Dragon Guide

Chapter 18: Weakness

I free-fall towards the open ground, my human instincts blaring in my head that I am going to die while at the same time a small rational part of my mind registers that I am not in a physical body. Will I really die if I hit the ground or what will happen to me? Before I have the chance to find out huge claws catch me in mid-air and the impact of our two forces knocks the air out of me.

"Oooofff!" is the only sound I make before my body can no longer move. My limbs, as hard as I try to move them, just won't budge. I have this incredible pain in my chest from the impact, it emptied all the air out of the lungs. My diaphragm is caught in a spasm, it contracts, and stays that way. I struggle to breathe but I can't, my lungs lay flat. Am I dying right now? If I am dying then who killed me? My eyes roll to look at the body above me and I see that it is the Golden dragon and he seems to be in a frenzy, trying to get away from something but what could it be?

I absently register that he is being extra careful with me now, hmp! What a time when I am probably about to die! He somehow manages to twist me into a sitting position and quietly whispers, " You simply had the wind knocked out of you, try breathing in slowly through your mouth while pushing your stomach out, and then sucking your stomach back in as you exhale to stretch out your diaphragm." His big blue eyes look at me with worry and I try my best to do as he says. After a few minutes, I am back to normal, if you disregard the discomfort in my chest. "Why did you drop me? It felt like you were being chased for a moment there. What happened?" I ask as we continue our journey through the sky.

"There are others in this place that do not welcome those from your bloodline and will try to bring you harm, there is a lot you do not know still but you will soon enough. Rivia, my name is Julius and I was Sabina's, true mate. A lot happened and I wish to tell you everything but the others may not allow me to go too much in detail and so if you wish to know it all them tell me now and I will tell you what you need to know. There may not be another chance. From what we saw earlier it is clear that the time in here moves at a much greater pace than in the spirit world and in the human world. There is something changing that because it was once the opposite. Time once stood still here. Tell me now, what you have decided, do you want to know the truth?" he says to me calmly.

My mind is racing there is so much I need to do and honestly, I know that I am not a priority here but I may never get this chance again and it seems very important to figure out what the hell is going on with me. I need some kind of proof that this story they are telling me is true if not I can't believe it! "Yes, I need to know what is happening and what already happened, tell me everything I need to know," I say firmly. I have already chosen to delay time I might as well stick to the decision I've made. The time outside this place does not go as fast as inside here, there is still time, I hope.

"Very well, I will stop over there on that peak," responds Julius. Now that I can move again, I turn over onto my knees and use his wrists as a wall to brace myself. He is cradling me in his hands, shaping a cradle with his claws. As I look out past my confines, I see a beautiful horizon splayed before me. Cranes flying in flocks over a great body of water, mountains, hills, and peaks both stretching out to touch the sky and some lucky enough to kiss the clouds. As I venture to the edge of his claw cradle I take a cautious look below, I can see deer and other relatively large animals scattered throughout the greenery below, hidden from each other. Oblivious to the dangers hidden among them they live their lives one day at a time knowing that it will never end. I can see the place that we will land. There are no trees here just a huge peak covered with soft grass and scattered with alpine wildflowers. The wind of Julius' wings flattens the grass as we make our landing. I hop out of his claws as he rests them on the ground. I find a nearby spot that is clear of sharp rocks and I take a seat.

"Please don't bother with being gentle, we don't have much time so if you can tell me what I need to know that would be great! I would also like some proof to validate that I am indeed what you are saying, a dragon." I am blunt and straight to the point. As much as I want this information, I have other obligations that take precedent.

Julius chuckles, "You are more like her than you can imagine. She was never one for wasting time. very well this is what happened," he sighs heavily and sits on his hind legs too. "Very well let's begin. Domitian and Sabina had been best friends since they were growing up, they hatched together. At first, he never saw her in a romantic way until Sabina and I met many years later. We were both about three hundred years old by then, well beyond the age of maturity. I took her to my family and they were happy to see that I had found my mate, dragons’ mate for life as you may already know. Anyways, it was until I returned with Sabina to her family that Domitian realized he loved her as more than a friend."

"Sabina apologized and didn't accept his affections, needless to say, he didn't take it well. To everyone's relief, a few months later a new dragon came to the earth, a dragon with jade green scales and red eyes, Nahla. She was beautiful and everything that a mate could ask for, Domitian was lucky but I did not feel the appreciation as much as the other unmated dragons because I already had Sabina and I had eyes for no other."

"Nahla appeared in Arabia and didn't come to find Domitian until she was mature. She was different from the rest of us, she was not hatch on this earth, instead she arrived already hatched and very sensible. She knew things even the first dragon did not know; she knew where we came from before we appeared on the earth. That is a story for another day though, let's get back to Sabina."

"Domitian felt the pull of their bond as much as she did but that was not enough for him. He still loved Sabina and eventually, the poor girl could not take it, she grew jealous, and with each passing day, her hate for Sabina grew more and more. Sabina on the other hand was living happily with me, she was finally expecting our first whelp, if it was a girl, we hope to name her Rivia and if it was a boy then Riven.

Regrettably, or egg never hatched. She grew depressed and blamed herself a lot, I always told her that it was not her fault but these words only made it worse for her. Once when she was in such a spout of depression and I was away tending to some family matters, Domitian came to her. He spoke kind words to her and helped her feel better, something even I clearly could not do. He gave her something to drink to ease the tension he said, but that was a lie. He gave her an aphrodisiac and bedded her, my mate!

I was furious when she told me what happened. I was ready to fight him until the death right then, but Sabina stopped me. She stood there looking so pitiful, and then she told me the words that tore me apart forever. She was now growing his egg inside her. My mate was now carrying Domitian's child!