Dragon Born Series: Book 1: Mia

Chapter 12: Some Truths

(Mia’s POV)

It feels amazing here. It’s soft and warm. It smells like fresh-baked cake. This must be what home was like. I opened my eyes slowly and could just make out the most wonderfully handsome man staring down at me. His arm is cradling my head and his other hand is stroking my cheek. He brushes away a strand of my hair and tucks it behind my ear. He must be an angel from the Heavens sent to take me home.

I fully open my eyes now and take in my surroundings. “Wait, this isn’t my chambers. Who is this creature and where am I?” It comes back to me in a flash and I sit up quickly, pulling away from the male. 

“You! What did you do to me? Why am I here and not in my chambers?”, I shout, not understanding what has happened to me.

“You’re safe for now. However, I did nothing for us to be here. I was at the show watching it when you approached me to warn me about something. Next thing I know a minotaur and his demon minotaurs attacked, then we found ourselves here.”, he said this very calmly and like I should’ve already known all this. 

I didn’t respond, trying to go over everything he said. He was sitting not too far away from me and despite not knowing who he was or why we were here, I felt drawn to him and safe. It was like my inner self wanted to be sitting in his lap and cuddling him. I wanted to taste those delicious lips.  “What am I thinking? I need to get out of here.”

“Hey, could you stop staring?” He spoke and I snapped out of my mind. His velvety voice sounded familiar and then I realized who he was. He’s that dragon that walked into the tent before the show. 

“Oh!! Sorry!”, I shouted without thinking, then bowed my head in embarrassment. In a lower voice, I asked, “Why were you at the show?”

“So, you remember now?”

I shook my head yes and he continued. “Good, maybe now you can tell me your name and show me your full face.”

I hesitated a bit but didn’t see the issue with it. We are in a prison and for who knows how long. I lift my hood and look up at him. “‘They call me Mia.”

“Well, nice to meet you, Mia. My name is Ghari. I’m a dragon from the Eastern Kingdom.”

I’ve never met anyone from outside the Earth Kingdom. He must've come to look into Alincdor’s show. The Royal Guards often came in because of a complaint but always left without ever doing something. We all had come to the same conclusion that he was paying them off or using magic to take their memories away. 

“Well, Ghari, how come you came all this way?”

“I came to investigate the show. We had gotten word that magical creatures were being used in the show and being mistreated. Do you know anything about this?”

I looked away from him and thought about the best way to answer him. I obviously knew how mistreated we were and that there were magical creatures being used. I also know how much trouble I’ll be in if Alincdor knew I spoke to him.

“I don’t know what you're talking about.”, I answered before I even completely decided what I wanted to do. I guess the fear of being tortured by Alincdor was stronger than the possibility of being rescued. I mean what could this dragon do, especially since we were both inside this prison. 

“Okay. How are you feeling? You fainted after touching the iron bars.”

“I’m okay, I think. Is that what happened?”, I asked confused cause I've been around iron and I have even touched it. Whenever Alincdor would torture me, he would use iron whips and I would faint. I always thought it was from the whipping. 

“Have you tried to get out of here or have our captors come to talk to us?”, I asked quickly to change the subject off me.

“I have been making noise and looking but I haven’t gotten any response and with so much iron in this place, it’s difficult for me to touch anything.”, he walks towards the door to look out. His back is turned to me and I can’t help but admire his backside. The muscles are tight and his ass is just the perfect size to squeeze. “I really need to stop this nonsense.”

“Mia, I can feel you staring again.”, his voice is so calming even when he’s kind of scolding me. I chuckle to myself and say, “I am not.”

I stand up and walk over to him at the door. “Why don’t we try shouting out again and see if anyone responds.”

He nods and shouts out but his voice only echoes against the stone walls. I take in the surroundings once more and I know for certain now that this prison is not the one at the mansion. I’ve spent enough time in them to know this is not where Al takes us for punishment.

“Wait, he said we were attacked by a minotaur!!” I remember seeing Dameion transform into a minotaur. He has to be behind all this. If he’s involved then Alincdor is most certainly involved and that could only mean one thing, he knows I’m here.

“If I remember correctly, you have magic. Are you able to use any to get us out of here?”, I ask now, nervous that if Al catches me here I won’t leave here alive. 

 “If I use any magic, I could hurt us or it won’t work very well because of this iron.”, he says, looking at me with concern. I guess he could sense my fear and how nervous I was.

“Why don't we sit and chat for a while? We can get to know each other a little.”, He says as he takes my hand and we make ourselves comfortable in the middle of the small space. We sat facing each other. I knew this was strange and maybe even a little wrong but being close to him kept my insides from churning.

He shows me a smile that could make any female melt and I’m feeling so drawn to him. I look away so that I don’t start staring again. I’m looking at my hands and fidgeting with the hem of the cloak. 

“Mia, that’s a beautiful name. It reminds me of the Dragon Goddess, Mya.”, I blush at his words but keep my head down. 

“Thank you. Ghari sounds like the Prince’s name. The prince of the Eastern Kingdom is known everywhere. Are you the Prince?”, I ask. He couldn’t be the prince, why would he be here.

I look up at him and he looks a bit nervous. He stares at his hands like a small boy who got caught doing something wrong. He looks so cute this way, I just want to hug him and let him know he’s not in trouble but I hold back. 

He lifts his head and looks into my eyes. I feel like he’s looking straight into my soul. “Mia, are you a magical creature? How old are you? Were you born in the Earth Kingdom?”

He rattled this off so fast It took my breath away.

“Wow! Wow! Slow down, Sir. I will answer you but first, give me a moment. I don’t know if I should be talking to you. The captors might be listening to us and we shouldn’t give up too much information.” It was the quickest thing I could say to back him off me a little. I also wasn’t certain I should answer him. If Al heard me, he might take it as me giving information to the royal family. This male was from the Eastern Kingdom.

He nodded in agreement and we sat in silence for a while. No captor came and no sound other than our hearts could be heard.

“I believe I was born somewhere near the Earth Kingdom or in the Earth Kingdom but I don’t actually know. Ciel, my friend at the show, told me once that I was brought to Helyma, Alincdor’s wife when I was a baby. I should be about 15, almost 16 but I also don’t know when my birth actually occurred. As far as I know, I don’t have any magical powers nor have I felt the presence of any nor have I shifted, so I think I’m human.”

I had broken the silence by answering all his questions in one breath. I hope he won’t ask me to repeat anything back.  To my surprise, he just nodded and moved to take my hand in his. The sparks I had felt earlier returned and I snapped my hand away from him. Disappointment crossed his face and he retracted his hand.

“Sorry, Mia, I didn’t mean to offend you. I just wanted to give you a proper dragon’s greeting.”

I could feel my cheeks catch fire but I extended my hand back to him and he took it. He kissed the back of my hand and the sparks were at it again. This time, though, I embraced them and smiled back at him. 

(Ghari’s POV)

We sat in awkward silence but It didn’t bother me too much. I was enjoying the blush that was planted on her cheeks. It made her look so innocent and even prettier than she already was. Her beauty was beyond anything I’ve ever seen or experienced. Thor was so restless, it was like he was howling. We usually roar but he was acting like a werewolf.  I took the moment of silence we were in to speak with him. 

Thor, why are you so restless?

Ghari, I keep feeling pulled by her. It’s like she is my forever.

How could that be she is not of age nor is she a magical creature.

I understand that she is not of age but I can see and feel her dragon. She is a dragon!!

A dragon but how is that possible?!

I don’t know but I will share my site with you, look deeply into her eyes, all will be revealed.

I was pulled out of my link with my dragon when she sweetly spoke up.

“I believe I was born somewhere near the Earth Kingdom or in the Earth Kingdom but I don’t actually know. Ciel, my friend at the show, told me once that I was brought to Helyma, Alincdor’s wife when I was a baby. I should be about 15, almost 16 but I also don’t know when my birth actually occurred. As far as I know I don’t have any magical powers nor have I felt the presence of any nor have I shifted, so I think I’m human.``

She said everything with nervousness and so fast, if I wasn't a dragon I would have missed most of it. So, she is only 16. My dragon would not be able to detect her dragon if she was any younger. Some dragons were born knowing their dragons, like Cahir, but it was rare. I do not respond and find myself reaching for her hand. I take her hand and immediately feel the sparks again. However, she retracts her hand back like I stabbed her. 

“Sorry, Ms. Mia, I didn’t mean to offend you.”

She looks down at her hand and I can sense she feels the same spark, so I just wait for her to make the next move. It didn’t take long for her to reconsider and she held her hand out to me again. I took it once more and placed a small light kiss on the back of her hand. The sparks were stronger this time but she didn’t move away. In fact, she smiled at me. I could die right now and be the happiest man alive, just because of her smile. 

I held her hand a little longer. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Mia.”

She smiled again then I let go of her hand. I watched her fidget with the hem of her cloak and I wanted nothing more but to hold her and never let go. I wanted to kiss her lips and make her mine forever. I shook these thoughts and stood up. I walked back to the door and shouted out again.  This time I heard a faint noise, so I shouted out louder.

“Kerwyn!! Kerwyn!! Is that you?!”

“Prince Ghari!? Are you there? Are you well?!”, he shouted back strong and well. My heart let go of a sigh, thanking the Lords and Ladies. A sense of relief hit me. To hear his voice and know he was alive was a great feeling.

 “Yes, Kerwyn! It is I and I am well. There is a young female with me as well. Are you hurt?”

“I am well, Sir. Who is the young female? Is she hurt?”, he shouted back. It was hard to hear each other. It was like we were at least a field away. Luckily the stone walls created a bit of an echo and with my dragon ears I could just make out what he was saying.

“She is well, Ker, have you been approached by our captors? Have you tried your magic? Is Cahir with you? Or is Mitchell with you?!”

I was hopeful that if my brother and his knight were with Ker, they could figure a way out.

“I am alone, Sir. I can see a cell in front of me but it is empty. I have tried my magic but it doesn’t seem to work in here. I think the  prison is spell protected!”

“Okay. Save your energy. I’ll see if I can mind-call him!”

This worried me but if Cahir and Mitch were not in the prison, then maybe he was outside trying to get us out. My fear was that the captors were torturing them in some other part of the prison. I really need to find a way out of here. First things first though, I was gonna try mind-calling Ker and then the others. 

I sat down next to Mia and she didn’t move away this time. I’m glad she didn’t. It was nicer when we were close. I explained to her who Kerwyn was and that my brother and his knight were also with me somewhere in this prison. She nodded but didn’t look at me.

I mind-called Ker, “Ker? Can you hear me?”

“Yes, Sir.”

At least I knew I was able to speak to him without shouting. I decided to try Cahir. This didn’t work. He was either too far from me or worse, dead. I really hope he was just far from here.

After several attempts at contacting Cahir, I still had not gotten through. I felt exhausted so I lay my head down on the ground and shut my eyes. 

“Ghari?”Thor called out to me.

“Thor, I thought you were resting?”

“I was, however, I think you should really talk with Mia. Her dragon is being suppressed but was able to reach out to me. She needs to be freed.”

“She’s a dragon? How is her dragon being suppressed? How can we free her?”

“I don’t know but maybe Mia knows something.”

With that, he was gone again. I guess it was too much for him to talk with me. The iron in the walls was making us weaker the longer we stayed here. I opened my eyes and saw that she was staring down at me. Her face was almost touching my nose. She backed off in a huff frightened, once she saw I was looking back at her.

“AAAHHH!! You’re awake! Good.” She dusted off invisible dirt from her cloak and sat back a few meters away.

I suppressed a chuckle but couldn’t help smiling at her and how innocent she looked in that moment. I sat up and adjusted myself so I was facing her. 

“Mia?” I had to see if she knew anything about her dragon.

She looked up at me so I continued. “Are you sure you are just human? Have you felt anything different lately or in recent years?”

She played with the hem of her cloak and seemed to be deep in thought. “I think I am just a human but lately I have been feeling strange things. My body is trying to tell me something but if I try too hard to figure it out I pass out.”

I took note and then asked her, “Could you look at me. I would like to see your eyes more clearly.”

She seemed to think this over but then she looked right into my eyes. Her golden-red eyes were so amazing and for a human, this was not normal. She had to be some type of magical creature. I taped into Thor’s site and with that, the world around her became an aura with shades of purple. It was flowing like it was alive and it was very strong. How could she not know she was a dragon and a high-born one at that.

“Prince Ghari?”, she said with her sweet voice and I was startled back to the present.

“Yes?”

F**K! Did I just respond to that? I didn’t think she heard Ker address me that way. What do I say now?

“So you are the Prince?”, she c****d her head to the side and looked at me questionably.

“Um Um no? It’s just a nickname my friend gave me since I share the real prince’s name.”

She nodded with a skeptical look on her face but seemed to have bought it and didn’t ask about it further.  

“What are you staring at?”, she said looking back at me with much confusion.

“Oh, sorry, you just look so familiar. Do you know how old the Prince is?”

“Do I? We just met and I’ve never been outside of the sideshow, let alone to the Eastern Kingdom. Not sure really. Why do you ask?”

“Well I’m 18 and I think the Prince is older so to answer you once more, I’m not the prince.”

She nodded in understanding then resumed fidgeting with her hem. The aura was very peaceful to watch as it surrounded her. There was a spot that the aura avoided. It was a small area in the middle of her neckline. It was above her breasts and lay in the hollow of her neck. I let go of the site and asked her, “Do you know who or what your parents were?”

She nodded no and then said, “Ciel told me once that I was brought up as Alincdor’s daughter but I was not his or Helyma’s. No one knows where I’m from or why I ended up here.”

“How come you work in the show?”I asked this in hopes of something she told me I could use in my investigation.

“ We all have to. We begin work at the age of 7. At 21 he either replaces us with the younger girls or we get sent elsewhere. I’ve been working since I was 7 and if we don’t we….”

She trailed off. I didn’t press her because if I did, I felt I would lose her and she would stop talking to me.

“I don’t like this one bit, Thor. Wait till I get my hands on Alincdor. I am going to shut this show down and I’ll make him pay for his mistreatment of the creatures, especially Mia. I will hurt him!”

(Unknown POV)

Alincdor had made his way down to the dungeon to check on the prisoners. He had reached the bottom step when he heard voices. He smirked to himself, knowing he had caught the dragons. He was looking forward to torturing them. He decided to listen in to the conversation before going to move one of them to the back room. 

“Prince Ghari, is that you?” He heard one of the prisoners ask the other one.

“Yes, Kerwyn, It is I” Came the other voice in response.

“F**K! He is the Eastern Kingdom prince. How did Tre not know he was on my land and looking into our operation,” he said under his breath.

He listened a little longer and found out that there were two prisoners not in the cells and a female. They hadn’t come with a female and any females he had down there were dealt with a few days ago. Who was it then?

He took a few steps inside and listened in more closely. Soon enough the female spoke and he knew immediately who it was. He turned on his heel abandoning the need to torture and went back upside to let Tre know everything he had found out.