She nodded as if she understood. “I would imagine it difficult to live in a home you shared with your family and have them no longer be there.”
That was the biggest reason he didn't like staying at the cabin. She'd hit the nail on the head. “There's no point to staying anymore, but I have a hard time saying goodbye. My father built that home himself, and there are some things I want to keep from it too. At the same time, it's time to move on. I'm not sure where to move on to.”
“You could try reaching out to the rest of your family,” she said.
Ichi shook his head. “No, I don't think that's a good idea. I wouldn't know where to look, first of all. My uncles from my father's side are probably all dead. I know little to nothing about my mother's family. From the stories I've heard, I'm not sure I want to get close to them.”
“What story had you heard?”
“That my father was to marry another woman, but then he met my mom and would rather be with her instead. The union wasn't blessed by my grandfather, and my parents were disowned and fled because they were afraid my grandfather would retaliate. My mother said she had a sister, but they were enemies because of a great sin my mother committed against her. Apparently my aunt never got over whatever it was.”
The Lady Oceina nodded with a slight smile. “Your father was betrothed to your mother's sister. Don't think of your mother poorly for that, however. Your aunt wanted to deceive him into loving her and it worked against her. They were identical twins, you see. I don't think they regretted the decision once. We never met, so I can't say anything from first-hand knowledge, but Darien spoke of them often. Your father was a lot happier away from his family than he ever was with them, or so he always said. He also spoke highly of his older brothers, so I was curious about if you would try to find them and your cousins.”
Rubbing his arms slowly, Ichi took in all of her words. It was a lot of new information to process. His father had always said to never dwell on the past, and talking about it was a form of dwelling. At the same time, that seemed like an important story for him to know. It explained the bad blood between his family so much better than “I loved the wrong woman”. No wonder his mother always said that her marriage was always her favorite sin.
With a sigh, Ichi risked a glance at the Lady Oceina again. “My cousins probably don't know I exist. I think it's best to keep it that way. Complicating things is never a good idea. Regardless of if my parents were on good terms with my father's side of the family or not, there are some things not worth stirring the pot over.”
“So you're going to go back to living in isolation?” she asked.
“I don't think so. Like I said, there are a few things in the cabin I want to collect, and then I'm going to move on. Not to Aero City, I know that much. I've never felt like I belonged with my own people. Does that make any sense?”
“It does,” she said. She gave his hand a gentle pat with her own. “When I was human, I felt the same way. No connection, no sense of direction for my life. It took a catalyst to push me into figuring out who I really was. Your parents’ passing on was yours. Maybe you don't belong in Aero City. If you want, you're more than welcome to stay with me and keep me company.”
He gave a polite nod and a smile. “Thank you for the offer, it's kind of you. I don't feel like Oceina City is my home either, however. I plan on staying for a few weeks to look around and absorb this new world. It's incredible and it's blowing my mind, some of the things I'm seeing here. At the same time, I'm not sure I completely fit in. I might be a nomad soul.”
“You might,” she agreed.
Nomad, drifter, loner, those all were perfect words to describe him. They approached his hotel and he faced her. “Let me call you a cab back.”
“I told you, I'm not weak. It's a beautiful night, and I am more than capable of walking myself home again,” she stated.
“I don't doubt that, but the gentleman inside of me wouldn't feel right about not knowing you made it back okay. I might just have to take you back myself.” He smirked. “Which isn't something I would mind, but it would be counterproductive.”
“Good point. I will take a cab then since you insist. Do you need money? Is there anything you need?”
He managed a weak smile. There was money. His parents had made sure to trade and sell throughout the years. The pile that was left was enough for Ichi to survive off of for a year or so. Since he didn't use it right away and continued to trade and sell on his own for quite some time, he could last even longer on his travels.
“I have plenty of money, but thank you. I've been taking care of myself for seven years. I don't need any help.”
The Lady Oceina hugged him close. “Stubborn, but I'm not surprised in the slightest. If you change your mind, don't hesitate to contact me.”
“Of course, my lady.” He bowed. “I will be in to visit again before I leave the city.”
“Yes, please be sure to do that.” There was a twinkle in her blue eyes that left him suspicious. She had to be up to something.
Chapter Five
Mikko walked through the streets of Oceina City. She wore a light robe of white satin, which clung to her body. It was winter. Snow glittered under the city lights and in small tufts on the sidewalk. Everyone around her bustled about in their thick clothes, trying to stay warm. Mikko couldn't feel the cold air. She was warm and cozy, as if she was tucked into a blanket.
As she walked further down the street, the scenery changed. Instead of the city, she was strolling through a park. The snow was gone and lush green grass took its place. Flowers were in full bloom, owls hooted softly, and she was completely alone. At least, she thought so, until she noticed a pair of blue eyes shining with a hint of silver in the distance. She couldn't look away from those eyes.
It was like she was caught in a traction beam. There was no escaping his gaze. The closer she got, the stronger the desire to get away, but she couldn't understand why. When she was finally close enough to see his face, she saw the most beautiful man in existence.
His face was chiseled and strong, expressionless. Whoever he was, he had the art of being stoic down. He was tall, almost as tall as Teo, but he wasn't of the Terran. Mikko was almost positive he was of the Oceina. After all, his eyes were a soft ice blue, and his hair the color of sand. His skin tone suggested that he might have been Inero, however. Because just like her, he had golden skin. Her gaze roamed over his body and she couldn't help but notice how strong he was. Not to mention he only wore a loose pair of black satin pants, giving her a wonderful view of his developed chest.
Wow… She couldn't take her eyes off of him, nor did she want to because he was so impressive to look at. Without even thinking, she reached out to touch him. He mirrored the action. Just as their fingers were about to touch, a strong gust of wind pushed her away. Mikko fell to the ground, barely having the time to brace herself from injury. What she landed on was not the soft green grass of the park, but hard black rock. Glancing up, she saw glowing red eyes like fire staring down at her.
****
She awoke with a start.
Chapter Six
Mikko rubbed at her eyes as she sat through breakfast. Her appetite wasn't all there. Any time she was tired, she had a difficult time focusing on much else. She didn't mean to be rude and yawn every three minutes. After her nightmare from last night, she couldn't make herself go back to sleep. What made the whole thing strange, was she didn't understand why the dream scared her so much when so little had happened. Deep inside of her bones, she knew evil had been there with her.
Lucky for her, she didn't need to worry about offending anyone at the table. Despite the festivities of the night before, everyone was rather glum in appearance. Teo ate like he hadn't seen food before in his life, which wasn't like him at all. Usually, he ate slowly and engaged in conversation freely with everyone else at the table. Of course, at home the table consisted of only family and no strangers. Mikko assumed he was on social overload. The young m
an tended to be on the more introverted side, and she had seen him make a lot of small talk at the party.
Her Uncle Tyson, on the other hand, barely touched anything on his plate. Every so often she'd look his way, and he'd take the occasional small bite. Most of his time was spent maneuvering the food around. He did that at home any time there was a tense situation, usually involving the disciplining of one of his sons or grandsons. Her Aunt Carrie had always been the aggressive one of the family. She ran the household. The system worked for them.
There were a few others she didn't know at the table as well. Distant cousins of hers, perhaps? Nephews of her grandfather? A few of the young men she recognized as her uncles, young men who were the brothers of her late father. They were men she barely knew. She noticed a few Inero were at the table as well, and of course her grandmother, the Lady Oceina.
“So, how long do you plan on staying?” one of her uncles asked.
Tyson offered up a smile. “Through the week.”
“That's a lot longer than I would have expected.”
“Our family here is important to us,” Tyson said.
Her uncle only shrugged and let out a quiet snort.
With a sigh, Mikko pushed her plate away, no longer trying to hide her lack of appetite politely. “I'm going for a walk. I will see you for lunch.”
She didn't wait for anyone to tell her it was okay to leave. Frankly, she didn't care much what anyone thought of her going. She had to get out of that room before she snapped.
As she walked through the hallway, she heard Uncle Tyson say: “Oren, you know how sensitive she is to family drama. I don't understand why you insist on bringing up topics that are only going to lead to fighting.”
No doubt her other uncle, Oren, would protest in reply, but she wasn't about to stick around and eavesdrop. Instead she rounded a corner and found a stairwell to go hide inside. She leaned up against the wall, and bent over, putting her head between her knees for a moment. It was all part of a vain effort to stop the tears from building up inside of her. Holding them back was impossible, and soon she was crying freely. At least she was alone… until Teo opened the door.
“Mikko?” he called into the stairwell. He peeked his head in and saw her by the wall. Immediately, he was at her side. “I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I don't know why they always have to cause problems whenever we all get together.”
“Oren was only asking to be polite. I'm sure there was no ill intention,” she said softly. With how Uncle Tyson spoke to him, however, she wondered if that was actually true or if she was only trying to justify things in her mind. She laughed. “I don't know why I care so much what Oren thinks to begin with. I couldn't even remember his name until I heard your father say it.”
Teo sat down on the stairs. He held a croissant roll in his hands, and he picked away at it slowly, every so often eating the pieces. He spoke in-between bites. “You care because he's still your family. The fact that you don't remember his name, and only his face is probably why he causes all of these fights. I think a lot of your family is still bitter that you went to live with my family instead of them. Your father had a lot of brothers who could have raised you in his place.”
“Yes, and of course my grandfather. After all, who wouldn't want their child to be raised by the Great Dragon Lord of an entire nation?” She rolled her eyes. “Oh wait, my father didn't want that. I'm sure there was a reason for it. I just wish I understood better the why behind it all. And it's moments like these where I miss my parents so much.” She closed her eyes and wiped away the last of her tears. “If they were still here, all of this would be avoided.”
“There would be other problems,” Teo said. “If one thing isn't happening, another takes its place. That's the way of life.”
She laughed. “You have the wisdom of your father. It scares me how much you're like him sometimes.”
“I'll take that as a compliment.” He offered her the rest of his roll. “You should eat. Don't think I didn't notice how you barely touched your food in there. Is something else bothering you?”
“The past few days are taking their toll on me, I think. Between all of the traveling, all of the conversing, and all of the memories, I'm running myself dry.” She took the croissant from him and nibble on a piece. “I'm ready for things to calm down for a while. And by a while, I mean, more than a year or two.”
Teo nodded. “Tell me about it. I'd like to not go to any more of these funerals too. It's getting to the point where I'm becoming numb to them. The realization that nothing lasts…”
Mikko frowned at him. “Everything lasts. Our lives are eternal.”
“Sure doesn't feel that way with how often someone croaks these days.”
“Most have been old.”
“Most,” he said quietly. “But not all were natural.”
Sighing, she sat next to him on the stairs. “No, you're right. My grandfathers Jason and Matthias were murdered by traditionalists who still held grudges from the war. Their wives eventually grew ill and followed after. Your grandfather had a heart attack before his time. And, of course, my parents. The accident that took them…”
“I don't need a reminder. Really, this is stuff that's not easy to forget.” He glared at her and hunched forward, hugging his knees.
She ran her fingers over his short, dark hair. “No, it isn't easy to forget, and it is a part of their legacy just as much as their living days were. You are choosing to focus on the negative aspects of being on this planet. Don't look so much at how we exit the stage, but how we perform on it. I don't have a lot of memories of my parents when they were alive, but I refuse to dwell on how they were taken away from me. Sometimes, the simple fact they even existed is what gets me through the day so I'm not feeling quite as alone.”
“You're not alone, though.”
“I am in ways I'm not sure you'd understand,” she whispered. “We're like family, and I cherish your father as if he were my own. But he's not mine to claim as much as I want to. I'm still the outsider, the orphan, and I will always be that because that's the only way people choose to see me. There's no point in fighting it anymore. We're not blood relatives, and being away from that is a difficult burden to explain.”
Teo frowned, his eyes closing. “You're not just my best friend Mikko, but my sister. It hurts to hear you talk like that.”
“Like I said, I don't know how to explain it. I love you all so much. There's no doubt about it in my mind. I just…”
“It's not the same,” he mumbled. “Would you have rather stayed with your actual blood-related kin?”
“Never.” The tears began to flow again. “I wouldn't trade the time I've spent with your family for that. I'm sure my other uncles are wonderful, but I don't belong with the Oceina people. Not only that, but they look at me like I'm different. I mean, I am different. It's a fact I've come to accept a long time ago. I'm a female dragon born of a pure dragon family. But…”
“You feel like a freak around them?” Teo supplied.
She nodded. “That… and I don't think they would have been okay with my choosing to not pursue finding a mate for so long. I'm sure I'd be married by now to another dragon. They'd force me to wed another dragon.”
He laughed. “Now, now, they are Oceina, not the Aero or Inero. They've made a lot of progress in their mating rituals.”
“True, the Sacrifice is all but eliminated now.” Mikko smiled softly.
The world was indeed progressing. She'd heard a lot of stories from her grandparents about the old days. How the Oceina men would find their brides by taking a “sacrifice” from different villages and small towns. The sacrifice was always a virgin woman who would become that dragon man's wife. Her grandparents from Inero had met under similar conditions, only the young women were taken in groups and chosen in a fashion similar to an auction without the bidding. The dragon men picked their bride from the group. Choosing order was arranged based on social rank. For a long time, neither culture believed in le
tting love naturally take its course.
It fascinated her, but also frightened her. What if she had grown up in similar times? She'd have been auctioned off without a second thought. The Terran had begun practicing finding their soul mate through traditional human courtship nearly two millennia ago. It was a model being used by all of the dragon tribes now — except for the Aero. The Aero still practiced arranged marriages, but there was a level of courtship involved in their ritual. From what she understood, a series of dates occurred before the dragon man decided to proceed with the engagement. The woman always had the choice to refuse if she didn't think things were going well.
Thinking about all of the ways to find a husband made her head hurt. She wanted a man to love and cherish as her own. Being alone for the rest of her life was not appealing in the slightest, and to have children someday was always one of her biggest dreams. Because she was a dragon, however, everything was so much more complicated. The secret of her kind had to be kept, especially in a world that was quickly losing all sense of morality.
“Maybe I'll marry a human,” she whispered.
Teo scowled. “Are you sure you want to court a human man? Most of them don't save themselves for their wedding night. It sounds like a lot of potential drama. After all, when two people mate, they're joined together for life. The humans are giving themselves to one another a lot more freely than ever before. It's hard to find human women who are still pure. I know for a fact a few of my elder brothers wed women who weren't.”
“A lot of things can make a person not want to wait,” she said quietly. “Not that I'm justifying the action necessarily, but you shouldn't be quick to make judgments either. You don't know their circumstances.”
“No, and it's not my business to know. All I'm saying is, I know that sort of thing is important to you.” He paused. “A lot of dragon men aren't waiting. Or at least that's what I hear from my friends back home in Terran.”
Legend of the Great Dragon Page 3