Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
Aaran
F ancor grins wide, as if Harper were his child and had achieved some great honor or passed a vital test. Backing away, he puts his thick hands on his hips and nods approval to the group who healed her. The dwarf seems to have taken on the role of elder brother to all of us in a very short time.
I surprise myself with my fondness for Fancor. He didn’t have to come with us through the portal or raise his sword in battle, but he did so twice to benefit our cause. He certainly had no responsibility to journey across land and sea. Yet, here he is, lending his magic to us to save a human he’s known for only a few days.
Perhaps it’s time to rethink everything I’ve been told about dwarves.
My own joy is more tentative. I want to believe what Venora did was temporary, but this lingering dark within Harper worries me. It’s unusual for light or dark to linger unless the spell is placed with intent, but the magic felt unfocused and hazy.
My mother would not approve of my affection for Harper, and as I will someday take her place as leader, I shouldn’t entertain feelings, yet I won’t ignore them. It’s far too late for that. “Are you certain you’re alright?” I go back to her side and put my hands just under her breasts. The gray fog that lurked within her has lifted. I don’t think Venora knew she left that with you. It’s the first time I’ve opened my mind to her since taking her to the lake.
“I’m still sore in many places, but the ache in my center is gone.” Her eyes are soft green as she stares at me. So many questions roll through her mind that I can’t keep up.
Rather than try, I touch her cheek. “Later.” Pulling my hand away, I reject the idea of ignoring my desire. We would both know it was a lie, and a hurtful one. Unless Harper feels nothing for me, and I sense that’s not the case.
Despite my terror at the idea of losing her, for many more reasons other than the needs of Domhan, I step away. I am responsible for all of these people. Looking out over the worried faces of the ragtag elven party, I say, “It’s getting dark. We’ll have to make camp here. Tomorrow we must make our way toward the sea and find a ship worthy enough to get us to Siar Fàilte. Those who are injured, come forward before the sun goes down. We may not be able to restore your magic at this time, but we can ease any hurts so that you might travel easier.”
A surge of pride from Harper hits me like a warm bath.
It’s a little terrifying how much I crave her approval. My entire world and the existence of my species, not to mention the danger of death to everyone I know, should be my highest priority. However, Harper is above everything else. She is the double moons, the sun, and all the worlds. The rest is responsibility; she is air and the beating of my heart.
W hen the healing is done and the camp made, the entire party eats around a fire big enough to have cooked several large deer hunted in the tall grass to the east.
Harper doesn’t eat much. She’s thin, and her cheeks are hollow. Since the darkness has been lifted, I can only guess what ails her is emotional. Still, she doesn’t want to be sent home. She wants to fight.
Putting her food on the leaf, she asks, “Are there other species of people in Domhan besides elves and dwarves?”
Jax nods and talks around a mouthful of food. “The fairy folk live on an island in the south. They keep to themselves, and all the better for it. They care nothing about the concerns of the world.”
I wonder if that’s true. We thought the same of the dwarf race before Fancor came into our company.
Jax continues, “Centaurs live on both continents and keep to the southern forests. Selina thinks they were once one people, but were separated long ago. Elves and centaurs have been allies in war, as well as fought each other over the centuries.
“Some say banshees haunt the sacred forest and sea to the north. We steer clear of those vile beasts. Then there are the mysteries of the sea, mermaids, mermen, and monsters whose names we don’t know or won’t say.
“The lesser elves once lived on a large island far south, but it’s believed they are all taken by evil now.”
Harper asks, “Lesser elves?”
Sighing, I pick up her leaf and give it to her in an attempt to get her to eat more. “They are similar to us, but not as far along the evolutionary ladder. Crude language and use of tools. Kind people, but Jax is right. Those on Domhan and those on Arcania are no longer free. Most were turned into shadow demons, others into beasts of burden.” My gut clenches. “My mother tried to help them, but we had never built trust between the races, so they would not listen.”
Wide-eyed, Harper nibbles a bit of meat and listens.
Fancor grunts. “Then there are the giants, but they keep to themselves. The dragons are lost because of the witch.”
“There are dragons?”
It’s too terrible a tale for me to tell. I nod to Fancor.
A dreamy smile pulls Fancor’s lips. His eyes brighten. “Once the sky was alive with dragons in all seven colors: blue, red, green, gold, silver, black, and white. It was glorious. They had their nesting on the mountaintop and”—he nods in Jax’s direction—“some elves joined with dragons and kept watch on Domhan. As a boy, I dreamed of being the first of my kind to ride a dragon. In my dreams, she was pearly white, and I could survey the land through her sharp eyes.” Gaze drifting to the stars, he seems lost in the magic of his memories.
“What happened to them?” Harper finishes her last bite of meat and puts the leaf aside. Gripping her hands together under her chin, she looks young and innocent.
Guilt for putting her in danger rushes up, nearly choking me. The fact that there was no other option doesn’t make it easier, nor do I feel less guilty.
With another long sigh, Fancor says, “Before Venora took the great tower and the Priomh Bhaile, she dabbled in all manner of black magic. She learned how to turn elves to shadow demons, or bánánach as my people call them. She built an army, small at first, but it grew. The elves did what they could, but she was too clever and moved from place to place, eluding them. She took consorts and fed off their power. You met her latest lover, Ciaran.” He spits on the ground. “He was a high lord’s son before he was lured to Venora’s side. He, like the others before him, has great magic. Not enough to sustain her venomous appetite though. She’ll drain him, and he’ll die. His dried husk will be left behind for no one to mourn.”
Thinking about Lord and Lady Sevelline, I add, “His parents have already mourned their son.”
“They say he’s a changeling. He can become a bear,” Jax adds.
I don’t bother to tell them that he can change into other animals as well. “Finish the story about the dragons, Fancor, if you will.”
He gives a brisk shake of his head, as if he’d lost his train of thought. “Before Venora became the witch queen, she thought to turn the dragons to her favor. She knew that if she could conquer the dragons and put her lesser elves on their backs, she could wage her war from the sky without ever having to leave her hiding place.”
Fancor stands and tosses a few sticks and leaves into the fire. All gazes are locked on the leather-armored dwarf as he combs his fingers over his beard. His gold family crest shines in the firelight. “She went across the sea to the high mountain where the dragons nest. It’s a forbidden place unless you have leave to go there. No one knows how she got through without the dragons turning her to ash or sending her back in time.” Pacing, he shakes his head and fists his hands. “She stole an egg and meant to bargain for the life of the unborn dragon. She expected to cast her spell and ensnare them all.”
Harper gasps. “She took a baby?”
“Held the black egg hostage knowing dragons will do anything to keep their young safe.” Fancor looks around the fire at the wide eyes of the elves.
Some nod, knowing the story. Others are just enraptured by his tale.
“How did they save the egg?” Harper’s voice is full of hope and prayer.
Looking at her, Fancor sniffs. “Ah lass, they didn’t save that poor egg, nor the babe inside. Their leader, Trocar, knew what Venora was about. Trocar was the bravest dragon. Songs have been written about his beauty and his skill. A black dragon, and so large, his head spans the length of three men, and eyes of shining gold.” He says the last with a slight tune of the old bards.
Someone in the crowd hums the tune as well.
Continuing, Fancor sighs. “He tricked Venora by bowing down to her. It was enough time to smash the poor little unborn’s egg and give the other dragons time to escape the spell. Only Trocor was caught in Venora’s plan, and only Trocor has been seen in these skies since. Though now, rather than admire him, all who see him hide in fear.”
Elven voices softly sing the song of Trocor.
Harper’s arms are tightly wrapped around her bent knees. A tear runs down her soft cheek. “Where did the others go?”
“We think they are locked in time.” I take her hand and pull her into my lap. “The elders believe that Trocor’s mate, Delana, cast the spell that sent all the dragons into a place where time does not exist.”
“Aye,” Fancor agrees. “It is said that they will stay locked in time with no way out until the balance of magic is returned to Domhan. Though others say they are gone forever.” Shaking his head, he steps out of the circle and drags his bed roll off to the side.
The rest of the party follow his lead and find their places just outside the fire’s light.
The elves sing “The Lament of Delana.” It’s a sorrowful ballad recounting the sacrifice of Trocar and the loss of dragons in our world.
Lifting Harper, I carry her to the place near a rock outcropping where I’ve already laid out blankets. It’s a bit outside the ring, but I need her to myself. “Why are you crying? Is it for the lost egg?”
She rests next to me and curls against my body. “No. That is sad though.”
“Why then?” I wrap my arms around her and breathe in her scent, which is more earth and grass now than the flowers she carried in her world.
“For Delana. She is trapped in time and can’t mourn her mate. I wonder if she knows the passage of time here or will have to weep for his loss when she returns. Will he die in the battle ahead? Can he be saved? Sometimes love doesn’t prevail. Life is not always fair.” She wipes her face with her fingers. “I wonder if all of this is a dream, and soon I will wake up in my own house in New Jersey.”
“If you do, what will you think? Will you be relieved that your life is unchanged, and no danger exists?” Now that I have asked, I wonder if I want to hear the answer.
Silence hangs between us. Her voice is soft, and she threads her fingers through mine where our hands rest on her abdomen. “I would miss you.”
Nothing could have prepared me for those words. No declarations about doing the right thing or saving worlds from evil. She would miss me. More joy than I deserve, and certainly more than I’ve ever before felt, scorches through me. “I would send you back if I could. To keep you safe.”
“Safety is an illusion. No one is ever really safe. I could go back to my world and be hit by a truck while crossing the street. Those wolves might follow and drag me back here. I miss my mother and sleeping in a bed, but I know this is where I belong. At least, for now.” She closes her eyes, turns toward me, and kisses my chin.
Cupping her jaw, I wait until she opens her eyes. “I don’t want to hurt you, but I want you, mo chroi. ”
“You’re not worried about making love for the wrong reasons?” Her smile glints in her green eyes.
Combing her hair away from her face, I lower my lips to just above hers. “I’m worried about so many things. If I had lost you, I don’t know if I could have survived.”
“Because the prophecy says you need me to beat Venora.” Turning away, she bites her bottom lip.
Firming my grip, I ease her gaze back to mine. “Because I’m not sure who I am without you anymore. Because my heart would have broken into a million pieces. I know we’re from different worlds, and the future is beyond our control. I know you will leave me behind like a forgotten dream when this is over.” My chest aches, but I have to tell her the truth. “Harper Craig, I love you. In this time, in this place, and for all time, in all places, my heart is yours.”
Her drawn breath quivers. “You love me? I never thought. But somehow, I knew.” Eyes lowered, she’s talking to herself. When she looks at me again, unshed tears shimmer in the moss green of her eyes. Pushing me to my back, she lies on me and brushes my hair out of my face. “I think I’ve always loved you, even when you were a dream.”
Full of joy and desire, my cock presses between us. “I’d understand if you wanted to wait for a proper bed or at least more privacy.” The moon and planet Arcania shine behind her head, and she looks like a mystical spirit complete with a halo.
Looking at the fire and the elves bedded down twenty yards away, she giggles. “Can we sneak away?”
“I did see an old fairy glen when I went hunting with the soldiers earlier. They can be dangerous for those not fully in the light, but it will be safe for us.”
“What is a fairy glen?” she whispers.
“Fairy glens, even after the fairy folk abandoned them and went to live away from elf kind, are blessed and hidden from Venora’s evil. It’s a short walk over those hills. Do you think you can make it?” Reluctantly, I roll us to standing and take her hand. In the other, I grab the blanket. When she nods, I say, “Come.”
I can’t help noticing Fancor watching us leave the camp. He doesn’t rise, but he sits up on his makeshift bed. He’s a good soldier. In time, I feel he’ll be a good friend. “Centuries ago, when the old gods still roamed the land, the fairy folk lived all over Domhan. They blessed certain places with light magic. Even now, those places cannot be harmed or even seen by dark magic. Someone like Venora wouldn’t even see the glen. It’s likely some of the group didn’t see it either, though I noticed Jax and his men all looking in that direction.”
We make our way through the tall grass and over a slightly larger hill to a small stand of trees that form a canopy over a little green glen. Mushrooms grow in a stark white circle inside the tree line, and soft moss grows along the ground like a well-worn feather mattress. A small stream bubbles through a carved path across the middle before disappearing into an underground spring.
Harper releases my hand and turns in a circle. Her unbound hair spins in a wide arch. “This is magical.”
Laying the blanket on the moss, I leave it to take her around her waist. “You are magical.”
A soft smile on her beautiful lips, she rises to her toes and kisses me. “Are there a lot of places like this in Domhan?”
I run my thumb under a bruise that still mars her cheek and slip the fingers of my other hand under the bottom of her shirt. The skin of her back is smooth and soft in contrast to the denim pants she wears. “There are not that many. This is only the second one I’ve ever found.”
“Should we take it as a good sign that this one was here, and you stumbled across it?” Resting her cheek on my chest, she sighs, rocking to a tune only she hears, and with her, I hear it too.
Wondering if perhaps she changed her mind about why we came here, I hold her close and caress her soft skin but make no attempt to seduce her. She’s been through so much. I want her to be in control.
Just when I think this will remain a lovely dance in the glen, she tugs my shirt from my trousers and skims her fingers along my back. “Can you take this off?”
My cock jumps to full attention. Backing up half a step, I pull the fabric over my head and toss it to the ground. I’m watching and trying to keep my breath steady, and my heart pounds as she steps out of her shoes and wiggles her bare toes in the moss.
Her smile is like the first light of the sunshine. My insides turn soft at the sight of her happiness. The firstborn son of the rightful queen or not, I’m nothing without this small, kind human.
I’m becoming a poet, and that’s more like my soldier middle brother than me. I’m supposed to be the sensible one, well trained, smart, steady. That’s what I was born to. Since I met Harper, my world has been upside down.
She strips out of her shirt and pants and stands naked only a foot away. She covers a long, red, but healing gash across her ribs. “I’m a little beat up.”
I drop my trousers and kneel at her feet. Moving her hand aside, I kiss the place where she was wounded, I continue to other bruises and marks. Each one of them is my fault. I will never forget that. “You’re perfect, Harper. Never hide from me. Everything about you is beautiful.”
Pressing her hands to my shoulders, she sways with each touch of my lips. “I think I should warn you that it’s been some time since I had sex, and I’m already close to coming just from your little kisses.”
Her skin is pink, as if the admission cost her some embarrassment, though I can’t imagine why. “Then let me help you.”
Pressing my lips lower, I grip her ass in both hands, avoiding a bruise on her hip. I slip my tongue between her folds. She’s sweet and wet. Her musky essence is like a love spell.
Without demanding, I nudge her legs wider, and she cries my name as I find the pearl-like button at the top of her sex. I suck and lick and hold her shaking legs while reveling in how sensitive she is.
True to her word, she contracts with her orgasm, and her fingers dig into my shoulders. “Oh god. Aaran, that’s so fucking good. You have to stop.”
I lap up every drop of her sweet juices, ignoring her demand that I stop. When she steps back, I rise and lift her in my arms.
“I can walk now.” She trails er fingers along my cheek.
It would be a mistake to tell her I long to take care of her. “I know you can.” I lay her on the blanket and follow her down. “I know parts of you are still tender. Tell me if anything is uncomfortable. I never wish to cause you harm.”
Covering her lips with mine, I draw her tongue into a dance. Her tiny moan vibrates in her throat, and I long for more sounds and pleasures. Greedily, I want all her pleasures to be shared with me.
Threading her fingers through my hair, she grips my scalp with more strength than expected. Though, I should know by now that everything about Harper is surprising.