Oliver

I wake covered in sweat from head to toe. Quickly, I glance around my room to see if I’m still in my small space in the forest. I’m not. I’m in my bed with a blanket covering me. I throw it off and pull the damask that surrounds my four-poster bed open. Sunlight streams in through the window, letting me know by its location in the sky that I’ve woken while the day is still young. I’m completely disoriented.

I collapse back onto the bed, while trying to calm my racing heart. The dream I was jolted from floods my mind as I recall everything that happened.

Addison Azure was there. She was in my forest home. The one place I have which no one ever enters but me. I’m not sure how she found it or was able to find it. To my knowledge, she’s never been in our woods. Although, it was only a dream. My mind must have been trying to clear all thoughts of Ali. I would have never guessed it would replace them with visions of Addison. She’s the last person I’d expect. Okay, maybe not the last. Lucas, now he would be the last.

I scrub a hand over my face. One moment, I was cradling her soft cheek in my hand, and the next she was gone as if she evaporated from thin air. I stood and searched the small room, the outside area, I even climbed down and rushed through the forest. Her scent was gone…she was gone.

Deciding there’s no point in trying to rationalize what happened, it was a dream after all, I get out of bed, shower, and get dressed in simple clothing. My only duty for the day is to visit Reid and discuss the kingdom. We need a plan to get our people back into our castle. We want everyone to feel welcome.

As I’m walking toward the tower house, I notice guards rushing through its front door. I waste no time in chasing behind them. Running guards are never a good sign, especially when they are running toward our king. Inside the main dining room, I find them surrounding the table where Reid is eating his breakfast. Voices are raised, men are talking over one another, and no one is being heard.

I push through them and make my way to our king. Once I reach his side I yell, “Silence!” The men become quiet, but I can tell by their stiff postures they are ready to pounce. On what, I don’t know. “What’s the meaning of this?” I ask.

Richlan speaks up first. He’s my second in command. “A pack of trelktik were spotted in the forest. Our guards managed to chase them away from the homes there, but they ran toward Azure.”

Pushing his chair back from the table with force, Reid stands. “We must warn them. If they’re caught off guard, I don’t want to think about what could happen.”

“I’ll go. I’ll take Lyras and hopefully head them off. Richlan, gather all our men and have them ride through the kingdom to make sure everyone is inside. And I mean everyone. Then secure the castle. Anyone who wants to seek refuge inside may do so. We don’t know if there are more out there.” He nods once and knows I meant to clear everyone, including the cultivators and other men who are working.

I run from the room with the men on my heels. Some head for their horses, while others take their dragons. As fast as my legs will take me, I rush to the large building we have our dragons housed in. Two guards stand at its doors and quickly open one wide when they see me coming. I stop only to ask one of them for their sword. In my haste to leave, I didn’t think to grab mine. I need to find Lyras and get in the air.

In the very last stall in the enormous structure, I find Lyras. She’s already on her feet with her tail swishing from side to side, ears pinned back, and smoke flowing from her nostrils with every exhale. The two large battle scars across her neck are easily seen every time she stands to her full height.

Swinging the door wide, she steps out and exits the building through the open back doors, which go from floor to roof. She doesn’t need to be told what to do. Her ability to sense me is one of the reasons we are as strong together as we are.

Once she’s outside, she bends down to rest her stomach on the stone pathway. Only our royalty, guards, and those in my army who have dragons are allowed to step foot in the building and out its back doors. It’s banned from anyone else.

Two tall horns top Lyras’ head, while smaller ones jut out around her mouth. Her scales are a burnt orange on her head that gradually lighten all the way to her bright yellow tail. She looks like fire. Walking, breathing fire. Her sharp claws spread out on the stone as I step on her foreleg. With a swing of my leg, I’m seated on her back. She wastes no time getting into the air. A leap off our castle wall has her dropping to the narrow grassy ground below, but when her wings spread, and she cranes her neck toward the sky, we quickly climb until we reach just below the clouds. If she were to hesitate any longer, we’d end up crashing into the ground.

My left hand taps her side, letting her know to bank left. We have to get to Azure before the trelktik do. Lyras follows my direction with ease and the Azure castle comes into view. Their flag billows in the breeze at the top of the tower house. The closer I get, the easier I can make out the eagle which adorns it. Wings spread wide, talons out, feathers defined, it’s their kingdom’s symbol; one I loathed for many years, and still do. Nothing good comes from this place. Only dark memories and one of love lost. But the last thing I want is for anyone to be hurt when I can prevent it.

We start to descend toward the ground when I catch three trelktik running for the castle. Their long legs and slender bodies give them the agility no other creature of their size has. I’m flying directly above them now, leaning forward to push Lyras harder–faster. Looking down, I can see the trelktik’s muddy brown fur, pointed ears which are pressed flat to their heads, and long snouts with razor sharp teeth showing. If I were standing on the ground beside them, the top of their back would reach my waist. The lower I get, the louder they become. They know we’re above them. They snarl and snap at the air as they continue to run toward the castle bridge.

Lyras pushes on. I notice another dragon take to the sky. A solid black one belonging to none other than Elliott. He’s the only one with a dragon that color and he’s coming for me. I’m sure he thinks I’m attacking. Too bad it won’t be me he’s fighting today. Before he can reach me, I grip the right side of Lyras neck hard to get her to turn around. As she does, I then lean forward to get her to dive toward the ground while I loudly shout, “Fire!” Her body expands below me as she drags in a big breath. I hold tight as fire shoots from her mouth on her exhale, scorching a line on the ground in front of the Azure castle.

The trelktik stop at the line blazing in the grass. Flames lick higher and higher as Lyras adds more to what is already there. The fire is easily as tall as a dragon at this point, causing the trelktik to run along the line. Lyras continues breathing in deep, then releasing her fire, until a half circle is drawn on the ground in front of the bridge to the castle. The mangy trelktik won’t dare cross the line. Fire is one of their few weaknesses. Luckily, the rest of the Azure castle is surrounded by water and they can’t swim either.

In the haste to get the line drawn, I didn’t watch where Elliott went. Looking up now, I see him on his dragon, yelling for his people to get inside and close the gate. His eyes find mine and he nods once before bringing his dragon to the wall. Men are listening below as he shouts out orders for his Elite to take to the sky and help him chase the beasts from the kingdom.

I’m watching the trelktik on the ground below snarl at the flames as drool drips from their jowls. Their hackles are raised in anger at not being able to get at their prey. It’s then I spot movement at the tree line. Whereas the Pine Kingdom is covered in towering trees, Azure is mostly great open land that expands until a forest of their own at the far end. It’s there I see someone and a lone trelktik.

Without thinking, I lean forward again, signaling Lyras toward the trees. I must save whoever is out there. A single, unarmed person doesn’t stand a chance. No one else notices they are there. We are upon them in no time. Lyras dives toward the ground, but fire is too risky to use, given the proximity of the beast to the person. Without a thought for my own well-being, I jump from Lyras’ back, tuck into a ball, and roll along the ground. When I right myself, I rush toward the trelktik.

I don’t look at the person, but insert my body in front of them. The beast closes in; its jaws snapping at me. The sword, heavy in my hand, arcs out in front of me, hoping to slice through its thick fur. I miss. It wasn’t close enough for me to hit. The beast leaps in the air toward my throat. I raise the sword up to block the attack, but then suddenly everything freezes. Brown fur appears in my line of sight, but the animal is caught mid-air.

Stunned, I look around and notice a few dragons frozen in the air as well, off in the distance. My head whips to the side and I notice another trelktik is only a few feet from me. He is frozen mid-run. One I never saw coming.

“You can move?” a voice comes from behind me.

Turning, I see Addison Azure. She’s trembling slightly; her back pressed against a tree. I’m still unsure of what is going on, but I have enough sense to respond to her. “Yes, it appears so. What’s happening?”

Her gaze drops to the ground. I take a step toward her. “Addison?”

She pierces me with her eyes. “I did it, okay? All of this,” she says, while waving her hands in the air. “It’s not something I normally do and I can’t fully control it.”

“You did this?”

“Yes. I have no idea why you’re unaffected. Usually, I’m the only one who can move, so no one is the wiser to what I did. I’m sure you’re going to run right back to your king and tell him.”

“You think that’s what I would do?” In truth, had this been any other person, I would have gone to Reid to tell him everything. But this isn’t any person. It’s Addison. The woman who I dreamt about last night. The woman who I almost kissed. The woman who has, until recently, been my enemy. I see her differently than I did before the wedding.

“Don’t pretend you won’t do it.”

“Addison, I have no intention of telling King Pine what is taking place right now.”

Her eyes narrow. “Why not?”

I ignore her question and glance to the side where the trelktik is still frozen mid-run, then behind me where the other is still caught in the air. “Why did you do it? Why did you stop everything just now?”

“They were going to kill you.”

I quirk an eyebrow. “You don’t think I could have handled them?”

“That one maybe,” she says while pointing over my shoulder. “The other one, no. You didn’t even know it was there.”

My feet bring me another step closer to her. She’s within my grasp now. I could reach for her, but I don’t. My voice drops to just above a whisper. “Why did you save me, Addi?” Her shortened name seems right on my tongue, like I know her more personally, even though I don’t.

The normal tough as nails Addison seems to lose her muster. Her body sags against the tree, her eyes focus on the grass below our feet. “Before you came, I was trying to talk to it–the trelktik. I was hoping to convey that I meant it no harm, in hopes it would back down.”

“Addison–” I don’t like the idea of her trying to reason with a beast when her life is on the line. She could have frozen them at any point, yet she didn’t.

She raises her hand to keep me from talking. “I was also trying to get them to leave. Maybe if I convinced one, the others would follow. But then you jumped down from your dragon, all noble with your sword, and any chance I had of talking to them was gone.”

My fingers rake through my hair. She could have been killed. I know I shouldn’t care as much as I do, but the thought makes my stomach knot. “You should have frozen them, or whatever this is, before I got here. You could have removed yourself from danger.”

“It doesn’t work that way. I have to feel something strongly to be able to do it.” Her voice is barely a whisper. “I was scared when I saw them coming for you.” This isn’t like her. From everything I’ve heard, nothing scares Addison. She’s supposed to be as capable as Elliott, but looking at her now, she’s unarmed.

“You were scared? For me?” She nods.

Even with beasts at my side and back, I can easily push it all away with her in front of me. I feel like I’m back in my dream again. Only Addi and me. Without realizing I’m doing it, I lift my hand to her face. My fingertip lightly grazes her cheekbone, and I’m immediately hit with a current rushing through my body. I don’t move. I don’t pull my hand away. I continue to lightly trace the frame of her face down to her jawline and up to plump bottom lip. Her lips part.

Her voice shakes slightly. “You were there.”

“Where?”

“My dream.” I suck in a breath. No. It was only a dream. It wasn’t real.

I have to ask. “Was I in your dream, Addi?” She nods. “When?”

“Last night.” My body goes rigid, but my fingers lightly drag along the delicate column of her neck. I can’t stop touching her. It feels right to have my hands on her warm skin.

“What was I doing?”

“You were about to kiss me.”

“It can’t be. It was only a dream.”

“You were there. You were in my dream,” she accuses.

I shake my head. “This doesn’t make any sense. People don’t share dreams.”

“They do,” she states firmly. “Ali and Luke did. She told me.” At that, any spell that had been between Addison and me is broken. The mention of Ali’s name is like a cold bucket of water poured right over my head.

Stepping back, my hand drops from her face. Her eyes convey her confusion, yet she doesn’t ask why I moved. “How long can you hold this for?”

“Hold what?”

My hand flicks to the trelktiks near me. “This, everything you’ve frozen. How long will it stay like this?”

Her eyebrows furrow. “I’m not sure. I’m not consciously keeping them the way they are.”

“Then I’m ending it before they have time to move again.”

I quickly lift my sword to create a deep gash in the beast to my right, then stab it in the back. It doesn’t move, yet blood drips from its body and coats my sword. Turning, I impale the other one and bring my sword back to my side. More blood falls in large droplets to the grass below, painting it crimson. This should ensure they are either wounded greatly or will be near death when they are released. Either way, they won’t be able to come after us.

“You didn’t have to do that!” Addison cries. “I could have gotten them to leave.”

“You’re willing to risk both of our lives on that? And the lives of your people?” I ask and point my sword toward the castle.

“I could try.”

“Addison, the trelktik would kill you without a second thought. They are savage beasts. There is no reasoning with them. I would have thought you of all people would understand.”

Her voice raises. “What I understand is that you don’t know me at all. I might be tough and able to take care of myself, but that doesn’t mean I want to see innocent creatures die, who are only doing what they were created to. They are going after prey, even if that is currently us. Maybe if I talked to them they’d understand we aren’t their enemy.”

I bark out a laugh, void of any humor. “They’re vicious. They would rip your head clear from your body if given the chance. They aren’t looking to be your friend, Princess.”

She raises her hand and points at me. “Do not take that tone with me. You are in my kingdom, Sage. Not the other way around. Remember who you’re talking to.”

“Oh believe me, love, I never forgot. I’m only in your kingdom to help your people, but since you seem to have that all taken care of, I should go.”

With that, I spin on my heel and walk away from her. I see Lyras frozen just above the ground in the distance. She must have been about to land. Now, how do I free her of this wicked woman’s magic?