Draconia Offline vol. 1

42.3. The First Flight - Part 3

"W-wait!!! They didn't hurt me or anything," I gasp for breath. "They saved me from humans."

"Saved you just to abduct you, Your Majesty!" Vermiel is furious with anger and commands the guards to apprehend everyone. He looks furious and is leaking his mana menacingly. When did he learn how to do that? Fortunately, the locals don't struggle so there's no fight whatsoever.

"How did you even find me?" I'm trying to shake him off but his grip on my arm is iron.

"We've tracked the source of the last video featuring you. Her Excellency hired the most expensive hackers from God knows where," he says impatiently. "Hey, who's the leader here? Explain yourselves! Why didn't you contact us immediately if you claim to have saved our Emperor?"

"We have no leader," Zirand wheezes, behind held down on the ground by one of the guards. It's not like Celestials have physical power to hold a Dragonkin like that so I bet the guard must be pressing him with telekinesis instead. Besides, Zirand isn't struggling.

"We protected His Majesty," Iyapa adds quickly. "And we were meaning to contact you after we show him what he needed to see. You've locked him up away from common people. Ordinary Draconians have no means to speak to their rulers directly."

"RYUU!!!"

Erik appears in the door and hurries to me. Vermiel finally lets go of me and I hug my boyfriend tight. His emotions and thoughts pour into me and make me feel extremely guilty. I ran away, there's no other word for what I did. I ran away and left him behind.

Never do that again! Erik is berating me in his mind, totally mad at me. Do you have any idea how scared I was?

I actually have a very good idea because he shows me his memories of the last couple of hours and his overall emotional state. I watch my escape from his perspective. The way I didn't even look back when I shattered that glass—that was especially heart-breaking for him because I forgot to consider him.

I also browse the memories of first minutes of absolute panic with everyone going crazy and frantically trying to find me. Then horrified Erik seeing that video of humans ripping my feathers followed by several hours of not knowing where I am. Harrowing experience.

I'm so sorry, I couldn't think straight, I apologise feebly. I couldn't help myself, everything was in a haze since this morning and when I saw an opportunity... I... just had to do it. I'm a creature that belongs to the sky, Erik.

I know, love, I know, Erik kisses me deeply in front of everyone. We were torturing you, weren't we?

"Your Majesty, what do we do with these people?" Vermiel asks, suspecting I'm talking with my partner telepathically.

"Release them this instant," I frown. "That's an order."

The guards listen to me and let the Draconians stand up. The situation calms down and everything becomes almost tranquil. I grab Erik's palm and lead him to Iyapa and Zirand. I won't hide that those humans in the park traumatized me but I need to show the Draconians here that not all humans are bad.

"I'll never start hating humans," I say to them. "My boyfriend is human and he's the most brilliant person in the whole world."

"I bet he is if he won the Celestial Emperor's heart," Iyapa surprises me by smiling kindly. "We just wanted you to see the everyday situation of common Draconians. It's up to you how our rulers will deal with it. We trust your judgment."

"And I promise you to do something about that," I nod. "I'll work even harder for your sake."

"You're already working hard," Erik nudges me.