Kiril shrugged as she answered, “Nial did not inherit my ice magic or my future sight. Nor did he receive Niyx’s Night Creature magic. We do not know why. The only sign of magic at all is that he bound magically to Nek.” She pointed to the dire wolf puppy that was curled up asleep in the corner. “Some things are just meant to be.”
Onyx scowled and looked away from her. “You can see the future?”
Kiril stiffened and stood at that, shooing Nial toward the puppy to play instead. Satisfied that some of the Night Creatures stood ready to assist her with watching the child, she walked closer to Onyx. “I do, yes. Sometimes not all of it. But most of it. Whether I will tell you what you want to know is a different question. It is a dangerous thing to bear such knowledge lightly. Even knowing something can change it.”
“I want Callistra. In a way that confuses me. I’ve never wanted a woman this way and she is horribly frustrating and, technically, probably our enemy.” Onyx paused and ran a hand through his hair.
“She serves a purpose in your life. Whether things will end the way you wish or not I will not tell you.” Kiril shook her head. “But I would not chase her away. You desire her for a reason.”
Onyx sighed. Well that wasn’t much help. He decided to get to the real reason he was here, “Where is Niyx? I came to tell him that I let her go. And Raijin.”
Kiril crossed her arms, her eyes growing clouded. “He will not be pleased you released Raijin. He is not here. He went to release the dragon of House Lisean.”
“You let him go alone?” Onyx exclaimed, snapping to attention. “They are the most powerful House!”
“They were the most powerful House,” a deep, cold voice cut in.
Niyx entered followed immediately by a strange-looking pale elf with reptilian eyes.“This is Demi. He is the dragon previously enslaved by House Lisean. They bound him by magic in the form of an elf.”
Onyx stared at his twin. Even his Night Creature magic could feel the extra power thrumming through Niyx, and he didn’t miss the faded bite marks on the dragon-man’s neck. But what shocked him most was that he could smell the dragon all over Niyx. He gave a worried glance at Kiril; would she be jealous? But her face was serene, and she even walked over to Demi and stood on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. Onyx decided he did not want involved in any of this, so he glanced at his twin again and announced, “Niyx, Raijin is gone.”
Niyx stiffened and bared his fangs in displeasure. “Gone? Gone how? Who let him escape?”
Onyx winced. “I did.”
Niyx snarled and moved as if to charge Onyx, but Kiril’s hand on his arm stopped him, although he gave her an annoyed look.
“The woman asked him to free her father. Your brother was being noble. Do not be blinded by vengeance,” Kiril warned as she frowned at Niyx. “Raijin is not the enemy on whom you need to focus.”
“Then who is?” Niyx began, but then the howls and screams of warning from the Night Creatures filled the halls.
“You are under attack, Dark King,” Demi said as he leaned against the wall and crossed his arms, his expression amused. “Go and show them your renewed power. Make this world tremble before your might.”
“Kiril, hide Nial,” Niyx roared as he swung his blade loose and stormed out of the room.
Kiril stared after Niyx, flashed Demi a displeased look, then darted across the room, scooped the toddler up, and fled the room by a different door, the wolf pup darting at her heels.
Onyx hesitated as he looked out the door through which Niyx had vanished. “Should I help him?”
“Oh, he won’t need your assistance, young one. Go and guard his woman and offspring instead.” Demi laughed as he pushed off the wall and walked toward another door.
“Where are you going?” Onyx asked, not trusting Demi.
“Why, I’m going to rally my people to help.” Demi winked at him then ducked through the door.
Onyx decided Kiril was probably the least mad path he could take, so he ran after her, drawing his daggers. Though she probably didn’t need him to protect her either. After being a feared and terrifyingly strong assassin all his life, he felt a little lost around all these people with insane amounts of magical power.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Slaughter. That was the only word for the battlefield that lay before Niyx as he stormed out of the caves and into the forest. Knights in brilliant armor gleaming with powerful light magic charged between the thick trees. Niyx watched them in confusion. He’d cowed the Templars! Then he caught sight of a banner stabbed through the corpse of one of the Night Creatures. The sigil of a slain dragon with a sword through it and the colors of blue and white were unfamiliar. Not elves? Who was attacking them now?
As a knight attacked him, Niyx roared and swung his massive sword, cutting the fool in half. The smell of the blood that arced through the air as the body parts separated was nearly covered by the foul smells of viscera. Humans? The humans were here? Before he could comprehend what that meant, a hammer made of light magic slammed into his back and knocked him face first into the dirt.
Niyx growled and rose slowly as several knights charged up to circle him. Before they could slam their light magic into him as one, he roared and summoned hoarfrost. It burst from him like a wave, and the humans surrounding him screaming in agony as they melted under its corrupted glacial power.
“Sire! We are outmatched!” Riven called as the lich tried to make his way through the battle to Niyx. He screamed as the knights surrounded him and their light magic started to disintegrate him.
“Ice! To me!” Niyx roared as he charged toward Riven. He slashed his blade through the air to send waves of hoarfrost at Riven’s attackers. Their shields of magic and their metal armor were no match for the hoarfrost and they too melted before him. Ice screamed above him, then swooped down and blasted the field before Niyx with sheets of icy breath. Niyx ran over the ice, the magic from it only fueling his own as everyone around him slipped and fell. He reached Riven just in time for what was left of the lich’s frail form to collapse into his arms.
“Sire…beware…the Dragonslayer comes,” Riven whispered just before he exploded into dust in Niyx’s arms with a horrified scream. Niyx looked around him to see his Night Creatures suffering terrifying deaths due to the brilliant light magic. “Retreat! Night Creatures to the Den!” he called, as he stormed forward to cut down as many knights as he could to free his people.
Ice screamed a warning and swooped down to scoop a screaming knight up into his gaping maw. With a loud crunch the knight’s blood rained down on Niyx. Niyx licked it off his hand. Then with a roar he grabbed the nearest knight and pulled him close to rip out his throat and drink the powerful blood. As it filled him, he became more resistant to the light magic around him. When the next knight threw a light-hammer at him, he laughed and threw up a hand to counter it with hoarfrost.
Just as the knights formed a battalion to charge as one at Niyx, the air above the forest filled with the screams of angered reptiles and darkened with the shadows of giant wings, as massive dragons dove in between trees to devour the attackers wherever they could.
Demi strolled up to Niyx, weaving through attackers, and smirked at him. “Come, take my power again. They will fall before you!”
Niyx let out an annoyed hiss. He did not want to rely on this strange man as a source of power, but his people were dying all around him. When another familiar face fell just out of his range, he grabbed Demi and buried his fangs into the man’s neck, drinking deeply. With a roar, he dropped Demi as the power of the dragon’s blood raced through his veins and enhanced his own powers. He grabbed his blade and focused all his hoarfrost into it; then slammed it into the ground.
Ice and hoarfrost raced over everything around him in a massive explosion. It left the Night Creatures untouched, but everything else froze solid and all other bodies melted when the ice touched them. “To the Den!” Niyx commanded them as silence fell over the frosted forest. The Night Creatur
es obeyed, fleeing in droves back into the caves of the Den behind him.
Niyx watched the forest around them warily as the dragons circled overhead. He slowly backed toward the Den as well, determined to protect his people as they fled until every one of them was safe.
“Dragonslayer!” The dragons all screeched as one in horror as they fled for the cave, shifting to tiny forms to fit through the doorway.
“What? That’s impossible,” Demi said as he returned to Niyx’s side, his eyes narrowed.
“Dragonslayer?” Niyx asked, confused. Before Demi could respond, a large knight on a giant brown charger rode to the edge of the forest.
“Run,” Demi warned and turned to bolt toward the entrance.
Niyx stared after him, then turned back in confusion. It was one knight! He hissed, baring his fangs and swinging his blade around.
The leader of the knights dismounted and came to the edge of the hoarfrost. Mirroring Niyx’s actions the knight funneled his light magic through his sword and slammed it into the ground. The explosive blast of power melted the hoarfrost immediately and knocked Niyx backward into the cave entrance. The light shimmered through the air, falling like snow, and whatever it touched rose hale and whole. The ashes of the knights reformed into living knights once more. Even the dead Night Creatures were reborn.
Demi raced over to Niyx to help him to his feet. “Seal the entrance. Quickly!”
Niyx shot him a bewildered look, but pointed his sword at the entrance of the cave. Rock rattled and groaned as thick ice covered the way out of the Den, sealing it with what Niyx hoped was an impenetrable wall. After that display of light magic he was not so certain that this mysterious “Dragonslayer” would not come through it.
He growled and turned to grab Demi and threw him up against the wall. “Who is the Dragonslayer? He raised my Night Creatures into life! That magic shouldn’t exist! Do you know what this means?”
“Yes, it means the elves have summoned the help of the High King Eryk, the Dragonslayer, King of the humans. They must really hate you for freeing us. They called in the one being in this entire world that can destroy us both,” Demi gasped then wiggled free, pulling Niyx with him. “Come, away from the entrance. It may not hold him long.”
“Eryk?” Niyx said, incredulous. Then he glanced back over his shoulder at the sealed entrance in curiosity. His grandsire. Realization filled him with a bit of respect for the man’s power. Eryk was also a problem.
As they reached the main room, Niyx could finally survey the damage to his people. Many of his Night Creatures were injured, poisoned by the light magic. Sadness filled him as he made his way through the crowd, pausing to heal each of them with his magic, cleansing them of the poisonous light.
“What happened?” Kiril asked, as she and Onyx made their way into the room.
Niyx sank onto a chair and buried his face in his hands, overcome with sudden grief at how many had been lost. His people had been so tortured and few before, now only a handful remained. “Many have fallen. I destroyed the army, but there is one greater than I am out there. My grandsire has revived his army as well as brought any of our fallen back to life.”
A collective gasp of horror rippled through the survivors.
“What are you going to do?” Onyx asked, scowling as he walked up to Niyx. “You can’t stay here, he’ll come charging down the tunnels and destroy us all.”
Niyx looked up at the dragons and frowned. The tiny dragons flew in erratic circles around Demi who stood there looking at them with crossed arms. “I don’t understand,” Niyx said to him. “The dragons bring life to this planet. It is your magic that fuels the core of our world. The elves enslaved you to drain it. Why do the humans have a Dragonslayer? And why are you afraid of him?”
Demi growled. “I was not afraid of him in my real form. He would not dare cross the King of dragons if I were what I once was.” The room grew quiet at that, and everyone stared at Demi. He shifted uncomfortably and waved a hand to dismiss the silence. “Sorry, a minor detail I left out.”
“You are King of the Dragons?” Niyx stared at him, getting to his feet. “The mighty Deimios?”
“I was. The fool elves trapped me in this form. Now I am only Demi,” Demi responded in annoyance. The dragons fluttering around him made pitiful cries as they dove to nuzzle Demi’s cheeks or perched on his shoulders. “It was Eryk who helped them capture me. They poisoned his perceptions. They made him believe that my people were corrupt and evil. Much like they believe the Night Creatures are.”
“Great, so there’s a powerful zealot king outside breaking down our back door who hates all of us and thinks we’re the monsters?” Onyx hissed, shaking his head. “What are we going to do?”
“You do what kings do. Negotiate.” Everyone swung around at the unexpected voice. Somehow Sephyrn had returned and slipped inside unnoticed. He leaned against a wall nearby with a giant cheetah lying at his feet. “Eryk believes in honor more than most other things. Battle him, and he will destroy you. Appeal to his honor and ask for an audience, and he will not refuse you. I will go with you. Once he realizes you are his blood, he will be reluctant to destroy you. All you have to do is convince him he is wrong, that you are not monsters. Simple enough.”
“Oh, well, if that is all,” Niyx said, sarcasm heavily lacing his voice as he gave his father an exasperated look. Then he glanced at Kiril. “Kiril?”
Everyone grew still as Kiril’s eyes glazed over. Then she shuddered and nodded. “It is the only way. Be cautious, Niyx. It is not a guaranteed victory.”
“Demi, Onyx, with me. The rest of you follow Kiril. Ruel promised us the return of our forest home. Take the dragons and evacuate to the forest.” Niyx sighed as he turned back toward the entrance to the caves. Ice flew over to settle on Niyx’s shoulder. Kiril leaned up to kiss Niyx’s cheek, then she slipped past him to gather up their people and lead them the other way.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Onyx fell in step next to Niyx. He was in way over his head. He should have stayed in Aderaan with Ruel. Hopefully Ruel was safe enough. It was not like the entire city wanted his adoptive brother dead now. And what had happened to Callistra? He fidgeted with the hilts of the daggers at his belt. He chided himself. He was probably walking to his death and all he could think about was that woman? Ruel made sense, but he found himself confused at the thoughts of Callistra and shoved them out of his head.
Onyx forced his focus back to the present. Sephyrn casually strolled ahead of them without a care in the world, his cheetah pacing at his side. Niyx walked beside Onyx, a grim look on his face. On Niyx’s other side, Demi strode with confidence, but there was concern in his reptilian eyes.
How had Onyx gotten into this situation? Here he was walking with his twin, his father, Niyx’s strange new lover, on the way to meet their grandfather who wanted them dead. Suddenly Aderaan looked so much less complicated. He sighed and glanced at Niyx. How did his twin always look so collected and calm? But Onyx could sense that he was not, and asked, “Niyx, are you okay?”
Niyx glanced at him then frowned. When he spoke, it was low so only Onyx would hear him, “When the path is opened, I want you to return to Aderaan. Flee through the forest, Onyx. You must go and protect Ruel in case we fall.”
“I’m here to help you, Niyx,” Onyx growled, though what he really wanted was to agree with his twin’s plan. He wanted to retreat to Aderaan right now. “You and Demi are vulnerable to our grandsire’s magic. Light does not hurt me as much.”
“What do you plan to do, then? Sink into the shadows and bury a dagger into our grandsire’s neck while we have him distracted?” Niyx rolled his eyes. “He will not fall that easily.”
Onyx frowned and grabbed Niyx’s arm, pulling him to a stop, looking his twin in the eyes. “We are twins. We are bound together. I do not abandon my loved ones. I will stand with you until the end.”
“What about Ruel?” Niyx furrowed his brow.
Onyx cringed, but sho
ok his head. “My time as Ruel’s guardian has ended. He has Floof, Rebekah, and the dragon magic.”
“What dragon magic?” Demi interrupted rudely, as he scowled at them.
Niyx gave Onyx a frustrated look and crossed his arms. Onyx sighed, and glared at Demi for interrupting their private moment. “Ruel’s family made a pact with some dead dragon. It was a skeleton when Ruel accidentally summoned it.”
Demi seemed to cower away into himself. Onyx could have sworn the dragon’s white scaled skin lost some of its iridescence. “Is that so?” Then he shook himself and turned Niyx back toward the entrance where the ice was slowly melting away. “Niyx, perhaps you should focus on the current issue,” he said, then as an aside to Onyx, “We’ll speak about that later.”
Sephyrn walked up to the edge of the ice and pulled something from a pack at his belt. It looked like a fine string which he then dragged across the entire hall from wall to wall. He smirked at Niyx as he backed up, and said, “Drop the ice, Niyx. Let them come in.”
“Are you mad? He will destroy us. He has an entire army!” Niyx exclaimed.
“He won’t harm you. Trust me,” Sephyrn shrugged, as he leaned against the wall and pulled out a dagger to sharpen it while his cheetah merely yawned and crouched at his feet.
Onyx was about to protest, but recognized that, for some reason, Niyx trusted their sire explicitly. Onyx faded back into the shadows as Niyx reached out his hand and the ice barrier lowered into the floor. Demi slipped behind Niyx as Niyx rested his massive broadsword against the floor and scowled at the advancing army.
The enormous knight at the head of the army was covered in heavy white plate armor accented with gold and brilliant ice blue that matched the eyes that peered out from the shadows of the helmet. The rest of their grandsire’s face was obscured by the decorative helm in the shape of a unicorn’s head, and across his breastplate a rampant unicorn trampled a dragon. The same symbol decorated the massive metal shield held in his left arm and covering most of his body from attack. His right hand held a gleaming silver sword that glowed with so much light magic it was painful to behold.
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