11. Kaida

"Judging from the long face, I’m going to say the talk didn’t go as planned," Kaida heard Enzo say as she walked out of the house. She looked at him with tears and made her way over to where the guys were sitting. On the side of the house, a large tree provided ample shade from the boiling hot sun. It was far enough away that the house would be safe if it fell.

All four guys were underneath, and Enzo patted the space in the middle for her to sit. When Kaida reached the soft patch of grass, she flopped down onto her back. The layers of branches kept her attention as she replayed the conversation in her mind with Blaze. It made her heart ache to know she was close to having a breakthrough with him. She saw it in his face. He hated the idea of hurting the ones he cared about, even if he didn’t want to admit to it. She also saw that glimmer of hope that she was in that category.

But then he pushed me away.

"You are correct."

Beckett patted her ankle, "We all knew it wouldn’t go well. Blaze is one of the most stubborn people we have ever met. He will only go on until he feels it is necessary to let go."

Kaida groaned. "We don’t have time for this. I need him. We need him." She blew her breath out, and a tear slid down her cheek before recalling what her dragon had done. "Did you know our dragons can take full control of our human form?"

Enzo chuckled at her. "Yes. They will take control if they are driven to do so because they feel you are in danger. Why? Did yours do that?"

Kaida nodded. "Blaze turned his back on me, and she took control. Then she was able to show him the bonds between us all."

Arlo was on his back like he had been, rolled to his side so he could look at her, and asked, "She was able to show him that? How?"

"I don’t know," Kaida said with a shrug. "I didn’t know she could do that either."

"How did he react to that?" Beckett asked.

Kaida explained what happened in detail. While doing so, she felt all four of them move closer to her. Enzo grabbed onto her left hand and kept it between his. Arlo’s hand went over her right, brushing his thumb over her knuckles. Beckett pulled off her flats and massaged her left foot while Esen massaged her right. Kaida stopped a few times to moan with pleasure as Beckett and Esen found knots in her feet that she didn’t even know were there. When she was finished, they all remained silent as they pondered over the encounter.

Beckett was the first to speak up: "It’s interesting enough that your dragon could do that, but even more so, knowing that his flame is weak explains how we have been feeling."

"Agreed," Arlo said, "It’s almost like that is why he has been so hostile to her. The bond is being closed off, but because he feels tied to her, he isn’t getting the strength from it like we all are."

"How is he able to fight it like this, though? Wouldn’t his dragon want to complete the bond? I know mine did as soon as I could feel it. He has been fighting it for weeks." Esen’s question was one that all of them shared. No one had an answer to it.

"Maybe that is why his dragon is so irritated. He can feel the bond but doesn’t have access to it. That would drive any dragon absolutely insane. I’m surprised he hasn’t killed someone yet."

Kaida snorted. "His dragon tried to kill me. I don’t know if that counts, but I feel like it does."

Beckett patted her foot. "That was before your dragon emerged."

Kaida lifted her head and shot him a look. "Not just then. He tried killing me in the house. I had to get out, and you guys had to calm his ass down before he burned the house down."

Esen looked at Beckett. "I forgot about that."

"Well, I wish I could. But when your mate decides to try to kill you, it sticks with you."

Kaida heard the back door open, and she glanced in the direction to hopefully catch a glimpse of Blaze. Her heart clenched at the idea of him coming over to tell them he wanted to complete the bond. That would be the best outcome if he walked over to them. The worst result was for him to attack, but the bond told her just enough that he wasn’t planning on something like that.

Blaze never walked toward them, though. With him at the back of the house, none of them had the angle to see where he went. They only knew that it wasn’t toward them. Through the bonds, she could feel disappointment from her mates. They were also hoping that Blaze would come to his senses.

Kaida laid her head back on the grass and tried to keep the tears from falling. She didn’t want the guys to see her so upset, which would cause them to talk to Blaze. She doubted they could if she couldn’t get through to them. It didn’t matter that three of them were his best friends. Blaze also seemed to be upset with them for falling for her. Kaida hated that Blaze felt that way. He was alienating himself from all the people that cared about him. She knew what that felt like. It killed her being cut off from her parents, her friends, and her home. If Blaze felt like she did, he would struggle to feel like he belonged.

It’s with us. He belongs with us. Why can’t he see that?

Kaida knew this subject would ruin their day, so she changed it. It wouldn’t be any more pleasant, but it would hurt less and was needed.

"What are we going to do about taking back the kingdom?"

Beckett lifted an eyebrow, not quite ready for the subject change, but shrugged it off and accepted it. "The hard part is getting people to want to fight against the kingdom’s army. Those people are trained in combat in their human form and dragon form. A lot of people have families. They don’t want to be whisked off into war and not return home," Beckett explained.

Kaida could understand that. She barely wanted her mates to fight against the armies because she didn’t want to risk losing them. Asking someone else to do this was going to be complicated.

"There are no guarantees in war, I’m afraid, but i

f they want to live comfortable lives in the kingdom, this will be how we can do that," Enzo answered sadly.

He was right about that. Kaida knew there were no guarantees that everyone would return home when fighting in a war. However, this was going to be necessary. The Dark Dimension was rising, and it seemed to be starting here. There was no indication of how it started here, either. Adrien suspected that just one portal had opened when the spell was activated. Kaida didn’t see any signs that the dimension had affected Dragaal, but only one city was inside the kingdom. If anything, she would have expected it to be there because it was the largest city.

"Then we need to have another meeting. I want to let them know that the dimension is only afflicting here. That would mean they would all die here if it came back. I could close it once, but it was a small portal. If it opened again and was bigger than before, maybe even had multiple openings, I don’t know if my dragon would be enough on her own."

Enzo looked at her with his eyebrow cocked. "I’m sorry, but it sounds like you think you wouldn’t be able to defeat something you already defeated. Do I hear that correctly?"

She could hear the humor in his tone, but Kaida didn’t feel like playing into it. "Just because I was able to do it once, and I wasn’t even the one in control when I did, that doesn’t mean it won’t come back stronger, and there’s no telling if I could do it again."

Beckett cleared his throat. "Kaida is right. If it opens without us catching on and becomes bigger than before, the whole island could be infected with it. That will endanger the entire island faster than it had last time. We barely kept things together, and all four of us ran patrol, and Kaida helped out when people ended up being where she was. More than once, someone ended up attacking her. We managed to ensure there was no bloodshed. Next time, we might not be so lucky."

"Maybe that would be a selling point. We tell everyone that there is a chance that it could come back and affect them all. There are children here, correct?" Enzo glanced toward where the town was below them.

"Yeah, but we already mentioned all of this to them before. Not many wanted to join us."

"Call the men to the hall. Sometimes, it isn’t a matter of choice. If they want to continue living the lives they’ve built, they need to fight for it. My father is not just going to let them remain here. He wanted to control us for a reason. Kaida has gained ties here, which made her connect to this place when he couldn’t. That may have been why he wanted to take control so badly and was pissed when it didn’t work."

The other men nodded in agreement. To Kaida, it made sense. She just wished she knew why Gemar hated Elementals the way he did. During her time here, none of them were different than Storm dragons other than having different magic. That could not have been the reason why. Gemar may have had a superiority complex, but where did it stem from? If he hated the Elementals this much, then he planned to eliminate them. He hated anyone less than himself. Being rejected had to be a part of that. He must have thought those rejected were not good enough for their mate, deserved this fate, and did not deserve to be brought back home. He didn’t want Enzo to get her home because she wasn’t worthy. Gemar only decided who she was when he heard she had a Plasma dragon, more potent than any other species.

He wants to eliminate this island because it is full of people he doesn’t deem worthy. The longer it is here, the more chance there is of someone finally rising to see that Elementals do not belong here.

"I think you are right, Enzo," Kaida said as she pushed herself to a seated position. "Your father would not settle for this island to remain here anymore. Maybe it is because I am here, which means this place has a stronger ally than ever. That means they could manage to make their way back to the mainland. For the first time in hundreds of years, the barrier is down. He knew it was down well before we arrived. We need everyone to see that we are just trying to unite our people the way it was when dragons first roamed the earth. Now, with the barrier down, they can return where they should have been all this time."

The men stared at her with smiles on their faces. She squirmed a little under their gaze before giving a little growl at them. "What are you looking at me like that for?"

"To see you speaking like that just shows us that the Great Dragon knows what he is doing," Beckett told her.

Enzo nodded. "I think she needs to be the one to speak to everyone. If she talks just like this, she can rally those troops. They need to hear something like that to bring them together. She inspires hope. More than I’ve ever seen my father be able to do to our men."

Kaida’s eyes brimmed with tears, but she decided not to let them fall. Instead, she winked at Enzo, "Well, yeah. Don’t you know that women do it better?"

That’s when they heard a terrifying roar. Kaida twisted her body in the direction from which she heard it coming. She knew that roar. It rattled inside of her chest as if it were her own.

"Blaze," Kaida shrieked.

Then she ran.