3 Part 3

Fadan ran toward her waving his arms. The look of panic on his face was the last she saw as an explosion rocked the cavern. The screams of the unprotected echoed thru the dim light that filtered thru the dust and debris. Huge chunks of the cavern ceiling lay littered along the floor. Coughing roughly Fadan swiped his hands back and forth in the air clearing his field of vision. A small heap caught his eye as it lay next to a pool of blood. Grabbing at the fae woman's arm he dragged her over to the crumpled body. Dropping to his knees he rolled over the still form.

"Autora...Autora...wake up sweet cheeks...Come on...please..." Fadan gently slid a palm under her neck and the other around her waist, pulling her up against his body. Her nude body from shifting was covered in blood, her dark locks glinting ruby as they lay limply against her head and across her shoulders. Holding her softly to his chest he leaned his head down so that his ear was by her parted lips internally begging for even the barest brush of moisture and heat. Gulping when he thought it was never going to come he visibly shook as the first puff of warm air brushed past the edge of his ear.

"Oh thank goodness. You stupid, stupid girl. And you call me the idiot. Come on beautiful open those pretty eyes for me. You know you want to wake up and scream at me." Shaking her head back and forth lightly, his eyes burning with tears when he feels a small hand land on his shoulder. " Allow me to take care of her."

The fae's thick russian accent calmed his anxiety. Picking up the woman's slackened body he trudged behind the fae and tried not to jar Autora too badly as he jumped around the debris left behind from her explosive discharge. If she would stay with him, he could only imagine the power they could wield and what their group could accomplish. Looking at the destruction and the clean-up crews busying themselves with the mess he wondered how the hell had he not ever heard of destruction like this in one of the major cities before. This woman's temper seemed almost legendary. He thinks even some of their toughest warriors would have a hard time standing against her. With his arms curled around her he tried to block her nakedness from onlookers, growling possessively at several males staring at her lewdly. They were a few who had seen her shift and knew her power.

He had to admit that she was extremely intoxicating and that was even before her show of anger. That level of power made her down right irresistible to unmated males. A shiver stole down his spine to think of what a mating ride would be with this one. If she was awake she would have smacked the grin from his face before clawing at him especially knowing his train of thought. For fucks sake she was unconscious and drenched in her own blood and here the lot of them were thinking about one thing. S.E.X.

Shaking his head he berated himself once again for these perverted thoughts. As they passed into where the hot springs were housed, his thoughts travelled back to just this morning. Wow it had only just been this morning that she was first in his arms. It was almost uncanny. Perhaps it was fate that brought all of this together. His thoughts drifted back even further to last night. Patrols earlier in the day had noticed a rogue satellite had been circling the island. Someone was awfully curious. That night he landed at the top of the extinct volcano and looked up into the night sky, winking with not only stars but hundreds of satellites. None of them seemed particularly focused on them but who knows who was watching. What their group was doing here had to stay quiet. If they came under watch by the Evren Corporation then they were all dead. They wouldn't stand for rogues in their world. As if they ruled everything. He stayed there on the edge of the world all night, ever vigilant.

His father kept pushing this unusual climate on the island causing further damage to the environment. He knew someone was bound to notice. He kept trying to tell him that to set up this lair on an island that sees some of the highest annual rainfall was madness. He supposed that it does create a large barrier between them and any other dragon communities.

At the break of day he pushed off the ledge using his back legs and at the peak of his jump unfurls his wings. Like emerald jewels the sun reflected prisms of color on the foliage below. Keeping to the less populated side of the island he dipped back and forth, running his wing tips across the water, his claws snatching at waves and cradling fish for breakfast, the heat from the tempered climate warming his back. Landing on a rocky outcropping he turned on his back and laid the fish to cook on his stomach. When they started to sizzle he plucked them into his massive maw and with a satisfied belch he flipped over and cleaned his claws in the scrubby grass that broke and pretty much turned to dust underfoot. He snorted in disgust.

A loud rumble came from the road close by. Knowing he stuck out he shifted back and crouched down. A rather noisy truck ambled down the road and seemed to slow down when it reached the welcome sign to Alaka'i Wilderness Reserve. Pulling off to the side of the road it grumbled to a halt. The cab door opened and out stepped one of the most enchanting creatures he had ever seen, even for a human. She appeared to be studying the sky and the mountain. From where he stood crouched he could barely make out what she was saying, only catching the anger radiating off of her.

While she was preoccupied he snuck over to her truck, testing the latch he begged for it not to squeak, a high pitched peal startled a lizard out from underneath her cab. He saw a bag lying in the seat and a manila envelope stuck out from the top. Looking up he noticed a dark shadow hanging in front of the driver side door, but it appeared frozen. Panicking he grabbed a few pages from the envelope, ripping the bag in his rush before gently closing her passenger door just as she opened hers. Blending back into the brush he watched her confusion over the bag but shrug it off and start up the vehicle. As she drove off he looked at the papers in his hand. What he found made a bead of sweat form across his brow and his heart pump full of adrenaline.

They were found and now if she made a report all would be lost. He didn't wait to consult anyone he just reacted. Shifting mid run he bolted thru the drying palms and Cyprus and erupted out onto the road. His hulking shape took up the whole road as he watched her truck approach at a dangerous speed. His reptilian eyes widened when he realized she wasn't going to stop in time, her attention occupied to the side of her interior. When her head popped up in triumph and then quickly turned to panic he almost wanted to laugh but didn't. He watched as she swerved and then the rest of what happened sped thru his memory.

The warm soothing scent of eucalyptus shook him from his train of thought. The natural springs fed over the dormant volcanoes hot air pockets were one of the main reasons they chose this area of the island in the first place. It always calmed his beast being in here. The group's sole fae female gestured to the water's edge, herself kneeling in wait. Walking into the water he turned to face the ledge and gently spread her body onto the edge. His hands hovering under her neck and across her hips. He cradled her as an excuse to stay close even if he wasn't needed. Clucking her tongue the fae spread her hands, coated in magick, out centering them over Autoras stomach then circling them outward, small orbs of light followed her fingertips drifting along over the top of the skin. The trail left in their wake made her skin glow ethereally. Reaching down the fae cupped some of the water in her palms bringing it up to Autoras forehead, dribbling it across her eyes and arching it like a crown across her brow. Pink rivulets rolled down from her hair and pooled under her neck. Words of strength, peace, and healing sifted thru the air to mingle with the sandalwood and eucalyptus. Every minor ache he had floated away into the moist air as he waited impatiently for Autora to awaken, his hands itching to crawl over her body and wake her up one way or another. He hadn't been this nerve racked before over any woman. Growing more and more frustrated at her unconsciousness he gently slid his hands out from under her and stepped out of the water. The fae never stopped her chanting even as she noted his absence. Her tone of voice changed when he stepped out. Bending over she whispered into Autora's ear.

"You must awaken little one. I am sending you back so you can fulfill your destiny. Defy those that will hold you back. You are the one we have all waited for. Wake and remember who you are. For all of us. You are our Queen. Embrace it!"

Surrounding Autoras body with a powerful spell she bowed over with the force of the travelling spell she was equipping. The ripple of power burst outward as Autoras body shimmered within it. Winking out the fae slumped over onto the ground, using the last of her strength she broke her connection to the male fae living with this lair. Her eyes dimmed as she closed them. Fadan felt the change too late, coming in and dropping to his knees in agony as the female breathed her last. Autora was gone and now their female fae. A loud roar could be heard coming from the volcano along with a terrible rumble that shook the birds from the trees. The natives trembled and the visitors huddled in their hotels fearing the worst. But it was yet to come even as the air on the island became thicker and more charged.

A continent away, a bloody body landed face down on an austere office desk scattering papers and pictures to the floor in a flurry. The desks occupant jumps from the thick black swivel chair and looks down in anger and confusion. A smooth dark skinned hand reached out and lifted the tangled black locks from around the face, the other hand resting gently against the small of its back. A sharp inhale of breath lingered in the room before a rich timbre spoke one word.

"Tori?"