Chapter 39 - The Kind-Of Plan

Kerri was woken up when she felt a kiss on her cheek.

Wake up, sleepyhead. It’s eight thirty.

She groaned. Five more minutes.

Up. Now. Come on.

Kerri groaned again before rubbing her hands over her eyes and opening them. Arik loosened his grip around her waist and gently pushed her so that she was sitting upwards. She got out of the bed, stretched and yawned before going to the bathroom.

When she came out, Arik was fully dressed. She changed while Arik brushed his teeth, washed his face and shaved.

“Ready?” He asked her when he came out.

“As I’ll ever be.”

***

“Hey guys,” Mel greeted them from where she was sitting next to Carter.

“Hi,” Kerri mumbled before sitting down next to Drake.

“Coffee?” he asked her.

“Please.”

He left to get her coffee while Arik sat down on the other side of her, next to Joshua.

“Morning, Joshua,” he greeted him.

Joshua looked surprise. “Good morning, sir.”

See? I’m trying.

Try harder.

I can only do stuff like this one thing at a time. Men can’t multitask.

“Here you go, K.” Drake placed a cup of coffee in front of her.

She lifted her head off the table. “Thanks.” She blew on it before drinking.

“So, guys,” Mel piped up. “We still need a plan. A detailed one.”

“Mel, how long have you been a fully-trained fairy?” Drake asked her.

“About eighty years or so.”

“Good. Then maybe you can stay with Kerri. You know, in case anything bad happens.”

“Are you sure you guys don’t need me out there?”

“No, we’ll be fine,” Carter assured her. “It’s way too dangerous out there.”

Mel raised an eyebrow. “Too dangerous?”

“I don’t want you to get hurt, Mel. Werewolves are dangerous. Especially a highly trained one like Woodland.”

“Aw,” Drake said. “That’s so sweet. But right now we kind of have more important things to do. But still, guys, really sweet. Okay, so Mel’s going to stay with Kerri. Any idea where they can stay?”

“Can Joshua stay with me as well?” Kerri asked. She knew what the chances of Joshua getting killed were, and she didn’t want to see one of her best friends die.

Arik nodded. “Yeah, he should. It’s too dangerous for him out there.”

The look on Joshua’s face was one of frustration and gratitude. “Thank you, sir.”

“So where do you think Woodland will go to find Kerri?” Arik asked them.

“Probably your room,” Drake said after there was silence at the table. “I mean, that’s where she’d probably be at around midnight, right?”

“Okay. That means Kerri will have to be far away from there. Where will she hide?”

Joshua and Kerri exchanged a look. “We’ve got a place in mind.”

“Where is it?”

Kerri worked her jaw a few times. “I can’t tell you.”

Arik raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Why not?”

“Because...because if Ty reads your mind he’ll know where I am.”

“She has a point,” said Drake thoughtfully.

“What? So you mean I won’t know where she is?”

“Yes,” they all said simultaneously.

Arik bit his lip, worried.

Don’t worry, she thought, trying to comfort him. We’ll be fine. I mean, I have a fully-trained fairy and a ninja protecting me. You can’t get any safer than that.

I don’t like not knowing where you are.

It’s for the best. It’s to protect me.

That’s the only reason why I’m going along with it.

Kerri reached over and kissed him on the cheek. We’ll be fine. I promise. I’m more worried about you.

I’ll be fine.

“So,” Drake was saying. “After the dinner tomorrow night, Kerri, Mel and Joshua will sneak off to their little hiding place, and we’ll all go over to Arik’s place and get ready.”

“Okay,” Mel agreed. “Arik and Carter will call Kerri and me telepathically when it’s over so that we know when it’s safe.” She held up a hand. “There’s one thing you need to remember though. During the fight, you must not think about me, Kerri or Joshua. Not even once. Or Woodland will be able to find out where we are.”

Arik nodded and stood up. “Come on, Kerri. Let’s go.”

“Where’re we going?”

Arik shrugged.

Kerri raised an eyebrow. “Uh, okay. I’ll see you guys later.”

“Bye guys.”

“Bye,” Arik called over his shoulder as he dragged Kerri out of the dining room by her wrist.

“Hey! That hurts!” She wrenched her arm away from him. “Where are we going?”

Arik pushed her against the wall and kissed her roughly. She was surprised, and quite pleased, but she ignored the latter thought.

“What was that for?” she asked gently, pulling away from him. She looked up at him and noticed that his green eyes had darkened and was now deep forest green in colour.

I…I can’t lose you. He looked away, blushing slightly. I can’t.

She cupped him by the chin and made him look at her. You won’t.

He lowered his head to kiss her, softly this time. You know, we’re supposed to Join to see whether we’re really True Loves.

She grinned. Just say you want sex.

I do, but that’s not the point. Not really.

Tell you what, we’ll uh, Join after we get rid of Ty, okay? That’ll give you something to look forward to.

He smiled and started kissing her neck. She pushed him away, laughing.

“Not here! It’s a public place, remember?”

“No public displays of affection, yeah, yeah,” he mumbled into her neck.

Kerri’s eyes widened suddenly when she saw who was walking towards them and tried to push Arik away again, but she slipped and fell.

Arik raised an eyebrow. “Kerri?” He bent down to help her.

No, she screamed in his head. Don’t even come near me. Make a snide comment or something.

He was about to ask what on earth was happening when a voice interrupted his thoughts.

“Channing.”

He whipped around. “Yes, sir. Nice seeing you here.”

Kerri clambered up from the floor. “Hello, sir.”

“What were you two doing before McCarthy slipped?” he asked them.

“I was feeling really unsteady, sir. I was having a headache,” Kerri explained. “Arik was trying to hold on to me but I fell anyway.”

The boss nodded. “I’ll see you at dinner tonight.”

“Of course, sir,” they chorused as he turned and walked away from them.

Thanks. I’d have gotten into a lot of trouble.

I know. There’s a reason for no public display of affection.

Fine. You win this time.

Arik, really. I win every time. She turned away from him, and he grabbed her from behind.

We have to keep a low profile. You know, act casual.

She looked down at his hands which were on her waist. Right, just like we are now?

His hands dropped to his side and he smiled sheepishly. Maybe we should go back to our room.

Where you can keep harassing me? She grinned. Hey, I’ve got an idea. Why don’t you teach me some magic? You know, something really powerful. Just in case Ty finds me.

He bit his lip, but nodded after a while and grabbed her hand to shift to the O.R.

***

“You’re really powerful, and I don’t know whether it’s because you’re a sorceress. You’re one of the most powerful people I’ve ever seen in my life, actually.”

“Is that a compliment?”

He shrugged. “Kind of. So first, I want to teach you how to control earth and air. They’re kind of like the basics. After that you can do spells and all that kind of stuff.”

“Spells? Really? Like magic potions and curses and stuff like that?”

Arik frowned. “Something like that. It’s something like…” he trails off. “Like Harry Potter. Except this is so much better.”

“So will I need a wand?”

Arik snorted. “No.” He pressed his palms together. “Try this.” His hands flared outwards and the earth beneath them cracked open.

Kerri jumped backwards to avoid stepping on the cracks. She imitated him, and another crack ran through the meadow. Arik was about to close the ground up when she held up a hand.

“Wait. Let me try.” She slowly eased her hands so that the palms were pressing together again, and the cracks in the ground joined up and disappeared.

Arik nodded approvingly. “If you make different motions with your hands, different things will happen to the earth. For example, if you make this circling motion…” he paused to demonstrate, “a hole will open up.”

“Cool.” Kerri looked long and hard at the earth, then she splayed her hands palm down. Then she flicked her wrists upwards. Suddenly, a tidal wave of mud and earth shot up from the ground. She had formed a mountain.

Arik was staring at the mountain open-mouthed. She shrugged and smiled weakly.

“I’m powerful.”

“Very,” he agreed. “Okay, now for air. Palms must be faced upwards.”

She mirrored his actions.

“Do you feel the air above your hands? Suck it in, let it absorb into your skin and flow towards your Mark.”

Kerri did so, subconsciously taking in a deep breath. When she exhaled, she let go of all the air she had absorbed, and aimed it at a tree. The wind shot out of her hands and the group of trees cracked and fell, the leaves floating down everywhere.

Arik nodded thoughtfully, waving his hand so that the trees repaired themselves. “When you’re in that hiding place of yours, try out new actions on fire, water, air and earth, but tone it down a little so that things happen on a smaller scale.”

Kerri smirked. “Arik?”

“Yes?”

“Think fast.” Her fingers twitched and the earth beneath him gave away. He cursed and jumped, but just when he was about to land, she twitched her fingers again, and the spot he was about to land on gave away as well.

Arik pushed one hand downwards and a gust of wind shot out and propelled him up and into the trees overhead out of sight.

“Arik?” She looked up, squinting in the bright light.

“Did you really think something like that would catch me out?” he asked suddenly from behind her.

She gasped in surprise and whipped around. “How did you do that?”

“I’m an air dragon. Air is my element. Of course, when you live long enough, you can master the other elements as well, but air will always be my forte.”

“Can you fly?”

Arik was amused. “Kind of. But only when I’m a dragon.”

“Oh,” Kerri breathed. “Can I ride you?”

A corner of his mouth went up, and she whacked him on the arm.

“You know what I mean,” she said, grinning despite herself.

“Didn’t you uh, ride me once when we were flying out the trainees’ building after the fight with the black dragon?”

“Yes, but I was too distraught and traumatised to realise what was happening, so it doesn’t count.”

Arik grinned. “Alright. But only for a while, because we have to get back soon.” He shot up into the air and disappeared before landing as a dragon.

Do you know, she thought to him as she walked over and stroked his head, that you’re the most beautiful dragon I have ever seen? Not that I’ve seen a lot of them, but compared to the black one, you’re stunning.

He let out a sound that reverberated from deep down his throat, which sounded like a purr, but more masculine. She gave his head one last stroke before climbing up him and sitting on his back. She felt a breeze as his wings, which were right behind her, twitch and move, and suddenly, they were up in the air.

He twisted his way around up in the sky as Kerri looked down in a mixture of delight and fear, hanging on tight.

Enjoying the view? He asked her, turning his head to look at her.

It’s beautiful. I can’t believe you get to see this every day.

Actually, I don’t do this very often. I haven’t flown for about three years.

Because of Sitara?

He hesitated. Yes. Because of Sitara.

She pressed a kiss onto his back. Hey, what’s that over there? She pointed to a mountain in the distance.

It’s a volcano.

Ooh, is it still active?

I don’t know. I think so.

Can we go see it?

Not today, but I’ll take you there one day if you want.

You are not authorized to comment here. Your must be registered and logged in to comment