ENCHANTED WORLD SERIES BOOK 3: THE DRAGON'S KEEPER
Chapter Fifteen

Maya was exhausted by the time they arrived in Agore was she was momentarily relieved from the fatigue by the sudden awareness that overwhelmed her. The city of Agore was incredible. She had never seen anything quite like it. Although Tacinia had her jaws dragging in awe, Agore was ten times that. She had been asleep most of the journey because there was not much to see other than forest or barren land as the drove but Drake made sure he woke up when they reached the smaller towns in between. They made three stops and in each stop, Drake made Maya get out of the car and stretch and while he checked the car to make sure it was good and well, Maya would go inside the convenient store to look for stuff. Before they left, Abigail made sure they were well packed with food and water so Maya only walked around the store to stretch her legs, nothing more.

After several minutes, they were back on the road, eating up more of the distance. Drake was a thrill-seeker because he drove like a maniac but whenever he saw Maya glowering at him, he smirked and reduced the speed—only until she fell asleep.

When they reached the bridge across the She’bn Ocean Drake woke her up. Maya’s eyes threatened to fall out of their sockets and bounce around like tennis balls.

“That’s the famous Agailan Bridge and those--” He pointed to the two humongous Statues standing right at the end of the bridge like sentinels watching over and judging everyone who was entering the city. “--those are the gods of war Sijen and Ijuan.” he told her.

They stood tall carved out in an amazing granite/marble like stone that shimmered with what looked like golden veins. They had their swords down in front of them, standing up straight with their legs disappearing in the ocean and their chests puffed out in pride. They looked very intimidating.

“They are beautiful.” Maya breathed as they started crossing the bridge and getting closer to Agore.

Drake chuckled as he reduced his speed now that they were several cars making their way into the city. The bridge looked as if it were floating on thin air. It was very impressive, like the road to heaven. Architecture in the enchanted world made the extreme architecture in the human world look like children play with Lego. What the humans would call utterly impossible was exactly what she was looking at!

It took half an hour to cross the bridge and they entered what looked like a stretch of painted fields. They were amazingly artistic with the way different colors came together to create them. “And what are these?”

“Lavender and silk fields.” He answered.

Maya frowned. Wasn’t silk from silk worms? “How do you grow silk?”

“This is not the human world, baby. Our silk is ten times the quality of the human world silk. It is grown from a plant called silk-sappy.”

Maya opened the window and inhaled deeply. The lavender perfumed the air making it heavy and almost delicious to take in. The air around Maya practically shimmered in the sun. She closed her eyes and drifted into wonderland. “This is amazing.” She sighed contently.

“I knew you would love it.” Drake said.

Maya opened one eye and peered at Drake. “So, you are not mad at me for refusing to flash here with Zach?”

“Why would I be mad at you? It’s not something you be used to, believe me and for beginners, it can get a little messy.”

“Messy as in...” She looked at him curiously.

“Messy as in you might end up emptying your bowel on your carrier.”

“Oh...” Maya felt her stomach contents shift about inside her. “Thanks for warning me.”

Within another half an hour, the tall buildings were replaced by smaller and gander houses and finally a stretch of forest before they entered a private road leading up the hill. She could tell it was private from the guards that stood out at the entrance.

Drake maneuvered the car through the road, the forest around them getting denser until finally it opened up from a beautiful Spanish style mansion. It was huge!

“Welcome to the Mage Fortress.” Drake sighed as he stopped the car under the canopy that lead to the main entrance.

“The Lord Mage lives here?” Maya asked in disbelief taking everything in as someone came forward and opened her door for her.

She got out of the car and turned around in a circle to see her new surroundings. Now, she truly believed the Lord Mage was king because everything about that place screamed royal, from the large fountain in front of the mansion to the large bulky males patrolling around to the impressive gardens on the outskirts of the residence to the sheer size and splendidness of the whole place.

“Come on, we are expected.” Drake handed the keys to one of the men then turned to the woman who came out and her face flushed red when she laid her eyes on him.

“Commander Drake!” She exclaimed inclining her head towards him. “It’s good to see you again.”

Drake grinned at the woman while standing beside Maya. Maya felt irritation down in the pits of her stomach. Who was the woman to Drake? A past girlfriend? “It is nice to see you too Esmira. Is everyone in?”

Esmira’s eyes widened as she nodded. “Yes—even the Jinn Queen and King are here—” she turned to Maya finally and her eyes widened before she went down on a low curtsy. “Pardon my rudeness, Miss. I did not mean any offense really.”

“Esmira, this is Maya—my mate.” Drake placed a hand over Maya’s shoulder and pulled her to his side before placing a kiss on her hair.

If it were possible, Esmira’s eyes widened even more as a grin spread across her face. “Mate you say! Oh, that is big news, commander!”

Okay, Maya scratched out the ex-girlfriend possibility out. No ex-girlfriend would be happy to meet the new girlfriend, period.

“Esmira has been working here for a while. She is the Mage Queen’s personal helper.” Drake explained.

Maya smiled at the petite woman. “Nice to meet you.” She extended her hand to her.

Esmira moved back warily while looking as Drake as if seeking for permission to shake her hand.

“She’s human.” Drake finished and that seemed to have explained a lot because suddenly Esmira’s stiff shoulder’s slacken and she accepted Maya’s hand.

“Nice to meet you too, Miss.” She said softly as if she were talking to a child.

“Please call me, Maya.” Maya assured her.

Esmira gave her a short nod and turned towards the house. “I hope your stay here will be most comfortable, Miss—uh—Maya.”

Maya felt so out of place but with Drake beside her, she hoped she wasn’t going to have such disastrous experience.

“I will show you to your quarters so that you freshen up before meeting everyone else.” Esmira was making her way towards the staircase when suddenly someone called to Drake and when he turned a woman flew right into his arms.

To Maya’s displeasure, Drakes arms went around her picking her up from the ground.

“Oh Drake!” She squealed, “I missed you so much.”

“I glad you did, my queen but the sake of our safety, I suggest you let me go and take a good two steps back.” Drake groaned softly as if the air in his lungs had been punched out.

Before Maya could say anything, a growl rumbled across the hallway make her stiffen and the hairs on the back of her neck rise.

“Queen Lyrah...” Drake warned softly.

“Just ignore him, he’ll stop--” the queen sniffed softly and frowned. She sniffed Drake again and her frown came down even more. “Drake, you are reeking of honey suckles--” The queen suddenly turned to Maya, her dark eyes twirling in curiosity. “Wait a minute--” Before she could finish what she wanted to say, she was pulled away from Drake with a mass of man who had moving tattoos on his body and a foul mood to match! His eyes were thunderous as he glowered at Drake and as he was about to do something to Drake.

“Drake, you son-of-a-bitch!” He roared curling his fingers into a fist and pulling it back ready to let Drake have it but Maya quickly rushed between them and hugged Drake.

“Please don’t hurt him! He didn’t mean to.” She cried out, cringing and waiting to feel the burst of pain on her back but when nothing came, she opened her eyes and peered at him.

He was frozen in place and so was everyone else. Maya noticed the Lord Mage standing just behind the pissed of man with a large braid coiled around his neck and undulating violet and gold tattoos of his body. The Lord Mage had his arms crossed and he was smirking while the coppery haired beautiful woman standing next to him with worry in her eyes and her hands clasped over her chest watched them with concern with her black glassy Fae wings buzzing on her back.

“What’s this—you let a female fight your battles, Dragon?” Rhol bellowed.

Lyrah crossed her arms. “It’s his mate, Rhol. I remember doing the same for you not to mention Noelle doing the same for Tyran.”

The look on Rhol’s face would have made Maya laugh any other day but at the moment she was terrified for her mate. She felt a warm hand go around her waist and hold her close then turned to Drake and winked at him. “See, I told you I was going to protect you one of these days.”

“Mate?” Rhol echoed.

“Not just a mate but she’s human.” The Lord Mage added.

“Human!” Lyrah squealed as she practically ripped Maya from Drake’s grasp and twirled her around before she framed her face with her palms, squeezing her cheeks together and moved so close to her face, their noses were almost touching. “Oh wow, she is human....I can feel the life essence in her, quite different from us but not so much.”

“That is the Jinn Queen Lyrah mated to the Jinn King Rhol. She is the Mage of Life.” Drake explained.

“Noelle, come and see her.” She turned to the woman with coppery hair.

Maya remembered seeing her on a portrait back in Tacinia. She moved with such grace and from the look on the Lord Mage’s face, he didn’t want her anywhere far away from him.

“Hello, I am Noelle, the Mage Queen and Fae princess.” Noelle smiled warmly at her.

Maya managed to smile back. “I am Maya and I am sorry but I don’t have a title to accompany my name. I’m just...human.”

Noelle and Lyrah laughed softly.

“You must be tired from your journey.” Noelle said then touched her stomach lightly, her wings buzzing excitedly behind her. “You should go up and rest and we can chat a little later, okay?”

Maya nodded and turned to Drake. She couldn’t believe he had the audacity to grin while she was being treated like a doll.

“Esmira, please show them you their quarters.” Noelle turned to the maid.

Esmira inclined her head. “Yes, my queen.”

As Maya went up with Drake, she couldn’t help by glower at him. “You could have at least warned me about the Jinn Queen.”

“There is no prevention for her curiosity. Even if I had warned you, it wouldn’t have stopped her from doing what she did. She has always been like that.”

“You had serious characters surrounding you, Drake.” Maya clucked her tongue as if feeling sorry for him. “And that tattooed mass of man that almost hit you, that is her husband?”

Drake nodded. “Yes, that is the Jinn King also known as the Dark King.”

“Oh.” She clasped her arms around her. “The Kings in the world are damn terrifying! Jinn you say? As in the genie in a bottle kinda Jinn?”

“Yep.” Drake sighed as they reached their quarters and Drake asked for some food to be brought up.

Maya didn’t mind the room service because she was exhausted to the point that it wasn’t even funny. When she saw the four-post bed in front of her, she shuffled her way towards it and dropped on it like a rock. “Next time, let’s do the flashing thing okay?” She muttered as her eyes drifted closed.

She felt her shoes being pulled off from her feet and smiled. Drake was such a caring boyfriend. Having him around was pure bliss.

Drake managed to drag the sleeping female further up the bed, fluffing the pillows before placing her head on them then pulled the covers over her and straightened. It didn’t hurt to have her rest for an hour or so. Besides, he still have a lot to share with the Lord Mage and he knew he would be at ease knowing Maya was resting instead of venturing into the unknown with Queen Noelle and Lyrah.

He still remembered how much in trouble the two females got when they decided to sneak out of the royal premises unattended and ended up attacked and kidnapped by Ron and his Rogue Dragons. He didn’t want that to happen with Maya especially since she wasn’t very familiar with the enchanted world.

Drake went to the bathroom and took a quick shower before a change of clothes and he left the quarters in search of the sulking Jinn Mage and the smirking Lord Mage. They were in Lord Mage’s office and it looked like Queen Lyrah had not managed to calm the Dark King down because he still had murder sparkling in his hard violet eyes. Once, the male’s eyes alternated from black to violet due to the darkness that had settled over his heart but with his queen’s love and sacrifice, he was able to redeem his soul. Either way, King Rhol still remained one of the most feral males in the enchanted world.

“Finally, you grace us with your presence, you overbearing reptile!” Tyran gritted his teeth at him.

Drake didn’t expect the—good to see you in one piece, boy—or the—a apologize for giving you such hard responsibilities, lad—no, with the Lord Mage it was either a foul curse oh a punch in the back. The male lacked tremendously when it came to showing his emotions that Drake wondered how his queen was able to last all this time with him. “Great to see you too, my king.” Drake settled on one of the leather chairs and sighed. “This better be worth my six hours drive here or by the heaven’s I’ll rip someone’s hear out.”

The Lord Mage scoffed. “And you call me temperamental.”

“I am surprised you can still stick around your queen with that type of attitude at the state she’s in. Has she kicked you out of your quarters just yet?” Drake teased.

The Lord Mage growled in warning and that earned a grin from the Jinn King.

“The Mage Queen has her king practically crawling at her every whim.” Rhol barked in laughter. “Just the other night, Tyran was fishing out for Toffee ice-cream and meatballs in the fridge.”

The three males grimaced in disgust.

Dragon sobered up for a moment. “Any leads on where Rowan disappeared to? How is the situation in your Realm.”

Rhol’s eyes lost their mirth. Rowan was the last high priest of Aidan and the Bachu’ane race before they were corrupted and tempted to embrace the Dark Energy. They did and it was what destroyed Aidan and turned the Bachu’ane into the Ghouls of today. Rowan managed to survive all that time but at the end he was defeat and fled, disappearing from the face of the enchanted world like he had never been. “There are no signs of Rowan. Every cave had been scouted but it feels as if we have been fighting a ghost.”

“He’s bound to show his face again. For all we know, he might be mobilizing his army once more.”

The Lord Mage dreaded that with every passing moment because it meant the danger to his mate and his unborn baby were in great danger. Right after they returned from the Realm of The Dark after the Union of Rhol and Lyrah, Lord Mage had called his commanders for a meeting where he explained what the Jinn-Mage Dante told him about the prophecy to bring back Aidan into the land of the living. One of the events was the bloodshed of a royal baby on a blue moon night. Blue Moon nights were very rare and unpredictable but when they happened they brought about celebrations across the lands.

So, the only known royal pregnancy was the one for the Mage Queen and they had to keep it a secret because they were wary of having spies in their ranks. The Lord Mage planned to move Noelle to a more secure location once her pregnancy started showing.

“Whenever he decides to show his face, we will be ready for him.” Lord Mage could barely sheath his anger. “And Ron, what motherfucker has said nothing to this moment. Someone give me one good reason why I should not behead him right this moment?”

Drake could understand his king’s frustration because it was Ron who kidnapped the Mage Queen and threaten to kill her if the Fae King did not reveal the whereabouts of the Light Sword. The king did reveal the location but Drake wasn’t sure the Fae got the real deal. So many replicas of the Mortal Locks had been created over the time since the war so it was difficult to tell exactly where the Light sword was. So far the Mortal Locks in their possession were the Mortal Book of the Mage and the Thyest Bow of the Jinns. The Rogues had the Coral Spear of the Mer-people and the Scarlett Shield of the Dragons and the Light Sword of the Fae were at large.

“Let me talk to him since he has some information we might use.” Drake said.

“Fine.” The Lord Mage grunted. “And do you have everything under control in the Northern Sector?”

“Not by a long shot.” Drake admitted.

“What do you mean?” Tyran asked.

Drake sighed and rubbed the center of his forehead. “After the ambush at the mines, we discovered what the rogue dragons were smuggling into the Realm; pure-blood unmated female dragons for breeding.”

“Fucking hell!” Rhol sat up suddenly his eyes stormy and his tattoos hissing in retribution.

“We managed to capture three of the rogue dragons but the rest fled and the females were able to return home—except for one. Her name is Serensa and she is the only female dragon I have seen able to take the dragon form apart from Queen Malenna.”

“Is she of royal blood?” Tyran’s eyes were severe.

Drake shook his head. “No but she must be from a very strong and ancient bloodline.”

“Where is she now?” The Lord Mage asked.

“She is back in Tacinia but after she recovers, she will be going back to the Realm of Fire.” Drake said then added. “I have a feeling we are dealing with yet another powerful sorcerer.”

That caught the attention of Rhol as he stiffened in his chair? “Rowan?”

“I don’t think so but he left this behind.” Drake removed the amber pendant from his pockets and placed on the desk. “Not only was he able to kill two of the rogue dragons that were ready to trade information for their safety but he also was able to hypnotize Serensa who shot Feror and would have killed anyone else.”

“Is Feror alright?” Tyran’s eyes widened.

“Fit as a horse.” Drake smirked. “But whoever it is was able to enter the royal grounds, cast a spell on Leprechauns who tried to kill my mate.” His eyes flashed as Red undulated in the confines of his skull.

“I hate it when sorcerers are involved. You can never full prepare for what sort of twisted tricks they have up their sleeves.” Rhol snarled.

Drake nodded. “But so far we were able to get that and also we know the Rogues have a new leader—from the Glaeder Bloodline.”

Drake watched as Tyran sank back in his chair. “Are you certain?”

Drake didn’t know what to believe anymore but he knew if he needed to replace this fucker he had to check everywhere, even in his own clan. His silence must have told Tyran a lot because the male sighed softly and it was his turn to rub the center of his head.

“Can you think of any male who would have wanted to continue with your father’s legacy?”

Drake shook his head. “Most of them died with him at the battle and the few that remained escaped into the human world.”

“Well, I guess Ron might have an idea of who we are dealing with. If there is a Rogue dragon that has joined a sorcerer then we have ourselves great trouble.” Tyran said wearily.

Both Drake and Rhol nodded knowing fully well what they went up against the last time.

“We need someone to look at this. I was thinking along the lines of Dante.” Drake turned to Rhol and the male’s eyes once more sparkled with violence.

“That little prick?” He cursed.

Drake grinned. It seemed each king had that one person they loved to hate. “Yes, that little prick.”

Rhol sighed in defeat. “Fine...since his is part of my board of advisors anyway.”

Tyran chuckled lightly. “The boy is harmless, Rhol.”

“The boy is a menace, taking every moment in time to be with my mate and he even the balls to grin stupidly about it!” Rhol seethed.

“Isn’t he mated?” Drake frowned.

“Mated or not, the only so much a male can take before he is tempted to do something about his desires.” Rhol banged his fist on the desk then pointed his finger at Drake. “And you, watch yourself, boy, or I will have you castrated before you are able to create little human-reptiles with your mate.”

Drake lifted his hands in surrender. The last thing he wanted was to go head to head with the Jinn King like the way he went with Tyran on his Union. Everyone expected the two of them to walk away without an arm or leg but both males were exceptional when it can to swordsmanship. “Never again, I promise.” he held out his pinky toward Rhol.

The Jinn King swiped his hand away and got up. “Why is it that my heart is not settled every time Lyrah is out of my sight?”

Tyran got up too. “Same here.”

Drake chuckled. “Your mates could learn a thing or two from mine.”

Both kings turned to him and quirked their eyebrows.

“Why do I feel yours is more troublesome than the two queens combined?” Tyran asked.

“Maya is anything but troublesome. At this moment, while you two are wondering where the queens are, Maya is sleeping upstairs.” Drake said.

Both kings crossed their arms and smirked at each other as if enjoying a private joke which made Drake feel a little uneasy. He turned on his heels and dashed upstairs. He wasn’t surprised to replace both kings already there, waiting outside the door.

Drake opened it and Maya was gone! She wasn’t in the room. Drake felt a headache slowly creep in as the kings chuckled and walked away. Where was she?

“How did you replace your way here?” Queen Noelle asked Maya as the two women took her into the gardens towards a greenhouse at the edge of the house.

Maya followed them smitten by her sudden surroundings. This was the other side of the house that she couldn’t view when she first arrived. “I had a terrible accident back home and when I woke up I found myself in Drake’s arms.”

“How romantic.” Lyrah sighed dreamily.

“I don’t think it was romantic because I could have sworn I broke his ribs or something. I literally fell into his arms.” Maya assured them.

Noelle chuckled lightly as she opened the door to the greenhouse and Maya was greeted by thousands upon thousands of perfect roses in bloom. They were of assorted colors, some colors she knew were not available back home—like one which looked like a Tiffany’s baby blue and another with looked a velvety green. She breathed in hard as she saw them. “I ran away from the Lord Mage for a hundred years! You could imagine how pissed he was when he finally got to me.”

Maya shuddered visibly thinking about it.

“I followed Rhol to his realm knowing fully well that I was the last person he wanted to see darkening his doorway? He was breathing fire for a full week!” Lyrah giggled to herself.

“Wait a minute, your mate rejected you?” Maya turned to Lyrah.

She nodded holding three fingers up. “Three times—but I am as stubborn as they come. At the end of the day he just couldn’t resist me.”

“Wow.” Maya sighed softly. “What I would give to be in your position and just that opportunity to go back home.”

“You are not happy with Drake?” Noelle suddenly frowned at her.

Maya’s eyes widened. “Oh no! Nothing like that! I like Drake a great deal but I didn’t come here out of my own free will. I miss my family and my friends.”

“How long have you been here? You know, time has a different meaning here than it does in the human world.” Noelle assured her as she reached for shears and started clipping several perfect roses. “I have lived there for a while and though it felt like a hundred years in the human world, I know it would have been much less than that here. For all we know it could be several months that you’ve been gone!”

Maya’s throat constricted in unshed tears. Months! It could be that at that moment everyone was trying hard to move on from losing her. If she appeared again for a little while, it could only reopen closed wounds and a thousand questions. She remembered how Sophia avoided going back home because she fear putting the Enchanted world in danger of discovery and exploitation. With the determination the human scientists had, it would only be a matter of time before they discovered a way of bringing things from this side to the human world without it deteriorating in the process. “I can’t see my family again?”

Both Noelle and Lyrah glanced at each other but Maya knew what they were trying to tell her. Her heart felt heavy in her chest, thumping dully again her ribs as she found somewhere to sit down. She didn’t have the strength to continue standing there with them.

She wanted to be there when her friends got married, she wanted to be one of the maids if it weren’t being the maid of honor. She wanted to be there on their children’s baptism not mention the kids first birthdays. Oh, there was so much she still wanted to do with her friends....

“We can always be your friends.” Lyrah’s voice cooed in and that was the last straw that broke the camel’s back because Maya could no longer hold back her tears. They came tumbling down in big splotches.

“I’m sorry--” She rubbed her eyes with the backs of her hands and looked up at the awfully nice women in front of her. They were anxious with nothing else to do to help her. “I am a little overwhelmed by everything. I—I—don’t know what to do with all these feelings.”

She felt a warm hand on her back and she shuddered as more tears wrecked her body.

Drake was sitting on the bed by the time Maya returned upstairs to their room. His head snapped up and he was not at all happy. She bit onto her lower lip and closed the door behind her. She had been asleep when the two queens entered her room. She was woken up by Lyrah’s giggles as she moved her hair to the side and moved so close to her face, scrutinizing her to the last detail. It reminded her so much of Twiska and judging by Queen Lyrah’s energy, she could tell that she was as impulsive as Twiska. Queen was a little on the reserved side but she too had her bursts of energy every once in a while.

Maya found that she couldn’t deny them anything when they offered to show her the gardens. She had her first flash moment with Lyrah because they were apparently sneaking around. She felt a little disorientated when they appeared in the gardens but Maya’s bowel was intact.

Now, as she looked at Drake she felt like she should have told him that she was up and about.

“I thought you were meeting with Lord Mage and the Jinn King?” She asked nervously.

Drake placed the book he was reading down and turned to the tray of food beside him. “Esmira brought you food but since you weren’t here to eat it, it’s gone cold.”

“I’ll just wait for dinner then--” Maya dismissed the tray and turned towards the bathroom.

“Where did you disappear to?” Drake asked curiously.

“The Queens took me to see the gardens. They are beautiful.” Maya sighed softly.

The squeaking of the bed told Maya that Drake had gotten up even without turning to her. “Why are you turning away from me? What did you do?”

“Do I always have to do something--” She was suddenly twirled around. Maya quickly dropped her eyes not wanting Drake to see them red and puffy from her recent episode of tears.

“Look up at me, Maya.” Drake’s voice was gentle as his finger went under her chin but he didn’t force her to look up at him. He wanted to do that on her own free will.

Maya turned her eyes away from him, wanting to move back so that she could start thinking straight once more. Every time she was so close to Drake, everything that once bordered with sanity went out of the window and her body kicked on autopilot. She was sometime infuriated that she would feel so much for a person she still had to a lot to learn about. Just one touch and her body melted into an idiotic pool of emotions.

“Look at me, Maya.” He commanded lightly, his fingers tightening on her chin when she tried to move away.

Maya sighed knowing she was not going anywhere until she looked up at him and so she did. The emotions that skittered on his face were about to bring a new bout of tears; confusion, regret and sorrow.

“You’ve been crying.” He gritted his teeth as his touched her cheeks.

“It’s been a long time coming.” She tried to assure him. “I feel a lot better now that I did cry.”

“Was it about home again?” He asked, his voice thick with an unknown emotion.

“Drake...” Maya passed her hand through her hair wanting to turn away when suddenly Drake grabbed her shoulders and forced her turn to him.

“I will take you home once everything had settled down, okay?” His eyes twirled up a storm.

“It’s not--”

“I promise.” Drake held up pinky finger to her and when it looked like Maya wasn’t going to hook hers with his, he took her hand and hooked his over hers.

“Drake!” Maya called to him but the male was already making his way out. He closed the door softly behind him and left Maya wondering if she should go after him or let him cool down first.