Chapter 21
Ethan
You know that phrase that we should never give up? Then it lost its meaning to me, Chai was too shy and wanted to keep our relationship a secret and I suspected he was warming Charles” bed too. Driven by a feeling of FUCK IT, I ignored this and followed the dragon in secret.
In one of the missions we fought a giant chimera, it had the shape of a scorpion and its venom was extremely strong. Chai was attacked and fell on the spot. At least five teams of guardians showed up to help us, which was disastrous, we lost many of our own in that fight.
The venom of the giant scorpion burned in my wounds, but the pain of seeing Chai, my beloved, fallen and injured is much worse. His eyes, normally so vibrant, are dull with pain. Every breath feels like a fight.
—Chai! — I howl, my despair echoing through the dark cave. — Hang in there, my love.
I crouch down beside him, my white paws stained with blood. Your human body is so fragile, so vulnerable. But even so, his hand finds mine, his fingers intertwining with my hair. A small smile appears on your lips despite the pain.
— Ethan... — his voice is a hoarse whisper. - I”ll be fine...
But I see the truth in your eyes. He”s trying hard to be strong, but the life is slipping away from him quickly. I need to act, and quickly.
Carefully, I took human form and lifted Chai into my arms. He groans in pain, but doesn”t complain. His body, normally so warm, is cold to the touch. Fear tightens my chest. I can”t lose him.
— Hang in there, Chai — I whisper in his ear. — I”ll take you to a safe place.
I start to run, my muscles tense with the effort. The landscape becomes a blur around me. The giant scorpion is still there, but I don”t have time to deal with it right now. Chai is my priority.
I feel Chai”s transformation begin. His body writhes in my arms, scales beginning to appear on his skin. He is becoming the dragon, but the transformation is draining his energy even more.
— Ethan... — he whispers, his voice now a guttural growl. — I need... to transform...
“I know, my love,” I reply, adjusting my grip to accommodate her changing body. — Do what you need to do.
With one last roar of pain, his eyes are still dull.
—Chai! I scream, my heart clenching with fear. - Do not leave me!
But there is no answer. His body hangs in my arms, lifeless. The pain hits me like lightning, stealing my breath. I fell to my knees, my body shaking with shock and despair.
— Chai... — I murmur, my tears falling on his skin. - Please do not leave me...
A slight movement from Chai snaps me out of my despair. His eyes open slowly, cloudy and weak. A sigh of relief escapes me, so strong it almost knocks me over.
—Chai! — I exclaim, my voice breaking. - Are you alive!
He blinks a few times, looking confused. His gaze wanders around the room before landing on me. A faint smile curves his lips.
— Ethan... — his voice is a hoarse whisper. - I thought...
- Do not say that! — I interrupt, caressing his cheek. — You are here, with me. That”s all that matters.
But the joy of their survival is quickly replaced by a new wave of fear. His eyes are dull, his body weak. He”s alive, but for how long?
We took him to Dominik and for days I took care of his well-being, one thing he had was eating at dawn and he was passionate about soups, with lots of pepper. Charles and I were looking after him, so of course I had found out what was going on between the two of them. A big NOTHING. They were real friends and I was always jealous.
— Ethan... — he whispers, his voice cracking. - I do not have much time...
My heart squeezes in my chest. I need to find a way to save him. But how?
— The poison... — he continues, with effort. —The antidote... is in Kanish...
Kanish. The land of dragons. The place Chai abandoned so many years ago. A place he swore he would never return to. Oh shit, I already knew what that meant.
— Kanish? I ask, hesitantly. - Are you sure?
He nods weakly. — It”s the only chance... to save me...
A wave of sadness washes over me. If Kanish is Chai”s only hope, then that”s where we”ll go, even though we know it will undermine our relationship since it”s not as well-structured as I”d like.
“Hold on tight, my dragon,” I say, lifting him carefully. — Let”s go to Kanish. We will bring you back to life.
In the following days, false hope was kindled in our hearts. The scorpion”s venom seemed to have lost strength, giving Chai a brief improvement. He regained some energy, his scales started to shine again and his eyes sparkled. But the joy was just a fleeting illusion.
On a starry night, under the silver moonlight, Chai decided to reveal to me his secret, the burden he had carried in his heart for so many years.
“Ethan,” he began, his voice as soft as the night wind, “I need to tell you something… something that has tormented me since I left Kanish.
I moved closer, snuggling into his side. His golden eyes met mine, filled with a deep sadness.
— My father... — he continued, hesitantly — ... he forced me to marry a man. A man I loved, but who also terrified me.
My heart squeezed in my chest. I knew Chai carried a burden, but I never imagined it would be something so painful.
— He was powerful, influential... — Chai continued, his voice breaking. — I was afraid of becoming your captive, of losing my freedom and my destiny.
My hands wrapped around his body, trying to convey comfort and security.
—So I ran away — he concluded, with a heavy sigh. — I abandoned everything and everyone I loved, for fear of being imprisoned by my own heart. Of course I took revenge on all my enemies, but I still think a lot about who I left, Umada and Hoish, they were too important to my heart.
A heavy silence settled between us. Chai”s revelation left me stunned, with a mixture of sadness and anger. Sadness for the pain he carried, anger for the injustice he had suffered.
— Chai — I said, my voice firm and determined — I will save you. I”ll take you to Kanish and find the antidote. But then... then, our relationship ended.
Your eyes filled with tears. He knew I was right, that our love was impossible.
“I understand, Ethan,” he whispered, his voice thick with pain. — I love you, but I can”t bind you to a destiny that isn”t yours.
We managed to take Chai to his homeland, then Charles ended up going after him to help him with some questions and came back with the news, I wasn”t sad to know that he had given in to his true feelings. Chai was a guardian and so came and went frequently.
Being around Charles and Chai was painful, almost unbearable, but I was always very good at hiding what I felt.
One fine day Chai appeared with his children, Charles and I trained two of them, luckily Daniel my pupil was good, but Gabriel was a pest and he was Charles” responsibility.
These boys grew up and Charles ended up getting too attached to Gabriel, today they are married and have two children. The interesting thing about Chai”s children is that they are semi-dragon gods, they lay eggs and can procreate in this way. Chai too.
I broke one of Chai”s children and I swear it wasn”t my intention, I said Daniel was very good, and he was, but just as Gabriel was attached to Charles, Daniel was attached to me and I swear I didn”t want to make him suffer .
It was on one of the missions, we formed pairs and I ended up asking him to go ahead and reconnoitre the territory, he went and didn”t come back.
Daniel was captured by nymphs and this species is one of the worst in the dimensions, they use seduction to achieve anything, because he smells like wild fruits, he attracted a lot of their attention.
I tried a negotiation, and it was much worse, they wanted to see us in action and I knew very well the type of action they wanted.
I looked at Daniel and sighed deeply, they gave him a strange potion, an aphrodisiac potion and the boy”s eyes were glassy and without much life.
I would love to know why all the shit that happened to me was because of sex, always the same thing, my desire was to isolate myself from everything and everyone, whenever I had sex with someone, shit came next and now it would be worse. Daniel was Chai”s son and Ungai”s grandson and I didn”t know who Ungai was when he showed up at one of the parties, I hate myself for that.
— Queen Tiscie, don”t expect me to have sex with my pupil to satisfy your lust. — I said and saw her smile.
— Of course I hope, in truth my dear alpha, the potion only works on those who have feelings of love in their hearts, apparently, your pupil has something to tell you.
— No, he has nothing to do with me. — I was more forceful in my response.
The portkey was with Daniel, I had to get him out of this mess and then we could leave. You must be wondering what the fuck mission this was and I”ll answer. We had to collect crystal flowers, with these damn flowers, we could create other powerful portal keys.
Particularly, I needed a key, I wanted to get to planet Earth, being as honest as I can, I never forgot my puppies and much less Nicolas. Something inside me asked to go back, to save Nicolas and get my children back.
The Nymphs, aware that they had won the situation, threw me into the cell where Daniel was. The demigod was strong, but he was no match for me. With my transformation, I imagine it was clear that I had become a chimera and that as everyone”s alpha, I was relatively more skilled than this boy.
I held Daniel by the arms as he tried to come at me with everything he had. I lost part of my calm and bit him. I didn”t do this to transform him, I did it so that I could absorb the poison from his body, in this case the aphrodisiac potion.
Daniel struggled and tried to attack me, when I sucked out the last drop, he felt exhausted and lost consciousness in my arms, I had never seen him like this. I confess that of the Haama brothers, he was the most serious and bravest. I had the opportunity to train him and this boy, when contradicted, was cruel, just like his father Chrys.
When Daniel opened his eyes, he blushed and I knew he was embarrassed, especially being in my arms.
— I need the key, I know where the flowers are, it will be too quick, but you are in no condition to use your portkey right now.
Daniel swallowed hard and took a necklace off his neck, at the end of the chain there were some keys and they all led to a different dimension.
He handed me the portkey without looking me in the eye.
I thought about saying something, but it wasn”t the best time, I left him with his conscience and tried to focus on getting off that planet. Daniel wasn”t the type to talk about himself a lot and that somehow bothered him.
When I took the key and put it in the time stick, I held Daniel tight and went with him to the crystals and then we left the planet. It was a very unusual situation and one that would have consequences for me in a certain way.
I didn”t go to Kog”s castle, I went to my own castle in hybrid territory.
I kept the crystal flowers in a safe place and he still had that look, this was the moment I would have to act like alpha and I rarely appreciated that.
— You can go home, stay with your parents, your brothers, I believe that for now the missions will be separate and now that you have adequate training on how to act on other planets, you will be able to form your own team. — I said, sitting on the throne.
— Why are crystals important to you? — He asked and I just smiled without wanting to.
— I need them, I was desperate when I jumped off the cliff, when I was still an Earthling, today, I have power, I have the time stick and if I can save even more energy, I can activate the crystals and rescue something very precious that I left on planet Earth. — I was as sincere as I could be.
—And what did you leave there?
— My husband and my children, I know that if I go back one day before my supposed suicide I can change things, I can have the one I loved back. — I sighed. — Daniel, I know you like me, I know you have some hope, but being as fair as I can, I don”t want this life anymore, one day everyone will have their peers and I will be unique, because my date is dead.
— You don”t seem to be being fair, at least I can”t.
— I need to do my bending in time, I need to recover what was taken from me, I need to go back to the time when I was just an idiot omega who couldn”t control his own heat.
— Ethan…
— I know how you feel, but Charles entered my heart in a very intense way, and after my husband, he was the closest I came to love.
Daniel said nothing, I saw a sparkling glow appearing in the corner of his eyes, then he disappeared, like smoke, the teleportation of demigods has always been very incredible and I will never deny that.
I didn”t know it at the time, but he would never forgive me for my words. And I think it was better that way, because he met wonderful people and had puppies. But he still hates me.