He lifted up my chin gently. “That’s your opinion, Sweetheart. They're going to love you. But if you're not ready, I can wait.”
“So where are we going on Sunday?”
“It's a surprise,” he said mysteriously.
“Fine, I guess I’ll just have to wait then.”
He looked at his watch and a frown pulled at his face. “I really don't want to go home. I hate not being able to see you every day.”
“It's only tomorrow, Lucian. Besides, next weekend you're staying here with me.”
“It's not the same.”
“You want some cheese with that whine?” I said, rolling my eyes.
“Ha, ha,” he said in a sarcastic tone, and kissed me one last time before we went back to the main building.
I said goodbye as he ran up the stairs to get his suitcase. I had to agree that it was hard for me to stay here while he went home.
When I got back to my room, Becky and Sammy at first didn’t approve of Lucian’s decision to let me go with Cheng. But by that evening, they came around and got the reason I needed to go. Learning about Paegeia was the only way I was going to pass this year.
I crawled into bed contemplating whetherI should ditch Cheng, but he really looked excited when I told him that I would love to go to Elm with him. I didn’t want to disappoint him after everything he was doing to help me pass History.
“Don't fall for Cheng, please,” Becky pleaded, and I giggled, thinking of how Lucian had also said something along those lines.
“He's so not my type, Becky.”
“Goodnight, y'all,” Sammy said, mimicking a Southern accent and gave a huge yawn, effectively ending the conversation.
Becky ran to switch off the light and tripped over something, probably her saddle that was too big to be chucked into her cupboard like all the other things she owned. She cussed like crazy, and her dark silhouette hopped on one spot. Sammy and I tried very hard to suppress our laughter, but failed miserable.
We settled down a couple of minutes later, and I started to drift away. I dreamt that night about the mysterious woman again. She kept pointing at the forest, and I wished I could ask her what the hell she wanted from me.
The next morning Cheng and I stood in front of a large brick building that had two huge stone dragons framing a gilded door. There was a warning written in big bold red letters demanding that everyone who entered must remain silent right at the entrance.
It looked like any other museum I had ever visited. Thick red carpet lined the path through the building, and a strong antique smell lingered inside. Parents pointed out objects to their children, whose eyes grew wide with wonder.
“Come, this is the starting point,” Cheng whispered, and took the path closest to the entrance. The brass plate read VIKINGS in big golden letters. It reminded me a lot of the Madame Tussaud Dad took me to once.
Vikings carrying huge weapons and hats with long horns on top of their heads were trapped behind glass, frozen in time. Most of them were big ogres with long beards and messed up hair. Pantene would have done wonders in those days. A small description on another brass plate explained the era and the people who lived during the time. The things they did mostly consisted of gathering food and making weapons to slay dragons.
"The Viking era is quite boring. The only thing they did was drink, eat, sleep, slay dragons, and have plenty of sex."
I giggled and blushed simultaneously.
“C'mon Elena, does the word sex bother you.” He bumped into my left shoulder.
For the love of blueberries why does everyone keep bringing it up? I shook my head, looking like an idiot with this huge grin still plastered on my face.
The next exhibit displayed a badass dragon, and I couldn't figure out if we had covered it in Anatomy or not.
He was dark, a mixture between a red and a purple-black. Red eyes were sitting deep in his sockets and the dragon had huge nostrils that I imagined it emitted fire. Thick catfish whiskers covered his whole head like fur, which really made him look pure evil. His tail resembled a big tree stump that had been whittled down into a spear end. Webbed feet and huge claws told me he was a swimmer, and wings that looked as if they had been shredded protruded from his back. Pointy, vicious talons were displayed on the edges of each wing. I couldn't make up my mind if he was beautiful, ugly, or just plain deadly.
“His name was Quito,” Cheng whispered. “He was the Rubicon before Blake.”
“That’s the Rubicon?”
“One hell of an ugly bugger, isn't he? Only a mother can love that mutt,”he joked.“The total opposite of his human form.”
Right next to the dragon, a tiny figure reached up to his knee. The sign read that it was an average human male. Goose pimples made my skin crawl as I realized it was the human-dragon ratio.
“Does Blake look like that too?” I asked, thinking Lucian must be crazy to try to claim him.
“Not quite there yet, but he is the biggest of all the dragons at Dragonia. They grow bigger as they reach their milestones.”
Milestones? It must be similar to birthdays.
“Where would I fit on him?”
“Oh, about up to here.” He crouched down and showed at least half the human figure’s size.
“I'm so glad I'm not Lucian.”
“Me too, but size isn't everything,” he explained thoughtfully.
“Do you have a Dragonian?”
“Yes, his name is Andreas,but he’s only ten years old.”
“Ten years old?” I looked confused. That seemed too young to have a dragon.
He nodded and a huge smile lit up his eyes.
“How did you know he was your Dragonian?”
“A dragon knows.”
We moved on. Knights with jousting sticks and wearing heavy armor came next. They even have had York and some of the Eastern Europe countries displayed with model dragons soaring through the air breathing fire down on unsuspecting villages.
Cheng sighed. “The Sun-Blast and Moon-Bolt made it really difficult for dragons to be considered tamable in the old world.”
“You mean the world before the wall?”
“Ah-uh.”
“How long has the wall been up now?”
“Oh, for the last nine hundred years,” he explained.
“Did you ever visit the other side?”
“I really want to, but they say it's hard for a Metallic dragon to return. We like humans and feel more appreciated on the other side. It's the reasons my mom's scared to give her consent,” he explained.
“So your guardian has to give permission?”
He nodded.
“Until when?”
“Forever.”
“That sucks,” I said, and he chuckled.
“Yes, you humans have things so much easier.”
“You humans? That’s not nice,” I said, teasing him.
“Elena, you know what I mean.”
“I'm just joking with you, Cheng, and yes, I do know what you mean.” I felt sorry for him, not having a chance to follow his heart without his mom's consent.
“After you.” He showed me the way, and we moved to the next exhibition. It was some sort of obstacle course that reminded me of First Knight, a movie featuring Richard Gere and Sean Connery. Richard's character had to complete an obstacle course just to get a kiss from the lovely Guinevere. The obstacle was scaled down, and I gawked at the detail of the hammers sliding past one another and huge boulders crashing down. Logs with swinging balls attached to them rotated at very high speeds. Even the surface where the contestant walked to get through the obstacle was moving.
“It was entertainment in the old days,” Cheng said.
I imagined me, super tiny, trying to get through in one piece. I got smashed by the two rocks colliding on top of each other.