The Technician has a lot of explaining to do...
[Ona]Breathe in.The Technician is living on borrowed time. As soon as that bastard is no longer useful to us, I will flay this monster, hang it from the tallest spire, and watch as the ravens and vultures peck at whatever flesh is under that suit.Breath out.Primus and Carnelia are still alive. They are not okay, but they will be. The Elf King and I will see to it. And when they are, we will get them and the babies far, far away from this nightmare zone. Luxandra is cursed. We don't need this damned wasteland. We'll take our family back to the celestial kingdom and shut the gates forever.Thalan squeezed my hand. Gazing up at his proud visage, I notice the small twitches along his jaw as he tries to keep himself calm. I'm supposed to be supporting him, keeping him from doing something regrettable. When his starlight eyes meet mine I can tell he is thinking the same thing--Our revenge is going to be long and sweet."When I had Queen Carnelia brought here, Primus was already showing s
No. The word echoes around us, stunning both the Technician and I. “I will not help you,” his teeth are bared, his fangs extended to sharp points. “You unnatural cultural appropriation technology-stealing monster. How many of my people had to die for you to get this contraption to work? How many did you lock into this Dream State to steal our secrets?” “I have killed no Moon Dragons,” the Technician swears. “Nor did I steal this technology. It was given freely to Segundus while…” “Spare me your lies,” the king is spitting mad, foaming at the mouth in anger. “I will help, but not for you.” his night sky eyes are blazing with specks of starlight. “Never for you. But I will do it because of her.” He points down at Carnelia. “And him and all the innocents across our kingdoms who will be forced to suffer at the hands of a fool because you were too stupid to do your research before making matters more complicated.” He reaches forward and places his bare hand into the tub. The Technicia
[Orion][The night before] Kora is late. Kora is often late, but tonight she is later than usual. I knew I would be getting to our meeting spot early, but tonight I have watched the moon rise and crest and still there is no sign of her. Our meeting place is a little lake on the mountain just a small flight from the castle. We first found this place together shortly after I arrived. I chased her here. We had newly discovered one another, and not quite ready to take things any further, so our chase ended with a game of tag and a heated kiss in the cool water. Usually, we meet in the forest near the castle, near the false grave of my uncle. It is close and private enough to keep our conversations secret. This has been fine as we have gotten to know one another, but over the last few days, our meetings have ended more passionately than before with a frantic energy that begs for completion. I don't think this can go on much longer. We are both so close to going into heat that if we do no
[Daax]I must not have heard Orion correctly. Because if I did, I'm not sure what I am going to tell his mother.She's likely to kill us both. Me for telling her to trust his judgment, and him for doing something so stupid."Orion," I place a gentle hand on his shoulder. He has just taken a big step as a drake, and if I do not tread lightly, both Ona and I could lose him forever if I handle this incorrectly. "She said she was who?" "My cousin, Father," his face is flush with embarrassment, torn between expressions of sadness and pain. "Princess Juliana." Tritus' daughter. Tritus Majere. Ona's half-brother and the drake who sold our family to his brother Segundus over and over again. He was a talented genius with more brains than honor and if his daughter is half of what he was, she can't be trusted to be anything but calculating and cruel. To make matters even more complicated, Orion shot a lightning bolt through Tritus' heart to save his mother and me because he had us and our peo
[Ona] My son's hurt face is all I can see in the back of my mind as I fly away from this disaster. I never meant to hurt him with my words, but he needed to understand the gravity of his decision. It is more than just the fact that he pursued his mate without permission, that he went against my express orders not to do so. He did something that will be hard for me to forgive and impossible to set aside completely. She is the daughter of the enemy. He knows better than that, or at least I thought he did. How could he know who she is and still choose to take her to mate, to demand that he honor her? He's had many drakaina before her, quick flings that mean nothing, that he made sure wouldn't end in a clutch. Why couldn't he have just had fun with her and been done? I know how strong the pull is, I've lived it myself. But this is my son. What is the point of teaching him from your mistakes if he is just going to repeat them? The tears on my face turn to frost as I struggle to fly hig
[Primus] How did she find a space in my heart? I must be crazy, catching feelings for a woman like her. And to make things worse, she seems to be completely oblivious to her effect on me. When she touches me I can't see straight, and when she walks across the room, I can't remember how to breathe. But she also drives me absolutely insane. She must be the most confusing person to ever walk the face of this planet. Of all the girls to have a crush on, why did I have to pick the self-destructive batty one? "Why didn't you tell me you can't sing?" I shout as we run from the third tavern in Green Hollow that evening. "I thought you said you could sing." "I said I could sing poorly," she enunciates that last word slowly, as she mounts the horse behind me, adjusting my lute so we fit snugly together before galloping away from this godforsaken town. "Poorly not well. You never listen." Prickling at her criticism, I look over my shoulder and grumble "I thought you were being humble!" She
[Orion]I've never seen my mother so angry before.I know that pacing cannot help, but I can't find a way to calm my nerves. I can still smell my mate all over my skin and I want to be with her so badly that it aches. Not just my body, but my soul craves to be with her, to connect with her in the way that only I can.When we lie side by side after our act of love, our bodies returning to our more familiar form, I held her close while she cried. Here she was, in the arms of the man who took away the one person in her family who cared enough to try and find her when she disappeared."I have over a dozen brothers and sisters," she wept. "But nobody came looking when I disappeared. My mother was my father's favorite concubine, but I was their only child, and when she died, I had nobody left to defend me in the palace. Father spent so much time working on the surface that when I failed to return from my excursion, nobody thought to look.""I'm your family now," I swore to her. "I will never
[Ona] On our way back to the palace, I informed Daax of the Elf King's wish to have us both meet with him in the tent to discuss what was happening with Carnelia and Primus and to also plan the next steps moving forward as allies. "No, absolutely not, no," he rumbles as we land at the palace. Orion rushes to soothe his cousins as his father continues to rage. Just a moment ago he was the voice of reason when dealing with my hot temper, and now he is elevated, his anger near exploding at just the simple mention of his uncle's name. Orion shushes us, as he frantically feeds and cuddles each of his cousins, Daax excu