Legend of the Touched

The Dragons Saga

Legend of the Touched

by J.F. Jenkins

Published by Astraea Press

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © 2012 J.F. JENKINS

This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters,
and events are fictitious in every regard. Any similarities to
actual events and persons, living or dead, are purely coincidental.
Any trademarks, service marks, product names, or named features are
assumed to be the property of their respective owners, and are used
only for reference. There is no implied endorsement if any of these
terms are used. Except for review purposes, the reproduction of
this book in whole or part, electronically or mechanically,
constitutes a copyright violation.

THE DRAGONS SAGA

LEGEND OF THE TOUCHED

Copyright © 2012 J.F. JENKINS

ISBN 978-1-62135-040-8

Cover Art Designed by For the Muse
Designs

Edited by April Gardner

For my family.

Chapter One

The Oceina

Tai was the most beautiful woman in the world, Darien
was sure of it. On nights like tonight when he couldn't sleep, he
watched her rest, hoping the peace she had would rub off on him.
Worry always kept him awake these days, but who could blame him?
His country was on the brink of war, and it was his duty as its
leader to protect the people. Only he didn't know how, and it
seemed his "help" would rather watch him crash and burn instead of
offer assistance. Frustrating to say the least.

"Go back to bed," Tai mumbled. Her body didn't stir
though. In fact, her eyes were still closed as she lay on her side,
facing away from him.

"Did my thinking wake you again?" he whispered.

"Yes, and I'm so tired honey. Can you
please
wait until later? You're not going to be able to save the world at
three in the morning anyway." Her tone was terse. He'd really done
it now.

He reached over her side and rubbed her stomach in
slow circles. "You're right babe. I'm sorry."

"You're not going to fall back asleep any time soon,
are you?" She sighed and shifted her weight so she was now on her
back. Her blue eyes lit up in the faint glow of the moon coming in
through the window.

"Nope." He pulled a few strands of her dark hair away
from her face, tucking them behind her ear.

"Which means I won't be either."

Exactly what he had been trying to avoid, but he also
knew it wasn't easy. When two people literally shared their
thoughts, it was natural to fall in-sync with one another. A
blessing and a curse for the Dragon Lord and his wife.

"You should. You need as much rest as possible for
Ethan," he said softly and continued to rub her stomach in an
effort to lull her back to sleep. Maybe if he appeased the baby
inside of her womb, he'd be able to relax her too.

She grumbled a little, eyes closing, and he thought
for a moment it was working until they opened again. "Yes, growing
a baby does take a lot of my energy, but I can't sleep with you
tossing and turning and going back to thinking. I can still hear
everything from your head in mine. As sexy as your voice is, you're
topic of choice isn't all that appealing. I don't know how many
nightmares about war I've had recently."

Oops.
He hadn't thought about that. Putting on
a smile in an effort to be charming he leaned in and kissed her
cheek. "Then I'll have to think about you instead."

"That's sweet honey, but now I'm wide awake anyway.
So you get to read my text book to me and help me study for my test
in the morning."

Darien winced. "Can you skip and sleep in instead?
And I'll cuddle you too."

"I know being a Dragon Lord's wife means I'll have it
made for life, but I like having something normal to do. And
getting out of the house is always a plus. I need to remember I'm
human too."

He gave her another soft kiss on the cheek, slowly
trailing them to her lips. Being normal was important to him too,
and he didn't want to take that away from her. The two hadn't been
together for long. A handful of months at the most. She'd been
uprooted from her entire life because of him, and the least he
could do was help her to adjust as smoothly as possible to this new
way of living. He wanted her taken care of, and the doctor had said
to make sure she got a lot of sleep to help lessen the
complications of the pregnancy. Trying to entice her was worth a
shot.

"I could change your mind. How can you say no to this
face?" He gave her a small pout, making his sparkling blue eyes go
wide in an effort to be as adorable as possible.

Tai raised an eyebrow and stared at him coldly.
"No."

With a heavy and over dramatic sigh, he got out of
bed so he could find his wife's school bag.
I tried.

Yes, but I'm
so
not in the mood.

That's not what I was going for anyway.
Humming quietly, he grabbed the only textbook from the bag he could
find. It pleased him to know she was at least listening to him a
little. There used to be three or four books in there, but he
insisted she not carry so many for fear of hurting herself.
Oceina History. I could give you a better account than this book
ever could.

I'm sure, but it wouldn't help me with my
test.
Her eyes followed his every move.

I know, just saying.

That you're ancient!
The smirk on her face was
worth taking the jab for. How he loved her smile.

"If we have to get technical, I'm seventy-two, not
ancient. Physically we're the same age. Ancient would be my
grandpa. He's pushing three-hundred," he said.

"I know. It's fun to fluster you, that's all."

He stuck out his tongue, real mature, but he couldn't
help it. She deserved it. Opening up her book, he searched through
the pages for a bookmark of some kind. "What chapter are you
on?"

"Five."

"Five," he echoed and flipped to the page. "Year
four-hundred and the scientific revolution. You really want me to
read this Tai? I can summarize it in about three sentences for you.
Humans figured out the dragons lived and died like any other
creature, thus we lost some of our credibility as divine beings,
and modern medicine discovered the wonders of penicillin. Art
became more about being realistic and anatomically correct than
about feelings and – "

"Darien? Shut up and read please."

With a nod he did just that, going through every word
of the text slowly in his most quiet and soothing tone. It took a
little more than a page for her to doze off again. He on the other
hand still wasn't tired. Not quite. His eyes were getting dry and
his body ached, demanding he lay down again. As his head hit the
pillow though, he felt a second wind of energy – again. He flipped
to the last chapter of the book: Year one-thousand and beyond,
outlining all of the modern advances brought about by his
grandfather Lucca which were later perfected by his late father
Orion. Of course the textbook didn't speak of them by name, but
Darien knew.

When the war with the fire dragons, the Inero,
finally came and went, what would the new books say about his rule
in the twelve-hundredth year? Would he even be alive to see it?
Hopefully, but the lord of the fire dragons was more than a little
crazy.

How can he say the Oceina are a mistake?
The
idea was unfathomable to him. The man was talking about committing
genocide on all of the water dragons. If only more of Darien's
people believed him, then he could do more.

"You're doing it again." Tai groaned.

You're beautiful. You're smart. You're amazing,
and I'm the luckiest guy in the world.
She rolled towards him
so he could put his arms around her. And he was the luckiest guy in
the world. Despite everything they'd been through, she was still by
his side, and now she was almost three months pregnant. Everything
was changing so quickly. Hopefully he'd be able to keep up.

Chapter Two

The Inero

Jason sighed, looking over the letter he'd written to
his ex-stepmother Navi. He ripped out the page. Folding the paper
three times in half, he then tucked it away into his desk drawer.
His wife Gwen could see it, but he'd prefer she didn't. Not because
he didn't trust her or had anything to hide, but they were still
his private thoughts. While he may have written them in letter
form, the contents would never be sent. First of all, he didn't
know where Navi had escaped to when she fled from his father Lynx,
and from Inero. Secondly because he still held onto the hope that
he would see the woman again in person and they could catch up that
way. Still, he had to deal with all of his feelings and
frustrations somehow. Writing in a diary felt too girlie for him. A
letter made him feel a lot stronger.

If Gwen read all of his thoughts, however, all she
would do is worry more. Why bait her for more pain? He also wanted
to understand things better before bombarding her with any
potential problems. The two had more than enough to deal with when
it came to figuring out their complicated marriage. They'd left to
honeymoon nearly a month and a half ago, and still had yet to be
intimate. Jason was still pure.
I don't want to rush her, but I
want to know how to give her more confidence. Navi would know what
to do. She was great with this kind of stuff.

You love her don't you? The ex-wife of your
father, the sultry vixen, you know exactly why he wanted her
because you lust for her too.
The voice was back in his head.
Sometimes he thought it was gone. It would be quiet for days in a
row, only to pop back into his life at random. At first, he thought
it was only his sub-conscious coming through, but it reminded him
too much of when he spoke with Matthias through telepathy. It
didn't come from inside of him, and it didn't sound like his voice.
To make things more complicated he could feel it trying to persuade
his actions.

No, I don't want Navi. I've never thought of her
like that. Chris better be treating her right and keeping her
safe.

I bet you could treat her better. You know you
think impurely of her. Don't lie. You've always thought she was
beautiful. She was the first woman you ever wanted,
the voice
insisted.

Okay, yes, I think she's gorgeous, but I don't want
her anymore. It was only pure physical attraction, nothing more.
That's normal right?

Very.

So then why give me a hard time about it?

What will your wife think? She's nothing like her.
Aren't they best friends even?

Shut up, and stop trying to cause problems.

I'm not meaning to, but if you want me to stop and
get out of your head, then you should mate with your wife. That
will solve all of your problems. I will be released. You won't have
to suffer from this insanity anymore and then you can reassure her
all the more. She's insecure because she knows she can't compare to
this Navi woman. Your wife doesn't have to know about your thoughts
to know how much knowledge she lacks in the art of seduction.

There it went again, trying to persuade him to make
love to Gwen. Not like he didn't want to. Of course he did. He
loved her, she loved him, and he'd been emotionally ready for a
while—physically for even longer. She, on the other hand, not so
much; he was okay with waiting until the time was right for them
both. A concept not many Inero practiced, but Jason was a
gentleman.

Gwen was starting to give off signals that she was
ready. Still, the issue was never pushed, and he wasn't sure if he
dare want to try making a move again. The last time he'd attempted
to, it led to a rather awkward hour of them spending time as far
away from each other as possible. He didn't want to go through that
again. There was still a lot of time for them to figure things out.
They didn't need to rush. Maybe this voice was something he was
creating to help cope with the wait. Whatever the case, he didn't
like it. It only made him want to be with her less. Too much
pressure rested on his shoulders.