8 The King's Advice And Gift

-Yunlan-

As soon as they arrived in the North Sea King's palace, they were treated to a feast in which they found Da Qing devouring everything he could lie his hands on. Zhao sat by Shen's side and ask to the servants to have a private conversation with the King that was granted soon after they finish eating. Shen Wei and he parted ways from the rest of the crew, as they were escorted to meet the King.

That was not the first time Yunlan had been in the presence of the almighty man, so he had not reason to be nervous, because the North King, who served the gods, had always treat him with respect and welcome his presence. However he didn't expect to find out that Shen Wei, was in fact the grandson of the Black Dragon, better known as Ao Shun, the dragon god of the north. It took him a moment to actually comprehend the scene playing in front of him as soon as the door of the throne room was closed behind Shen Wei.

So when they gave their respect to the King and bowed to him, he was overly surprised that the usually gentle but stoic man came to hug his grandson. After such display of affection, Yunlan kind of wanted to get away before the King concentrate on him. As one who worked for the gods, Ao Shun will definitely know about Shen Wei choosing him as his mate. It was plain obvious for the old dragon inside the scroll, even when Wei had not officially claim him yet.

Then, the King turned his way and gave him a very penetrating gaze that make him shiver for a second, yet he held his gaze, but to his surprise, after they stare at each other for what felt like an eternity, the old man came to hug him too, almost squeezing all the air from his longs, which make Shen Wei smile as he looked at him.

"Zhao Yunlan... I hope you take good care of my grandson, he believes that because he is a third Prince, he had to undertake the most dangerous task of the mixing country, so the heirs can remain safe and help my son with his duties. He often fails to notice he is cherish too and that he is quite loved." The King said, letting go of him.

"Ah, he is loved indeed..." Yunlan said, making Shen Wei blush. "I will try, Lord Shun to keep him safe for both you and the mixing King, but to be honest, we are about to go in a dangerous journey early in the morning. That's the reason I wanted to have a word with you..." The King sighed and looked at Shen Wei.

"The magic compass? The land of the giants? I know about your journey, Kunlun... in another lifetime you prepare for such an outcome." Both Shen and Zhao looked at each other in surprise. The mention of that name was also unexpected and the implication, even more so.

"Wait, what? Kunlun? The god of mountains? But Yunlan is a descendant, not the god itself." Shen Wei said in disbelief.

"Ah Shen Wei... you will soon find out that the one you chose to share a life with, is not a common mixing folk. He may had pass as a god descendant for most people, but I have live and see far more than you will ever imagine." The King said.

"Then you knew this was coming a long time ago and never give me even a hint?" Zhao asked, yet the dragon simply smiled.

"Fate is hard to fight and would you had change meeting Shen Wei, if I had warn you of troubles to come?" Zhao sighed.

"No. I would not avoid meeting him for anything." Zhao said as he looked at his Prince who blushed more.

"Good. The land of giants is sturdy, quite dangerous. Most of the land is forged with stone, huge ones that can hide them and come at you when you less expect it. They will attack without warning and there is a mist that will cover most of the land in all directions. Right in the middle, there is a dark lake, you most dive in and find the entrance to the underwater cave. There is a guardian at the entrance of the chamber that holds the piece of the magic compass. Defeat it and you will find the piece." The dragon told them.

"Alright. It's not like we expect it to be easy." Yunlan said.

"No piece will be easy to collect. Have this Shen Wei..." The King offer his godly staff that could create storms, shatter the earth, grow as high as mountains and control water among other things.

"Grandfather, I can't possibly accept this... it's your..."

"Shen Wei, you need something strong to protect yourself and your lover from all perils. Just return it to me when everything is over."

"But..." Then Yunlan put a hand over Wei's shoulder to stop his protest.

"Shen Wei, just take it. It's a god's staff offer to you, by someone who obviously cares for you like a son." Zhao said, giving him a deep look.

"I will return it as soon as we finish our mission." Shen finally said, taking the golden staff with two dragons engraved all over it, then he bowed to his grandfather once more.

"Good, now, have some rest for the coming night and you can be on your way tomorrow morning. I assure you, the land of giants is harder than you expect, even for a reincarnated, dormant god." The King clasped and soon a few servants came in and guide them, not too surprisingly to a single room, closing the door behind them.

"So... a reincarnated god?" Shen asked while blushing.

"The grandson of the Black Dragon, one of the four dragon gods?" Zhao asked as he came closer to his Wei, but his Prince move back one step after the other until he reached the border of a bed, made with some kind of seaweed and fell over it. Yunlan followed him down and was atop him again, mischievously smiling, quite pleased with having him pinned to a bed, no matter of what was made.

"You already knew I was a Prince... this shouldn't surprise you." Shen whisper almost against Zhao's lips.

"But it's more than that, my Prince. You probably carry a gods blood too, just like me." Zhao whisper back as he move his head down even closer.

"I'm only half dragon, a half mixing... you, however are a full god..."

"Apparently, a dormant one..."

"Dormant... Ah, Yunlan, please don't tempt me."

"But you almighty grandfather approves of us. He even make us share a room... he most now you were close to claim me before."

"Yunlan, I don't know what could happen if I try to claim a god, dormant or not..."

"So... let's find out?" Zhao asked as he kissed the third Prince. He could feel Shen Wei's heat, as he kiss him with due passion, feeling the half dragon bellow him put his arms around his neck to pull him even closer.

They kissed for long minutes or perhaps it was an hour of playing with their conjoined passion, touching, exploring, struggling to give into the other demands and Zhao enjoyed seen the Prince eyes turning deep red with desire.

"Yunlan..." Shen whisper as his lover and possible mate bite his neck.

"Ah...Shen Wei... you are so tempting, don't blame me..." Zhao whisper as he caught his earlobe and slowly suck it, making the third Prince moan.

"Me, tempting? You are the one... that make me go crazy..." Shen said as he cup Yunlan's head to kiss even him more. Then feeling Zhao's hand go lower than before, Shen Wei snapped of his pasionate daze and flip him under him. His long hair falling at both sides of his lovely face, which make him see only him. There, in those red eyes, he saw yet again that primordial instinct that was itching to get lose.

"Are you going to claim me now?" Zhao asked a bit curios.

"Do you want me to? You know it will be for a lifetime." Shen wanted to know.

"I don't mind, my Prince... nor your mark on me or spending a lifetime with you. It... it feels right, too good to be true..."

"It may hurt. I wasn't lying when I told you I had no idea what will happen with a full god, if you truly are one and not just a mixing as you thought. My blood is not pure... so maybe the magic will be less powerful on you."

"It's powerful, I can tell..."

"Then... will you be afraid of it?"

"No... never afraid. What will you do? There is no turning back after a claim. You will be pretty much marry to me in your dragon tradition."

"I want you... Oh, yes I want you... so very much." Shen whisper as he closed the space between them to kiss him again. Then, Zhao felt as Shen unconsciously gather some magic, as he whisper words of power in his ear, but a knock on their door make the Prince stop in the spot, blushing like mad, as he stood up and away from his living temptation.

"Damn it!" Zhao cursed, sitting over the green bed.

"Zhao Yunlan, are you there? You are not seducing the Prince again, right?" It was Zhu Hong's voice, so Zhao cursed a few more times before actually going to open the door.

"Seriously Zhu, are you set in spoiling my wedding?" Shen froze, blushing twice as red.

"Wedding? What nonsense are you talking about?" Zhao sighed,

"Never mind, what is it? What makes you come in here? Did something happen? Don't tell me Da Qing..."

"It's not the cat. Lin said he got a message. The Imperials try those fakes roots in a small town at the border of the two countries. A lot of people were injured and a few were killed, we should be going and find the compass before war and the real thing can kill us all. Lord Shun said he had a special way to get us to the land of giants in record time." Zhao sighed again.

"I bet he does..." He looked at Shen Wei, who still had those red eyes burning with passion.

"That's my mission Yunlan, which takes priority over anything else. We go and destroy the tree as soon as possible." His eyes turned back to their normal brown.

"Very well, lead the way..." Zhao said as he let Shen out fist, then both of them follow Zhu toward a special room, in wish the others were waiting for them. They were already inside a kind of boat that looked like an open seed.

"What about our airship?" Yunlan asked as he got inside the wood seed and offer his hand to help the Prince to get in.

"This thing is supposed to be faster, getting us inside the giant's territory in no time," Zhu said as she accepted her Chief hand to get in too.

"But we have a way to go faster." Zhao protested.

"You just used the living stone a few hours ago, your body will not take a second use this soon." Da Qing said.

"Ah, you will be surprise." He said, winking at Shen who blushed under his indecent gaze.

"Oh, please get a room." Chu protested.

"We were in a room..." Zhao whisper, but before another heated discussion could begin, the seed boat begin to close, forcing them to sit first, then lie on their backs.

Darkness engulfed the small group as the seed completely closed, yet they could breathe just fine. Zhao felt as Shen pull him close to him and soon after, the thing completly submerged into the cold water and in a blink of an eye, they gain tremendous speed, making them paste to the bottom of the boat with a strong force for a while. When the thing finally open to let them out, Zhao wanted nothing more than to throw up... well Guo did and so did the cat, who was back to his four legs form.

"What the hell?" Chu asked as he looked around and saw a white beach that leads to a huge pile of cliffs and rocks half covered with a thick mist.

"Ah, welcome to the land of giants, the home of titans." Zhao said as he looked at the huge stone labyrinth that they will have to cross in order to find the next piece. Shen took his hand and together they jumped out of the magical seed boat, into the shallow ocean water and to their next challenge.

AN: In Chinese mythology there are four king of the four cardinal points, represented by color. The Black Dragon is the King of the North Sea, considered a god on Earth along with the red, the azure and white. There is also a yellow dragon that represents the incarnation of the yellow emperor, which doesn't had a particular body if water. Because this is a fantasy story, there are four seas in this world, surounding a huge continent diveded in three countries. Thanks for reading.