Chapter 3: Healing

The silver guardian spreads his wings,

As ancient magic softly sings.

His heart has chosen gold above,

Yet fate must first decide their love.

Skylar

As I come awake, I moan. I feel … awful.

“Easy, Skylar. Your body has been put through the wringer.”

As sore as I am, I sigh. Of course Ryuki is right here with me.

‘He better be. I threatened him if he didn’t watch over you while I went to find food. Do I need to bring you something to eat?’ Cyryl asks.

I open my eyes and I’m met with Ryuki’s very muscular chest. I might be inclined to purr, except his body is riddled with bruises, bite marks, and scratches.

“Oh my god, Ryuki, did I …” I begin, sitting up quickly and instantly regretting it.

“EASY Skylar. We’re both a bit beaten up.”

I place my hand on my lower stomach. I’m not sure if my stomach hurts because I’m so hungry or because we had sex for so long.

“Did I bite you?” I ask, feeling mortified. It must have been me. At least, I think it was me. It was only the two of us, right?

‘Yes, my rider. Ryuki would never have let any other man near you any more than Bynjym would have let another dragon near me.’

I hear Bynjym begin purring at his mate’s proclamation.

“You are mine,” Ryuki growls, just as Bynjym says it to Cyryl in my mind.

As sore as I am, my body shivers at the thought of being his.

“And are you mine?” I ask, feeling possessive.

Cyryl chuckles at my possessiveness.

Ryuki tilts my head up to look at him. “Always and forever, from now until the end of our days, I am yours.”

I bite my lip, feeling inordinately pleased that this strong, intelligent, sexy man is all mine.

‘Now that you’ve established your rule over Ryuki’s heart, can you answer my question? Did Ymyl return and bring you food?’ Cyryl asks.

I frown and look at Bynjym.

“Did Ymyl bring us food?”

“She’s not back yet,” he says.

‘Yes, she is, My Queen. I wouldn’t want Queen Cyryl to get angry that my rider took your food,’ Ymyl says.

I hear the flapping of wings overhead a moment before I feel the wind begin whipping around me.

She lands and drops several rabbits and a large buck at our feet.

‘If you’re still hungry after you finish this, I’ll go get you more food.’

“I’m sure this will be plenty, Ymyl, thank you,” I say. I can feel her exhaustion as well as the exhaustion of the other dragons in the thunder.

“What’s going on?” I ask Ryuki.

He carefully sits up and I whimper as my stomach protests the movement.

“Bynjym and Cyryl put the thunder into rut. They mated for two full days according to Bynjym, and Cyryl flew for nearly a day before he caught her. We mated for three straight days,” he says, handing me a waterskin of water.

I practically snatch it out of his hands and greedily drink the entire thing.

I pull the empty waterskin away from my mouth, swiping my face with the back of my hand. Ryuki is holding out another waterskin.

“Drink this one more slowly. Hopefully, it's still cool and will feel good on your throat. I imagine it feels as raw as the rest of your body.”

He’s right, it does.

I do as he says, drinking more slowly and stopping when the waterskin is about half full.

“So, three days? No wonder I’m so hungry. Hopefully that’s why my stomach is so sore.”

Ryuki looks at me. “No, Skylar. I’m sure that’s part of what’s making your stomach hurt, but the reality is, no human is prepared to have sex for three days straight. If it weren’t for our dragons, we’d probably be dead.”

I hear Cyryl scream at his comment and Bynjym croons at her, reminding her that I’m alive and well, calming her down.

“You might want to be careful about saying anything that sounds like I might die,” I say, rolling my eyes at my dragon’s over reaction.

“Noted,” he says, then looks at Ymyl.

“Do you mind helping me with this since Bynjym and Cyryl are out hunting?” he asks her.

‘We’re on our way back. Get some firewood and I’ll help you strip the meat so you and our queen can eat,’ Bynjym says.

“Go rest, Ymyl. Bynjym and Cyryl are on their way back,” I tell her.

‘Thank you, My Queen,’ she says, sounding more than grateful to be able to go lie down.

Ryuki stands and I see him flinch.

“How long will it take us to heal?” I ask him.

“Funny you should ask. Bynjym seems to think that you, and possibly me now that our dragons have mated, can pull from the dragons’ strength to heal us. Care to give that a try while I get some firewood?”

“Okay,” I say, frowning.

I know I can harness the power of the thunder, but can I do it to heal Ryuki and me?

‘Yes, you can. You can use that power for whatever you choose to use it for, which is another reason I’m glad I made the right choice of rider. Your ability to wield the power of the thunder could make you very dangerous if you were a different kind of person,’ Cyryl says.

‘A person like my father or Kenneth, you mean?’

‘Them and most of the other royals who only want us for power. You are not that way, you never were, which is why you are now a queen’s rider, and those royals have no dragon to call their own.’

I think about how I pull from the power of the thunder. If Cyryl thinks it’s possible, then I know it must be. However, I need to be careful. The thunder already feels exhausted and spent. I don’t want to pull too much energy from them and weaken them even more. We’re at risk right now. If we were attacked, the thunder would struggle to defeat the royals.

‘Yet another reason why I chose you as my rider,’ Cyryl purrs. ‘You take the thunder’s needs into account before wielding your power.’

I reach out and feel each of the dragons, sensing their fatigue and their need for rest.

Carefully, I draw power from each one, making sure I don’t pull too much of their energy.

I’m able to draw more energy from the bronzes and silvers, and even though Ylys and Cyryl are both tired as well, I draw energy from them.

Then I push that power into Ryuki.

I hear him gasp and his body jerks.

“Holy shit, Skylar! Save some of that for yourself!” he says.

“I’m not really good at being delicate with this power yet,” I tell him.

“Ask Cyryl to help you,” he suggests, coming over with firewood and looking much better than he did a few minutes ago.

‘Cyryl?’

I feel her wrap her mind around me, then she helps me funnel the power of the thunder into my body.

I close my eyes and feel my body healing. The pain in my lower stomach changes from a raw aching sensitivity to the sharp pain of hunger.

‘There you go,’ Cyryl says, sounding pleased with herself.

‘Of course I’m pleased. My rider is no longer in pain. Well, besides your need to eat, but Bynjym will take care of that as soon as we’re back,’ she says.

‘I’m always happy to feed my queens,’ Bynjym says.

I don’t have to be his rider to know he is very pleased that he was able to catch and mate with Cyryl.