Chapter 18

I’m not a dragon. I’m not a dragon. I’m not a dragon. Aggie sat on Mitchell’s bed repeating the words, trying to make herself believe them. Everything she had seen since entering the Gateway had proven to be true. This was the one thing she didn’t think she could handle. Then she remembered the tapestry she saw on her way in that first day. Realization dawned on her, it was the prophesy. Just like the one marked ‘The Wanderer’ was an omen.

Aggie then began to hyperventilate, sticking her head between her legs she tried to regain control. She was supposedly this foretold creature, person, magical dragon. Not only was she the Gatekeeper, the Ninth Guardian, the final link, but she was now Dragon.

A knock sounded at the door, but Aggie still hadn’t regained control. She heard the door click open, followed by a trail of soft footsteps. Aggie looked up still breathing rapidly, her heart melted. Not one or even two of her guys stood there, but every single one of them.

“Are you ok?” Eldon was the first to speak and came over to her, placing his hand the side of her head, cupping it and leaning in close.

Nodding Aggie still wasn’t ready to speak. Glancing around the room each and every face that looked back at her spoke of concern for her. She could tell right then and there, that every one of them were meant for her and she was made for them. No one cares this deeply over someone not meant for them.

“I supposed we should give you a little more of a history lesson about the Dragon Warrior.” Mathius approached her and settled himself on the bed beside her.

“Is there more I should know or did the seer cover the basics?” Her voice was small and weak, having only just caught her breath.

“She got the gist of it. There is a version of that story in each of the realms.” Ren clarified for her but only just.

“How am I supposed to be the final Guardian, the Gatekeeper and now this Dragon Warrior?” Aggie was more than lost at this point and was grasping at straws to figure out any little bit of information.

“We had no idea you were meant to hold this burden, but the good news is you have a solid support system unlike anyone else would have. While it isn’t unheard of for our women to hold a harem, you will have the strongest and one of the largest, amongst the realms. You also have a link with every realm where others wouldn’t because it isn’t common to breed between races.” Xavier was feeling extra chatty, it seemed this was his preferred topic.

“I don’t know if I’m cut out for all of this. When you all told me, it was my choice to be the ninth, I had no idea there was an epic battle in my future.” Aggie knew she sounded like she was whining but this was important to her. If she was going to give up her life for all of this, all her cards should have been laid out before she jumped in head first.

“All of our battles are epic. What do you think we are preparing for to get these kids out?” Mitchell, the battle hungry Alpha wolf, had a point. That didn’t mean she was ready for any of it.

“Well given the fact that I can seem to change my destiny, let’s discuss where we are with Navian and the information you got from his mind meld.” Aggie squared her shoulders and decided since fate can’t be changed, she would accept what she could change and that was getting these kids out alive rather than dead.

“It was dark when they dropped him outside, but I saw some landmarks and places that I’ve pinned while scrying. I’m still not one hundred percent sure where they are at. It’s like they have just up and vanished into thin air.” Gryson snarled out of frustration which surprised Aggie enough that she actually jumped.

“Then maybe we just need to take a road trip.” Aggie hesitated at her choice of words, “Perhaps that was wrong, it would be more of a hike in this case. Either way we need to just head out there and figure out what we are missing. Take what we know from Navian and then what you have gathered from scrying and see what we find.”

“I think a hunting party might be a wise choice, but I don’t want all of us to go on this wild goose chase. What if that is what they are hoping for and then use that to attack in our absence?” Mathius, the ever worrier, had a point.

“Who do you want to leave? You won’t be leaving me behind because if you do, I’ll just accuse you of trying to lock me in a tower for my own wellbeing. I’ll tell you right now that isn’t happening. You brought me along, changed my life…for the crazier, trained me to fight, gave me magic and I’ve been here every step of the way without argument. So, I think that has earned me a role in the rescue of these kids.” Aggie wasn’t going to back down even an inch on this. They wanted her, well now they’ve got her, for better or worse as they would say on Earth.

“I agree, she has proven herself in training today. She can hold her own, and with us there, I don’t foresee any problems.” Mitchell’s words once again proved to be more shocking than expected. He had paid her a compliment. While not exactly a direct one, Aggie decided she would take it on principle.

“How did she go from basic training to fight ready in one day?” Mathius was skeptical and rightly so, but this was a story Aggie wanted to sit back and listen to, if only to relish in the tale.

Listening to the guys carry on about how they felt when she saw them take another down was captivating. Aggie giggled a bit and the found herself laying down on the bed propped up by her elbow, taking in all the details.

“You missed it she knocked him clean on his ass. It was epic!” Ren continued his way of thinking from earlier.

“It was definitely a surprising course of action.” Xavier wasn’t upset and sulking anymore and Aggie got to hear his true thoughts given his time to think them over. “She was just there when she wasn’t moments before. Then when I thought I had the upper hand, she proved me wrong rather quickly.”

“I’m not sure any of us were expecting her to get the hang of it as quickly as she did. It was like second nature to her.” Kyrel had leaned against the wall, singing her praises.

“It was indeed a surprising turn of events. I expected the magic, just because we worked on control yesterday. What I didn’t expect was everything else that came along with it. You acted like you had been fighting your entire life.” Eldon sounded proud now that he had more time to consider the events at hand.

“Are you saying you had a hand in the dirty trick she played on us?” Mitchell wasn’t upset but he was surprised that Eldon played a part.

“In his defense I asked him to help me sort it out. I wanted to knock you on your ass, but that was a thousand times better as it got you out of my hair. Which seemed to be the best course of action since you had plotted against me as well. What was the big idea pitting all the guys against me at the same time? Were you hoping I would fail?” Aggie was a tad bothered again that they all had ganged up on her, even though it all came out ok in the end.

“I wanted you to see that you still had to stay active in the moment. You struggled with that and I needed you to know why. None of the guys were actually attacking you or hitting you. It was just a training exercise.” Mitchell defended his actions to the letter and Aggie couldn’t fault him for that. She did learn some valuable lessons in all of it.

“It’s a good thing she has taken to fighting so well because this trip to find the children isn’t going to be a walk in the park. There will likely be bloodshed.” Liel sounding a bit forlorn and Aggie was a bit startled by his tone. She had never heard him sound even a bit emotional.

“I’m just glad we don’t have to worry about her as much. This is a day of great news. I would like to leave as soon as possible.” Mathius rose to his feet and started pacing the room showing how anxious he really was after all the news they had received.

“I’m going to take a stab in the dark and say that Liel, Eldon and Kyrel would be the best choices to leave here. Then when we find the children they can either be here to help in case of attack or help get the children where they need to be. Mathius could even sift back here and bring them back to us if we need the extra manpower.” Aggie had watched them all interact that she was getting a pretty good idea as to what their strengths were.

“In this case, Mitchell and Ren likely be best in their wolf forms. That would help the group blend in with a smaller group and they can run ahead and between their senses be able to get a feel for where they need to go. Gryson, had been scrying and that mixed with the visions he saw in Navian’s head would know if we were going the right way. Xavier could blend into the darkness better than anyone and give them more of the element of surprise. Even if the captors saw them coming, they wouldn’t necessarily see Xavier. Mathius knew the terrain better than any of them and would be needed to help guide them in the right direction for where this Wanderer should be.”

“Let’s gear up and then we can head out. I’ll need you to set up a triage station somewhere here at the castle. While I hope it isn’t necessary, I’d rather be prepared.” Mathius directed this to Eldon and that piqued Aggie’s interest.

“Tell me why Eldon is the one you asked to do that. I’m sure you have a reason and it wasn’t just a random choice.”

“Eldon would you like to share that with her while the rest of us go gear up? You can bring her down to get ready afterward or go ahead and prep her with what she needs. We’ll meet in the common area.” Mathius and the rest of the guys made their way out of the room. Eldon came up and took Aggie’s hand and gently caressed it.

“Care to fill me in there, earth boy?” Aggie smiled at him to show she meant that in the nicest way possible. Then she turned and sat cross-legged facing her Fae mate.

“As a child, I was something of a legend. While most children struggled to master this skill or that, I was proficient in all of them within weeks of developing each new facet of my powers. That garnered a lot of attention and my parents were of the quiet sort. While they weren’t ashamed of me, it was too much for them to handle. I was sent away to live with the priests of our clan. While I was with them, I saw things kids weren’t usually subjected too. I saw sickness and death along with the shunned from one of our cities sent to ask for pity from the priests.” Aggie’s heart was breaking for him though she didn’t know what to say, but he continued with his story giving her more time to digest everything.

“One day, the high priest noticed I didn’t shy away from the most gruesome of men. He was probably in his middle years, full of disease and writhing in pain. I was drawn to him for some reason I had an innate need to touch him. The priest tried to stop me and before he could, my fingers connected with the diseased man’s skin. It was like a calm came over me and I pushed my energy into him. When I opened my eyes, the man looked different. Not just was he healed, but his aged skin was repaired and his features were youthful once again. It was as though I had taken him back to his teenage years. I was so surprised, that I fell back onto my hands and scrambled to run away. I thought I would be in trouble.”

“Why would you have been in trouble?” Aggie was confused because first he was just a child and he had just saved a dying man. Who would punish a child for any of those things?

“No one had shown signs of this power for thousands of years. I was also the youngest. Most who develop it are later in life and not still in their growing years. I had at that point developed every known power and then some. My parents thought I was distraction before. With this power the priests had to create a schedule and I wasn’t permitted to freely walk the grounds anymore. I became more of a hermit because it was less stressful. They brought me the worst of the worst that the doctors couldn’t heal organically. I spent my time indoors during the day and chose to go out at night to avoid human interaction.” That was probably why Eldon was so quiet when they first met. One thing they had in common, she didn’t handle people well either. If she didn’t piss them off by opening her mouth, then she was just inadvertently rude because she didn’t know what to say.

“Over time I learned to control it and not take years away from them. Those early ones, while they were happy with their youthful appearance found integrating back into regular life with a younger look provoked jealousy and bickering amongst the townspeople. I was thankful when I was able to rein in that power.”

“Do you think that is why I’m able to control my powers so well, since you are the one who gifted them to me?” Aggie hadn’t considered this because she didn’t have any reason to believe it was unheard of in his world. This sounded like it was more Eldon-related after all.

“It is possible, I’d considered this myself. I’m not ruling anything out at this point with you. I’m beyond impressed by your abilities so far and can’t wait to see what else develops.” The look Eldon shot her made Aggie’s heart swoon. He didn’t even say anything particularly affectionate but he was proud of her and ready to see what else develops. Which could be something magical or their relationship developing either would be just as perfect.