Chapter 5
1382 Words
Elias
We landed just outside if Edinburgh in the afternoon and I could tell Ginny was already on high alert. She tried her best to give the run down on what to expect, which rules were the most important to follow. She kept grabbing my hand and holding it to her cheek to help calm herself down as we got closer to door of the plane.
“How am I going to live without your touch?” she sighed as she caressed me one last time.
“It will be okay, angel,” I said and kissed her nose. “We can still mindlink, right? I’ll sing you to sleep tonight.”
“I love you,” she sighed and kissed me one last time.
“I love you more,” I said.
We headed out into the bright Scottish sun and found a long black car waiting for us. The doors opened and two men stepped out. The driver I recognized immediately from silhouette alone as Clayton. His dark hair was wild and his beard was bushier than ever.
The passenger was someone I didn’t recognize. They were shorter than Clayton by a lot but his blonde hair was just as wild and Viking like. His beard was braided down the front. I didn’t think I’d seen him before but it’s been a couple years.
Clayton smiled at us as we approached and hugged Ginny tightly before pulling me into a hug. Ginny looked happy to see him but was curious about the blond man standing awkwardly to the side. His shy demeanor clashed with his Viking look.
“Tiny?” Ginny said. “Is that you?”
“Hey Ginny,” he said nervously. “How are you?”
“I’m good,” she said and looked over at me. I couldn’t believe that was Tiny. “I barely recognized you.”
“Yeah, they dress a little different here,” he chuckled and subconsciously touched his hair and beard. “You look good. Uh, hey Elias.”
“Hey Tiny,” I said. “How’s Clementine?”
“She’s great,” he said with a smile. “I heard you were here to get the Chieftainess’s blessing.”
“Who?” I asked and everyone’s eyes widened before Clayton burst out laughing.
“Elias!” Ginny growled. “My Gran is the Chieftainess!”
“Oh!” I said and Clayton was struggling to breathe at this point. “Sorry, you always just referred to her as Gran.”
“Oh my Goddess, you cannot just go in there and call her Gran!” Ginny groaned. “She’s my Gran, but the Chieftainess of Blood Fire. You have to refer to as Chieftainess.”
“Well at least I figured that out now,” I said nervously and Clayton finally managed to get himself standing up properly. “Alright, mate?”
“Aye, lad,” he said trying to stifle his giggles. “Sorry, bout that. But don’t worry, I’ll help ya out.”
“Thanks,” I said.
“Where’s Uncle Argus?” Ginny asked. “I thought he was picking us up.”
“He’ll be receiving you at the gates of the territory,” Clayton said. “I’ll be flying in with Elias.”
“You mean, Tiny’s driving Ginny to the grounds?” I said and looked over at the blond warrior. He swallowed hard.
“Aye!” Clayton cried out and began to tug off his clothes. “Come on now, let’s get going, don’t want to keep the Chieftainess waiting!”
I looked back over at Ginny and shot a glare at Tiny who flinched back. Ginny ran over to hug and kiss me one last time before Goddess knows when. She hurried back to the car that Tiny was now driving and got into the passenger side. She blew me one last kiss as they drove off and I turned back to look at Clayton to see that he had changed already into this gigantic chocolate brown dragon. He puffed smoke out of his nostrils at me and I rolled my eyes.
“I’m coming, I’m coming,” I said and began to pull off my clothes to shift.
When we were up in the air, I followed behind Clayton who flew up high above the treetops. I will say the hills of Edinburgh were almost as beautiful as Dublin. We soared and dipped and flew for about ten minutes. I saw the long black car pulling down a long winding road and I followed them all the way to the gate. They had to stop to be let in, but Clayton and I were able to fly right through the top and land in the center of the large circle driveway.
As we descended, a loud grating sound erupted as huge steel bars began to raise up from the ground and domed around the open circle; it looked like a steel spiderweb and there looked to be impenetrable glass between the beams. It was high enough to still maintain oxygen and was probably protected by spells to keep it strong, but it was the best way to prevent any ambush air attacks.
Clayton and I landed in the center of the circle while the car drove all the way around to park in front of the staircase to the castle. Argus stood there with his wife, Mary, and daughter Clementine. They were all smiling and waving in greeting. Clayton didn’t shift back so I followed his lead and slowly approached the staircase. Ginny got out of the car with Tiny and looked up at me. Her eyes flashed red and she smiled.
“Greetings!” Argus roared. “It’s with great pleasure I welcome you to our home, Elias and so glad to see you Ginny back again after too long.”
I lowered my head in greeting and respect as Argus did the same. I quickly shifted back and put the clothes on I had been carrying in my mouth. They were a little damp from the spit though. Ginny smiled up at me as she went to reach for my hand. I gave her a slight shake of my head and she put her hand back to her side with a grimace.
“Greetings Elias,” Argus said again as I climbed the stairs to the top. He shook my forearm as warriors do then hugged Ginny tightly.
“Lovely to see you again, Elias,” Mary said pulling me in for a hug.
“You too,” I said. “Hey Clementine.”
“Hey Elias,” she said sweetly with a little wave.
“So where’s Gran?” Ginny asked. “I thought the whole reason for Elias to fly in was to be received by the chieftainess?”
“Mum’s not feeling too good today, Gin,” Argus said. “Her hips been bothering her some lately so we try not to have her going up and down the stairs too much. Tried to get her to stay on the ground floor, but you know your Gran.”
“Yes, I do,” Ginny sighed and smiled. “So what do we do next?”
“Well, Clem will take you to your room, and I’ll be taking Elias to his,” he said. “Then you’ll get dressed and come down for dinner.”
“Alright, then,” I sighed as I went to follow Argus. “I’ll see you soon, angel.”
“Love you,” she said with a sad little smile that made me want to rush to her hug her and kiss her until she was giggled and laughed the sadness away.
“Come on you two,” Argus said. “You’ll have plenty of time after you get home to make up for it.”
“Aye,” I sighed.
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