“No! I will not agree to this!” Drago declared, slamming his fist on the polished wooden table.

“The taint of the Sea Witch has already been felt on the Isle of Magic. Her darkness is spreading. It is imperative that the Sea Witch be found and stopped,” Isha stated.

“My father and mother are doing what they can to stop the Sea Witch, but even with their extreme measures, they fear it will not be enough. The darkness in her is unlike anything we have ever seen before. I agree with Drago. The Sea Witch must be stopped once and for all,” Gem argued.

“I will search her out and kill her,” Drago vowed.

“You can’t. You will doom us all if you do,” Nali snapped in aggravation.

“Drago, be reasonable. At least listen to what Nali has to say,” Ashure said, raising his hand in a gesture to calm Drago’s anger.

Drago stood up and glared at the group sitting around the table. His gaze flashed to Carly’s pale face, and he slowly sank back down into his seat. He clenched his fists to contain his anger and directed his displeasure to the root of it – Nali.

“You are wrong, Empress. The death of the Sea Witch is the only way to save our kingdoms,” he growled.

“No, I am not. The mirror showed me a vision. The Goddess is never wrong,” Nali argued.

“You see what you wish to see,” Drago retorted. “Where was your vision when the Sea Witch turned my people to stone? Where was the Goddess for that matter?!”

“The Goddess is not wrong, Drago! The mirror showed me the creature inside her. It will not stop with her death. It will only move to another and another until there is no one left to stop it. Somehow, someway, the Sea Witch is preventing that from happening. I don’t know how or why, but she is!” she snapped. “Do not stand in my way, Drago. My kingdom is in danger and I will do anything to protect my people.”

“Do you think I would have done any less for my people, Nali? They were gone before I could reach them. Their cries of horror still echo through my soul! The sounds of mothers and fathers begging the Sea Witch to spare their children only to have them turned to stone in their arms. You speak of an alien creature, but I never saw any such thing! Magna’s insane cackle plays over and over in my dreams and you want me to ignore her? To let her go?” Drago choked out over his rage.

“No, I ask that you listen to me, Drago. That you all listen to me,” Nali pleaded. “The darkness in her is from beyond our world. Only someone from another world can defeat it.”

“There is no one from another world, Nali,” Drago said, running his hands through his hair.

“That’s not true,” Carly said, breaking her silence.

Each person around the table turned to look at her as if they had forgotten her presence. Drago turned to her and reached for her hand. He did not want Carly involved in this. She was all that he had left.

“Carly,” Drago began.

He stopped when she raised her hand and laid her fingers against his lips. Drago shook his head when he saw the determined expression that came into her eyes. His little thief was about to stand her ground.

“I am not from your world. I don’t know what is going on. Where I come from we don’t have magic, Sea Witches, and alien creatures or whatever is doing this, but what if Nali is right? What if you kill her and it is something else that is doing this? Can you blame this Magna when it might be beyond her control? I’m not saying what she did was right. I’m just saying that killing someone is wrong and… and doing it out of revenge never works out well for anyone,” Carly explained in a quiet voice.

The muscle in Drago’s jaw throbbed. He could see the worry and sadness in her gaze. He lifted her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to her fingers, his grip hard. He turned to look at Nali.

“Tell us what you saw,” he ordered in a gruff tone.

Nali relaxed in her seat and nodded. “I saw mostly fragments, things that are not completely clear. A black shadow moving over the Sea Witch and her fighting with it. I saw her fear – but, also her determination,” she said.

“That does not tell us how to stop her, Nali,” Gem stated in frustration. “What is this black shadow? Where did it come from?”

Nali shook her head. “I don’t know. I saw a flash as something fell from the sky,” she said.

“How can she be stopped?” Koorgan demanded.

“I saw Orion, Drago, and two others – a man not from our world and a woman. They will fight a great battle and the creature will be killed,” Nali admitted.

“Then I will kill the Sea Witch,” Drago stated.

“Yes – no – I don’t know. All the mirror shows me is the same thing over and over,” Nali admitted.

“None of this matters if the Sea Witch cannot be found,” Isha reminded everyone in a quiet voice.

“What do you propose, Nali?” Ashure wearily asked.

“That we allow fate to play out. When I saw Carly’s appearance, I knew that it would set in motion the events that would save our world,” Nali said.

Drago’s eyes narrowed on Nali’s face when she turned it at the last moment. There was something else Nali wasn’t telling them. Perhaps that feeling was what made accepting what she was saying all the more difficult.

“I vote that once the Sea Witch is located, she be detained and a gathering called in order to determine what should be done next,” Ashure said. “We will see if the visions from the Goddess’ Mirror come true. I hope for all our sakes that they do, Nali. All in agreement say aye.”

“Aye,” Isha said with reluctance.

“Aye,” Nali agreed.

“Nay,” Gem stated, rising from her seat with a scowl and folding her arms in defiance.

“Aye,” Koorgan said.

“I’ll agree – unless I see her again. Then I make no promises,” Drago stated.

“Aye. Gem, inform the king and queen that we will do all that we can to find and contain the Sea Witch,” Ashure instructed.

“I will kill her myself if she attacks my people,” Gem retorted before pushing away from the table, fading, and then disappearing through the ceiling.

“What?! Where did she go?” Carly asked in shock.

“Gem is an elemental. She can become any element, including air,” Drago explained.

“Wow! That is… really cool,” Carly whispered.

The sun shone through the windows early the next morning, waking Carly from a sound sleep. She lay on her side and stared out the windows at the first rays of light. A smile tugged at her lips when she saw the flock of paper birds stretch their wings and wiggle their tails. They had made a point of nesting on the balcony outside of the bedroom.

She lifted her hand to run it down Drago’s arm. The coarse hair on his arms felt good against her palm. She laid her hand over the one he had wrapped around her waist.

A shiver ran through her when she felt his hot lips against her bare shoulder. She had given up trying to wear any clothes to bed. He always took them off of her – or she did – before their heads hit the pillows. From being a girl who was a little self-conscious about her body, she had become a lot more comfortable with it.

“It is still early,” Drago complained.

Carly giggled when he slipped his arm under the covers. She grabbed his hand and pulled it up to cup her left breast. She moaned softly when he pressed his aroused length against her.

“I thought you said it was too early,” she teased.

“I said it was still early. That gives us time to enjoy the morning,” he countered, pressing another kiss to her shoulder.

“That… sounds good… to me,” she moaned.

She didn’t protest when Drago reached down between them and began to arouse her. The feel of his fingers teasing her clit soon had her ready for more. She leaned up when he slid his other arm under her so he could play with her nipples.

“This position is much safer,” he teased.

“Oh, shut up. I didn’t mean to knee you,” she groaned, rocking her hips back and forth.

“This is still much safer,” he replied.

Carly scooted back, arching her back so that he could align his cock with her wet entrance. She was ready for him. The feel of him, pressing into her, stretching her, sent a powerful wave of pleasure and desire through her. How this happened every time they came together amazed her.

“Drago,” she moaned.

He raised his hand and gripped one of hers, pulling it down to continue rubbing her clit while he tightened his hold on her hip and began pinching her nipples until they swelled. His lips continued to tease her neck and shoulder. The sound of his aroused breathing echoed in her ear in tempo with the movement of his hips.

She gasped loudly when he rolled both of them over so that he was draped over her back. He used one hand to pull her hips up in the air while he braced his other one near her side.

“Come for me, Carly,” Drago hissed.

Carly felt the powerful thrusts increase. She could no longer tease her clit. The feel of his thick cock, moving back and forth was all the stimulation she needed now. Her nipples, already swollen and tender from the night before and the teasing from this morning, were extra sensitive to the friction caused by the bed covers as he thrust into her.

Carly’s hands curled into the fabric and she buried her face in the pillow to smother her loud cry when she came. Drago wasn’t as quiet. He arched his back to press deeper into her when he came, his voice loud enough to startle the paper birds which fluttered outside the open doors. Carly turned her head and moaned.

Drago groaned and bent back over her. His arm wrapped around her waist and he collapsed to his side still holding her. Carly groped for the covers, but gave up when Drago laid his leg over her.

“I swear the town knows what we were doing,” she informed him with a sigh.

Drago’s chuckle made her giggle. “They will all be jealous of me,” he boasted.

“Men!” she teased.

“All the men will be jealous of me, Carly. I have captured a treasure of true beauty,” he swore.

Carly relaxed against him. She raised his hand to her lips and pressed a kiss against it. Pulling back, she frowned when she saw the tiny silver threads shimmer before disappearing. She blinked, wondering if it was a figment of her imagination. She had seen it several times now. She was about to ask Drago about it when her flock of magical birds decided to join them.

“We’re being attacked,” she gasped in a fit of laughter.

“Ungrateful creatures! I should have burned them instead of giving them life,” Drago growled in amusement when several tried to burrow into his hair. “Be off with you, creatures.”

“Be careful! You might hurt them,” Carly said, grabbing his hand and pulling it back against her. “Drago….”

“Yes, little thief,” Drago replied.

“I love you,” she whispered, reaching out to touch one of the birds with a gentle finger.

Drago leaned up and pressed a kiss near her ear. “I love you as well, Carly.”