Legend of the Forbidden (21 page)

“What happened?” her mother asked.

“I don't know. Something Maya did. She went to Lord Bolton's office, and when I went to see why, I found Dani.” Tyson shook his head and looked up at the doctor. “Is she going to be okay?”

The man nodded. “We were able to stabilize her. Whoever attacked her tried to rip out her ovaries. The gashes are deep, but everything seems to be intact. It's hard to tell just yet what the damage is, outside of knowing it's not fatal. We're not sure how everything will heal up. She is going to live, and life will return to normal again for her.”

“When can we see her?” her father asked.

“You can go in one or two at a time. She's still drowsy and scared, but a familiar face would be welcome, I think.”

“I'm going first,” her mother said, and without another word left the waiting room with the doctor.

Tyson closed his eyes again and sighed with relief.

“My thoughts exactly,” Matthias said. “Thank you for not doing what I said and following. Otherwise…”

“There is no otherwise, so we don't need to think about it,” Tyson whispered.

The doors to the waiting room burst open, and Ethan came in followed by his father, the Great Oceina Lord himself. Both sopping wet from head to toe.

Ethan was about to march straight back to her room, but his father had the sense to hold him back. “I have to go to her,” Ethan said, shaking his head. “Is she—?”

“She's okay and should recover fine,” Tyson said. “Took you long enough to get the message.”

“I don't get good reception at the bottom of the ocean,” Ethan snapped. “I'm surprised my phone even works still.”

Darien shrugged. “I told you my magic could protect it. The important thing is, we're here, and you should be resting.”

“I'm fine!” Ethan protested, but sat down anyway. His brow glistened with sweat, and Tyson noticed the slight strain in his breathing.

He put a hand on his friend's shoulder. “They said only a couple of people could see her at a time because she's tired. Her mom's with her, so as soon as she's out you can go in. You'll need to calm down and relax first or you might stress her out. And you should rest. Because Dani isn't going to be thrilled with you nearly killing yourself getting here.”

Ethan nodded tiredly and closed his eyes. His father sat down next to him and put a hand to the back of his son's neck. All the while, he eyed Dani's father.

“I know I'm not supposed to be here. All I ask is, if you're going to execute me, to please at least let me see her one more time,” Matthias said while rolling his eyes.

The Great Oceina Lord shook his head. “I don't see anyone here who's not supposed to be.”

Tyson watched the exchange and couldn't help but smile. This was a huge step toward peace between the two nations.

 

 

Ethan's heart broke the instant he saw Dani lying in the hospital bed. Her skin was more pale than usual and covered in cuts and bruises. Over her stomach was a bandage soaked in blood, haphazardly covered by her hospital gown. She looked miserable, though her eyes lit up when she saw him.

You made it,
she said.

He nodded.
I'm sorry I couldn't protect you.
“I came as soon as I was able.”
This is my fault.

“It's just as much mine as it is yours. And that's not much at all. The only person I'm going to blame is Bolton and the guy who attacked me. I missed his name, but he was with Maya. She's different and gone. But I refuse to blame you, or myself,” she said firmly.

Taking a seat in the nearest chair, he grabbed hold of her hand. “It's a miracle you're alive. I saw the reports outside. If Tyson hadn't found you, a lot would be different right now. A lot of things fell perfectly into place to protect you.”

“A divine miracle,” she said. “And you did help protect me too, you know. It was your magic that saved me. When he tried to destroy what's inside of me, magic came from within me.” She tapped her chest. “I wasn't even thinking about it, and it created some kind of a barrier to keep him from doing more damage. And I know it was you because it was purple. The most beautiful purple I've ever seen. Kind of like…” She paused and pointed to the stone on her ring. “Kind of like that. I wish I could show it to you, but you helped make me strong. Being with you is what stopped this from being worse.”

“Do you… think it was bad we rushed this?” he asked quietly. Dani had said not to blame himself, but he couldn't help it. If they had waited a little bit longer until his dad had been more on board, or until Lord Bolton could be talked down, then maybe things would have been different.

She shook her head. “This would have happened no matter what. He said… he said I wasn't supposed to have children with you. That's what he wanted to stop, and why the whole arrangement had been made to begin with. I don't think either Tyson's parents or mine knew this plan. But even if everyone had agreed, he still would have tried. And worse things could have happened.”

“Why don't they want…” He trailed off.
Because I am the answer to the question.

“What question?” she asked.

He swallowed. “Who is the Great Dragon? Where does he come from? Me, us. I don't know about you, but I'm starting to feel a lot of pressure here.”

Dani reached up, wincing slightly as she did so, and touched the side of his face. “That's assuming I can even have children anymore. I was protected, but not entirely. Regardless, there shouldn't be pressure on us. I've lived my whole life that way, and I'm not going to stand for it anymore. We're going to just be us, and see the world, and live wherever we please. Nothing is going to keep us apart from now on, and whatever kids we have… All of them are going to be amazing and blessed.”

“But what if one of them is the Great Dragon?”

“Then so what? If he is called to that life, we'll cross that bridge when we get there. But I think our parents were on to something with not telling us about this,” she said.

“And that is what?” he asked quietly, leaning his face in closer to hers and wanting more than ever to express his love for her clearly. After spending so much time keeping it locked inside of him, he didn't want to go on ever having her not know.

She kissed him, her lips barely brushing against his, and she smiled. “Why worry? Why wonder? Why plan? Whatever is going to happen is out of our hands now. Nothing we do is going to make the Great Dragon come or not come. It's not for us to decide.”

“Nothing we do, huh?” he said with a smirk. “Are you sure about that?”

Dani blushed, and it was absolutely adorable. So much so that he had to kiss her cheeks. She tilted her head in toward his affections. “You know what I meant.”

“Yes,” he said. “All right, from here on out, no more pressure or wondering. Great Dragon who?”

“I like that idea.”

He frowned slightly as it dawned on him. “How will he know who he is if we don't tell him though? Isn't that one of our duties as parents?”

“Assuming we have children, I'm sure we'll know when the time is right.”

Ethan lay his head next to hers on the pillow, wanting to urge her back to sleep. He needed it himself after his long journey there. Pushing the pressure aside wasn't something that was so easy for him to do, unfortunately. The selfish part of him hoped he wouldn't have to deal with ever having the responsibility of raising a divine being.

 

 

Dani and Ethan had been married for one full dragon year. Tyson could hardly believe it had been so long and yet so short all at once. And he was especially excited to see his two friends again. The backlash from Lord Bolton took some time to cool down. With the help of Ethan's father, Dani's grandfather, and both of their connections to high places, they were able to talk the Terran Lord down from a declaration of war. It didn't take long for Lord Bolton to be voted out of office and replaced by a much more relaxed man. One who believed in letting the pacts of the past die as the nations continued to focus on healing.

While his friends traveled the world, Tyson spent his time in school learning medicine. Dani's near-death experience had inspired him to want to learn more. Getting into a college wasn't hard and was the best decision he'd ever made. After all, it was there he met his, hopefully, soon to be fiancée.

He stood on the beach in front of Dani's house, the same place where the adventure had all begun, and he watched the waves roll onto the shore. In the sky, he spotted Ethan, Dani resting on his back. Tyson waved at them. They landed, and he helped Dani off of her husband's back and then both stepped out of the way so Ethan could transform back into his human shape.

“Have fun? Where did you go?” Tyson asked. “I mean, it's been a year! You must have been able to see everything.”

“Just about,” Dani said. “But I want to know more about this girl. Is she good enough for you? She's not creepy or shady like the she-devil, right?”

Tyson grimaced at the mention of Maya. Someone he hadn't seen since watching her leave the corporate building so long ago. And he hoped to never see her again. He didn't want to know what she was up to, because it couldn't be anything good.

“She's good, sweet—nothing like her,” Tyson reassured Dani.

Dani leaned in and kissed his cheek. “Okay, good.”

“So, uh, any, you know,” he gestured to her stomach, unsure of how to ask.

“Bun in the oven?” Ethan supplied, finally joining the conversation. He was a little out of breath, but he seemed to be in much better shape than usual. Married life must have been doing good things for him.

Dani shook her head. “Nothing, but we're not actively trying either. We have a lot of time.” She smiled up at her husband and rested in his arms.

Tyson nodded. “So the 'just going with the flow' plan is working well, huh? Have you at least decided where you're going to settle down?”

Both of them shook their heads, laughing.

“We've narrowed it down to ten places,” Ethan said.

“Ten?” Tyson asked.

“Yeah, so about this girl…”

Tyson put his head in his hand. “She's here. I brought her with. If all goes well, I'll make an attempt to kiss her tonight, and hopefully she won't refuse.”

“Do you want some gum?” Ethan asked. “Just in case. I wouldn't want her to reject your marriage proposal over garlic breath.”

He punched his friend in the arm. “No respectable woman would reject a marriage proposal over something so silly!”

“I would!” Dani said with a giggle. “Just saying!”

Tyson waved a hand. “It doesn't matter anyway because we're not going to be eating anything with garlic, onions, or any other stinky foods.” The young couple groaned, and he glared at them. “It's still going to be good. My dad's cooking.”

“Well, in that case…” Ethan said, and picked up his pace so they could get inside the house.

For a moment, Tyson lingered back, letting his two best friends get ahead of him. So much had changed so quickly and yet so much remained the same.

 

 

J.F. Jenkins
lives in Minneapolis Minnesota with her husband, son, and two cats. She graduated from Bethel University in 2006 with a degree in Media Communication with minors in both writing and film. When she is not busy writing, she spends her free time playing games, reading, and spending time with her family.

 

 

 

Prologue

 

Sir Oriol stared at Alan for a long time, walking in circles as though he were some kind of bird of prey waiting to make his kill. Alan had to try and hide how much it bothered him. The last thing he could be was weak in front of his superior.

“You're lucky, Junior. I don't know how you were able to find the
Gelandrosimbol
base, or how you made it out of there alive on your own. Careless as it was to go in by yourself, I do commend your findings and instincts. Perhaps you are not quite as useless as I originally thought, nor are your charges.” For a moment, Sir Oriol's speech made Alan feel proud, but he should have known better than to take the man's words as a compliment. “What I don't understand is how you lost eleven test subjects. Even more frustrating is your inability to locate them again after two weeks.”

Alan swallowed.
Don't let him intimidate you.
“My charges are gathering up information still through the gossip at their places of education. Thankfully none of the subjects have died as of yet from an improper reaction to the injection. Whether they are displaying abilities or not, is another story of course. With the way the Earth culture works in this area it isn't—”