Call Of The Dark

As if on an instinct, Emma knew it. Her feet bounced to the window and to her surprise, she saw Nephie flying too low. "Nephie!" she squealed as she waved her hand to her. The dragon let out a screech that was akin to happiness on seeing her. Nephie swooped down and landed a few feet away just over the edge of the waterfall and tucked her wings back.

"She has been here since you were unwell, circling the skies, looking out for you."

"Goddess!" Emma said excitedly.

Shira saw how happy Emma was when she saw her dragon. The look of misery erased from her face. She felt happy for Lazarus for a long time. She wiped her hands on her apron and started winding up. After a while she said, "I am leaving, Emma. Call me when you need me, okay." Emma nodded with a smile. Shira snapped her fingers. The instant she did that the entire cottage was surrounded by a raging storm and soon everything disappeared, leaving only an apple tree beneath which Emma was.

Amazed at how that happened, Emma was stunned into silence for a long time. She had never seen such strong magic. She looked up at the apple laden tree and couldn't help but pluck it. A whuffle and a small brought her attention back to Nephie who was watching her from a distance and looking at her with her beautiful and large blue eyes.

"Nephie!" Emma squealed and rushed to her. She was boisterous seeing Nephie. It was as if the connection between her and her mother was established when she saw Nephie. Nephie bobbed her head in happiness like a little puppy who had just seen her owner. Emma came to stand right in front of her. "I missed you, Nephie!" she said, panting heavily. As soon as she placed her hand over Nephie, they started communicating. "I missed you too, little one. I am glad to see you, Emma," Nephie said as she let Emma rub her hand on her snout.

"I was so worried about you!" Emma replied and leaned against her face.

"Get well soon, little one. Your mother wouldn't like it if you are unwell." Nephie closed her eyes and let out a sigh which was more like gusty hot air.

There was a gleam in her eyes. "I wish I could meet my mother," Emma replied. She pulled herself away from Nephie and came to stand in front of her, her hand still resting on her face. "Do you think you can take me to my mother?" she asked casually.

"Yes, I can, but for that you have to travel to Yizinia with me." Nephie reveled in the touch of Emma. "And that is a different realm. It is a realm of dragons. The travel out there is a long. It would take at least two days for us to reach there unless—" Nephie took in a deep breath of air.

"Unless what?" Emma goaded her.

"Unless a portal is created for us. The portal would take us to the outskirts of Yizinia and then it would be shortened to a day's travel only."

Emma pursed her lips as if contemplating. "I would love to go, you know. I want to meet my mother."

"Do you want to go now?" Nephie offered. "I can take you whenever you are ready."

Emma sucked in a sharp breath.

---

With a brutal roar, Lazarus picked up the owner of the inn and hurled him across the back alley. The owner slid some twenty feet away and slumped to the ground unconscious. Lazarus walked to the bag that was tossed to the side. He opened the string and saw the contents. There were two bags of gold coins and two pouches that contained drugs. The man seemed to be leaving Wilyra because he had his papers and that of his family's, stashed in the bottom. He picked it up and went to the stables to get Titan. Then he traced to Zeph to be with Emma. However, when he reached there, he saw that there was no cottage.

Panicky, he whipped his head around and all he did was to hit his head with apples. Had Shira taken away his Emma? Wind blew calmly and everything seemed quiet and in place, but his heart was thundering. Had Emma regained her consciousness? "Emmmaa!" he shouted. Emma's face flashed across his mind and he felt all the more nervous. He had imagined returning to her and she would run into his arms. Titan was neighing lightly as if he was restless.

A gust of wind above made him snap his head and he saw Emma on the dragon, flying above in the circle. Relief washed over him as he looked at the two. He called her again. She didn't listen to him, shrieking and squealing with joy. Everything was well. Still… still he was angry that his woman was happy without him. And he was jealous of Nephie that it was because of her that she was so happy. Even he wanted to make Emma happy now and see the same look on her face. This felt like… mutiny.

When Nephie came to land on the ground, he dismounted Titan and walked to Emma. She got down from the dragon holding her spikes. She was wearing a long skirt, but when she swung her legs, it reached her thighs. She was so sexy that he blanked out, not able to focus on anything other than her.

"Lord Lorza! Nephie and I had been talking about Yizinia." She sidled up to him with her hip swinging. His heart started racing. "Where did you go?"

At the back of his mind, he wanted to acknowledge Nephie, but he found himself curling his arm around her waist. He picked her up and when she was at his eye level, he kissed her. "I had gone to take care of something," he said after giving her a long kiss to soothe his nerves.