Authors: Paulette Miller
“Where’s your leader?” Marcus asked while comforting her.
She shook her head. “He’s gone. They killed him. They also took a couple of the villagers with them when they left.” She was sobbing now so he let some of her family take her away.
Seth walked up to Marcus. “It was Kai's Drenn warriors. I can still smell their stench.”
At the mention of Kai's name, Tianna stood up and scanned the area cautiously. Nathaniel was at her side in seconds, putting this arm around her and holding her tight.
Tianna asked, her voice shaking, “Why would Kai do this? They’re helpless and no threat to him. He only took a few people when he could’ve taken them all and killed the ones he didn’t want.” She had an awful thought. “I think they were left here for us to find, but why?” Thinking that most of Kai recent actions had something to do with her, she added, “I wasn’t here so he wasn‘t trying to get to me, and he didn’t stay when he knew I’d show up.”
Gabriel told his fellow guest members to come over next to him so they could talk privately. Once assembled, Gabriel said, “I was talking to a couple of villagers. They all say the same thing. Drenn came in, destroyed the village, took a few villagers, and left. They didn’t talk to anyone or ask for anything. It makes no sense.”
Although Tianna knew Kai was evil, she was just starting to understand the extent of his evil nature. If he did this to get to her in some way, she would never forgive herself. Her body started to shake. “We have to help these people,” she said as her voice broke.
They discussed their situation and decided that all of them, including Raven’s group, would stay and try to help in any way they could.
Tianna spoke with Gabriel and they decided that they must secure the village. He asked Tianna, “This is a smaller village, but do you think you can secure an area of this size?”
Tianna nodded. “I think I can. I’ll need a couple of people with me so they can share their energy if I get weak.”
Samuel stepped forward instantly to volunteer, which made Nathaniel step over and put his arm territorially around Tianna.
Tianna turned to Nathaniel and said, “You need to stay here and help heal the injured. I’ll join you as soon as I can.” She asked if Charles would join her as well. He nodded and stepped forward. She ran to her horse, retrieved her spell book, and then led Samuel and Charles to the entrance of Semora. Without hesitating, she started her spell work.
Marcus took the task of being the village’s temporary leader. He quickly surveyed the area and gathered those that were well enough to help. He began to send out his workers like he was sending soldiers into battle. Several went to collect food and set-up places to serve meals, while others helped create medical facilities to care for the wounded. Some had the terrible task of collecting those that had died. Within no time, Marcus had order where there had been chaos.
Sometime during all of the set-up work, Tianna returned with her Draaks. She was actually being carried by Samuel. The task was completed successfully but, even with the Draaks sharing their energy, it was almost too much for her. She had passed out just as she finished. Samuel insisted that he carry her and she had reluctantly agreed.
Tianna had laid down for only an hour when she was seen once again healing with her blue fire as well as creating potions to calm any villagers. Samuel was very impressed with her and checked on her often. His interest in Tianna bothered Nathaniel, but given their current situation, he let it go.
That first night, everyone simply laid down wherever they worked to catch some rest.
The next day was much better. Marcus’ leadership and organization skills had the village functioning in record time. Once the basics were set-up, he started the task of trying to prepare a few selected villagers to step forward as leaders. They would need to keep their village on their feet when he and his fellow Draak had to leave.
The night before, Marcus had sent Charles to fly ahead to Haven and bring back additional help. Charles returned with help before mid-day meal. Since Charles flew to Haven and back, he was exhausted so Tianna gave him energy to revive his strength.
The Craftsmen Sett’s special skill was building just about anything. They went to work constructing new huts, fixing their water system, and other features that made a village work. Tianna assisted Samuel several times. They worked well together and he was amazed by her natural Craftsman skills.
Raven helped heal whenever she could, but her special skills were in handling poisons, which was a skill they currently didn’t need. She decided that she was better suited to play an assistant to a healer so she attached herself to Nathaniel’s side. Tianna watched them work and found their skills complemented each other well. She guessed that this wasn’t the first time they had healed as a team, but Nathaniel seemed grateful for the extra hands.
Seth helped with food distribution and showed off his cooking skills, while Gabriel worked on ways to protect the village. He found any of the villagers that were able to carry a sword and taught them defensive techniques.
This routine continued for several more days. Gabriel insisted that their normal routine included the Draaks shifting on a regular basis to keep them strong and ready for battle at a moment’s notice.
Once the village had leadership in place and it seemed that they were well on their way to being back on their feet, Marcus announced that they would be continuing on their journey the next day. He would send replacements back from Haven to check on them until they were stable again.
Although no one wanted to leave the village, they knew they couldn’t stay there forever. Tianna was grateful for a different reason—she feared for these people as long as she was there. She knew Kai would come back to try to get her.
That night, Tianna and Nathaniel crawled into bed exhausted. Given how low they were on energy, they both stripped naked so they could touch body to body. As Tianna clung onto Nathaniel, she sensed not just his need for her touch, but also a deeper need. It was a feeling she knew he had been trying to hide from her, except it had grown in intensity over the last few weeks.
Nathaniel was Draak and had desires that she knew he had voluntarily suppressed since announcing their relationship. Meeting Raven caused Tianna to want to be more like a normal Draak. She was ready to embrace her inner nature by giving the Draak in her arms what she thought he needed.
Typically when lying next to Nathaniel, she calmed his desires, but not tonight. While drawing lines up and down Nathaniel’s back with her blue flamed fingertips, she released the desires within her heart and projected them to her bedmate. Nathaniel’s body reacted instantly to her physical and mental caress.
Tianna took the lead and, while pressing her body tight against his, she pulled his face down to hers and kissed him. Nathaniel’s dragon growled, kissing her back. Given their need for each other, within minutes, their kisses turned into an embrace full of passion and desire. Their fingers touched and explored every inch of each other’s bodies, while their lips kissed the path that was laid out by the tips of their tongues.
Nathaniel felt an inner discomfort grow in his chest. He knew he should respond to his body’s warning, but his dragon roared in his mind, causing him to ignore it. His mind and body were focused solely on his bedmate.
As their desire grew in intensity, Tianna wiggled against the heat coming from Nathaniel’s dragon. When Tianna nibbled on Nathaniel’s neck and started to purr, he cried out and flipped her onto her back. Starting at her stomach, he kissed a slow path up her body to her breast, where he played with her nipple with his tongue. When he took it into his mouth, he jumped as another spike of pain stabbed his chest. Once again, his mind was lost in the scent and taste of Tianna’s skin and he continued to ignore the now constant body aches.
When Tianna moaned and arched herself into his mouth, he released his dragon. He growled low and deep as scales began to appear. He crawled back up her body and she threw her arms around his neck. She licked across his lips, enticing his tongue to join hers. Once she had him where she wanted him, she wrapped her legs around his hips while she sucked greedily on his tongue, extracting energy from the contact. Her actions caused his dragon’s desire to intensify.
Feeling the increased heat, Tianna broke away and pleaded, “We’ve waited so long. Please take me as a Draak does. I need to feel your fire deep inside me.”
Although the pain in his chest had become excruciating, his dragon refused to acknowledge it. He wanted the female in his arms and nothing was going to stop him this time. Taking control of the situation, he grabbed onto her hips and positioned himself so that he could penetrate her. He heard Tianna cry out just as a shot of pain flashed throughout his entire body. He threw his head back and roared as he fell to the bed next to her. The pain was so severe that it caused his desires to be temporarily blocked. He laid panting until his mind returned to him.
When he looked up, he noticed Tianna was attempting to heal cuts that lined her sides and hips. Like in his dream, he quickly stared down at his hands and saw Tianna’s blood on his fingertips. Without realizing it, his hands had transformed into talons and, while grabbing onto her hips, he had cut her.
While shaking, he helped heal her wounds. Although the cuts were minor, fear overwhelmed him when he realized what could have happened if they had continued. He and his dragon both repeatedly ignored the pain warning that his Draak oath had been giving him. If not for his oath, he would have taken her body and nothing would have been able to stop him.
Tianna smiled at him and said sweetly, “It’s alright. See, I’m fine. We’ve already healed most of my cuts.” She shifted side to side to show him that only thin red lines remained.
The fact that she had any injuries caused by his own hands, took the air right out of his lungs. Before he had a chance to express his concerns, they heard a knock at the door. Tianna got up, quickly threw on a dress, and responded to the request. She spoke briefly to a local villager. He needed her to take a look at one of the people that she had been trying to heal.
She returned to Nathaniel’s side and, knowing how tired he was, said, “Sorry my love. I need to go. I’m going to stay with my patient for the night so I can watch over her.” She caressed his cheek lovingly, “You look so tired. Why don’t you stay here and get a good night’s sleep.” She gave him a very nice kiss and whispered, “Keep our bed warm and I’ll find some creative way to wake you at sunrise. Then we can pick-up where we left off.” She gave him a smile full of promise and desire.
Nathaniel was left speechless and he silently watched her leave their hut. Her desire for him blinded her to the extent of his distress and to the dangerous situation she was just in. Even though he could feel his dragon’s desperation for her, he knew that he could never put her in that situation again. He laid in their bed, contemplating how to tell her that they could never be intimate.
Out of sheer exhaustion, he fell asleep. As in previous nights, he woke up in a sweat from the same nightmare. This dream was slightly different. This time, Raven appeared at the beginning of the dream to warn him of the dangers if he tried to mate with Tianna. She then reappeared at the end of the dream, offering him comfort. He decided to get up and go for a walk to try to clear his mind.
While Nathaniel was walking, he ran into Raven. Like Nathaniel, she too couldn’t get herself to relax enough to sleep and felt an overwhelming urge to get out and walk. After they traveled together for a few minutes, she asked Nathaniel if he wanted to join her for some Fire Wine. He welcomed the numbing feeling that only Fire Wine could provide so he agreed and they headed back to her hut.
Once settled in and Nathaniel had gulped down a large drink, Raven asked, “I can tell that you are very distressed over something. Did you and Tianna have a fight?” He shook his head, but she knew Nathaniel well enough to know something was terribly wrong. “You know you can confide in me about anything. I’ve always been there for you and I always will be.”
Nathaniel threw his empty goblet in frustration and said, “I’m not sure what I’m doing any more. I love Tianna and thought we would be mated when we arrived in Haven. Now I’m convinced that isn’t going to be possible.”
Raven moved so she was sitting very close to him, putting her hand on his arm and asked, “Why? Has something happened that changed your mind?” She was hoping that their reunion had influenced his plans for the future.
He stared at her, trying to decide what to say. They had been friends all of their lives and, although they often did not see eye to eye, he knew he could trust her with his secrets. He decided to confide in her. He told her not just about the nightmare, but also about what almost happened in his hut with Tianna.