Is It Magic? Chapter Five

 

CHAPTER 5

 

“Your timing sucks, Relath.” K’Jon’s voice was loud and rumbly, sending a little shiver through Relath. Making K’Jon mad had been a favorite pastime for Relath when he was younger, but this was the first time he truly felt the dragon’s fury. “But it always does. What do you want?”

Relath stepped forward, but before he could talk, K’Jon raised his hand.

“I’m warning you, little one, it had better be something big, because I will take great joy in turning your bare bottom over my knee if it isn’t!”

“Um… No. No you won’t.” Khat stepped into the clearing and made his presence known. “No one touches Relath’s bare ass but me.” He moved to stand in front of Relath, putting himself between K’Jon and Relath.

K’Jon chuckled as he looked Khat up and down. “Well. What do we have here? You find your mate, Relath?”

Relath pushed back to stand beside Khat. “Shut up, K’Jon, you idiot.”

Khat narrowed his eyes and raised an eyebrow as he turned to Relath for a moment. “Mate?”

“Of course.” K’Jon came forward and extended his hand to Khat. “Name is K’Jon Caro. You are?”

“Khat Warmark. Sheriff Khat Warmark.”

“Sheriff?” K’Jon’s dark eyes went quickly back to Relath. “Forgive me for being skeptical but, your mate is a sheriff?”

“What’s this mate business, Relath?”

“It’s fine, K’Jon. He’s a convert.” He waved Khat off. “Pay no attention to K’Jon. He’s always thinking just because he gets mated every hundred years or so, he thinks everyone has to get mated. Plus”—Relath winked at K’Jon, who was now frowning—“my news is big. I think the king might be a dragon shifter, just like you.”

K’Jon looked startled for a moment, then he turned back to Khat, gave his hand one hard pump and let go. “Good to meet you, Sheriff. Sorry for being – well – naked. I was… Let’s just say I was busy.” He chuckled again and looked at Relath. “So tell me, Relath. What could possibly make you think the king is a dragon shifter?”

“We just learned he sucks power from wizards. That’s why he made it illegal. He’s weeding out the true wizards. He has them brought to the castle and he takes their power and then has them killed.”

K’Jon narrowed his eyes and his gaze went back to Khat, who was holding out the shirt he had been wearing a moment ago. Evidently he wasn’t happy with K’Jon being completely naked. Relath sucked in his breath at the sight of Khat’s beautiful abs and stomach, and his member jumped. K’Jon smirked at Khat as he took the shirt. He dipped his head as if in gratitude, but they all three knew the reason for Khat to offer to cover K’Jon’s nakedness.

“Thank you, Sheriff. I was feeling a bit of a draft.” K’Jon donned the shirt and addressed them both. “The king is not a dragon, nor is he a wizard.” He held up a hand for silence as Relath jerked forward and opened his mouth to interrupt. “I can guarantee it. I have been in his company, although he was blissfully unaware. I would have detected such magic, but I did not. He is neither.”

“Then what, K’Jon? How is it that he can do what they say?” Khat came to stand beside Relath, and Relath put a hand on Khat’s chest, splaying his fingers in the fine dark hair.

“There is another breed of magic. An older, deeper, ancient form of magic. Something I believed was extinct. It’s called Mot-taka.”

“Mot-taka? I’ve never heard of it.”

“No, you wouldn’t have. It was believed to have disappeared during the Siege of Eight Depths over five hundred years ago. Their lore was never sung so their stories did not carry forward. Once those who used it were gone, their existence was forgotten about by all beings except the dragons, who live far longer than all other beings. Even I have not thought of it in ages.”

“So, what is it?”

“The closest guess is the magic can mirror the power of an opponent, or possibly a companion as well. Those that possess this magic and dare to use it would basically take on the other’s power. So if their opponent is a strong man, they will become equally as strong. If their opponent is a wizard, even a powerful one, they are able to display the same power.”

“And if they oppose a dragon?”

“Don’t know, little one. As far as I know, it’s never happened. But like I said, I’m only guessing.”

“Why do you think the king might be that instead?”

“I would know if he were anything else magical and one would have to be magical in order to do what he is supposed to do. One of the other traits of this Mot-taka magic is the user cannot be detected due to the very nature of the talent. But again, speculation.”

“But can a Mot-taka absorb or steal power away?”

“I’m not sure. But I would bet a powerful one could.”

“If that’s the case, what do we do?”

“We do nothing. I will handle this, Relath. Isn’t that why you called me?” He looked to the silent, half naked Khat. “Besides, don’t you have other interests right now?”

Suddenly there was a noise, a popping sound, and a large net dropped over the three standing in the clearing. It was large enough to completely cover them and even drape on the ground around them. The net sparkled a little when it hit them and the tingling returned to Relath’s limbs.

“No! It can’t be! Damn it, K’Jon, do something!”

“What…what is this, Relath? Why…”

Relath watched as K’Jon struggled to lift the heavy thick netting off himself, just as Relath did the same, but unlike the sack from before, Relath soon realized the net had one further spell cast on it. Evidently the net not only bound magic power, but physical power as well. Relath looked at Khat, who was making no more headway with lifting the net than he or K’Jon. Then came the voice he had been dreading.

“Well, well, well. What do we have here, now? Not only do I catch a filthy little rat but a huge one as well. Struggle all you want, dragon. You won’t escape.” The colonel walked up to Khat and put his face right up to Khat’s nose. “And looks like I caught myself a pet.” He leaned back and laughed. “Men, get Sheriff Khat out from under that thing before it takes all his strength. I have use of him, and for that he will need lots of energy.”

Relath sank to the ground, his legs no longer able to hold him, as two soldiers walked over and lifted a portion of the net to pull Khat out. Relath’s heart plummeted because he would not be able to save him. The colonel promised to use magic to make Khat comply with his wishes, to force Khat to do his will. He noticed that even K’Jon sat as well. Once again things were looking hopeless.

He could do nothing but watch the colonel approach Khat, do his stupid walk around to admire that beautiful, now half naked body. He could only seethe as the colonel put a hand on Khat’s chest, tweaking one, then the other nipple, something Relath had not even done yet. Oh, how Relath wanted to turn the colonel into a withering blink toad with no eyes, a copper curse spider with no legs, or a bearded sucker with no lips. They were all very ugly creatures with absolutely no redeeming qualities. Much like the sick man himself.

“So, Sheriff, change your mind yet? With the wizard under that net he no longer has any influence over you.”

Relath wished he had the strength to laugh when Khat spat in the colonel’s face.

“How dare you?” The colonel wiped the glob away and walked over to where Relath sat and kicked him hard. “How is it he still is smitten with you? Let go of him!”

Relath couldn’t manage a grunt of pain much less a smile at the colonel’s frustration.

“Colonel!” It was Khat’s voice. “Leave him alone! I mean it! If you do I’ll…”

“No, Khat! Don’t do it.” It took everything for Relath to speak those words. His heart was racing at an alarming rate, but he still attempted to rise to his feet. Except the colonel kicked him again and it laid Relath out flat.

“Stop it! Stop it! I’ll do what you want, just leave Relath alone!”

“Please, Khat…” Even to Relath’s ears his voice was pathetic as he sat back up and tried to raise his eyes to look into Khat’s beautiful face. “Don’t.”

Khat was suddenly there, pulling Relath to him, kissing his lips through the netting. “I love you, Relath. I know it doesn’t make sense but I do. I will do anything to save you. Anything!”

Relath was surprised by the intensity of his words and shocked his kisses gave him strength. “Khat!” Oh crap. Is this what he was feeling too? Love? Damn. “I can’t watch you do this! Please.”

Suddenly Khat was pulled away and, with a nearly primal scream, Khat fought his captors. It took four of the colonel’s soldiers to pin the man to the ground.

“Get him up.”

Relath could see the fury on the colonel’s face as he waited for his soldiers to stand Khat up.

“You…love him? Love? What the fuck, Khat? How the hell does he still have power over you?”

“He doesn’t have power over me! Not wizard magic anyway. Love is its own magic. That’s the only influence he has over me.”

“Well, even that will disappear if he’s dead!” The colonel turned back to the two still under the net. “The king will not mind at all if I kill you, Relath. Not when I hand over the dragon!” He raised his right hand and a snapping, flashing blue ball appeared, spinning so fast Relath could even hear the whir. “Time to die, wizard!”

Then the oddest thing happened. Out of the corner of his eye Relath saw, almost in slow motion, Khat pull away from his captors. Khat raised his own hand and a blue whirling ball appeared there as well. Relath turned his head and stared at the phenomena. He knew his mouth dropped open. He looked back to the colonel just in time to see him turn to Khat. Khat threw the ball at the colonel, who ducked but not in time. The ball glanced off his left shoulder, sending him to the ground. The colonel scrambled to his feet and the blue ball he held had transformed into a white ball.

“Khat! What the fucking hell? What are you doing? How… I…I don’t want to kill you. This will put you to sleep until you come to your senses!” He hurled the ball, but it was met halfway with an identical white ball. The explosion shook the ground. But the colonel seemed to have anticipated Khat’s move and had another white ball in his hand. But then so did Khat and he hurled his first. He also hurled it low and then dived to the ground. The white ball the colonel threw slammed into a tree behind Khat and split, hitting several soldiers in the clearing. Every one of them fell to the ground. The ball that Khat threw though went true and smashed into the colonel’s stomach, sending him back at least six feet and laid him out flat out on his back where he stayed.

Khat stood, breathing hard, as he held up an empty hand as if waiting for another ball to appear. When nothing happened he looked at Relath still sitting on the ground. A sound escaped him as he raced to the net and lifted it off both K’Jon and Relath. He helped Relath to his feet.

“Are you all right? Did he hurt you? Here, lean on me.”

“Khat, you…” Crap, he felt as weak as a newborn kitten. “You were using magic again. Care to tell me how?”

Khat shrugged as he looked around the clearing at the few soldiers who were helping their own as opposed to paying any attention to them. No one had gone to the aid of the colonel. Relath watched as the remaining soldiers cast weary glances both in the colonel’s direction and in the direction of the three coming to their feet.

“You okay, K’Jon? I don’t think I have ever experienced you being quiet. Nice for once.”

“Shut up, Relath. What the fuck was that damn net?” He shook as if that would rid him of its effects.

“Don’t know. Evidently created by our wonderful king to trap wizards and, it would seem, dragons. Not a good development.”

“Let’s get out of here.” With those words there was a blinding flash and the sound of thunder as K’Jon shifted to his gorgeous dragon form. “Climb on!”

“I love it when you do that,” Relath said, laughing at the soldiers who hadn’t already taken off into the woods scramble in fear when K’Jon shifted.

But then Relath raised an eyebrow. As long as he had known his friend, K’Jon never once invited Relath to ride on his back. Not once. As a matter of fact, he had never known anyone to have had that privilege. “How exactly do we get up there?”

The dragon grunted as he lowered his neck. “Climb, I said. Hurry up. And watch yourself. My scales are sharp.”

Khat turned wide eyes on Relath. “We’re going to ride on his back? Are you out of your mind? I’m not getting up there! You’re friggin’ nuts!”

“It’s like riding a horse, Khat. You simply use your knees.”

“Use your brain, Relath. Fifty feet up in the air is not like riding a horse!”

“Why do you fight me on everything?”

“Why can’t you give me good news once in a while?”

Relath chuckled. “Come on, big guy. Don’t be afraid. You can ride in front of me. I’ll hold you and make sure you don’t fall.”

A string of swear words came out of Khat’s mouth as he pushed Relath to the side. “I’m not afraid. I just like my feet on the ground!” He vaulted up on the dragon’s neck like a pro and settled in where the neck met the shoulder. He looked back down at Relath, gave a smirk and patted the area right in front of him. “Still room right here.” Then he held a hand out to help Relath up.

K’Jon swung his massive head around to put one of his eyes on Relath. “He kisses you with that mouth?”

Relath winked. “And other things.”

“Ha! Braggart.”

Relath laughed, grabbed Khat’s hand and jumped up, sitting in the spot Khat indicated for him. He snuggled in tight against Khat’s stomach and chest, feeling Khat’s bulge. “Mmmm.” He wiggled his hips.

“Hey!” shouted K’Jon. “None of that! You start something, Relath, I’ll drop you out of the sky.”

The dragon flapped his enormous gossamer wings and lifted straight off the ground.

*          *          *

“Wow, K’Jon. This is incredible.” Both Khat and Relath slipped off of K’Jon’s back when they landed. They were high on top of a tall thin flat top rock. Very clearly the only way to get to the top was to fly. They could see for miles.

With a flash and some loud pops, K’Jon was once again in human form. “Yeah, I like to come up here to think. No interruptions.”

“No, I would imagine not.” Relath continued to turn to take it all in. “You can see forever.”

“Hey!” Khat’s voice boomed. “You’re naked again! Where’s my shirt?”

“Oops. Damn. I should have taken that off before I shifted. Ruin a lot of clothes that way. Sorry.”

“Do you know how much that shirt cost me?”

“Khat, Khat, it’s fine. We can get another one.” Relath took hold of Khat’s arm, rubbed it and slowly moved to Khat’s chest. One by one he tweaked Khat’s nipples, leaning in to give them each a lick and short slurping suck. “Kind of like you without a shirt, though,” he whispered.

“Oh geez, Relath. It’s not wise to do that right now… Oh!”

“Knock it off, you two, or I’ll leave you up here.”

Khat gently pushed Relath back and kissed him once on the lips. Putting an arm around Relath they turned to K’Jon. “So, what now?”

“Tell me what happened. How did you find out about the king?”

“Oh, that? It’s actually a pretty interesting story. You know I was chasing after another smelly Angel Walker. Finally angered it enough for it to show itself. Did you know those damn things explode if they ingest water?”

K’Jon burst out laughing. “Leave it to you to discover that!”

“Yeah, they explode and burn like a bitch. Ruined my shirt, too.” He showed the dragon the holes where the saliva had been.

“Sounds like a big show.”

“Well, I guess, but the colonel was already there at that point. I was actually turned in for being kind of obvious with an old alchemist.”

“Turned in?”

“Oh. Not by Khat. Seems the new alchemist in town didn’t like me curing people he couldn’t. But I don’t think that was the only reason I got turned in.” He pushed on Khat. “Turns out…” He leaned in close to K’Jon. “Seems my mate has a very colorful past,” he mumbled under his breath, although he knew Khat heard him. “Leaving a trail of broken hearts. Hope I’m not just…another notch in his belt.” He sighed, feigning great pain, and bowed his head. “I wouldn’t know what to do.”

K’Jon chuckled. “It’s tough. Real though. I feel for you, Relath.”

“Hey now! Stop talking about me like I’m not even here! And I don’t have a colorful past! How about you, Relath? I’m not your first. Let’s talk about your past.”

Both K’Jon and Relath gazed at Khat, K’Jon nodding his head. “No question, he’s crabby but he’s very pretty, exactly your type, too. I’m thinking that’s lucky. You should have seen some of the mates the spirits lined me up with.” He whistled low. “Unpleasant. But your Khat? Nice.”

Relath grinned at both K’Jon’s words and the look on Khat’s face. “Yeah, I’ll keep him.” Suddenly Relath remembered something. “Wait a minute! As long as we’re talking about what happened back there, we need to talk about how it is you made those energy balls.”

“Um…I don’t really know. I was so scared that idiot was going to kill you, the ball was just there, and somehow I knew what to do with it. And then they just kept coming. Then all of a sudden…they just quit.”

K’Jon was nodding. “You lost the ability to make the balls when the colonel went down.”

“The colonel? What does he have to do with it?”

“He was the one you were mirroring. Relath, I believe we are in the presence of a Mot-taka.”

Relath narrowed his eyes at that statement. “Yeah. That would actually explain a few things, like you being able to make monsters out of the dirty pond water.”

Khat looked at both Relath and K’Jon. “You mean to tell me I have magic powers?”

“Well,” K’Jon said, “you can mirror magic powers.”

Khat smirked. “So if Relath decides to send me sailing again, I can do the same to him?”

K’Jon nodded, chuckling. “Probably.”

“Good.” He turned to Relath. “Very good.”

Relath turned toward Khat and looked up into his face. “You know, Khat, there’s other things to mirror than just magic power.”

“Oh yeah? What’s that?”

“Mmmmmm.” Relath palmed his suddenly stiff cock. “Mirror this.”

Khat choked but more from watching Relath jut his hips forward, lick his lips and rub himself. “Damn it, Relath.”

“That’s it. I’m leaving you guys.” K’Jon turned and walked to the center of the rock, the air snapping around him.

Relath ran to him, laughing. “Stop! Don’t. I’ll behave, K’Jon, I promise.”

“That’s a promise you have no intention or ability to keep.”

“Yes, I do. Yes, I do. Come on. I’ve never had a mate before. It’s driving me crazy.”

K’Jon sighed. “Fine. Even though I don’t believe a word you say.” He tried to keep a stern look on his face, but Relath knew it would never last. Finally he smirked. “We should get going anyway. Come on. Get on. I’ll take us down.”

*          *          *

They arrived on the ground just outside a small village, but K’Jon did not shift back to his human form.

“Hey, K’Jon. Where are you going?”

“To the place I obviously need to be, close to the castle. I knew the king was up to something. With this new information, I now know what. I have no idea yet what his ultimate goal is but someone has to stop him.”

“How? What are you going to do?”

“Not sure right now. But I’ll come up with something.”

“We’ll come with you.”

“No, Relath. You will not come with me. You’ve done enough for a while. Just…just enjoy your man.”

Relath turned a beaming smile on Khat, who smiled right back, making a kissing motion in the air at him.

“The honeymoon stage is so fucking irritating.” K’Jon rolled his enormous eyes, then chuckled.

“Really, K’Jon? You don’t want us to come along? With Khat’s newfound abilities maybe we can be helpful.”

“Fuck, no! There is no way I am going to put up with the two of you always making eyes and cooing at each other.” The dragon shivered, his scales making a deep rustling sound, but then he winked a big purple eye. “Really, little one. Enjoy life for a bit. Too often a person doesn’t get to when real life shows up. And it will. So take a break. Now promise me.”

“Promise… To not… Oh. Okay. I promise. I guess. Thanks. And good luck.”

K’Jon answered that with a deafening roar and took off into the sky. Flying fast to the south, he soon disappeared from sight.

“Wow. He’s pretty impressive.”

“Yeah. He is.” Relath took a step and into Khat’s arms. “But it’s this man who impresses me the most.”

“That’s very good. I’m so glad you think that way. Let’s go find a room and I’ll show you what I think of you.”

Relath looked around Khat toward the small village, then back up at the big man. “Nah, we don’t need a room.” He took Khat’s hand and pulled him off the dusty road and into the woods. They walked for a little bit, dodging low limbs and climbing through thick bushes, even once crawling under a thorn shrub.

“Where the fuck are you taking me?”

“I’ve been to this village. K’Jon has his place to escape for thinking, and when I was here, I had mine. And here it is.”

They were suddenly in a small clearing about twenty feet across and twenty or so feet wide, covered with plush green grass littered with wildflowers. All around the perimeter stood old majestic trees whose thick trunks stood as sentinels guarding whoever resided in the tiny, beautiful natural meadow.

Relath allowed Khat to take in the wonder of the hidden space before he took his hand and led him to the center, where there was a thick carpet of green moss. A gentle creek sang next to it. Relath turned to Khat, reached up on tiptoe to kiss his lips, then he stepped away and slowly removed his clothes while Khat watched mesmerized.

Finally standing naked in front of the beautiful man, he sat on the moss. Leaning back on his hands, he bent his legs at the knee and spread them, then looked up at Khat again with what he hoped was a seductive and inviting look. It would be sad to ruin the moment with words.

Khat’s face said it all. Flushed and breathing heavily, his eyes were wide, his tongue darting in and out, wetting his luscious lips. He, too, shed his clothes as fast as he could, and when his cock came into view it was large and hard and Relath could not take his eyes off of it. With a whimper he watched it come toward him, bobbing with stiffness, droplets forming on the tip. Khat now stood with a foot on either side of Relath’s hips. Relath sat up and took the wonderful staff into his mouth and moaned. Khat jerked forward with a grunt, tangling his hands in Relath’s hair.

“Relath!”

He started to move slowly in and out of Relath’s mouth as Relath used his tongue, sucking hard when he could. He was feeling Khat becoming harder as he danced close to orgasm. Relath thrilled and sucked harder as Khat moved faster and deeper.

Suddenly, with a roar not unlike the dragon’s, Khat was coming. Relath tried to capture every surge, every pulse of liquid, which seemed to go on and on forever as Khat cried out his pleasure. Finally he pulled out of Relath’s mouth, jerking with yet another spasm. Relath reached out with his tongue to grab the last drop.

With a growl, Khat dropped to the ground and spread Relath’s legs wide, forcing Relath to fall back to his elbows. Immediately Relath felt his member being engulfed by incredible heat and wetness.

The sensation was nearly too much to bear. He bucked his hips up, but Khat decided he was the one in charge and held Relath steady. He suddenly came off and Relath cried out in disappointment as he looked up at Khat.

“Get up for a minute,” he rumbled.

Relath could hardly move, but he limped up to his feet. Khat lay down on his back, then he took Relath’s hand and pulled him to kneel on either side of Khat’s face as Khat once again took Relath’s hard cock in his mouth.

For support, Relath put his hands on the ground above Khat’s head as he let Khat pull him in and out of his hot mouth. Then one of Khat’s hands wandered to Relath’s ass and rubbed up and down until he found Relath’s opening and pushed.

Relath was at the edge anyway. It wouldn’t have been much longer with Khat’s mouth sucking and his tongue working a magic all its own. But when Khat breached his tight entrance with his thick, callused fingers, he came hard. He couldn’t even cry out, all energy, all thought, all existence was centered on his pulsing, nearly convulsing orgasm.

When he finally returned to earth he was lying on Khat’s chest. Somehow Khat must have moved him without him even realizing it. But he was content. Sated. Happy. He wasn’t sure how long they lay like that but suddenly Khat slapped Relath’s bare ass and made to get up.

“Come on, wizard. We better get moving if we have any hope of catching up with that dragon.”

“What? But…”

“Come on. We’re not going to let K’Jon have all the fun, are we?”

“But I promised.”

“A promise you had no intention or ability to keep.” And he chuckled. “Believe me, K’Jon is well aware.”

They dressed quickly and then Khat looked toward the sky. “Too bad we don’t have those magnificent wings though.”

“Wings? We don’t need wings.” Relath dipped his hands in the creek and waved them at Khat.

“Relath? Don’t you dare… Relath!” Up into the air Khat flew, tumbling over and over, while Relath laughed. But suddenly he was also flying, ass first, straight off the ground.

“Ahhhh! Khat! Khat, did you do that? Khat! You asshole! You scared the crap out of me.” Reaching Khat, he threw his arms around the big man. “Wow. That was a rush!”

“Shall we?”

“We shall!”

And with that they set out for who knew what.

To be continued...