Chapter 13
The dust of smoke slowly settled as the black flames slowly subsided, revealing a woman dressed in a black dress. Her black hair was long and lustrous; her beauty was like a deep black void, attracting all the things near her. Her purple eyes gave off the energy that she could look directly at a person's soul.
It was revealed that she could transform into a human, shocking everyone watching her transformation. But the difference between her and a normal human was that there were some scales left behind, shown at the sides of her eyes, on her shoulder, and even on her legs.
Alex was able to conclude that this is how they were able to do the deed. He thought they were doing it when she was in her dragon form; it was kind of creepy imagining someone doing it with a dragon. Alex hoped that there wasn't anyone crazy enough to do it with a dragon, or even an animal; it would be weird.
"So Jing, what do you want from me? You only came to check on our daughter, or when you need my help for something." Jing wasn't able to properly show his love towards them. Firstly, because he was too busy with his work. Second, they were fighting before Lana was born, causing them to break up. And lastly, Jing was afraid of responsibility.
Jing looked at his kid, Lana, playing around with the others, pulling Barry's clothes. Alex quickly moved forward and jumped on Lana's back, planning to use her as a mount. Lana was surprised by Alex's action but didn't shake him off; instead, she started rampaging like a bull running around the open grass, trying to excite Alex. But what she didn't notice was that Alex was holding tight to her tough skin, suddenly feeling afraid to fall off her back.
Lana suddenly stopped and started breathing roughly. Alex was slowly getting down from her back; he was shaking from his feet.
Ai floats towards him, checking if he is okay. "Are you okay, Alex?"
Alex just sat on the ground feeling nauseous from the constant shaking. Alex tried to brush it off, but he was still shaking, unable to properly speak.
Delton gave Lana cool water; after all the shenanigans she had done today, he still respected her, for she was Jing's daughter, their leader for this mission. "Here, drink some water; it will help you cool off, young lady."
"Thank you, uncle," she spoke in a cute tone, oblivious to what she just said.
The group covered their mouths and looked away from Delton after what Lana just said, but there was still a small crack of laughter to be heard. Delton was still 35, a young age for the elves, but Lana didn't know that and just called him uncle without knowing how old he was. Delton couldn't help his ears from turn red in embarrassment.
"Take care of her for a moment," Leia took out her water supply and started walking towards Alex. "I should bring our little scaredy cat over there some water. I'll be right back.... Uncle."
She quickly walked away from Delton before she got shouted at. Alex watched Leia approach him with a leather flask in her hand containing her supply of water.
"Here, have some water to calm yourself down," Leia offered him her water as a kind gesture, and a motive to erase the trace of her undignified self from yesterday and earlier when they fought Lana.
"Thank you," Alex said, taking the flask from her hand and drinking enough water to calm himself down. He gave the leather flask back to her, not wanting to inconvenience her by shortening her water supply.
Both Jing and Mai finished talking and agreed to let them pass through her cave on one condition: she would tell them when they were inside the cave. Jing just agreed to what she said, nodding his head, but he didn't know what he was getting into.
Mai led them to her cave. It was at the center of her domain, the mountain; the cave was at the bottom of the mountain. They walked inside the cave, mesmerized by what was inside.
Inside the cave, there were piles of gold coins, stacked like a mountain. Jewelry was all over the place. Torches attached to the walls lit up the whole cave, making it seem like a hidden treasure trove of a king. Deeper in the cave, there was a temple structure, like it were made to worship something. Pillars stood tall all over the wide space; the walls were made out of large bricks, giving off an eerie vibe. From the side of the walls, there were stone head statues of a dragon, spitting out lava from its open mouth.
At the center of the temple, Mai sat on a huge altar, and at the top, there was a throne where she sat, overseeing the group from above.
"Just like we agreed, our group needs to pass through your cave as a shortcut to the dwarven kingdom. So what is your request, honey bun?" Jing made his voice softer, wanting to make the request much easier to do for him, but Mai just sneered at him, annoyed at him trying to soften her heart.
"I want you to bring Lana along with you; she needs to bond with her father sometimes, and she also needs to go out and look around the new world." Mai looked at Lana, who was playing with James, playing tag with him. James moved like the wind, fast and smooth.
"That's too much risk, Mai. I can't bring her along with us; it's too risky for our mission." Jing wasn't afraid of his daughter being hurt on this mission, but was afraid that Lana would cause chaos while they negotiated. He was also monitoring Alex; if Lana were to come along, it would be too much work for him.
"If you're afraid of her causing chaos, I will put a limiter on her power, and it can only be broken if her life is in danger." She was able to read Jing's mind in an instant; she knew what Jing was worried about and quickly fixed his problem.
"Okay, fine; she can come along with us," Jing couldn't help but scratch the back of his head in frustration and whispered under his breath. "I hope this goes well."
Only frustration was seen on his face as another problem piled up. He wasn't able to deny her request, or it would lead to him being nagged by her for hours.