Fire & Ice (11 page)

“What! No, they don’t even know me! Besides, just how are you so certain that they can change into a dragon? Adrian might have been trying to play some elaborate trick on you.”

Angel was shaking her head and frowning. “Well, if seeing their dragon through Adrian’s eyes wasn’t enough, after they took you from the hospital and stole an ambulance to transport you to the portal that would lead them home, I not only watched them change into a dragon, but rode on its neck through the portal to get to where we are now!”

Evangelina stared at her friend for a moment. Angel had never lied to her about anything. But dragon shifters? Riding the back of a dragon to some foreign place? Then she thought back to her dreams. She remembered two large strangers being in the room with them. One was introduced as a doctor, and the other was introduced as the guys’ father and the king of this land, wherever the hell this was!

She looked around the room they were in. There were stone walls, like the type you would see in a castle, but modernized with large windows to let the sunlight in. Then her eyes settled on the fireplace, and more importantly, the portrait above the fireplace.

“Is that them?” she whispered to her friend, as her eyes refused to move from the picture of the two dragons. The one with two heads had a body that was charcoal in color. Each of the heads were a complete different color. One head was fiery-orange, and immediately made her think of fire. The other head was a light blue color, and made her think of ice.
Fire and ice.

The second dragon was larger than the first and was sitting tall and proud behind the first. He was a deep crimson red. She remembered seeing this portrait when she had woken up earlier, right before the guys came in and fed her. Then she was whisked back to bed.

“The two-headed dragon is them. They join forces when they shift into their dragon form, each brother representing a head. The bigger one in the back is their father, King Thoran, I would imagine.”

Slowly, Evangelina’s eyes left the portrait and found her friend again. “So, where exactly are we, and are we safe?”

Angel chuckled before replying, “Yes, silly, we are perfectly safe. They have shown me nothing but kindness since we arrived. And to answer your question about where we are, we are in a place called Dragonose. Don’t ask me how we got here other than the dragon stepped through this magical portal. It was really windy and I couldn’t see anything, I just clung to him for dear life. When we arrived, I climbed down but my knees were so weak, I fell to the ground immediately.”

“Okay, what happened after we arrived?” Evangelina’s eyes kept returning to the portrait. As crazy as it was, the painting was just too real and lifelike to have come from someone’s imagination. She felt a shiver go up her spine. She was in a foreign land, with no way of getting back home. But then again, what was so important for her to return to anyway? A psychotic ex who wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer and broke into her apartment, trashed it, and then blew up her car. Her body was wracked with a sudden shudder as she thought about what would have happened to her had she not used her remote starter. If she had been sitting in the driver’s seat when the car blew up, she would no longer be around.

“Well, the guys and the king rushed you into their medical facilities while I was forced to stay out in the waiting area,” Angel continued.

Evangelina turned her eyes to her friend and placed a hand on top of hers. “Hon, I am sorry. You must have been so lonely and frightened.”

The immediate twinkle in Angel’s eyes could not be missed. “Well, I admit, I was not happy at first. The king ended up coming right back out into the waiting area as well, and paced back and forth for what seemed like forever. He had several of his guards with him, as if they expected the little human to be able to hurt their precious king. Ha! The man could squash me like a bug if he wanted to.”

“Is he mean and nasty?” From what Evangelina could recall the man that introduced himself to her as the king was huge, but seemed very pleasant. Then again, she still wasn’t sure about what was a dream and what was reality.

“Oh no, not at all! He was just worried. It wasn’t until later that I found out since you are his sons’ mate, if you had died, they would have missed their one chance at true love.”

“Okay, let’s get back to this mate thing in a minute. So, what happened after the king wore a hole in the carpet with his pacing?”

Angel gave a sly smile and the twinkle in her eyes got even brighter. “Well, one of the guards was sitting near me, and he kept inching closer and closer. Then, we started talking, and suddenly, the king threw his head back and roared with laughter as he came over and patted this guard, Zen, on the back and congratulated him. I didn’t understand what was going on until Zen took me to dinner.” She stopped and smiled even wider, and Evangelina could tell that whatever her friend was getting ready to say, it was really good news.

“We went to this place that looked like an old-fashion pub/restaurant, where the bartender brought out a platter of food for us that was as big as the table! I had never seen so much food in my life! But as we started eating and drinking, I started to relax, and that is when Zen informed me that I am his mate.”

It was clear then what the twinkle in her eye had been all about. Angel was in love! “Oh my gosh, girl, I am so happy for you!” Evangelina threw her arms around her friend’s neck and hugged her tight, only to release her a moment later with a slight frown on her face.

“Wait a minute! Is he handsome? Is he kind and gentle? Does he treat you well, or is he all caveman style?”

Angel giggled at her friend’s inquisition as she leaned back and sighed. “He’s wonderful. He’s thoughtful, and kind,
and
handsome!”

Evangelina placed her hand on top of her friend’s and squeezed gently. “I am happy for you, Angel, I truly am!”

Both women’s heads turned in unison as someone lightly knocked on the door. The door opened before either of them had time to say anything. The man Evangelina had been introduced to as King Thoran stepped through the doorway with a small smile on his face.

“Oh good, you’re awake. I came to ask if you two wanted to go for a short horseback ride with me. Evangelina, are you feeling up to it? The men are busy with training exercises today, so it will be at least another couple of hours before they are home. Are you two up for a little sightseeing?”

Chapter Eight

The girls glanced at each other. “It’s up to you, Evangelina. I’ll stay in if you aren’t feeling up to going,” Angel announced.

“No, surprisingly I feel good. I think I feel better than I have in a long time. Exactly how long have we been here, anyway?”

“Just a couple of days, why?” Angel responded.

“I am just a little surprised that I feel this good only a few days after practically being blown up.”

“Evangelina, our medical knowledge is far more advanced than what Earth has. Also, the doctor who treated you, the twins’ dragon, and myself, we all hold healing magic within us and use it whenever it is needed.”

She grinned over at the king. “Sounds like I owe a few people a thank you.”

King Thoran chuckled. He liked the feisty little human that was his sons’ mate. “No need, really. It’s what we do.”

Turning back to her friend, Evangelina stated, “Come on, let’s go check out this foreign land.”

Then, she turned to glance at the king. “We will be safe, won’t we?”

He immediately reassured her. “Oh yes, my dear, you will be very safe. Not only will I be going with you, we will have a few of my guards with us as well.” He gave her a wink. “I shall send up a servant to see about finding some clothes for you to wear. I shall meet you two downstairs when you are ready.” He turned on his heel and walked out of the room.

Twenty minutes later the women followed a young maid down the stairs. King Thoran was standing at the foot of the stairs waiting for them. He gave both women a kind smile. “If you are ready, the horses are out front waiting for us.”

Evangelina nodded, but her mind was a bit hesitant. Their “horses” looked nothing like she had ever ridden before. For starters, they were huge, easily much larger than the Clydesdales back on Earth. And they had six legs. Two in the front, and four in the back. Their long manes were braided, and their tails were almost the size of two normal tails. They also flared a bit making them much thicker and fuller than any of the horses’ tails that she had ever seen. She heard King Thoran refer to these animals as horses, but these didn’t look anything like any horses she had ever seen, or any
animals
, for that matter. Well, at least their coloring was the same as horses back on Earth. After seeing the size and extra pair of legs, she half expected them to be pink with purple polka dots! King Thoran’s horse was white, the horse she rode was a solid black, and Angel’s was a deep chestnut brown, with a black mane and tail.

King Thoran quickly mounted his own horse, but both women needed the assistance of a stable hand in order to climb up the huge beasts. Evangelina found herself feeling a bit nervous to take in this strange new land. She glanced up at the sky and was glad the sun was shining, and from her point of view, it looked exactly the same as it did on Earth. As she glanced down from atop the massive beast she sat upon, she noticed the grass was exceptionally bright green in color. As a matter of fact, everywhere she looked, the colors were brighter than anything on Earth.

It wasn't long after they mounted that they were on their way. The guards had their own beasts to ride, and quickly fell into step behind them.

Their ride into the small village was fairly uneventful as there really wasn’t much to see but the grass, trees, and flowers. Once again, Evangelina was amazed at how much larger everything was here. The trees were huge. At a glance, she guessed it would take at least three or four men with arms linked to circle the base of one of the trees.

And the flowers! They passed a field that seemed to have wild flowers growing in it, but the flowers were larger than both of her hands cupped together! They were so beautiful though, with all the different colors and shapes. She couldn’t immediately identify any of them, but she wished she had her camera with her. She would have loved the opportunity to shoot some footage of this beautiful place.

They came upon a quaint little village, and she knew this was where people went to do their shopping. Some of the stands were roughly put together, while others were actual buildings you could enter. Of course, as soon as everyone realized the king was gracing them with a visit, all activity stopped as people bowed as he passed. They were going slow enough that he was able to speak with numerous shop owners, asking how business was doing, or how their families were. One shop owner even came hurrying out of the shop with an overflowing basket of fruits and vegetables, stating it was for their dinner table that evening. At one point, the king doubled back to speak to one of the shopkeepers. Evangelina was amazed that both hers and Angel’s horses just stopped, as if the horses couldn’t move without their king on his horse in front of them.

Within just a couple of minutes, King Thoran was once again riding ahead of them, leading the way. Evangelina and Angel both spotted some shops they wouldn’t mind returning to visit later. A few looked like they sold women’s clothing, which displayed some quite unique and alluring pieces. Across the street from one of the clothing markets was a business that appeared to sell beautiful gems. Somehow the owner knew who both she and Angel were, for he yelled out as they passed by, “Have those twins of yours and Zen bring you back, my ladies. You may pick anything you like, as my gift to the royal family!”

Evangelina wasn’t exactly sure what he was talking about at the end, but she held her tongue and smiled sweetly at the man as she nodded her head.

Now heading out of the village, Evangelina took notice of them riding into the wide open. They were headed toward fields of lush, green, rolling hills, covered with wildflowers swaying in the light breeze. There were also extremely tall, lush trees offering shady coolness. There were unrecognizable species of songbirds singing during their flight.

“You shall come to understand the natural friendliness and peacefulness of our people in time. Even though we are dragons, we are very happy and laid back, never fighting or attacking one another, nor any others. That is not to say that we will not fight if war is brought to us. Of course, we shall stand and fight for our loved ones and the protection of our homeland,” King Thoran stated as they continued to ride through the open fields. “We do have one arch enemy, the Raptorians, and they are quite beastly. They know nothing but war, constantly striving for another battle. That is why we have Mount Armament.”

“Mount Armament?” both Angel and Evangelina asked.

“Yes, Mount Armament is our first line of defense and helps keep us safely protected from others. Look over here, we are approaching the great mountain as we speak!” There was a definite hint of excitement in the king’s voice, as he gestured with his hand in the direction of Mount Armament.

Evangelina and Angel turned their sights upon the nearing mountain, which was a complete wonder in itself. It stood high and mighty, intimidatingly to all those so much smaller surrounding it. It shone with the brightness of the day’s sun, a metallic rainbow running through it as it constantly changed colors, never appearing the same color in one place for very long. As they drew nearer, the women spotted ledges cut out of its surface, all of them varying sizes and depth. They were even able to see some of the dragons that guarded the mountain, perched on some of the ledges. A few turned curious eyes toward them, seeing two human women accompanying their king on an afternoon ride. It was both awe-inspiring and a bit reassuring to see the striking, beautifully colored creatures, especially for Evangelina, who had just learned that day that the twins considered her their mate and she found herself wondering what it would be like to see the handsome twins’ dragon up close and not just in a painting.