The Return of the Gods (Children of the Sun Book 1)

Chapter 14

"Nothing. You just don't meet a princess that often, ya know?" Rayni explained with a smile. "It's nice to meet you." Nef glared at her when she winked.

"How does everyone know who you are except for me?" Nef grumbled to Nira, who looked about as surprised as he felt.

"Kaleth told us," Rayni explained easily.

"Where is he anyway?" Alor asked, obviously trying to change the subject. It was a good question though. The Imberan made them fly across a good chunk of the Federation—the least he could do was be here as well.

"He told me he'd find us, and then he hung up," Kara said, folding her arms. "I've tried calling him, but there was no answer. I suppose we'll have to wait for—"

A rather loud whooshing sound interrupted her, and all five of them automatically looked up to find out what had made the noise. It wasn't too hard to find the dark spot in the sky, but it was a tad harder to figure out what they were looking at.

Nef squinted at it. He would have thought it was a car, but it hadn't sounded like one. And parts of it were moving, which was also unusual. And...wait, were those wings? Nef's eyes widened when he realized how fast the thing was moving, but he barely took a step back before it landed in front of Alor's car.

There was a stunned silence as everyone gaped at the dragon in front of them. Nef got over the shock first because he had already seen it. It didn't make the creature any less impressive, but at least he didn't have to question his sanity—he'd had hours to wrap his head around it, after all.

"I told you, and you didn't believe me!" Nef exclaimed triumphantly, pointing at his brother, who couldn't even manage to look irritated right now.

"You can put the guns away. He won't hurt you." Only after hearing Kaleth's voice did Nef realize he was also there. It was easy not to notice when there was a mythological being standing in front of him.

The man dusted off his suit jacket and straightened his tie and collar as if that was the most natural thing one could do after jumping off a dragon. Nef noticed the goggles, which were now hanging from around Kaleth's neck. They were square—black and silver with orange lenses and round parts over the ears that were probably headphones. He immediately wanted a pair for himself, but he pushed away that thought quickly. They had more important things to discuss right now.

"And who is he?" Kara asked, suspicion clear in her voice. She didn't let go of the gun in her hand, but she at least lowered it. Nef studied the dragon again, noticing that it—he—seemed nervous. And that sounded ridiculous even in Nef's head.

"This is Mel, although not in the form you're used to. He helped me escape from Carcer," Kaleth said, gesturing to the dragon, whose eyes almost comically widened.

"I just helped a little," the creature argued timidly, and Nef felt his eyebrows reach his hairline. He hadn't expected such a fragile voice to come out of that body. Or any voice at all, actually. This was the deserter he'd been told about? Nef couldn't say this was how he'd imagined him.

"Oh my gods!" Rayni yelled out in shock, but she calmed down a second later. "I kind of want to pet him."

"Rayni, he isn't a dog!" Kaleth snapped at her. Nef looked over at his girlfriend, wondering what she was thinking about this whole situation. She was keeping her expression blank and guarded though.

"It's okay, I don't mind," Mel said, somehow looking like he was smiling, even though his mouth was full of sharp fangs. It wasn't even all that creepy despite that, but Nef would be lying if he said he was completely comfortable seeing that smile.