AllFreeNovel
Share Us
With extreme care, he slipped out from under Luka’s arm, placing it down in the middle of Vasily’s chest, and slid out of the bed. Snagging a pair of shorts, he hopped on one foot and then the other, struggling to quietly get dressed in the dark. He didn’t want them waking and dragging him back to bed. Their concern was sweet and kind, but sleep wasn’t happening.
And well, just maybe…his dick and ass needed a small break from the marathon of sex they’d been enjoying. He might need to make up for missing out on five hundred years of missed sex, but his body was starting to argue that he shouldn’t try to make up for it all at once.
Spacing it out would be wise.
Just a little spacing, though. Only a little.
Wearing enough to cover his vulnerable bits, Amaru snatched up the tablet Luka had loaned him and slipped out of the tent. A fire was flickering low thanks to a fire spell he’d used, and their campsite was blissfully empty of anything that might want to eat him because of the protection spell he’d erected. It was nice to see that five centuries of sleep hadn’t rotted his brain and made him forget all the basic spells he’d known.
Since Vasily and Luka had mentioned they were near his village, the thought wouldn’t leave his mind. It had been very tempting after they’d acquired the iara’s song to hop on a dragon and fly off to see his old home. The priority was finishing with their ingredients gathering, but part of him missed home. The homesickness was a real thing even though he knew it wasn’t the same place. But it was still home.
Still, he could look over all the pictures and notes Sam had sent him of the village. It would give him a good idea of what damage the village had sustained over the years. From there, he could start prioritizing a to-do list of repairs so they could make the place habitable again.
Well, habitable by their old standards.
Since being awoken, he’d glimpsed amazing technologies that would have to be worked into their own tech so the Sousa could leap ahead to at least the present day. From there, well, it would only be another year or two before they naturally surpassed everything that was out there. This was their thing. Technology and gadgets had been their life’s work.
Each clan, whether dragon or mage, had their own spark. Their specialty made them different. For the Sousa, it was technology. Specifically, the kind that made day-to-day life easier. They did little when it came to weapons technology. The Sousa were more invested in the preservation of life rather than harming living creatures. Their lack of offensive capabilities was part of the reason why they’d had so much trouble with defeating the Woodsfather.
Not that it was a concern now.
The reminder of everyone he had lost felt like a burning, sharp pain in his heart. Amaru had never dreamed his clan would be defeated or destroyed because of those creatures. He had honestly thought their precautions were overkill in some ways. He knew he needed to take time to grieve, but he also felt like this was not the time. There was too much to be done. Too many people depending on him. He could schedule his breakdown for later.
Besides, it wasn’t like he was alone. He had to remember that. The lightning dragons and the remaining mages of the Sousa would be woken soon. They all had new friends in the Valerii ice dragons, the earth dragons, and even the fire dragons, though he’d only met a few members of the Burkhard Clan. Together, they would be stronger.
Sitting cross-legged on the ground, he started jumping through folders until he found the one he wanted. The first large set of pictures were mostly of writings on the walls and from scrolls that had been collected. A smile teased his lips as he slowly flipped through them, each one tickling old memories buried deep in the back of his mind.
But a chuckle froze in his throat when he stumbled over the first picture that had been taken outside of the building. At first he didn’t recognize the cracked tan stones covered with ferns and weeds.
It was the remains of the chief’s house.
The head of the Sousa Clan’s house had been one of the largest in the village and near the center, as it also served as a main meeting house for all of the clan. Countless discussions had been held there over the years—both good and bad. Celebrations had been planned. Even the final push against the Woodsfathers with the lightning dragons had been planned there.
Now the house was nothing. Not even enough was left to serve as a temporary home. It was only rubble now. Rocks and plants. The life that had once buzzed and zipped around in those rooms was completely crushed, ground to dust.
