Waking Other Lives
Chapter 41: Finally

Seth's POV

I looked at the sky once more, but there was no one coming. Days had passed, with no news from the Palace. I couldn’t help but think the worst case scenario had come into play. They had been captured by the those who were after us, or Dante had lost it and attacked Elvan, or they had made it to the Palace, but something had gone drastically wrong there.

My memory was now back, I finally remembered Hayley, the witch, and what she’d done, I remembered it all. I wished I could also boast much change in my strength. Despite feeling better, my dragon was still a shadow of what it had been once; it had the strength and talents of a young baby dragon and not much more than that.

Unfortunately, I was not sure there was a way to recover from this. I couldn’t even accomplish the trivial things I had taken for granted before. For example, I had tried mind speaking with Cayman, so that he could get us out of here, but, he had not even heard me. I no longer had a connection with my Drakon soldiers; it was beyond thinking. Flying out of here was not an option. I was no longer an Uruloki, let alone a master Uruloki. My healing skills were lagging far behind, licking barely kept Sierra alive. And, though I regularly hunted for food, her stomach kept rejecting it. I was running out of time here, and I didn’t know what to do. I could try replaceing a vehicle, but I didn’t know how to drive one, and I was scared to leave Sierra alone when we had hunters on our tail.

They had come back a few times to check up on the same spot and its environs, and each time I had to carry Sierra further ahead, just as a precaution. I had to do something, I couldn’t wait for anyone to help us, not any longer. Determined, I lifted her in my arms, everything about her was pure bliss, the touch of her, the scent of her, the feel of her, all of which filled my body with small shots of energy. Even if it took me weeks, I would carry her to the Palace, and I would see her cured. I started walking.

It had been hours since I had begun walking, I had not stopped as of yet. Each time, I convinced myself to give a short break, a voice urged me to continue a little more. I recognized the voice, and I listened to it. It was my dragon, though it was weak, its instincts were sharp and extremely vocal, and it worried over the fate of our mate. So, I pushed on.

I heard them before I saw them, the slow flapping of the wings as they hovered right above the trees, Dante and Elvan’s funny banter, and the familiarity of voices. Since she was here, I deduced Elvan had warmed to the idea of replaceing out about us being Drakons. That was a relief. How would Sierra react, I couldn’t help but think about that.

“Look what I can do,” I heard Dante say.

“Stop trying to stand up, you fool, you’ll fall right head on, and lose the little wit you have,” Elvan admonished him.

“I will if you tell me you like me. Do you like me? A little?” he asked.

“You dimwitted idiot, you’ll fall. I’m saying, for goodness sake! Stop it,” she shouted, her voice hysterical. “No, don’t. Crap, fine, fine, I like you. Damn, just stop hanging from the wing like that,” she yelled.

“Okay, okay, you don’t need to shout how much you like me. Now, thanks to you, the whole world knows,” he said, laughing.

An endless, stream of curses began flowing through her lips.

“But, sweetie, please, you are hurting my feelings,” he said, with an innocent tone. “Only a kiss can revive my wounded heart, now. Nothing else will do.”

“We are here,” I shouted, interrupting their conversation. Finally, they had arrived, Sierra would be safe; my shoulders stooped as if a huge burden had been lifted off from me. Now, that they had come, my legs were no longer steady, and I slowly lowered us down, taking deep breaths to calm my beating heart, finally feeling the exertion of the walk on my whole body.

“Seth? He’s down there, let’s go down,” he said. “I knew it. I told you, I could smell him,” he exclaimed.

“Well, excuse us for doubting you. We thought, perhaps that was your stinky smell,” Elvan responded.

“Ouch, honey, that was extremely unnecessary and harsh,” he replied. “And, I’d be happy to take a bath with you when we get to the privacy of our room.”

“Hello, can you stop your little chat for a few seconds to get us out of here?” I yelled. These two could get at it for hours, and I could no longer wait.

“Sure, sure, bro, we are coming,” Dante said, and I finally saw them, I had never been this much relieved to see my Uruloki kin arrive. I immediately recognized Noah and Kristen.

“I need her healed, and I can’t do it,” I said, bending over Sierra’s form.

“I’ll do it,” Noah offered once he transitioned.

“No, Kristen, you do it,” I said. I didn’t like the idea of another male Drakon licking her. Even the thought of it made me take deep breaths to calm myself. I watched as Kristen licked her, I was so very impatient to see Sierra open her eyes. It took a few precious minutes more before I heard her lovely voice again.

“Who are you?” Sierra asked, confused when she saw Kristen give her the last licks on her arm.

“I’m Kristen.”

“Sierra, how are you kitten?” I intervened, so relieved to see her conscious, free of fever and infection. Her arm had completely healed; new unmarred skin had replaced the old one, leaving no trace of the burn. Her eyes were free of pain, and she easily got up, as though the past few days had not been real.

“I’m all right, but it’s all fuzzy. What’s going on?” she asked.

“I’m taking you to my home. You were burned, but you are fine now.”

“Oh my God, the Drakon attack! Travis, Mina? Are they dead?” she cried out, remembering.

“They are fine,” Kristen said. “They are staying with Pietro and me.”

“Pietro?” Sierra asked.

“Yes, your friend Pietro. You’ll soon see him; he is fine as well,” she explained.

“Wow, I’m so glad to hear that. The last time I’d seen him, that dragon had taken him away.”

Kristen laughed. “That dragon was me,” she explained. “But, I have not hurt him, I could never hurt him,” she said.

I watched Sierra’s face, but it didn’t give anything away. I was worried; I had to explain before I made a muck of things.

“Sierra, this must have come as a shock to you, kitten. Kristen is a Drakon, and Noah, too. And, they are, well how to put it, they are not your enemy. They are, but, not really, I don’t know how to explain this, but...” I said, stammering, trying to let her know who I was, who I’d been all this time. There was no easy way to let out this secret. How would she take it? I sought help from Elvan, who’d probably been through the same shock herself a few days back, but she was silent.

“I know you are a Drakon, Seth, I’ve known for some time now. Since Rocco, I mean.”

“What? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Don’t blame me! You were supposed to tell me,” she snapped, “I shouldn’t have had to replace out by myself.”

“I’m sorry, it’s just... well, it wasn’t an easy information to share given the war, you know?”

“Whatever,” Sierra said. “It’s a matter of trust, Seth, and so far, you have not done well with it. Anyway, so you and Pietro are together?” Sierra asked Kristen.

“Yes, we are mates,” Kristen said, her eyes suddenly brightening like little stars.

“Like us?” Sierra asked, her eyes timidly searching my face.

“Yes, just like us,” I said, gently, loving the way she pronounced us. “Apparently human mates are more common than we thought.”

I heard Noah gasp. “The King won’t like this,” I heard him murmur, beneath his breath.

“How lovely, did you hear that sweetheart?” Dante asked Elvan.

“I did, but how does that concern me?” she asked, with all her stubbornness.

“Perhaps you and I are mates, what do you think? Wouldn’t that be lovely?” he said, winking.

“I don’t think so,” Elvan replied, defiantly.

He wasn’t at all happy hearing that. “You better come here and place your beautiful self in front of me. Seth needs to hold Sierra during the flight and Kristen should only carry two,” he said, angrily. “By the way, lovely Sierra. I’m Dante, the rather dashing brother of your mate. I’m charmed,” he said, nodding at Sierra.

Sierra nodded, smiling. “Hi,” she replied.

Elvan, though, was one troubled soul. “Fine,” she muttered, unhappy as she walked towards Noah’s dragon form. The dragon knelt on its front legs so that she could get on its back. I saw Dante wrap his arms around her from behind. “Just for precaution, not that I want to hold you any more than you want to be held,” he murmured when she was about to complain. But, he went ahead and buried his head in her hair, taking deep whiffs of her scent, and sighed happily.

I held Sierra tight in my arms as we rode Kristen. I was finally content, holding her in my arms, and heading for home. She was my heart. She was everything to me. All seemed fine with my world now; I tried to hush the nudging irritating voice in my head which asked how I would get my dragon back, and how I ’d be able to protect her among the Drakons if I didn’t. It was power and not mere status which brought respect, and I was afraid the Drakon rebellion would be insurmountable once the word of my ailment got out.

Kristen and Noah landed in front of the Palace gate, and the gates opened immediately, the Drakons rushing to greet us.

“It’s Prince Seth and Prince Dante,” somebody shouted. “Inform the King, right away.”

“Did he just say, Prince?” she asked me.

“Well, my brother Dante and I are kinds of royal,” I explained.

“Kind of?” she questioned.

“We are, I mean. We are the King’s only two sons.”

“Holy shit!” she exclaimed.

“You wanted to kill the Prince of Drakons. That would be me. Do you still want to do it?” I asked, seriously.

“Shit! Now, that was one thing I didn’t know. Abby told me I should, you know. She said it was my mission,” she said, sighing.

“And, what do you think?” I insisted.

“Who am I fooling? I love you, for me, nothing has changed. I can’t ever kill you, Seth,” she stated, opening her palm up in defeat. “I know that, now. Even if it means, I’m stuck here forever, and it seems I will be,” she said.

“Don’t trust her words Sierra. She’s a witch who captured my brother Dante, and tried to kill me.”

“Whoa, that’s taking it too far, calling her a witch,” she said. “Wait, did you say she tried to kill you, are you okay?” she asked, concerned. “Where was I when all this was happening?”

“You were sick, kitten.”

“I can’t say I’m surprised at her attempt to kill you; she believed it was necessary for you to die in this universe so that us, humans could be safe back at home. Can you believe she was one of my two best friends back then, what a joke!” she said, as her arms came around me. How I’d missed such moments with her, it had been way too long. “My God, you are not fine, Seth. How come I didn’t notice it before? Your dragon is sick,” she said, agitated as she tried to touch my stomach.

“What are you doing?” I asked her. “Kitten, what are you doing?” I repeated the question, remembering Rocco.

“Ssh, allow me,” she said.

“Will you kill my dragon?” I asked in horror, trying to push her hand away.

“Trust me,” she said looking deep into my eyes.

And I knew, this was the moment that would either break us or make us. She’d been right, I had trust issues with her, there had been many many times I’d doubted her, hell downright accused her, though I had my reasons. But, I had to decide, once and for all, whether she was the enemy, or not. And, there was no return from that.

I slowly took my hand away. She smiled, touching me right where my tattoo had been. I felt the warmth spread from her fingers, I felt the awakening of my dragon, as fire and light filled its talon, its scales, its neck, spreading to its back, and then to its face. My whole body felt alive and powerful. She then moved her hand to my forearm where my other tattoo had been. And, she repeated the process, at the end of which my dragon was screaming, roaring in unabated joy. When she took her hand away, I noticed that my tattoos were back in their places, as though they’d never been wiped away. Sierra had brought my life sources back. How was that even possible? I looked at her face, astonished with what she’d accomplished, what she’d given back to me. I pulled her to me and kissed her passionately, hungrily. She fell into my embrace, returning the kiss. I moved my hands up and down her neck, her arms, my fingers brushing her soft skin. She made these little sighs every time my lips wandered to her jaw, to her neck. I wanted to do so much more, but we had company.

“How?” I asked, finally taking control of my urges, both of us out of breath. “And, Rocco?” I reminded her.

“I have no freaking idea what I’m doing Seth. Abby told me I carried the light. Maybe it has something to do with it. All I know is that his dragon wanted to die, but yours wanted to live, and I had the source.”

“Wow,” I said. “You are my miracle.”

“Seth? Dante? My dear boys,” I heard the King say, as the Drakons opened a path for his arrival. Somebody had fetched the King. He was coming with a huge smile on his face. “My sons, healthy once more, and together, finally!” he exclaimed.

I looked at him. Damn, Nicole was standing next to him, and she had an expression of awe, affection, and love plastered on her face

“Seth, my love?” she said, her eyes misty as she ran towards me.