Stroke the Flame

5

Recognition slammed into me and I had a hard time speaking. Everything about him—from his perfectly tousled hair to his broad shoulders in a black and red military uniform—was familiar to me. I felt like I knew him already, even though we’d never met. But how was that possible? How could this man from my dreams be standing in front of me?

And did that mean the other men were real as well?

4

Jasin

A

month ago I’d been on patrol in the forest and had stopped to take a piss on a tree when the Fire God, in all his blazing glory, appeared out of thin air and told me to find a woman. And trust me, when a giant made out of flames tells you to do something, you do it. Especially when he wraps a scorching hand around your neck. Except instead of burning me alive, his power became absorbed into my body, branding me as the next Crimson Dragon.

The Fire God told me my duty and gave me a name—Kira—along with a split-second glimpse of her image and one month to find her. No directions. No hints. Not even a vague idea of what Realm she was in. Just an order to find her, serve her, and protect her. Then he vanished.

It took me a day or two to wrap my head around his demand and to believe it all really happened. The Fire God didn’t just appear to people, especially ordinary guys like me. Don’t get me wrong, I was a damn fine soldier, but that was it. Up until that point, I wasn’t even sure the Gods were real. No one had heard from them in hundreds of years, after all. Now I’d been chosen by one of them to be his representative in this world and to take the place of the current Crimson Dragon, who wasn’t going to be happy about being kicked out of the role.

I’d spent the last two weeks traveling from the Fire Realm, following the persistent urge that guided me northwest, into the farthest depths of the Earth Realm. Now the woman the Fire God sent me to find stood in front of me, and she was so gorgeous it made my blood heat like never before. Her shiny red hair was tied back in a tight ponytail, and I had the strongest urge to free it and let it fall about her shoulders. Her sharp eyes were an intriguing hazel color, as if many different shades danced within them. And her body, with those fit arms, full breasts, and curvy hips…damn. Maybe being tied to one woman for the rest of my life wouldn’t be such a hardship after all.

A slow grin spread across my mouth. “I had no idea you’d be so beautiful in person. Thank the Gods indeed.”

“Who are you?” Kira asked, with suspicion in her voice. She stared at me as if she recognized me, but wasn’t sure how. Did she not know who I was? Or what she was?

“Name’s Jasin,” I said. “I’ve been sent to find you.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Sent? By whom?”

“By the Fire God.”

She took a step back and crashed into a chair, knocking it to the ground, as fear and confusion crossed her face. “I don’t understand.”

Maybe she truly didn’t know. Had she not been visited by the Spirit Goddess too? Did she not know about the task in front of us?

I glanced around, but the tavern was empty except for the two of us. I moved closer and lowered my voice anyway to be safe. “A few weeks ago I had a visit from the Fire God. He told me I was the future Crimson Dragon and that I had to find you—the next Black Dragon.”

5

Kira

E

veryone knew the Black Dragon and the other Dragons were immortal. They’d ruled for the last thousand years, and would rule for another thousand to come. Each one was the divine representative of the five elemental Gods, hand-picked to serve them and reign over the rest of us. This man couldn’t be one of them—and neither could I.

“No,” I said, my head spinning. “Impossible.”

“I’ll prove it to you,” the soldier—Jasin—said. He raised his hand and conjured a ball of flame, which danced across his fingertips.

Even with the heat from the fire, all I felt was cold terror. I turned on my heel and ran out of the inn as fast as I could while flashbacks of my parents’ deaths filled my mind, their screams ringing in my ears even seven years later. There was no denying it anymore. Jasin truly was the Crimson Dragon—and a soldier for the Onyx Army—which meant I had to get as far away from him as possible.

I dashed into the forest, down the hidden paths I knew like the back of my hand, crashing through the brush with my bow clutched tight in my fingers. I ran with only instinct and fear guiding me, without a firm plan in my mind other than to escape. Not just to save myself, but to save Tash and her mother too. I couldn’t let him burn them alive, like the other Crimson Dragon had done to my family.

Jasin called out, “Wait!” He chased me into the forest, and with his long legs managed to catch up to me within minutes.

When I glanced back, he was almost upon me. I stumbled and tripped over a fallen tree and he crashed into me from behind, tumbling to the ground with me. We landed together with him on top, pinning me down with his hard, muscular body.

His face was close to mine and we were both breathing heavily, our chests pressed together. “I’m not going to hurt you,” he said. “It’s my duty to serve and protect you.”

I stared into his eyes without backing down. “Why?”

“Because you’re the Black Dragon.”

I let out a sharp laugh. “Hardly.”