ADAD Chapter 15: A year after

 It was raining again, which, after the rune had been set, was not something out of the ordinary for the desert realm of Gorgon. The snake had been asleep, and the four had hacked off her head, by sending off wind attacks at different spots. Now, the soil was there, and the water was pouring out of the heavens. 

"When is it going to stop raining?" Prisila asked, as she stared out of the window of her house. 

"We didn't use the entire blood supply of the snake, so I take it any day now," Darius said, as he wrote down another rune in his rune sequence. "Noah, do you think that the animals around here will evolve to this new weather?"

"It will be difficult for them. The climate in Gorgon will cool. We are looking at a great species destruction," Noah said, as he worried his bottom lip. "Still, it is not like we could eat any of the creatures, as they are poisonous. We will need to import cattle, once we get pastures."

"Which will be sooner, than the time when the fruit trees are grown," Anastasios murmured, and then looked at Timothy. "Has a realm shown interest into buying stone from us?"

The stone of Gorgon was the only thing they had to trade, as the foodstuff of the first harvest had been used for the feeding of the population. It made budgeting easier for Anastasios, as he didn't have to sink most of his allowance, and Darius's money, into food. 

"A couple, but we still need to mine it. There is a problem with that. Mining stone is too dangerous, and the people don't want to do it," the feline shifter said, as he made himself comfortable on his seat between Prisila and Noah. The two still didn't know they were soulmates, and that amused Timothy to no end. 

"I don't want to do this, but I can order them, on pain of exile, to mine the stone," Anastasios suggested, and all eyes turned to him. 

"You can't become a tyrant," Noah said. He was lean, these days. With the diet that the pixies had put him on, his chubbiness was now a thing of the past. Noah felt Timothy stretching his arms, and then wrapping them around both him and Prisila. The feline shifter confused the human to no end. At some moments, Noah thought that Timothy liked him romantically, but then he would make lovely eyes at Prisila next, and the wizard was baffled yet again. 

"Noah is right, brother. You can't just order them. Entice them somehow," Prisila said, and she relaxed into Timothy's hold. 

"Well, I don't think it will be easy," Anastasios said, but then shook his head. "That said, ruling is my mastery, not yours. I should be able to take care of this problem." 

"Too true," Timothy all but purred, and his hands traveled lower. 

"Tim, what are you doing?" Noah snapped, and Timothy gave him a Cheshire grin. 

"Marking my territory, what else?" The feline shifter said, and he heard Prisila's chuckle. 

"Tim, honestly now. You are adorable, but neither I nor Noah are interested. We are both waiting for our soulmates," Prisila said, and then looked at Noah. "Right, Noah?"

"Well, I have something to tell the two of you, but only if you promise to consider me as the third member," Timothy was not going to give up so easily. He had spent seventeen years chasing after the two soulmates, and had long since wanted to imprint on them. 

"Oh, what is the harm? Say your peace," Prisila said, and then patted Timothy on the shoulder. 

"Noah and you are soulmates. I am a feline shifter, so I don't have a soulmate in the traditional sense. I can imprint on an already mated pair, and that is all I have wanted to tell you two for the past seventeen years," Timothy said, and then took a large gulp of air. The two stood rooted in their seats. 

"You didn't tell me, Darius?" Prisila demanded, and Darius grinned at her. 

"We were already friends, all of us. You spent your entire time with your soulmate, in the library, during meditation classes. Don't tell me you weren't suspicious about how you two clicked so well together?" Darius asked, and Prisila frowned at him. 

"For seventeen years, I have watched you bring people together. But you decided that you couldn't do the same for your destiny sister?" She turned to Anastasios next. "Did you know about all of this?"

"I did, and it was adorable to watch you and Noah get close, without knowing that you are soulmates," Anastasios said with a soft smile. "Besides, I didn't want my little sister to be kissing any boys before she turned immortal." 

"Oh, is that so?" Prisila asked, and stood up. She walked around Timothy's chair, and made Noah stand up as well. "Well, watch now!" 

And she kissed the human. Noah waved his arms uselessly for a while, and then wrapped them around her, holding her close. When they broke apart, Prisila unceremoniously leaned over so that her lips were pressed to the wizard's neck, and bit him. She felt like the blood was an elixir she couldn't get enough of. Noah held her tenderly, as Anastasios fumed. 

"I will tell father that you go around kissing boys," Anastasios said, and Prisila released Noah long enough to raise an eyebrow at her brother. 

"You have been exchanging kisses with Darius since we were five," she reminded her brother, and then looked at Timothy. "And you are sneaky." 

"That I am, princess. So, how about my proposal becomes a reality? Think about it, your two best friends, together with you, forever," Timothy got a dreamy look on his face, and Prisila couldn't help but chuckle. 

"Sneaky cat," she then looked at Noah. "Do you have anything against Tim joining us?"

"And you don't?" Noah asked, in a wavering tone. 

"Well, I spent my time mainly with the two of you. And he has been trying to romance us since we were both six," Prisila said with a light smirk. "But if you don't want to..." 

Noah looked at Timothy, who gave him a sly smile. It was a lopsided one, and Noah could see himself waking up to it. 

"As long as it will make you happy, I will agree with you," Noah said, and Timothy stood, and hugged them both. He lightly bit both of their necks, imprinting on them, and then took their hands, and led them out of the room. 

"Wait, my sister is..." Anastasios protested, realizing where this was going towards. 

"Not a little girl anymore, and you have been doing the same with me since we turned eighteen. That said," Darius gave him a suggestive look, and Anastasios soon sprang out of his seat, and rushed his soulmate back to their own house. Darius's laughter at the vampire's eagerness following them.