FM Chapter 16

Remember this is an original novel written by Addis of ExR. This is not a translation.

Chapter Sixteen

With his skin color back to its normal pale tone, and the only thing remaining from his awakening the horns above his ears, Kai awoke in a soft bed with all the memories of the day before. As he opened his eyes, blinking at the bright sunlight streaming in through the window, Kai’s face flushed a deep red as he remembered what had happened. Putting his hands over his face, Kai groaned into them, embarrassed beyond reason from his actions.

He remembered that everything had started due to the intense pain echoing from his back, then that sweet smell and soft touch had somehow dulled the pain. When he had looked up at Cian, all he could see was that soft smile that seemed to tell him everything was going to be alright. He had spoke such embarrassing words before biting Cian like an animal. But the taste of his blood had been beyond his imagination. Like the sweetest of wines hidden away from the world for centuries, it had flowed down his throat like a balm for his soul.

How could he tell Cian that every single one of his actions had been made on instinct alone? That he actually hadn’t rationalized anything before he did it.

Thinking of this, Kai slowly reached his hand towards his head and felt the horns that had formed a circlet. They were rough to the touch, but warm. When his wings had retracted after he drank Cian’s blood, he realized that more memories had come back to him.

Kai remembered his life on Earth. It wasn’t the best life, but he realized that being killed and sent to this world was probably the best thing that could have ever happened to him. Although he remembered his life before transmigrating, within his core, there were memories still locked. This meant there were sealed memories he hadn’t even known of in his past life either. Was this not actually his second life? Had he lived a third time as well?

With those sealed memories in his core, there was a high possibility of this being the truth. The unsealed memories helped Kai gain back his personality in full, but he only had a little information on what he was exactly.

He knew he was a dragon, but how to control those powers and change his form were an entirely different story. He felt that if he tried now, he would definitely lose control just like the day before. Would Cian be able to stop him again if he did?

Thinking of Cian, Kai stopped pondering his memories and looked around the room for the older male. From what little memory he had of his dragon form, Kai knew there was something different about Cian from everyone else, but he didn’t know what was different.

Only Cian knew that they were mates and that the bite from the night before had actually furthered their bond, making it more concrete.

With his search not finding Cian anywhere near him, Kai slowly sat up in the soft bed. His back still ached with a dull pain and his head throbbed from the memories that had flooded his brain. Closing his eyes, Kai looked in on to his core. Before his transformation the day before, he had been somewhere between the beginning of the Vortex realm and the middle of it. However, now, he had skyrocketed to be in the peak Vortex realm.

Hadn’t Cian mentioned that his power rising too quickly could cause a backlash? Is that why his power had exploded the day before? What would have happened if Cian hadn’t been there?

Shuddering at the thought, Kai left his consciousness and stared down at his pale hands. He remembered that his skin had changed an uncountable amount of times but it was the same as it had always been. Smooth, unblemished, as pale as it could be. Then Kai noticed something that had not been there before on his left hand. Starting from the tip of his ring finger, all the way to his wrist were iridescent colored scales that sparkled in the light. They faded after reaching his wrist, but it was highly obvious.

“What are you doing?”

Jumping from shock at the soft voice, Kai looked up to find Cian standing at the door, a plate full of food in his hand. Cian’s long golden hair sparkled in the morning light and his green eyes twinkled mysteriously as they stared down at Kai. Remembering the beautiful golden wings that Cian had made Kai want to reach out to feel each individual feather with his fingertips. Would they be glossy, or would they be soft?

Cian stared at Kai, who was staring at him with unfocussed eyes. As if remembering what exactly he had been doing before Cian walked in, Kai held out his left hand to Cian, simply stating, “Look.”

His eyebrow lifting to his hairline and his curiosity piqued, Cian walked forward, setting Kai’s breakfast down on the table beside the bed before reaching out to take Kai’s left hand in his. Both of them shuddered when Cian’s fingers came in contact with Kai’s skin. They both felt as if they had been zapped. Their eyes locked in on each other, but Cian slowly moved his eyes away until they examined Kai’s left hand.

Just as Kai had noticed the scales that had formed on his finger, Cian noticed them as well. Eyebrows coming together in concentration, Cian ran his finger softly down the scales, careful to not go the opposite way and cause Kai pain. At his touch, the once iridescent scales changed to an indigo blue that sucked in all the light of the area. When Cian removed his fingers, the color changed back to where it almost blended in naturally to Kai’s skin.

Cian glanced up at Kai, but Kai had his eyes turned toward the wall not looking at him. His face was flushed pink and he was biting his bottom lip. With his head turned slightly away from Cian, the light from the room glinted off of the horns above his ears. Noticing them for the first time, Cian reached out to touch them.

The contact made both of them tremble even worse than they had from the contact of their hands. Kai’s teeth dug further into his bottom lip and he closed his eyes tightly, not daring to look at Cian. Seeing the flush on Kai’s cheeks deepen in color caused Cian to lick his lips. He wanted to tease the younger man even further.

Gently, as if petting a wild beast, Cian trailed his finger from the base of one of the horns all the way to where the tip met the back of his skull. The horn was black in color, and with Kai’s white hair covering them, they were almost unnoticeable. While the horns had a rough texture, unlike the silky scales on his hand, they were just as warm. Cian could feel Kai’s heartbeat thudding through them.

Knowing that if he teased Kai any longer than that, he himself would be the one in the most ‘danger’, Cian took his hands away and stood up. Kai slowly opened his eyes as he peeked up at Cian from beneath his black eyelashes. The soft, but edged smile that met his gaze caused him to shudder once more.

Reaching out with his large hand, Cian trailed his fingers down Kai’s flushed cheek softly before whispering, “Eat.” Then he turned around and walked out of the room.

Cian continued walking until he was outside of the cabin, his breathing coming out in rough pants, his face flushed an imperceptible red. Looking down towards his feet, Cian saw that, between his legs, a rather noticeable bulge was displayed for the world to see.

Groaning, Cian whispered to himself, “What am I going to do?”

~~~

Later that day, Cian took Kai back to the Academy. Since the only way back was by using Cian’s spatial teleportation, Kai had to cling to Cian the entire way back. As soon as the purple mist faded, Kai jumped away from Cian as if the contact of their skin was burning him.

Sighing, Cian knew that he could not do anything about the younger man’s mindset. Although Cian knew that they were fated mates, the boy did not, and he was confused about the feelings he felt. They were not natural feelings developed over time, but rather they felt like they were forced onto him and Cian did not want Kai to feel pressured or pushed into a relationship with him. At that time, Cian wholly decided to let Kai take his time and that he would wait for an eternity for Kai’s acceptance.

At the Academy, Sitross was waiting for them in the Headmaster’s office. He was sorting through the piles of papers that Cian left haphazardly. As soon as they walked in, Sitross noticed the difference in Kai.

“What happened?” Sitross was amazed at the difference in the aura coming from Kai. It was as calm as it used to be, but it felt like it had multiplied by a thousand. It was a strength no normal person could handle.

Cian coughed into his fist before explaining to Sitross about Kai being a dragon. After the explanation, with eyes wide, Sitross reached out to touch Kai’s left hand like he had the day before. However, this time, for some reason Kai felt disgusted by the touch and jumped away from the old man to hide behind Cian.

Realizing what he had done unconsciously, Kai’s eyes widened, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. I just…”

That was when Sitross noticed the light bruising along Cian’s neck. With eyes widening in comprehension, Sitross smiled fondly at the younger man. “It’s nothing, I’m sorry for touching you without permission.” He reached his hand out once again, “May I?”

Slowly, Kai put his right hand into Sitross’. He kept his left hand clutched to his heart. Unconsciously, he was shielding the dragon scales that had covered that hand. It was as if no one was allowed to touch them but Cian.

Using his senses to search the new core inside Kai, Sitross just continued to mutter, “Amazing. Absolutely amazing.” As soon as he moved his hand away from Kai, his expression turned serious. “You two must absolutely never mention this to anyone. No one must find out about Kai’s true form, do you understand?”

Both of them nodded, knowing the severity of the situation. Kai being a Dragon of Time was even worse than him having twelve Elemental manifestations. No one would stop at trying to find Kai. And not all of the intentions would be for the better.

“I suggest you meet some of the other students in the Academy, but I also recommend that the two of you leave the Academy as soon as Kai’s core stabilizes. You must not be found out.”

Cian nodded, replying, “Yes, master.” This was the first time in many years that the two of them did not bicker at one another. This was Kai’s life at stake and neither of them would argue about what was right. It didn’t matter, as long as Kai was still alive and breathing.

“Kai,” Cian called out. He looked behind him at the boy with bright white hair and cat-like eyes. A soft smile played on his lips. “I have something I need to talk about to Sitross, will you be okay if you look around the Academy by yourself?”

Cian was not worried about Kai within the Academy. Everything that happened within its grounds was directly told to him. And the fact that Kai was in the late Vortex realm meant that no student would be able to harm him.

Nodding, Kai edged away from Cian, making his way to the door. With each step, Kai felt like he was losing something. Before he opened the door to leave, he turned back to look at Cian. That soft smile was still on his lips, but as Kai stared at him longer, it soon became a devilish smirk.

“They won’t eat you out there.” Cian laughed, his eyes sparkling mischievously. Then his eyes roamed down Kai’s body, from head to toe, causing a flush to spread on Kai’s face. “But I cannot say the same if you stay here.”

His flush deepening from the underlying meaning in those words, Kai darted off like a scared rabbit. Laughter full of mirth echoed and followed him down the hall.