Dawn turned and walked out of the office to the parking area. Sometimes her husband was such a baby. It reminded her of Cole. The boy hadn't called for two days from his training camp and it was time she chided him too.

Daryn gritted his teeth as he sat beside her in the car.

​​

"Focus on tomorrow's training!" she said.

Daryn put his hand on his chest and gave a silly grin, "How I miss our courtship days! The wait, the anticipation, the love, the anxiety…" he sighed. "It was so good back then. Now I feel so… married."

Dawn raised her right eyebrow. "My dear, are you sure you miss those times?"

"Of course darling! Remember our first dance together?" He let out an excited laughter that reached his eyes.

Dawn nodded. She smiled because she hadn't seen him this happy in a long time ever since he had returned from Ixoviya. "I hated you so much!"

He pulled her to his lap and buried his head in the crook of her neck. "Nah! You loved me even then." He grazed her neck lightly with his fangs and licked on his mark."

Dawn shuddered. That was a sure shot way of getting her wet between the thighs. And her husband knew it. He was so shameless that he didn't stop doing that in the car, totally oblivious of the driver's red face. But yes, she loved him from the day she saw him on the cover magazine. "Did I ever tell you—" she bit her lip in embarrassment.

"What?" he asked as he pressed the screen between them and the driver as if understanding her hesitation. He nudged her again and licked his mark. She clutched his neck harder.

"I— I—" she was scarlet. She hid her face with her hands.

By Skadi! This woman was so cute. She was still embarrassed in front of him. "What?" he asked curiously.

When she removed her hands from her face, the blush had spread to her neck. She giggled. "After meeting you at the party, after dancing with you at the party, I saw you and Maya on the cover of a magazine. You looked so hot that I ended up pleasuring myself!" Saying that she hid her face in his neck and Daryn laughed and laughed. He found it so sexy and funny that his wife lusted for him. At the same time, his erection shot up. "Gods, woman, when will I see you pleasuring yourself in front of me?" That became his fantasy. His chest swelled with pride that he impressed his wife.

She shook her head bashfully. "Never!" Her lips curled up and she didn't know how to hide her embarrassment. Why did she ever confess? He would tease her.

Instead Daryn held her hand and took it to his shaft. "You better ease off my ache for now. Tonight you have to show me what you did to yourself back then."

Daryn didn't last even five minutes when she whispered in her ears how she pleasured herself.

---

Next day Canton came to them early in the morning at 6AM. The three walked to Ensmoire forests. Canton had come to the human realm for the first time. He was finding everything so elementary to the point of boring. As a priest of the kingdom of Ixoviya, he had remained inside the walls of his realm always. He had imagined how much of an excitement it was outside the walls, but the human world… it was lackluster. For one people didn't wear gold so much. The buildings were plain. Most people were busy going for jobs. Everything was so drab that he longed to go back to Ixoviya immediately. He didn't like the hotel, which was incidentally a suite in a five star hotel, at all. "This place is so dreary and lifeless!" he had commented.

When they entered the Ensmoire, he was immediately mesmerized by Quetz, who was waiting for them on the other side. He bowed to the mighty dragon. It was the first time he was this close to a dragon. He couldn't help but admire Dawn's luck. The dragon had chosen her as his rider.

Quetz acknowledged his presence with a bow. 'See how much he holds me in reverence,' he said to Dawn.

'Don't be so full of yourself.' she said in a nonchalant voice.

"Where do we start with the training?" asked Daryn, as he plucked a guava from one of the Eobens who had lowered it for Dawn. When Daryn plucked it, the tree whispered with anger and produced another one for Dawn.

Canton was shocked when he heard the trees whispering within themselves. He stared at them for a long time.

Quetz turned his face to the side and raised his eyebrow as he looked at his shocked expressions.

Dawn walked to Quetz who opened his left wing to welcome his rider and snuggle her into it. She walked away from them while Quetz padded on his feet beside him. "This place is yours. You can begin anywhere. I am going with my dragon to practice my magic."

A growl from behind made her stop. "I will be fineeee Daryn," she said and continued to walk while munching on her guava.

Once they left, Canton bowed to Daryn before beginning the training. He said, "I understand that you have a lot of power. Your problem is that since you have never learnt to control it, the power surges through your body like a stream of lava. Had you learnt how to control it from the beginning as a child, you wouldn't have allowed it to surface. But now we have to start working just the opposite of that." He walked to his side and then circled him. "I want you to meditate. Close your eyes and sit under that tree," he pointed towards the one, which gave him a guava, "till you see a brilliant light in front of your eyes."

"Meditate?" he asked as if Canton was joking.

"Yes, meditate," he replied only as seriously. "Until you see that brilliant light in the center of your eyes."

"And in how much time will I be able to see it?"

"Who knows? Maybe an hour, maybe two hours or maybe the whole day." He shrugged.

"This is a complete waste of time!" Daryn sneered.

Canton walked under the canopy of the tree. "No, my liege, it isn't. You need to do that. I have talked with many people in Ixoviya and all of us have come up with a very serious plan to help you out. In fact we will be using the same plan with our king, Caleb too."

Daryn looked up at the sky and closed his fists. What the hell was he being plunged into? Reluctantly, he went to the spot Canton showed him and sat down. The priest lifted his garb and sat down with him. He showed him the way to meditate. It wasn't the normal way. Daryn was supposed to hold his arms up and clasp his hands. He had to close his eyes and focus on the inside. Canton made a symbol on his skin and he felt that he was plunging into a pit. "What is going on?" he asked with anger.

"Hold on my liege," came Canton's voice from somewhere.

A few minutes later when Daryn opened his eyes, he found himself sitting on the clouds in the same pose. There was dense fog all around and he was levitating in it.

"Close your eyes and focus on your inner energy. Once you see it, let me know."

Had he become Canton's prisoner?