Last of Her Kind

Chapter 4 ALORA

Alora was worried. The infection had gotten worse overnight and Elysia was in constant pain. She couldn’t move without crying out at ear deafening volumes and she was laying in a pool of blood, tears, and excrement. Alora was doing her best to keep the wound clean, but there wasn’t much that could be done without the right herbs.

Aleno had found a place to perch high above and refused to come down. Alora didn’t blame him. In fact, she was happy he was in his dragon skin. At least this way, Elysia could talk to someone instead of being all alone in her pain. And Aleno wasn’t spending all of his time bossing the rest of them around.

Without Aleno, Alora would need to talk to Rador about getting the herbs she needed. Talking to Rador would be easy; he was much more likely to be persuaded by Alora than Aleno ever was. Not just because he was her mate, but because Rador had always been a bit of a softie under all his hard built muscle.

Rador was in his room when Alora found him. He was lounging on his bed with his eyes shut. Alora figured he must have just gotten back from a flight because he had only managed to put on his sweats and she could see from the rise and fall of his chest that he was still breathing heavy. She knocked.

Rador sat up quickly, “Alora, what a lovely surprise! Please come in.”

Alora entered the room and sat beside Rador on the bed.

“And to what do I owe such a welcomed visit?”

“It’s Elysia. She’s in a great amount of pain and I need to go out to find herbs that can help her.”

Rador closed his eyes and turned his head away. “That blasted spear.”

Alora put a hand on his arm reassuringly, “It was an unfortunate mistiming. Don’t beat yourself up over it.”

Rador pulled back from her touch. “You don’t understand. It should have hit me. It would have hit me, but Elysia saw it coming and knocked me out of the way. I should have never let her go on that hunt. Benko and I would have been fine on our own.”

This time Alora took Rador’s hand, and forced him to look at her. “But you wouldn’t have been fine on your own. You would have been shot down by that spear, and probably would have died. Without Elysia you would be gone and I would be stuck with Benko as my mate. Benko? Seriously? He’s still a pup, and once he’s finally ready to father his own pups, I’ll be too old to lay eggs. What use will we be to the tribe then?”

Rador laughed a little as Alora wiped away the tears that had fallen on his face. Then she took his face in both her hands. “Because of Elysia, our race has a better chance of survival, but only if you let me go get what I need to help her.”

Rador sighed and patted her on the knee. “Of course you can. I’ll get my day pack together and we can be ready to go within the hour”

“No, no. I should go alone. If there are slayers out there we shouldn’t endanger all of us. I can go in my human skin and be just fine.”

He shook his head, clasping her shoulders. “I can’t let you go alone, Alora. Your brother would kill me. At least take Benko with you.”

“Let me take Elysor instead?”

“The old man? That’s ridiculous. How is he going to protect you?”

“He wouldn’t have to. He could pose as my father for anyone suspicious of our traveling. Plus, he knows the plants and herbs better than Benko. He would be a much greater help to me. With Benko being as short tempered as he is, he would probably give us away at the first sign of trouble. Blowing smoke or something.”

Rador thought on Alora’s words for a moment before giving her the answer she had been seeking. “Alright, fine. Take the old man. But don’t go too far, and be back by nightfall.”

Alora stood up and saluted him. “Aye aye, Captain!”

Shaking his head, Rador rose and wrapped his arms around Alora’s waist. “Even if we weren’t the last dragons around, I’d still want you as my mate.” He kissed her first on the head, then again on the nose, and finally, once more, gently on the lips. As their lips separated, Rador squeezed Alora closer to him and pulled her lips back in to a passionate embrace. She could feel his heart starting to race and his c**k hardened as his temperature began to rise under his skin. Her body began to tingle as shed pushed her body closer into Rador. A heavy cloud of smoke escaped Alora’s nose and she broke the connection.

“I don’t have time.”

Rador groaned and kissed her on the nose. “Be careful,” he whispered.

Alora nodded and left.

Elysor was busy fidgeting with Elysia’s bandages when Alora made it down the stairs.

“Elysor, I need you to grab a day pack once you finish replacing those.”

Elysor jumped, almost dropping the clean gauze into the murky slop under Elysia.

“Wh-what? Wh-why m-m-me?”

Alora had disappeared into the lab for a moment and emerged carrying a small empty vial. “Because Rador and Benko are far better off here, where they can keep Elysia safe, and you can help me find the herbs we need.” She crossed the room to where she had been studying the spear and began trying to remove some of the poison from it’s tip.

“And what herbs would that be?”

Alora looked up at him sadly. “I don’t know.”

She capped the vial and went back into the lab to retrieve a satchel and notebook which she displayed to Elysor.

“I’ve got a few notes on that poison, along with this small sample. If anything, we should try to find some poppies to help with the pain.”

“Poppies? But the closest poppy field is miles from here.”

“I know. Which is why I need you to hurry up.”

Elysor finished wrapping Elysia’s wound and then quickly moved to do as Alora said. Once he was ready the pair hurried out of the cathedral and into the tunnels.

The tunnels rose, fell, and twisted before them for miles until the two found their way out into the sunlight on the side of the mountain. Alora looked up at the sun, high in the sky.

“We’re going to have to fly.”

Elysor stopped in his tracks. “Have you lost your mind? There are slayers out there looking for us now.”

“I know, which is why you’ll ride on my back. We won’t make it to the poppy fields and back in time if we walk.”

Elysor was shakind his head at the idea. “We don’t have to go to the poppy field, we can just gather the herbs we’ll need for an antidote.”

“And what herbs would those be Elysor? Do you know what type of poison that is hurting your daughter and you’ve just been holding out on us.”

He hung his head, “No, of course I don’t”

“Then I suggest you calm down and climb on.” Alora began removing her trousers.”

“No, wait. You should ride on my back. I am well past my mating years. Our tribe needs you healthy.”

Alora nodded and stepped back to give Elysor room to shift.

“Whatever you do. Don’t cry out.”

Elysor nodded and removed his clothes. Alora gave him his space and waited as the wind began to stir around his body.

Once the wind had died down, the older dragon stood tall before Alora, his scales, shimmering a translucent silver in the sunlight.

“Maybe it is best you fly. You almost look invisible in your old age.”

The dragon Elysor grunted his disapproval at her comment before bending his neck down for Alora to mount. She collected his clothes for him and climbed up onto his back. Once she was on and settled in, he took off.

They flew southwest over the forest for about fifteen miles before they saw the clearing that the poppy field was in. Elysor began to descend when, from a tower below, a spear flew right above Alora’s head.

“s**t. Dive, Elysor, dive.” She cried over the wind rushing around them.

The dragon began to speed down toward the trees below them. The forest had grown too close together and the pair crashed down to the ground below them, breaking a few branches on their way down.

Alora stood up and looked around at the wreckage, before hurrying to Elysor’s side.

“Can’t you shift back?”

The dragon groaned and nodded while pushing itself up onto his feet. A gust of wind stirred as Elysor returned to his human skin. He stretched himself out and he readjusted to his human form while Alora retrieved his clothes from her bag.

“Hurry and put these on. We need to get as far from here as possible before those slayers try to find you.”

Elysor began dressing when he cried out in pain. Alora turned to see the old man holding his shoulder. His face contorted in a mask of pain.

She rushed to his side, “Are you alright? Let me see.” She pulled Elysor’s hand away to see that the fall had left a deep gash in his shoulder. He winced as she inspected it closer. “Looks like you’re going to need some poppy too. Let’s get going.”

 The two disappeared into the woods.