Hearts of the Sky Intertwine Ch. 04

A note from the author: just to clear some questions that you might have. First off, The house is not made out of the tree. instead it is built into the branches of the tree

Second, there are a couple of phrases that might not make any sence to you. I have included a translation for everyone at the end of the chapter. Hope you enjoy the chapter.

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Leihiel froze. That screech could only mean one thing, that Ariana was conning to try and take him as a mate, again. Well, she's out of luck he thought to himself.

"Shit!" he muttered, stepping away from Azurina.

"What's wrong, Leihiel. And what was that noise?"

"That noise, beautiful one, was the screech of Blood-talon, the mount of the eagle riders leader."

"If she is a rider, like your mother, why are you cursing her arrival?"

"There is no time to explain. I need to go to my mother's study." Leihiel said, turning to sprint down the hallway.

Azurina caught his arm before he could step out of her reach. "What is going on." she asked, getting scared

"I'll explain later. Please, my love, stay here. This is something I need to deal with."

"No. I will not stay behind while you face something that has you so scared. We're future mates. We face these things together...."

"That's just it, that rider out there has tried to take me her mate for the past six years. When she finds out that I have found you, my true mate, she will go into a rage! Who knows what she will do at that point."

Azurina's face went pale. "You mean that I almost lost you before I even met you?" she asked in a weak voice.

Leihiel took her in his arms, wrapping her in a tight embrace. He felt her arms circle around his waist, trying to hold him to her. "You would of never lost me, my love. The first time I met her, I knew that she wasn't the one for me, there was no spark, not like us." He loosened his hold on her, and stepped back.

"I've got to go. I need to be at my mother's study before she lands. I beg you, stay here." Leihiel turned away again, only to have his arm caught once more. He turned back to face Azurina.

"You will never have to face this alone. Rider or not, she does not scare me." she said, a small smile on her face. "After all, who is big enough to ever scare a Dragoness? I will stand by your side for the rest of my life." Azurina told him calmly, placing her free hand on his face.

"Is there any way I can talk you out of this?" Leihiel asked, looking deep into his loves eyes. He reached up and placed his hand on top of hers, pulling it to his lips and kissing it.

"Not even Wild Horses can drag me away."

"Then lets go." He said, taking her hand and pulling her into a run. Maybe with my mother and father there to protect Azurina, Ariana won't try anything. I can only hope.

***

Elana had just finished re-lacing her dress and putting it on when her office door slammed open, Leihiel and Azurina barreling in.

"You heard it too? Elana asked, pulling a bone handled come out of thin air and began running it through her silver mane, removing all the knots.

"Yes, mother, We did."

Elana turned to look at Azurina. "Let me guess. He said that he needed to deal with this himself?" she asked, throwing the comb into the air, making it disappear.

"Yes, revered one."

"Oh stop that. You're my son's mate. You can call me Elana or mother, whichever is more comfortable for you."

"Yes, rav..... I mean mother. He asked me to stay in my room. And I proceeded to tell him that he will never have to face this woman along ever again."

"That's sweet of you, but you should of stayed behind. This rider has a temper."

"I don't care. I love Leihiel, and I will stand by his side through thick and thin." Tears welled up in Azurina's eyes, and she wiped them away quickly. "I will not lose him, especially since I just found him."

"But..."

Let her stay Neheil said. She deserves to be here too. Their love is strong, and they need to be near each other until their mating is finalized.

"What do you mean?" Azurina asked, slightly lost.

Before Neheil could say anything, Leihiel crossed the room to stand in front of his love. "I want to give you something," he said to her "Incase anything goes wrong."

"What?"

Leihiel held up a pendant on a silver chain. "Every male dragon who can shift his form has a betrothal pendant. Each one is different, the shape of it fitting the dragons personality, and matches the color of both his scales and his eyes. They are not given to a female lightly, as it is a promise of the future. But through it, every betrothed can feel where their mate is." He paused, and took a deep breath. "I want you to have mine." He said, laying it down in Azurina's open hand.

Azurina studied the pendant for a second. It was a front view of a silver dragon, it's wings meeting at a point by one front claw. The other claw was at the top of a stone that matched Leihiel's eyes. Set in the eye sockets of the dragon head was two smaller stones the same color as the larger stone. The way it was shaped, it looked like the wings cradled the large stone with the head and claw keeping it in place, and the silver was carved so that the dragon looked like it had scales. Azurina looked up from the pendant, tears re-emerging in her eyes.

"Leihiel, I don't know what to say..."

"Do you accept it?" He asked, worry clearly apparent in both his voice and his face.

"Of course I do." she said, closing her fingers around the pendant. "Did you honestly think that I would say no?"

"Let me put it on you then." He said, taking hold of the chain and lifting out of Azurina's hand. Stepping behind her, he moved her hair to the side and secured the chain around her throat, letting his fingers caress the back of her neck. The pendant settled into the hollow of her throat. She expected it to be cold, but instead it was almost the same temperature as her own skin. She stroked it with her fingertips, feeling the silver of the pendant, thinking that she could make out the scales in the silver.

Azurina jumped slightly when she heard talons scraping on the landing balcony. Leihiel shifted how he was standing so that he stood in front of her. Just as he stopped moving, the cover on the balcony opening snapped open, and there stood the most beautiful Female Azurina had ever seen. She was short, standing about 5'2" to Azurina's 5'11". Her white blond hair, bound in a tight braid, hung past her waist, and her eyes were a beautiful golden color. On her arm sat an eagle, apparently her mount in his smaller size. Azurina honestly didn't know how such a delicate creature could be scary.

"Ah, Lady Elana. So good to see a sister rider." The female said, her voice a sweet soprano that flowed like silk. She rushed across the room and gave Elana a hug. Her eagle flapped away to land on one of Neheil's spikes.

"Lady Ariana. What a surprise. We weren't expecting you for another week." Elana replied, barely returning the hug.

"Oh, I just had to come early, to see my darling Leihiel and his family." Azurina felt her anger flash, and she had to take a deep breath to calm it. "Speaking of Leihiel, where is he?"

"I am over here, Lady Ariana." he said, the anger in his voice barely controlled.

"Ah, Leihiel!" she said, turning and walking towards him. She paused mid-stride when she saw Azurina peaking around Leihiel's shoulder. "Oh, how rude of me!" Ariana said. "I see you have a guest, and a timid one at that. It's ok sweetie, I won't hurt you. I'm Ariana"

Timid my ass! Azurina thought to Leihiel The only thing that is keeping her in one piece is you standing in front of me. How dare she think that you are hers! Azurina fumed, her anger flaring.

Just be careful. I don't want to lose you.

She couldn't hurt me if she wanted to. Scales are stronger then eagle talons. Azurina reassured him as she stepped around Leihiel. "Greetings Lady Ariana." she said through gritted teeth with a curtsey.

"Oh, how sweet! A servant that knows a lady when she sees one. Why don't you go fetch us some refreshments while Lady Elana and I talk....." Ariana pause as her eyes fell on the pendant that Leihiel had just placed around Azurina's neck. "And if you would please return my Pendant, I will not be forced to kill you. Good help is always so hard to find."

Azurina stiffened, wanting so much to snap at the female for jumping to conclusions about her. Instead she took another deep breath, calming her anger before she began talking. "I'm sorry, but this pendant does not belong to you, Lady Ariana. It was Leihiel's to give."

"Yes, but once he comes to his senses, he will be my mate, and that is a betrothal pendant. He would never mate to a lowly servant."

"And what makes you assume that I am a servant, Lady Ariana."

"Well obviously, you're a female. And I didn't see any other dragons around here, so you are not a rider. So you must be a servant, as there are no female offspring of any riders and their dragons."

Elana, Leihiel, you might want to step back. And Neheil, is there any way you can move to the side a little so I can transform?

Of course, Azurina. All three said, and moved as she asked. They did it subtly and slowly as she talked, so that Ariana didn't notice.

"Lady Ariana, you are sorely mistaking if you think that I am a servant. If fact, I outrank you, as I am a dragoness."

"Impossible! No female offspring exist!" Ariana yelled, a little wild eyed.

"If you don't believe me, watch for yourself." Azurina said, stretching out her arms as she accessed her magic. The air around her took on a blue shimmer as she shifted forms. When the shimmering disappeared, a beautiful blue Dragoness stood where Azurina had stood. The late afternoon sunlight shimmered off the scales of her arched neck, giving her a blue aura.

"I thought that I ki... I mean that every female dragonet was killed at birth."

You were mistaken on that count then, Lady Ariana. As you can see, I am a dragoness, and I am Leihiel's true mate. Azurina's form began to shimmer again as she returned to her Elvin form.

"How dare You! It must be some trickery! The prophecy clearly said that.....

The prophecy says, Neheil's baritone voice boomed through the room. That Our son, The son of the Drache Reiter's leader, shall take a Daughter of the Sky as his mate. That applies to a dragoness who can change forms, not to an eagle rider.

"It is time that you leave, Ariana." Elana said, all the pleasantries that she faked now gone from her face and voice. "Leihiel has a mate now, so you have no reason to stay."

"I will not give up Leihiel without a fight. Schicken dieser hexe von Klaus und flamme zu mein verlies, verflucht mit schmerz." Ariana chanted, a gold globe appearing in between her hands. She then lobbed the globe the dragoness.

"NO!" Leihiel shouted. He pushed Azurina out of the way just before the globe hit her, making it hit him instead. He fell to the floor, twisting and writhing in pain, and disappeared.

"LEIHIEL!!!" Azurina cried out from where she lay sprawled on the floor. Tears streamed openly down her face. Neheil roared in anger, and Elana clung to her dragons neck for support.

"You have not seen the last of me" Ariana threatened. "I now have part of what I came here for. By the end of this war, I shall have all of it. And mark my words, bitch, you have started a war that you can not win."

Azurina got to her feet, glaring at the rider in front of her. "You may have Leihiel your prisoner, but I will do everything in my power to get him back. He will never accept you as his mate!"

"We shall see, little girl. We shall see." with that she leapt onto her eagle, who at some time during the chaos had returned to the flight balcony and resumed his normal size. Together they took off through the sky, heading towards home and towards their prisoner.

As she watched the eagle fly away, Azurina sank to her knees. Leihiel, the dragon that she had met only a little while ago, the dragon that she had fallen in love with, was now in the clutches of the one person that he most feared, and she was not sure if she could save him.

***

Leihiel woke up in a dark cell. Every breath he took seared his lungs, every movement had him writhing in pain. He fought hard to stay conscious, but it was a loosing battle. Drifting in and out of awareness, he alternated between moments of wracking pain and soul-soothing relief.

In one of his moments of pain, he heard the door slam open and felt himself be lifted off the ground with great care. Clenching his jaw, he endured the pain as he was moved. After what seemed like an eternity, he was settled onto a soft surface, and he heard soft chanting over him, though at first he could not make out the words or the voice that chanted them. As the pain eased, he could faintly make out the words"Leichtigkeit die schmerz, Heilin die verletzt. Leichtigkeit die schmerz, Heilin die varletzt. Leichtigkeit die schmerz, Heilin die verletzt. Letichtigkeit die schmerz, heilin die varletzt. Leichtigkeit die schmerz, Heilin die verletzt." He gritted his teeth as the last of the pain left his body, then took a deep, pain-free breath. He opened his eyes, expecting to see the face of his blue haired beloved standing over him.

The face he saw instead struck fear in his heart. White blonde hair hung around a tiny face, gold eyes filled with worry looked down at him.

"Leihiel, love, are you okay?" Ariana asked, her soprano voice going up two octaves.

"You are not my love." Leihiel said, trying to sit up, only to have his shoulder pressed down into the mattress again.

"The witch just has you under a spell. It's a good thing that you took that spell instead of her. This way I can figure out what the spell is so I can break it."

"I am not under any enchantments. Just let me go."

"I can't do that, my love. You have to stay safe while I fight this war. I can't risk losing you."

"for the last time, I am not your love. My mate is back with my parents, where I belong." Leihiel struggled under Ariana's hand, trying to get up.

Ariana sighed, and shook her head. "I see that the enchantment is stronger than I thought. I'm gonna have to chain you up until I can figure out what spell she used so I can break it." she snapped her fingers, and a servant came running. "Bring the chain and ankle manacle. Make sure they are strong enough to hold a full grown dragon."

"Yes, m-m-ma'am" the servant stuttered, then took off.

"So you just intend to ignore me that I am not under any sort of spell or enchantment and lock me up here?"

"I am not locking you up, I am keeping you here for your own protection. That witch has some sort of plan, I know it, and it somehow involves you. I have to keep her from sinking her claws into you." She paused as the servant came back carrying the chain and manacle. "Hold him down while I put this on."

Leihiel fought with all the strength he could summon at that moment, and it took the servant and three guards to hold him down in order for Ariana to put the chain around his ankle. "It's no use, he is too distressed. We need to sedate him." Ariana chirped. Leihiel clamped his mouth shut, but felt his jaw get wrenched open anyway to have a bitter potion poured down his throat.

Suddenly, his body relaxed and ignored his demands for it to fight, and his mind became clouded and fuzzy. He felt himself drifting into a unwanted peaceful sleep. The last thing he saw in his mind's eye was Azurina, his mate, his heart of the sky, sitting where he pushed her, crying and calling his name. His heart stuttered a beat, and felt like it was breaking as he blacked out.

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Another note from the author: as I said in the beginning, there were some phrases that you didn't recognized. Here is a translation of all the spells mentioned in this section of the story.

-Schicken dieser hexe von klaus und flamme zu mein verkies, verfluct mit schmerz.: Send this witch of talon and flame to my dungeon, cursed with pain

-Leichtigkeit die schmerz, Heilin die verletzt.: Ease the pain, Heal the hurt (chanted five times)