Chapter 2
Subasi was silently packing in her room, gathering up the last few items she wanted to take with her. Mitsuko was going to take her to see the Elders to officiate their bond, then after that he had planned to take her around Gaia to show her the world.
She was nervous. They had spent almost every waking moment together until today, he had some business to attend to a few towns over and would be there the next morning to ride on the train with her to the Elder Village.
There was a knock at the door and she heard it open. "Are you all packed yet?"
She set a neatly folded shirt into her bag and turned to face her brother. "Almost."
He smiled at her, almost sadly. "You're taking a big step tomorrow."
Subasi sighed and sat on her bed. "I'm so nervous. I can't believe that I'll actually be leaving this place. He's going to take me to see the world." She stared down to her hands. "It's meant to be amazing, but I feel like this is too much, ya know?"
Fatih nodded and sat next to her. "You don't have to go if you don't want to. It's not like you have to follow him everywhere."
"I know that, but I want to."
"You barely know him."
"I know. That's what makes me so nervous."
"Then don't go."
"But I'm also very excited about it!" She pursed her lips to the side and stared at him for a moment. "It almost sounds like you don't want me to go at all."
He shrugged. "I'll miss you. You're my only little sister."
"I have to finish packing." She stood.
"I'll help."
They packed the rest of her stuff, which wasn't much, in silence. Neither speaking until the bag had been zipped shut and placed by the door for easy access in the morning.
"This is it." Fatih sat on the steps to the front porch and stared out over the grass. "This is your last night here. Who knows when you'll be back, if you'll ever be back."
Subasi sat down next to him. "Of course I'll be back. What makes you think that I won't?"
"The life expectancy of a human mate isn't exactly high up there."
"What do you mean?"
He sighed and shook his head. "Nothing, don't listen to what I'm saying. I hope you have a good time on the way to the Elders. Did he say what you're even doing there anyways?"
She shrugged. "Something about an officiating ceremony. It involves some dragons and such. It's more of a formality than anything. Kind of like a wedding."
He scoffed. "Isn't that nice?"
"Of course it is."
"Too bad none of your family can come."
"It's for the dragons, that why we had the wedding here."
He sighed and faced her. "Just promise me that you won't forget about me when you start seeing the world."
"I couldn't, even if I wanted to."
"Why?"
"Because you're my big brother and I love you."
They smiled at each other and hugged. All Fatih could think about was how he could protect her while she was gone and all Subasi could think about was how much she wished he could come with her.
The next morning, Mitsuko arrived at the house exactly at the time he had specified and Subasi gave a quick goodbye to her parents. Fatih walked with them to the train station as Mitsuko carried her bags.
Fatih and Subasi stopped. "Now you remember to write the parents. Alright? At least every once in a while."
"And what about you? Don't you want letters?"
He shrugged, "If you see fit to write me some."
"Don't worry, I will."
"Only if you're not too busy with your adventures."
They hugged and Mitsuko walked up after placing her bags into the train.
"It's time to go."
Subasi sighed and let go of her brother. "I'll write to you, and I promise I'll come visit you soon."
He nodded, even though he knew she wasn't going to get the chance. "I'll be waiting."
"Why?"
"Because you're my little sister and I love you."
They smiled and she grabbed Mitsuko's hand and walked onto the train. They waved through the window as the whistle blew and the train started moving. When the station was out of sight, she sat in her seat and looked up at Mitsuko who hadn't sat down yet.
"Aren't you going to sit?" She asked.
He stared at her for a moment. "I wish I could, but I have to go talk to the engineer first. I have some information to give him concerning the ride. Do you mind waiting for me?"
"Of course not, I'll be here."
He smiled. "If you want to explore the train you can. You don't need to hide your excitement from me."
She beamed. "I'll be sure to check it out."
He nodded and shut the door behind him as he walked towards the front of the train. Subasi sat and stared out the window for a few minutes but soon she was out of her seat and on her way to explore the train.
Unaware to anybody on the train, a white dragon was flying to catch up with it. This was an easy feat since nothing on Gaia could come close to matching the speed of a dragon. He caught up and landed on top of the speeding train. He paused for a few moments, listening through the metal until he found his intended target. When he found her, he stealthily crawled along the top until he rested on the car above her. He sat and waited, waiting for the perfect moment.
Subasi had paused in a cargo car to inspect the boxes that were placed there. It was a dark car, the only light was what little bit passed through the small windows. Since it was a cargo car, there were no electric lights.
She lifted some tarps and found nothing of interest under them. She disappointedly started for the door when the train entered a cave and the car went black.
The door to the next car opened and she was shoved through, the door slammed behind her and locked. As she stood perplexed on the other side Mitsuko glared at the ambushers in the cargo car.
The ability to see in the dark is just one of the many powers that a dragon has, so it took him no time at all to locate all of the men and quickly dispatch them. They valiantly tried to put up a good fight, but there was little they could do against a dragon. He gathered up the bodies, opened the side door, waited until they were out of the cave, and kicked the bodies out into the canyon that they were passing over.
He brushed his hands together and turned to shut the door, but a hand grabbed his, stopping him.
"I'm surprised you didn't sense me Grand Dragon Mitsuko. You're meant to be much better than that."
Mitsuko followed the arm that was grabbing him to the face, a face he knew well. "Rah." He said simply. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
Rah grimaced and let go of his arm. "It seems as though your new mate is having a dampening effect on your senses. Perhaps you would do better without her."
"So it was you."
"Me?" Rah faked surprise, placing a hand against his chest.
"You hired those men to go after her."
He shrugged. "I hadn't expected you to be so quick."
"You should know better than to go after a dragon's mate." Mitsuko growled.
"And you should know better than to trust me to keep this conversation civil." He gave a wicked smile before jumping out of the train and transforming into a glossy black dragon.
Mitsuko tried to transform, but found that he couldn't. After a glance at his wrist, he understood why. Rah had placed a dragon charm on him. He growled in frustration and ripped it off, tossing it into the canyon before taking off himself.
He teleported up to Rah, transforming into a dragon, and catching him by surprise. Mitsuko's claws raked down Rah's side and a shrill shriek echoed through the air. Rah stopped his attempt to get inside the train car and turned his attention the grand red and black dragon that had attacked him.
Rah flipped backwards in the air, pulling away from the train, trying to draw Mitsuko away. It worked. Mitsuko followed and green arcs of power danced along his snout as he snapped at Rah. Rah charged his own power and dodged his pathetic attempt at a bite.
Rah started to lead him on a chase, rising and falling in an endless circle, forcing Mitsuko to follow him. Mitsuko bit down on his tail, he immediately turned and shot the fire that he had been building in his throat at Mitsuko's face.
Mitsuko released his tail and dodged out of the line of fire, shooting his own pent up energy back. The green fire just simmered to nothing on the black scales of Rah as he darkly chuckled.
"You and I both know that won't do anything."
They glared at each other in the sky, "That dragon charm was weak, you should have known better than to use it."
"The charm did its job."
Mitsuko's eyes widened in fear as he realized what Rah's plan had been all along. "Subasi." He gasped and turned back to the train.
"You'll be too late. My associate should already have her in his grasp by now." Rah's evil laugh echoed through the canyon as Mitsuko rushed to the train.
He could sense where she was and he immediately went to the train car. He arrived just in time to see a white dragon grabbing a human from the train and toss him into the canyon. The man fell helplessly.
The white dragon transformed back into his human form and landed on the train. This particular car had a glassed in area where you could stand and safely watch the scenery pass. Mitsuko turned back into a human midflight and teleported in-between the dragon avatar and the door back into the train.
"You." He seethed.
The dragon avatar raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. "Me? I just saved your mate's life and that's all you have to say to me?"
Mitsuko glared at him. "What are you doing here Fatih?"
Subasi's supposed brother scoffed, "Apparently I'm doing your job. He was going to kill her."
"I was on my way to stop him."
"You and I both know you wouldn't have made it in time. You got distracted by Rah; you let him lead you away. If it weren't for me Subasi would be dead."
Mitsuko huffed in anger for a moment before getting his emotions under control. "That's true."
"You owe me."
"Anything you ask. I am in your debt."
"Stay away from my sister." Fatih threatened menacingly. "You can adore her from afar; I don't want you having anything to do with her."
"Why so much malice?"
"Because of you, a whole group of men were here trying to kill her and you know the other reason. You put her life in danger just by traveling with her. It's not too late to let her live her life in peace. Don't bond with her. Leave her."
Mitsuko took a step back. "You know just as well as I that I can't do that."
"You said so yourself, you're in my debt. Stay away from her."
Mitsuko stepped forward and faced the shining green eyes of Fatih. "And what if I don't?"
"Then I will do everything in my power to stop you."
"If you try to get between Subasi and I, I will tell her who you really are and what you did. I will expose to her all of your lies and treachery, starting with how you have lied to her about being her brother."
"That would crush her." Fatih growled. "She would never talk to me again."
"Exactly. Don't try anything. As for that favor I owe you, perhaps you can use it another time."
They glared at each other for a few minutes before Mitsuko turned around and walked into the train. Fatih growled in anger and jumped off the train, transforming into his true form of a white dragon, intently watching the train car that Subasi was in.
"Mitsuko!" Subasi looked up and found herself smiling in the arms of her dragon-mate. "I was looking for you."
"And I was looking for you."
"Boy have I got some things to tell you. There have been some strange things happening on this train."
He laughed and took her hand, leading her back to their room. "You can tell me all about them."
As she started telling him about the dark cargo car and the strange man that had followed her, there were three dragons watching her every move; the dragon avatar by her side, a black dragon who was retreating into a nearby mountain pass, and a white dragon who was resting on the roof of the train above her.