The Dragon's Keeper [Enchanted World Series Book 3]

Chapter 3

Drake found himself heading back to the infirmary early that morning after he had fallen asleep waiting for Akira to tell him of any progress. His body was stiff since he had fallen asleep on his chair in the home office. His entire night was plagued by dreams of the sky female. He could still feel her skin against his fingers and his mind was filled with the scent of her; honeysuckles and milk. He had never been more alert about a female before.

He could still remember the look in her eyes and damn those eyes; they were like molten chocolate, caressing the depths of his soul.

Drake shook his head and concentrated on the task at hand. He needed to know who she was and what happened to her. For all he knew, she could be a sorceress cloaking herself with the Dark Energy. She must have already cast an enchantment on him because he could barely think straight. He didn't want the past to repeat itself. He had once allowed a spy to live within the premises of the Royal Fortress in the Agore city where the Lord Mage was residing. The worst part was that she was a dragon and he couldn't even detect it. He endangered the lives of his king and queen, the lives of everyone who lived in that Fortress and the Realm in general.

After that incident, Drake told himself that he wasn't going to trust so easily and that not everything was what it seemed.

"Hey." A gruff came from beside him.

Drake turned and Feror was putting on his shirt. He couldn't help but notice the little red marks around his chest. A grin appeared on his face. "Nymph?"

Feror smiled dreamily. "Phoenix."

Woah! Drake's eyes widened. "I'm surprised you are not a charred mess."

"There is not a species I can't handle." Feror's face beamed with triumph as he raked his fingers through his messy hair. "And speaking of females, I have heard the news that you found a naked female in the forest yesterday."

News surely traveled fast, Drake grunted to himself and nodded. "She's been unconscious since yesterday."

"Do you have any clue what might have happened to her? Was she attacked by something?" Feror asked moving as quick and fluid as the warrior he was.

That was one thing he loved about Feror. He knew when it was games and when it was business and he was able to move in and out of the two positions with ease. Feror was as deadly as he was a clown. He could handle most ammunition and when they didn't work for him, his fists and hooves did irreversible damage. He was leanly built, a body almost like that from beasts like the Duma or the Cheetah species. One would never expect him to transform into one of the strongest centaurs in the Royal Mage Army.

Most centaurs, when they underwent puberty, their bodies became bulky, some almost monstrous but not for Feror.

Right in the middle of his back, he had a large brotherhood tattoo of his former team of centaurs bringing peace in the highlands of his home. The male was loyal and Drake trusted him to cover his back any day, any time. Thanks to Feror's quick thinking, Drake was able to live yet another day after they were attacked by rogue dragons when the Queen Mage was kidnapped and they were sent to find a gateway to the caves where she was held captive.

"There are no signs of a struggle. She hasn't been attacked in any way." Drake was relieved somehow because his stomach churned just thinking about anything bad happening to her.

"Is she--safe?" Feror muttered warily. "You didn't pick up any bad vibes from her, did you?"

Drake exhaled hard. "I wasn't thinking about it when I rescued her.

"Hold up, hold up." Feror slowed down and glowered at Drake like he was the biggest i***t there. "You brought her here not knowing what she was?"

"Red would have warned me if anything was amiss but he was quiet throughout." Drake gritted his teeth.

Because you gave me no choice. Red's voice chimed in.

Shut up! Drake growled at him.

Red snarled back and sent a nasty headache streaking in Drake's head. Drake flinched it away and turned back to Feror who was still not convinced. "She might be a shifter, I am not sure but I am positive she is harmless."

"Just how harmless are we talking about here?" Feror murmured still very skeptical as they began moving again towards the infirmary.

"She's human," Akira announced to them once they arrived at the infirmary.

Both Drake's and Feror's mouths fell open.

"Human?" Feror breathed in hard. "Well, that's harmless enough."

"How could that be? I saw what happened with my own eyes. She fell out of the sky--now what would a human be doing flying?"

Akira shrugged lightly. "With what you said about it, my best guess is that she must have gone through a gateway somehow."

"There is no gateway in that forest!" Drake exclaimed. "If there was one, we would have known."

"Look, I don't know how to explain this any better than you can. I don't know what happened but these are the facts; she is human and she has amnesia!"

"Wait, what?" Drake didn't seem to have heard the healer properly because he could have sworn she said that the female had amnesia.

"She has no idea of who or where she is but what she seems to remember is that faeries and dragons belong in storybooks." Akira scratch her forehead and sighed. "I have had a long night trying to figure her out but we have not made any progress so if you want to give it a try, be my guest."Akira gestured towards the room where the female was.

Drake turned to Feror then back to the healer. "I'll go and get to the bottom of this."

"I don't think you need me handling one helpless human female, do you?" Feror asked.

Drake rolled his eyes and turned to him. "You can supervise the training until I return."

Feror nodded and left the infirmary.

Drake turned to the room. When he opened it he heard the quick-shifting of feet on the cool tiled floor. Before he could see what was happening, he felt a strong thump on his chest and found himself falling backward. Yet again, the air was punched out of his lungs and his head knocked hard on the floor that it left his brain rattling in his head for a while.

When he opened his eyes, he was greeted by a large pair of chocolate brown eyes sparkling venomously down at him. The female had used her body to tumble him down and she was now using it to keep him in place, pinning it against him but she had no idea that her slight body would have made no difference if he had wanted to get up. The surprising thing was that...he didn't. He wanted her to feel like she was in control so that they could try and figure out what was happening.

"What the hell did you do to me?" She gritted her pearly white teeth at him.

Drake fought the urge to brush the locks surrounding her face as he struggled to breathe. "I saved your life."

"Then what happened to my clothes--and where the hell am I?" She pinned him harder and Drake had finally had enough.

Grabbing her waist, Drake shifted her off him and got up. He frowned down at her. She reminded him so much of a Nymph, very feisty and cuddly but he doubted very much that she was into cuddly given the ordeal she had gone through.

Her eyes darkened as she stared at him, her full mouth pinned into a tight line and she glowered at him. He just saved her life yet he was the bad guy!

"Do you seriously think you could take me on?" Drake frowned back, disappointed that she would try such a thing at the vulnerable state that she was in, not to mention she was human. Humans were considered as helpless as babies because they had no strong traits going for them. They didn't have strength, speed, or agility that would give them an advantage in both their Realm and the Enchanted World.

The female pouted. "If it gives me answers then yes. Haven't you heard of the spurt of energy that occurs when adrenaline kicks in? Parents have been able to move cars to save their children when the need arose!"

Drake pitied her. A spurt of energy! Ha! "Why don't we start with you? Who are you and how did you end up falling from the sky, naked?"

Instinctively, her arms went up on her chest even though she was dressed in a patient robe. Her cheeks pinked and her eyes darted everywhere else in the room as if the walls had answers. "I--I don't know what you are talking about."

Red, help me make sense of this. Drake linked with his dragon but the dragon had been eerie silent. He had been like that since the time they rescued the female. 

Red!

Keeper. The dragon answered.

Is there anything you are picking from her? Anything at all.

The dragon a little longer to answer, quite hesitant. She is special, Keeper.

Of course, she is special! She's a special case! She's human. Drake replied impatiently.

"Who are you?" The female narrowed her eyes at him and Drake couldn't help but want to stare at her for eternity. Something about her felt too right for his own good. It made a shiver ripple down his spine. It took a lot to unsettle Red and this female was able to do that with her mere presence. Drake wanted to discover why because the last thing he needed was being vulnerable at a time like that.

"I am Drake, Second Commander of the Realm of Spells after the Lord Mage." Drake gave her a curt nod.

The female expression was comical with a mixture of awe and confusion. "Is that like a level in a video game or something? Are you like a game fanatic or designer of some sort?"

Drake pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. He prayed for patience as he tried to figure out how he was going to make this dense female understand that she was no longer in the world she was used to but rather in the world where fantasies and nightmares were substance. "I am an army commander."

"Cool." She shrugged her small shoulders.

She didn't look impressed but why would Drake care? The sooner he found out what this female was about, the faster he could rid himself of her because he found himself out of his comfort zone in her presence.

Your ego is wounded, Keeper. Red crooned.

Shut up, Red. You are no help at all. Then Drake turned to the female. "What happened to your chest?" he pointed to the red mark on her chest that she unconsciously caressed every once in a while.

The female looked down at it and frowned pensively. "I don't know. It itches a bit, maybe an allergy of some sort, I don't know. Where am I? Hasn't anyone asked for a lost woman; a friend, a parent, a boyfriend…." Her voice cracked as hope shimmered in her eyes.

Drake ground his teeth at the last words. Boyfriend? Why did that word tick him off so much? "No one has come forward." He sighed and threw his hands up in defeat. "Look, I have no idea who you are or where you are from and it seems you are suffering from amnesia. We are hoping it is temporary but until we figure out who you are and what happened to you, you will be staying here."

The female pulled her lower lip between her teeth and nodded softly. She looked nervous for a moment as she passed her hand through her thick black mane. "Alright…but I can't even remember my own name."

Drake's head tilted to the side as he studied her. She looked like a forest Nymph; very feisty, very enchanting yet mysterious and alluring…."Beina."

"Beina?" She echoed.

"Yes. Beina was a very mysterious nym--female living in the forest. You can read about her in the books in Ullanis city library."

"Oh..." She looked up at him and the look on her face told Drake that she had no idea what he was talking about.

Drake straightened and breathed in hard. "Get, some rest and recuperate. I will get someone to bring you food and a change of clothes then check on you later, alright?"

"Wait, you are not leaving me in here with all those crazy women, are you?" Fear entered her eyes as she limped away from the bed towards him. "I'm not staying here!"

Drake grabbed her shoulders and guided her back to the bed. He couldn't shake away the shiver that went through him and he could have sworn he heard a purr escaping from Red. "They are healers, they know what they are doing. We still need to check you and make sure you are alright. I have other duties to attend to but I will come and see you later, okay?"

Beina pouted but nodded a little. "Fine."

"Okay." Drake let her go and stepped back a little. Her scent was intoxicating and the longer he stayed in her presence the more he felt drawn to her. "Rest and get well so that we can start working on your memories."

Again, Beina nodded as she slipped back into the sheets. She sighed and looked up at him. "Drake?"

Drake's eyebrows snapped up his forehead. The sound of his name through her lips was something he had never experienced before. "Yes?"

"Thank you for saving me." She pursed her lips and flipped her sexy eyes to him.

Drake tried to make a sentence but his throat was clogged so he quickly cleared it and nodded lightly before he turned to the door and literally ran out.

His heart felt as if it was going to jump out and run for cover. Drake passed a hand over his brow and approached the desk where two junior healers were sitting. They both got up when they saw him, their faces turning red and their eyes sparkling with interest.

"Watch over her, make sure she doesn't go anywhere. Get someone to bring her food. She needs to clean up and a change of clothes."

Both healers nodded. "Yes, Commander."

Drake eyed the two females cautiously wondering if he should just shed his duties to Feror and take care of the female himself.

Get your ass out of here, Drake. He chastised himself and walked out quickly before he changed his mind and charged back into her room.

Beina…interesting name but why did Maya feel like she was supposed to take offense in it? She sighed and rested back on the bed. It was interesting how she was aware of Drake's presence in the hospital before she even saw him. She found his presence quite calming. Maya always had a very good gut feeling about people. She knew who to stay clear of and who was a friend. She found Drake not to be a friend but neither was he a threat to her

A small smiled tugged on her lips. For most of the time that he talked to her, Maya couldn't help but take him in. He was quite tall and well molded. He looked like the type who liked working out because he was in very good shape. She was able to see through his pair of jeans, the v-neck T-shirt underneath the black leather jacket he had on. His dark hair was ruffled as if he had just come from sleeping without even bothering with a brush. He had the strangest color of eyes but maybe he wore contacts, she didn't know.

He had very precise movements and at times he zoned out. She caught all that in him. He was really hot! Maya grinned to herself. Even the timbre of his voice traveled to places she wished it didn't. But that wasn't the task at hand. She tried to push him to the furthest corner of her mind as she tried to think of what had happened to her. The last thing she saw was the blue sky above her….there was no much wind around her yet she felt as if she was burning alive.

Maya quickly sat up and looked down at her body. She didn't have any burn marks so maybe it was just a dream. Her chest hurt just by thinking about the fall. It did look like she was falling from the sky, but where from, she had no clue. Again, Maya's hand instinctively went to her chest as she touched the little red mark there. It felt as if she had something there but she couldn't remember what it was.

Why couldn't she remember? It was so frustrating. She raked her hands in her hair and wondered if after one died, this was the place they woke up to? The strange doctor kept on talking about dragons and sorcerers, Drake said he was the second in command of a place that could only exist in a computer game. Even though she had no memory of who she was, she still knew what reality was and those things didn't exist in her reality.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door before a short woman with a pretty blond bob entered. She had a tray for breakfast in her hands and the coffee aroma filtered to her nostrils. Her mouth watered at the delicious fragrance. She couldn't remember the last time she had food in her stomach but she was looking forward to digging in.