Dragon Aster Trilogy

27: LOVE'S CONNECTIONS



Hain’s strike woke Kas into a daze. “Anything?”

Kas looked around the darkness to assert where he was, before feeling his cheek to where he had been hit. It didn’t hurt anywhere near as much as his heart did. “She is there.”

The kyrie returned to Kas’ hand and nudged its face against his in concern. He didn’t expect to find such a tame dragon at the castle, let alone one that would pass up a free meal so easily. They didn’t have time to starve a dragon out of his fortress.

“Your pet is useless.”

“Should I have asked it to kick down the entire castle?”

“It leveled a town, why not?”

Kas only shook his head and gave up arguing with Hain, as he tried to think of how to get Sybl away from the dragoon. Without sending the entire High Guard down on them.

“I can hold his Threads and psi down, but if she screams it’s game over. That and the White Death would chew his own wing off if it became a Thread in his way of killing someone, and I haven’t been able to find him yet. I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if he is watching us now.”

“So we will have to approach her carefully. I will be able to distract her towards me for a while, you just worry about walking that dragon away from us.”

“You don’t sound so certain of yourself.”

“Just what is to be certain of on this Continent?” Kas asked.

“Nothing. You just seem more uneasy than usual.”

“The last time I saw her we had a fight.”

“How bad?” Hain asked with worry.

“She was serious when she said that she never wanted to see me again.”

“And you believed her?”

“It did not matter what I believed, as she had left before I returned for her,” Kas added.

“What did you say to make her that mad?”

“I told her that I did not want her to leave.”

“And?”

“That I loved her.”

Hain laughed. “That’s when she more or less told you to go to Hell, am I right?”

Kas only narrowed his red eyes angrily at him.

“Words from the wise; never tell a woman you love them unless they’re flattered, rich and stable or you’re certain you can do just that for them. Imaginary friends don’t cut it. You’re lucky that she didn’t know how to kill a spirit.”

“Your advice is late, as usual.”

“How many humans have you married, Kas?”

The Priest was stumbled for a moment by Hain’s question, before setting it straight from his thoughts.

“After joining so many people together, you would think you would know by now a thing or two on just what that implies for humans. This Sybl didn’t change into a Sylvan or a Fay on coming to Aster, as much as you hoped she would.”

“Humans are not that different from Sylvan.”

“Their spirits are small, their egos are bigger than life, and if they truly know the meaning of the word love, then they might catch up in their evolution yet,” Hain said.

“They do know the meaning of love. They feel it just like we do.”

“Like this Sybl does for you?”

“She has not been raised on Earth past the mindset of a child. I did not expect her particular reaction but did expect an unserious response.” Kas looked at the marking on his left wrist, before tracing the Threads that led to her. “I just need to be patient.”

“Don’t be too patient. I can’t keep that loon of a brother-in-law chasing me forever.”

Kas lost sight of the Threads all at once from Hain’s words.

“What? He is family.”

“Family who would kill you before they thought the same way,” Kas added.

“Nah. They love me, they just don’t know it, yet.”

Kas only shook his head when Hain began to laugh and gave up trying to argue against his ridiculous reasoning. He somned into his phelan form and shook out his black fur. Then he used his claws to pierce his paw and created a Rift to the Keol. They entered the puddle of darkness in the direction of the castle they had to conquer.