Legend of the Touched Read online

  The Dragons Saga

  Legend of the Touched

  by J.F. Jenkins

  Published by Astraea Press

  Smashwords Edition

  Copyright © 2012 J.F. JENKINS

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, and events are fictitious in every regard. Any similarities to actual events and persons, living or dead, are purely coincidental. Any trademarks, service marks, product names, or named features are assumed to be the property of their respective owners, and are used only for reference. There is no implied endorsement if any of these terms are used. Except for review purposes, the reproduction of this book in whole or part, electronically or mechanically, constitutes a copyright violation.

  THE DRAGONS SAGA

  LEGEND OF THE TOUCHED

  Copyright © 2012 J.F. JENKINS

  ISBN 978-1-62135-040-8

  Cover Art Designed by For the Muse Designs

  Edited by April Gardner

  For my family.

  Chapter One

  The Oceina

  Tai was the most beautiful woman in the world, Darien was sure of it. On nights like tonight when he couldn't sleep, he watched her rest, hoping the peace she had would rub off on him. Worry always kept him awake these days, but who could blame him? His country was on the brink of war, and it was his duty as its leader to protect the people. Only he didn't know how, and it seemed his "help" would rather watch him crash and burn instead of offer assistance. Frustrating to say the least.

  "Go back to bed," Tai mumbled. Her body didn't stir though. In fact, her eyes were still closed as she lay on her side, facing away from him.

  "Did my thinking wake you again?" he whispered.

  "Yes, and I'm so tired honey. Can you please wait until later? You're not going to be able to save the world at three in the morning anyway." Her tone was terse. He'd really done it now.

  He reached over her side and rubbed her stomach in slow circles. "You're right babe. I'm sorry."

  "You're not going to fall back asleep any time soon, are you?" She sighed and shifted her weight so she was now on her back. Her blue eyes lit up in the faint glow of the moon coming in through the window.

  "Nope." He pulled a few strands of her dark hair away from her face, tucking them behind her ear.

  "Which means I won't be either."

  Exactly what he had been trying to avoid, but he also knew it wasn't easy. When two people literally shared their thoughts, it was natural to fall in-sync with one another. A blessing and a curse for the Dragon Lord and his wife.

  "You should. You need as much rest as possible for Ethan," he said softly and continued to rub her stomach in an effort to lull her back to sleep. Maybe if he appeased the baby inside of her womb, he'd be able to relax her too.

  She grumbled a little, eyes closing, and he thought for a moment it was working until they opened again. "Yes, growing a baby does take a lot of my energy, but I can't sleep with you tossing and turning and going back to thinking. I can still hear everything from your head in mine. As sexy as your voice is, you're topic of choice isn't all that appealing. I don't know how many nightmares about war I've had recently."

  Oops. He hadn't thought about that. Putting on a smile in an effort to be charming he leaned in and kissed her cheek. "Then I'll have to think about you instead."

  "That's sweet honey, but now I'm wide awake anyway. So you get to read my text book to me and help me study for my test in the morning."

  Darien winced. "Can you skip and sleep in instead? And I'll cuddle you too."

  "I know being a Dragon Lord's wife means I'll have it made for life, but I like having something normal to do. And getting out of the house is always a plus. I need to remember I'm human too."

  He gave her another soft kiss on the cheek, slowly trailing them to her lips. Being normal was important to him too, and he didn't want to take that away from her. The two hadn't been together for long. A handful of months at the most. She'd been uprooted from her entire life because of him, and the least he could do was help her to adjust as smoothly as possible to this new way of living. He wanted her taken care of, and the doctor had said to make sure she got a lot of sleep to help lessen the complications of the pregnancy. Trying to entice her was worth a shot.

  "I could change your mind. How can you say no to this face?" He gave her a small pout, making his sparkling blue eyes go wide in an effort to be as adorable as possible.

  Tai raised an eyebrow and stared at him coldly. "No."

  With a heavy and over dramatic sigh, he got out of bed so he could find his wife's school bag. I tried.

  Yes, but I'm so not in the mood.

  That's not what I was going for anyway. Humming quietly, he grabbed the only textbook from the bag he could find. It pleased him to know she was at least listening to him a little. There used to be three or four books in there, but he insisted she not carry so many for fear of hurting herself. Oceina History. I could give you a better account than this book ever could.

  I'm sure, but it wouldn't help me with my test. Her eyes followed his every move.

  I know, just saying.

  That you're ancient! The smirk on her face was worth taking the jab for. How he loved her smile.

  "If we have to get technical, I'm seventy-two, not ancient. Physically we're the same age. Ancient would be my grandpa. He's pushing three-hundred," he said.

  "I know. It's fun to fluster you, that's all."

  He stuck out his tongue, real mature, but he couldn't help it. She deserved it. Opening up her book, he searched through the pages for a bookmark of some kind. "What chapter are you on?"

  "Five."

  "Five," he echoed and flipped to the page. "Year four-hundred and the scientific revolution. You really want me to read this Tai? I can summarize it in about three sentences for you. Humans figured out the dragons lived and died like any other creature, thus we lost some of our credibility as divine beings, and modern medicine discovered the wonders of penicillin. Art became more about being realistic and anatomically correct than about feelings and – "

  "Darien? Shut up and read please."

  With a nod he did just that, going through every word of the text slowly in his most quiet and soothing tone. It took a little more than a page for her to doze off again. He on the other hand still wasn't tired. Not quite. His eyes were getting dry and his body ached, demanding he lay down again. As his head hit the pillow though, he felt a second wind of energy – again. He flipped to the last chapter of the book: Year one-thousand and beyond, outlining all of the modern advances brought about by his grandfather Lucca which were later perfected by his late father Orion. Of course the textbook didn't speak of them by name, but Darien knew.

  When the war with the fire dragons, the Inero, finally came and went, what would the new books say about his rule in the twelve-hundredth year? Would he even be alive to see it? Hopefully, but the lord of the fire dragons was more than a little crazy.

  How can he say the Oceina are a mistake? The idea was unfathomable to him. The man was talking about committing genocide on all of the water dragons. If only more of Darien's people believed him, then he could do more.

  "You're doing it again." Tai groaned.

  You're beautiful. You're smart. You're amazing, and I'm the luckiest guy in the world. She rolled towards him so he could put his arms around her. And he was the luckiest guy in the world. Despite everything they'd been through, she was still by his side, and now she was almost three months pregnant. Everything was changing so quickly. Hopefully he'd be able to keep up.

  Chapter Two

  The Inero

  Jason sighed, looking over the letter he'd written to his ex-stepmother Navi. He ripped out the page. Folding
the paper three times in half, he then tucked it away into his desk drawer. His wife Gwen could see it, but he'd prefer she didn't. Not because he didn't trust her or had anything to hide, but they were still his private thoughts. While he may have written them in letter form, the contents would never be sent. First of all, he didn't know where Navi had escaped to when she fled from his father Lynx, and from Inero. Secondly because he still held onto the hope that he would see the woman again in person and they could catch up that way. Still, he had to deal with all of his feelings and frustrations somehow. Writing in a diary felt too girlie for him. A letter made him feel a lot stronger.

  If Gwen read all of his thoughts, however, all she would do is worry more. Why bait her for more pain? He also wanted to understand things better before bombarding her with any potential problems. The two had more than enough to deal with when it came to figuring out their complicated marriage. They'd left to honeymoon nearly a month and a half ago, and still had yet to be intimate. Jason was still pure. I don't want to rush her, but I want to know how to give her more confidence. Navi would know what to do. She was great with this kind of stuff.

  You love her don't you? The ex-wife of your father, the sultry vixen, you know exactly why he wanted her because you lust for her too. The voice was back in his head. Sometimes he thought it was gone. It would be quiet for days in a row, only to pop back into his life at random. At first, he thought it was only his sub-conscious coming through, but it reminded him too much of when he spoke with Matthias through telepathy. It didn't come from inside of him, and it didn't sound like his voice. To make things more complicated he could feel it trying to persuade his actions.

  No, I don't want Navi. I've never thought of her like that. Chris better be treating her right and keeping her safe.

  I bet you could treat her better. You know you think impurely of her. Don't lie. You've always thought she was beautiful. She was the first woman you ever wanted, the voice insisted.

  Okay, yes, I think she's gorgeous, but I don't want her anymore. It was only pure physical attraction, nothing more. That's normal right?

  Very.

  So then why give me a hard time about it?

  What will your wife think? She's nothing like her. Aren't they best friends even?

  Shut up, and stop trying to cause problems.

  I'm not meaning to, but if you want me to stop and get out of your head, then you should mate with your wife. That will solve all of your problems. I will be released. You won't have to suffer from this insanity anymore and then you can reassure her all the more. She's insecure because she knows she can't compare to this Navi woman. Your wife doesn't have to know about your thoughts to know how much knowledge she lacks in the art of seduction.

  There it went again, trying to persuade him to make love to Gwen. Not like he didn't want to. Of course he did. He loved her, she loved him, and he'd been emotionally ready for a while—physically for even longer. She, on the other hand, not so much; he was okay with waiting until the time was right for them both. A concept not many Inero practiced, but Jason was a gentleman.

  Gwen was starting to give off signals that she was ready. Still, the issue was never pushed, and he wasn't sure if he dare want to try making a move again. The last time he'd attempted to, it led to a rather awkward hour of them spending time as far away from each other as possible. He didn't want to go through that again. There was still a lot of time for them to figure things out. They didn't need to rush. Maybe this voice was something he was creating to help cope with the wait. Whatever the case, he didn't like it. It only made him want to be with her less. Too much pressure rested on his shoulders.

  A lot will change. Our relationship, her genetics will become like a dragon's, we'll share our thoughts with each other. I'm not sure I'm ready for all of those things to happen at once. But the hormones were driving him crazy. And his heightened sense of smell didn't help much. All day long he smelled her skin and noticed the delicious scent of cinnamon caramel on her. Those scents meant lust and flirtation, and saying no to her subconscious desires was getting harder to do every day. But he still had to wait, because any time they talked about sex, Gwen only expressed fear.

  He shook his head and started water for a shower. With how my father treats women, I'm not surprised. She probably wonders how much like him I'll be. His father, Lynx, the Great Lord of the Inero, was not a good husband. He'd forced Navi into marrying him, along with hundreds of other women, cheated on all of them, and treated them more like possessions than people. It's why Navi had run away from the man as soon as she was able, and now, hopefully, was safe in the loving arms of her bodyguard Chris. Jason was positive the only reason Lynx wanted her back was simply because she was his prize.

  Sadly, his father's philosophy on relationships was becoming more common in the country of Inero. After all, if the Great Lord condoned it, then why shouldn't other dragons do the same thing? And since dragons were only born male, it made it easier for the men to treat the human women as nothing more than breeding tools.

  If she's nothing more than a tool to you, then what's stopping you from mating with her? The voice said.

  Jason stuck his fingers in his ears to try and drown it out with his own voice. "I'm not listening anymore."

  Chapter Three

  The Inero

  Matthias entered his father's office. As usual he was being called into an important meeting. Nothing out of the ordinary for him, seeing as how he was the head of the military, even if he was only seventeen years old. His powerful aggressive magic lead to a natural gift, one that was hard to ignore. And why should his father, the Great Lord of the fire dragons, blow off Matthias' talents based on his age? Matt liked to think of himself as mature. After all, he was married, a father, and had always been obedient and loyal to his country. Sometimes old people were too stuck up, and his father Lynx recognized this.

  He knocked on the door like he always did before entering. When the door opened, he was surprised to find another man already in the office speaking with the Great Lord. He slowly started to back out, feeling more than a little embarrassed that he had just intruded. That was how things were always done before. More often than not, Lynx would tell him if he was seeing someone else too so Matt could be prepared.

  "Don't go," Lynx said.

  He stopped and entered, but didn't go further than the entryway. "I didn't realize you were with someone else."

  "I should have said something, my apologies. Though I do want you two to meet." He motioned for Matt to take a seat next to the stranger.

  Looking the man over, he realized they were with a foreigner. The man wasn't of Inero blood. Matt could tell because he had dark brown skin instead of the Inero's golden tan. In fact, if he didn't know better he would say this stranger was from the earth dragon's tribe – the Terran. While some of the earth dragons came to live in Inero along the border between their two nations, there was a huge distinction between the two. On even more rare occasions, an Inero man would mate with a Terran female. This man could have been the result of such a pairing, but Matt doubted it. Especially given a lot of the dealings his father was making with the other tribe.

  "This is Taylor. He was recently voted in as the Great Lord of the Terran," Lynx said with a small gesture. "Lord Taylor, this is my son Matthias. He is one of the Touched."

  The Dragon Lord of the earth nodded as if understanding and offered Matt his hand. Matthias took it and was amazed at how timid the man's hand felt inside of his own. Most rulers and officials he'd met had good, strong, shakes. Not Taylor. His was almost limp and his hands were cold and clammy. He must have been nervous. This made Matt question whether or not he could fully trust the man. Nerves often resulted in flakiness.

  "Lord Taylor also has a son who is Touched. It's one of the reasons he was voted in. After all, anyone who knows the prophecies knows the Touched will bring about the new peace through the coming of the Great Dragon." Lynx spoke as if this were common knowledge, and wh
ile it should have been, most of dragon kind did not study the holy book as deeply as they should have. Matt was guilty of not picking it up for a long time. He was going to start reading it again soon to get a better perspective of these prophecies he kept hearing so much about.

  Matt nodded to be polite. He didn't understand the Terran too well. They were drastically different from the Inero. Every five dragon years a new leader was elected in their tribe. The Inero ruled through the family. Lynx had been chosen by his father, and some day he would choose another. The word of the Inero Lord was law, period. Nobody could contest it or they'd be considered unloyal to the nation. Depending on the issue being disagreed upon, this could result in severe punishment. In the Terran tribe, however, they had divisions of leadership and representatives. It took a long time for an executive decision to be made there. The last Terran Lord had been fairly aggressive, so Matt had respect for him. He wasn't quite sure if this new one would make the cut.

  "As you know, I have two Touched sons. Quite the anomaly let me say, but I am happy to be so blessed," Lynx said.

  "Yes, I would be as well," Taylor said.

  Matt gave a smile, in an attempt to participate in them talking about him as though he weren't there. Being Touched and a twin, he got used to it even if it was dehumanizing at times. It came with the life. God blessed him with extra, powerful, magic, so of course that would put him and his brother in the spotlight. They had nearly one hundred times more magic than a normal dragon. On top of that, twins were nearly impossible in the dragon species, identical ones even more so. Something about how the eggs formed in the womb didn't allow for it without complications which usually resulted in the death of one.

  "He is the father of the female dragon," Lynx added.

  Taylor raised both eyebrows and stared at Matt. "I'm having a hard time believing it still. Please forgive my skepticism."