The Air Witch's Dragon

by Severine Wolfe

  Only one the oldest among them knew of the mate bond. Only one had survived the loss of his mate. However, he had become a hermit, eschewing any society at all. He had holed up in a cave in the mountains and refused to speak to anyone. Ryluth only knew he was alive as he’d seen him out stretching his wings one time around his range of mountains. If not for that, he would think he was long gone from their world.

  He stood, staring at Sofia and tried to think of words of welcome, but his overwhelming desire to grab her and drag her to his lair was so strong that he remained frozen so as not to act upon that impulse.

  “My Lord, Ryluth,” Cassie’s words entered his consciousness. “I would like to present you Sofia Sforza of Earth who has accepted your kind invitation to visit your world.” She drew Sofia up to stand even with her. Sofia bowed her head, demurely, and made a quick curtsy.

  “Please, be welcome on Drakkos, and may you find your lodgings comfortable. Please let me know if you need anything at all.” Ryluth fell back on courtesy when his mind flew away.

  “Grazie, for your invitation,” Sofia said in her low voice and Ryluth was mortified to feel his member stirring, and was suddenly thankful for the bunches of flowers he was holding to present to the females.

  “I would also like to present the five females who have come to consider your world for settling,” Cassie smirked.

  Ryluth tore his gaze away from where Sofia stood next to Cassie and looked at the other females, who did not hold his interest at all, but he needed to keep up the pretense of indifference.

  Two women who looked amazingly alike stepped forward.

  “I would like to present Nei and Meira Adjeon of Era, they are half-elves,” Cassie brought them forward. They both smiled somewhat shyly at Ryluth as he welcomed them and presented them with flowers then handed them off to Lennalth so he could begin introducing them to the males present.

  A dark haired, sloe eyed beauty stepped forward with a bright smile.

  “This is Lucine Torosian. She is from Armenia and has a talent for water magic,” Cassie grinned. It was evident she liked the female. Once again Ryluth presented the female with flowers and handed her off to Lennalth.

  “I am pleased to present Miena Sweere,” Cassie spoke up as a short female with honey brown hair and laughing blue eyes stepped up. “She is from Holland and works with light and illusions. She’s been kind enough to assist my brother with his magic.”

  The female presented her hand to Ryluth who looked at Cassie for a cue.

  “Miena, he cannot kiss your hand, he’s a king,” the Demi laughed. “Please take the flowers and begin introducing yourself to the males here.” The female then turned and practically skipped over to where Lennalth stood, staring at her.

  “Next up is Lei Yep, from China,” Cassie coaxed a shy, short female with golden skin and slanted black eyes forward. Ryluth was enchanted with the dainty little witch. He could feel her earth affinity strongly.

  “She is leaking her magic,” he said to Cassie as he handed the flowers to the young female.

  Cassie nodded. “I think it is your Earth magic being so strong here. She will learn to shield herself soon. It’s strong on Earth, but nothing like this.”

  “I thought you were a fire witch,” Ryluth looked at her sharply.

  “I’m a full-service witch, apparently,” Cassie grinned. “I don’t get it, but it’s how I’m made. I can channel everything.”

  That did not sit well with Ryluth. He knew Cassie was powerful, but that much power in one person surely had to be corrupting. Cassie must have guessed at the turn of his thoughts.

  “My husband and brother keep me firmly grounded, Your Majesty,” she laughed. She then looked at the last female standing close to the portal, as if she wanted to turn and run back, beckoning her forward.

  “May I present Kjersti Westgaard of Norway, and she is a healer.”

  “She puts me in mind of the Northmen of your world who were just beginning to ascend when we left your world,” Ryluth said with a grin.

  The Demi nodded. “She is all that and a bucket of chicken. And, now she’s all yours.”

  Ryluth halted. “She must accept this world of her own accord...”

  “Settle down your lizardness,” Cassie winked at him. “She’s more than happy to be here, ecstatic, in fact. She’s just very... intense.”

  All he could do was nod as the tall, blonde Valkyrie reached out and grabbed the last bunch of flowers from his hand before stalking off towards the other Drakkos gathered at the portal.

  “Are we done here?” Cassie asked. Ryluth was not surprised. The young female was pulled so many different ways all of the time, he was amazed she’d stayed for introductions.

  “We are, Lady Cassandra,” he smiled. “Please leave the communications open so they can contact you at any time.”

  Cassie nodded and then she was gone. She didn’t need portals, she was a Realm Walker. One of two in the known universe and the other one never left his adopted home.

  He turned to Sofia.

  “I am sorry. I was only expecting five females and thus have no flowers left.”

  She looked him in the eye as if taking everything of him in to judge him. Somehow, he felt like he was not going to measure up to whatever she used to judge him.

  “I would like to see my quarters, if you don’t mind,” she finally said politely.

  Ryluth took her hand and led her over to the gate to his Palace and home in the main city of his world. He wondered what she would think of it.

  In the back of his mind he hoped that Lennalth would remember to bring the women to his palace and get them settled in. He would be busy trying to find a way to please Sofia.

  Chapter Two

  Sofia had stood next to Cassie and then by Ryluth’s side the entire time he’d welcomed each woman to his world, then palmed them off on his second in command to be introduced to other males. But, he had kept her by his side, not introducing her to anyone else. She didn’t know what to think of that. Was it from rudeness? She couldn’t be sure for she was tongue tied herself. He made her nervous. Nervous? When she had learned long ago not to be nervous, to accept and move on. A feeling tickled her brain that told her this... man... would not be ignored.

  He had brought her to a palace, or at least that is what it looked like to her. They were standing inside a huge chamber with what looked like enormous stained-glass windows for a ceiling.

  “This is my receiving chamber,” Ryluth told her, walking away towards a hallway. Sofia looked around but quickly followed. This one room was so huge that she felt getting lost was not a good idea.

  “Most of our chambers are very large, which can disturb some people,” he said as she caught up with him, bag in hand, and her sneakers quietly padding along the stone floor. She said nothing, waiting to see what came next. She had never heard of the dragons kidnapping or raping women, but that did not mean that centuries of living almost completely closed off from the magical world, with only short forays to magical worlds in search of a mate, had not made them desperate enough to take a page from the Demon book.

  He stopped in front of a large door and turned to look at her.

  “I had a chamber prepared for you,” he said quietly. “I hope it meets with your approval.”

  Ryluth opened the door and Sofia peeked inside and her mouth fell open. It was magnificent. Certainly, as fine as any room she had known growing up. She took a tentative step inside, but stopped, still staring at the opulence. She continued inside and took in the comfortable looking furnishings and the decor. It was done very much in the style she had grown up in, an almost Baroque Italian majesty that had been all that was left of the Sforza family pride. She touched the table with blown glass, as fine as any you would expect to find in Venice, and looked back, expecting Ryluth to be right behind her, but he stood in the doorway.

  He smiled at her raised an eyebrow.

  “These are your chambers, my lady,” again said in a quiet
tone. “I will never enter, nor will any male, without your express permission.”

  Sofia sucked in a breath as she felt the snap of magic that meant he had spoken a vow. She just stared at him.

  Considering she had been the cherished daughter of a nearly impoverished line of her family, Sofia had not had much exposure to males with the exception of her guards and they were rotated out often so none could form any attachment to her. The only male she had contact with was her doting father who had made sure she’d had the best teachers he could afford. She had learned to run her household, and he had even managed to find an air witch to teach her about her powers. The woman had died in a cholera epidemic in Siena and had never been replaced.

  But men? No, Sofia had only had happiness with her father, the guards had been background in her life. Males? She only knew the horrors the Demons has visited upon her during her two centuries long captivity in the harem of Faisal. It had been horrifying to her. Ripped from her privileged, loving upbringing and dragged to the Demonworld, and then raped and degraded in ways she’d never known existed. She had never learned to remove her memory from people so the Demons, who laughed at her screams and cries, often used her to amuse themselves. If not for Ava and Lauren she would have killed herself.

  She’d spent the past three years trying to learn to trust again and watching her beloved friends find love and happiness, but it did not come for Sofia.

  She looked around the room. It was new and familiar at the same time. The colors were the warm, earth tones she preferred, the wood soothing to her soul in a way she couldn’t express in any comprehensible way. The large windows gave the chamber an openness that her air talent loved.

  “Thank you,” she managed to get out past the lump in her throat.

  Ryluth nodded and gave her a small smile, as if he understood how she felt, as if the ground was shifting beneath his feet, as well.

  “We are having a dinner in a little bit with some of my closest advisors. I must go make sure the other females are settled into their chambers. If you will excuse me...” he bowed to her and turned and walked away down the hall.

  Sofia stood staring at the empty doorway for a moment before her brain came back online. Ryluth was a sucker punch to a woman’s senses, she thought. He was dark, handsome and had amethyst colored eyes that seemed to pierce through her soul.

  “Now you’re being fanciful,” she chuckled to herself as she walked over to close the door and acquaint herself with her new living quarters. Seth had given them all richly appointed rooms at his house, but they paled in comparison to her room in Ryluth’s home.

  “I feel like a fairy tale princess,” Sofia laughed and began unpacking her bags. “I wonder where the trolls are?” And the pessimistic Sofia most people knew, returned from the trip into awe and wonder she’d fallen into upon seeing this place.

  *****

  Lennalth looked up when he scented Ryluth enter the wing where they were housing the five women.

  “Thank the Gods you are here,” he breathed and ran a hand over his face. “They never stop talking.”

  Ryluth grinned. “Surely you can handle a little female chattering?”

  Lennalth had pale skin, yet Ryluth could have sworn he paled further. His golden hair shaking back and forth.

  “A ‘little chattering’ would have been a relief compared to the non-stop questions from those harpies!” This was said in a choked whisper. “The questions never stop.”

  Ryluth thought it odd. Sofia hadn’t asked him a single thing.

  Closing his dark blue eyes, Lennalth groaned.

  “There is one that I am drawn to, and yet her mouth never stops moving...” he looked back towards the apartments where the five women had been settled.

  “Find other things for her mouth to do, Lennalth,” he grinned. “Surely it’s not been so long that you can’t figure it out.”

  His best friend shot him an obscene hand gesture as he walked off, down the hall.

  “They are all settled and will be brought to dinner,” Lennalth called down the hall and Ryluth felt the muscles in his face relax and he was able to take a deep breath for the first time since Sofia had come through the portal.

  He understood what she was to him now, and yet, unless she realized what he was to her, this whole thing could be nothing more than an experiment in torture. And the unkind thought entered his mind that it was all for nothing if he had to lose her to rid their world of the curse. The reason no one had sought a resolution was that there was not a dragon who wished to find their mate, only to lose her so everyone else could have one. But, Ryluth had finally determined that he would sacrifice himself, experience the joy and then when he would follow her so that his males could find happiness with their mates.

  It had been this way for so long on his world. The lack of a mate bond was what had killed so many of the males remaining after Coalna’s death. So many were glad to enter into agreements with females to bear young, then see them back to their world in the light of what actually falling for one could do to you. To just give up living, to go off and waste away into dust... No, Ryluth was determined to find a way to end this curse.

  Not one dragon amongst those left on his world wanted to find his mate, only to have her die to satisfy their god’s anger. So they hoped, and yet did not.

  He looked back down the hallway, towards the wing where Sofia’s room was, but shook his head. He knew his duty.

  An hour later, with his ears ringing and his body in rebellion from the voices and touches of the small females who had invaded his lair, Ryluth returned to his quarters to change for dinner. The only female who had not talked his ears off had been the Viking witch, Kjersti. She was silent for the most part, answering any question put to her with as short an answer as was polite.

  Had Cassie purposely picked the most annoying females to bring here to test him? Had she thought that by bringing this lot they would never again ask for access to females? He knew it was ridiculous but he had to admit though, it was a real suspicion in the back of his mind. No matter how desperate the males of his world had become, the constant chatter could be wearying after centuries of near silence on Wushin.

  Lennalth had not been exaggerating their ability to chatter. He was pretty sure that the one with honey colored hair and blue eyes had not drawn breath the entire time he’d shown them around his home. He tried to keep in mind that they were strangers in a strange world and their entire futures may be at stake. It must feel very vulnerable to be in a world you are wholly unfamiliar with and hold no currency beyond your ability to carry young. And yet, all of the females, except Sofia, had appeared so vivacious, so out-going that they seemed not to have a care at all. Even the Valkyrie was curious.

  Of course, knowing that Cassie could pull them away with a simple word must help any trepidation they had. Then it occurred to him, they all held a sense of adventure. Could his quiet, unquestioning Sofia be a secret adventuress?

  He smiled broadly as he began planning ways to give her what she may not even know she needed.

  *****

  Dinner was a—loud—affair with all of the females trying to engage the males in conversation among males who were completely inexperienced with speaking with any female. These females were up to the challenge, with the beautiful witch with the exotic eyes and straight black hair managing to draw out the taciturn Dragon, Groffur, into an extended conversation on the topography and regions of Wushin. The old grouch had even smiled a few times during the meal, from what Ryluth had noticed. He had spoken to everyone but his full attention never strayed from Sofia, who would have remained silent, watching, and uninvolved if he had let her.

  “Have you been back to your home on Earth since you were freed?” He asked Sofia when she had gone silent again and the Dragon on her right was speaking to one of the half-elf witches.

  Sofia’s head snapped over to him and stared into his eyes and Ryluth was captured in her gaze. Her eyes were beautiful. They were the col
or of honey with green motes in them. Her curly, brown hair, the color of chestnuts, had been pulled back from her face and it made her neck look wonderfully long and elegant. She was quite beautiful. She slowly nodded her head.

  “My family home is gone and the area of Siena we lived in has been built over into apartment buildings. It made me sad after a few days and Cassie came to get me and take me back to Lucky and Jake,” she explained and sighed, putting her fork down. “It did not take me long to discover that I no longer fit in and even the language I spoke was no longer recognized in the place where I learned it.”

  Ryluth just stared at her and then realized she was staring back at him.

  “Uh, I can see where that would be sad,” He tried to cover and realized he was failing. “Is that why you chose to go back to the Demonworld? To find a place where you did fit?”

  Sofia stared back a moment before dropping her gaze and swallowing. Ryluth’s brows came together between his eyes. He hadn’t seen her take a bite. Had he said something wrong?

  “I went back to be with my friends. They didn’t fit either,” she said quietly. “I thought I could find a new purpose in life beyond mere survival.” Her head came up and she looked around the room and Ryluth noticed her eyes begin to fill as she looked up to stave any tears from falling. “I was wrong.”

  That made Ryluth frown. He didn’t understand and he felt that he must understand this to understand her.

  “What were you wrong about?”

  Sofia cleared her throat and fiddled with the food on her plate, which he had just noticed she’d barely touched. “Everything.”

  “Everything?” He teased, wanting desperately to lighten her mood. “I think even the wrongest person on any world would have a very hard time being wrong about everything.”

  That garnered him a weak smile, but she did look over at him. “There is a saying on Earth that even a broken clock is correct twice a day. However, I went because I was looking for a change that I had not found elsewhere, if that is the question you were seeking to ask.”