by Eric Vall
“My healing magic, or my fire magic,” I explained quickly. “I also can’t shift into my dragon form.” Then I noticed a long gash on her head. “Did you hit your head? You could be having trouble remembering things right now, Julia. We should get you somewhere safe until my magic returns.”
I wrapped a hand around her arm and tried to pull her up.
“Moskal, can you carry Ruslan?” I asked the third Elder, but before he could answer, Julia pulled out of my grasp.
“Evan, what are you talking about? You’ve never had magic. Are you alright?”
“Y-Yeah, I’m fine,” I answered as I stared at my mother in shock.
Something was wrong.
Julia narrowed her eyes at me, but then Ruslan coughed from the ground, and her gaze went back to him,
“I’m going to go find Alyona,” I added slowly, “but first, let’s find someplace safe for all of you.”
Julia opened her mouth, but a loud explosion interrupted her response. The three of us ducked to the ground and covered our heads as dust rained from the sky, and my ears rang from the shockwave.
“That came from the airship!” Julia yelled frantically, and her blue eyes were wide with terror.
My blood ran cold as I turned toward the airship.
“Evan, go!” Julia yelled and shoved me toward the mouth of the alley. “We will be safe for now, this area is hidden well enough. You need to find the princess, she’s the only one who can save us now.”
I nodded and, with no time to argue, I took off at a sprint toward the airship.
Smoke billowed from the area of the explosion, and I coughed as I drew closer. My eyes began to burn from the ash in the air, and my coughing became constant as I walked into the thick black smoke. Finally, the air cleared just enough for me to make out the massive ship, and my jaw dropped.
The airship had been blown apart. The entire top half was gone, and it was blown into splinters that littered the earth. The bottom half was engulfed in flames, and there was no longer a defensive line that guarded the airship, since their bodies were strewn along the ground like dolls.
One thing was very clear: there were no survivors here.
Fury burned through me like a wildfire, and I clenched my shaking hands into fists. Then a flash of green caught my eye, and I spun to the left.
I clenched my jaw when I saw Olivier standing over a dead Hatra citizen. His eyes burned into mine, and he slowly smiled.
“This is your future, dragon,” he intoned in a cold voice.
Suddenly, the smoke from the airship vanished, and I could see the ruins of the city around us. I was the only one left alive. The demons vanished with the smoke, and the air stilled. Then silence filled the space between us as I took in all the destruction around me.
“I won’t let you get away with this,” I snarled at the mage. “I will rip you apart.”
Olivier laughed. “Until we meet again, dragon.”
Then he snapped his fingers and vanished into nothing.
My eyes snapped open as I bolted upright in bed, and I whipped my head from side to side to take in my surroundings. I was still in my room, in a nearly restored Hatra. Sweat covered my body, and I quickly summoned my flames to my arms. They responded immediately, and I let out a breath of relief. Then I climbed out of bed and evened out my erratic breathing. The rage that had built up in my dream still swirled around inside me, but I closed my eyes and counted to ten, and the fury began to abate.
“What the fuck was that?” I muttered to myself with my eyes still closed. The nightmare had felt incredibly vivid. Had Olivier really been there? Was it a dream or a vision? Did he plant the scene in my head? And if he did, how did he manage to do that?
I opened my eyes again, strode to my window, pulled back the curtain, and looked outside. The sky was still dark, but there was no way I could return to sleep after that dream, so I sighed in annoyance and quickly grabbed a change of clothes. There was a bathroom just down the hall with a shower. Alyona had found a spell a few months ago that could control the flow of water and wanted to try it out. When I explained the concept of showers to her, she immediately wanted to use the spell to create the Inati version of indoor plumbing. The only downside was that we couldn’t control the temperature of the water, so to bathe without having fire magic meant ice cold showers.
Thankfully, I was a dragon, so I got scalding hot showers whenever I wanted.
I stepped into the door of the bathroom and turned the knob that controlled the plumbing. Water sprayed from the showerhead I’d created out of stone, and I focused on my fire magic to warm the water. Steam instantly filled the room, and I stepped into the spray. Then I let out a deep breath as the water hit my skin and helped release the tension. I used the single bar of soap to clean my body and scrubbed some of the suds into my hair. It wasn’t as nice as shampoo back on Earth, but it was better than nothing. When I was finally clean, I just hunched under the pour of the water and let the hot streams roll down my back.
I stood in the shower for about twenty minutes before I got out and dried myself off with a towel that hung on the opposite wall. Then I dressed quickly and made my way outside. The sky was still dark, and I took advantage of the empty streets to inspect the newly constructed buildings and ease my mind a little. The heart of the city was nearly completed. We only had a few things left to do, and then we could focus on the outskirts of Hatra. Hopefully, there wouldn’t be any more surprises like the Itsumade.
The houses and buildings we’d already finished were outstanding, though. Most of the buildings were made out of stone with long pillars along the front to help with the foundation. They were designed to look like the houses were carved from a single slab of stone, and the result was incredible. I could barely see the separate bricks as they piled together to create the home.
Some buildings were bigger than others, though, so families with a lot of children or families who lived with their elderly parents would have plenty of room for everyone. Azra and Raisa had ensured the structures were built to withstand attacks, weather, time, and whatever else they thought of. These buildings were not going to fall anytime soon.
I smiled at the thought, but the dream I had still crept along the edges of my thoughts, so I walked through the rows of new houses and nodded in approval to calm the disquiet in my chest.
Then I heard whispers.
I stiffened immediately, grabbed the Sword of Hatra from my spatial storage in my right hand, and summoned dim flames in my left. I listened for the voices again and followed them toward the far end of the houses. The voices were low and quiet, like they didn’t want to be overheard, and I silently stalked toward them.
A small fire burned around the side of one of the homes, but no one sat around it. Then I used my fire magic to extinguish the flame.
A voice yelled out in surprise at the sudden darkness, and I heard the familiar sound of a sword being drawn.
“Raisa, get back!” one of the voices yelled, and I sighed in annoyance as I recognized it.
I used my magic to reignite the flame, and Azra and Raisa now stood around the fire. Azra clumsily held a sword in his hand, and Raisa was behind him with a stack of parchment clutched to her chest
“What the hell are you two doing out here?” I asked as I stowed my sword away and extinguished my flames.
“Lord Evan, you scared us half to death!” Raisa gasped with wide brown eyes. Then the crimson-haired woman stepped out from behind Azra and placed a hand over her heart.
“Sorry, Lord Evan,” Azra said as he slid his sword into the sheath along his hip, and his amber eyes were apologetic. “We didn’t think anyone would be awake.”
“Yeah, I figured.” I answered. “That doesn’t answer my question though, why are you two up so early?”
“Up?” Raisa asked. “We haven’t gone to sleep yet! We thought of the most amazing design for the Lunar Palace and just had to start the blueprints!”
“Go to sleep,” I ordere
d as I rolled my eyes at the two of them. “You can continue your work when you wake up, which will probably be around dinner time now.”
They both looked sheepish, and Azra ran a hand through his blue hair with a sigh.
“Sorry, we have a tendency to get caught up in our work,” Raisa admitted after a second.
I laughed at her guilty expression. “No kidding. Come on. Let’s get you two home.”
I walked with the two architects through the city and back toward their cabin-like temporary home. The moon was full in the sky and lit the path enough that there was no need for my flames to guide us. The architects whispered as they trailed behind me, and I chuckled to myself as I caught parts of their conversation.
“Do you two ever stop working?” I asked over my shoulder.
They were quiet for a moment before they sighed in synchronization.
“I don’t think we do,” Azra admitted with a laugh.
“We’re sorry, Lord Evan,” Raisa said as she skipped forward to walk next to me. “It’s just so exciting for us! We’ve never had such a large job as this one. When we were chosen to come help redesign Hatra, we were both so happy, we nearly burst!”
“Hatra was your first job?” I asked in surprise.
“Not our first, no.” Raisa answered, “but by far the largest and most important. Most of the jobs we were hired for in Leyte were small projects like libraries or schools. Here,” she gestured her hands at Hatra around us, “here, we get to build an entire city. It’s an incredible opportunity for us, so we might seem a bit excited, but we’re also nervous.”
“Why are you nervous?” I questioned with a furrowed brow.
“This kind of job could either make us the greatest architects of all time, or it could destroy our careers,” Azra explained as he pursed his lips. “No one else wanted to risk their careers on building up an abandoned city, but we knew if we could do it, we would become famous. People from all around the world would want to hire us.”
“But if it fails, we will become nothing more than a joke in our field,” Raisa added quietly before she grinned at me. “It was a risk, but it was a risk we were willing to take!”
“Well, I’m glad Hatra has the two of you,” I chuckled. “You two truly care about the city and her people. Not to mention, you have nearly finished an entire section of the city in the short time you’ve been here. I think anyone would be lucky to have the two of you working for them.”
Raisa blushed, and Azra smiled proudly, but I meant every word I said. They were an important part of Hatra now. This city was their creation, and I was proud to call them my friends and allies.
“Thank you, Lord Evan, that means a lot to us,” Raisa said softly from my side, and her brown eyes were bright with unshed tears.
We approached their cabin, and they walked ahead of me to unlock the door with a key Azra had hanging around his neck.
“Sorry again for taking up your time, Lord Evan,” Azra whispered as he pushed the door open.
“No worries, just try to not stay up so late, okay? I didn’t expect to see anyone around so early.”
They both nodded and slipped inside.
“We’ll see you when we wake up,” Raisa said and waved as she closed the door.
“Night, you two,” I whispered after her.
Then I walked back into the city, and by now the dark sky had begun to shift into an orange light as the sun started to rise over the horizon.
I walked toward the airship to meet Ravi and return her mother’s necklace. As I walked, the sun rose higher, and the citizens slowly began to wake. I waved hello to those who I met along the path to the airship, and they greeted me with smiles and returned the waves.
After nearly half an hour, I got to the airship and quickly climbed the stairs to reach the top. Thankfully, I no longer needed to worry about getting lost inside the ship, since Laika had given me a tour recently. I passed the guard who was on patrol for Ravi’s rooms, and he bowed respectfully. Then I opened the door quietly to peer inside, and Ravi looked up from her bed.
“Good morning, Lord Evan.” The phoenix smiled brightly as she greeted me.
“Morning,” I replied and stifled a yawn. “I think you lost something last night, during our … conversation in my room.”
Her cheeks tinted pink at my words, and she looked at me in confusion.
“What did I lose?”
I pulled the necklace from my spatial storage, and she gasped. Her right hand flew to her neck, and she covered her mouth with her left hand.
“Oh gods, I didn’t even notice!” she cried as she stood from her bed, and her thin night dress left little to the imagination as it clung tightly to her curves. “Thank you for returning it to me!”
My eyes hungrily took in her appearance, and I cleared my throat before responding.
“Of course. I know how important this necklace is to you.”
The phoenix walked toward me slowly, and her eyes glinted with mischief. When she reached me, she turned and held her hair up away from her neck.
“Do you mind?” she asked.
“Of course not,” I murmured.
I held each end of the necklace and slipped one end around her neck. Then I pulled the ends together and clasped the necklace shut. I could smell the slightly smoky scent from her hair, and her skin felt like silk beneath my fingers as they ran down her neck, but then I pulled away.
“All done,” I rasped, since my mouth was suddenly dry.
Ravi dropped her hair and turned to me, and then she licked her lips as she met my eyes. Her blue eyes sparkled in the light, and she swallowed and took a shallow breath before she answered.
“Thank you.”
She held the necklace’s pendant in her hands and smiled. Then she leaned forward to kiss my lips.
The instant our mouths touched, I pulled her close and deepened the kiss, and I heard her moan softly. Then her hands wrapped around my neck and toyed with the hair at the base of my head.
“I think it’s time we finished our conversation from last night,” I mumbled against her lips, and she nodded quickly.
I picked Ravi up and quickly placed her down on the bed, and she laid back against her pillows. Then I broke off our kiss and climbed on top of her before I captured her lips in another searing kiss. My hands travelled up her legs, and I could feel her breath hitch when I caressed her inner thigh.
I found the bottom half of her underclothes, so I quickly pulled them away and tossed them to the floor behind us. My fingers delved back between her thighs, and I could feel how slick she already was. I stroked across her hot and wet pussy lips, and Ravi shuddered and sighed against me.
“Lord Evan,” she whined against my mouth, and then I pulled away from the kiss and stared down at her.
“I love hearing you say my name,” I growled.
Ravi smirked and trailed her hand down my chest.
“Lord Evannnn,” she purred again in a husky voice, and I snarled as I dove down and latched onto her collarbone.
As I worked on sucking a mark into her pale skin, my fingers slipped between her legs again, and I immediately started painting circles around her clit.
“Evan! That feels … so good!” the phoenix gasped and bucked against me, and her nails latched onto my shoulders.
Once I’d worked her into a frenzy, I dragged my tongue up her neck and nipped at her earlobe, and at the same time, I drove two of my fingers into her tight tunnel.
“Oh!” Ravi cried out, and her blue eyes rolled into the back of her head as her sopping pussy clenched around my digits.
I growled deep in my throat as I thrust my fingers into her and settled my thumb over her clit. My draconic instincts were going crazy as Ravi kept whimpering my name, and my eyes roved over the marks I’d left on her neck.
This phoenix princess was mine.
“Evan, I … ” Ravi trailed off as her voice transformed into a whine, and I slipped a third finger into her.
A mo
ment later, a wordless cry erupted from Ravi’s throat, and her back bowed as her hips jolted frantically in my grasp.
I felt a rush of liquid splash across my hand as the phoenix rode her climax out. I smirked in satisfaction when I withdrew my fingers, and she whimpered pitifully.
Yeah, no other man, or phoenix, could make her feel like this. Only I could.
It took Ravi a minute to regain her composure, but then her hazy gaze locked onto my face. Her blue eyes were blown wide with lust, her lips were red and swollen from our kisses, and she looked desperate as I trailed my hand against her wet inner thighs again.
I reached down to kiss her, but then a glimpse of silver caught my eye, and I pulled away with a growl.
“Are you serious?” I groaned as Ravi looked at me questioningly.
A small silver fox danced around us, and I held out a hand with a sigh. It landed in my palm and opened its mouth, and when it spoke, it had Ruslan’s voice.
“Alyona has already received a response from the King. Meet us at the library as soon as you can.”
The fox clamped its mouth shut and vanished in a puff of silver smoke.
I sighed and looked down at Ravi, who held back a laugh.
“I promise, one day my father won’t interrupt us,” I chuckled as her laughter broke through.
“It’s fine,” Ravi replied through her giggles. “This was like … the appetizer.” Her blue eyes trailed down to my cock, which was rock hard and at attention in my trousers. “Now, I’m eagerly anticipating the main course. I want to make you feel as good as you just made me feel. Over and over again, my lord.”
A growl of delight vibrated in my chest, and I smirked at the phoenix.
“Oh, I want that too, and believe me, the main course will be more like a five course feast, plus dessert.” I kissed her passionately one last time before I stood from the bed. “Do you want to come with me?”
“More than anything,” the phoenix princess breathed with her eyes still locked on my dick.
“Not what I meant,” I chuckled, “but I’ll make a note of it for later. For now, do you want to accompany me to the library?”
Ravi sat up from the bed and stretched before she stood. “Sure! I’ll just need to change first.”