Waking Other Lives

Seth's POV

“Give her to me; she needs to heal,” I insisted taking a step towards Baran who was holding Sierra. Her eyes were glazed, and her cheeks flushed with fever. Baran slowly put her on the floor, and stood in front of her, as if to protect her from me. From me, from her mate, I was going to kill this asshole, and who could blame me? She was hurting, the burn from the Uruloki pained her, the fever that covered her body was an indication of a settling infection. Her flesh was raw, with wide blotches of angry red skin lined along her arm. Her body was shivering, ever so slightly, to the oblivion of all others, but I could observe the small shaking of her shoulders each time the pain hit her, each time she was unable to block it, and she was trying so damn hard. Her quick sharp intake of breaths, drops of sweat glistening on her forehead, were all there for the world to see, yet she uttered no complaint. Minutes were ticking, and Baran sought his death sentence by dragging her pain. Only I could help her; human medication could not restore her skin, or take away the pain in an instant. They would prolong her suffering, and as much as I was angry at her schemes, I wouldn’t allow that.

I had been delayed, the fight with the two Drakons had turned into an all out war when their friends had joined the battle. The Palace guards had been nearby, thanks to my father, a full garrison of Drakons, all on the hunt for their traitorous brothers. And, they had enlivened the fight by balancing the current power disparity. We had a mess in our hands; the Drakon infighting ran deeper than I’d envisaged. This, I’d grasped with dismay, when I’d found myself clashing with a Drakon fighter, the third son of a noble family I knew long from childhood. Being the third son, he had little hope of gaining much land, and title, and he was amassing his power by hiring his services as a mercenary. Who were pulling strings here? We had no idea, and we stood little chance of ending this rebellion unless we knew who the leaders beneath the foot soldiers were.

Once the battle had ended, I saw that Sierra was gone, with Elvan and Baran. I wanted to cry out, I wanted to destroy, I wanted to roar in frustration. I had to find her. But, other urgent issues prevented me from following her immediately. I had to check her brother, Travis, who was in a comatose state, edging very near death. His body had rolled over from the stretcher, and he was lying face down on the dirt. A few feet away I could see Mina on the ground, a dear friend to Sierra as I’d learned later on. She was burnt severely, and she too was unconscious. They both needed tending, and I could imagine how much they both meant to Sierra. I knelt down next to Travis, softly turning him around, and searched his naked, rather thin torso to find the place where the venom had entered his system. His whole body was now purplish, streaks of blue lines crisscrossed his body like a line of art, resembling angry looking veins.

This was. Unfortunately, the stage preceding the death of a dragonfly bite, and we were running out of time. I found the scar right beneath his armpit, it was swollen to a size of a small fist, the lump was hard as a rock, which meant the venom was in protection stage, hiding beneath the many layers of tissue it had created upon its entry. It would be hard to suck out the venom which lay at the very bottom layer, holding onto it in a vice grip down below, as it continuously fed on Travis’s blood, while it continued to secrete poison to his body. I put my lips on the lump, right where there was a small, almost invisible injection mark, and started to suck out the venom. No human had the suction force required to pull the poison from its hiding place, I felt the resistance of the venom, its struggle, and its final defeat as layers of tissue lying above it protectively, got scattered, leaving it out in the open, easy for grabs.

With one last intake of air, I felt the venom travel inside my mouth, and I spat it out. The venom was not dangerous to us Drakons, but it’s bitter, foul taste was not something I cherished in my mouth. Once the venom was out, I licked his wound clean, and I felt the lump completely disappear, transitioning into the white unmarred smooth skin. The lines on his body had vanished, and the freaky purplish color had left its place to a healthy looking color. He would wake up within an hour, but unfortunately, I would not be here to greet him. I moved on to Mina, her jaw, neck area, were burned, and probably her chest area as well, as I could see the red skin stretching beneath her shirt. This would take time, precious time I could not afford as the worry for Sierra’s health was killing me.

One of the King’s Drakons, Mason, had also shifted back to his human form and was checking out the situation on the ground. I turned to him,” They need help. I tended to the boy, but she needs healing. Take them to the Palace.”

“But, they are humans,” he said, checking whether he’d simply misunderstood. “Shouldn’t we be killing them?”

“They are friends of mine. And, I need them healed,” I said, my tone brokering no argument.

His face expression was one of utter shock and disgust.

“I’ll do it,” said Noah, another Drakon behind him. “I’ll heal her, and I’ll take them both to the Palace to rest.”

“Good, tell the King, I’m going after Dante.”

“Yes, my Prince,” he said, bowing his head slightly which made me rather uneasy, as I had a very casual relationship with my own Drakons, and I had little reminders of my status and title in daily life.

“I hold you responsible for their well-being,” I reminded him.

“Yes, my Prince,” he said.

Where was she, where had he taken her? I had to try to find a whiff of her scent, hours after she was gone. Again, it was not easy, and I concentrated hard on her lingering scent in the woods, and for minutes I hit upon nothing. I closed my eyes in fear and tried once more. I cursed when nothing happened again. It was the slightly picking up the wind which eventually helped me keep my sanity. I laughed in joy when I felt the surge of light and fire within my body, as the wind carried her faint scent to my nostrils. They had traveled through the woods, I didn’t wait any longer to shift, my dragon had come to life since the moment I’d seen her. I let my dragon follow her scent, persistent, and determined. Her scent became extremely faint, however, when I found myself on a dirt road. They had come off the woods, to end up on this path, but what had they done afterward? Logic dictated that they’d come across a human vehicle, and they were traveling fast, which also meant, it’d be double hard to follow her scent after this point.

I didn’t give up; I could go fast, and I would eventually come across her scent if only I managed to find the right direction right now. I was no longer scenting her, but I didn’t dismay immediately. I tried breathing in large gulps of air, which didn’t work this time, but only ended up with me being bloated with air. The wind had also slowed down, I kicked the dirt, and shouted amply, to be heard by all around me. Then, I thought of one last solution, where the man in me failed, the dragon in me could perhaps succeed. I just let my dragon take over, shushing the man in me, and allowed my dragon’s instincts to guide my sense of direction. And, that’s how I came across her scent again, thrilled with the knowledge that I would see her soon, tend to her wounds, and simply be with her.

I only flew for what seemed like endless minutes and hours, her scent dragging me on a strict leash. Her scent became sharper, pungent, the intoxicating aroma of her beautiful skin filled me with a perfect combination of lust, desire, affection, and love. It was then I knew that I was upon her, the impatience of seeing her driving me to increase my pace. When I finally saw the vehicle parked down below, and Sierra gripped firmly in the arms of Baran, I went crazy, the need to snatch her from his arms suppressing any other thought. And, that’s how I ended up facing Baran, and my beautiful mate, in front of what looked to be a massive rebel unit. What was this place, so out in the open, and so majestic in its courage to defy the Drakons? At this point, I didn’t care, all I cared about was making sure she was okay, all the rest of the shit could get in the queue.

I took a step towards her, and that’s when I noticed the gun in her hand, the firm grip of the trigger, as she took aim right at me, her hand steady, her gaze determined, despite the fog of confusion fever was forcing upon her features. What was she doing? Was she going to shoot me? I couldn’t even react, the shock of her actions paralyzing me, preventing me from even dodging. Yes, I wouldn’t die from a bullet wound, though it would hurt, what would hurt more would be the act of betrayal, which would be nothing but a confirmation of her sinister manipulations, of her true identity as a witch. I heard the explosion of the gun, the whistling sound of the bullet as it passed right beneath me. Was it the shock which prevented me from feeling the pain? But, I found no trace of blood on my body. What the heck? Had she missed because the fever had prevented her from taking a good shot, or perhaps she’d always been a bad shooter? Whatever it was, she had failed in her mission to take me out. But, my heart was beating rapidly to protest the act, my blood was boiling with the emerging emotions wreaking havoc in my mind and body: treason, disappointment, and pain.

I was too immersed in my pain for a while, to hear the moaning coming right behind me. I had shunned everything out, but my suffering. But, the groans eventually pierced through my thick shield, and I turned around to see a human on the ground, cursing, holding his bloodied hand, his gun thrown far away from him. I looked at him, took it all in, finally smiling with the first traces of understanding. But, before I could do or say anything else, the door opened to reveal a woman, her manner of carrying herself indicating her regal, elevated status among the humans.

“Haley,” Baran said, which was followed by Sierra’s first words since the bloody incident.

“Abby, what are you doing in here?” Sierra questioned.

“Derek, what happened?” the woman asked, ignoring Baran’s greeting and Sierra’s question, instead of addressing the wounded human.

“The bitch shot at me. I was trying to immobilize this asshole who was threatening Baran, I was trying to save her ass, and look at her display of gratitude. The bitch shot me,” he kept repeating.

My mate had aimed at the human who was about to kill me. Sierra had not missed, on the contrary, her shot had been perfect in its precision. It was no little miracle that she had managed to shoot him from that distance, despite being under the influence of a raging fever. My mate had saved me, she was an incredible shooter, and I couldn’t be more proud.

“I see,” the woman said, rather emotionless. “Let’s go in, shall we?”