18. Kaida

Aloud roar caught Kaida’s attention as she strolled toward the building that contained berserk townspeople. Kaida broke out into a run and followed the noises of a dragon roar and a Lycan howl. Her first thought was that Blaze had escaped his cell and run rampant through the town. She had to weave through three streets before she came across an Ember Dragon blowing fire toward a shifted Lycan. The dragon’s vibrant red scales and smaller form told Kaida that this was, at least, not Blaze after escaping his cage. The Lycan was a mixture of grays, with his back darker and his coat lighter toward his feet. They were in the middle of the town, with just enough space for the dragon to move freely. The Lycan did not seem interested in hurting the dragon until the dragon managed to grab the Lycan’s tail and tossed him against a building.

Wonderful.

The Lycan’s speed was an advantage as he jumped back onto his feet and zipped in and out of the dragon’s feet, avoiding the Ember dragon’s stomps from his large feet and teeth as the dragon snapped its jaws when the Lucan was out in the open. With one swipe of its claws, the Lycan opened the dragon’s stomach. It would have been a more critical hit if it had been a more direct swipe, not as the Lycan dashed underneath the dragon.

What do I do? Is my magic enough, or should I shift?

Shift.

Her dragon pushed for her to burst from her skin. Once her feet were on the ground, Kaida let out a roar and pushed her power toward the two creatures fighting to the death. The dragon stopped momentarily to look at Kaida before he opened his mouth and spewed fire her way. A shield easily blocked it, and it barely caused her shield to shake, proving to Kaida that this dragon was not so powerful that she couldn’t control herself. The Lycan attempted to scurry off while the dragon was distracted, but the dragon’s tail collided with the Lycan’s body and sent him against a different building. Kaida could hear the stone crack, making her aware that if the dragon continued to fight within the town, he would destroy it.

I wonder if the dragon would get pissed enough to follow us...

Only one way to find out.

Kaida blasted her plasma at the ember dragon and lifted her body from the ground with a few flutters of her wings. The ember dragon roared and spread his wings. Kaida flew up into the sky, and the ember dragon followed. A glance below showed her the Lycan ran off while the dragon focused on her.

Good. Now, to get this goon away from the town.

She continued to fly toward the clouds to draw the dragon away from the island completely. He was on her heels and snapping his jaws at her tail. Kaida leaned to the side as she heard the crackling of fire brewing, and it was just in time before a pillar of flames blasted next to her body. The heat from the flames made Kaida tilt her body back to do a flip in the air and fly behind the ember dragon. The confusion distracted the dragon long enough for Kaida to draw out her power.

A thought crossed Kaida’s mind as the dragon whipped his head toward her and screeched as he opened his jaws to build his fire: Can I just wash my power over this poor man to rid him of the Dark Dimension’s influence? I can’t just blast him with Plasma; I could kill him that way.

No way to know until we try.

Kaida wasted no time and pushed her power outward. She could see a purple aura of her magic blanket over the dragon. His eyes widened, and she could hear a sizzling sound as her magic consumed the dragon’s body. A black wisp floated off the dragon, and Kaida could see the Dragon’s body language change from tense to relaxed. She looked further into his eyes and noticed that there were no black swirls inside of his pupils. Her magic had disintegrated the dark dimensions effects.

It worked!

She shifted back into her human form but kept her wings to remain in the air. The Ember Dragon did the same. An older kid with auburn hair and amber eyes stared at her. His face was a little chubby, and his body had more weight than Kaida was used to on supernaturals of any kind. His skin had a youthful glow, and Kaida realized that this was a newly emerged dragon.

" Are you okay?" She asked him.

The kid nodded. " I am now. How did you do that?"

"It’s hard to explain. Let’s just say that I am a breed of dragon that overpowers many other magics."

The kids shivered from the chilly air. " Sounds good to me. Am I in trouble?"

" Why would you be in trouble?"

"I attacked that man! He did nothing, and I still attacked him."

Kaida frowned at him. "No, you are not in trouble. You lost control of your dragon due to a dark magic overtaking the island. I know what to look for, and you have all the signs. You aren’t in trouble."

The kid sighed. " Are you going to tell my parents?"

“Unfortunately, I have to, but I promise you will not get in trouble. I’ll be there to explain what happened. I also want to take you to the island’s healer to ensure no remaining effects are inside your system.”

The kid nodded and followed Kaida down to the town. Thankfully, one healer was still on the island to look the kid over. Once again, Kaida missed her friends who could have done a better job than this healer could have. One potion of Adrian’s would have told them everything they needed to know. One spell would have been able to detect the dark dimension inside of the kid. While at the healer, Kaida learned that the boy’s name was Brad, and his parents were both Ember Dragons. His parents were initially angry until Kaida explained what was happening around the island and that Brad did not have control over his dragon due to the dark dimension. At first, his parents were quite confused and concerned because Kaida and her men had kept the dark dimension from the townspeople. Kaida explained that she did not want to cause panic, especially after learning that the Dark dimension was slowly getting under control. She also told them that Brad losing control was the first time it had happened in a few days, and they thought the Dark Dimension’s fog was gone.

"What is being done about this?"

"We have been regularly checking the entire island for the fog. My magic is the best defense against it, and I have not had to clear any of it in a long time. We will continue to do sweeps to check for the magic that has been taking over the townspeople, so this will not happen as frequently as it did when it first hit."

Brad’s father, William, snarled and narrowed his eyes at Kaida, "Where are the princes? Why are we dealing with you?"

Kaida growled. "The princes are away on business, and the island has been left in my care. Considering the princes are my mates, I am the highest-ranking official on the island, and I do not appreciate your tone."

William lifted his lip in a silent snarl, "Leave it to a woman not to have things under control while the men are dealing with the actual business."

"Again, I do not appreciate your tone. I could have done nothing and allowed the Dark Dimension to take over your son. If that had happened, we would have had to take more drastic measures."

His mother, Ava, clutched the gold necklace she wore and gasped. "What do you mean?"

"Many of the people the dimension has taken hold of have not gone as far as killing another while under the influence. However, it has gotten too close for comfort. If I could not control Brad, then he would have caused me to have to jump, displaying my dominance to make him yield or worse."

"Are you implying that you would have killed our son if he lost control for too long?" William whispered while looking at his son on the infirmary bed.

"If I could not gain control over the situation and him, it would have led to me having to engage in battle to wound him or, yes, kill him. I almost lost that level of control when it first came to the island. The princes would have done what they needed if I didn’t get control of my dragon."

"I didn’t hear of this," Ava murmured.

Kaida fought her face from contorting to anger. "I assure you that the princes would have explained in more detail if it was prevalent to tell everyone of such matters. As someone who has seen how to manage a kingdom and keep people from losing their minds with every threat that presents itself, unless it was getting to where we could not contain the situation, why would we divulge the full issue?"

You’re sounding more like royalty every day.

Thank you, Kaida said with some pride in her voice.

Ava finally relented with William sighing and did not argue further. Ava approached her son and touched Kaida’s shoulder, "You experienced the dimension controlling you? What does that mean for our son?"

"It means he will be fine. Unless the Lycan he attacked presses an issue, things will return to normal."

Brad bowed his head, "I attacked Loren without provocation. We just got into it about how his mate rejected him. He said he wanted her to come back for him. I told him I didn’t understand why he would want that because she threw away her mate."

Kaida could understand where Brad came from but knew that Brad had not experienced the mate bond himself. If he had, he wouldn’t have said anything like he did to his friend.

"Mate bonds are a magic of their own. They link souls together and make everyone fall for their mate in such a way that it can leave a scar when they reject you. I should know," Kaida explained to him.

Brad looked at her from the top of his eyes. "Will my friend get over it?"

Kaida shrugged. "Maybe, in time. It will depend on whether he finds his second chance mate or not. Some people do, but the majority don’t. Unless his mate returns for him, I’d be gentler about that topic around him. It isn’t his fault that he will want his mate. Think of it as his soul crying out for her."

"That kind of makes sense."

"You’ll understand it if you find your mate someday."

"I don’t know if I want to after this. What if she rejects me like he did?"

"I wouldn’t dread something that hasn’t even happened yet. For all we know, your mate is on this island, and you haven’t met her. When she does, she accepts it, and you live happily ever after."

Brad laughed nervously. "Yeah, unless she hears about me attacking someone for no good reason."

"Stop that," His mother told him, "You need to listen to our queen. She is exactly right. You can’t live in the future."

"I guess I should go track down Loren and apologize."

Brad leaned forward to get off the bed but winced before falling back onto the bed.

"Hold your heels. Your friend cut you open fairly badly. You’re going to need some time to heal from that," Kaida pointed out.

"Forgot about it," he told her, holding his gut.

William held out his hand, and Kaida grabbed it for him to shake. "Thank you, Your Grace, for taking the time to explain things to us. We appreciate your time."

Handshakes were rare in Dragaal. They were a way to show respect, but not usually to anyone of royal status. The island had its own set of rules. Bowing would have been more appropriate, but William just showed Kaida that he respected her more than the usual amount he did other royalty.

"You’re welcome. I am going to leave to give you guys some space. Please let me know if there is anything else I can do for you."

They all nodded, and Kaida made her way to the door. The infirmary was on the same street as the building where the cages were built to contain the unruly. Kaida stepped into the building and immediately felt that something was off. She paid attention to what the environment was trying to tell her. Beckett told her she needed to practice being better aware of her surroundings. She wasn’t feeling something off inside the building. It was the absence of power that she should have felt that tipped her off.

Blaze’s power.

She quickly ran down the stairs to the basement where Blaze was held. The cage where they stored him was nothing but melted metal. She could feel his magic’s energy like a footprint left behind, and she could still feel the heat coming off the metal when she walked near the cage.

He was just here. He could still be nearby.

Kaida felt something crack against the back of her head, and everything went black.