Her Elemental Dragons: The Complete Series
Her Elemental Dragons: Shake the Earth: Chapter 2

While Slade set up our tents, Reven moved to the edge of the lake and yanked fish out of the water with his magic. Brin and I unpacked some of the other food we still had, and I noticed we were running low on supplies. We’d have to stop at a village and restock in the next day or two. When Reven returned with some fish, I attempted to roast them over the fire, but Jasin huffed and insisted I was going to ruin supper and took over. It was hard to argue when his cooking was much better than mine, and everyone knew it.

We settled around the fire and began eating, all of us too hungry to do anything but shovel food in our mouths at first. I tried to savor this rare, calm moment among Brin and my mates, as I had a feeling they would become fewer and fewer as our journey continued.

“We should reach the Earth Temple in two more days,” Auric said, when the eating slowed. The temple was inside a peak called Frostmount, high in the northern mountains, where it was so cold few dared to tread. Another reason we’d have to visit a village soon. We’d left Stormhaven, the capital of the Air Realm, with the gear to travel through the scorching hot desert, not the ice and snow.

“What’s the chance that the other Dragons arrive there first?” Brin asked, as she set her bowl down in the grass. She was one of the most beautiful women I’d ever seen, with smooth golden skin, flowing black hair, and effortless grace. It would have been easy to hate her, especially since she’d once been Auric’s fiancé, but she’d managed to win me over somehow.

“Pretty high,” Reven said, from where he lazily leaned against a small tree. “They had a head start and can fly faster than Jasin and Auric can since they don’t have any passengers.”

Brin tilted her head to the side. “But they don’t know which temple we’re going to, do they?”

“No, they don’t,” Jasin said, as he wearily stretched his legs out in front of him. “My guess is that two Dragons will be waiting for us at each temple. They might have troops with them too. We’ll have to be prepared for anything.”

Slade scratched his beard with a frown. “We barely managed to escape two Dragons at the Air Temple. How will we make it into this temple if they’re prepared to stop us?”

“Assuming the Earth Temple is still even there,” Reven added, bringing back memories of the ruined Air Temple we’d visited.

“We need allies,” I said. It was something I’d been thinking about over the last few days while we’d been traveling, and I’d come to believe it would be the only way for us to defeat the Dragons. They were more powerful and experienced than we were, plus they had the entire military at their disposal. We’d also learned recently that they could control shades, malevolent spirits trapped between life and death that wanted nothing more than to steal life from others. For all we knew, the Dragons controlled the elementals too, though we didn’t know that for sure. The six of us didn’t stand a chance against all of that.

“Allies?” Brin asked, her dark eyebrows shooting up.

I nodded. “Now that the Dragons know who we are and where we’re going, there’s no hiding from them anymore. They’ll do everything in their power to stop us, and we can’t defeat them alone. We need help.”

“Who would help us?” Auric asked, as he ran a tired hand through his golden hair. “Even my father would be hesitant to stand openly against the Dragons, as much as he would like to aid us.”

“The Resistance,” Jasin said. “They’re the only people who have dared to oppose the Dragons.”

Reven crossed his arms. “Except they do it from the shadows. Would they be willing to actually help us?”

“It can’t hurt to ask, but how do we replace them?” I turned toward Slade. “You were once part of the Resistance, and you helped those prisoners in the Fire Realm replace a Resistance base. Do you know of one here in the Earth Realm?”

He hesitated, but shook his head. “No, the one I knew of was only temporary, and that was many years ago. I doubt they would still be in the same place.”

“That’s too bad.” I sighed. “Can you tell us anything that might help?”

“There’s not much to tell. I made them weapons for some time, but I gave up that life. I thought I was done with fighting and revolution and impossible wars.” He scowled. “It seems the Gods had other plans for me.”

I rested my hand on his knee. “If we can replace them, do you think they’ll help us?”

Slade’s eyes were so dark they were almost black, as if he was lost in memories he didn’t want to revisit. “I doubt it. They don’t trust easily and they don’t like to take unnecessary risks or expose their people in any way.”

“Maybe once we show them who we are, they’ll change their minds,” Jasin said.

“They will,” I said.

They had to—they were our only hope.

Once we finished supper, Auric and Jasin retired to their tents while Reven took first watch. I went to the lake to clean our utensils and bowls and then left them out to dry on a piece of wood. By the time I got back the camp was quiet, filled with only the sounds of crickets and the wind in the trees, and everyone else had gone to bed too. Jasin and Auric weren’t the only ones who were exhausted after our days of traveling.

I peeked inside their tent and found them both fast asleep only a few inches apart. The summer night was warm, and they both slept without their shirts, showing off their tanned, muscular chests. Desire rippled through me as I gazed at them, and I removed my traveling clothes and slipped into the gap between their bodies. Jasin’s hand slid around me to cup my behind, while Auric’s arm draped across my waist. I let out a soft, contented sigh as their warm skin pressed against mine, while my magic helped ease their fatigue to give them energy to fly again tomorrow.

When I awoke, it was still dark and the camp was quiet. I carefully extracted myself from my two mates, threw on a dress, and climbed out of the tent. I disappeared into the brush to relieve myself, and when I returned I saw Slade leaning against a tree, keeping watch over our camp. I’d originally planned to return to bed with Auric and Jasin, but after seeing Slade there I couldn’t resist going to him. With the Earth Temple getting closer every day, I needed to spend as much time with him as I could.

I moved close and breathed in the fresh, clean scent of pine trees and moist soil. “It’s good to be back in the Earth Realm, isn’t it?”

“It is,” Slade said, as he straightened up. He was the largest of my mates and his broad shoulders were as wide as the thick tree behind him. With his dark skin, trim beard, and strong frame he had a rugged attractiveness that always made me feel safe and protected. I longed to be wrapped up in those muscular arms again and to press my lips to his soft, full mouth. “It’s only been a few months, but it seems like forever since I left my village.”

“I know what you mean.” The girl who had worked as a huntress in Stoneham seemed like a distant memory, even though I’d been her not long ago. I’d changed so much since leaving that small town, as had the rest of my mates. “I wish we had time to return to Stoneham and visit Tash. I wonder if she’s gotten my letter by now?”

“Probably,” Slade said.

Tash had been my best friend for the last three years while I lived in the Earth Realm, but I’d left her behind when I’d embarked on this journey with my mates. I’d promised to visit if I could, but with the Dragons on our tail it wasn’t prudent or safe. I’d sent her a letter from Auric’s palace and he’d promised to use his faster courier, but there was no way to tell if she’d received it by now.

I leaned against the tree beside Slade and gazed at his serious face. “I would like to visit your village and meet your family too. Maybe once this is all over…”

His shoulders tensed. “Maybe.”

My heart sank at his reaction, and I began to turn away. “If you don’t want me to meet them, I understand. I know you didn’t want this life.”

His large hands settled on my waist, pulling me back to him. “It’s not that. I’d like you to meet them, but I worry they won’t have an easy time accepting this situation.”

“You mean with the other men?” Multiple partners were almost unheard of in the Earth Realm, even though the practice was common in the Air and Water Realms. Slade had already made it clear he wasn’t interested in sharing me with the other men. Sometimes I thought he might be able to love me if it was just the two of us in a relationship, but that wasn’t an option. I understood his hesitation and respected his feelings, especially since this was all unexpected and new for me too. I’d never imagined I’d end up with four men, nor that I’d be able to have strong feelings for each of them, but here we were.

I would do whatever I could to make this situation more bearable for Slade, and the fact that he was still here showed he was willing to try to make this work. He’d originally claimed he was only with me because of duty, but when he’d kissed me it had felt like a lot more. And oh, how I longed for another of those kisses now.

His hands lingered on my waist. “The people in my village are very religious, but also very traditional. I’m not sure how they’ll react to our relationship. It’s a great honor to be chosen by the Gods as one of your mates, but sharing a woman simply isn’t done in the Earth Realm. I’m still trying to accept it myself.”

I slid my fingers along his bearded jaw, unable to resist touching him when he was this close. “I know, and I appreciate it. I wish there was something I could do to make it easier on you.”

He took my palm and kissed it softly, and his tenderness made my heart skip a beat. “It’s not only because of the other guys. There’s something I need to tell you about my past too.”

“What is it?” I asked, leaning forward. I was greedy for any scrap of information about him. Anything to get closer to him.

He opened his mouth, but then froze as we both heard a rustle in the leaves near us. I reached for my bow instinctively, but I’d left it in Auric and Jasin’s tent along with my sword. Slade unsheathed his axe and changed his stance, instantly ready to defend me from any threat. I moved into position beside Slade, summoning small balls of fire into my palms. I was unarmed, but I wasn’t defenseless.

As we stood perfectly still, I caught the faint snap of a twig in the brush. We weren’t alone.