FYI: This chapter starts at the beginning of Chapter 7 and continues past where Chapter 8 left off.
Chapter 9
"Syndil, I never said I didn't want to have a child with you," Barack told his lifemate as they entered the healing cave. "I just said that at this particular moment in time, your work with the soil is too important to risk you getting pregnant! Carpathian pregnancies are extremely risky. I could never condone you expending your energy healing the soil if you were carrying our child inside of your womb."
Syndil looked at her lifemate. "We've been over this. I know my limits. I am fully confident that I could do both. Besides, don't you want to be a father? I love you so much Barack. Is it too much to ask to bring a child into this world with your eyes and your tremendously gracious heart?"
Barack reached out a hand to cup Syndil's cheek. "Syndil, my love, don't you know that whenever I see Dayan and Corrinne with little Jennifer it fills me with such envy? I would love nothing more than to have a child with your beautiful smile, but I can't risk losing you. Maybe in a few years we'll have enough help that we can try for that baby we both want, but for now, can we not just enjoy what we already have?"
With her heart in her eyes, Syndil reached her arms around her lifemate's neck and drew him in for a kiss. When their lips parted, she looked back at Barack with amusement.
"What's so funny?" Barack looked affronted.
Syndil chuckled and gave him a hug. "You didn't much seem to mind my wanting a child last night when I was playing champion bull rider."
Barack pushed her back and held her at arms length. With a growl he said, "You promised you'd never bring that up again."
Syndil laughed again. "Hey, it's your own fault, love. You just had to impress the ladies that time we went to Texas."
"Okay. First of all, I swear that bull was possessed. It wasn't responding to any of my mental commands. Second of all, that was thirty years ago! Do you have to keep referring to that one unfortunate incident just so you can embarrass me? I mean honestly Syndil! I swear if it wasn't for you and your--" Barack stopped when he realized Syndil had busted into a fit of hysterics. She was clutching the wall to steady herself, she was laughing so hard. "Stop laughing at me!"
Syndil gasped through her laughter. "Barack it-it knocked you on your ass! Repeatedly! You-you just wouldn't accept defeat! You held on for dear life as that-that bull dragged you all over the arena!"
"Oh that is it, woman! You will pay for laughing at me!" Syndil didn't even have time to react as Barack came running at her and pinned her to the wall. All of a sudden, her laughter cut off and the memory of Savon's attack came rushing back. Panicked, she started to struggle, only to discover he wasn't hurting her. In fact, the laughter came rushing back as she realized Barack was tickling her. "You wanted to laugh! Then laugh!" So she did. She laughed so hard she fell to the earth clutching her stomach as she struggled to breathe.
After several moments, she finally stopped laughing and looked up to find her lifemate bending over her. He seemed to have tears in his eyes. "Barack, what's wrong? I was only teasing."
"Barack blinked back the tears and said, "Look at you. You've finally fallen for me."
"What?" Syndil took Barack's outstretched hand and he pulled her up into his arms.
"That's what happened in Texas those thirty years ago, Syndil. I wasn't trying to impress all those women. I was only trying to impress you. But then you looked at me with those big dark eyes and your beautiful smile, and I lost control. I fell for you Syndil. I fell for you over and over and over again." Barack met his lifemate's gaze to find tears pouring down her cheeks. He kissed the tears right off her face and as he leaned in to kiss her, he whispered, "I'm still falling for you."
Once again, Syndil was blown away by the passion Barack ignited in her. She was just so stunned by his words and she found herself set ablaze by his touch. It was all she could do to stay upright as Barack smothered her with kisses. Her arms encircled his neck and she pulled him closer as she lost herself in pure feeling. It never ceased to amaze her just how much she had been missing for so many centuries.
Before the two of them could take their passion any further, they heard the sound of a throat clearing. "I hate to interrupt, but we do have a schedule to keep." Reluctantly they broke apart and watched as Nicolas and Lara came into view. Barack felt his face go red as he realized all the couple must have heard.
Lara turned to her lifemate and said, "Hey look sweetheart. I told you Carpathians blush. You wouldn't believe me."
Barack and Syndil both averted their eyes while Nicolas gave his lifemate a dirty look. The four of them spent the next several seconds in silence until Syndil finally suggested they get started enriching the soil where Lara's great aunts rested. The two of them went deeper into the cave to work their magic, while Nicolas and Barack followed behind them at a safe distance.
As the two women got to work on the soil, Barack and Nicolas stood in awkward silence. It became so eerily quiet that Barack jumped when Nicolas made his next comment. "Bull riding, Barack?"
Barack glared at Nicolas as he barked out, "If you ever breathe a word of that to anyone, I'll gut you while you sleep."
Nicolas chuckled. "Now how will you manage to stay awake to--"
"I'll find a way!" Barack growled at him.
"Okay, okay. Chill." Nicolas chuckled some more as he mimed locking his lips together and throwing away the key.
Just then, a mournful cry reached their ears followed closely by a howling gust of wind. Barack and Nicolas rushed forward to catch their lifemates as they were both thrown back into their bodies.
"What the hell is happening?" Barack yelled over the wind. It had to be a tornado to have reached them this far into the cave.
"The earth is trembling. Something is happening to the sisters. I don't know what," Syndil told him as she leaned on his strength.
The wind ceased as quickly as it had started, but before the Carpathians could so much as ponder this strange occurrence, the earth opened up in front of them and they all caught a glimpse of two women right before they shifted to mist and streamed toward the entrance of the cave. At the same time, Lara screamed and clutched at her hip.
"Lara! What's going on?" Nicolas held tight to his lifemate as he forced her to meet his gaze. He watched as her eyes glazed over and she removed her hand to reveal her dragon mark was glowing. Fear gripped him as Lara started muttering something.
"The dragon must not die. Have to save the dragon." Lara struggled to get out of Nicolas' grip. She seemed to be under some compulsion. Whatever it was had gripped the aunts as well. Lara started to push against him frantically. "Have to save the dragon."
Nicolas turned to Barack. "Get Syndil out of here! Set strong safeguards. Whatever this compulsion is, it seems to be targeting Dragonseekers only, but if there is any chance Syndil could be controlled by this, neither of us would forgive ourselves. Go!" Barack nodded and shifted to mist with his lifemate before she could object.
Lara's struggles were getting stronger. Her need to save this dragon had given her more energy than normal. Nicolas didn't know how much longer he could hold her back.
"Nicolas?" a faint voice penetrated his mind.
"Rafael? What are you doing expending your energy trying to contact me from Brazil? Isn't it midday where you are? Why aren't you dead to the world?"
"It's Colby. She jerked awake and burst from the soil. She keeps babbling on about 'saving the dragon.' The mark on her hip is glowing and she's trying to drag herself out of the sleeping chamber. She's trying to head into the sunlight! I don't think she can make it past the safeguards, thank God, but I thought this might have something to do with the Dragonseekers. Is Lara all right? I know she also bears the mark."
Nicolas was dumbfounded. Colby too? If this compulsion was strong enough to wake a Carpathian from sleep in the middle of the day, then there was no way Lara could fight this. "Rafael I'm glad you told me. Lara is acting the same way. She's trying to get out of my arms right now. The compulsion has affected her aunts as well. I have a feeling some great force is calling the Dragonseekers for a united purpose. I think I'm going to have to let Lara try and save the dragon. I'll update you as soon as I can."
Nicolas broke away from his brother and loosened his hold on Lara. He said to her, "Sweetheart, I know you need to save the dragon. I want to help you. Can you tell me where we need to go?" An image of Francesca and Gabriel's house entered his mind. "All right, love, grab on to me." He wrapped his arms around his lifemate, shifted them both to mist, and headed out the cave to help save the dragon.
When Mikhail had left his family to investigate the disturbance at Francesca and Gabriel's house, he never expected to find a group of Dragonseeker women surrounding a glowing Dominic. It seemed as if a light had encompassed the entire room. He found the newcomer, Zohra, crouched in the corner not far from the circle of women. Flames were erupting all over her skin and her body seemed to be shifting its shape. The women's chanting grew louder and the room grew brighter. The words they spoke were like a spell, and it seemed to have a purpose known only to its casters.
Dragonseeker bathed in light
The time has come to show your might
Long you've walked this earth alone
Your heart imprisoned in a block of stone
Your mate has come to turn the key
And set your inner dragon free
Throw away your earthly guise
Oh mighty dragon, let your soul arise!
Mikhail had to cover his eyes as the women's chanting reached its crescendo. The light was too much to bear. Then, as if a bulb had blown itself out from too much electricity, the light abruptly extinguished itself. The prince looked on in awe as it seemed Dominic had transformed into a massive golden green dragon with red spikes along its spine. He turned to find not Zohra, but a beautiful winged unicorn, a pegahorn. Its golden mane and tail shimmered with the moonlight and its spiral horn caught a rainbow of colors in its opalescent splendor. But its wings were its most fascinating feature, for they seemed to be made entirely of red-orange flame. Mikhail stood and watched as the circle of Dragonseeker women parted and the pegahorn gracefully marched up to the dragon and bowed its head. Then he stood in horror as the magnificent creature rammed its spiral horn right into the dragon's heart and they both erupted in flames. So shocked was he by this display that he did not realize it was mirrored in the sky for all to see.
"Father, did you see that? It looked like the sky just caught fire!"
The priest laid a hand on the boy's shoulder and looked him in the eye. "Yes lad, I saw it. I believe it to be a sign from God. I need you to send a message to Brother Goodwin at the monastery. Tell him the good Lord set the sky ablaze in a call to arms, and that he needs to assemble the Order of the Light. The beast's reign of terror has begun. Darkness must not win over the light."
Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this chapter, for I probably won't be updating for a while. Chapter 10 will take a lot of planning and I have no idea when I will finish it. So sorry about the cliffhanger, but I wanted to leave you with something to look forward to. In the meantime, you can stew over just what that last paragraph means. Also, the contest for baby names is still on. If any of you are curious about Denae's soul form the pegahorn, I have a picture of it up on my profile now. Please review and let me know just how much you want me to write the next chapter. Good reviews are fuel for my muse. Bye and thanks for reading.