The Priestess and the Dragon (Dragon Saga Book 1, Wattpad Version)

Chapter Fourteen

They emerged from the cave into blinding daylight. Suzume lifted her hand to shield her eyes as she looked at the sun’s elevated position in the sky. Kaito was already strolling down a narrow pathway that weaved down the hillside in which the mouth of the cave was set. How long have I been unconscious? Kaito had made no special concessions despite the fact that she had just been sucked dry of her spiritual energy only to have it shoved back into her.

I should zap him to teach him a lesson.  She reached for the inner well of power only to find she could not control it. She could feel sense the power, like a slumbering animal but she could not harness it at will unless she was threatened. What kind of power is only around when you’re in danger? She huffed. She stomped down the pathway after Kaito. Since she had stopped to try and access her power, she had fallen behind. She ran a bit to catch up and her feet slipped on loose gravel along the path. She threw her arms out to stop herself from falling.

Despite her failed attempts at reoriented herself her leg slipped out from beneath her on the loose gravel. She changed the angle of her arms preparing for a collision when an arm slipped around her waist. Kaito had caught her and stopped her from falling. He’s always doing that. She scowled.

She pushed him away. “I don’t need your help,” she snarled. He had let her languish in the spider’s nightmare but save her from falling on her rear. Thanks for nothing.

He gave her a half smile. “I can see that.”

She scowled again and stomped past him and down the path. I really wish I could control my powers right about now. Unfortunately the way the path was cut into the hillside each bend turned her back to where she was facing Kaito. He watched her from the pathway above with a half-smile that rankled her.

“What are you smiling about?” She demanded.

His smiled broadened. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

She huffed again and hurried down the path. But yet again as she round a bend she was facing him on the higher pathway looking down at her with a smirk. She lifted her chin and continued without making eye contact.

She suffered through several more switchbacks before reaching the bottom of the hill. Once she was back on flat ground, she hurried her pace to get away from Kaito –at least for a moment. She didn’t want him going too far in case there were more giant spiders lurking about. He may not have helped her out of the spider dream, but he had made a smoking pile out of the spider in the end and that was something she couldn’t do –yet.

He did not seem to sense her need for space, however, and he jogged up to match her pace.

“Are you going to tell me about Akito?” He asked.

She rolled her eyes and didn’t respond. The spider’s dream world had her troubled. Suzume had planned to use Kaito as a means to an end –a way back to the palace and her honored place as the daughter of the emperor. She had wanted to marry general Tsubaki. She missed being the center of court gossip. She missed the flirting with courtiers and being admired in poetry and song. In the dream, she wasn’t content. The romantic notion of Akito had been an exciting twist to her one time reality. The very idea of him was like something out of a story –a soldier who went away to war and ended up with amnesia. He wrote poetry and was still strong enough to protect her. Sounds like an idealized woman’s fantasy. She snorted.

“Something funny?” Kaito asked. He jogged ahead of her and was walking backwards so he could face her. There was no way to avoid his knowing smirk.

“Nothing that I would care to share with you,” she lifted her head imperiously, jutting out her chin.

“Fine, then if you won’t tell me, I’ll fill in the blanks.” He hummed to himself as he tapped his chin. “Akito was a childhood friend, a boy you met by chance when you were young—“ He smiled and Suzume looked away and towards the thick trees that surrounded them. “He was always quiet and mysterious but you couldn’t stay away from him. You watch him go from a stoic boy to a courageous young man and it wasn’t until he was beyond your reach that you knew how you felt about him. Did I get it right?”