SOVEREIGN: Mating The Dragon

Chapter 12

 THE CANOPY of trees rustled overhead as they made their way through the thick forest. The last few hours had been spent walking the at least thirty miles it had taken to get this far. For an Elite such a hike was no big deal. After all they were trained to survive under the most extreme conditions you could imagine. But Gabe had been worried that it might be too much for Cheza. So far though it hadn't seemed to faze her one bit as she walked beside him. He couldn't help but watch her curiously.

She shot him a smirk, "What?"

Gabe shook his head, "Nothing, I'm just a little surprised by your stamina"

Cheza laughed, "Oh Gabe, I have stamina for days" She said, shooting him a mischievous wink.

Gabe rolled his eyes, "I'm sure you do, but I meant walking, not many could do what we're doing, hell Kadian would be whining his ass off by now"

"We could always gag him" Cheza suggested.

Gabe shook his head, "I'll leave the kink to you and Nox"

Cheza snorted, "Honestly this is nothing compared to some of the things we do back home, you don't have to worry about me Gabe, I'm stronger than you think" She told him.

As they finally stepped into the clearing it became abundantly clear they were on the right trail. In front of them was the Elador tree they'd been seeking. Only they'd gotten there too late. The tree had deep gashes across its trunk and green liquid ran down to pool around its roots.

"I guess we finally found something," Gabe said.

"Son of a bitch" Cheza cursed, rushing over to the tree. She laid her hand against it and winced.

"Cheza?" Gabe questioned.

"It's in pain" She said, sucking in a deep breath. "Just hang on, I'll heal you" She whispered to the tree. She let a little bit of magik trickle out and her hand glowed red. She pushed the magic into the wood. The tree stopped bleeding and the gashes slowly filled in until there was no trace left of the wounds. She let out a breath and pulled her magik back. "There, that's much better isn't it" She murmured to the tree as she stroked it for a moment before she stepped away. "This was done recently, the creature can't have gotten far, let's go" She said, stalking after the residual energy the creature left behind.

Gabe followed along, silently hoping this trail led to something. They couldn't afford any more dead ends.

* * * * *

THE TRAIL as it turned out took them several more hours and more miles than Gabe could even count. Cheza wasn't kidding when she said she had plenty of stamina. Even he was starting to feel the effects of such a long trek, his muscles burned and ached as he pushed himself to keep up. Cheza didn't seem even the slightest bit winded.

Suddenly Cheza stopped dead in her tracks and pressed a finger against her lips for Gabe to stay quiet and he obeyed. Her head shifted and moved like she was tracking something.

Gabe strained his hearing as hard as he could, but whatever she was picking up on, it eluded his senses. She cut her eyes to his sword and he got the message, drawing it out of its harness. She moved forward silently, shifting through the terrain like she was part of it, her movements fluid and graceful as he followed. They stopped in a large clearing. The full moon lighting the space up even without the added benefit of heightened vision. Then the air turned heavy and foreboding.

"They're coming" Cheza whispered just loud enough for Gabe to hear her.

"How many?" Gabe whispered back.

"Dozen at least" Cheza answered.

"You don't have a weapon" He said, cursing himself for not thinking about it sooner.