A Pet for the Dragons

49.

ZORGE

The first thing Arika did after Ivret set her down on the snow was bend over and throw up on the snow. I snorted at Ivret, quickly phrasing to my two-legged form before approaching Arika. So much for carrying her gently.

"You did a pretty gentle work, I see," I told Ivret, who was still in his dragon form. He said nothing but glared at me.

She kept heaving even after emptying her stomach. I sensed she got sick because of the high altitude. The journey to this side of the sea had been swift despite the strong winds. We'd covered the whole distance in almost under an hour.

"It was something in the potion," she snapped as soon as she saw me at her side. I knew she was trying to hide it from me.

"Of course," I cooed, to make her feel better, and in response, I received a glare from her. So fierce. I loved it. I opened the basket and took out some hot water for her. She gulped down everything all at once.

Meanwhile, Ivret surveyed the area to ensure no one was watching us. We'd landed very close to the place where we'd found Arika.

"Okay now?" I asked her when she was done drinking water.

"Yeah," She answered, removing a few layers of the fur. Ivret returned quickly and changed back to his two-legged form.

"No one here. It's all abandoned," Ivret stated. I cocked an eyebrow at him before he added, "The port where we found her is completely destroyed. The snow is still covered in ashes. It seemed like there were more explosions after we left with her. The whole place must've been on fire for days because everything is destroyed."

Arika straightened up as soon as she heard Ivret. A dark look crossed her face as if a terrible memory had hit her. I stepped closer to her, trying to pierce the barrier around her to read her emotions better, but I got nothing.

However, when Arika noticed me paying attention to her, she schooled her features. I cocked an eyebrow at her. I knew something was going on in her head regarding the abandoned port.

"We found you there. Do you remember anything that happened before you fell unconscious, Arika?" Ivret asked her cautiously, but she shook her head.

"We should keep moving. I'm starting to feel cold again. Your spell is wearing off, Ivy," Arika told Ivret, turning away from me because she knew I was studying her reaction.

She was definitely hiding something.

Even though I couldn't sense her emotions due to the barrier around her, I could read other cues from her body language. Arika seemed to be nervous all of a sudden. I watched her closely as Ivret cast another spell on her and helped her remove some of the furs to make her feel lighter.

"We're still very far away from civilisation," She said after a while. "And wouldn't it raise eyebrows if you two walked there with me like this? They're going to know you're Drakkons as soon as they see you,"

"That's the last of our worries," I told her, and she frowned at me. I kept studying her reaction. She seemed to grow more and more nervous with each second, and I wondered why. She was growing fidgety, checking Ivret and me constantly as if she was expecting something to happen.

She'd grow even more fidgety whenever she noticed I was staring at her, closely watching her reaction. Of course, I knew what it could mean. She might be planning an escape, but I came entirely prepared for that.

"How will we travel to the nearest city with a hospital?" She asked us again.

"You'll see," I smirked her. "Are you done with the furs?" I hissed at Ivret. He was delaying us even more by packing the furs.

"How?" Arika asked again, narrowing her eyes at me. I grinned at her widely before taking out the key to our old truck from my pocket. She frowned at it.

"Yes, I'm almost done. You can stop wasting time by standing here. Gop out and locate our truck in the meantime!" Ivret shot back, and Arika's eyes widened.

"You have a truck here? You know how to drive?" She asked as if she suddenly learned that pigs could fly.

"Yeah, we own a truck, but..." I trailed off. "Only my brother knows how to drive," I grunted, and she laughed at me.

"Give that to me," She said, reaching for the key, but I snatched it away on time and narrowed my eyes at her.

"I'm driving," I told her and turned around before walking toward the distant dead trees. As far as I could remember, Radrox had hidden the truck somewhere among those dead trees. He'd told me so. I should've asked him before leaving, but I haven't felt like talking to him after what he did to Arika.

I'd talk to him only after Arika was healed and properly claimed to be mine. I heard Arika saying something after me as I walked away, looking for the truck, but I didn't pay her heed.

Even though we were here to have Arika examined by a human healer, I needed to be careful with her. I could sense something amiss in her behaviour. She was overly nervous, and it was most likely that she was planning to leave us.

The thought pinched my heart. Why would she want to leave after making such heated promises to me last night and earlier in the morning? I didn't know. All this could've been a ploy by her for an escape, but at the same time, there was no way for her to be faking the bleeding and pain.

I knew that it was all real. I'd seen it and didn't want to deny and dismiss her pain, but Arika was smart. I knew she would at least try once to escape us, and I was overly prepared for that.

After looking around in the dead, frozen forest, I finally found the enchantment that hid the truck and kept it safe from thieves and the elements. I took off the enchantment to find the old, battered truck that Radrox had once purchased while he'd been undercover on this side for years.

Thinking about him, I couldn't help but wish he was here. I'd missed him ever since he left, but at the same time, I was angry. A part of me still refused to believe that Radrox hurt Arika. Maybe it was all unintentional, but still...

I sighed and got inside the car. I tried to remember how Radrox used to drive. I put the key in the engine and turned it on. After fiddling with some things here and there, the truck finally started moving ahead.

I tried to keep the steering wheel steady like I remembered Radrox used to do, and it worked. Soon, I was driving the truck out in the open, and I even spotted Arika and Ivret waiting for me in the distance.

I slowly turned the wheel toward them and kept driving, feeling increasingly confident in my newfound driving ability. Ivret looked annoyed, while Arika looked shocked to see me driving. I grinned and stepped on a pedal that was supposed to stop the truck, but instead of stopping, it sped up towards them.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?" Ivret yelled as I sped up towards him. I wanted to stop the truck, but it wouldn't. Arika let out a panicked cry and ran to the other side. I chased Ivret with the truck, trying to figure out how to stop it, but I enjoyed seeing Ivret running, so I gave up on trying to stop the truck.

"STOP THAT!" Arika yelled from somewhere, but I was enjoying this too much. Ivret was cursing out loudly at me as he continued to run in front of the truck. Whichever way he turned, I followed him. I figured out that the steering wheel turned in whichever way I could turn it. I could've never guessed that driving would be so fun. "AHHH! I'M IN SO MUCH PAIN. I THINK I'M DYING!" Arika yelled. I took my feet off of one pedal and stepped on the other on instinct and the truck stopped abruptly with a strong jerk.

"What happened—" I was about to ask but Arika appeared on the side of the truck and opened the door before taking the keys away. "Give the keys back," I demanded.

"I'm driving or—"

"—or what?" I asked her.

"Or I'm going to go with Ivy and leave you here to play with your stupid little toy truck,"

~

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