Erika yawned and rubbed her eyes. She looked down at what she was wore. The blonde was dressed in a black dress with flowy sleeves and black flats. She put a hand on her stomach; it was showing just a little bit. Erika smiled but it quickly disappeared when she observed the room she was in. It was dark, only lit by candles. Dripping sounds were heard echoing in the background. Much like a cave.
"Ah, you're awake. Lovely. I hope you slept well." Ivan knelt in front of her. Erika huffed and turned away from him.
"Why am I in different clothes and why do you want me? I'm just a woman." She scoffed.
Ivan gently patted her head, "I'm sure you know this but dragon shapeshifters are rare. And a female dragon shapeshifter are even rarer. A dragon would be an excellent asset to my army. I'm aware female shapeshifters can't shapeshift while pregnant. So I'll patiently wait until you have the baby before I put you into my army. It's that simple."
"You disgust me." Erika snorted, "If I have my baby here, what will you do with it? My baby."
Ivan shrugged, "Not sure. I may just raise as my own." This comment caused Erika to become enraged.
"You asshole! This baby belongs to Lukas and I. It may have been planned by you but it's ours. I will fight you for it. I'll die if it means my baby doesn't get raised by you!" Erika hissed, "My baby will be raised right. Not led down the path of evil!" Ivan simply grabbed Erika's shoulder and pushed her against a wall.
"Calm down miss. You'll stress out the baby out and that'll lead to health problems for it?" Ivan smiled, "Now, I have something else to attend to. My servant Tolys will take care of you. Good day." He let her go and left the room. A brunette man with shoulder length hair and emerald green eyes stepped into the room. He wore a red vest with a white long-sleeved shirt underneath with dark blue pants and black boots. He looked nervous and seemed to be shaking.
"Hallo Tolys . . .?" Erika waved slightly. Tolys straightened up and bowed to her.
"I am so sorry! It's all my fault." He stammered. Erika just stared at him in bewilderment.
"Uh what are you talking about?" She raised an eyebrow, "I just met you."
Tolys gulped, "I was the bartender at the pub you and Lukas went to. I put a potion into your drinks. It was meant to up your sex drive. It was also a fertility potion that guarantees a baby would be conceived." He explained.
Erika blinked, "Huh. Go figure. Of course I'd be tricked by magic. I'm shocked Lukas didn't notice anything suspicious. I guess he isn't the perfect rank A wizard he thinks he is."
"Eh?! You aren't angry or anything? I feel like I've ruined your life!" Tolys gasped.
Erika shrugged, "Well I wouldn't say you ruined it. You just made things unbalanced. But that's nothing I can't fix. I'll try to keep myself from turning into a full-time housewife. I just need ya to make a promise."
Tolys bit his lip, "W-what is your request miss Erika? I'll do anything to make it up to you."
Erika smirked, "If you can affect a person's body then I can assume you're a good medic."
"Y-yeah. Spot on. I know good healing magic and basically a doctor." Tolys blushed sheepishly.
"Then I'll ask this of you; when Lukas rescues me, I want you to come with us and help me take care of the baby. Kinda like my personal nurse." Erika smiled.
"Really?! You want me to help you with the baby? B-but I work with the enemy! Doesn't that phase you!?" Tolys panicked. Erika walked up to him and put her hands on his shoulders.
"Tolys, my good man, you need to relax. I trust you because you admitted being at fault. A cute and skittish man like you wouldn't hurt a child." Erika spoke calmly.
Tolys nodded, "Okay. I'll do it. I'll help you with the baby, now and when you're rescued." He blushed. Erika put on a huge grin and slung an arm around him.
"So, now that that is out of the way, tell me about yourself. Where you're from, your family, any friends, etc. I want to get to know ya." She snickered.
Tolys gulped but nodded. He had her sit down on the bed. "I was born and raised in the North side of the Northern mountains. My people are known as mountain fairies due to our magical powers to freeze and create snow. My parents died when I was little, leaving me to take care of two little sisters. My sisters and a girl from the Northern kingdom, Kaska, were my only friends growing up. I'm rivals with General Beilschmidt's oldest daughter Julchen. We may butt heads a lot but we do understand each other.
"Anyhow, when I was a young teen, Kaska brought me into the kingdom and taught me some magic. She focused on healing magic. Mountain fairies are said to be dangerous so Kaska taught me healing magic and about healing herbs in the forests to hopefully give my people a good name. And she was successful. For a while my people could freely roam the northern forests and the kingdom. Then Ivan came around and put mountain fairies back into the dark, taking me under his wing to care for his brainwashed soldiers.
"I haven't seen Kaska or my sisters since this incident. I worry about them all the time. I wish I could leave this mountain but Ivan won't let me unless he's accompanying me or if he's sending me on a mission. I'm practically a slave to him." Tolys was tearing up and gripping the end of his vest when he stopped talking. Erika had become a sobbing mess. She blamed the hormones. The blonde pulled Tolys in for a tight hug. Tolys' face ended up against her cleavage.
"You poor, poor thing! First you lost your parents, then you dealt with discrimination and then got your happy life destroyed, which separated you from the people you love. And now you're a slave to a horrible wizard. Your life has just been a downward spiral!" Erika whined, "I promise to treat you well and help you find your loved ones."
Tolys gulped, "You'd do that?! You'll help me find my sisters and friend?" He looked up at her.
"Of course. You'll have to wait a little bit since I'd need to recover from birthing my child. But I promise I will personally help you find them." Erika sniffled.
"You're a wonderful person Erika. I swear, I won't let you down." Tolys smiled and pecked both her cheeks, "Everything will be okay."
xXx
Two months had past and Lukas still had no trace of Erika or Ivan. This made him slightly paranoid. Losing Erika caused Lukas to have some feelings he's never had before. He was worrying and frankly, very scared. The blonde didn't want anything bad to happen to Erika or the baby she was carrying.
Ned, somehow, managed to calm down and helped Lukas keep a level head throughout the journey. One day, before resting for the night, Lukas and company stopped in a village to stock up on supplies. Matthew walked in between Julchen and Ned. Lukas took a spot next to Ned when traveling. While chatting with Ned about something unimportant, Lukas bumped into a brunette man and a pregnant blonde woman. The short blonde stumbled onto the ground.
"My sincerest apologies sir. I wasn't looking were I was going." The brunette offered a hand to Lukas who accepted the help.
"It's fine. No harm done. We both must've been in a daze." Lukas got back on his feet. He glanced at the expecting woman who clutched onto the brunette man's other arm. She wore a pale red dress with a tan cloak. The hood covered her eyes but wavy blonde locks were seen draping over her shoulder.
"Dear, it's alright. Are you feeling okay?" The brunette glanced at her, "Well I better be getting her home. She can't be on her feet for too long. It was nice meeting you sir." He smiled, releasing Lukas' hand and disappeared with the woman into the forest.
"That was really awkward." Julchen raised an eyebrow, "And extremely suspicious."
"They seemed like a nice couple." Matthew smiled. Lukas rolled his eyes and looked down at his hand. The man had left a tiny scroll in his hand.
"What the . . ." Lukas blinked and undid the scroll. He scanned through it before gasping and whirling around to look back at the woods.
"What is it pretty boy?" Ned questioned.
Lukas gulped, "That was Erika!" He gripped the piece of paper in his hand.
"Oh my gosh. S-she was right there and none of us knew it!" Matthew stammered, "We should go after them. Before it's too late!"
Julchen held both Lukas and Matthew back, "No. We won't. We have no idea who that man was. He could be a strong shapeshifter or a powerful mage. Lukas, what does the note say?"
"It says exactly where Erika is, through a riddle." Lukas glanced down at the note, "If it is her you seek, look up at the sky, then look side to side. If you glance around, you'll see something nearby usually hidden to the eye. Only someone with magic can see it for more than just a little bit. It is something tall and strange but very obvious with minor change."
"He made it rhyme. Must be a wizard." Matthew blinked and glanced around, "Oh! I see it. It's a field hidden in the trees and covered with sunflowers."
"It's something pleasant. That's a good coverup for an underground lair." Lukas smirked, "However, Ivan doesn't seem to have common sense despite being a rank elite wizard."
"I'm guessing that man is not brainwashed and fully aware what's going on. And does not like what Ivan is planning. He's a minion gone rogue and helping the people who are meant to do a good deed against Ivan." Julchen concluded.
"Let's gather supplies and rest for the night. We'll need our strength to defeat Ivan and save Erika without harming her." Ned suggested.
"Good plan. We'll set off in the morning." Lukas nodded in agreement, "Don't worry Erika. We're coming for you. You'll be safe again."
Seven chapters and I'm still nowhere close to completing the plot. XD However, this is one of my favorite chapters. Fact: Lithuania's real human name is Tolys, not Toris. English translation got the name wrong. Toris isn't a real name but Tolys is an actual Lithuanian name so I will be using that name. Tolys = Lithuania. Anyhow, until next time my fellow hetalians. Hasta la pasta! ~Churro
