I Married A Dragon (Prime Mating Agency)(32)

She followed those instructions, leading us to the market portal, and we walked through it.

“Oh, I recognize this place,” she exclaimed, relieved. “I can see the fruit stands we were looking at over there to our left. But I hadn’t seen the portal from there.”

“The kiosks hide it. Now you know how to get back to the city on your own.” I explained, while leading her to the rental stand right next to the portal. “Here, you can rent a hover platform to transport goods or yourself up to our lair.”

“Oh! In case I don’t have my jetpack with me, right?” Kaida asked.

“Correct. They are very safe. You can use the smallest one. It has a protective railing all around to prevent you from falling off the sides, not that it should be a problem. We do not have strong winds here. Once you have reached your destination and disembarked, it will automatically return here on its own. For that too, you do not need to worry about credits. They will charge my account.”

Kaida pursed her lips again. It amused me that she seemed bothered about me paying for her. That was another thing I would need to cure her of. I had more credits than I knew what to do with, as I hardly ever spent my very generous Shadow Lord compensation. On what? I had everything I needed at home. I hunted for my food and had no one to spoil.

Or rather, I ‘used’ to have no one to spoil.

My hearts swelled just thinking about all the ways I wanted to spoil my Ejaya. But first, we needed to pursue her training.

“Let’s go back inside the gate. I want to take you to some of our more unstable areas so that you can practice detecting and avoiding rifts,” I said.

“Yes, please! I’d rather avoid a repeat of yesterday,” Kaida said, scrunching her face.

We reentered the black gate through the portal, and I instructed Kaida to take us to the Storm Lands in the southern continent. With impressive confidence, she correctly headed towards its portal by following her compass. Halfway there, we ran into Rovain, one of my Shadow Lord brothers, working on stabilizing the Jaeliant Valley portal with his shadow flames.

“Wicked!” Kaida whispered as she admired my brother.

My chest swelled with pride as I observed my elder. In his late fifties, Rovain was among the oldest living Shadow Lords. Thanks to Trinit—his Ejaya—he would likely live to a Derakeen average lifespan of 175 years.

As would I now!

His shadow horns were glowing from the ethereal energy they were gathering and that he was channeling through shadow flames and through his hands. From his palms, it shot out like a purplish beam of energy, filling the gaps and weaknesses in the portal, as one would patch the fissures and cracks in the foundation of a building.

“You can do that?” Kaida asked in a hushed voice, as if afraid to disturb Rovain.

“Of course,” I said, slightly offended she needed to ask.

Then again, her tone had sounded less like a doubtful question than a desire for confirmation.

Rovain finished stabilizing the section he’d been working on before turning to look at us. I felt the gentle nudge of his consciousness against mine as he gave me a telepathic greeting. As we closed the distance with him, he shifted out of his towering battle form. It was not only to be at a height with us but also so that Kaida wouldn’t be excluded from the conversation we would have, as she had no telepathic abilities.

Yet…

She deactivated her visor so that he could clearly see her face.

“Brother,” Rovain said with his deep, rumbling voice. “It is a pleasure to see you so well accompanied.”

“It is a blessing from the Gods,” I said, slipping a possessive arm around Kaida’s waist while looking at her with pride.

To my delight, she leaned against my side, and I gently rubbed my cheek against the top of her head.

“Kaida, this is the Elder Shadow Lord Rovain, a veteran who I have the honor of calling a mentor and a friend. Rovain, this is my Ejaya, Kaida Daigo from Earth.”

“Welcome to Dramnac, Kaida. It is a blessing to see I have a new sister. You couldn’t have been created for a more deserving Shadow Lord than Cedros.”

Kaida blushed and gave Rovain a friendly smile. “It’s an honor to meet you as well. I didn’t know what to expect when I came here, but Cedros has been beyond charming to me since my arrival.”

“As he should be!” Rovain said forcefully before turning back to me. “My hearts soar for you, my brother. Your loss to jokraz would have been a tragedy. But I told you not to lose hope.”

I nodded in concession. “You did. However, who would have thought my Ejaya would come to me from another world?”

“The Gods work in mysterious ways. It was fate.” He eyed the compass in Kaida’s hands. “I see you’re teaching her how to navigate the void. Wise. Is this a new model?”

“It’s been modified specifically to compensate for her human eyesight. She cannot see rifts, phase shifts, or the writings on the portals without it.”

“I see. That would indeed be problematic.”

“Which is why I’m taking her to the Storm Lands to practice avoiding unstable rifts,” I explained.

“Good!” he exclaimed before turning to Kaida. “Do not get discouraged if you struggle to avoid them. It takes our younglings a long time, and they have phasing abilities. Every day, I recover a dozen of them who got lost in the void. Just keep practicing. If you need a partner, my mate will be more than happy to provide additional training once Cedros returns to work.”