Dragon's Heart (28 page)

As their tongues joined in a universal ritual, she could taste herself
mixed with the dark rich flavor of Draakar. Better than the richest dessert.

With a thought, she removed his clothes and skin rubbed against skin. Two
sets of hands were everywhere until there only remained one place they hadn’t
touched.
 
But not for long. Gliding
her hand over his chest, past his navel, Maya’s hand grasped her objective and
guided his sex where she needed him most.

     
They both
growled at the contact of him firmly encased within her. Draakar found her
mouth with his own and the rhythm of his tongue matched the rhythm of his hips
as he thrust and withdrew from his mate. At first his movements were slow and
languid, then he stopped all together and rolled over, taking her with him
without breaking contact. He helped her sit up and straddle him, by placing her
legs alongside his hips. Then he bent his knees and placed his feet higher on
the bed, spreading his legs slightly to better cradle her.

Ride me, Maya. Tame your dragon.

She
grabbed two fists full of hair, and ride him she did. Her inner muscles clamped
around his shaft as she pumped up and down. He met her thrust for thrust,
hitting her sweet spot each time. The heat built between them until they were
surrounded by the glow of their joined magicks. Maya threw her head back and
flew. Her body released from its physical shell and exploded into a thousand
pieces. And Draakar, her truemate, caught each and every piece and put her back
together. As one, they came down from the heights. Maya dropped forward until
her head rested on his chest, and he placed his arms around her.

“I
love you,” she told him. “Since the day I was born, I love you.”

He
kissed the top of her hair. “I love you, too.” Wrapped in each other’s arms,
they finally found the peace together that had always eluded them apart.

     
Lord. My Lord.

Draakar, who is that?
 
Maya woke abruptly from a sound
sleep.

Valour,
and his sisters, I think. They are trying to reach me. They must have tapped
into the power our mating generated to be able to call to me now. Come, we must
go to the Stones. It is a portal so I should be able to communicate with them
better from there.

“But…what’s
going on?”

“Come,
we must hurry.”
Draakar
had them in the center of the Stones before the last syllable left his mouth.

Maya
looked at her mate who held her hand and stood naked beside her. She looked
down at herself, just as naked. “Oh no! Wait a second.” She immediately clothed
them both in matching golden silk robes.
 

Draakar
smiled.
They cannot see us, my love. I am
the only one who shall ever see you, thus.
Then his facial features relaxed
into a more serious expression. Holding Maya’s hand he closed his eyes and the
Stones glowed brighter than they had the last time they were there. An aura of
light reflecting all the colors of the rainbow surrounded Draakar and Maya. She
closed her eyes, instinctively knowing she needed to join her powers to his.
The colors blazed brighter with their combined magicks.

Thank
the Claw we reached you.

Valour. What happened? How did you
know you would be able to communicate across the portal?

Greetings, my Lord and my Lady. My
sisters and I knew you had found your mate, Lord. Our casting showed it so; we
knew your powers would be strong enough to hear us through the portal if we
tried at the Center of the Stones on Akgon.

I suspected as much. What’s wrong?

You must return, Lord. Sierran was
only the first. Since then others have weakened physically.

Have any died?

None yet. But it is only a matter
of time.

Bring those so weakened to the
Circle of Stones, Valour. I think their healing power will help until my
return. I cannot come back just yet. There is danger here, too.

Maybe Sherri can help,
Maya
interjected.

Draakar
looked at his mate.
Yes. Maya is correct.
Sherri is one of the human brethren and she is a natural healer. She will be
able to help sustain those who are ailing until Maya and I can return.

Is the power there strong enough
then to open the portal more than once, so easily?
Valour
asked.

Yes, the magicks here are very strong
and I am at full strength. With Maya’s help, I can open the portal to Akgon at
will. And with the help of the brethren I’ve awakened, we can all cross over
anytime.

Very good. But Majesty, what is
this danger and how soon will you follow the healer?

Maya
understood Valour merely tried to understand why his Lord didn’t return
straight away. After all, he had found his mate
.
And with the longstanding of a trusted friend and advisor he had
no fear of asking, so Draakar replied.
There
has been a complication here on earth. The silver dragon, the betrayer, is
still alive.

Maya
could hear the shocked gasp of Draakar’s advisor in her mind.

But…how
can this be? Your mother killed him after he murdered your father.

I’m not sure how it happened, but
he is alive. There’s another complication. Time moves differently here. How
long have I been gone from Akgon?

Ah, I should have realized that.
You’ve been gone for six of our cycles. How long is that on Terra?

I have been gone a long time. I
have been here about two Earth weeks. It is referred to as Earth now. But I
cannot leave until the betrayer has been found. He’s gone to ground in another
dimension.
 

Do you know which one?

No. But there can’t be many portals
that link to Earth.

That’s true, I do not remember
there being many.

We will call on the Stones for help
to show us where all the portals on planet are located. If we can’t find him
then we’ll seal all we find, so no one may enter Earth’s realm without my
leave. This may take a few days.

Yes, the Stones would be aware of
all the portals. The betrayer must be stopped.
 
He would not be satisfied with destroying Earth. Akgon would
be next.

I know. I will send Sherri, one of
our Firsts, to you shortly, and I expect her to be treated accordingly. But she
is still learning the full extent of her powers.

Have no fear, Lord, all shall be
made aware of her rank and I will help her harness her magicks as I’ve helped
you and Talon. Besides the healer and my Lady, how many others have you been
able to awaken?

There are many here, Valour, who
carry the blood.

So it’s true? The brethren
bloodline still exists there?

Yes, Valour, it’s true. There may
be truemates here that can save our world.

Praise to the Claw and Mother Earth
for keeping us within her bosom. I look forward to finally meeting the
forgotten ones, forgotten no more. I will pass this on to the others.

My Firsts are seven of the
strongest awakened brethren.
 

 
Seven is a number of power.

And they are very powerful. The
Earth magicks have been changed somehow. You’ll see when you meet them, and I
have a surprise for you.
 

I already know you’ve found your
truemate.

Ah, but she’s so much more. You’ll
see.
“He’s going to weep with joy when he see’s you’re a Dam,” he
whispered to Maya.

“Why?”
Maya whispered back confused.

“Because
at long last the brethren would have a queen. And a powerful one.”

I look
forward even more then to meeting my Lady, at last,
Valour sent, interrupting their verbal exchange.

And I you, Valour,
Maya sent.

Maya
touched Draakar’s arm to get his attention. “I think Paul should go with Sherri
so she’s not in a strange place alone. Besides I’m not sure you can separate
them.”

“I
think you’re right,” he replied.
Valour,
Sherri will be accompanied by another one of my Firsts, Paul, but he has been
damaged. The betrayer killed his wife in front of him and then tried to drain
his life energy. I’ve restored his balance but it will take time for his spirit
to heal. To that end, I believe Sherri helps him.

Are they a mated pair, Lord?

I’m not sure.
 
I think it’s too early to tell.

I might know when I see them.
 

I shall send Sherri and Paul
through within the hour; have a place in the palace prepared for them of human
proportions. They have not learned to take their dragon form yet, but you can
teach them how when they get there. The magicks here are very strong and
prevent them from changing. And Valour, please do not greet them in dragon
form. I don’t want to scare them the first time in an unfamiliar place.

Don’t worry. My sisters and I will
take good care of them. What about Talon, will he be returning with you?

We’ll see.

Draakar
cut the connection and the Stones lost their brilliant glow.

“We’ll
gather everyone here,” Draakar said, “but first I’ll speak to Sherri and Paul
to let them know what’s happening on Akgon and why they must go ahead of
everyone else.”

“I think
we should speak to them face-to-face,” Maya said. “It will not be easy for them
to leave their lives here on Earth, but at least they’ll be together.” Maya
spoke through her own concerns about leaving her world and entering another. As
queen no less. She found the prospect daunting and something she chose not to
think about. Instead concentrating solely on being with Draakar. The brethren
needed him on Akgon, and Valour’s comments proved how much. Her place lay by
his side.

They
found Sherri and Paul in the green room, one of many sitting rooms in the
castle, already seated side-by-side on an original Queen Anne sofa. Their
fingers entwined. The room had a plaque at the entrance titling it the green
room, even though the only thing green in there was the sofa. Maya and Draakar
turned to briefly stare at each other before returning their gazes to the
couple before them.

They
immediately stood. “Lord, Lady. Congratulations again,” Sherri said with a
smile in her voice. “We didn’t expect to see you so soon, at least not until a
little later when we were to gather at the Stones.”

Maya
blushed slightly at Sherri’s words. “Ah…we have some news from Akgon.”

“Yes,”
Draakar confirmed, taking her hand. “Now that my full powers are engaged, my
advisor was able to communicate with us. There is trouble on Akgon.”

“Oh no!”
Sherri and Paul exclaimed in unison.

“You know
our world is weakening, and the brethren as a result are also weakening.
 
Some have fallen very ill. I cannot
return yet. I must try to find the betrayer first or at least prevent him from
returning to Earth by sealing the portals of the other realms.”

“How may
we help, Lord?” Paul asked.

“Sherri
is a healer, like me. In fact, she is stronger at it. I need her to return to
Akgon and help the brethren there.”

Sherri
frowned. “But I don’t understand. Are they physically injured in some way?”

“Not
exactly. Over time their life energies are being drained so the body functions
more slowly until it completely shuts down, resulting in death. But this can
take a very long time. Unfortunately, we’ve reached the time when the decline
is happening faster in some of the older, less powerful dragons.”

“But…how
can I help? What can I do?”

“The same
thing you did for Paul and Maya’s mother. With the help of the Stones on Akgon,
you can help keep the energies of those brethren who have begun to fail
balanced until I can get there.”

Sherri
turned to look at Paul. Maya could read the worry emanating from Paul for
Sherri and the uncertainty in Sherri’s eyes at the thought of leaving Paul.