Dragon's Fire

Eight

    We fell asleep on the couch, I can hear birds outside in the morning, chirping happily. I go to move and Kayden wraps his arms around me holding me in place, I sink back into his embrace. 

“I’ve waited so long for this” Kayden whispers 

“What?” I ask, not sure exactly what he’s referring to, my voice comes out rough and raw. 

“Waking up next to you” He smiles and pulls me closer to him, kissing my cheek. He gets up and walks into the small kitchen, pouring a glass of water, he hands it to me and I take a large sip. 

“We need to get your powers under control Taryn” He says seriously as he sits back down beside me. 

I know I have fire abilities, I remember being young and making fireballs. I also know that Kayden has water abilities. It’s all starting to make sense now, but I’m still extremely confused as to what is going on. 

I nod gingerly as I take another sip of the water. 

“Taryn, You need to let your emotions out, and holding back your voice is part of it. I know you think that body cares what you have to say but you're wrong, you couldn’t be more wrong. I care so much. Just talk to me okay?” 

    I know he’s right, all these years I kept quiet because I was scared that I would say the wrong thing and maybe end up losing my home, or getting hurt. I want to talk to him but I’m afraid. 

I grab a pan off the counter and find a scrap piece of paper, 

What if I say the wrong thing?

Kayden looks at it and frowns, 

    “You are more than entitled to have an opinion Taryn.. I want to hear your thoughts and discuss things with you. When I heard your voice it was like all my childhood flooded back to me. You were always such a chatterbox, honestly I miss it” He sighs sadly. 

“I.. want to talk to you too Kai.. I’ll try..” I whisper. 

    His head snaps up and he comes at me, I tense for a moment until he picks me up and hugs me, spinning me around the room. As he sets me back on my feet his head comes down and his lips land on mine. I don’t know what to do, so I close my eyes. 

    His lips move over mine like they were molded for them, they are smooth and soft, his tongue dances over me begging for entrance, I open my mouth slightly, it’s all he needed. His tongue dashes into my mouth and explores me. I am still stunned that this is happening. I feel heat rising up in my body, I don’t dislike this kiss, in fact it makes me feel tingly. I’m starting to feel light headed, I grip onto his t-shirt for dear life, my hands are burning, literally. I feel as if I have been set on fire. Kayden pulls back suddenly, and a wave of coolness is washed over me. 

I open my eyes and see two perfect little burn marks on his shirt, I realize I am wet. 

“I’m sorry” I whisper.

    “No, it’s not your fault, I shouldn’t have done that.. It’s too soon. I’m the one who’s sorry.. I didn’t mean to push you” He says as he takes a step back and brushes his hand through his hair. 

“I’ve wanted to do that since the day I found you.. I got carried away. I’m sorry.. It’ just the last time I saw you, you were twelve.. You’ve grown up.. You’re not a little girl anymore Taryn.. I can’t see you as my little sister anymore” He says in an ashamed tone. 

“What do you mean?”

“Do you remember that our parents had arranged for us to be married?” He looks me in the eyes now. 

        I think back to my few memories I've recovered and I see a vague conversation in my mind. 

“You weren’t happy,” I state.

    “At first no, but that changed the more time I spent with you. I knew you were to be my wife since you were six years old.. I’ve waited so many years to find you. I’ve loved you since the day you were born.” 

I gasp and put my hands over my mouth, tears springing to my eyes. 

Surely he doesn't mean it in a romantic way though… does he?

    “I was so lost without you, I was slowly going mad. Not having you be me nearly broke me Taryn.. I don’t want to lose you again, so please if I’m ever going too fast tell me alright? I love you Taryn” 

    I throw myself at him in a needy dramatic way. I’ve never had someone tell me they love me before. I feel all my emotions bottled up inside me ready to burst. I bury my face in his chest and grip his shirt hard with my fingers. Until I can no longer feel them and my hands are numb, but I don’t care. Kayden is holding me in return and I feel the love he was talking about. 

“Say it again..” I mumble into his chest. 

“    I love you Taryn Stormborn” He says as he scoops me up and brings me back to the couch. 

“I love you so very much” He repeats over and over until I feel calm. I am sitting in his lap, my legs rolled under me and his big arms wrapped around me, my head resting on his chest. 

“Do you want to go flying with me?” He asks after a while. I nod instantly.

I can finally be a bird. 

    Kayden gets up and carries me outside with him, placing me down on the forest floor. 

    “Stand back so I can shift okay?” He takes a few steps away from me and like last time he begins to change. Slowly at first but within a few moments there is a full sized Dragon before me. His white body almost glows in the sunlight, he has green and red streaks to his wings. 

    He really is a beautiful creature, his powerful legs holding him up, his wings could probably take out an entire span of the forest in one sweep if he wanted to. 

    I step towards him, eager to touch him once more, my fingers collide with his front leg, the scaly skin feels hard and spiky under my fingertips. He lowers his body down to the forest floor, and I take it as a sign he wants me to climb onto him. I get my footing on his leg and hoist myself up crawling gently until I’m on his back. I hold on tight to his neck area, just above his shoulders. I can feel the place his wings connect to his body as he flaps his wings hard and shoves off the ground. We are in the sky, I feel the wind pushing on me. 

    It takes me a minute before I feel comfortable enough to lift my head and look around. We are high above the world, everything looks so small, just how I had imagined it to be. The birds are lower than us even, maybe they are afraid to fly beside him. I lift my hand and let the wind flow through my fingers, I laugh. 

    Kayden looks back at me, his eyes are the same as when he is human, the green-blue color magnified by a thousand. I feel like when he looks at me I could be in the ocean. He looks forward again and dives down towards a lake. This lake is bigger than the one we were at last night. He dips lower enough that his long tail is gliding along the surface of the water. I watch our reflection in the water as we hover over it. 

    I feel something change in his body, he tenses up and dives up into the sky again. I see something coming towards us, an arrow. He swerves to the side and it misses us. More follow suit and we are under attack. I hold onto him tightly, keeping my body close to him. A arrow comes up and hits me in the arm, I cry out, Kayden turns to see if I’m alright and he gets hit in the wing by another coming arrow. He sways slightly as more arrows come towards us. His small movement is enough to throw me off him, I feel my grip loosen and I’m free falling to the ground. Kayden dives forward to catch me, suddenly a bright light covers the sky. 

    I feel my body explode with flames, I am still falling now like a fireball to the ground. I keep my eyes on Kayden, if I’m going to die I want him to be the last thing I see. The man who loves me. 

I expect to hit the ground any second but I don’t, I look around and see I’m no longer falling, I’m floating? 

An arrow comes at me, hitting me, in the arm.. No, not in the arm.. In the wing? I look down to see I  have red wings, and a red tail.. 

Have I become a Dragon?

Taryn?! Are you alright?

I look around in a panic, surely I must be dead, I’m hearing Kayden in my mind.

    It’s part of the Dragon bond, Taryn, listen to me. You need to get to safety. I will take care of the bandits.. Just get somewhere safe okay? 

Okay… 

I watch as Kayden flies overhead and dives down, disappearing into the tree line. 

I don’t know where to go so I fly back towards the lake, landing wobbly beside the water. I feel shaky on my new legs, they are powerful but awkward. I need to get the hang of it. I want to change back to being human but I don’t know how. I look myself over in the waters reflection and see I am a small Dragon, maybe half the size of Kayden, which I guess makes sense as I’m tiny next to him in human form anyways. 

I huff in laughter, making a small puff of smoke escape my nostrils. I’m so wrapped up in watching my new form I don’t notice the men creeping up on me. Suddenly I am being attacked. I don’t know how to fight back yet, I wave my wings, making them stumble backwards but one of them jumps on me, he has ropes in his hands, he wraps it around my neck and pulls tightly. The other man has some kind of device he wraps around my legs and pulls tight, causing me to fall. 

Kayden!! I shout in my mind hoping he can hear me and is not too far away. 

I’m coming Taryn, hold on!

    I fall down onto my stomach and my jaw hits the ground hard. I try to blow a puff of fire at them but nothing comes out of me. 

“Don’t try anything funny. These are magical binds. No powers” One of them men snarls as he kicks me in the face. I growl. 

“She’s small.. Where is her mate?” The other man asks as he observes me with a strange look in his eyes. 

“He will come for her, when he does we will be ready” 

Kayden, don’t come.. It’s some kind of trap! 

I’m not abandoning you… I can take care of anything they throw my way. Don’t worry.. I’m on my way Taryn

I can see the sun setting in the distance. I’m getting tired, exhausted really. My body feels weak and drained. 

    “She’s shifting” One of the men suddenly says as he looks over to me, licking his lips. He’s right, I feel my body becoming small, more human. I feel my skin change back to the soft flesh. I am also naked, I try to cover myself but I can’t move my arms, as the bindings have shrunk with me as I changed back. The man did say they were magical, I have so much to learn. One of the men walks over to me and roughly lifts my head up and attaches a muzzle of sorts onto my face, making it so I cannot speak. I feel a tear fall down my cheek as I hang my head back down after he lets me go. I feel exposed and terrified. Where is Kayden?