Once upon a Dragon Gift (Once Upon a Dragon Series Book 4)
Once upon a Dragon Gift: Chapter 23

George and I left that night, back to Dragonia.

The king gave me three departures, one for Tabitha too. It was a choice for her and Lu, and I would present it to them like that.

George sounded eager to start this journey. I was too. I just wished that there were magical ways to gain all my orbs faster so that I could focus on getting Elena back to us.

I still had no idea how to do that, but something told me that one of us would get that vision.

To think that George could see the royals’ futures without the aftereffect…

He was going to be one hell of a seer one day.

The sun peeked over the horizon, merging pink and blue hues into orange and a bit of red. It was a real breath-stealer, and I realized just how much we took simple things like a beautiful sunrise for granted. We always believed that there would be another day to appreciate it.

But for some, there would never be that another day.

I landed in the courtyard. My muscles in my legs and arms trembled. One would think that I would be used to the distance between here and Etan, but I wasn’t. The flight always depleted my energy too fast.

The door of the infirmary opened, and my aunt walked out with robes in her hands.

“What are you doing here?”

“Albert sent me. There is nothing more I can do for Elena. He really feels bad about what he has done, not consulting you first.”

“So I’ve seen. I believe that if he said there was no other way, then he didn’t have another choice.”

The corner of her lips tweaked, as George shifted back first.

He was weak in the knees and stumbled. Sounded tired too, which told me we were going to need to rest.

He grabbed the robe and pulled it over his human figure as I shifted back into mine.

I grabbed the robe from my aunt and let it cover my body.

“He also asked me to give you this.” She had another envelope with her. Smaller this time.

“What is it?”

“Just take it.”

I took it, opened the flap, and there was a bank card inside. I could only imagine how much money was on here. My gaze fluttered back to my aunt.

“Just take it. He said it is for whatever you need it for. Make sure that the three of you are okay, well fed, and not living in the wilderness like wild beasts, especially on the other side.”

My lips tweaked. “I’ve actually been on the other side. I know how to blend in and besides, we won’t be alone. Tabitha will be with us. I’m sure she could hack her way into any bank if we needed money.”

“Blake, no stealing. You find your orbs, and you do what you need to do, you hear me?”

I nodded.

“Go rest, you look tired, and something tells me that you are going to need all your strength for this trip.”

I wrapped my arm around my aunt and pulled her into my chest. She was in so many ways similar to Mom, but also completely the opposite.

“Thank you for all you have done for her.”

“I wish I could do more. She didn’t deserve her life to end like that.”

“It won’t. I’ll get her back. How, I have no idea, but I’ve seen it.”

She smiled. “It’s amazing how fast your abilities opened.”

“Yeah, not naturally, though.”

Her lips pulled downward. “Sorry, I wasn’t thinking.”

“Don’t. It’s amazing just how much power he owned. To open my full potential with one touch.”

“Very selfish. He should’ve waited.”

“He needed the Rubicon, not the dragon that was growing into the Rubicon.”

“Like I said, selfish. Glad we are rid of him.”

“Yeah, but I’m sure he won’t be the last.” I turned around, facing the entrance, and slouched toward the door. Every muscle in my body felt tired. I was barely holding it together and needed my sleep.

There was no sign of George, but I got a funny feeling that he knew I wouldn’t leave without him.

I didn’t even tune in when I opened the door, and thank heavens the two of them were not at each other. Not that I would’ve cared today. I fell on my bed and drifted to oblivion in mere seconds.

When I woke up, the sun was already setting. An entire day?

My stomach growled, and I looked at my watch. The cafeteria was still open, and if I hurried, I could grab something to eat.

Inside, everyone was sitting around George at a table. Probably already sharing the good news that King Albert had given us permission to go look for my orbs.

Tabitha’s mood was elevated, meaning that he hadn’t left out the part that she’d gotten her departure too.

I scooped my plate filled with food and went to sit on the end. Silence lingered as I wolfed it down. When my gaze slid toward all of them, six pairs of eyes stared at me.

“What?” I shrugged.

“When are you leaving?” Becky asked.

“Soon, I still need to speak to Master Longwei. Probably tomorrow morning after breakfast.”

She nodded.

“Is it true that Elena has been placed under a spell?”

“Sammy,” Lu hissed.

“No, it’s okay. Yes,” I answered my sister.

“Without telling you?”

“Why should he have told me?”

“We could’ve said goodbye, Blake.” Tears welled up in her eyes.

“She doesn’t remember us, Sammy. It wouldn’t have helped. It would’ve only freaked her out more.”

She nodded. “You really going to get her back?”

“If I find my orbs.”

“When,” George corrected me. “When you find your orbs. We will find them.”

I huffed as my lips turned into half a grin and carried on eating. I didn’t like the thoughts that were in my head at the moment. They were leaning toward the negative side, and I knew I would need to sort out my head before going to the monks. I had to succeed. I couldn’t let Elena stay like that. She had to come back.

I was hanging upside down in a cave. The orb’s beacon made me feel off-balance. Tabitha was hanging on my robe. George was dangling unconscious.

“Blake, please,” Tabitha begged. I struggled to stay focused. The bloody orb was here somewhere.

The past seven weeks were difficult trying to find the fucking things. I was seven down already and needed to find four more. This was the eighth orb.

I shook my head, tried to push the beacon to the back of my mind, and tried one last time to get Tabitha to safety. We couldn’t shift in this cave. We would bring it down; it would cave in on us.

George grunted.

“George,” Tabitha cried.

“Focus,” I growled at her, and she took a deep breath. “On three.”

She nodded.

I reached out as far as I could. And counted. “One. Two. Three.”

She reached out with a cry and slapped her hand into mine. Just then, her rope snapped, and the piece dwindled down to the bottom of the cave.

“Don’t you dare let me go.”

“I won’t. Just focus and get the fuck out of here.”

My muscles strained as she started climbing. She reached my body and hoisted herself up over me, climbing the robe.

“George,” I screamed as Tabitha was almost at the top.

“Blake…” He sounded so out of it.

“Wake up, buddy.”

More grunts came from him, and Tabitha climbed out at the top.

I swung the robe in George’s direction to get closer to him.

This was really stupid, Blake. Putting your friends’ lives at risk like this. George saw the cave’s collapsing too late, and the rock hit him straight in the head.

That opened the beacon of my orb, and it disorientated me heavily.

The third swing, I collided with George and flung him over my shoulder. I unhooked his harness from the robe as I climbed up the rope.

But the rope was starting to snap.

“Blake, you need to hurry,” Tabitha ordered.

I pushed myself up as George kept grunting over my shoulder. He was really out of it, too. I felt sorry, so sorry that I couldn’t keep them safe.

The beacon was right in the center of my mind. My ears were ringing, and I screamed as it vibrated in my head.

I had to climb faster.

I could feel the rope giving away. It was so fast. My nails turned into talons, and I hooked them into the wall.

My skin turned into scales, and I had to focus not to shift.

I hoisted us up with my dragon strength. One talon hook at a time.

“That’s it. You’re almost here.” Tabitha’s voice was right in front of me.

I pushed up a bit more, and then she grabbed my shirt and helped me with George.

I hoisted myself over the top and fell next to George on my back. We still didn’t have the orb, but I knew where it was.

I would come for it early tomorrow morning with new strength.

Tabitha had stabilized George. He’d woken up, was a bit incoherent, and then gone back to sleep.

She made him a brew, made sure that he drank it every two hours.

I was dead tired.

“You should sleep. George will be fine.”

I stared at her. My eyes were droopy. “Thank you. Thinking about it now, I don’t know what we would’ve done if you were not here with us.”

“I’m sure you would’ve figured it out. You’re clever, Blake, just lazy.”

I chuckled, and the corner of her lips curved upward.

“George will be fine. Go sleep.”

“Thank you.” I got up and crawled into the tent. My head had barely touched the pillow when I drifted into oblivion.

I dreamt about nothing and woke up with the twittering of birds having a hefty conversation. They were going like crazy.

I unzipped my bag and found George sitting around the fire, busy cooking the meal.

“You okay?”

“Yip, can’t remember the past twenty-four hours, but Tabitha has given me the lowdown.”

“You don’t remember the past twenty-four hours?”

“He’ll be fine.” Tabitha came out of the woods. She had a fish in her hands. “As long as he doesn’t get hit by another rock dangling upside down in some sort of cave, he’s all good.”

George lifted his palm, saying thanks.

“I have to go back. My orb is there, and maybe if I do this alone, it will go faster.”

“Blake.” Tabitha had that worried tone in her voice.

“I have to get it. It’s not going to work if I don’t have all of them.”

She sighed and nodded.

“Best is for you two to wait here.”

“I’m good with that,” George said as he took the fish from Tabitha and put it on the rock. He had another flat rock in his hand and was getting ready to skin the scales off.

“You need to eat first. Get your strength back and then you can go retrieve your orb.”

I nodded and helped by cleaning the fish. We didn’t speak as we did the mundane task.

Tabitha searched for something to prepare with the fish and came back with wild herbs.

We put the fish on the fire and the scent that reached my nostrils made my stomach growl. I was beyond hungry.

Tabitha laughed.

“Shut up,” I mumbled.

George took it from the fire and gave us each a piece. I devoured mine, got another piece, and devoured that too. George stuffed his face with fish as well. It was only Tabitha that ate normally.

You could easily mistake her for a human. She wasn’t savage enough for a dragon.

After breakfast, I left for the cave.

“Don’t make me come and look for you.”

“Give me until lunch, okay?” I requested.

“Fine,” Tabitha agreed as George just waved.

“What?” George asked.

“You are an idiot.”

“You do know that he is the Rubicon, right? He’ll be fine. We were the ones that almost died,” George pointed out.

“Yeah, you didn’t see how that orb affected him, George. It was like he went through physical pain.”

I tuned them out. It was one thing to have Tabitha worry about me; I couldn’t listen to George’s concerns, too.

If I wanted to bring Elena back, I had to find all of my orbs. Even the stubborn ones, especially the stubborn ones.

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