Heart's Blood

Truths

"I want to take you to a place."

Bai Qian regarded Mo Yuan's half naked form and unbound hair warily. It was already late into the night and her mother warned her that going anywhere with a man at an indecent hour meant an invitation for more. She didn't need to prove herself any more indecent where Mo Yuan was concerned.

"Next time." She told him.

Mo Yuan quickly produced an inner robe and caught her fingertips before they slipped out of his hand.

"I want to talk somewhere we won't be interrupted but I have to fly us there."

It was a request she could not deny. She never felt like they were truly alone to speak freely with one another without being pulled in several directions. The moment she nodded her agreement was the same instant Mo Yuan's beast form appeared before her once again.

She marveled at the golden scales glistening in the dark of night and smooth like armor while the hairs that covered his head and face were fine and glossy. He had four horns, two on each side and one longer than the other. His dragon fangs were like sharpened ends of a sword, gleaming deadly enough to strike fear in his enemies. For her, the reminder of his fangs brought heat to the surface of her skin. The growl that emitted from him this time vibrated throughout his whole body like a warning.

Bai Qian met his eyes. She would know that tender look from anywhere.

He nudged her hip with his snout and lifted his eyes up then back at her. Bai Qian knew he meant for her to climb onto him so that he could take them wherever he had in mind. A secret rendezvous.

"Mind giving me a lift?" She asked after a moment.

He lowered his snout for her to step up but the moment her foot found purchase, Mo Yuan tossed her into the air and caught her on his head before ascending into the sky at a near vertical incline.

A sharp shriek filled the air as her stomach lurched at the sharp ascension through the clouds, forcing her to hold onto his longer horns for balance. The undulation of his dragon body was difficult to adjust to. It felt like standing on a rope someone was making waves with but also like a rocking boat. Up and down and side-to-side.

"Who knew one day I would have a dragon as my mount." She teased knowing he could hear every word.

In reply, Mo Yuan snorted breathing out fire through his nose. The flare of warmth she felt afterwards was quickly dispersed when he spiraled up into the air spinning her into a daze.

"I was wrong! I was wrong. Please stop." She called out breathlessly. Definitely no teasing a flying dragon.

He leveled out still rising higher and higher to her surprise. They were already above seven layers of clouds and ascending.

"Where are you going, Jinlong?" She wondered hoping their destination did not mean the Nine Heavens. It was the last place she wanted to go considering everything that's happened.

Through the bond, she felt his reassurance that they were almost there. But where? They were already higher than high that she saw nothing but stars all around them until a spire came into view just ahead. The silvery facade reflected the millions of stars in sparkling grandeur.

"Is this Si Ming's Stardust Spire?" Bai Qian asked in awe only having heard about it. Si Ming's palace wasn't a place just anybody could gain entry for he divined the fates of mortals and kept track of immortals during their trials.  

Mo Yuan landed at the entrance of the Stardust Spire with a hand on Bai Qian's waist to steady her. They were truly in Si Ming's domain. Turns out he had a dazzling place all to himself.