Page 25 of The Soul of the Dragon

He looked up at the dark sky and nodded. “Need to do it now before it gets light out. Dawn is coming and with it those weird little sprite creatures will be able to spot me in the sky. Their little fucking darts don't kill me, but they do make me ill. Last time I encountered them it took an entire day to fully recover.”

“They will probably see you in the dark too.” Despite my warnings and the fear I felt, I also had a curious streak a mile wide and I wanted to see what he would look like as a dragon. Would he be green like Magnus? Did his teeth sharpen to dangerous points?

“We’ll see,” he said as he began removing his clothes. To my infernal shame the heat between my legs flared hot and needy all over again. If he was right about this mating heat then wouldn’t this only get worse until something was actually done about it? Would something as simple as sex make it go away? There were currently a lot of moving parts and questions to our situation and I was going back and forth on what to deal with first.

Dealing with this infernal need for him was a situation for later, when I wasn’t looking at the giant of a man, covered in bulky muscles as he revealed himself to me. I turned around to prevent seeing anymore but not before I got a good look at the thick, solid column of his legs that looked the size of some of the forest treesandwhat hung between them.

My face flamed hot as the blush from earlier encompassed my entire body. Despite the inappropriate timing, it was difficult to ignore the growing pressure inside me. It kind of felt like I would explode with it as it wound tighter and tighter.

“Why do you need to fly now? Where are you going?” I wouldn't tell him where my questions and hesitations were coming from. It was humiliating to want a stranger this much.

But the idea that he would leave me here like this terrified me.

“Looking for a village where we can get proper food and water, not to mention a bath and a bed. I don’t know about you, Princess, but living like this is not exactly in my plan. But it seems your world is ages behind ours in its progression.”

“I wouldn't say ages. But it's definitely different. Mainly because time flows differently in our realm.”

“What does that mean?” He touched my arm and I looked briefly over my shoulder at him, making sure to maintain eye contact this time.

I shrugged. “I’m not a time turner, so I don't have the skill that allows me to move through time, but I try and listen to what others say. To learn whatever I can, wherever I can. Not sure if anyone here truly understands the human realm though, since fae have been locked out for a very long time.”

He looked at me and then at the sky again, looking torn. “I have so many questions, but if I do not go now, it will be too light. I still need the cover of darkness. But I really want to hear more about this.”

“Go. We’ll have time to talk when we travel.” I paused before hesitantly trying out his name. “Isaac.”

He stared at me for what felt like an eternity, but was probably less than a minute. “You need to move much farther away. I need a lot of room. And remember what I said about running. If you do it again, you might not like the consequences.”

He didn’t have to tell me twice. I hurried toward the opposite side of the clearing, catching a flash of his magic from the corner of my vision before I reached my destination. I whirled to see a giant black dragon appear in front of me, his enormous tail slamming against the ground and causing it to shake.

I gasped. He was so much larger than I’d expected. And I’d expected a lot. Despite that, I was drawn to every detail about him. The shiny black scales that shimmered and sparkled in the moonlight. Like this they almost appeared iridescent. The eyes I’d already seen, but the shape of his head and the horns…

Not to mention the sharp, dagger like claws currently pawing at the ground. Whether he realized I was studying or not, he suddenly blew out a tiny stream of fire as if to give me a warning, and then spread his wings before taking to the sky with just a few strong flaps.

I followed his path, unable to look away. His wingspan alone looked as big or bigger than the King’s entire castle. I couldn’t imagine how large his home would have to be to contain him. If the King had any plans of putting this man in his dungeon, that was never going to work. He’d simply shift and tear the entire castle apart.

Now that I’d seen the dragon, I understood why he wanted the night sky. At some point, since taking off, he’d disappeared, blending into the inky darkness, making it impossible to see him. Hopefully, the imps wouldn't see him either. They were plenty of trouble on a good day, but if they thought there was a threat, their behavior would get much worse.

Hence, their reputation and the propensity for the fae to keep their distance from them whenever possible. They might seem small and kind of cute in their own gruesome little way, but they were dangerous and it wouldn’t do to forget that.

I returned to the fire that had gone out and began gathering his clothing and the bedroll we’d lain out. I glanced at his pack and debated whether to rifle through it and see what else he carried that could give me clues. I wasn't sure about him, and any information I could gather might help.

I glanced to the sky, and while I saw no sign of him, I wasn’t going to take the chance that he would catch me. I was too vulnerable without my magic or a weapon of any kind. A situation I had to rectify as soon as possible.

The last thing I needed was some giant fire breathing dragon pissed off at me. When Magnus got angry, the King kept him under control by using a short leash. But for one like him, not under the King's control, I was curious about the power and capability of the dragon. Did their magic give them more power than to simply transform their bodies? Did the King actually fear them?

They had to be strong. That was a given.

By the time I’d gathered our meager supplies, the ground shook as Isaac returned. I stared open mouthed at him, wanting to touch every inch and learn everything that I could. Were the scales of a dragon hard and rigid or soft, almost like leather? What would it feel like to soar through the skies?

What else made them different from other creatures?

Before I could voice any of my questions, the flash of blue light of magic engulfed him until only the man stood before me.

This time I kept my gaze and my thoughts focused on him. All of him. Modesty had gone out the window, and it didn’t do much good to blush about it now.

He was larger than all but a few fae who might rival his size. The King for one and possibly Magnus. He certainly towered over me by nearly two feet.

The bulk of his muscles from his arms, to his torso, to his legs, were a true marvel. It would likely take nothing for him to crush someone my size. And without my magic I was vulnerable to his strength as well as every other fae creature in this damned forest.

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