Page 15

“I know how the birds fly, how the fishes swim, how animals run. But there is the Dragon. I cannot tell how it mounts on the winds through the clouds and flies through heaven. Today I have seen the Dragon.”

—Confucius

The cavern that Shai led them to in the Red Sea Mountains was well hidden, the entrance between rocky gorges obscured.

One would only discover it if one knew the exact location. From even a few feet away, it appeared to be no more than a crack in the jagged landscape, like any other countless fissures in the rock facing.

There was a narrow entrance that fit only one person at a time, and to enter, the broad-shouldered men had to turn sideways. Shai and Ben transformed back to human form, with Shai leading the way in front, followed by Heba, then Lizzy, with Ben taking up the rear.

“Where is the light coming from?” Lizzy asked, keeping her voice low.

All was eerily silent. Not even the sounds of nocturnal creatures of the desert could be heard.

“Shai’s eyes,” Ben replied, his words no more than a rumbling vibration.

“We dragons can ignite our fire within them and use them like lamps in dark places.”

Lizzy whirled around to look at Ben since she couldn’t see Shai’s eyes in front.

Sure enough, Ben’s eyes blazed with a fiery glow, casting the rest of him in shadow.

“Oh,” she breathed, fascinated.

“It’s why dragons feel perfectly at ease and even prefer to live in lightless caverns,” Ben explained. “It’s safe, secure, and we don’t need external light sources. We can always provide our own. It’s also great for hiding treasure.”

“So the myths and legends about dragons and treasures have a grain of truth to them,” Lizzy murmured.

“All lore and stories have truth to them,” Ben said, “especially if they are told repeatedly by different groups of people.”

“But you don’t live in a cave…right?”

Lizzy wondered what it would be like to live like that. And then, she immediately wondered if she could ever live like that.

But that was wishful thinking. Why would she assume Ben would bring her home to his treasure cave, if he had one? She was making too many assumptions, and it made her flush with embarrassment.

Even though she couldn’t see Ben’s eyes except for the glowing fire within them, she thought he might have smiled. As if he could hear her thoughts.

“I was born human with a Pure soul,” he said. “My dragon was only Awakened thirty years ago. So, you’re right, I’ve only ever lived in modern homes.”

“Awakened?” Lizzy echoed.

Somehow that term sounded familiar. Meant something important.

But before Ben could explain, they all came to an abrupt stop. Lizzy almost stumbled into Heba’s back, barely able to stop her forward momentum.

“Halt.”

Shai’s quiet command filled the oppressively still air of the narrow passage. Tension hummed through them as they awaited the next step.

I sense others ahead , Shai’s voice rumbled in Lizzy’s mind.

She blinked rapidly, rather stupefied and tingling with excitement that she could hear the warrior’s thoughts.

How?

But now was apparently not the time to get those answers, for a rapid fire exchange pinged between the two men.

How many? What Kind? Ben immediately questioned.

Maybe a dozen. Coming through three separate tunnels. When we scouted this cavern before, we only found one entrance, but there may be others we overlooked.

Is there room to maneuver up ahead?

Yes, we are near the great hollow now. We will have space to transform if we need our dragons.

Then, let’s push on.

Instead of retreating back out of the cavern, Lizzy understood to be the other option.

She could feel the widening of the passageway before she saw it. Shai was a big man, and he blocked all sight of what was in front of them. He’d also banked the firelight from his eyes. So had Ben.

They were all pitched into darkness.

Lizzy couldn’t see a thing, not even her own hands in front of her. But she felt the warmth of Heba before her and the hotter blaze of Ben’s body heat at her back. Ben anchored her to him with a light grip on her shoulder, silently commanding her to stay close.

As they navigated out of the tunnel, they veered left along the slightly damp rock wall, keeping it at their backs. There was an eerie light in the “great hollow” that spanned the size of an Olympic pool before them.

Lizzy couldn’t see the top of the ceiling. It seemed to go on forever, and the low light didn’t extend very far up besides. Stalagmites dotted the cavern floor and in niches carved into the walls. Some jagged spikes were grouped around other tunnel entrances like a mouth full of monstrous teeth.

The three openings don’t lead to the outside as far as we could tell , Shai said. They only connect with each other and circle back around to this place.

Noted , Ben acknowledged.

There was a flat, reflective surface in the middle of the hollow, looking like spilled water or oil spreading across the cavern floor.

But Lizzy quickly saw that it was a pool far deeper than she imagined, for there was a slight disturbance on the still surface. Three heads, then bodies, emerged from it like demons from the deep.

At the same time, black blobs entered the hollow from three separate tunnels. It was more than a dozen, as two more beings arose from the pool.

Crap. They were ridiculously outnumbered.

The men braced for confrontation and squeezed Heba and Lizzy closer together between them.

She didn’t know if Heba could fight, but Lizzy herself had never thrown a punch in her life. Sure, her Dad made her take self-defense classes when she was a teenager, but she’d only gone through the motions. She could never follow through with hits when a real flesh and blood person was standing in front of her.

She fisted her hands anyway and tensed her muscles. Maybe she didn’t like hurting people, but she was no pushover. She’d help her friends however she could. Or, at the very least, not be a hindrance.

“Get on my back,” Ben ordered, pushing Lizzy behind him.

“And hold on tight.”

The moment Lizzy clamped her legs around Ben’s waist, he transformed into the warrior angel she met on her birthday—a winged half man, half beast. At the same time, Shai took his dragon form with Heba riding on his back.

Lizzy realized why Ben didn’t also take his dragon form when the two males exploded into action, meeting the swarm of black-robed foes head on.

While the hollow was gigantic, there were areas where the ceiling was low and dotted with stalactites. Two large dragons wouldn’t have much room to maneuver, taking away their advantage. But in his half form, Ben could use his speed, agility and precision while Shai attacked on a broader playing field.

Suddenly, the cavern blazed with the light from Shai’s dragonfire as he rained it upon the reflective pool, and Lizzy realized with a gasp that there were even more black-robed figures than she assessed before. There were so many, in fact, that she lost count. They flooded into the hollow like scarab beetles from those old horror movies about tombs and mummies.

Shai provided fire cover while Ben flew in for surgical attacks. She thought they would be at a disadvantage because both males were unarmed, but she was quickly proven wrong.

Ben’s hands and feet became talon-like claws, both his arms and legs shifting to be longer, more muscular. In fact, his whole body was bigger, though he still retained humanoid form. A sheen of light scales covered his skin wherever it was bare, just like the scales he had as a merman.

And his wings—as light and feathery as they looked, he used them like giant blades, sweeping through his enemies like battle axes or scimitars. Each feather was like the sharpest spear, an assassin’s blade. He even plucked them out sometimes to throw at foes from a distance like a ninja’s shuriken!

Lizzy didn’t have a prayer of keeping track of the battle given how fast and furious the two men moved. Between the dragonfire and Ben’s lightning attacks, the roars and yells of battle, she was disoriented and dizzy. It was all she could do to hang on.

She buried her face against Ben’s neck and breathed in his scent in great gulps, using it to calm her, to keep her focused and keep panic at bay. A few times as he spun, shot into the air, then dove suddenly back down, she almost lost her grip. Somehow, she managed to hold on, twining all of her limbs around him like a tenacious vine.

He seemed to know when she was at risk of getting flung off his back, for during those hair-raising moments, one of his hands would grip her leg, locking her to him like an anchor. But he let go as soon as she resecured herself, for he needed all of his limbs to fight. Obviously. Even though it scared her whenever he let go.

And then, out of nowhere, something rammed directly into Ben, throwing him backwards. This time, Ben’s hand didn’t hold her to him. Instead, he flung her off him, just before his back smashed against the cavern wall.

Lizzy hit the ground hard, rolling sideways as she landed. The wind was knocked out of her. Everything hurt. Still, she scrabbled to brace herself up on her elbows with a grimace, trying to get her bearings.

Ben was engaged in a furious one-on-one battle with a similar-looking winged beast. It must be one of those Lesser Beasts Ben had told her about. An immortal with a human instead of an animal base, but imbued with an animal spirit.

They clawed and tore at each other viciously, like an MMA fight except with dagger-like claws. But Ben had the advantage despite the other male’s larger bulk, for his wings themselves were weapons, and he used them to slice his opponent to ribbons.

Meanwhile, three black-robed, masked men were headed her way, surrounding her on all sides. Lizzy staggered to her feet and registered that nothing seemed broken or sprained, just bruised from the fall, thank goodness. She put her fists up in front of her and balanced on the balls of her feet.

Her heart jumped into her throat when she saw that all three men were armed with some kind of blade. Two of them almost swarmed her before the third growled:

“Take her alive. No injuries.”

Lizzy blinked.

Even though the order was barely a gritted-out rasp, the voice somehow sounded familiar.

But before she could place it, Ben dove directly into the two men closest to her, taking them both off their feet as he swooped in, and threw them ten feet away as if they were no more than ragdolls. Shai took care of the rest, incinerating them with dragonfire.

Ben used his clawed feet as anchors to slow his momentum, digging grooves into the rock ground as he landed directly in front of Lizzy, tucking her behind him.

“You’re done,” he rumbled low like pissed off thunder.

“All of your men have been routed. Now, you’re the one who’s outnumbered.”

Shai landed beside Ben right on time, transforming back into man a split second before he landed. Heba slid off his back to stand beside Lizzy.

The masked man straightened before them slowly, losing his fighting stance. Casually, he turned this way and that, taking in the piles of ashes littering the cavern floor, seemingly unconcerned.

“What do you want?” Shai demanded.

The man didn’t speak. His whole body and face were covered by black cloth that could barely be distinguished from the darkness of the cavern that once again descended upon them, only the low eerie light from before remaining. His dark gaze, revealed by the eyehole cutouts, bore into them intensely.

Wordlessly, he pointed at Lizzy, mostly hidden behind Ben, peeking around his shoulder.

A ferocious beastly growl reverberated within the cavern, emanating from within Ben’s chest. Lizzy thought that the ground itself shook with fright at the dangerous sound of it.

But the masked man seemed to smile. One that didn’t remotely reach his eyes. As if he was morbidly amused or acknowledging the challenge that Ben presented. And before they could say another word, his body suddenly lost substance, disappearing entirely into the shadows.

“Was that—”

“A shadow assassin,” Ben answered Shai’s question. “Air Elemental. Even more powerful than Ryu. Almost the same strength as Lord Wind, his sire.”

“We can bathe this place in dragonfire to smoke him out,” Shai suggested.

Ben shook his head.

“It’s too late. He is not merely a shadow, but blended into the air. Fire and air are complementary. It won’t trap him or slow him down.”

He looped one arm around Lizzy as Shai did the same with Heba.

“Let’s find what we came here for. At least none of the assassins made off with the egg.”

“Unless they already found it and took it,” Heba said, biting her lip worriedly.

“Why would they ambush us if so?” Ben wondered out loud.

“Clearly, they want you ,” Shai pointed out, pinning Lizzy with an unreadable stare.

Ben peered down at her for a long, weighty moment. She couldn’t make out his expression in the darkness.

“I don’t think they found it,” Lizzy said, keeping her gaze locked with Ben.

“I think it takes the egg’s destined owners to find and… awaken it, if the other three occasions are any indication.”

“I think Lizzy is right,” Heba said. “Now that the dust has settled, so to speak, I can feel…a-a pulse somewhere close by. Like a heartbeat.”

“I, as well,” Shai agreed.

He turned toward the pool.

“There. It’s coming from the water.”

Ben took a deep breath, and if Lizzy hadn’t been watching him closely, she would have missed the slight hitch in his side.

But before she could comment on it, he was already striding purposefully toward the mirror-like pool.

“Ready for a dive? I can share my breath with all of you as long as we need.”

And so, they waded into the pool one by one.

Immediately, they realized that it was quite deep. Seemingly bottomless. For the currents as they dove indicated that the water flowed eventually into the sea.

Heba and Shai led the way, every so often sharing breath with Ben to keep their lungs filled with air. Ben held Lizzy’s hand as he swam for the both of them in his merman form. It was much faster that way, and convenient also for him to lean over and seal their mouths together.

She tried to see if he was injured anywhere, but he moved with his usual fluid grace, and she could see no obvious wounds.

Soon, the mated pair arrived at an underwater cavern that was laid out like two large chambers, with the ceilings as high as twenty-four feet.

Just like the other cavern, there was light here, despite that they were quite deep beneath the water and it was in the middle of the night by now. It’s as if the coral reefs and algae glowed with glitter. Schools of fish with twinkling lights like fireflies darted to and fro.

Lizzy was utterly enchanted, the deadly battle of a few minutes ago temporarily forgotten. She’d never seen fish and fauna like this before. It was surreal. As if she’d been transported to another world entirely.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, a memory lingered…

Of a time when she was an artist, of a sort. When she created fantastical landscapes that defied human imagination. And brought to life ethereal, magical beings, bequeathing each and every one with a unique spark of life.

Here , Shai telepathed, breaking into her thoughts. He hovered over a particular spot on the sand-covered floor of the cavern.

It looked no different from any other area, Lizzy thought. There was no X that marked the location of the treasure. Yet, both Heba and Shai began digging with their hands, only to have the water push the sand back in place.

Shai growled with impatience and frustration, but before he could redouble his efforts, Ben transformed into a sea dragon.

And Lizzy opened her mouth in a gaping O as she stared at his second dragon form, involuntarily letting out a group of surprised bubbles along with her breath.

Like his sky dragon, his scales were several different shades of opalescent gold. Each metallic disk was a bright pale gold, almost white, edged with a darker, burnished gold. Various different sizes and shapes of them overlapped all over his long, muscular body like chainmail. He glowed from within, as if he was his own sun, and his scales radiated a pale light, as well as reflected other sources of light, such that the movement of the water cast intricate designs on his body, making him glisten all over.

Instead of wings, he had semi-transparent, ridged fins that he kept retracted against his body for the time being, using his claws to dig into the cavern floor, the way a dog dug for a well buried bone. Instead of antler-like horns on his head, he now had sharp ridges all along his crown and down his back that matched his beautiful fins. A flowy mane waved around his face and neck, a gorgeous pale, platinum blond, which matched the highlights of his human hair.

The rest of him looked almost exactly like the sky dragon—the shape of his face and snout, his body’s muscularity and the four legs with claws. More like a lion, less like Shai’s dragon form, in which his hind legs were far larger than his front claws.

But something told Lizzy that when Ben wanted to swim instead of dig, those legs and claws could transform into fins, and he’d become completely fluid dynamic, like the black marlin or the sailfish.

Heavens, but Benjamin D’Angelo was a wondrous sight! A beautiful miracle. She’d never tire of looking at him.

Perhaps he had endless forms, since he seemed to be able to change various aspects of his Beast forms at will, and in totality. Giddy with anticipation, she wanted to see them all.

Found something , he said in their minds.

Already, he’d dug a hole on the bottom of the ocean floor that was at least ten feet deep. Underneath the top layer of sand, there were several, more compact layers of rock and sediment. He changed back into his merman form and dove for the object he discovered. Shai dove as well to help.

Together, the two men carried what looked to be a head-sized rock from the pit. It didn’t even look like an egg, for it had various seagrass and shells attached to it.

Lizzy swam over to Ben to refresh her breath, and if she lingered for a few moments longer than necessary for a sweet, tongue-filled kiss, well, who could blame her.

His eyes glinted with arousal and promise when she pulled away.

She smiled to herself at how readily his body responded to hers. It made her feel unbelievably heady and powerful, to be able to so easily incite passion in such a magnificent male.

But first things first. She joined Heba and Shai as they both held onto the rock. Carefully, she reached out to touch the object.

Nothing happened at first, just like when she held the egg at the conference. But as she ran her palms and fingers all over the treasure, she could feel it getting warmer. It even shimmied a little, as if the little dragon inside was stretching in reaction to her touch.

Wordlessly, she took one of Shai and Heba’s hands in each of her own and placed them on the egg, all four of their hands making contact.

The egg shimmied again, starting to glow from the inside out. Illuminating the outline of the baby dragon inside.

Shai and Heba shared an awed look. Then, they both looked back at the treasure in their hands with fierce protectiveness.

Let’s get out of here , Ben said.

Take the egg somewhere secret and safe. Hatch it as soon as you can and contact me at that time.

Without further ado, they all swam quickly to the surface. With Shai’s torpedo-like momentum, he shot out of the water like a leaping dolphin when they reached the top, transforming seamlessly into his sky dragon form with Heba on his back, and the egg clutched securely in one foreclaw.

Ben, too, shot through the surface with Lizzy in tow. Before she knew what happened, she was clinging to his neck as he climbed into the night sky with a couple flaps of those gigantic wings.

They flew in separate directions, Heba and Shai heading somewhere east while Ben took her back toward El Gouna. Lizzy craned her neck to look behind them at Shai and Heba’s retreating shapes. She wished she’d had more time with Ben’s friends. They somehow felt like her friends too, even after such little time together.

It’s as if she knew them already. Maybe in another life.

Before long, Ben landed on the hotel rooftop like a shot of moonlight, and Lizzy’s feet were back on solid ground.

“Not bad for a night’s work, hmm?” he murmured softly, holding her loosely in his arms, keeping her cozy with the heat of his body.

She wasn’t even wet anymore, the flight back having dried her, the toasty warmth from his scales like a built-in radiator. Never could she have imagined that flying Dragon Air could be so luxurious. How would she ever go back to traveling commercial now?

“Three down, six to go?” she asked eagerly.

“You’re not tired, Lizzy?” Ben murmured. “It’s been a whirlwind, to say the least.”

His eyes searched her face with concern.

“Are you kidding? This is the bomb!” she practically squealed.

“It’s the best adventure of my life! I almost wonder whether I chose field archeology so I could go treasure hunting as practice for just this. It’s all my dreams come true!”

He smiled indulgently down at her.

“Well, let’s refuel our stomachs and get some rest. Tomorrow, we head out early.”

“You already know what our next destination is?”

Lizzy could barely remember making their way back to their room. She was so enthralled with the dragon egg treasure hunts that the real world hardly mattered. Who noticed something as mundane as putting one foot in front of the other to walk down flights of stairs and down a couple of hallways? For all she knew, Lizzy floated from point A to point B.

“Not yet,” Ben said when they were back in their room and dinner had been ordered.

“But the rings should give me a clue in my dreams.”

Lizzy glanced at the rings in question, one on each of Ben’s middle fingers. They seemed to wink at her as she stared, as if saying, “hello, long time no see.” In her mind’s eye, she also had an impression of those same metallic bands with gemstone centers glittering on his dragon claws. Like intricate engravings etched directly into his talons.

“Are those rings high tech devices like your wrist band?” she asked, intrigued.

He gave her a strange look.

“No. They are artifacts of magic.”

After a pause, he added, “You gave them to me.”

She looked up into his eyes.

“I did?”

For the longest time, he didn’t answer.

And then—

“Yes. In another life.”

“Just how many lives have I had?” she asked, both curious and a little taken aback.

There was so much she didn’t know. Didn’t remember.

Didn’t want to remember.

“Did we know each other in all of them?” she asked hesitantly, feeling as if she was venturing onto dangerous grounds.

“I don’t know,” he said slowly.

She wondered if he truly didn’t know, or if he was debating how much to share with her.

“But for each of my consciousness, I have always known a version of you,” he finally revealed.

“Oh.”

She always said that when she didn’t know what else to say. She regarded him carefully, wondering whether she could ask more.

“Go ahead,” he husked, reading her mind.

As if he was bracing himself for her questions. Waiting for her to poke and prod old wounds, making them bleed again.

Goosebumps broke out all over her skin. She absently rubbed her arms to soothe them.

“Were we…always together in the past lives that we’d known each other?” she ventured.

“Yes,” he said simply.

She nodded, accepting the fact readily. The truth of it resonated through her very bones. Through every molecule.

Of course, they had always been together. Now that she’d met him, she couldn’t imagine not knowing him. It’s as if she’d always known him. Even better than she knew herself.

And yet…

She also didn’t know him. In so many ways, he was a mystery to her.

“Was I…”

She hesitated, not sure how to ask the question. And instinctively, she already knew the answer.

“Was I good to you?”

Because she had no doubt that he’d always been good to her. Ben was simply that sort of male. Anyone—friend, family, lover—would be fortunate to know him.

The arrival of room service delayed his answer. He took a few minutes to arrange their small feast and pile her plate with the best of everything, from the choiciest pieces of seafood and meats to a selection of exotic fruit and vegetables.

But Lizzy wasn’t going to let it go.

“Was I?” she persisted, even though she dreaded his response.

His crystalline gaze met hers.

“I have no regrets,” he enunciated clearly.

It was an answer of sorts. As much as she expected. It implied that, no, she hadn’t been good to him in her past lives. Yet, he never blamed her for being a bitch.

Suddenly, Lizzy lost her appetite.

Her stomach gurgled from hunger, but she felt weighed down by rocks. She pushed her plate away and stood up from their small dining table, crossing her arms over her belly, holding herself together.

“Lizzy…”

“Those dreams,” she murmured, facing away from him, eyes unfocused.

“The ones I’ve been having—they’re real, aren’t they? Memories.”

He didn’t reply.

“I think I’ve dreamed of you from my earliest awareness,” she said, more to herself, than to him.

“Tigers, leopards…a beautiful man I could never make out, only knowing that he was light itself…and…dragons…”

She huffed a humorless laugh.

“I’ve been dreaming of you all this time.”

He was still and silent, but for a slight shakiness to his breaths, as if he was growing agitated.

As if it hurt him to hear her words.

“Why would I take for granted something— someone —so good and pure? So magical?” she whispered to herself. Furious at herself. At all those past incarnations who treated him wrong.

Gods don’t love .

It could have been Ben’s voice; it could have been her own. The thought echoed in her mind like a law laid down. It was simply a truth of the Universe. As sure as the earth was round.

But I tried…I tried to love you , she thought desperately, wanting to believe she wasn’t entirely a horrible excuse of a human being.

Well, she wasn’t human. Perhaps that was the point.

I grew a soul when you died as the white tiger. The only god cursed with a soul. I tried to live as a human on earth as the fox spirit, but it was only a facsimile of humanity, not the real thing.

And then…

And then, I broke out of my own prison, the Celestial Realm, to finally be mortal. To experience mundane human life as three average mortals sharing one soul.

She turned slowly, her eyes glittering with unshed tears, bits and pieces of memories coming together in her mind.

You taught me to love you all over again. Just by being you. Always you.

But I…

She frowned, concentrating hard. Her thoughts were getting scattered again. She was suddenly so dizzy she swayed off balance.

Ben was there to steady her, one arm wrapping securely around her waist, the other supporting her back as his hand cupped the base of her neck.

Lizzy felt weightless in his arms, whereas she was so heavy before. Heavy with shame and regret. Heavy with self-loathing. These were emotions she’d never experienced before in this life.

She didn’t recall the details yet, but she knew enough to feel heartbroken by their past. Tears trickled silently from the corners of her eyes as she stared up at him.

I’m sorry , she thought.

I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…