The Dragon's Mail Order Mate: A Paranormal Menage Romance (29 page)

“Where are we?” I asked as my body trembled with fear.

Ryia looked at me as if I was speaking a foreign language.  “Where are we?  I think it is apparent that we are in a tunnel.”

“I know that!  I think that is pretty obvious!” I mumbled. 

Why was it I had to be married to someone so sarcastic?

“We are headed to the Dragon Kingdom.  It is on the outskirts.  There are still many obstacles we have to cross and there are many that are going to be using dark magic.”

“You are joking, right? I don’t even want to go anywhere near anything that is full of black magic.  It is hard to believe some guy is after me and now you want me to fight dark magic on top of this.  This is beautiful!”

“You act as if you aren’t sure of all of this.  We are headed to the Dragon Kingdom, but the roads leading there are not safe if that man is looking for you.”

“Who is he?  Is he from the assassin guild?” I asked.

“I am sure he is from the assassin guild.”

The tunnel came out at a cliff overlooking a valley. 

“The Dragon Kingdom is in the far corner.  We must cross all that is in between and the territory is very dangerous.”

“Are you kidding?  Has anyone actually survived making that trip from here to the Dragon Kingdom?” I asked in horror as I looked at the territory below.

“A few people have made it.  There were several witches that did, but according to the records I am one of the few warriors who have ever made it across the territory.”

I looked over at her. “I hope you have a map for this.”

Ryia started laughing. “Of course I have a map!  The only hope of making it to the Dragon King would be a map and finding the right way to get there.  We are going to have to stick together or we will surely get lost!”

I locked eyes with Ryia and then looked back at the land below.  What the hell did we get ourselves into this time?”

“We really must be going if we want to get out of these parts before night falls.”

“What do you mean?” I asked as I watched Ryia take out a map from her leather bag. 

She held the map tightly as she traced her fingers from where we were standing to the Dragon Kingdom. 

At this point, I wanted to be back to my old self.  I was tired of running and I was tired of what was happening to me. 

“Is there any other way than walking, instead of us going through this whole jungle to get there?” Rowan asked.

“No, there isn’t another way to walk there.  It is against all the rules that have been set in place of the kingdoms.  We are not allowed to fly or bring foreign creatures like horses into the kingdom.  I would hate to say it, but I would love to get there another way as well.  I have walked this three times and each time it brings new stuff that seems to haunt me.  I have tried before to bring a horse, but they refused to allow me in.  They thought that the dragons would get hungry or something.”

“I beg to differ!  I never looked at my horse with hungry eyes!” Rowan pointed out.

Ryia ignored him as we began to follow her down the steep cliff.  I was already beginning to see my life flash before my eyes.   I was quite surprised that so far, I hadn’t fallen down the rocky cliff.  I didn’t want to keep running and to be quite frank, I was getting incredibly exhausted. 

“Where are we going to go?  Are there any villages on this adventure?”

“There are people we will meet, but I don’t think it is in the same sense as you are thinking.  There is no way that we will be stopping at inns, if that is what you mean.”

“How long will it take to get there if we have to walk?”

“There is another way, if I recall.  There are these things called flying ships.  They cost about thirteen pieces of gold, but it would be worth flying some of this compared to walking the whole way,” the traveler said.

“Where do we get these flying ships?” I asked.

“We would have to go over there to the left.  It would be well worth it,” the traveler added.

I glanced to the left.  It seemed almost impossible to go that way.  I wasn’t sure if the traveler was just trying to lead us off the course or what.

Ryia flashed me a look.  It was as if she had been thinking the same thing.  In fact, it was quite obvious even Rowan was thinking the same thing.  We all were thinking it was too dangerous to go that way.

“How will we get there?” Rowan asked.

None of us knew the answer to that, since we were all concerned with the rocky slopes and deep ravines that we would have to cross.  There wasn’t easy access to horses or carriages since they were banned. 

“Sir, how do you expect us to cross through all of that to get to the airship?  That journey will be near impossible.”

“
You are full of rubbish, thinking it is impossible!  All the knights and warriors cross through there.  Don’t you know that since your father is Maelyss, nothing in this kingdom would be impossible for you?  All you have to remember is the fact that you are here for a reason and you are going to have to keep that reason close to you.”

The traveler seemed as if he wasn’t taking my concerns seriously.  I hated it when it felt like that, since King Athalos often refused to take me seriously. 

“Marvin, don’t you think that I am making a legit observation? I think it is silly if we have to cross a place where we don’t need to cross.”

Marvin didn’t answer me.  All I could imagine was the fact that once again, we would come to a bridge and have something happen like the old wooden bridge.  There didn’t seem to be doctors out here, let alone a lot of civilization.

“Boy, there isn’t any other way unless you want to use your legs.  I don’t know what you were expecting.  This kingdom isn’t tailored to your likings.  I am incredibly sorry for that, but I am sure you would understand to protect the dragons from people like King Athalos, there had to be protective measures,” the traveler said.

I let out a sigh.  “Does this mean you are taking us to the airships?” I asked.

“No, I don’t think I will continue on your journey with you.  There is a lot left for Marvin and me to do.  We will watch over you, but this is a quest you have to make on your own.”

I couldn’t help but wonder if the traveler was one of the people who were trying to kill us.  I hadn’t even met Maelyss and I was already running from my brothers and the king, yet throughout this assassin waited greedily for their chance to kill the likings of Rowan and me.

“Can I ask you a question?” I asked.

“Sure, can you ask me anything,” the man replied.

“If you are supposed to be helping us, why aren’t you joining us on this quest?  It seems when you show up, so does trouble.”

“I don’t know how to answer this, since I know it might look incredibly suspicious since you know nothing about me.  I can tell you that everything is soon to change and even what you think could be right isn’t right.  What your perspective is on the world won’t be what it is.  I can already tell you that it is happening. 

“Whatever you haven’t told us that happened to you at the pub is happening now to you!  Be careful and keep a clear mind.  Without the clear mind, you will be stuck in the peril of confusion.  I may not be there the whole time, but I have already looked out for you.  Who else is going to make sure you don’t end up hurt?”

*

I looked back at the traveler, but he seemed to have vanished in thin air with Marvin.

“Where did they go?” I asked as I looked for even footsteps and there were none.

“That was their duty to lead us here.  He told you that it was time to go.  He wasn’t about to stand around and chat with us,” Ryia answered

“I didn’t hear them leave.  It is as if they vanished in thin air.”

None of us spoke as we followed the bumps in the road of the path less traveled, to where the traveler had pointed.  I tried hard to understand this whole process of having to be guided by a single map and Ryia.

The road we traveled was very bumpy with many large rocks and roots in the path.  I was sure that even as we traveled by foot, there had to be another way to get to our destination.  I was just hoping it would be quicker than how it looked from the cliff. 

Having assassins chasing us didn’t help.  Rowan, Ryia and I had all been on quests before, but this one seemed to be unique.  It was as if we were all inexperienced with all the experiences that we were encountering.

“What is that in the road ahead?” Rowan asked as he looked up to see someone standing and waiting for someone.

The humming of what seemed to be a motor made us dart in the woods.

“What were you thinking, Frank?  Did you honestly think I wouldn’t find you?  What do you think you are doing?” the man growled as we hid behind trees and listened carefully.

I was unaware who this person was, but I knew that it wasn’t good.  Footsteps began pacing close to us.  I lightly nudged Ryia to get back behind the tree.

“Why aren’t Prince Merek and Prince Rowan dead yet?”

“When I got to the pub, they disappeared.  No one saw them leave and I am sure, somewhere in the territories, they are here waiting.”

My heart dropped as I looked over at Ryia as if I was begging her for help.  We both shared the same horrific look and then we looked at Rowan.  I was unsure what we were going to do at the moment or how we were going to get out of this one.

We hid in the forest behind trees, but I didn’t want to be anywhere near the people who were talking.  It seemed as if they had their own plans for all of us.

“What is this that you bring to me?” the man’s voice hissed in quite a high pitched voice that shrilled with such anger. 

“I thought you would be interested in the fact that the shopkeeper said that Merek had purchased the warrior outfit.  Do you know what that means?  Do you know what it means to have her by his side?  We all will be in trouble then.”

“If you carried out your job like you were told to do, this would never have happened.  I knew we should have sent someone a bit more enthusiastic about killing the princes and the bride warrior.”

I didn’t even dare to breathe.  Before I could stop Rowan from moving, he had already shifted his weight, breaking a twig.  The sound seemed to echo.

“Who is there?” the man with the shrilling voice screamed.

Darts of lights darted between the trees as it lit up the whole forest. 

“No one is there!” the man that showed up at the pub said with such annoyance in his voice.

“Do you think I am stupid, Frank?  You really think that I am going to believe you aren’t trying to ambush me?  This is going to be on your permanent record.  Frank, I swear if anyone is there, that you are going to pray that I won’t be able to strangle you with my own bare hands.”

The light cast a shadow from the men standing on the roadside as they searched for us.  I was wishing that Rowan hadn’t shifted his weight since every limb and branch seemed to be laminated with the light.  The man sniffed the air. 

“Do you smell that, Frank?  I smell living creatures!  I also smell that two of them are dragons.”

I began to push Ryia deeper in the forest as Rowan followed us.  It wasn’t easy having everything illuminated, yet we still had to escape.

“There is no one out there, for Pete’s sake.  Put your wand away and stop fooling around!  Nobody knew I was coming to meet you and no one followed me here.”