Call Of The Dark

Emma nodded lightly. Olya and Magnus looked so beautiful together and she wondered the same about her and Lazarus. If only things were different. She was supposed to leave with him for Wilyra today.

She wasn't feeling better and he was afraid that she would be dizzy if he traced her, so he got a horse for them to travel through the snow forest.

Lazarus was putting food in his saddle bag. Olya had wrapped meat in a thin muslin cloth and rye bread along with few other things for their journey.

"It is going to be severely cold, Lazarus," Magnus said, watching him pack. "I suggest that we also come with you and together we will be able to handle the cold well. I will carry tent supplies with me."

"I don't want you and Olya to be exposed, Magnus," he said in his signature throaty and commanding voice. "You should stay here."

"But I want to come with you at least till the edge of the snow forest," Olya whined. "I am so bored holed up here for the past few days. Once we reach the edge, Lord Magnus can trace me back here."

Lazarus took a deep breath in. "There are rogues out there. You shouldn't take the risk."

"I don't think there would be a risk, Lazarus," Magnus said, seeing how eager Olya was. He didn't want to sadden her. He loved it when her face beamed with tiniest of the pleasures. He was dying to sink his fangs and cock in her but he had promised her that she won't until she turns eighteen. "Besides, with us two out there, no rogues would dare to come."

"We have only one horse," Lazarus pointed out.

"We can get one more," Magnus countered. "There are some wild horses running in the south slope."

"You can't tame a wild horse!" Emma said with excitement. "It would be dangerous."

Magnus laughed. "Watch me." He traced away from there as Lazarus shook his head. "That boy was like that from his childhood. Always wild and loved the challenges."

Olya jumped out of her chair and squealed. "I am going to get my bags packed!" Saying that she rushed to her cabin enthusiastically.

Emma sighed. She was going to miss all of them. And she was going to miss Lazarus the most. She was insane. She would miss her captor and her executor. She let out a small laugh.

Lazarus's brows furrowed. "What is it?"

She shook her head. "Nothing." She got up and went to the bedroom to wear tunic and trousers. Lazarus followed her.

He insisted that she wore a knitted sweater inside her tunic. Emma wore it over her tunic. Then he made her wear a thick cape with a hoodie. He buttoned it till her neck. "Keep this hoodie over you all the time, okay?"

"How are we going to ride?" she asked. "Will you be walking beside me?"

He narrowed his eyes, scowling at her. "Come down in ten minutes," he said. "We will start as soon as the sun sets. It was already evening and twilight.

"What about Lord Magnus?" she asked, not knowing what peeved him this time. She just asked an innocent question.

"He will join us," he replied gruffly and went down.

An hour later, they were all on the dirt path that winded around the mountain peak towards the plains.

"I didn't know you would sit with me," Emma said with a pout. "You should be walking." Her eyes went to Magnus and Olya who were on a spotted gray stallion that seemed… tame. Then her gaze drifted to the white mane of her horse. It was so tall that she had to be lifted by Lazarus to mount it.

He yanked her against his chest. "This is my horse, Titan. He would throw you off his back without me." The horse whinnied his master's approval. He covered her head with the hoodie. "Since we will be traveling by night, you better stay close to me for warmth." Saying that he covered her with his long black cape as well. More than the path, Lazarus was worried that she would catch a cold or fever. Her wound had just healed and only a small patch of bandage was glued over there.

Emma felt her face flushing to the level that she thanked it was so cold. Else she would have broken into sweat. Pressed against his hard chest muscles, it was impossible that she could also miss the hardness between his thighs. Heat furled inside her belly as butterflies fluttered in her chest.

They traveled through the thick mist of the snow forest beneath the silvery moon, quietly for a few hours. "I am tired," she murmured and realized that her head was resting against the crook of his arm.

"We are stopping!" Lazarus called Magnus who was talking with Olya and she was constantly giggling.

Magnus nodded. He spotted a thicket of trees and they headed over there. Just as they were about to reach the thicket, something large swooped down and for a moment they were covered by a large shadow. Lazarus and Magnus were both on high alert, ready to trace the moment they saw the rogues.

"Who is there?" Lazarus growled as he tucked Emma against him, his muscles bulging at the threat, his fangs jutting out to kill the perpetrator. He whipped his head around to see who was there, but his hair tousled as another gush of cold breeze blew.

Emma peeped over his shoulder at the sky and was extremely surprised when she saw a large dark bird with its wings outstretched, swooped down again. "That's the dragon!" she pointed at it. "That's the one I saw!"

Lazarus and Magnus pulled the reins of their horses to a stop in complete shock. They had heard about dragons but had never seen one. The dragon flapped its massive purple wings and came to stand in front of them. All four of them froze.

The dragon lowered its head and gazed at Emma. It lowered its head and craned its neck to reach Emma. Shock blasted through her when on an instinct she felt like touching its large snout.