Spirit (Legend of the Dragons Book 1)

by Denelle Elison

  Briahnna closed her eyes and felt a slight hum in the earth. She reached with her magic and felt it magnify as it reached toward the forest. She pulled her hand back and looked at Abigail. Abigail nodded. “I feel it too,” she paused. “Though, I don’t think I felt it quite as strongly as you did. I feel it stronger today through you.”

  Forster walked up to the other side of Briahnna and threw a big gust of wind at the forest. It ricocheted off, throwing him back about six feet. Briahnna gasped and ran to him. “Are you okay?”

  Abigail snorted. “You’re an idiot! Did you really think that would work?”

  “It’s not like you were doing any good!” Forster snapped back at her.

  “So you thought that if you were able to get into the forest yourself that Briahnna would just let you go?” Abigail asked cynically. “Jerrick used you just like he did everyone else. Grow up and figure it out.” Forster threw a gust of wind at her just then, but she shielded it with her own. She stepped to the side, glaring down at him. “The people trapped inside here? He did that! All of this?” she said, gesturing around her to both the Magiks and soldiers from Thornhold. “This is his doing! So if this is what you want, I don’t know what she’s doing keeping you here. I say leave! Find the monster and learn from him, because we don’t need another one!”

  Forster stood up, brushed himself off, and walked away. One of the soldiers went to grab him, but Desmond stopped the soldier. “Let him go. Abigail’s right. There’s no sense in keeping him with us if he’s never going to stop wanting to leave and find Jerrick.”

  Briahnna glared at Abigail.

  Abigail shrugged her shoulders. “You’re wasting time. Being angry with me isn’t going to bring the kid back. I know you felt the shield. So do something useful.”

  Briahnna stepped close to Abigail and whispered furiously, “We’ve all lost something in this war! Whether it’s a loved one, ourselves, or something else. Stop pinning your anger on everyone else!” Briahnna stepped back. “Help me or leave!”

  Abigail watched her for a moment and nodded. “I’m not leaving.”

  “Good,” Briahnna said. “Maybe you should keep your mouth shut for a second while I figure out what I’m supposed to do.” Abigail snorted but Briahnna ignored her, glad that she did actually keep her mouth shut.

  Briahnna walked up to the forest and felt the ground again. The vibration was strong, so she anchored herself to it. She placed both palms on the ground and felt the shield tethering to her. Pushing, she forced the shield to start opening from the ground up. Like a veil it slowly started to gather in opposite directions and open. She heard gasps all around her. Once it was open enough, Briahnna stood up and stepped away. The shield slammed shut.

  “What happened?” Desmond asked, stepping up to the forest and feeling around the closed shield. “Why did it close?”

  Briahnna slumped in frustration. “I think I have to keep myself tethered to it.”

  Rinald placed his hand on her shoulder. “Can you?”

  She ran her hand through her hair. “I think so.”

  This time she didn’t place her palms on the ground. She felt the magic as she was standing up and tethered herself to it opening the shield again. As it opened she walked toward the forest and everyone followed behind. They all entered and took in a collected breath. They had walked straight into a community. All the hustle and bustle within stopped upon seeing the new group of people suddenly standing in their midst. And in Briahnna’s shock upon seeing the community of magiks the shield to the forest slammed shut behind her. She looked back at the closed forest wall. Desmond leaned over noticing the change. “Can you open it in here?” he asked.

  Briahnna nodded. “I think so.”

  Then an older man ran to them and bowed before King Rinald.

  “Your Majesty,” the man said quietly then rose. “You’ve come to help us?” he asked, looking at Briahnna.

  Rinald placed his hand on the man’s shoulder and spoke loudly, “Yes–,” he began as he walked toward the crowd of magiks.

  “Shhh!” the man shushed loudly. “Please, Your Majesty, we must leave now.”

  “No!” a lady stood and shook her head. “We can’t leave them.”

  Desmond looked around the community of magiks, realizing what was so strange about it. “There aren’t any children here.”

  “They’ve been taken from us,” the woman ran to Desmond speaking quietly. “We slave for them because they have kept our children captive.”

  “Who are they?” King Rinald asked.

  “There’s no time, Your Majesty!” the man said earnestly. “We must leave now!”

  Rinald scrutinized him and saw the panic in his eyes. “Open the shield, Briahnna. What is your name?” he asked the man.

  “Morgan,” the man answered then ran back to the crowd before Rinald could ask any more questions. “We’re leaving now,” he said to the magik next to him. “Spread the word quickly to all those who are willing to come.”

  Word spread through the crowd of majiks and about half filed over to leave the forest.

  Briahnna turned, opened the forest, and Morgan ushered the willing magiks through.

  “Darian, you go with them,” Rinald commanded his son. “What about you, father?” Darian asked.

  “I’m staying behind until we can get everyone to go. I need someone who will be able to take care of the Kingdom in case I am unable to return right away,” Rinald answered. Darian nodded and went through the shield.

  “Who are you afraid of?” Desmond asked Morgan. “Who has all of the children?”

  Morgan looked at the last of the willing magiks who passed through the shield then he looked at Desmond. “The fae,” he answered and went through the open doorway.

  Briahnna blinked. “Did he just say fae?”

  Desmond watched Morgan on the other side of the forest and nodded.

  Briahnna looked at Desmond. “But there’s no such thing as–”

  “Faeries?”

  Briahnna and Desmond turned at once when they heard the voice. Swords were drawn from their sheaths. Briahnna gasped. She was looking at a faerie. He was tall with violet eyes, pointed ears, and long black hair. The shield slammed shut behind her, and Desmond groaned.

  The faerie grinned broadly at her. “The second half. We meet at last,” he said with a slight bow of his head. “I am Zacrion.” He looked at Briahnna, then at Desmond. He scrutinized Desmond, and surprised delight lit his face. He looked at Briahnna again. “You seem to be breaking all the rules, Princess…or should I say Queen?” he asked with a wink.

  Briahnna exhaled the breath she didn’t realize she was holding. “I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

  Zacrion looked around at the Thornhold soldiers, Rinald, Desmond and Briahnna’s other companions then he whistled. Suddenly there were faeries surrounding them all.

  Briahnna blew a breath out through her teeth and Zacrion laughed. “I think I’m going to break a few myself,” he said as he looked around. Spotting Abigail he motioned for one of the fae to grab her. Liam jumped toward her, but another fae had a sword at his back.

  Suddenly, Zacrion had a knife on Desmond’s throat. Desmond didn’t even see the faerie move. “Did you know, Princess, that you married one of my mortal offspring?” He shook his head. “Mixing with mortals.”

  “What do you want?” King Rinald demanded.

  Zacrion glared at him and looked at Briahnna again. “I have a proposal for you,” he said. He looked at Abigail. “She means something to you. Though she’s not quite as important as a few others. We give you your magiks and their children,” he said, gesturing at another faerie, who disappeared into the forest. “And we keep this one,” he said pointing at Abigail, “as leverage.”

  “Leverage for what?” Desmond growled.

  “For what has always been and what should still be ours,” Zacrion stated simply.

  Abigail snorted, and the faerie holding her shoved her to
her knees. She grunted but held her head up and said, “Could you be any more vague?”

  Zacrion ignored Abigail and looked at Briahnna. “Your other half is brutal, but you…” he paused. “I see in you…compassion.” He walked in a circle around her. “Empathy. We are a dying breed,” he said, gesturing to the fae. Briahnna looked around, still confused. Zacrion rolled his eyes. “We want our land back,” he said simply.

  “Your land?” Briahnna asked.

  “The land of which the magiks have taken possession,” he said simply.

  “That’s your land?” Briahnna asked in dismay. “How can that be? We’ve never even heard of you.”

  “Yes…” Zacrion said. “Your keeper of the archives has done an excellent job of keeping the archives.”

  “What keeper of the archives?” Rinald asked. “We have all the archives stored in the palace and have nothing about the fae.”

  Zacrion watched Rinald with cold calculation. “Interesting,” he said.

  “How long have you been trapped in here?” Briahnna asked.

  He turned his cold gaze to Briahnna. “And what makes you, dear Princess, think that we are trapped?”

  “I feel the magic that keeps you here,” she said. “You cannot leave unless you are released.”

  “Yes…I’m sure you do,” he said suddenly in front of her, too close for comfort.

  Desmond grabbed her hand and pulled her behind him.

  Zacrion smiled menacingly. “So many people attached to one,” he said, gazing at Briahnna behind Desmond. He sighed as if bored. “We’ve been here for…” he looked up in thought, “a millennia? Maybe longer. Too many years to count.”

  “Why don’t you just force me to release you?” Briahnna asked, stepping out from behind Desmond.

  “Now that would be ideal, wouldn’t it, Princess!” Zacrion shook his head. “But alas! We are few in numbers. The magiks would cause our extinction within minutes. That is not ideal.”

  There was an audible intake of breath from the magiks who had stayed behind. Briahnna saw the faerie that Zacrion had sent away had returned with hundreds of children. Her eyes widened. “Why did you take the children?” she asked quietly, in shock at all the children emerging from the forest into their small clearing.

  “We were teaching them about their magic,” Zacrion answered excitedly. “We were making magical allies. We were creating an army for when I did force one of the halves to release us.”

  “Stop calling me a half,” Briahnna ground out.

  Zacrion’s head shot up. “Are you not, though? Are you not half of yourself when he is not around? When he is near doesn’t he make you feel whole?”

  Briahnna clenched her jaw tight.

  “Yes,” Zacrion continued, “I see that I am right. But you are the better half. It’s easy to tell.”

  “Why not just finish your army?” Briahnna asked, changing the subject.

  “Too many years in the making.” Zacrion nodded. “I think this will be quicker. And though we are patient beings, our patience has run out. I think there will be no more magiks brought to this forest. I think our army would not be sufficient. My proposal still stands; all of these magiks for this one insignificant, very irritating girl,” he said, smiling as if he were giving her the world.

  Briahnna shook her head. “I can’t leave her here.”

  “Bri,” Abigail choked out, but the faerie holding her grabbed her neck and squeezed.

  Zacrion held up his hand. “Let her speak,” he said. “She has a sense of righteous indignation. She wants to sacrifice herself. She thinks she can make our lives miserable.”

  Abigail snorted. “Oh, I don’t think, I know. And I’ll enjoy making your lives miserable.” She looked at Briahnna. “Let them go. I’ll be fine.”

  Briahnna shook her head. “I can’t leave you here, Abby.”

  “Please, Bri,” Abigail said. “Let me do something that matters. Let me do this.”

  Desmond pulled Briahnna aside. “I’m not trying to discount Abigail, but one for thousands, Ahnna. We can’t fight them without the element of surprise. They have us surrounded. There really isn’t any other choice,” he said.

  Briahnna exhaled and nodded. “We have a deal,” she said.

  “I am pleased to hear it,” Zacrion turned to the other faeries. “It’s time to let the magiks go. You may open the barrier, other half.”

  Briahnna glared at him and turned to where Darian had left with the other magiks.

  “No,” Zacrion stepped in front of her. “Not that way. There are too many magiks that way.” He turned and pointed in the opposite direction toward Thornhold. “There should be no one on that side of the barrier.”

  “We don’t have the provisions to travel back to the gate into Mageia if we go on that side,” Desmond retorted.

  Zacrion shouted to the magiks. “Grab whatever provisions you can pack in order to make it back into Mageia.”

  Desmond glared at him and Zacrion responded with, “Time is diminishing! The Queen of Thornhold will be opening the barrier shortly!” All of the magiks scrambled about in a flurry of chaos. The parents of the children grabbed what they could and took their children to the side he had pointed. They anxiously waited for Briahnna to open the shield. But, Briahnna cringed at the thought of leaving Abby. “They’re waiting,” Zacrion said. “As am I.” He gestured toward the forest wall.

  Briahnna looked back at Abby, and Abby nodded. So, she turned and opened the barrier. Magik after magik filed through and were followed by King Rinald who touched Briahnna’s arm as he passed, Gabriela following him. Briahnna looked at Desmond who gestured for her to pass through before him, Liam, and his soldiers. Briahnna looked one more time at Abby before she walked forward only to be halted in place by a whooshing sound coming from the other side of the forest. She looked back, and the knife at Abby’s throat was soaring at Zacrion. He caught it and looked furiously into the forest just as Abigail reached her arms out. Her captor suddenly flew into a row of faeries surrounding her, knocking each one off their feet.

  Abby used her wind to propel herself at Zacrion, who smiled evilly and walked toward her. “Abby! No!” Liam yelled and ran to intercept the faerie. But he was going to be too slow. Briahnna threw her arms forward and, with her wind propelled Liam into Zacrion. Suddenly, a figure dropped out of the trees onto another faerie who was about to tackle Abby to the ground. Forster must have snuck in when the other majiks had left and had been hiding and biding his time until the very last minute. He rolled off of the faerie and grabbed Abby’s hand. “Run!” he yelled as he dragged her toward Briahnna and the shield opening.

  Desmond hurled himself at the Faerie Forster had tackled, who had recovered quickly and was about to grab them again. Briahnna pushed Desmond with her wind because even with his own Thornhold speed, he still wasn’t quite as fast as the fae. He intercepted just in time, pulled out his sword, and lunged. Soldiers suddenly fought faeries everywhere. Forster still pulled Abby as she pulled Liam.

  Briahnna looked at Liam who was about to be impaled by the knife that had been at Abby’s throat, but Abby stretched out her hand, and the ground dropped out from underneath Zacrion. Just as Liam was about to run toward the exit, Zacrion jumped out of the hole and landed in front of it.

  Briahnna made a branch snatch Zacrion up, and soldiers started hurling themselves through the exit. Zacrion hacked branch after branch as they kept grabbing at him. She felt for each individual faerie and water stormed into the entrance to drown them but she could only get a few. Abby and Forster ran through the opening then turned and used what wind they had left to help Briahnna.

  Briahnna was losing her hold on the barrier so she had to let Zacrion go. Once she did, the faerie jumped down to attack her but Radal intercepted and battled fiercely with him. Briahnna felt Desmond grab her hand and drag her toward the entrance just as Radal was hurled to the ground. Zacrion pinned Radal to the ground with his knee and almost stabbed him but looked up just in tim
e to see Desmond pulling Briahnna out. He grabbed Radal’s arm and snapped. Radal screamed when Liam stabbed his faerie and the rest of the fae slowly converged Radal and Zacrion. Liam looked at the convergence and grabbed Briahnna’s other arm to pull her through when they heard another snap and a scream. Briahnna tried to pull away from them but didn’t have the energy she needed to fight them off. Zacrion stared at her, taunting her as he grabbed Radal’s leg. Desmond new they wouldn’t be able to fight off all of the faeries surrounding Zacrion and Radal so with the help of Liam he pulled Briahnna through the barrier, grabbed a bow and arrow from one of his soldiers, aimed it and released at the same time they heard Zacrion snap. There were no screams when Zacrion snapped Radal’s leg. Desmond’s arrow had hit its intended target and the opening to the forest slammed shut.

  Chapter 42

  The whole ordeal had made everyone exhausted, so they decided to make camp instead of heading off in their separate directions. In a numb trance, Briahnna watched the soldiers set up camp. The image of Radal being tortured played over and over in her head.

  After Desmond finished helping, he sat next to her. “Are you okay?” he asked. Briahnna looked at him. “You killed him,” she said. Desmond ran a hand down his face, nodding. “You didn’t have to kill him. There had to be another way.”

  “It was a quick decision. Would you rather I left him there to be tortured?”

  Briahnna wiped a tear that slipped out of her eye. “You don’t know that he would have been tortured.”

  “Briahnna look at me,” Desmond said, turning her toward him. “You’re right. I don’t know that for certain. But he would have been perfect bait. Zacrion knew that you wouldn’t be able to handle the thought of him barely being kept alive; being tortured to the brink of death but stopping just before. They broke both arms and a leg, Briahnna. Do you think they would have set them?” Briahnna looked away. “I know how long it takes for a bone to heal and how it feels when it doesn’t…I couldn’t let them use him like that. He did what he was meant to do.”