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Chapter 94

"I'm taking you to see my father's Dragon." Noah said with no argument in his tone. Emma grimaced, trying to avoid the topic by shuffling into the darkness. The shadow mage huffed with impatience, his dark eyes trained on the girl.

"Not a good idea genius, I don't need to be exposed to a camp of shadow mages." Emma said as she played with a candle flame. The male rolled is eyes as he tapped his foot against the ground, he had to get the girl into the void in order to be moved, but she kept stubbornly refusing to the point where he may just force her.

"Then how else do you plan on leaving if you don't help me?" He said. The girl didn't anwser, sitting still as she thought his words over, "The others are not fond of the leaders dragon, but I care about him, I care about him just as my own."

The girl he had kiddnapped had shown a great fondness to dragons, and if he could use her love for the scaly creatures to help him, then so be it. The girl seemed to perk up at his words, although her face was still skeptical about stepping in the void. He didn't blame her, it was a cold and suffocation place that only gifted could escape, yet this girl....she was a strange exception.

"I have a better idea that will let me stay safe." Noah's eyes widened, now could this girl be thinking of stepping into the void? "I'll watch from your mind."

With a deadpan expression, the male slumped on the floor, not believing this girls knowledge. Of course outsiders were stupid, that's what all the stories he grew up with said, and they were probably true. "And just how do you expect me to believe that?"

The girl smirked, closing her eyes and body going slack. Noah rushed to catch her before she hit anything, but as he did, a voice was inside his head.

'Get your grimy hands off me pervert.' It shrieked. The man gently set her down and looked around the room, panic setting in. Did they see the outside girl in his room? Was he going to be punished?

'Calm down man, your thoughts are going to give me a headache if you keep thinking. And to think you were stupid...."

"Get out of my mind! That's severly creepy and an invasion of privacy!" He said, hitting the side of his head as if to knock her out of his brain. The girl in front of him finally regained conscious, her eyes not even showing signs of surprise as she rose, "That was you?"

"Yep."

"But- since when?" He asked.

"Since now, I had no clue I could actually read your thoughts until a few seconds ago, I normally only try things with the minds of dragons cause they're more calm about it, but humans are much more strange." Emma voiced her thoughts, allowing the excitement to fill her voice and eyes, shining like small stars before continuing.

"I had no clue I could speak in your mind either, I thought only dragons could...." With a snap of her fingers, the girl gave Noah a wide smile.

"Does that mean, you can read all my thoughts?" He asked with hesitation. If this girl could read all his thoughts like some strange telepath, then he was in serious trouble, "Can you do that with everyone?"

"No, only people with an open mind and slight trust in me can be affected by me, if the person doesn't know me, or I don't know them, then I can't enter their minds. And you would have to allow me to see the thoughts in order to let me see them." That made Noah feel a tad bit more comfortable, the male quickly trying to closing his mind to the girl, only to have to connection to close.

"The line..."

"That's the thing, once I'm out of your mind, I safely sever the line so we're no longer connected. I like to have as little as possible, and by little, I mean none." Emma said with a proud smile. She was scared of her own ability, but if she needed to use it to escape this wretched prison, then she would do so with no hesitation. It took Noah a few seconds to take all the information in, but once he did, many questions formed that he did not ask. Instead, he asked something else.

"So you wish to see the Dragon like that then?" Noah asked. Although he didn't like the thought of her being in his head again, he needed to save the dragon from whatever was sickening it, no matter what cost. The girl nodded, causing him to sigh.

"Alright, hide in the attic and do your thing, I won't have much time, but I'll allow you to have as much time as I can possibly get." With his words, the girl did as he asked, climbing up the ladder quickly and retreating into the darkness. Opening her mind, she sensed the only close mind, telling her that rescue from her other three friends wasn't close, not yet. She quickly latched onto Noah's mind, draining her own mind into his head, where she now watched though his eyes. "And stay out of my thoughts!"

Emma chuckled, humming in his head to tease him. A thought about his dragon appeared close by, making her question his dragons scale color. Was it red like most shadow mages? Or a rare dark grey? So many mysteries that she could find with just a tad bit of searching, but even she had pride to hold onto.

"All set?" He asked. The girl nodded, her mind shifting uncomfortably from the lack of a second mind.  Whilst Noah walked, she grew bored and curious. The male walked out of his room and straight into a long hallways covered with other doors.

"Some are empty, others aren't." Noah said with a quiet voice. The girl watched as the light grey walls passed with no change, making her wonder how he mad his way through this maze-like building. Careful not to be noticed, Emma mentally wandered through the males mind, looking for his dragons bond. It was like swimming in oil, all minds were, the mess of memories and thoughts were suffocating as she struggled to find the bright light of the dragon, her eyes widening as she saw the small dot no bigger than an ant when they were usually the size of a human.

The voice inside was puny, almost like a conscious that could be smothered with one action. It was crying for help, that it was scared to be forgotten. The girl let the bond float into her hands, being gentle with the small mind that laid in her grasp. 

A dark hand reached out to take the bond away from the girl, but she quickly pulled it away, frowning as the bond shivered from the cold. With a loving stroke, Emma let the small ball be alone in that darkness, whispering small words of encouragement to the frightened dragon. She could have sworn it was her imagination, but the bond seemed to grow bigger with the few words of 'you'll be safe'. When she got out of Noah's mind, she had to have a serious talk about his dragons nearly extinguished bond.

Unaware of the girls lingering mind, the male kept weaving though hallways with confidence; allowing himself to stop at a pair of double doors that reached the high ceiling. Entering the room after three knocks, Emma could only stay silent at the sight.

In front of her was a large room heavily decorated with golden dragon sculptures and purple flowers hanging all throughout the room. A large dark oak table was set in the center of the room like a grand display, a map of the continent and clouds for the beyond lay on the center of the circle table. The most impressive thing was the chair at the end of the table that displayed the grand position to those who sat on the golden dragon. It looked like a normal oak chair with purple padding to keep the one sitting on it comfortable, but then, just like the rest of the room, a golden dragon curled around the top of the chair and expanded its wings while looking over the table, a strange way to demonstrate dominance. Purple gemstones encrusted the dragons eyes, along with a purple fade at the end of each scale. Emma laughed, this man was a gold and purple fanatic.

"Yeah, that's King Eric for you, always dramatic." Noah said under his breath. Quietly, he walked thought the room and into a back door, where the dragons conscious could be felt. Noah let his hand fall on the handle, twisting it open to reveal the dragon inside.

Emma winced at the sight in front of her.