Her Elemental Dragons: The Complete Series
Her Elemental Dragons: Stroke the Flame: Chapter 13

Kira was quiet as we left Stoneham and traveled on the road alongside the edge of the forest, but I was constantly aware of her presence. Not only were her arms wrapped tight around my chest, but her feminine curves were pressed against my back in a way that was hard to ignore. Especially since I wasn’t used to anything like this. I spent my time with books and…well, that was about it. I certainly wasn’t very good with women and didn’t know what to say to them. Now I was put in a position where I desperately wanted to get to know my future mate better, but was also unsure how to talk to her. I bet none of the other men had that problem.

“Is your head okay?” I asked her.

She pressed a hand to the back of her head. “Surprisingly it is. No pain at all, actually. They must not have hit me as hard as I’d thought.”

“That’s good.” I paused. “Are you comfortable?”

“As comfortable as can be expected, considering I haven’t ridden a horse in years.” She shifted behind me, making her breasts rub against my back, a sensation that made my trousers suddenly tight. “How long do you think it will take to reach the Fire Temple?”

“I estimate it will take about eight or nine days, depending on how long we stop and if we have to go out of our way to avoid any problems.”

“Is that all?” she asked, her voice hollow.

Was she nervous about this too? “I believe we’ve mapped out the most efficient route, but if you’d like to go slower or stop somewhere along the way I’m sure it won’t be a problem.”

“No, it’s fine,” she said, then drew in a long breath. “Eight or nine days is simply not a lot of time to get to know all of you, before we…”

“Before we become mates.”

“Yes.”

I understood her concern all too well. “None of us want to rush you. Take as much time as you need.” I hesitated, glancing over at the Fire Realm soldier, who looked at ease on his horse. ‘You might want to spend extra time with Jasin though, since you’ll have to bond with him first.”

“Probably. But your temple is second.”

“True.” I cleared my throat at the thought of what that meant. “You’ll have a lot more time to get to know Slade and Reven before we arrive at their temples, at least.”

“I suppose so,” she said. “What else can you tell me about all of this?”

“Not much, I’m afraid. I scoured the library in Stormhaven for any information after the Air God visited me, but found very little of interest. What I did replace, I picked up from various different texts that otherwise seemed to have nothing to do with the Black Dragon or the Gods. One was on geography, one was on fashion, and one was on food. I suspect the Black Dragon had the rest destroyed.”

“Probably,” Kira said. “She didn’t want anyone to be able to challenge her.”

“That seems likely. I’m hoping I might be able to uncover more during our travels. I’d like to record all of this too, for future generations. Assuming we survive and the Black Dragon doesn’t destroy my writings too.”

“So you’re a scholar?” she asked. “And a nobleman, I assume, judging from your clothes.”

I tried not to react to her question and chose my words carefully. “Yes, I’m a member of House Killian, but I spend most of my days in the library. Or I did before all of this, anyway.”

“House Killian? Does that mean you’re related to the royal family of the Air Realm?”

“Yes,” I replied hesitantly. I didn’t want to lie to her, but I didn’t feel comfortable divulging the full story yet. “But I’m no one of consequence.” There, that was true enough.

“Maybe not to you, but I guarantee your life has been very different from mine and the other men. You grew up in luxury and never had to worry about where your next meal would come from or whether you could afford to repair your shoes.”

I wondered what she had gone through before we arrived in her village. She wasn’t wrong either. Gods, she must think I was pathetic, and if she only knew the full truth, she’d definitely think the worst of me. Now I really couldn’t tell her. “That is true. I grew up in privilege and have little to complain about.”

“I didn’t mean what I said as an insult,” Kira added, with the slightest brush of her hand against mine. “I was only pointing out the differences between all of us.”

“I understand.” I tilted my head as I considered. “Perhaps the Gods chose the four of us to be your mates for the sheer reason that we are all so different from one another.”

“That could be. The Air God didn’t give you any hint of why he picked you?”

“No, not at all. He was pretty vague about everything though. Of course, I was also pretty shocked at the time, so I didn’t get to ask him as many questions as I would have liked.”

“What happened? I know you all supposedly met the Gods, but I don’t know the details.”

My hands tightened on the reins as I thought back to what occurred a month ago. “I’ve always been an early riser, and I like to take breakfast outside in the garden at dawn, usually with a book or two. That morning it was unusually windy outside and I could barely read because the pages kept turning. I nearly went inside, but then he appeared. The Air God.”

“What did he look like?” she asked.

“Like a giant made out of a tornado. He was composed of swirling wind and lightning, and his voice was like thunder. As he spoke to me, everything around me floated in the air. My books. My breakfast. The bench I’d been sitting on.” I shook my head, remembering how shocked and confused I’d been. “He told me I’d been chosen to be the next Golden Dragon and that I had to replace you so we could take the place of the current Dragons. Then he sent a rush of air through me, lifting me up into the sky, and I thought I would surely plummet to my death. Instead I floated back down, but he was gone.”

“It sounds like something from a dream.”

“Yes, it does. I questioned everything that happened, sure that I’d been imagining it all, but then I began moving things without touching them, and one night woke up floating in the air. Not to mention, I had this overwhelming urge to head northwest to replace you.”

“What did your family think of all that?” she asked.

“I didn’t tell them anything. The Air God warned me not to speak of this with anyone except you and your other mates. Of course, it was difficult to hide my powers from my family, but people are often willing to believe there was a sudden gust of wind or a strange breeze instead of magic.”

“Were they okay with you leaving?”

“I informed them I was traveling to Thundercrest to visit the library there, but once I was on the road I escaped my guards and came here.” I frowned as my guilt at deceiving my family returned. “I left them a note telling them I was all right, but they’re probably looking for me now. I hope they’re not too worried.”

She shifted again behind me, as if trying to get comfortable. “Are you close with your family?”

“Yes. For the most part.” Talking about my family would be tricky without revealing more about who I truly was, so I changed the subject. “What of you? I’m guessing those people back there were not your family.”

“No, my family is long gone.”

I heard something in her voice that made me think this wasn’t something she cared to elaborate on, and I fell silent. I could understand not wanting to talk about some things about our pasts. None of that mattered anyway. Our old lives were over. What mattered now was the journey ahead of us.