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

Chapter Thirty

Kaito walked back towards the shrine buildings. His stride was long and full of purpose. Suzume had never seen this level of intensity from him before, at least not without it being directed at her. He really does not like being impersonated --duly noted.

The shrine was in tatters. The dormitory roofs that housed the priests had caved in and shards of wood were left behind like gaping mouths opening up to devour the sky. The gray clouds had not dissipated leaving the air damp and clammy. A breeze rustled across the temple grounds and chilled Suzume. There was an ominous feeling to the temple; something wasn’t right.

“You need to be careful,” Akira murmured in Suzume’s ear.

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Suzume replied as they followed after Kaito. He was leading them back to the main temple where Suzume had met up with the priest earlier that day.

How does he know where to go? She wondered.

Rin was keeping pace with Kaito. She had not said much since the attack. Akira was glued to Suzume’s side, which could either be a good or bad thing.

“Do you care to explain about the head priest now?” Suzume asked Akira.

Akira lifted a thin shoulder in a shrug. “We do not know much --only that the priest who was here before changed subtly. The others didn’t seem to notice it, but he’s not the man he was before.”

“How can you tell if no one else can?” Suzume asked.

“It comes with the territory, I suppose you could say. When Kazue bound us together we became more like an immortal, we see things regular humans cannot.”

“Like what?”

Akira was regarding Suzume from the corner of her eye. Her ruby red lips pulled up at the corners and revealed her white teeth. “Like a person’s energy. Everyone has a different signature. For example, yours is red like fire. Kazue’s was the same.”

“Hmm.” Suzume sniffed. She still wasn’t comfortable with being compared to Kazue.

“What about Kaito?” Suzume nodded in the dragon’s direction.

Akira’s dark eyes flickered forward to Kaito. He had stopped at the edge of the steps of a walkway and was glancing up and down the hallway. The priests were scarce and it made sense. In the wake of the attack, they must have all fled. Kaito remained half-transformed and he lifted his muzzle like head towards the sky, sniffing. He looks like a dog when he does that. The thought made her smile but seeing the destruction Kaito could wreak in his true form was enough to wipe the smile right off her face, even if it wasn’t Kaito who had done it.

“Kaito is more blue-green, like the ocean,” Akira whispered in Suzume’s ear. Her breath was hot against Suzume’s skin.

Suzume had never been to the ocean, but she had heard stories as a child. There was a nursemaid that used to tell her all kinds of fantastic tales. It wasn’t until she was much older that she found out that half the stories she told her were made up. Not the ones about immortals, those were true. They’re truer than I like to admit sometimes.

“What about Rin?” Suzume asked. She had gotten an impression of her own spiritual energy and Kaito’s before but she had never really seen Rin’s.

Akira glanced over at Rin she regarded her for a moment before saying, “Orange, like the leaves when they turn in the fall.”

If Suzume wasn’t inclined towards being prideful, she might have told Akira she was impressed. Instead Suzume hurried to keep up with Kaito, who seemed to have caught the scent of something, or had found a trail. She still wasn’t sure how he was tracking or if he was tracking. They could be following him in circles for all she knew.