Chapter 43

~Kamari~

I knew what I was doing as the flames engulfed me. With Browen stunned, I could grab Calea out of his grasp and throw her to the floor. The flames weren't hot or cold and weren't burning me. I leer at Browen as I approach him, his bug-eyed face making me smirk, "You are insane!"

I shrug, "I come from a bloodline riddled with it." Browen looks me over, "Y-You aren't burning."

"Nope." I say, then wear a demented smile, "But you will." Browen starts to shake his head, and I grab his head, letting the flame slowly eat his flesh. I let go of him, and he drops to the ground, shrieking like a bat out of hell. It took me a while to figure it out, but fire drakes don't kick until you give them flames. I found that out earlier this morning when I tripped on the bonfire and caught my skirt on fire. It trailed up my lowered abdomen, and the little one sucked in like it was food. Then he started to dance inside of me. 

The little whelp does the same thing this time; he sucks in the flames for himself and kicks the shit out of me, "Oh, Kadea's hell!" I groan and drop to my knees near Calea. "Oh, goddess!" Calea grabs me into her arms and holds me tight, my eyes burning, thinking I would never see her again. I let the tears flood down my face. 

"You stupid, stupid woman." Calea says as she suffocates me; she parts and wipes my tears with her thumbs, "Are you alright? What's wrong?"

I sigh heavily, "Nothing, my whelp is just having a field day," Calea's brows furrow, then they rise, "You're pregnant?"

"Yes."

Calea's eyes sparkle. "Oh, praise Kadea for your little one." When Calea goes to touch my lower abdomen, she is met with a nasty snarl from Nye.

 Calea retracts her hand, "Oh, I see who the father is; I apologize." Aneth comes to me, dragging Javall with him, crouches down, and gives me a disapproving look. I give him a pressed smile, "What? Too bold?"

"If you had not known for sure. Yes." Aneth's serious gaze makes me bite my lip, "Good thing I was sure."

Javall starts to fight against Aneth's grip, "Let me go, you damn lizard!" Aneth growls and then grabs Javall by the throat, lifting him off the ground. Calea shakes her head, "No! Please, let him go; I'll die along with him if you don't."

I stand up and grab Aneth's forearm, "Aneth, we need to keep him around, until we can break the blood bind from Calea, after that you can do whatever you like with him." I meant that. This asshole made Calea do it. Aneth glances at me, then lets Javall fall to the ground. "As you desire."

"Oof!"

I suddenly remembered the older man who spoke of the little boy; I went to his cell and unlocked it. He sobs, "That bastard, I hope he felt everything like my poor Thomas." I helped the man up, "I assure you, I made sure he did. Please, let me help you home–"

"No." He waves his hand, "My home was Thomas; without him, my shop will never be a home anymore." I double-blink, "Will you not stay?" The man sniffles, ash and dirt covering his face stained with tears, "No, Kamari. I've served this Kingdom far too long to have lost something dear to me. You'll have to understand I do not see it as my home anymore."

His words pained me to hear, but I understood. "Of course, atleast let me give you coin so you can travel comfortably," Aneth nudges me, he gives me a few golden scales, I go to look up at him but he walks away. I turn to the man whose eyes widen at seeing Aneth's scales. "These will take you anywhere you wish to go, and I know they can't give you any comfort but will make your travels difficult. I put the scales into the old man's hand and covered them with mine, "I am sorry. I know that doesn't mean much."

Nye comes from behind me, and the man recognizes him, " Y-You were the dragon he carved."

"Yes. The boy did wonderfully." Nye shows the man his boy's work, the man's lip trembles at he holds it in his hands, "My boy was going to take over the shop when he got older," the man gives back the toy but Nye doesn't take it. "This is something he has held. Keep it with you. I'll have you know, I'm not fond of the human race," he pauses, making the man slightly uncomfortable, then he continues, "although your son has etched a mark on me." Nye turns from the man, then looks over his shoulder to him, "Your son was brave. He was Passionate about what he did and would have made an excellent Woodcarver."

I could hardly believe my ears. Was Nye comforting this man? His voice seemed sincere, yet I wasn't used to hearing it. It struck me hard that he did like Thomas. He's probably the only human he would ever want. Who knew a little boy would get under his scaly skin? Calea goes to the old man's side as he sobs. "Thank you…" he says as Calea leads him away. She looks back at me with a glimmer in her eyes. 

I watch as Nye kicks Browen's burned body. Aneth comes to my side, "Your Kingdom may need time to heal from all of the things Browen has done to them. Your rule won't come easy." 

"I know…" But I didn't care. This was my home, and I needed to make things right, no matter what. I refuse to fail.