LUKAS

THREE

Anastasia's POV

The plain snow was actually peaceful to wake up to. The fire had died out long ago but I still found myself to be happy. I brushed the snow off of myself and look over at Lukas. He was sound asleep and snoring away. I have to admit, it was quite cute. I tap his shoulder and wait for his eyes to greet me.

Nothing.

I shook him again but he responded with a snore. How heavy of a sleeper was he? This was just ridiculous. I ball up some snow in my hand and throw it at him with all my strength. Pieces of now landed in his hair and in his eyebrows. I let out a giggle as he awoke, startled. "Rise and shine." I said, watching him pick the snow out of his hair.

"What was that for?" He questions. Lukas had missed some snow that was in his hair. Without a thought, I reached over and brushed it out. "You weren't waking up." I answer.

He too brushes the snow off of his clothes and stands up before stretching. "So you throw a snow ball at me?" I nod and smile.

"Anyways, we must get going. My dad most likely has noticed my absence by now and he's probably after me right now." Lukas nods, understanding.

"Let's get going then." We start walking once again. I was still a bit tired but I could manage for a while. My stomach began to growl and I looked down, embarrassed. "We will get something to eat once we enter the Moon Goddess' territory." Lukas says. My eyebrows furrow.

"What the heck are we gonna find to eat in there?" I question. I didn't think there was much there other than weird animals and plants.

"There's plenty." I almost rolled my eyes. If plenty meant magic berries and purple mice, then count me out. We'd have to see whatever 'plenty' he was talking about.

We arrived at the entrance to the Moon Goddess' territory. To a human, it looked like a pond but it was really an illusion. "After you." Lukas says. I step into the pond and felt myself sink lower and lower. Lukas followed me and began to sink, himself.

Once we were under the 'water' we could breathe the same as we could above water. The beauty of illusions. Lukas and I soon fell onto the ground of the Moon Goddess' territory.

I must say, a lot has changed since I was last here. Colorful flowers had bloomed and large trees had sprouted. "Woah," I breathed out, looking around. Moss had grown on the trees and it partially covered the ground. Lukas soon interrupted my sight. He had his hand held out, waiting for me to take it. I took his hand, still in awe of the place and let him help me up.

"Beautiful isn't it?" He asks. I nod and continue looking around. This was unbelievable. "But we haven't got all day." Lukas was off, not even waiting for me. I hurried up and caught up to him. I would not like to get lost in this forest. "The first place we have to go is Ember Mountain." My eyes popped. "Why!" I almost yelled. Ember mountain was home to the were-dragons. I've heard that they aren't the nicest. It sounded really funny but it was anything but that.

Lukas only chuckled. "Because we need weapons. We are in the Moon Goddess' territory where all of the immortal species originated. We can't just walk in without weapons."

"I'm pretty sure we just did." I say, crossing my arms.

"Whatever."

_____

I stared in awe as Lukas walked right up to the guards who were blocking the cave as if they were old friends or something. Both guards stood there, unmoving as Lukas stopped right in front of them. I followed him reluctantly. I hid behind him once I was close enough.

"What do you want?" The one on the right asked. Lukas straightened his posture and put on a smile. "I need to get in." Lukas says with an unbelievable confidence. The two guard's frowns deepened as they heard of our intentions.

"No chance." The one on the left said. My palms began dripping sweat. What was Lukas thinking!? "Okay." Lukas said. I put on a face of confusion. Was this some dumb plan or something?

Answering my question, Lukas suddenly raised both his palms and not even a second later, both guards dropped to the floor. "Are you crazy?! Did you kill them?" I question him.

"No, I just put them to sleep." He says, looking down at the two. I rolled my eyes and followed  him into the dark cave. He seemed so sure of where he was going. It was almost scary.

As we walked through the dark cave, I began to feel hotter and hotter. I got to the point where sweat began to drip down my face. Our footsteps echoed around the rock walls and made our presence known to every creature in here. "Are we supposed to be stealthy or what?" I asked in a hushed tone. He just ignored me and kept walking.

I was basically walking on his heals since I was so scared and because of the fact that it was basically pitch black. "I can feel your breathing on my neck." Lukas whispered. I muttered a quick 'sorry' and continued to follow his lead after giving him some space. We were silent once again and our footsteps were the only thing being heard. Suddenly, Lukas stopped in his tracks, causing me to bump into him. "Shhh." Lukas says.

Lukas began looking around the room as if something- or someone was there. Before my mind could come up with more possibilities, at least ten blows of fire started around us in a circle. I felt Lukas push me behind him just as a gasp escaped my mouth. I could barely see over his broad shoulders but in those few seconds that the cave was illuminated, I managed to see shifted dragons surrounding us.

Their eyes glowed red as they creeped near us. "Get on my back." Lukas says in a whisper. I knew this wasn't a time to question him so I got on his back and waited for further instructions. "And hold on tight." I tighten my hold around him. I felt my heart beat accelerate as the dragons creeped closer and closer.

Lukas whispered a few words that came out as gibberish to me. As soon as he finished his quiet chant, a large cloud of smoke formed. I didn't have time to sight see because I felt Lukas sprint off somewhere. His hands locked around my legs, making sure I didn't fall.

We came to a stop as the smoke cleared. I was about to ask why we had stopped when the smoke completely cleared, revealing a circle of the dragons. They started at us with their glowing eyes. It was as if they were kept by an invisible barrier. I figured Lukas had put that up.

A chuckle came from our left. Everyone turns to see an older man emerge from the shadows. He walked with a slight limp in his leg. "My warriors giving you trouble, Lukas?" He asked with amusement written on his face. Lukas smiled and shook his head. "Not at all. It's always quite fun getting in here." Quite fun!? He's acting like we didn't just almost get turned into kabobs!

"Well I'm glad they were able to entertain you. Come, you and your girlfriend can join me for dinner." My eyes widen and I felt Lukas stiffen under me. I hop off of his back. "Uh, I'm not his g-girlfriend." I correct. The old man's face fell before it returned quickly to its jolly grin. "Oh, well join me for dinner anyway." He says motioning for us to follow him.

The dragons finally broke from the invisible barriers as we followed the old man through the cave tunnels. "You know him?" I whispered to Lukas since we were a couple steps behind the man. He nods and pushes some hair out of his face. "He's an old friend." I nod and continue to fallow the man's lead.