The Falling Rider

Chapter 8

After calling Storm to my balcony, I carefully place Li onto his back. I get on right behind her, then pat Storm's neck, signaling him to fly into the air.
"I called some backup." Storm says as we hear a loud roar coming from our right. I quickly look to my right to see Lightning and Leo speeding towards us.
"Storm called us. What happened?!" Leo asks, clearly concerned.
"Hi Leo!" Li shouts as she waves to him, a cute and small smile on her face. He waves back while smiling at her, then his eyes shoot back up to me, looking concerned like before and the smile gone.
"It's Gallagher. He's here." I tell him carefully. Anger quickly flares in Leo's eyes.
"What?!" He shouts.
"He really likes Adira." Li says quietly. "He told me he loves her." She continues.
"When did he say this Li?" Leo asks angrily.
"Before Adira came back to the castle. I was running around in the kitchen and he called me over to him. He asked me if Adira liked him and I said I didn't know. Then, I asked him if he liked her and he said he loved her." Li explains.
"He's dead." Leo mutters as he narrows his eyes at a cloud as if it were Gallagher.
"Leo?" I ask. He looks back up at me and his eyes soften.
"Yes Adira?" He asks.
"Li wants to escape with us." I say, then cover up my sister's ears. "Should I let her? She'd live a happier life with us, but a safer life here. I don't know what to do." I say.
"Adira, it may be dangerous out there, but I'll protect both of you, no matter what." He comforts as he cups my cheek. A warm feeling spreads throughout my cheek and I nuzzle into his hand.
"Thank you, Leo." I thank him. We smile warmly at each other before he lets go of my cheek and I uncover Li's ears.
"Li, you're sure about wanting to come with us?" I ask her.
"Yes. I'm sure, sissy." She confirms.
"Good. I've decided that you can come with us when we escape." I say. She squeals loudly and hugs me tightly.
"Thank you sissy!" She thanks as I hug her back tightly.
"Your welcome, Li." I say, then she yawns.
"Do you mind if we drop her off really quick?" I ask Leo as I turn to him.
"Not at all." He answers with a warm smile. I smile back as Storm and Lightning turn around and start flying back to the castle.

We arrive at my balcony. I get off of Storm, then help Li off.
"I'll help you pack tomorrow, Li. Goodnight. I love you." I say quietly as I hug her.
"Yay. Night night, Adira. I love you, too." Li says as she pulls away from me and runs out of my room, then closes the door behind her quietly. I get back on Storm and look at Leo.
"Where do you wanna go?" I ask.
"Hmm, the forest would be good. We need to train Lightning and Storm a little bit so they're ready to create their largest storm yet." He says and I nod.

We quickly fly to forest and land in the part of it that's the farthest away from the town. Leo and I get off of our dragons and make some large targets around the area. We start by having them practice individually until they shoot perfectly. That didn't take that long. They could pretty much already shoot perfectly. Now all they had to do was combine their powers. We led them to each other and they talked for a few minutes to work out a few things before they start. They'll only do a few small shots, but they need to get the hang of it. We can't start the storm yet if we're not even ready to go. Besides, if they find out what we're planning by catching us doing this, then this could completely ruin our escape.
"Do you think this'll work?" I ask Leo.
"Absolutely. Unless we're found out, I don't think anything should go wrong." He assures me. I nod as he pulls me into a hug. We hold each other tightly, my arms around his neck and his around my waist.
"Don't worry, Adira. Everything is gonna be alright. I'll get you and your sister out of here. Even if it means I'm put in a cell." He says as he holds me protectively.
"You won't be locked up. I promise you that. I won't let it happen. You and the others will be coming with us." I say as I hold him tighter. He stays silent, but nuzzles his head into my neck. His breath on my neck sends goosebumps throughout my arms and causes a warm feeling to run through my veins. He pulls away and plants a soft kiss on my lips. I kiss back almost immediately and he deepens the kiss. We pull apart to breath and lean our foreheads against each other. I can sense our dragons watching, but they stay quiet thankfully. All I can hear is heavy breathing as I keep my eyes closed. I feel a gentle hand on my chin as it leans my head up. I open my eyes and see that the hand belongs to Leo. He's smiling warmly at me, and I return it.
"Are you two ready to train or do we have to pull you apart?" Storm asks as he and Lightning smirk. I can tell Lightning said something as well since Leo looked towards them at the same time I did. My cheeks heat up as I pull away from Leo quickly. They just had to ruin the moment.

After training for about an hour and perfecting the combination of Storm and Lightning's powers, we get on our dragons and fly towards the castle. We land on my balcony and Leo and I get off of our dragons. He wraps his arms around me as we stand in front of my balcony door. He stares at me for a moment, then smiles happily and kisses me. I quickly kiss back and feel him smile against my lips. We pull apart after a while and quickly hug each other before he gets on Lightning.
"Goodnight Adira. See you tomorrow morning?" He asks. I nod, then shake my head remembering what my mother said. My smile disappears as I remember I'll be busy tomorrow morning.
"My mom said I have to spend the morning with Gallagher." I say sadly as I walk towards him. The smile disappears from his face and is replaced by a scowl.
"I hate him. When can we see each other?" He asks as he takes my hand in his.
"Noon at the earliest. I'll try to make it noon. Otherwise, I'll meet you at the stables as soon as I can." I say, squeezing his hand to reassure him. He nods and gives me a small smile.
"I'll see you then. Oh, and please, try not to let him kiss you." Leo says protectively as he tightly grips my hand.
"Don't worry, Leo. I won't let him kiss me." I reassure him as he starts to lean down.
"Good." He says as his smile returns and kisses me passionately. We break the kiss, breath heavily, and stare into each other's eyes. We smile warmly at each other, then he lets go of my hand and sits back up.
"Goodnight Adira." He says as Lightning unfolds his wings.
"Goodnight Leo." I say just before he flies away. I turn to Storm to see him smirking at me.
"Don't even start." I say as he chuckles quietly. His smirk turns into a smile.
"I'm just happy that you've finally figured out that he likes you." Storm says kindly.
"Yeah, me too." I say as he walks towards me and rests his head on my shoulder. I wrap my arms around his neck and sigh happily.
"Goodnight Adira." He says as he pulls away from me.
"Goodnight Storm." I say as he unfolds his wings and flies back to the stables. I quietly enter my room and close the door behind me. I lay down in my bed after taking my shoes off, then quickly fall asleep.

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Hey guys! Here's a long chapter for you! Hope you enjoy!