63. Kitaro

Chapter 63

Kitaro

A fter finishing dinner, Vanra sat back to look up at the white tree branches against the dark sky. The polar lights danced in the starry night, putting on an impressive show as blue-green streaks wavered in the sky. "The polar lights are even more beautiful than the stories say."

It had been a few years since Kitaro had seen them himself. "Is this your first time seeing them in person?"

"Yeah, I've never been this far west before. My companion didn't like going farther west than Zinnia and Odatam. He also hated the cold, so we never went north to Kunushi, Balsimi, or Tozoko."

"That is a shame. Perhaps one day, I can take you to my mother's family estate in Tozoko," Kitaro said. "Borvik is a magnificent place, which also has polar lights in the right season. "

"I'd like that." Vanra leaned against Kitaro with a happy sigh. "It's so beautiful here."

"Not nearly as beautiful as you." Kitaro guided Vanra's chin up to indulge in a sweet kiss. As their kisses grew heated, it made Kitaro hunger for so much more.

But Vanra stopped him. He looked around in confusion. "Did you hear that?"

Kitaro listened carefully, but the only thing he heard was the wind blowing through the trees. "There is nothing there." Kitaro tried to kiss Vanra again.

Vanra stopped him. "It feels like something's wrong. I?—"

Before he could finish, there was an ambush of twenty snake shifters surrounding them, all hissing threateningly.

Vanra and Kitaro were both on their feet to stand guard, with weapons in hand as they stood back-to-back.

Kitaro didn't understand how he hadn't been able to hear or smell such a large group of people. There was also no reason for snake shifters from Galinor in the south to be so far west. "We have no quarrel with you. Leave us in peace."

"Yeah, we're not doing that," the head of the group mockingly taunted. "You should be grateful we allowed you to have a goodbye kiss before we kill you both."

Silver bled into Kitaro's eyes as his dragon came to the surface. "This is your final warning to leave us in peace. Should you unwisely choose to attack us, none of you will walk away alive."

"That's awfully big talk from a pampered prince and a pathetic human," the group leader sneered. "Attack!"

The snake shifters descended on them with a war cry. Kitaro fought them with his sword, using his dragon fire to take out as many of the men as he could. It was hard fighting when he was so worried about Vanra. He dared to spare a glance at the human, who was purifying any shifter he hit with his sword.

Kitaro's dragon focused on killing as many of the snake shifters as possible. Vanra had been properly trained, so he could defend himself. Between the two of them, they killed every shifter until only the group leader remained.

He came hard at Kitaro in a vicious attack. "You'll pay for your father's transgressions against our people!"

"You will die before that happens," Kitaro snarled. He used his dragon fire to drive the snake shifter back, then went on the offensive. The man was well trained, but Kitaro was better.

He was about to go in for the kill when Vanra shouted in pain. Kitaro's heart stopped when he saw Vanra's white shirt turning red at an alarmingly fast rate. The badly wounded shifter who had attacked the human was purified in an instant .

"Vanra!" Kitaro called out before blocking a hit from the snake shifter leader. Enraged that his ward had been injured, Kitaro decapitated the snake leader with his next hit before running over to Vanra.

The human collapsed to his knees, clutching his left side as he continued bleeding profusely.

Kitaro didn't understand how Vanra could have been so severely wounded when his sword's sheath was supposed to protect him. But he got his answer when he noticed the sheath off to the side, having been knocked out of Vanra's hand mid-fight. He picked it up, then used his magic to take care of the rest of their things. Taking care not to jostle him, Kitaro gathered Vanra in his arms. Kitaro flew them to safety, not trusting that the snake shifters wouldn't have reinforcements coming after them.

Kitaro spotted a cave with no sign of life inside. He guided them inside, using his dragon fire to light the space. When he tried to set Vanra down, the human collapsed with a pained groan. Kitaro used magic to get rid of Vanra's shirt to see the damage.

Dark green poison was spreading through the human's veins from where he had been slashed across the left side of his ribcage with a venom-laced sword. For the first time in his life, Kitaro felt genuine fear. He knelt on the floor to help Vanra sit up. "You must heal yourself, Vanra!"

But the mage could only groan as more of his blood poured out of him to puddle on the cave floor. The venom spread closer toward his heart. Kitaro had never felt so helpless. "Vanra! Heal yourself!"

With an agonized groan, Vanra moved his right arm to touch the wound on his left rib cage. He shouted out in pain, gritting his teeth as he tried to heal himself. But he had lost too much blood. His body went limp in Kitaro's arms, making him fear the worst. "Stay with me, Vanra!" He caressed the human's face with a trembling hand. "Please, I cannot lose you! You must heal yourself!"

Kitaro watched in horror as the green poison flowing through Vanra's veins moved closer to his heart, making it slow. His beloved was dying right in front of him, and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it.

Suddenly, a purple glow emanated from the silver ring that Kizoshi had given Vanra. A purple dragon fire emerged, which penetrated the wound. Vanra whimpered in pain as he curled up on himself. But as the glowing light spread through Vanra's veins, it slowly pushed the green venom out of him. It trickled out before the gash slowly closed itself.

The purple light pulsated around Vanra's heart for a few moments before it ran down his arm and up to his ring finger. It somehow moved from inside the human back into the ring, where the amethyst continued to flicker. Kizoshi's gift had saved his life.

The cave reeked of blood, making Kitaro's dragon howl with rage. He wanted to kill every snake shifter in the world for bringing Vanra so close to the brink of death.

Kitaro scooped Vanra into his arms to carry him closer to the fire. He cradled the human against his chest, drawing comfort from the sound of his strong heartbeat that had come so close to stopping forever.

"I'm so sorry," Vanra whispered, drawing Kitaro's attention. "This is all my fault."

Kitaro shushed him. "I am the one to blame. But you are safe now. That is all that matters."

"If only I had been stronger." Tears gathered in Vanra's eyes.

Kitaro wiped away Vanra's tears as they fell. "You were strong enough to heal yourself. That is the only thing that matters now. You are safe."

Vanra weakly tried to move away, only to get pulled back into the embrace. "But the blood," he weakly protested. "It must smell awful to you."

He held Vanra even closer. "All that matters is you are still alive."

Vanra passed out with one last whispered apology. The purple glow from earlier once again spread through Vanra's body, pulsating inside of him.

"I am the one who failed you," Kitaro said, although Vanra couldn't hear him in his unconscious state. "I should be the one asking for forgiveness."

They were safe from harm, but Kitaro felt no relief. His terror over coming so close to losing Vanra made him hold the human even tighter. It reassured the shifter that Vanra was still alive. He would be fine once he had some rest.

Kitaro rested his head against Vanra's with a shaky sigh. He held him for the rest of the night. The fear gripping his heart never quite left him.