Guy
I’m gonna fix it. I have to fix it. If I don’t then my mate’s life, my hatchlings…we’re all done for.
These are the only thoughts in my head as I fly my way back outside city limits and get hit with a dusty gray sandstorm right in the face. The winds knock me back down to the earth without a care, leaving me ass-up in a pile of sand.
It gets in my mouth, my hair, hell it’s probably in my character too. For a second I contemplate letting the winds take me, I deserve worse for sure. But no, it’s not about me right now. My family needs me to be a man.
“Are you done wallowing in the dirt? I gave you an assignment.” Wyatt’s dry voice prattled in my mind.
“Give me a second. There's a big sandstorm out here and it’s raging pretty hard. I can’t get airborne like this.” True but I bet my wings being all but brand new also had something to do with it. A dragon's wing is strong enough to slice off pieces of the planet, at least that’s what Grampa told me.
I’d seen Sapph do the impossible with hers so why weren’t mine strong enough yet?
“How are you holding up?” I asked, needing a distraction.
“About as well can be expected here. Your friend Voss is very…angry with me in particular but I don’t understand, I have done nothing to him personally.”
I smiled a little and spit out some sand.
“He’s upset that you’re my mate and he’s my ex.”
“Ah. I see, that makes sense. He’s…attractive I suppose. Much too skinny for what I would picture your taste to be.”
Rolling my eyes, I hit him where it hurts and stretch out my wings again, determined to see the mission through.
“You say that like you’re not a twink.” I can feel his feathers being ruffled and it brings me a little joy.
“I’ll pretend you didn’t say that.”
“He’s absolutely a twink. It’s why he loves beefy folks like our mates.” Noa shoved in his two cents, cracking me up.
“He’s not wrong. But no one asked you, mutt.” One soft smile graced my lips. I missed them, I missed Sapph. What I wouldn’t give to have us all together, just enjoying each other's company again.
Gritting my teeth, I cut the mental connection and focused on the task at hand. The sands whipped around me yet they couldn’t knock me down anymore.
At least, that’s what I told myself for about five minutes into the air before I plummeted back down into the unforgiving sands.
I refused to give up!
I leapt into the air, slicing through wind currents. Three, four, after the tenth time I got knocked back down I just lay there, questioning my life choices, groaning like I’d been hit by a truck.
“Dammit! This is impossible.”I sighed, hitting my fist against the dirt.
My tail slashed into the ground, wriggling around like a snake in a pitfight.
“Hm? What’s got you acting up all of a sudden?” It pointed towards a figure in the distance. Tall, piercing red eyes, pale skin and shaggy silver hair met me.
“It can’t fucking be…there’s no way!” I felt like a kid again, excited beyond belief.
“You sure haven’t changed much since I last saw ya, runt.”
I sat up straight, listening to his deep voice cutting through the harsh winds. I hadn’t heard him in months but I’d recognize that voice anywhere. The man that had trained me since I was little, that didn’t give me any special treatment despite who my adoptive parents were. The elder who showed me what a real dragon looks like, talks like, acts like.
“Grampa?”
“That’s what they call me.” Even though he wore a mask, you could never mistake anything he said because he said it with his whole chest every time. “What the hell are you doing out here, Guy?”
“Trying to get to the top.” I point at the orange skyline.
He squints at me, “why?”
“Well, it’s for my mate.” I say, beaming with pride. “She’s pregnant and sick and uh, I have it on pretty good authority that if I can get some energy from the frozen monolith, I can use it to cure her.”
He snorts like it's the most uninteresting news he’s heard all day. Gramps hates anything mate related. Not that he’s afraid of love or anything but he hates the goddess. Any chance he gets to tell her to fuck off, he’ll do so.
“Well, good for you kid. Happy you found what you were looking for but if you’re trying to get up there from here, you’re in for a rough ride. You’d have better luck going to the other side of the city and coming up that way.”
I blinked a few times and hid my face, not wanting him to tease me for blushing.
“I can’t believe I didn’t think of that.” I mumbled. He burst out laughing.
“Ha! That’s just like you, runt. Always tackling the problem head on. Ain’t a subtle bone in your body,” he placed a comforting hand on my shoulder,” and that’s what I like aboutcha.”
“Yeah…thanks Gramps. I’m gonna go now.”
“Well hold on, I’ll come with you. You can catch me up on what’s been happening in the city since I’ve been gone.” He adjusted his hat and spread his massive silver wings. I was always jealous of how grandiose they looked, like everyone should have been following him and not Rupert.
But Gramps wasn’t a political figure. In fact, he only took up training me and Voss and the others because he felt sorry for us. That was two dozen classes ago.
Sometimes he’s just full of shit and can’t say that he likes anything. Now why does that sound familiar?
“So tell me about this mate of yours. What’s she like? Hopefully she’s smart so that kid’ll have a fightin’ chance.”
I glared at him but rolled my eyes. If he only knew.
“Wyatt is but Sapph isn’t…I mean she’s not dumb but lets just say she and I would be struggling in the same subjects in school.” I blushed, a goofy grin taking over my face. It took about thirty seconds for me to realize Gramps wasn’t following me anymore.
I turned to face him. He was still behind me but his chest was heaving like he wanted to throw up. His eyes held a fire within them I’d never seen before.
Why the hell is he so pissed off? Did I do something?
“Gramps?”
“Say her name. Her whole name.” The same tone he used when he led our unit.
“Sapphyra—”
“That’s what I fucking thought.”
Before I could ask what he meant, his hands were on my shoulders. His gaze bore into me like a drill,I swear it went straight through my skull.
“Where is she?”
“She’s in Beacon but why—”
He cut me off, leaving me floating above the monolith, above Cyran City. He flew straight down like a bat out of hell.
And I had no idea why.
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!
Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter