Leika was the first to waken. She stared at her best friend’s naked, powerful body, sprawled beside her own and covered by the tent, shielded from the heat of the morning sun. What the hell had she done?
Leika rushed out of the tent and stoked the fire before washing up and dressing herself. She felt furious for some reason. Although the night before had been the most pleasurable she had ever had, she didn’t want that to happen with Cherin of all people. All the girls fawned over him and always acted evil and jealous toward her for his attention. She had always prided herself on the fact that they had nothing to be jealous about. They had been the ones with the problems for imagining things that weren’t there. But what the hell had just happened?
“Morning,” Cherin said, poking his head out of the tent. He was still naked, and the sight of him turned her stomach.
“Put some clothes on,” Leika grumbled.
Cherin shrugged and disappeared back into the tent, reemerging soon after fully clad.
“How many heartbeats did you hear last night? I forgot to ask.”
Leika sighed. “There’s one to the south, but a cluster up north. We can’t save them all, so I’m heading for the cluster.”
“What do you mean we can’t save them both?” Cherin asked, his face darkening.
“I have to prioritize. The group to the north is really far away. We have to get to them. They are many. One to the south is nothing compared to this.”
“I can make sure we rescue both,” Cherin said, jutting his chin out stubbornly. “We leave no descendant of Kaldernon behind.”
“How do you suggest we do that?” Leika snapped.
“We split up.”
“What? Are you mad?” Leika felt a grip of panic seize her heart and she gave Cherin the death look. What was she supposed to do without him by her side? It was so lonely by herself. And this world was terrifying and strange.
“No, just responsible,” Cherin snapped back. “Unlike you. What the hell was that stunt you pulled last night? Do you care nothing about our friendship?”
“You’re the one who kissed me first! Twice! You can’t blame me for this. You started this mess!”
They were in each other’s faces now, both of them furious.
“Nothing can be the way it was before!” Cherin continued. “I don’t think that’s what I wanted. What’s wrong with you? Why did you have to mess us up like this?”
“Me?!” Leika exclaimed. “I didn’t cross that boundary first. You did. And you know what? I’m not going to accept this from you! This is my mission, not yours. And I make the calls. You don’t get to tell me what’s right and what’s not. I’m going north. If you go south, then good luck to you! Don’t come crying to me when something goes wrong.”
Leika grabbed her backpack and stormed off, leaving Cherin staring after her in exasperation.
***
Cherin grumbled angrily to himself as he packed up the camp. Should he go after her? Of course not. Not when there was a descendant of Kaldernon who needed help. He would make sure everyone had their best chance. Besides, he wasn’t sure he could stand to look at Leika right now. She had crossed every boundary their friendship had ever had. Now, things would never be able to go back to the way they were. Kissing once or twice was one thing, but she had practically seduced him! What man in his right mind could say no to that kind of temptation?
If she wanted to go and get herself killed that was fine by him. But he wouldn’t leave any descendants behind. Not when he was the only option they had at getting rescued. Cherin groaned. He hoped that Leika remembered to make her trail markers without him there.
He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. It wasn’t that much different than his training. Cherin squared his shoulders and began to march south, his heart close to bursting with every step he took away from Leika. But this had been her choice, not his. And she had prioritized one group and herself over doing the logical thing to save everyone else. Besides, Lopu had believed that Leika could do this alone. Who was he to try to help her?
Wandering on foot was making Cherin restless. Before long, he was tempted to ignore one of the basic rules of navigating Earth. He wanted to save some time and transform into his dragon form. That way, he would be able to cover more ground and get to where he needed to be without any worries. Then, he could return back to Leika as if nothing had ever happened, and they would bicker and fight for a while before making it up to each other somehow.
Cherin’s agitation gradually got the best of him and he shapeshifted. It was nice to feel back in control the way he did whenever he took on his dragon form. Nobody else would ever fully understand the way it felt to shrug off your human attachments to take on the powerful magnificence of the mighty dragon. Especially not people like Leika. She always had to be so in control of everything and never once tried to bend the rules in her favor. Not that she ever knew of anyway. For some reason she wanted Cherin to think she was perfect. But she was full of flaws, and each and every one drove him mad in their own special, unique way.
He strapped his satchel to his arm and flapped his powerful wings to heighten his speed. He would find the man to the south ages before Leika even laid eyes on the cluster of descendants, and she would feel ashamed of herself for doubting him or blaming him for the strange turn that their relationship had taken. Unlike Leika, Cherin never needed anybody to help him out of trouble. She was going to regret sending him off.
Suddenly, Cherin paused. He had caught the scent of something. Something familiar. Someone maybe. But how? It wasn’t a woman’s scent. It was a man. And he didn’t smell very much like a shifter either. Somehow, it was more Loni.
Cherin inhaled deeply. Apparently he had traveled much further than he’d originally thought, because he was certain he had stumbled upon the descendant of Kaldernon that Leika would have otherwise forgotten. He shifted back into his human form and dressed quickly. If he listened hard and used what he knew about tracking, he would find whoever the man was.
Within half an hour the scent was stronger than ever and he finally emerged from the foliage, standing face to face with a man who looked nearly identical to the rescued descendants.
“Who are you?” the man asked, eyeing Cherin up and down.
“My name is Cherin,” he replied nervously. “What’s your name?”
“Archer.”
That was one of the family names of the Dragon shifters. Of course; he must have been the son of Clayton. The boy who had apparently gone missing when the descendants had been teleported back to Kaldernon. “Son of Clayton?”
“What’s it to you?” Archer asked, immediately aggressive.
“I’m… I’m here from Kaldernon,” Cherin stammered. “I have a request to bring descendants of our kind home.”
Cherin had never felt more relieved in his life. He wasn’t going to let Leika hear the end of this one. She almost turned her back on the child of one of the descendants who had been rescued. They had been hysterical for so long after the boy’s disappearance. It would be rewarding to reunite a family like this. And no thanks to Leika. Stubborn woman.
“I don’t want anything to do with Kaldernon!” Archer growled. He started menacingly toward Cherin, who backed away with his hands in the air.
“Why not?” he asked, genuinely confused. Wasn’t it better to live on Kaldernon than Earth? So many horrible things happened here.
“I was born on Earth. This is my home. I’m many parts human. And besides. I’ve got unfinished business.”
“What sorts of unfinished business?” Cherin asked, his heart thudding in his chest.
“The Guardians are still here. I won’t rest until every last one of them are destroyed. They killed everyone I love. My grandfather, aunts, friends, uncles, cousins. Everybody.”
“But not your parents. Your parents are safe on Kaldernon and they miss you.”
“I miss them, too, and you can tell them I said so. But I am needed down here. I will not betray the descendants who may fall prey to the Guardians. I won’t rest until every last one of them are as dead as my grandfather.”
Archer was a large, muscular man with serious, menacing eyes. There was no way that Cherin would be able to take him on and win, probably not even in dragon form. He had no choice but to let him go.
“If you ever change your mind….”
“I won’t,” Archer said. “There’s a group of Guardians to the north, I’ve been tracking them for a long time. I think they’ve got people trapped there. I have to help them.”
“The north?” Cherin asked, suddenly pale.
Archer nodded.
“Thank you. I’ll send your love to your parents.”
And with that, he shifted into his dragon form and sped back the way he came.