Dragon Frost (27 page)

“
What are
you doing here?” I growl a little confused as I brush off the snow
from his clothes. He is a wreck I wonder what had happened to him.
Altair appears to have the same thought as he relaxes and places
his crossbow on the side of his thigh where he slowly but carefully
places it. After he’s done he pulls me from the ground and forces
me behind him. He growls down at Vedric.

“
Altair?”
I question.

“
He’s not
who you think he is.” I turn to Vedric. Altair’s words flood my
mind. This is strange, his sudden change in emotion. One minute
he’s relaxing in Vedric’s presence the next he’s being: “I’ll pull
you away when I please”. There are times like this I have to say,
he’s just as bad as some women prior to their period not that I
would voice that out loud. The last thing I need is for him to be
mad at me as well. “Who are you really?” Altair growls his arms
crossed. From this angle he does appear rather
intimidating.

“
I have
no idea what you mean?” asks Vedric confused. He glances to me with
pleading eyes and I shrug my shoulders; unsure if Altair has lost
the plot or not.

“
Don’t
play stupid. Don’t think I didn’t see the way you looked at
her.” 
Okay, now I’m lost.
 If Altair is playing the protective husband. I’m not
in the mood and attempt to brush past him but he holds me in place,
with, now, one of his free arms.

“
Altair,
you’re being ridiculous. He’s Zylarian!” I growl but his hold
doesn’t waver, instead he’s glaring down at Vedric. I honestly feel
sorry for the poor man at the moment, Altair and his alpha male
charisma is overwhelming at times. I glare at Altair since he
refuses to release me and pushes me further behind him. Doesn’t he
know I can fight my own battles? Still I don’t try to fight him
otherwise I’ll be probably locked in his arms and that’s the last
thing I want at the moment. In my current form I’m no match to go
up against him.

“
Don’t
play coy. I can smell it!” he growls and I freeze. He can smell it?
Wouldn’t I have picked it up too? Then again I’m not in my Nefaliem
form—my real form. My senses are lower than his at the moment.
Maybe Altair isn’t over reacting. “That particular stench of yours
only adds to my theory.”

“
Is he
all right?” Vedric asks me as he rises on his feet. The fear is
gone from his eyes and I give him a confused look. Vedric sighs.
“And here I thought I had you Lady Nindo.” He smiles at me and I
stare. Altair tenses. He knew! “A moment longer and I would have
torn off your head and devoured you innards.” I glare. Altair
growls low and I hear his inner dragon.

“
If that
is so, then who are you?” I ask, slightly pushing myself from
Altair but enough to show I’m not fragile but enough to grasp onto
Altair should something happen. I think back to the times in the
Order, Vedric was rather strange hanging back; his eyes trailing
Altair with desire. I brushed it off as some sort of male crush but
now I see that wasn’t the case. If this is what I think it is, it’s
a Zartonian: a dragon eater. He glanced at Altair with desire to
devour him not sleep with him. 
’Why did the Lord have to give us a dragon
hungry monster?’
 Altair doesn’t respond. It’s not that I expect him
to.

“
Why is
that . . . I wonder?” asks Vedric as he glances at me. He read my
thoughts. No surprise that’s how they hunt us.

“
Who are
you?” I demand once more.

“
What,
you think I Am.” he states. His limbs begin to jolt and crack and
his skin—slowly sheds—peeling back the life of his existence. The
ground creates a fissure under us and Altair locks me in his arms
and takes off, we hover, several meters above the ground. The
leafless canopy swims below us and Vedric becomes that, a
‘Zartonian’. It has the appearance of a dragon but isn’t as
beautiful or alluring. Instead it has dark brown crackling scales
and golden blood shot eyes. Its claws crash onto the ground and its
wings begin to flap as it rises from the ground. Altair mutters a
curse and jets away from the beast, I hear its roar and the wind
brushes around us causing our hair to flap and dance in the wind.
He increases his speed and drops me down on the ground before
taking off, I stop.

“
What are
you doing? You can’t leave me here alone!” I growl.

“
I’m not
alone, Varden’s not too far away.” He looks deep into my eyes as if
searching for some form of emotion I may or may not have been able
to express, before adding, “I’ll be back.” He promises and takes
off into the sky. The screech of the Zartonian enters my ears and I
slip around behind a tree, hoping it doesn’t find me. I hear it cry
out in pain and the sound of sonic bombs. Altair’s battling it. The
green flashing lights confirms my theory from where I see the sight
through the gap of the branches. The Zartonian begins to move away
from where I am and I sprint towards the camp.

I hear a cry of
pain.

“
Varden!”
I cry and run hard. I leap over longs and uneven ground. I had to
get to him, I had to protect him and I had to ensure he isn’t
killed. I force my way through the foliage and come face to face
with a man, he holds a rifle. I regard it questionably. Why would
he have a rifle? Where would he get it?

B-A-N-G!

“
Kalverya!” My chest hurts and I place a hand on where the
pain radiates from to see black liquid covering my scales, staring
down at the snow there are droplets not of black but of crimson.
Blood. My blood. It trickles between my outstretched fingers and
lands on the ground in splashing droplets. I can hear Varden’s
voice and I drop to my knees. “Kalverya!”

My vision
is slightly hazy but I needed time which I fear I don’t have. How
did this happen? Their bullets aren’t made of metal from this
world. I can still hear Varden’s voice but only barely the man who
shot me continues to stalk towards me aiming his primitive rifle.
At least I know they didn’t get it from Earth—I don’t know whether
to be pleased or mad. I feel a numb sensation converging my wound
and feel a warm heat. The man glances down at me wide
eyed.

I stand on my
feet.

“
Next
time you try to kill someone, aim for the head.”

I sprint
towards him and shove my claws through his torso where he gasps and
shudders at my impact. Men start firing their weapons towards me
and I slip and dodge. My dragon is taking control of my movements.
It’s only natural. When we are wounded we end up losing our civil
sense and we become primal. On instinct my body takes over and I
take out the men with my claws. One by one they fall. My body is on
auto-pilot—I couldn’t even break the trance I’m in. My senses are
heightened. So is my speed and strength, I feel invincible. The
pool of blood soaks into the snow at my feet. I stand over a man on
his knees, his arms are up afore him as he cowers down before me.
His rifle at his knees which I remember he had dropped some time
prior to his position.

He
whimpers and something is wrapped around me. I growl my
voice—deeper, fiercer. Heat radiates around my arms almost burning
me and I feel hot breath against my ear. “No more, please stop. He
surrenders.” the voice says and I’m finding it hard to understand
who it belongs to. The man before me nods his head repetitively.
“He surrenders leave him be.” says the voice again.

The heat
I’m wrapped around is like gentle metal, it’s against my back and
over my shoulder. I don’t know what it is but I can’t fight it. Not
because I can’t but because I won’t. It draws my mind and bit by
bit, reality returns to me. “Please, stop.” says the same voice. I
recognize it. It’s Varden’s voice. “We’re safe now. I’m safe now.
Spare him.” he whispers pleadingly. I feel something wet and warm
fall over my scales.

“
Varden?”
I question. Turning to him I see one side of his face is damp. He
cried. But why? “Are you alright, what’s wrong?” I ask quickly.
Hoping the words will quell his pain. Instinctively I place my hand
against one side of his face and wipe away the trail the tear had
left.

“
You’re
back.” I’m lost.

“
Where
did I go?” I ask, not registering.

“
You
don’t remember.” he states his eyes are firm yet sad and I nod.
Before I can get another answer from him, I hear a familiar
screech. It beast crashes not too far from us delivering a
tremendous crater beneath it.

A blue
black and silver majestic dragon lays on the ground. Blood pours
out of its wound. Its blue eyes regard us weakly before it whimpers
in pain. Varden pushes me behind him. “Altair!” I scream and run to
him. I stroke his silver hair that files from his head down to the
tip of his tail. I rest his large head on my lap and stoke him.
He’s hurt badly. 
’Altair, where does it hurt?’
 I ask him mentally and place my head
against his muzzle. I can feel his breath exhale through his sharp
incisors but I’m not scared. How can I, when I could do the same
thing at one point?

He growls
lightly, ‘
My
chest . . . the Zartonian, got its teeth into
me.’
 His clawed
paws move to reveal more blood and I look at him with
fear. 
’I’ll be fine.’

‘
Still I have to do something. I can’t lose
you.’
 I gently
place his head on the ground and move over to his wound and Varden
stands not too far away his eyes darting over Altair’s dragon
form.

“
Kalverya? I don’t see Altair.” says Varden
slowly.

‘
Idiot!’
 growls Altair and I smile. I touch the edges of his
wound and he winces in pain. I scan the area there’s nothing much
we can use. I’ll need to emasculate and clean his wound.

“
Find me
some fire wood.” I say. Attending Altair.

“
What?
For?” asks Varden.

“
There’s
no time. Hurry!” I growl and he scurries away leaving me alone with
my injured companion. 
’You can be a big idiot sometimes. You know we
aren’t invincible. We aren’t immortal. We still
die.’
 I growl as I
assess his wounds. I slip my hand down into my belt to pull out a
balm but only realise than I handed it to Varden.
‘
Perfect.’

‘
What’s wrong?’

‘
I gave my balm to Varden.’
 I say.

‘
Why?’
 growls Altair and I push him back down as he tries to
move. He’s set back in place.

‘
Don’t get snappy! I had no choice. He was
burnt.’
 I
retort.

‘
He doesn’t look burnt.’
 replies Altair and I glare at him.

‘
He was sun burnt.’
 That shuts him up. He above all people should know
how dangerous the rays are, in his human form on Earth he would
often be burnt by the sun’s UV rays not that he allows me to forget
it.

‘
What’s the firewood for?’
 he asks.

‘
To give Varden something to do, other than
gape,’
 I hear a
deep rumble vibrate from within him and his mouth is stretched into
a smile that only those who have been around dragons, can tell the
difference. Some instead think they are growling when that’s not
the case. Altair may be formidable but he’s no monster.

‘
I thought he would be used to the Mystic by
now.’
 comments
Altair.

‘
He may be used to the Mystic but he has no experience when
it comes to us. I’m pretty sure it will be the same should he
encounter a Vampire or Siren.’
 After I’ve assessed the wound, I blow gently on it. I
wasn’t blowing wind but lightly blowing fire, not on it but close
enough to kill the bacteria. I hear Altair grunt as he tries to
manage with the pain. After I’m done, I pull out a cloth from my
utility belt and compare it to his incision. Still I can’t help but
feel slightly annoyed. We need herbs and fast. The question though
is when and where can we get it. He’ll need to return back to his
Nefaliem form if he ever hopes on healing. 
’Why don’t you return to your
previous stature? That should help with the healing?’

Altair
does as I’ve offered and his large limbs return to normal and he
rests in the snow and I move from where I am meters from him and
towards his head, placing it on my lap. “We should do this more
often.” he says after sometime of staring at me as I assess his
face where some abrasions and nicks. Above all he seems
fine.

“
What?
You being, almost killed?”

“
No.
This.” he says and I look at him confused. He leans towards me and
plants a kiss on my lips, his hand, plays at the roots of my hair
and at that moment I hear a loud clutter which draws both of our
attention. There stands Varden, red faced and
mad. 
Why
is he mad?

“
I’ve
brought your wood. If you wanted to be alone you should have said
so!” he snaps and walks away—rather storms away.

“
What’s
with him?” I question aloud.

“
Looks
like someone’s jealous.” comments Altair and I look at him with a
frown. “What?”

“
You
knew
he
was
there?”