The Mark of Arella(Book One of the Dragonfly Chronicles)

Chapter Fifteen

The sun rose and filled the tent with warmth. Lilly woke up to sounds of movement and voices. She sat up to find the sleeping mat empty save for herself. When had Rhylan left? She must have been sleeping very soundly. She put her boots and jacket on and stepped out of the tent into the forest. She looked around and saw Rhylans men walking around, cleaning up the area. He was standing off to the side with a few looking like he was directing them. She heard a scuffle on the ground and whirled around to find the huge lion that helped her the day before sitting by the tent. "Good morning he said into her mind. "Good morning she thought back. Thank you for helping me yesterday. You saved my life". The lion got up and bowed his head to her. "My name is Drexoste and I am the King of this forest. Those beasts were an abomination and would have killed every one of the men in this camp and taken you back to the dark queen. I could not let them do that. Hundreds of years ago I was given the job to protect you Lilly and now that you are here, I will do whatever I can to fulfill that duty. I will follow you to whatever end, as will my brothers." Four other lions stepped out of the clearing and bowed to her. Lilly looked at these magnificent animals. They were huge, almost as big as the beasts that appeared yesterday. They had strong, muscular builds meant for hunting, their paws were as big as her head and she could see the claws protruding from them. They looked as big as her hand and very sharp. Drexoste laughed and said, "You are scared of our size child? We are big and we are killers, but we will not be harming you or any of your friends" She looked back up at Drexoste and said, "You were told to protect me hundreds of years ago? How is that possible since I am only 18 years old?" Drexoste purred and lowered his proud gaze. "I was friends with Queen Arella, she was a beautiful and loving faery and when she told me about the prophecy and how she needed me to protect you, I promised her I would." Lilly said, "But how could she know about me hundreds of years ago? How would she know you would be here to protect me?" "The Queen had many powers, and one of them was to see the future. I do not know everything she saw, but I do know that she was never wrong in her predictions and if she says you are to save our realms, then I will do all I can to help you."

Rhylan was walking the camp with Tam and Finn. They couldn't believe how they survived yesterday's fight but his men all seemed to have recovered from most of their wounds. It was miraculous. He saw Colvin sitting on a broken tree trunk and sat down next to him. He started to talk but then he saw Lilly get out of the tent and a huge lion step up behind her, he moved to run towards her but Colvin grabbed his arm firmly. "Don't" Colvin said, "They won't harm her, they came to protect her. They were the ones that killed the beasts yesterday. They have been guarding us from a distance all night. Do you know who that is?" Rhylan stared at the huge lion sitting by Lilly and shook his head and said, "No". Colvin said, "His name is Drexoste, he is the King of this forest, perhaps this whole kingdom. He hasn't been seen in over 200 years. He is ancient, he is deadly, and if he vows to protect her, he will die doing it. So will his guard." Just then Rhylan saw four other lions step out of the trees and bow to her. "Did they just bow to her?" "Yes" said Colvin, "and I suspect Lilly is speaking to him mind to mind. See how they are concentrating on each other and gesturing as though they are in a conversation? It's amazing how many magical gifts she has." Rhylan watched his mate and how beautiful she was. He couldn't take it anymore, he had to go talk to her. He needed to feel her in his arms and know she was still his.

Lilly was talking with Drexoste when the ancient lion looked over and back to her. "Your mate is coming, we will give you some privacy and patrol your surroundings". She looked over at Rhylan, her heart beating wildly. He was so beautiful it broke her heart. She felt terrible about last night and suddenly all she wanted was to be in his arms. She started towards him and before she knew it, they were both running towards each other. They slammed into each other with a fierce hug. Rhylan pulled away and grabbed her face, searching her eyes, searching for that tenderness he once felt and she smiled at him. His heart melted and he leaned down and kissed her. He ran his hands thru her messy curls and cupped the back of her neck. Then he ran his hands down her arms and to her waist pulling her closer. She trembled from his touch, and the scent of him. It overwhelmed her senses. They pulled apart and she blurted out "I'm so sorry about last night, and about the other day when I was leaving. I'm just," Rhylan interrupted, "No, it's me who should apologize, I've been so stupid. Lilly, I don't think I've done a very good job of letting you know how much I feel for you, it's hard for me but you mean more to me than anyone I've ever met. You are beautiful, loving, funny, charming, athletic, and now I just learned what an amazing magic wielder you are. How could I not fall for you?" Lilly looked up at him with tears in her eyes. She could take this, he didn't quite say he loved her, but he was trying to say it, she could feel that from him. Then she realized, she could feel his emotions. When did this happen? "I know how you are feeling Rhylan, I can feel your emotions in my own mind. Can you feel mine?" He looked at her and cocked his head. Then his mouth opened and she felt his realization. "Yes" he whispered, I feel your feelings. Our bond, it is growing stronger isn't it? We can send each other a caress thru the tattoo, you found me in the middle of nowhere and now we can sense each other's feelings. Do you think we can ever speak mind to mind, like you did with the lions?" "You saw that?" she said. "I was about to come over here and kill the lion until Colvin told me who he was. He suspected you were talking to him." She nodded, "His name is Drexoste and he has pledged to protect us from now on. He says he will follow me anywhere." She saw a few of Rhylans injured soldiers walking by and suddenly realized she hadn't seen her brother yet. "Oh, Jarron! How is he? Can I see him?"