24. Kadia

Esen was proposing courtship and begging for her forgiveness. That’s what this was. He asked Kaida to be his mate, as she had seen so many people do back on the mainland.

Holy shit. And he looks so vulnerable right now. What is happening?

As if her mind short-circuited, Kaida had no idea how to form words to give him an answer. Before she knew it, she could hear her heartbeat pounding in her ears. She opened her mouth to say what was on her mind, but her mouth went completely dry.

Kaida jumped to her feet and rushed out the door. The only thing on her mind was to leave. She didn’t know what to say to Esen’s proposal, so she didn’t want to say anything at all. The sounds of her feet echo in the house, and her heart pounded as she ran as fast as she could to block out Esen’s words. She didn’t hear if he was calling her name or asking her to stay. She could only hear the words "get out while you can" as she ran outside.

Go. I need to go. I need to get away from here.

The warmth in the air greeted her the moment she stepped outside. The sounds of her wings popping out of her back came next, and then the air cracked as her wings cut through it for her to be lifted off the ground. As the wind blew on her face, Kaida could feel the relief of the pressure to answer him and fly away.

As much as Esen’s words felt true, Kaida’s mind went to him, explaining that he didn’t know what he felt, which was why he acted the way he did. There was something there that made her want to flee. Arlo spoke the same words, but Esen’s words felt like he was making them up on the spot.

Or Arlo told him everything we discussed, so he formed what he wanted to say to her by saying something similar.

That thought rang truer than the words that Esen had said. Esen wanted their bond but didn’t know how to say what he felt. That had to be it. He wasn’t sure what to say, so he said almost exactly what Arlo had said.

That’s not good enough. He needs to tell me exactly how he feels. That is not how Arlo feels; he thinks that is what he should say.

I think you are being too hard on him.

Her dragon speaking up made Kaida lose focus and nearly drop out of the sky. What? Why would you say that?

Simple. Because you are.

How am I supposed to trust these guys? They are saying sorry because we are mates. Not because they are sorry for their actions.

How are they supposed to show you that they mean it if you run away? You gave Arlo his shot. Why not Esen’s?

It was remarkably similar!

Maybe it’s because he feels the same way. No one expected all of them to be our mates. This is unfamiliar territory that is hard to explore. There is going to be a learning curve!

That is a cop-out!

No. It is the truth. You are allowing what happened to cloud your judgment. They are our mates, Kaida. Whether you like it or not.

You are willing to forgive them so easily even though they wanted us dead before they knew we were mates?

Yes.

Why?

Because the invisible bond clouded their judgment, not knowing why you feel something for someone can do more than you think. Could you forgive Enzo for rejecting us?

Kaida paused for a moment. She didn’t know how to answer that. Before the rejection, Enzo showed her that he cared and wanted her. Until his parents tried to force her to shift, he didn’t care if she had a dragon or not. That was in private, where he could be himself. In public, he had to stand for the beliefs of their people. Dragonless meant no chance for children. A prince needed heirs to continue their line and reign. With that information, would she be able to forgive him? Would she listen to what he had to say and forgive him if he had a reason other than that for the rejection?

I loved Enzo. He was everything I ever dreamed of for a mate. The Great Dragon knew that he was perfect for me and showed that he was when we were alone.

Like Esen just did?

Kaida frowned. Did I lose it for no reason?

I think you allowed the past to affect the present.

So, what do I do?

Make him work for it just like you did to Arlo.

Kaida sighed and looked down below. There was truth in her dragon’s words. She was right. She overreacted. With everything going on, her judgment was clouded.

Was it the side effects of the Dark Dimension? Did I almost reject Esen because of its influence?

A forceful wind collided with Kaida, sending her sideways. Her wings tried to correct her trajectory and nearly failed. Kaida focused on how her flight pattern should be, and her wings responded. A look around told her nothing. No one else was in the sky but her. She had never experienced a wind like that before, but thought it was possibly normal.

Until her dragon thought differently.

Incoming!

Kaida’s wings folded into her and blocked an ice attack from above. The ice struck, and Kaida winced as she felt a scratch go down the length of her wing. Thankfully, her wings were thicker than normal, and the ice did not break the skin. Her dragon pushed for the shift, and Kaida did not fight it. Looking through her dragon’s eyes, Kaida saw four dragons heading her way. All from different angles...and none of them were her princes.

It was two Ember dragons, one Tidal dragon, and one Breeze dragon. Kaida noticed their scales were dull in comparison to the princes’. They were also much smaller than her dragon, which told Kaida that these four were not on the same power level as her.

What are they doing? Why are they coming after me?

We will teach them why they shouldn’t.

The sound of her dragon’s roar broke through the wind. She noticed the dragons winced at the sound and stopped midflight as her dragon let loose her power. With a powerful flap, they were in the clouds above the incomers. Kaida continued to gain height so she could put distance between them. When she looked down, all four broke through the cloud she had just been in, and all four sent a stream of their respective magic at her.

Kaida swooped backward and avoided all four streams. Her movement allowed her to get out of their direct path and gave her time to put up a shield to block any incoming attacks. With her being in her dragon’s form, there was no chance for her to be able to speak to them and find out what was going on inside of their heads. The four of them did a similar maneuver and were now staring at her while hovering above the clouds. Even onlookers wouldn’t know what was happening above them with their coverage. Kaida felt like that was an advantage since many people feared her already.

Another roar escaped her snout, and her dragon pushed her power into it to make the dragons question if they wanted to move forward with this attack. When they all roared back, Kaida knew the answer. They didn’t care. They would do this regardless of her dragon being more powerful than theirs.

Kaida didn’t want to fight. That would only push more fear into others about her if she ended these four right now. After what happened at the shops, there was no chance she would just unleash everything she had on them. She needed to show restraint and figure out how to subdue these four without injury.

Make them tired. We need to fly and keep them at bay.

That sounded like the perfect plan. If they were too tired to fly, then they would be too tired to use their magic. If they used their magic while in the air, then their energy levels would diminish quickly.

Yep. Let’s go.

Kaida first darted downward to be underneath the clouds and in view. If anyone looked up, they would see everything that went down. Once her body was out of the cloud, Kaida pulled to the right and flapped her wings as hard as possible. The amount of speed she was able to produce while flying was incredible. A glance back told her that she was moving faster than the other four dragons due to the distance between them. The dragons were unhappy about it and shot magic streams in her direction. Kaida was easily able to move her body to avoid each blow. Her dragon could anticipate the streams and fly in whatever direction they needed to avoid all the attacks. Kaida paid attention to what she felt during this, hoping that her instincts or magic could tell her anything other than to fly away right now.

That’s when she felt it.

Something told her that the Breeze dragon was closing in on the distance. Kaida tasted the bitterness of magic in her mouth, with a small taste of the air laced inside it and a touch of citrus. This was the scent she noticed the Breeze dragon had before she took off. If she could taste it, he was much closer than she thought.

Using a barreling roll technique, Kaida moved out of the way just in time before a cyclone formed from the cloud above her. When she stopped rolling and got a look at what was in front of her, Kaida saw the dragons using their magic to hinder her ability to move anywhere else.

Holy shit...

There was not just one cyclone; there were multiple. Where there wasn’t a cyclone, there was a waterspout. She was caged in the middle of all of them, unable to fly through them without damaging herself. The winds picked up, smacking her in every direction. It was getting difficult even to hover as the magic pulled her body to fly into either a cyclone or a waterspout.

What the fuck do I do?!

I got this.

Her dragon opened her mouth and pooled every ounce of their magic they had. As she waited for the magic to build, Kaida saw the four dragons enter the middle where she was. How they could cross into the eye of the storm, Kaida did not understand. If she would have tried that, she would have gotten sucked up into one of them.

These four are working together. Who are they?

They all took notice of Kaida’s magic building. As far as Kaida knew, her magic was the only one that could penetrate other dragon’s scales. If they stayed where they were, they would certainly get fried. This did not register with these dragons. They started to fly at her, all from a different direction.

Kaida heard her dragon laugh, and her blood ran cold.

Her dragon let loose of the magic and circled her body around, sending it to create a circle around them. The spiral of magic created a shield that the other dragons could not come through with the thought of the magic being sent out to target the magic. With the dragons being in the way, they, too, were struck with it.

Their cries as her magic collided with them were haunting. Kaida could hear their pain down to her bones. She could see liquid rolling down their bodies and eventually toward the ground. They managed to stay in the air, but they were definitely wounded.

The magic continued its trajectory and fizzled inside of the cyclones and spouts. The power of her magic diminished theirs, sending the cyclones and spouts back into the clouds. The holders of the magic looked at one another. The expressions on the dragons’ faces told Kaida that they were contemplating if they could win this fight. With one attack from her, they were all wounded.

We can’t wait to see if they wish to continue.

Her dragon pulled on their magic and put up a shield. Just like dealing with the woman at the shop, the magic covered Kaida in every direction and then was sent out the same way. The shield connected with the dragons and sent them off in every direction. The Tidal dragon spewed some water magic her way, but Kaida could easily avoid it. The Ember dragons blew fire streams at her, but Kaida flew in the other direction, turning her body to avoid them, smacking them with her wing. Kaida felt the presence of the Tidal next to her while attacking the Embers and used her tail to strike him. With her spikes along her tail, Kaida knew she had done some damage because it connected with his underbelly.

Then, the sounds of four roars had everyone stopping in their tracks. Kaida felt them before she saw them. The princes had arrived, and they were not happy.

Uh oh.