The two women stood in silence for a long while. Andrea could feel the rune against the palm of her hand, the stone warm against her skin. Her resolve was waning and her fist tightened as she met Helena's steady gaze.
"Well?" Extending her arm Helena opened her palm upwards to receive the stone.
"Wait!"
The door opened quickly and Geraldine entered the room.
"Stop Andrea, don't hand over the rune, none of this is real."
Both women turned to look at the young nun, the spell of the moment broken.
"Alex is not dead; he is seriously injured but not dead. Helena has given him a draught of her own making to give the appearance of death, but he is not there yet." and walking over to the couch she placed her hands upon his head.
Andrea turned to look at her beloved. She had not thought of it before but his face, although pale, did not wear the grey pallor of the dead.
As Andrea watched the young nun she thought she saw Alex start to stir and watched fixated as his lips began to move and his eyes open.
Helena took her chance and seizing a knife from within her bodice lunged at Andrea, desperate to possess the rune.
Geraldine moved quickly and the young nun threw herself between Andrea and the knife in Helena's hand.
For a moment all was still, until Helena withdrew her hand, the knife it contained now dripping red with blood. Geraldine turned and smiled at Andrea before falling forward into her arms, pulling both women to the ground. Her slight body twitched as the life slowly ebbed from the gentle soul. Finally she was still.
Stunned and unable to move, Andrea watched in horror as Helena started to approach her, the knife held high and pointed towards her.
The small rune was still clutched tightly in Andrea’s hand and all she could think about was her daughter sleeping peacefully upstairs in her room.
There was no hope left, nothing to save her and closing her eyes Andrea awaited her fate.
***
A strangled cry forced her to look up. Alex had heaved himself from the couch and had launched himself at his sister and now held her firmly by the neck. Andrea watched as his grasp tightened around the slim white throat and Helena's eyes bulged and arms flailed as the life was choked out of her. As her body slipped to the floor, Alex slumped back onto the couch, his face grey with exertion and pain.
Gently Andrea pushed against the lifeless body of Geraldine that was pressed against her. The little nun looked peaceful, almost happy in her death. She had given her life to save them, the ultimate sacrifice. Kissing the smooth brow she let her tears fall onto the gentle face and thought of the kind old lady in her own time. The circle of life, birth and rebirth, nothing ends; Geraldine had taught her that.
Stepping to the couch she looked down at Alex, her love. His face was still and his lips tinged with a faint blue coloring. His breathing was labored and a dark stain had started to form on his shirt; the opening of one of his wounds. Her tears flowed thickly as she took his cold and limp hand in hers.
"My love, my love, stay with me."
Stroking the hair from his forehead she kissed the soft skin. It couldn't end this way, everything had been turned upside down.
His eyes flickered and opened and his mouth moved as he struggled to speak.
"Andra." a small smile played on his lips.
"Don't speak my love, save your strength. I will fetch the doctor, all will be well."
Alex closed his eyes and slowly shook his head as his hand clutched at hers.
"You must leave with the girl, you cannot stay here alone. War is coming and you will not be safe. You and Elizabeth must go back to your own time."
Sobbing into his chest Andrea struggled to compose herself.
"I cannot leave you Alex, not to die here alone."
"You must. Soldiers will soon be at my heels. They will take my property, this house and all that is in it, including you and Elizabeth."
"Then we will take you with us."
Alex shook his head sadly, "There are only 2 runes. Enough for you and Elizabeth, but not for me."
"But how can we return to the future, we can only be transported at the point of death?"
Alex lay silently back on the couch, the life force draining from his body as he fought against unconsciousness.
He spoke again, a mere whisper.
"You must take the second rune from my sister. She will have it concealed about her person. You will also find a small bottle, a poison that would have seen her take the both of us into your time. You and Elizabeth must take this. If you love me you will do this one last thing for me. I understand the powers of the ancients now. Only in death will you live. Promise me?"
Nodding her head the tears fell quickly and she pushed her lips gently against his.
They were his last words.
***
There was no time to lose. If she thought too long about the task ahead then she wouldn't go through with it. Her mind whirled as the two worlds of past and present collided in her head. She had seen the power of the runes, had witnessed it, lived in different centuries, but did she have enough faith in the power of the ancients for the task ahead?
She quickly found the second rune, hidden in a concealed pocket in Helena’s bodice, and a small glass vial of a dark looking liquid which she assumed to be the poison.
There was no looking back as Andrea stepped out of the room, leaving the three bodies behind her. There was nothing else she could do for the dead; she had her own life and Elizabeth's to think of now.
The room was dark as she entered, and only the gentle sound of her child softly breathing filled the room.
Crossing to the bed she sat gingerly on the edge to avoid waking the sleeping girl; she looked like a beautiful angel with the soft blonde curls framing her sanguine face.
Andrea's hand trembled as she carefully untucked the small, clenched fist from beneath the coverlet. The child stirred for a moment but was soon quiet. Taking one of the stones Andrea placed it carefully in the centre of the girl’s palm, folding the small fingers back over to keep it in place.
With the other stone carefully in her own hand she brought out the small bottle. She had no idea of the dosage but presumed one or two drops would do the trick. To be on the safe side she would use half the bottle on herself and half on the girl.
Pulling out the stopper she paused. What if Elizabeth was transported to the future on her own, or worse still, was left all alone in this dark era?
Andrea had no choice, she would have to trust to the power of the ancients and to her own fate. Kissing her daughter gently on the cheek she poured 10 drops of the dark liquid onto her lips. The poison stained the red lips to a garish black and a little of the liquid dripped from her chin and onto the cover beneath. Helen would have been thorough in her research. The liquid would be deadly.
Taking Elizabeth into her arms she lay down beside the warm body of her daughter before pouring the rest of the vial into her own mouth.
Soon there was nothing but blackness.
8.
The air was damp upon her skin as Andrea awoke in the small graveyard of the chapel of St Oran. Her body and head ached and she had a bitter taste in her mouth. For a moment she lay on the hard ground unable to focus on her thoughts. She had been on a long journey and could feel the tiredness behind her eyes.
Running her hand across the wet grass she reached out, something was missing, something was not right.
Elizabeth!
Opening her eyes she sat up quickly and looked around. The morning was grey with just the hint of a sunrise on the horizon. All was quiet except for the waking call of a few birds and the remaining chime of a distant bell. The place was deserted; Elizabeth was nowhere to be seen.
Panicking, she stumbled to her feet, heart thumping as she grasped at the headstones calling out the name of her beloved daughter. The place was empty and the girl was nowhere to be seen. Andrea slumped down onto the grass and sobbed, her worst n
ightmare had become a reality.
"Andrea."
A voice called across the cold light, a familiar and warm voice. As she looked up the old lady was approaching.
"Geraldine!" the younger woman fell sobbing into her arms like a child.
"There, there my dear, all is well, you are home. What is wrong?"
Andrea could barely speak between sobs, only uttering the name of Elizabeth over and over again.
"Calm yourself my dear, now calm yourself. All is well. Elizabeth is perfectly safe.”
She wondered how the old woman could be so calm, so relaxed.
"Where?"
Geraldine smiled as she gently reached down and patted the smooth belly of the younger woman.
"Here!"
***
Over breakfast the two women talked. Andrea had forgotten that back in the present she would revert to her previous state. When she had been transported back in time, Elizabeth was a mere twinkle in her eye.
"But how did you return Geraldine, I saw you killed by Helena?"
"I have kept my own secret for many years. You see, there weren’t only two stones, in reality there were three. I have had to keep that fact to myself. If Helena had known I would not have been safe, nor would I have been there to help you. I too have my own part to play out in this story. I needed to make sure there would be a happy ending after all."
Andrea stirred her coffee as the memory of Alex came flooding back. Tears formed in her eyes.
"Not a happy ending for everyone."
A thin hand reached across the table and found her own.
"Alex you mean?"
Andrea nodded as the tears slid slowly down her cheek and onto the table.
"Alexhander MacDonald lived to be 85 years old. With his wife Andra he went on to have several sons as well as a daughter Elizabeth. They had a very long and happy life together."
The coffee sloshed over the edge of the cup and landed in her saucer as Andrea sat and looked, open mouthed at Geraldine.
"But how, he was dead. I saw him?"
"He nearly died, I grant you that. But it was not his time. Remember the cycle of things - life and death, birth and rebirth?"
"But .."
"But the magic of the ancients is all powerful and there are some things that we cannot explain, cannot fathom, that are beyond our reasoning."
"What about the second stone. The one that was in Elizabeth's hand, where is that now?"
Geraldine thought for a moment. "The second rune was needed to bring Elizabeth safely to the future, even in the womb she needed protection. The stone must be somewhere in the graveyard, near to where you woke this morning. You should go and look for it after breakfast. It is important to retrieve it; you are the guardian."
***
The sun had started to shine weakly through the clouds as Andrea walked over from the hotel to the Abbey.
One of the staff had just started to unlock the main gates ready for the public to access the ancient site.
"Morning." the voice of a young man brought her out of the thoughts of the past and into the present. She looked up into the smiling face of a man she had known and loved throughout the centuries.
She could hardly speak as the young man approached her.
"Sorry if I startled you. I've just started working here. I'm staying for the summer with my Grandma, Geraldine. Do you know her? By the way, my name is Alex.”
THE END
The story concludes with “The Highland Legacy”, available on Amazon.
A Dragon to Watch Over Me
Dragons of Kaldernon 1
Leela Ash
Copyright © 2016 by Leela Ash. All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic of mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
CHAPTER ONE
“Krista, come over here and dance!” Marcia called to her best friend, who was doing the same thing she usually did, sitting in the corner with a bored look on her face.
Krista sighed. She wasn’t in the mood for being out at the bar; she had only gone to offer her best friend some moral support. A man Marcia had a crush on was celebrating his birthday and she had been invited, but she had been too afraid to go alone and so she had begged Krista to come along. Krista wasn’t sure why she should be there anyway; not when Marcia would simply end up hanging all over the guy and leaving to give him a private gift.
“I’ve really got to be going,” Krista called back, shaking her head and pointing toward the door in case Marcia didn’t get the hint. Marcia gave her an exaggerated frown but disappeared back into the crowd, and Krista sighed in relief. She was free.
Or so she thought.
“Hey baby,” a drunk man said with a slur, blocking her way to the exit. She’d been heading toward the back door where she could sneak through the alleyway and toward the parking lot without running into any more of her friends. She didn’t recognize the drunk man and tried to push her way past him. “Feel like getting lucky tonight? I love that ass!”
She rolled her eyes in disgust and finally made her way past him. Despite being a virgin, Krista was used to men leering at her, and although she would have loved to go a night without being pestered, it appeared that tonight just wasn’t going to be her lucky night.
“Hey!” he protested as he was shoved aside and the people around him tittered with laughter. Fortunately, there were enough people between them that it didn’t matter what he said. She was able to get safely past.
Krista finally made it out into the dark, cool night and inhaled a deep breath of delicious fresh air. Sneaking out through the alley had been a good idea.
Suddenly, she felt a searing pain on her head and saw a flash of white in front of her eyes.
“Got her, tie up her hands!”
“What the hell?” she mumbled, trying to push herself to her feet. But before she was able to regain her balance, another searing flash of pain brought spots before her eyes and she collapsed again.
“Don’t move!” an angry man shouted down to her. She was surrounded and terrified, but decided not to move. They had her outnumbered.
“Finally, we’ve been waiting so long for this!”
“What…” Krista brought her hand to her head, wincing in pain and confusion.
Suddenly, she heard a growl, unlike anything she had ever heard before, and cowered into the crook of her arm.
“Don’t touch her!” a man’s voice boomed. She tried to open her eyes, but what she saw just made her want to faint. A giant black dragon was standing at the end of the alleyway. At that point, she passed out cold.
CHAPTER TWO
Clayton scowled down at the woman passed out on the ground and cast a challenging glare to the group of men who had been trying to kidnap her. He knew exactly who they were, and the knowledge infuriated him.
“What do you think you’re doing?” he growled, furious that they had the nerve to come anywhere near the woman most sacred to his clan.
But Clayton knew exactly what they were doing. Krista had been the main focus of both the self-proclaimed Guardians and the Kersh clan – and for good reason. She was extremely valuable, and the last living heir young enough to guarantee the continuance of the Kersh dragon clan.
“The girl is ours!” the small group’s leader hissed, leaping at Clayton and drawing a weapon from his side. Clayton flinched and jumped away, slapping the large gun out of his hand. Only Clayton knew it wasn’t just any gun – it was fully loaded with ammunition that would bind his powers and make it impossible to shift into his dragon form. From there, he could be killed as easily as any other mortal human.
“I don’t think so,” he growled, allowing himself to shift all the way into his dragon form. He normally restrained himself when he was in human areas, only shifting enough to take advantage of his powers while unleashing
his fury on his enemy. But when he was protecting the one woman alive who was capable of ensuring the continuation of his race, he couldn’t take any chances.
The men’s eyes grew large and they all fumbled for their guns as Clayton let out a mighty roar. It shook the ground they were walking on and made everybody cower in terror. The heat from his breath was enough to singe off their eyebrows and they scrambled away, worried they would not be able to survive his malice, as he began to inhale and a burst of flames flickered from his mouth.
Krista was lying on the ground between his massive legs, totally limp, and now that they were alone, Clayton returned to his human form. He put on his cape to conceal his nakedness and picked Krista up, jumping into the air and flying her back to her apartment a few blocks away. He couldn’t let anybody see them, and his cloak helped to hide them from the people who might be glancing up at the night sky. It was imbued with the powers of his own world, a place he missed dearly.
Kaldernon, his home planet, was deeply missed by everybody in the clan, in fact, but they had been unable to find their way back to their own world. After a life-altering earthquake, the world seemed to open up and several of the dragon-born members of the Kersh clan had toppled through an invisible portal, landing in a world full of commotion.
They were concealed by a growth of trees near a ravine, and were able to see Kaldernon glimmering above their heads, haunting them with their inability to find a way through the portal. If they shifted into their dragon forms and tried to fly through, but they were knocked back violently and forced to recover for days from a blow unlike any other they had ever experienced.
Kaldernon had shimmered in the sky above their heads for hundreds of years as they perfected their underground settlement to protect themselves from the humans, and the Kersh clan watched as pioneers began to settle in the wilderness and construct a civilization of their own right next door. People were always drawn to the area for some inexplicable reason. It was as if they were seeking the immense power they sensed coming from Kaldernon and the group of dragon shifters that had made their home there.
DECKER: MC ROMANCE (Forsaken Riders MC Romance Book 9) Page 86