When we were far enough from Rose Kate stopped and I tuned to face her, she said.
"What's going on? What you're planning to do?" somehow I knew what she meant but I pretended I didn't.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that Rose, are you really joining her to us."
"Is there a problem with that?" I said.
"Yes there's a problem with that, they kidnapped you and they were planning to kill you as soon as they hunt down Athena."
"Are you serious?!"
"Yes I am." She answered and then continued "their leader they call viggo is a famous dragon hunter and he hunt dragons and then he sell them in the black market."
"I know that part of hunting dragons and selling them, actually that's why I brought her…she must be someone important among the dragon hunters, I thought if I convinced her to change to our side she will give us information about them and maybe she would help us to fight them back."
"You realize they are half the way across the earth?!"
"Yeah, but we need to stop them…when I first bonded with Athena and knew how dragons really are, I made a promise to myself that I will help every dragon in need and stop however hunt them or hurt them." Kate looked at me for moment thinking and then she said.
"And how you're planning to do that?" she asked.
I walked back to Rose and Kate followed me, Rose was playing with Athena or checking her or whatever she was doing.
"What you were talking about?" Rose whispered to me.
"Ah…I can't tell you, it's just between her and me…personal things." She smirked and said.
"Personal things huh?" I ignored her and walked to Athena and took the map to check where we were, and the girls set next to me.
"We came from here, that's the ships graveyard, and we are...here." I pointed to the island we were on.
"Ok listen, I'm not stupid, you convinced me that dragons are good but we all know that's not why you showed me that, there's something going on behind it, what do you want from me?" Rose asked.
"Well, the thing is I need your help."
"I'm listening!" Rose said crossing her arms.
"Dragons won't kill only if they had to; they are kind loving creatures and they are civilized ,maybe civilized more than us…what your peoples do is wrong and we need to stop them, and we need as much help as we can get…please help me to stop them and save all the dragons."
"You realize you're asking me to betray my tribe, to betray my family, and more then that you're asking me to betray my father's trust?" Rose said.
"Yeah I know what I'm asking is…wait what?" I took a moment to understand what she just said and then said "your father?! You mean viggo is your father?" she nodded, now it will be difficult or nearly impossible to get any information from her, but I have to give it a try.
"Well, actually that explains a lot…I'm not asking you to betray anyone, I just need you to make a choice, a choice could change the world, just ask yourself what if you was a dragon, how would you feel if men hunted you." Rose's facial expression was unreadable; I didn't know what she was thinking about until Kate spoke.
"Three months ago, I was just like you, I didn't like dragons at all, and I thought they were just savage beasts, all they want is to kill and raid villages and set them on fire, then I met Kyle and I met Athena, and all the things I knew about dragons turned they are all wrong... I didn't imagine in all my life even in my wildest dreams that one day a dragon would be my best friend." Kate patted Athena's head and then she continued "I will protect her with my life if I had to, even if it was against my own father, and I know she would do the same."
I couldn't add anything to what Kate said; now I hope Rose will accept and help us, she looked to Athena innocent face and then she looked to the ocean for a few moments.
"And if I told you their plans, what you're going to do?" she asked.
"I will just free captured dragons, and ruin their plans, and change their minds if I could…nothing serious like what happened earlier." I assured her that I will not hurt anyone of her people.
"You told me that you will teach me how to train a dragon if I joined you."
"Is that a yes?" I asked her.
"Sure, and if you're going to stop them once and for all, you will need someone from the inside."
"Do you mean you're going to spy on them for us?" she didn't answer to that question.
"We don't have much time, the dragon hunters are on their way to this new rare powerful dragon in Numidia, we should hurry if you want to catch up with them."
"Well, first we need a dragon, and since we are in the archipelago we should find a few in the forest." Then I turned to Kate and Athena "meet us at the other side of the island, this wouldn't take long." Kate mounted on Athena and flew, I noticed that Kate made a fast progress with dragon riding than I did, she was doing great and maybe she will get better with dragons than me.
"Shall we?" I said to Rose after Athena and Kate disappeared behind the trees line.
She followed me and we walked together in the forest in silence, I was focusing on what was happening around me, with wild dragons around us and in a hostile place such as the forest you need to be careful, and so far no dragon came across us, and that was normal, we were only at the forests mouth and we didn't get deep in the real forest.
"After you get a dragon and fly back to the hunters, how you're going to… I mean they hunt dragon and you're riding one." She thought for a second and then answered.
"Don't worry about me, I have a plan."
"And what your plan would be."
"I said don't worry, just make sure you follow my instructions clearly."
Another moment of silence passed as we were walking in the forest, and when we got deep enough in the forest I explained to her the basics to befriend a dragon.
"Ok, I will explain the basics of how to train a dragon for you." When I got her attention I continued "to befriend a dragon the most important thing is to gain his or her trust, if you gained a dragon's trust you two will bond…and there's a lot of ways to gain a dragon's trust, the easy way is to defend and protect him when he's in danger whatever he was hunted or trapped or he was in other sort of problems like the monstrous nightmares, when you save his life he will be obligated to repay you, or you raise him since the dragon hatches, but who would raise a dragon, and the hard way is when you go face to face with him..."
I didn't finish because we heard a noise coming near us, I tried my best to tell her what she need to do.
"Go in there." I pushed her in front of the dragon, and it turned to be a huge yellow with a few hints orange dragon with two long horns and a snakelike neck and tail, and a head like a crocodile, it was a monstrous nightmare, it looked at Rose, and in that case she looked at Rose with her eyes fixed on Rose and growling lowly.
"Ah…Kyle…what do I do?" she looked terrified and sounded even more terrified.
"Just don't do any sudden moves." I said.
"This is…ah…a monstrous nightmare…could you attack it and I will come to its rescue." As she said that the nightmare started to flame slowly and the yellow color turned red and orange.
"Shut up, and don't say another word…you just offended her, they are smart and she, SHE not it, can understand what you mean even if she didn't understand what you're speaking…oh Thor this gonna be a disaster."
"WHAT?" she shouted and I instantly shouted back in low voice.
"I told you to shut up, calm down…ok, let's start all over again, calm down and stop shaking for Thor's sake, even Kate wasn't that scared when she first met Athena." She tried to calm down and the dragon calmed as well.
"It's working, now look confident and brave, the nightmares are very honorable creatures and they really like who act honorable and brave." She did what I told her to do "great, now reach your hand to her noise and wait until he decides." She did and the dragon stood there switching his eyes between me and Rose.
This was the moment of truth; Rose was reaching her hand for the dragon, she tried to reach even more until she touched his noise and the dragon didn't mind.
"What now?" Rose asked.
"Now to the second lesson…how to ride a dragon!" I said and then continued "now, tell her some nice words and slowly approach him."
"Telling her some nice words; okay I can do that, that's an easy thing to do…"
"Just get done with it already!"
"Ok, ok…hello gorgeous bea- I mean gorgeous beautiful dragon queen." I tried my best to hide a laugh but I failed.
"Stop laughing at me you stupid dragon-friend."
"Sorry, I couldn't hold it in…just keep going you're doing great."
"I'm sorry dragon queen, my name is Rose and I'm very excited to be your friend, would you allow me to ride on you." The dragon blew hot breaths on Rose's face and I walked toward the two.
"Congratulation, now you have a dragon, an amazing dragon I should say…we should be in the air right now."
Rose mounted and I tried to mount too, I put my both hands on the dragon's back to mount, but in the next moment I realized that I was on the ground screaming out of pain, my right arm turned red and the palm of my right hand was burning like hell, Rose dismounted quickly and ran to me and held me between her arms, she didn't know what to do and neither did I.
Rose started to panic as the rest of my body started to turn red, she blew a whistle, sure to call Athena but that works only with me, Athena will only answer to me.
I felt something landed near us, and the next moment I heard a voice calling me.
"KYLE, KYLE ANSWER ME PLEASE…KYLE SAY SOMETHING, PLEASE." It was, Kate; just the touch of her hands cooled my burning body, but that wasn't enough, I started to feel dizzy and things went dark around me and then I passed out.
…
When I woke up, my head was laying on something soft, I felt something burning inside me, I tried to stand but someone stopped me.
"Stop, don't…you can't stand until you're completely healed." I could recognize that voice anytime, it was Kate's.
I lifted my head to look at her, and she looked back smiling, my head was laid on her lap and she was holding my hand.
"You scared me a lot back there!" she said and I tried to speak but she stopped me.
"Shhh…you don't have to speak, just rest." She said and I didn't speak, I turned and looked to the sky and suddenly something black stood above me and she was Athena looking at me sideways with her tongue out, she looks adorable that way.
And then Athena jumped over me and I turned to see where she was going and she was sitting next to Kate.
And then Kate handed me a cup and told me to drink what was in it, and I did without hesitation and then I asked her.
"What was the thing I just drank?"
"Just a few medical herbs Rose taught me how to make them." She answered.
"And where's she by the away?" I asked her.
"She left two days ago and left us a map with her course…she said she will go first to gain some time."
"Good…wait, you said two days?! I passed out for two days?"
"Actually four days…you were passed out for four days." She answered.
Four days is a long time, we should be in Numidia in four days, and I stood and looked around and then turned to Kate.
"I will be right back." I told her and the left.
I went to the forest and walked through the trees looking to the palm to my right hand and the skull of the monstrous nightmare that supposed to be a burn from the day I took the sun's jewel, it was real red, I reminded myself to check it in the books later, I kept walking until I was in the other side of the island, I thought it would be a good idea to take a swim and to cool my burning body a little.
When in was finished I got dressed and went back the way I came from, and when I was back to where Kate was I found her reading a book, I got closer and the book was about the ancient kingdoms.
"What are you reading?" I asked.
"I'm just trying to find an explanation to what happened to you." She answered.
I sat next to her and took a look to what she was reading, she was reading about the previous king to the kingdom of fire and flames.
"By the way, how did you get that burn on your hand?" she asked.
I reached my hand to my pocked and took the jewel.
"This caused me this burn…the sun's jewel?"
"No way, you mean you're the new king?"
"Yeah, how you think I got that treasure from the chamber?" I said and then looked to the burn on my hand "as soon as I held the jewel it lighted and burned my hand…on the shape of a monstrous nightmare skull."
"Well, that explains a lot…whenever Rose's nightmare gets closer to us the scare or the burn or whatever it was lights."
"What do you mean lights?" I asked confused, how supposed a scare lights.
"Like a fire it light." She answered, and then a moment of silence passed.
"You remember the ring I gave you back in Numidia." She nodded.
"I found it inside the champers with a message." I took the piece of paper I found in the chamber and gave it to her.
She read it fast and then came to conclusion "does it mean you used its power?"
"I really don't know, but I'm sure I will find answers in Numidia."
It started to get dark, Athena stretched her wings and went to sleep, I felt tired so I laid on my back, and Kate closed the book and joined me, I pulled her slowly in a cuddle.
"Every time we try to settle down something happens, like we are never meant to settle…" she interrupted me saying.
"It doesn't matter as long we are together."
I turned to look at her and I found her already looking back, her eyes were never this beautiful, I'm lucky to have her, lucky indeed, our faces were only half an inch apart, without hesitation or thinking I closed the distance and gently kissed her sweet lips, I kissed girls before but this one, this one was special, it felt amazing as Kate kissed back, I felt a warmth in my stomach, but good warmth, I put my other hand, the right hand on her cheek and pulled her deeper in the kiss as she placed her hands on my chest, we finally broke from the kiss as our lungs demanded much air to appease our speeding hearts needs.
She laid her head on my chest and I embraced her as she fell asleep, minutes and I was asleep too, but I slept with a peaceful calm mind.
...
Wow, I finally had to write this chapter, since the first chapters I planned for Kyle's and Kate's first kiss, and finally.
I would like to hear your thoughts about this chapter especially the last part of it just don't forget and leave a review.
And also you need to read chapter ten to understand some of this chapter events.
don't forget to review.
Algerian from the moon.!