“Don’t go again,” Darien said after a long silence. “I know you’re not supposed to tell me what to do, but please can you? Just this one time?”
“You may ask for my advice, and I will try my best to help you.”
Darien nodded slowly, trying to decide what to ask his father first. “Am I doing alright so far?”
“You’re doing much more than you believe you are.”
It wasn’t a yes, but it wasn’t a no either. He felt encouraged by those words. “I guess I just need to do this one step at a time.” He watched his father nod. Darien nodded, sighing with relief because he didn’t know any other approach. He might not be getting answers, but he was getting reassurance.
“What if I need you again?” Darien asked at last.
A small grin formed on Orion’s face. “I am always with you. I will be here to guide you. Even if it is only to have someone talk your thoughts out with. Call upon me in the water. Only you are allowed to see me.”
Darien sighed again. “I’m glad you’re the one chosen to be my guide.”
“I’m proud of you. Trust yourself. Trust your wife. Trust your brothers. Trust God. You will be okay. Things might feel hopeless, but hope never leaves. You will be a wonderful father.” Orion’s form started to fade. “I love you.”
I love you too. It was so much easier to think than say. When all traces of the dark blue light had faded, he returned to the surface. Like a dog, he shook the water from his hair and then put his shirt back on. He had to hurry back, shower, and change. His meeting would be soon, and this would be the one that would tip the scale for him. He walked back into the hotel, and saw Lance wandering the hallway looking for him. A new kind of confidence radiated off of him, and it must have showed because for the first time since they left home Lance didn’t look sick from nerves. He smiled genuinely at Darien, and his breathing relaxed.
“Good, you’re back, I was just going to go find you,” Lance said as soon as he saw his brother. “Why are you so happy? And why are you wet?”
“I just went swimming.” Darien said with a smug grin.
Chapter Forty-Three
Ashley shook Tai awake in the early hours of the morning. She did not want to be awake. It was two hours before she was supposed to get ready for school, and lately she had been feeling exhausted in general. She was not used to this schedule of going to bed late and getting up early again. She made a note to actually go to bed at a decent time, but it was hard to sleep when she was by herself. Most of her nights were spent with her trying to fill the void Darien left behind. Filling it with TV and books and lying on his pillow.
“What’s going on?” Tai asked as she took a seat at the table in the kitchen. Ashley was wide awake and sipping on some coffee. “You wanted to see me?”
“I wanted to give you a chance,” Ashley said quietly. “I’m going, and I wanted to at least offer you the chance to come with me before it was too late.”
Tai gasped. “What do you mean you’re leaving? What about your family? I mean, what about your kids?”
Her nonchalant shrug scared Tai. “They’ve always been Daddy’s boys. They’ll be fine. They don’t want me. I’m going to go to where I’m wanted. Like I said, I wanted to offer. You’re a lot like me. We’re independent and free. We make our own destiny.”
“Where are you going to go?” Tai asked shakily, though she tried to sound as if she were actually considering it.
“I’m leaving the country.” Again, she shrugged as if it were not a big deal. “If you’re going to come, now’s the time to pack a bag so we can get moving. The more ground we can cover, the better.”
“They aren’t going to chase after you.” Tai said. “He will just let you go.” She didn’t know Tony well, but he came off as more passive than Darien. Darien had let Tai leave on her own accord, and Tony would be even more gracious about it no matter how much it would kill him.
“Yeah, well,” Ashley waved a hand dismissively. “Are you coming, or should I just go alone?”
“I guess you should go,” Tai said. “If you need to leave, I’m not going to stop you.” But I think it’s a bad idea. Your kids are going to miss you. I can tell all they want is your attention, and you won’t give it to them.
Ashley’s boys were both between the ages of two and four. They were a bundle of energy, but adorable and sweet. The younger one, Logan, warmed up to Tai immediately. Kids never interested Tai before. They didn’t pay attention to her, and she didn’t pay attention to them. Logan was a good boy, and when he and Tai did spend time together, all he talked about was his mom. As much as she hated it, Tai did understand Ashley’s feelings. If Tai hadn’t fallen for Darien, she wouldn’t want to stay either. “Be careful. Okay?”
“I will remember your kindness,” Ashley said. “Don’t say anything, okay? At least, don’t go running to wake them, I mean.”
“I won’t.”
Ashley nodded, smiling slightly, and then she left.
Chapter Forty-Four
Now awake and with a much lighter step, Darien was ready for his lunch meeting. Both Lance and Arthur were behind him, all three looking out for any sign of human or dragon life besides their own. They didn’t need to look far. A single form sat on a bench, waiting calmly for them to arrive.
“My lord,” he said politely and stood from the bench to bow respectfully. His skin was slightly darker than Darien’s and he carried a lot of the physical markings of an Inero. His hair was black, his eyes just as dark, and the way he dressed were big tip-offs. The small, black, tattoo of the Inero Royal Guard on this man’s neck was the confirmation of his suspicions. He was hardly a young man though. He looked at least two years younger than Darien, and he smelled pure, which surprised him. As much as Darien didn’t want to, he nodded back politely, but he didn’t hide his dislike towards the Inero.
“And you are?” Darien asked, and he tried to not sound cold.
“My name is Jason,” he said, motioning for Darien to sit nearby as he pulled out a homemade lunch. “Yes, I am of the Inero, and I know you aren’t exactly pleased with my people. And with good reason. We are responsible for your father’s death.”
“Thanks for the reminder.” Darien said bitterly, and he took great pleasure in Jason’s wince.
“I, um,” Jason stammered before swallowing hard. “If you’d rather sit and belittle me, be my guest, but then I won’t feel very motivated to tell you what you want to know. My people, my kin even, may be responsible for what happened. But I wasn’t. I’m on your side.”
“Why?”
“Good question,” Jason said with a nod. “I don’t agree with what my father is doing. My father is the great lord of the Inero - Lynx. He doesn’t have a high opinion of you. You should keep playing dumb because it’ll work towards your advantage. He pities you. He doesn’t want to kill you. Yet.”
“Kill me like he did my father?”
“Right.” He then let out a heavy sigh before meeting Darien’s eyes with his own. “My father seems to believe that....” He swallowed and briefly closed his eyes. “That your kind was a mistake, and it is his divine purpose to correct this.”
Arthur let out a quiet gasp. Darien was stunned into silence. It was Lance who carried on the inquiry.
“How can we be a mistake?” Lance asked with his brow furrowed in confusion. “That’s like saying God himself made a mistake, and unless he was told this by God, I don’t really believe it’s possible!” Lance had a lot more blind faith than Darien did. Darien certainly could believe it sometimes - at least with some things in his life. The only thing he had faith in was his love for Tai.
“He believes because he was told by a boy who thinks he’s God’s prophet. He’s not. My father says it is his duty to claim your land, and re-educate your people by teaching them our ways. He thinks all of your kind should be killed or enslaved. That your creation was some kind of a mistake, and God wants him to fix it. The problem is your magic is a lot stronger than ou
r own. My father, for the last twenty some years, has been finding a way to work around our weaknesses and expose your own. The production logs your father noticed is my father trying to multiply his army and get them motivated to develop new weapons - weapons which won’t fail against your kind and will enhance our strengths.”
It was quiet for a while as the three men took the time to absorb all of the information. Jason patiently waited.
“This is ridiculous, not to mention blasphemous. Claiming God made a mistake is….”
Jason nodded. “I agree. It’s stupid. I only know all of this because my twin brother Matt is on the inside of the operation. He does not share my sympathies or beliefs, however. I catch a lot of this through his thoughts. We’re connected the same way we connect with our wives. I think it’s because we’re identical twins.”
“And you would know this how?” Darien raised an eyebrow. “Are you married? You certainly don’t smell like you are.”
Jason blushed furiously. “I am. We’re supposed to be honeymooning right now. It’s why I didn’t return back with my family. It’s complicated. I would hope you understand, your kind actually believes in love right? I want that, love. I don’t want to be miserable like everyone else in my family, and I definitely don’t like the direction we’re going in. There’s no good that can come from this.”
Arthur stepped forward and knelt down beside the boy and placed a comforting hand on his knee. “You’re right in your instincts. Your father’s bitterness has turned the entire nation into one of selfishness. Do you know when we can expect these attacks?”
“No,” Jason said. “I’ve told you everything I know. If I hear anything more, I’ll find a way to tell you, but it could get dangerous. I can’t risk that kind of consequence just yet.”
“Thank you.” Arthur said as he gave Jason one last comforting squeeze before standing. “My lord, what would you have us do?”
Darien looked up at his Uncle, startled and unsure. This was a lot to think about and he had no clue what to do. “Can I have some options?”
“Ignore it, and say it’s all a lie.” Lance said shakily. “Or we can begin raising our own defenses. We can strengthen our borders.”
“The hard part will be convincing the rest of our kin this would be necessary,” Arthur said. “But yes, this would be the best course of action at this moment in time. I can only hope our spies return safely with useful information.”
Darien nodded, thinking about this very carefully. “If I have to, I’ll force it, but I don’t want things to come to that.”
“No, they will respect you less.” Arthur said.
“Until they realize he’s right.” Lance countered.
“I need cooperation.” Darien said. “If my officials don’t agree with me, they won’t put their best effort forward for me which could result in a heavy loss. We need the information from those spies, and soon.”
Chapter Forty-Five
He was home, finally. Tai clung to the back of Darien’s shirt as she hugged him close. The moment he walked into the bedroom, all of the hurt and anger she felt towards him melted away. He hadn’t spoken to her since their phone call, not even through thoughts, and it had scared her.
“I thought you weren’t going to come back,” she admitted in a whisper. “I thought I pushed you away for good.”
Darien shook his head slowly, his eyes roaming hers and his arms wrapped securely around her waist. “You’d have to do a lot more to make me walk out.”
“I didn’t mean to be so-”
He silenced her with a kiss. “I know, Tai. I heard you earlier. I wasn’t sure how to respond, and then I thought it’d be better to wait until I could see you. I’d have come home sooner for you if I could.”
“I know.” She sighed deeply, running her hands over his back. “I’m trying to understand and be patient. I shouldn’t have let my insecurities get the better of me like that.”
He shook his head, smiling, “It’s okay, don’t worry about it, and I will work on learning how to balance my attention better so next time you don’t feel so alone. If this wasn’t a matter of life or death for all of us, it probably wouldn’t even be a problem but….” He trailed off and motioned for her to come and sit down with him on the bed. “They want to kill us all. The Inero want to kill us all, and I can’t let this happen. I was chosen to stop it. I don’t know how and I don’t know why, but I took on this burden when I agreed to honor my father’s will. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Tai nodded slowly at him.
“And I’m not going anywhere.” He said firmly, forcing her to look into his eyes so the words sank in. “We need to be strong together.”
She bit her lip. “Ashley left Tony, and I don’t think she’s going to come back.” He looked at her, and opened his mouth to say something but he was cut off when she continued. “She asked me to come with her, and I stayed here without a second thought.” She pulled away but kept a grip on Darien’s shirt. She had to say this. She had to tell him before she lost her courage again. “I love you.”
Darien kissed her with a new kind of passion. She moaned softly against his lips, and closed her eyes. Then he slowly pulled away.
“I want you to tell me what’s wrong now.”
“All right,” Tai swallowed hard and took his hand, slowly leading him towards the bathroom. She turned on the shower and began to strip. She made sure to roll her eyes at Darien as he stood and stared with a silly, mischievous grin on his face. “Don’t jump the gun just yet. I need you to tell me if you can hear this.”
Darien stripped to his underwear and followed Tai into the shower. She winced with pain as she leaned against Darien’s chest and whimpered quietly. The laughing was there again, and it hurt her head because it was so loud and consumed so much of her focus. Her body ached more lately, and the shower relieved this pain but at a cost.
“Please tell me you hear it? Every time I touch the water. Sometimes it’s there when I’m dry too. It’s been getting stronger lately. It’s like it’s dictating my life.”
“I can hear it, and it’s beautiful.” He held her close, running his hands through her hair gently. “Because this is ours. This is our son.”
“What?”
“Yeah,” he said with a smile. “We’re having a baby.”
A baby was driving her mad? She shivered against Darien, unsure of what to think. Magic was the only explanation she had for it. Another mystery of the dragons.
“I’d heard my brother’s talk about this,” he continued. “I never thought it’d feel so…wow.”
Tai put her head against his chest and he stroked her wet hair. The world might be falling apart around them, but for this one brief moment in time, everything was perfect.
About the Author
J.F. Jenkins lives in Minneapolis Minnesota with her husband, son, and two cats. She graduated from Bethel University in 2006 with a degree in Media Communication with minors in both writing and film. When she is not busy writing, she spends her free time playing games, reading, and spending time with her family.
Astraea Press, LLC
Where Fiction Meets Virtue
www.astraeapress.com
Table of Contents
The Dragons Saga: Legend of the Oceina Dragon
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
ChapterTwenty-One
ChapterTwenty-Two
ChapterTwenty-Three
/>
ChapterTwenty-Four
ChapterTwenty-Five
ChapterTwenty-Six
ChapterTwenty-Seven
ChapterTwenty-Eight
ChapterTwenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
ChapterThirty-One
ChapterThirty-Two
ChapterThirty-Three
ChapterThirty-Four
ChapterThirty-Five
ChapterThirty-Six
ChapterThirty-Seven
ChapterThirty-Eight
ChapterThirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
ChapterForty-One
ChapterForty-Two
ChapterForty-Three
ChapterForty-Four
ChapterForty-Five
About the Author
Legend of the Oceina Dragon (The Dragons Saga) Page 17