Scaling Mountains of Fire

Chapter 8

One drop. Two drops. Each drop splattered against his forehead. Dev mentally calculated how many it would take to awaken the Ambassador. The sky was still dark as the diurnal animals awaited the first rays of light to start their day. The two hikers had to start their day before then.

The King had made it explicitly clear that they had to increase their pace or else. So, Dev stood above the slumbering Ambassador fighting the urge to dump an entire handful of snow on his face. She would start easy with water drops and increase her efforts from there.

Was she being absurd? Perhaps. Had her mate's morose words hit a particularly sore spot in her stone heart? She would never admit to that.

His face contorted as the sixth frozen water drop hit his forehead. Dark chocolate eyes squinted at her.

"What the-..." a seventh drop splashed on him.

He sat up, bewildered, "Did you wake me up by dripping water on me?"

She simply cocked an eyebrow at him while gesturing at him to get going.

"Dev, it's still dark out." he complained.

With a sigh, she bent to grab his satchel.

"Are we really starting this early?" he yawned, stretching toned arms above his head.

She simply replied by shoving his pack at him. "Alright, alright. I'll get ready, damn."

Dev had to give it to him, even through his tiredness and early morning, the Ambassador kept pace with her. She was walking at a human-ish rhythm, but still. Credit should be given where credit was due. His tiredness or his lack of knowledge of the environment showed, however, since he didn't recognize their path.

The pre-dawn morning had been to reach the stronghold, yes, but there was also another reason. The Drakon knew she was letting sentimentality get the better of her. When had she started caring about this mere mortal? When they were skin to skin, him shivering entirely too close to death? When she death plunged to save his life? When his eyes sparkled for the first time? She hardly knew.

He had gotten to her. There was no denying it anymore. And that was why they were now trekking back the way they came. Her lips pursed, attempting to prevent a smirk. The sound of waterfalls grew louder. The sky lightened. Streaks of pinks and oranges crested through the darkness. The Ambassador had yet to say anything but she didn't doubt he would. One thing she knew for certain about him was his inability to keep his words under lock and key.

"Am I hearing water?"

There it was.

Just a little further. The line of trees thinned near the edge. The sound of cascading water was nearly deafening but not enough to hide the silent gasp behind her. This time, a smile escaped. There were a lot of breathtaking views and landscapes in the mountains. The sunrise over the Àast falls had to be at the top.

Her heart sped while the sun poked its rays over the tumbling water. The Ambassador stood shoulder to shoulder with her, a magnificent look of bewilderment over his face. Color reflected over his pale skin. Her stupid heart stopped its racing. There was no more denying it. Her mate was devastating.

Perhaps in more ways than one.

Dev shook the thought away. She refused to let the negativity affect the moment. Taking a deep breath, she willed the fear to hide for a while. They were spending a nice moment together. One that needed to be cherished.

A horrible sensation nagged at the back of her mind, mixed with the hive mind she kept under wraps, her brain buzzed. Nothing good awaited them. But she was going to enjoy the small moments of the journey before getting to whatever future nightmare.