Chapter 29
Erich had felt the dragon’s power as he climaxed.
For now, its desires were satisfied. But the specter of its obsession still lingered at the back of his mind.
When would pleasure turn to pain, when would devotion turn to destruction?
For her sake, he never should have slept with her, but he couldn’t say he regretted it.
In fact, he relished the feeling of her body curled against his, and he took assurance in the steady rhythm of her heartbeat as she traced her fingers over the hairs on his chest.
“Your scales faded,” she remarked.
“You’re not repulsed by them?” he asked.
“I find them fascinating.” She sighed, nuzzling closer to him.
Their legs were tangled up in one another, and she hooked her leg around him to half straddle his leg.
“Though I like you both in flesh and with claws.” She brushed a hand against his stubbled chin.
Erich looked away from her. A monster like him didn’t deserve her, and even if she were understanding, his time was limited. He couldn’t give Liane forever, and wasn’t it crueler to string her along for whatever weeks and months he had left, only to abandon her when he became a dragon entirely?
“Something wrong?” she asked.
This was the moment he should confess it all. End things before she got so entangled with him that she couldn’t get away, but like the monster he was, he couldn’t say the words out loud.
“Nothing. I was just thinking about how beautiful you look in the moonlight.”
The silvery glow illuminated the lighter strands of her auburn hair that fell across her face. She giggled and pushed her hair behind her ears. Erich cupped her face, wanting to memorize her in this moment. If any part of him remained human when he became a dragon, he’d hold on to her.
Liane had a destiny to uphold, and he had a hard-to-contain monster inside him.
Because once she’d drawn the sword and was free of the church, his role in her story would be over.
But for tonight, until the sun rose, he wanted to pretend that things could be different before their interlude ended.
She’d hate him for walking away again. Perhaps even curse his name.
But eventually the novelty of him would wear off, and she’d find true love.
The thought made his chest ache, but like he’d told her, he’d do anything to protect her. Even if it meant keeping her from him.
She lay her head back down on his chest, and they lay in the nest of tall grass they’d flattened with their copulation and stared up at the ancient oak tree above them.
The night stretched on for a little while longer as they spoke of nothing of import.
The words didn’t matter; it was the magic of that moment, where they were both suspended in time.
He was nearly dozing off when he heard a twig snap, and he sat upright.
Liane sat up as well and tugged her clothes back on. Most of his clothes were torn by the transformation, but shreds of his pants remained, and he covered himself as best he could, before drawing his weapon.
A couple of shadowy figures approached. They carried no lamps, which meant they were either guards doing a sneak attack or Fritz had found them.
When the figures got closer and Erich could make out their features in the moonlight, he lowered his weapon. Fritz and the oracle they’d rescued from the dungeon looked unharmed, and Fritz had a bundle under one arm.
“We would have been here sooner, but she insisted I find clothes for you,” Fritz said. He cleared his throat as he thrust the clothes toward Erich and looked away from Erich’s mostly naked body.
The oracle’s glassy eyes scanned both him and Liane up and down, and he felt compelled to cover up Liane, even though he was less clothed than her.
“Believe me, if you’re uncomfortable around a bit of exposed flesh, you wouldn’t have wanted to be here when they were rutting like a couple of deer during mating season,” the oracle said.
Liane yelped in surprise.
Erich had seen many frauds in his search for a cure, but his gut told him this woman was the real deal. He hadn’t asked Leonhard why she was in the dungeon, but now he was curious.
“What about Ludwig or Luzie? Have you seen either of them?” she asked.
“I haven’t seen anyone in many years, not in the flesh anyway,” the oracle said with a bemused cackle.
Fritz shook his head. “We haven’t seen them. But I’m sure they’ll join us soon. Luzie was meant to take the carriage and flee to Artria if we didn’t get to her in time.”
Liane didn’t look convinced. “And Ludwig?”
Erich grabbed her hand. “He’ll come. Don’t worry.”
And she leaned against him.
“What now? Should we wait to see if Luzie and Ludwig come to find us?” Liane asked. “I don’t want to leave Basilia without them.”
She relaxed beneath Erich’s touch, and guilt ate at his stomach.
He’d fed her comforting lies to get her away from the temple, but he was skeptical of Ludwig’s chances of survival.
If Luzie were smart, she’d make a run for it.
All that mattered to him was getting Liane to safety, and as long as she was within Neolyra’s borders, he feared the church would keep pursuing her.
His uncle’s offer of a boat to Sundland came to mind. But that was a ludicrous thought. There were other ways of escape.
Erich looked around at their surroundings.
They were standing under a canopy of trees in a near-empty field filled with tall grasses, but as he looked closer, he saw remnants of the stone structures—a single column overgrown with vines, half-crumbled walls, and overgrown cobbled streets.
Now that he wasn’t thinking with his cock, he sensed the magic in the air and the half-faded runes carved into the stone.
“The old city,” the oracle said.
“How do you know?” Erich asked.
“I wasn’t always blind. I used to come here often. The magic called to me...”
“Then you’re familiar with this place and the veins of magic?” Liane asked.
“Yes, it is one of the few uncorrupted veins of magic left. Which is why the church has tried so hard to keep people away,” the oracle said.
“I think this is where the raven wanted me to come,” Liane said, staring off into the distance. Her gaze had that dreamy, farseeing quality he’d seen on Fritz’s face before.
“You should have drawn the sword long ago,” the oracle said.
“I’ve been trying.”
The oracle shook her head. “When you were summoned during your thirteenth year. It should have been drawn out then.”
“But that was when it fused with my back.”
The oracle shook her head again, as if she were feeling impatient.
“That’s what the Avatheos thinks. You were born with the power within you.
It comes from the blood. Like all magic, it is intrinsic to who we are.
And why the Church of Sol’s desire to take control of it is so dangerous.
I tried to change the church from within, but in the end, that wasn’t my role. ”
Liane’s gaze sharpened as she looked the woman up and down. “And who are you?”
Erich was wondering the same. Leonhard had asked him to free her, but had left out instructions on what to do with her after. Was Leonhard going to come find them here in the wilderness?
The old woman folded her hands in front of her and glared at Liane for a moment.
“The unfortunate soul whom the goddesses chose as their mouthpiece. I’m one of the last priestesses of the old religions.
Though I didn’t do much in my short time on this continent, I hope it’s enough to return things to the way they were. ”
“I thought you were an oracle,” Erich remarked.
But his neck prickled as he sensed the magic in her.
He’d heard whispers of the old religion.
Most of what remained of it was worn-down ruins in villages, too small for the Church of Sol to care about.
Or too remote to risk the priests to fully convert the people to the church’s worship.
“I was one of the Church of Sol’s chosen few.
That inner circle privy to the machinations of the church.
I thought we had a holy destiny. Until I saw a vision that led me to this place.
I tried to undo the work the Avatheos did, in whatever way I could, until he discovered my plots and had me locked in a cell.
I realized my calling too late, but it’s not too late for you.
” She turned to Erich, and it felt as if her gaze might pierce him. “Every sword needs a shield.”
He felt Fritz’s and Liane’s stare on him, and all of their expectations, but he couldn’t be that for her. A shield was meant to protect, and he was capable of only harm.
“For her to have a shield, she needs to draw the sword first. Have your visions told you how she might do that?” Erich asked to draw attention away from himself.
The old woman stared at Erich as if she saw through all his fears and hesitations. And then she looked away. “Liane already knows. She can feel it calling to her.”
They all turned toward Liane. She had her arms wrapped around her torso, as if she’d gone cold, but it was a warm night.
“I must enter the water of the vein. It’s close to here. I can feel it.”
“And swarming with Midnight Guards, unfortunately,” the oracle said.
“You wouldn’t happen to know how we could get close enough for Liane to enter, would you?” Erich asked the oracle.
“That’s for you to figure out, shield. I’m just here to provide sage insights and spiritual wisdom,” she said with a wry smile.
Three faces were staring back at him. He knew what must be done, though he wished he had Ludwig as backup still. Time was of the essence, and they couldn’t wait to see if he’d made it out alive. They needed the cover of night to make this plan work.
“First, I’ll do some reconnaissance, see what we’re up against, and make a plan from there.”
“Couldn’t you fly me there?” Liane asked.