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...
