Dragon Blood

Nineteen: They Are Kings

A strong pair of arms wrapped around Skylar, lifting her upper body off the ground. She groaned and blinked her eyes open, confused about her prone position. Why did she feel so weak? The last thing she remembered was Orion's gentle touch on her shoulder as he pushed the first pressure point, and the pain that followed. Everything after that was blank.

A pair of warm golden eyes stared down at her, filled with worry. It was the most emotion other than annoyance she'd seen in them. "Ugh," she moaned, lifting her hand to her forehead and wiping her hair from her clammy forehead.

"Skylar? Skylar, are you okay?" Orion's voice washed over her and he jostled her lightly, his grip on her tightening.

"I've been better," she answer slowly. "Did I shift?"

A small smile pulled at his full lips. "Yeah, yeah you did."

"She didn't hurt you, did she?" Skylar couldn't bear it if she'd hurt him.

He shook his head, a laugh escaping him. "Of course you'd be worry about that, while you're the one who can barely move. She didn't hurt me, Skylar. But she was lovely."

"Oh, good. I was worried she'd hurt someone," she closed her eyes and let her head fall on his shoulder. Any other time she would never have dared get so close to him, but she was exhausted and his arms were just so welcoming. Besides, he was the one who grabbed her first.

His voice was teasing as he answered her."Careful, you almost sound like you care about me."

She laughed weakly. "Never."

"Is it gone? The cage?"

Skylar lifted her head again, suddenly remembering the purpose of the exercise. And when she went into her head, she found her dragon still there. The dragon was as tired as she was, and the beast was resting in the corner. Completely free. There were no bars, no barrier, and no cage.

She looked up at Orion, suddenly aware of how close their faces were, but not caring one bit. His arms tightened even more, waiting for her answer.

"It worked," she whispered excitedly, reaching up to grasp his biceps. "It's gone."

A huge, breathtaking smile broke out on his face, and suddenly they were embracing. She had no idea who initiated it, but suddenly her arms were wrapped around his neck, and his were around her waist. She buried her face in his shoulder and laughed with relief.

"We did it," he sighed in relief.

"No," she shook her head. "You did." She leaned away from him to look up into his face.

He looked down, and Skylar would have sworn she saw color warm his cheeks.

"Thank you," she whispered, truly meaning it. Her dragon was free, and she already felt better. The dragon wasn't even awake, and yet Skylar felt more relaxed than she had in her whole life.

He shrugged nonchalantly. They stared at each other for a moment longer, his golden eyes so intense she felt the urge to look away, but he had her locked in place; she was incapable of moving away from him. Suddenly, Orion cleared his throat and carefully removed her from his arms. He didn't let her go until he knew she could sit up on her own, but he took several steps away from her after that. Skylar tried not to feel offended at his reaction to her, she also tried to understand the way she hadn't been able to look away from him.

"I take it you don't remember anything?" he asked. The words were obvious enough, but the way he said them made Skylar think that something had perhaps happened with her dragon. But he didn't look injured. Was he perhaps not telling her that she had tried to hurt him, but didn't succeed?