Page 2 of Destined Paranormals: Volume One

“We are, yes.”

I nodded once. “Were you going to tell me?” I asked. I was irritated now. It wasn’t as if I couldn’t live on my own. I could. My fathers had raised me to be self-sufficient. I was capable of cleaning, cooking, and doing my own wash, and of course, I could hunt and forage—in both forms. “Very well. I wish the two of you well.”

“Ferdinand,” Da growled out. Father froze before slowly looking at his mate. “You said you discussed it with Aleric and he was coming with us.”

This was all news to me. I had no clue what was happening. “You have made plans for me without consulting me first? Where is it we’re to be going? I was unaware it was time to move on again. We’ve only been here five seasons. I have not heard of things being said about us.”

Da glared at Father before he crossed to me, holding out his hands. I took them, giving them a squeeze.

“Aleric, we would love for you to come with us. If you don’t, we can and will accept that.” Da sent Father another look. It was not one that I ever wished to be on the receiving end of. “That being said, we really hope you will. We have decided to fly far away—across the ocean. Make a new life for ourselves and hope for somewhere with less strife with corruption and manipulation.”

I could understand that. I nodded. That sounded intriguing. I was curious as to how many others would be there. Would they be like as? Would they shift into dragons? Wolves? Other species? I was curious, and my curiosity got the better of me. Perhaps I could find my forever mate there. I wanted that more than anything, and I was willing to do whatever it took to find him.

“I’ll go with you. I will need to pack my things,” I told them.

“No need,” Da said, a small smile on his face. “I was under the impression you were joining us already. I’ve packed all of your clothing, as well as your favorite books and journals.”

“You mentioned Feiedrich,” Father said, grabbing my attention. “I was concerned about him. Egon said he’d seen him in the village last time he was at the market, which is why I’d asked you to go today.”

I looked between my fathers. “Is he after Da?”

Father shrugged. “I have no real way of knowing. I would like nothing more than to drop him from a great height, but the one time I’ve been near him, I could tell there is something not quite right with him. I do not wish to put your Da in any sort of danger. Thus, I’ve chosen to leave him be.”

Da snorted. I pursed my own lips to keep from laughing. It was true that Father was protective of Da, but Da was also a dragon—he had been gifted with such ability just as Father had. He was more than capable of taking care of himself.

“When do we leave?” I asked. Da went back to packing the trunk he’d been filling with clothing.

“At nightfall. The plan is for us to shift and Egon to help us with the trunks. We will carry the large trunks while he carries a smaller satchel with immediate needs when we stop for breaks.”

I nodded. It sounded like a sound plan. I wasn’t quite sure completely of the reasoning, but I wasn’t going to argue with my father. He was in protective mode, and his dragon was close to the surface. I wasn’t going to say anything that set him or his dragon off. Not that I feared my father. I didn’t. I simply didn’t wish to get into an altercation with him before we left.

The day passed with us readying the house for our departure. In past times, we’d always moved with a cart and taken everything we could with us. But being limited to only two trunks and a satchel, we would be going into this move with next to nothing. That wasn’t something that bothered me. We were dragons and could live in our scales for as long as we needed. We obviously had to be much more careful when doing so though.

Da was determined to get as much into the trunks as he could, and when he finally deemed them ready, he closed and locked them. It was going to be a great responsibility to carry one all the way across the ocean. It wasn’t as if my dragon wasn’t strong enough to do it. That wouldn’t be an issue at all. But needing to clutch it in my talons for such long periods would undoubtedly get tiring.

Nightfall finally arrived, and under cover of it, Father and I moved the trunks outside and to the clearing that we had taken to using as a place to shift. Da followed behind, the large satchel in his arms, and I realized he had a wad of what looked like rope in his hands. He passed them to Father, who quickly held out one to me. I took it, wondering what I was supposed to do with it.

“It is a net to go around your trunk and has a reinforced loop so the trunk can go around your neck. It will make it easier for you to carry the trunk rather than having to try to carry it by the handles in your talons.”

That was so much better. I was relieved they had thought this through. I quickly arranged the bundle around my trunk as Father had. By the time I finished, Father was removing his clothing and handing it to Da, who was already naked. Da placed the bundle in the satchel, and I did the same, handing each article of clothing to my da. Father and Da embraced briefly before Father stepped away.

I looked to Da, who nodded and shooed me away. Father was changing into his scales as I walked over to do the same. I called for my dragon; he was only too happy to come forth, and after shaking out the kinks in my body and wings after the transformation, I carefully moved over to where Da was helping Father with the large loop to carry the trunk. Once Father was wearing his trunk, Da did the same for me before calling for his own dragon. He was much smaller than Father and me, but he was still powerful in his own right.

It was interesting to watch Da root on the ground to try to get the strap on the satchel around his neck. I carefully walked over, and with the talons on one foot, I pulled one side of the loop up. I ended up having to flap my wings twice to get a little height, but the satchel slid over Da’s large head and down his neck to where it rested there against his chest.

Father’s and Da’s dragons touched snouts before Father jumped and took to the sky. I nodded at Da, and after he followed Father, I took one last look around the area we’d called home for the last little while before I jumped and took to the sky to follow them.

Seeing in the night sky wasn’t an issue for any of us as we had the eyesight of our dragons, and I could make out my fathers’ forms ahead of me. I caught up, the sounds of their wings flapping as we continued to climb to the height that Father wished for us to fly. I felt it at the same time they seemed to, and when the wind caught us, we leveled out and let the wind help carry us in the direction the sun had set. I knew that it wouldn’t be long before the winds would start fighting us, and we would use more energy to fly against it, but for now, I would allow my dragon the freedom to glide through the air with it.

We flew for not nearly long enough before we started fighting the wind. After that, we continued on for hours—until the sky started to lighten.

I followed my father downward, as did Da. On the way down, the sky had lightened more, giving us a clear view of what was ahead of us: the sea. When he landed, I noticed there was a cave not far to our right. Father quickly went to check it out while I stayed with Da. Father disappeared inside, seemingly deeming it safe because he looked back toward us.

I followed Da to the cave, and by the time we arrived, Father had shifted and was moving the trunk inside. Now that we were no longer in the air, I felt not only tired but hungry as well. Da shifted, me following, and as we pulled our packages into the cave, I saw Father opening his.

“We’ll stay here for two days to rest. We have no way of knowing how or where there is land once we cross the sea. We will need to rest and gather our strength.”

I had to agree. Luckily for us, we could fly for days if needed, but that burned a great deal of energy, and we’d not consumed nearly enough to be able to do so as of yet.