AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I call upon my magic. It tingles through me, ready for my command. Rock moves lower, over my camisole, and opens his mouth, readying to take my nipple into it.
I’ve let this go too far.
“Sleep,” I blurt out.
He immediately slumps onto me, his open mouth landing perfectly over my breast. I grunt under the weight of him, realizing that I should have gotten on top before putting him to sleep. His breathing is even and deep in slumber. I push hard, rocking back and forth until I can roll him onto his back. Drool slides down the corner of his open mouth, I glance down at the wet spot on my camisole over my nipple and I sigh. I definitely should have stopped things sooner. My eyes wander to the tent currently erected in the sheets at his groin.
“Sorry, not-so-little rock, but big rock would have hated me more in the morning if I’d let us have our fun.”
Rock is so peaceful in his sleep; his chest slowly rises and falls in an even rhythm. His lower lip pouts just slightly and his hand with the bracelet has fallen off the side of the bed like a silent invitation.Don’t mind if I do.
I crawl off the bed and reach out to take the bracelet but hesitate for a moment. What would it be like to join him? To help Thaaryn? And tumble in the sheets on the regular with him? I shake the idea away. I couldn’t even if I wanted to. It would paint a target on Rock’s back. I’m hunted, and not just because of my ability to use magic, but because I’m the daughter of the most hated man in all of Thaaryn. And the power he passed on to me when he was dying isn’t just deadly, it’s evil.
So, I expertly slide the bracelet off his wrist. I put my mostly dry leathers back on, my belt, and lace up my boots before slipping out of the room and out of Rock’s life forever. It’s better this way, I tell myself. Rock might think he wants me around, but that’s only because he doesn’t know who I really am.
* * *
Pixies, not patient creatures, have probably moved on by now. I make my way to the front door which gratefully is void of banging. Still, I take my time opening the door and look up at the sky first. I spot the pixie trails leading away from my position, breathe a sigh of relief, and leave the estate.
The sound of the river slowly fades the farther I travel. The silver sheen of the moonlight shines bright, illuminating the fog dancing and curling along the grass at my feet. I resent the regret creeping into my mind. I’m leaving and it can’t be helped, I remind myself. Rock and I live in two different worlds. He’s a hero of Thaaryn, and I’m the outlawed magic user who steals and deals in illegal acts to survive. There’s no point in trying to be anything other than what we are.
As I crest the hill, I stop, my heart jumping wildly in my chest. Sitting stoically is the dragon from the cave. He holds his head high, regal, and proud. Moonlight illuminates each scale showing a new variation of the blue within each one. The dragon is perfectly still at first, taking me in with his intelligent eyes. I stay just as still. Waiting. Wondering.
The dragon shifts his stance and I suck in a sharp breath, readying to bolt back to the castle. But my fear recedes when he bends at the neck, and crouches down, lowering his head all the way to the ground. In my observations of the dragons, this is the gesture made when one is conceding to another. I’ve only ever seen the other dragons concede to this one. He slowly raises his head just enough to lock eyes with me. The intensity I find there is overwhelming and before I think about what I’m doing, I walk toward the magnificent creature. My fear replaced with curious fascination.
When I’ve closed the distance, the dragon extends his head. An invitation. Calm washes over me and I know he means no harm. Tentatively, I reach out and place my hand on the Dragon’s warm snout. Heat enters my body from the touch, and I tingle everywhere. I feel, more than hear, a strange pop deep within my center, followed by a surge of magic. Something is not right. It’s euphoria. It’s terrifying. It's heat, and cold, and light, and dark. My heart races, sweat coats my skin, a loud roaring, like I’m standing next to a waterfall, drowns out my hearing.
I’m pure energy.
Pure power.
Puremagic.
I can’t tell where I begin and where it ends. It’s all-consuming. The magic fills every cell and fiber of my being until I fear I might burst with the intensity of it. A glowing blue fills the clearing. I think it’s coming fromme.It is me.
The overwhelming sensations slowly fade, like a beast backing into its cave after announcing itself to the world with a loud roar that shakes the earth and rattles the stars. I fall to my hands and knees, my breathing labored, sweat beading down my forehead, fog swirling around me. The magic retreated somewhere deep inside me, and yet I can still feel its presence in a way I never have before. I suddenly realize with a horrifying clarity I have felt power similar to this before: the night of the Blood Moon. The moment my father transferred all of his magic into me. It wasn’t as strong then as it is now, but it has the same essence, the same taste in the back of my throat. I only hope it will stay where it retreated to.
I look up through a veil of my dark hair, my limbs still shaking from the experience. The dragon locks gaze with me once more and I feel a new, strange bond with him. He pushes an emotion into my head:Peace. I know without a doubt that I will never fear him again. He blinks slowly once, then takes flight, heading back in the direction of the Vynx fjord and his cave. My hair blows wildly around me in the wake of his departure, the fog swirling and parting with the force of his wing beats. I get to my feet wondering what the hell just happened. I look where the dragon had been. Laying there in his stead are my twin short swords. The only sound is the fading of the dragon’s massive wing beats and my own labored breathing.
Chapter4
Hydenglen
By the time I’m walking in the forest where my village is hidden, every muscle aches, I’m exhausted, starving, and I don’t smell much better than when I was covered in dragon dung. And to top it off, remorse keeps nagging at me like an annoying gnat. I don’t know why. I simply taught Rock the same valuable lesson I needed to learn all those years ago: trust no one but yourself. That lesson will probably save his life someday. Really, I did him a service. So why can’t I get those golden eyes of his out of my head? Why do I keep imagining what it would be like if I had said yes to working with him? It’s probably just the exhaustion getting the best of me. I’ll think clearer once I get a hot meal and a good night’s rest. I walk up to a set of three gnarled oak trees covered in moss that intertwine and twist into each other.
“Spirits know it’s been a long couple of days, boys. Just let me in.” Then as an afterthought, I add, “please.”
Three long-limbed creatures, reaching eight feet tall, slowly untwist with a creaking from the main trunks of the enormous oaks. The creatures are covered in bark, moss, and leaves. They’re tree spirits, and the protectors of our community. Their kind faces gaze down at me with bright smiles.
“Sahra,” Gorum, the tallest of the tree spirits says with a deep, echoing voice. He sniffs the air, and his eyes widen a little. “You smell of such marvelous adventures.”
“Most people just call that body odor,” I mutter.
“Come now,” Gorum says. “We must hear of your travels. What have you seen, child?”
Tree spirits can’t travel from their forest, so they love to hear about my excursions. I usually tell them as a ticket to my entering the community, but I’m way too tired right now. “Food, sleep, then stories,” I say in a gravelly voice. “In that order, or none at all.”
“So grumpy you are today,” Loehr says. He’s the oldest of the three. “Please, tell us, what is it that we smell?” He waves his long-fingered hand, the leaves on his knuckles wavering in with the motion. “It has an ancient quality to it.”
