by Katie Cherry
She turned her face away, forcing her lungs to unfreeze and draw in air once more. "I missed you, Rhys... but I can't. It isn't fair to Adam." She slunk back to the tent, avoiding looking at his face, though she could feel her heart squeeze as though feeling his pain at her rejection.
This was going to be a long journey.
Chapter Four
The next morning, neither of them said much, just silently packed up all their stuff once more, though there was a new tension between them, and Myra noticed Rhys watching her far more often than usual. She declined to address it, though, and settled for catching his stares every so often, causing him to focus his attention on stuffing his backpack with increased enthusiasm. She smiled a little to herself, unable to deny how happy it made her to be on the receiving end of his increased attention. Still, though, she couldn't get back with Rhys. To do so would be belittling to her commitment two years ago to a human life, and she didn't want to be seen as foolish, or not... passionate enough to follow-through on her decisions. Besides, she had Adam's feelings to take into consideration. After all that he'd done for her, allowing her to live with him, and taking care of her financially, emotionally... even though she'd made her decision clear that she wanted to take it slow. He wasn't happy with the decision, but had respected it regardless. He'd been nothing but kind and considerate of her.
Why, then, had Rhys never really left her thoughts?
Downing another pill, she focused on preparing breakfast, not meeting Rhys's burning blue gaze. Even after they ate and cleaned up, she simply unfurled her wings without so much as a glance to him, leaping into the sky with him right behind her. Now that the pill had kicked in, she could sense his feelings again, his patient anticipation and adoration, but she forced herself to focus on the tugging feeling in her gut. It was stronger now, assuring her that they were headed in the right direction, but they were clearly still far away. Given that they would hit the East Coast within a few hours, the Elders were definitely across the ocean.
Giving in with a sigh, she turned back to Rhys, shouting over the wind. "I think we'll need to take a plane."
"She speaks," he joked before considering her words. "I think you're right- we can't fly over the ocean ourselves. Any idea where we need a plane to? The UK? Ireland? ...Africa?"
"I have no idea," she murmured, feeling her face pale a little in concern.
"That's okay. We'll figure it out when we get to another city, okay?" Myra nodded her acceptance, though doubt continued to nag at her in the back of her mind. What if she couldn't tell where they were supposed to go? What if she picked wrong, and it added time to their search? Time that Bonnie, Cynthia, Tavin, and Jasper couldn't spare. Reminding herself to breathe, she forced her mind to figure out where they should go to hitch a plane ride across the ocean. New York was bound to have a large enough airport to have lots of flights going across the ocean, right? Closing her eyes, she recalled the map she'd looked at that morning. They'd have to go a little more North to hit New York. Adjusting their path, she called back to Rhys, explaining that New York was likely their best bet. He accepted, and they continued for a few hours, landing at the edge of the city so they could walk in without attracting any undue attention.
Luckily they were able to get a cab soon after to take them to the airport. Myra tried not to be overwhelmed by the noise of the city, but it was all much more overwhelming than what she was used to- especially the past few days with only Rhys for company, flying far overhead the rest of the world.
After paying for the cab, they wound through the airport, finally finding a list of flights and destinations. "Just pick whatever calls out to you," Rhys encouraged quietly. "Your bond will, hopefully, help you know where to go."
"Right," she whispered in reply, staring at the board, feeling overwhelmed. Still, she focused on the list and monitoring her magic to see if there's any change in response to the names. After a moment, one stands out to her, and her gut twinges in confirmation. Smiling in relief, she turned to Rhys. "Norway."
*****
They got tickets for the next available flight, but it was a few hours out, so they got lunch and explored the airport while they waited. Finally, they were able to board the plane and settle in for the nearly 8-hour flight to Oslo. Within minutes, Myra was bored. She tried listening to music from the panel on the back of the seat in front of her, but easily grew bored of that as well. At this point, Rhys was spending his time watching her try to figure out how to spend hers, an annoyingly adorable quirk in his smile.
"What?" she finally huffed.
His smile grew. "Nothing. You're just cute when you're bored."
Myra flushed at the blatant compliment. "You can't say stuff like that."
"Okay... the things you do are adorable."
"That's not any better," she groaned.
"If you missed me and you obviously still have feelings for me... why are you rejecting me?" he asked, genuinely sounding confused and a little hurt. "It can't be your original excuse of preferring a human life to a dragon one- you already admitted that you miss everything about the dragon life as well. ...Do you love Adam that much?"
"W- well, I..." She stopped, drawing a deep breath to calm herself before replying. "I owe Adam everything. He's been kind and considerate of me and my needs this past year, and even let me move in with him when my art wasn't making me any money yet and I was living with a married couple- which is extremely awkward, by the way, I do not recommend it."
"I get being grateful, but Myra... you don't owe him anything. You don't owe him the rest of your life... you don't owe him his happiness over your own. I'm sure he'll be fine without you. But, Myra... what do you want? How do you want to be spending the rest of your life- and who do you want at your side during that time? If it really is Adam- disregarding what he's done for you in the past year- then I'll back off. But if you decide that it's me that you want, Adam is a grown man. He can take care of himself. He'll be fine." Myra bit her lip and looked away from Rhys, feeling heat radiating from her skin. He may be right, but... she couldn't help the feeling in her chest that she needed to pay Adam back. He didn't have to take her in, but he had anyway, despite only having gone on a few dates with her. "You don't need to choose today," Rhys softly continued, the caring in his voice so deep she couldn't help but look back at him. "But by the time this crisis is over, you'll need to choose once and for all which path you want your life to take. If you choose him, I'll leave you alone to live out your human life. Just know that in the meantime, I will be seeing what I can do to convince you to choose me." Taking one of her hands in his, he kissed her knuckles lightly, maintaining eye contact as he did so, his blue eyes swimming with emotion.
Then, dropping her hand, he turned and put in the provided earbuds, turning on a movie. She stared at him for a moment, her heart pounding. When he glanced at her, she leaned back and closed her eyes, pretending to sleep, while really trying to calm her swirling thoughts. Rhys had made some excellent points, she had to admit. But it was too heavy a decision to make right now.
Lost in her thoughts, she didn't notice herself falling asleep until she woke at Rhys's voice. "Hey, Myra... we're almost there," he murmured, his breath gently sweeping across her hair. She pried her eyes open, yawning, before realizing her head was resting on his shoulder. Judging by the ache in her jaw, she'd been in that position for a while.
"Oh, my- Rhys! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep!" she gasped, pulling back and wiping at her mouth to ensure she hadn't drooled. To her relief, she hadn't.
"It's fine, I didn't mind," he replied with an easy, caring smile that made her heart skip a beat.
Clearing her throat in embarrassment and smoothing her hair, she asked, "So... how far away are we?"
"About half an hour," he replied. "You took a pretty long nap."
"Yeah... I guess I'm exhausted from all the flying," she replied, stifling another yawn.
He looked at her for a moment before replying, "We sh
ould get a hotel room. We need to recharge from all the flying before we meet the Elders. How close do they feel?"
"Oh, um... really close, actually. Norway is definitely the right place," she replied as the pill's effects ended. "Oh," she quietly gasped, still not used to the effects wearing off so suddenly. "You asked just in time, too- the pill barely wore off."
"That settles it, then," he declared with a smile. "We're not attempting anything else today but finding a room to stay the night. We'll meet the Elders tomorrow and hopefully they'll help us... but that's tomorrow's problem. Deal?"
"Of course," Myra resigned, giving him a tired smile in return. She hadn't realized just how exhausted all the flying had been, but now it was weighing heavily on her body. Rhys was right, they needed to recharge.
They stepped off the plane and after a while of stumbling around and trying to read the Norwegian signs, they found a place to stay. Luckily, the room they got had two beds. Myra took the one closest to the window, and Rhys grabbed the one nearest to the door. As much as she wanted a shower, Myra felt too exhausted from the plane ride over and simply crashed into bed instead, Rhys doing the same.
A shower would just have to wait until tomorrow.
Chapter Five
Myra forced herself to get out of bed early the next morning, knowing they'd have a long day ahead of them. Rhys was still sleeping quietly on his bed, and she padded silently past him to the bathroom, where she gladly shed her clothes and climbed into the shower. As the warm rivers ran down her back, she let out a sigh of relief and relaxed, closing her eyes to enjoy the feeling for a moment. After four days of travelling and camping in the woods, she was grateful to have a chance to finally get clean. Thank heavens Rhys had insisted on grabbing a hotel room for the night. She didn't want to show up to the Elders reeking from four days' sweat that had crusted onto her skin.
She finished sooner than she wanted, remembering that Rhys needed a shower too, and she should leave him some hot water. Wrapping one of the long, plush towels around herself, she left the bathroom to find him just waking up. "Good morning," she greeted with a relaxed smile.
Rubbing his eyes, Rhys turned to her with a yawn. "Mornin' Myra." Then his eyes opened and he noticed her in the towel, his face instantly going red. "Myra!"
"What? I just got out of the shower," she hastily explained, her own face burning as she clung to her towel. "I figured you'd want one too."
"Oh... of course," he murmured, scrambling into the bathroom, his gaze pointed anywhere but at her. Myra chuckled and, after he'd closed the door, began to get dressed in her last clean outfit, which she'd saved to help make a good impression on the Elders. Now that they were likely going to find them today, it was time to wear it. Running the silky blue fabric through her fingers, she smiled sadly at it. It was one of Bonnie's. Rhys had borrowed it for Myra since she didn't have any shirts herself to allow room for her wings. Slowly lifting it to her nose, she carefully breathed in the scent preserved in the fabric. Oh, Bonnie. It'll be okay, Bonnie, Myra vowed, finally slipping on the shirt. We'll get the Elders to help us rescue you. Rescue all of you.
Brushing out her hair, she put it in a braid today, since the ponytail she'd used when travelling still got tossed about in the wind pretty badly, and she wanted to look her best. A good first impression could end up being the difference between a 'yes' from the Elder Dragons, or a 'no.' She couldn't take any chances. Not with her friends' lives on the line.
Rhys turned off the shower just as she finished with her hair. Grabbing her water bottle, she quickly took another pill, knowing it would take a few minutes to kick in. He stepped out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around his waist. Myra's heart skipped a beat at the sight of him fresh out of the shower. Oh, she was in trouble now. Heart pounding, she lowered her gaze, clasping her hands together tightly. Seeing him grab pants from the corner of her eye, she turned around to give him privacy, like they had been doing all week, though her cheeks still burned. Now that she'd admitted to herself as well as to him that she still had feelings for him... it was like those feelings amplified, pumping fire through her veins. She'd felt this pressure on her chest before while around him, but somehow, this time was different.
"Done," Rhys said, pulling his shirt over his head. She turned and met his gaze, which seemed to be smoldering with emotion. Whenever he looked at her like that over the past few days, she'd turned away, but she couldn't seem to be able to this time. Captivated by his blue eyes and the little dimple that appeared by his mouth, she didn't move as he approached and sat down next to Myra on the bed, twisted to face her. Still, she didn't move, though the air around them seemed to spark from the energy they were giving off.
Rhys's eyes gained an intensity she rarely saw from him, and his gaze lowered to her lips and paused before going back up to her eyes, as though asking permission. Again, she sat still, hardly breathing. She couldn't help but glance at his lips again, all her reasons for staying away from him seeming to slip away. She felt she couldn't keep them in her mind even if she tried.
Though, she didn't want to try.
She just wanted to kiss him.
As soon as Rhys perceived this shift, he pressed forward, crushing her lips with his, one of his hands already going to the back of her head and holding onto her hair. She responded immediately, pressing back with a hunger she'd never felt before. Maybe Rhys was on to something saying that red dragons were passionate. Her love for Rhys, though it had been buried for two years, surfaced stronger and deeper than before. Her body was screaming for him. She needed him. How could she have ever thought she didn't? How could she have convinced herself to settle for what she had with Adam? How could she have convinced herself that she loved him, when love clearly felt like this?
Before the kiss could progress far, the pill she'd taken kicked in, just as suddenly and powerfully as the first time, causing her to flinch away from him. He pulled back, though his eyes devoured her face as the golden glow about her settled and faded. Myra stood, not looking at him, feeling flushed all over. She cleared her throat. "The Elders are very close." She blew out a breath and turned back to Rhys, shouldering her pack. "Ready?"
*****
They didn't speak after they checked out and headed into the woods, following Myra's directions, and the intense atmosphere between them settled down a little, which Myra was glad for. As much as she loved Rhys and the rush he gave her, they couldn't afford to get distracted. Not before they rescued their clan.
Their clan. Myra didn't realize, but she'd subconsciously already chosen her path sometime in the last few days. She was a dragon, and she didn't want to turn her back on that part of herself any longer. She didn't want to settle. Jasper, Rhys, Tavin, Cynthia, and Bonnie were her clan... her family. And she would do whatever it took to save them... and return to them for good. She could never be sure what her future would hold. But she had a feeling she'd like the future she had ahead of her in Rhys's clan- her clan- as a dragon.
Snapping out of her thoughts, she realized they'd passed the place they were headed. "Wait," she called to Rhys. "I think they're back a bit. We missed them."
"Wait, really? But I didn't see anything," he replied, though he followed her as she retraced her path.
"They should be... right about... here," Myra murmured, hovering over a patch of forest that looked the same as all the rest. Beautiful- but definitely not housing any dragons. Giving Rhys a look of concern, she guided their descent into the treeline, carefully avoiding branches until they reached the ground. Tucking her wings behind her carefully, she walked forward a few steps before she suddenly froze, her body stuck in place. Rhys froze a step behind her. Myra found she could turn her head to look at him, though she couldn't speak. He looked back at her in concern, his wings seeming to shudder as they were held in place.
After a few moments, they heard footsteps and a man appeared before them, as though he'd walked through an invisible barrier. He ran his eyes over them for a moment before s
peaking. "Who are you, and why have you come here?"
Eyeing the stranger, Myra opened her mouth and found herself able to speak. "I'm Myra, this is Rhys. We came to seek the Elder Dragons' help."
"And who are you to think you can request an audience of the Elder Dragons?"
"I... think I'm a descendant from one of them," she gulped. "That's... how I found my way here. I have a link to one of the Elders."
"Hmm... interesting," he murmured, his eyes roaming over them once more before waving an arm, releasing them from whatever spell had frozen them. "My name is Gadriel. I was a mutt, like you, and became Dragonkin thanks to the Elders' compassion on me. I guard the entrance to the city, though to be honest, my services are not usually needed. This is intriguing to me indeed. Please, come in. I will make sure you have something to eat, and I will alert the Elder Dragons to your presence."
"Thank you, Gadriel," Rhys replied with a bow, which Myra hastily copies. "I'm very glad you've decided to allow us to enter."
"Of course. Though I can make no promises that the Elders will even see you," he warned, leading them through the invisible barrier. Once through, the area opened up. Though there were a few buildings, most of the 'city' was wide open space. "Though I have a feeling they'll be curious about you, Myra," Gadriel continued, glancing back at her. "To be honest, there aren't really many descendants. That we know of, at least. It's possible there are quite a few out there, scattered around, some of them human and some of them dragon. But you are the only known recent relative," he murmured, his own voice heavy with curiosity.
"They don't know who their descendants are?" Myra asked, feeling her heart plummet. If they didn't know about them, how would they know about her and her family and be able to tell her about them?