so that doesn’t happen when I know newcomers are coming, but you are a little earlier then even I expected," he said, turning to the others. "My apologies," he said to Gabriel. "My eyes are a little—enchanting. Part of it is a Loremaster thing the other is just—well nevermind."

  Gabriel forced a smile. "I didn’t say anything…"

  Finnian smirked. "I know…" he said with a wink. He and I exchanged a look and I just looked away innocently.

  Finnian crossed the room to one of the file cabinets and pulled out some long, black velvet robes. "I know how you dislike your dragon form. I do hope upon your stay here you’ll learn to overcome that discomfort, but for now…I want you to feel at ease. So please feel free to change to your human self."

  I exhaled nervously. "Thank you." He handed the robes to Gabriel. He pointed at a second door in the office. I just noticed yet again how large the room was…large enough to fit three dragons the sizes of various semi-trucks, a seer, a sorcerer and a yeowling cat plus Finnian. It was the size of a library, and looked it too, now that I thought about it. It had just about as many books.

  "You may feel free to release your feline…all animals are protected in Castle Danger, no harm will come to her, and she cannot leave our borders," Finnian said, nodding towards an uneasy Sona in her carrier, still being carried by Gabriel.

  Gabriel looked to me, and I nodded. He set the carrier on the ground gently and released the latch, and Sona cautiously padded out, sniffing the air around her.

  Finnian leaned over and allowed her to sniff his hand. She did, and bumped his fist with her head before laying down and rudely bathing herself in front of everyone. Finnian just snickered. "She feels at home…that’s good."