“Nariella, Ohtar has powers that not even I am aware of.” Ender took my hand and captured my eyes with his, requesting my full attention without having to ask. “If you should do this, then stay wise, act quickly, and remove yourself from his presence at the first second you have accomplished your task. Do not loiter or prolong the ruse. If he is to follow you out, ensure it with haste.”
“I understand. I won’t let any of you down.” I cracked my knuckles and my neck like I was about to jump into a boxing ring. With slow and steady breaths, I prepared myself for the unknown.
Naminé laid a delicate hand on my shoulder. “Do well to remember his gift of persuasion. It is quite possible that his first attempt will be to beguile you. If you should feel darkness creeping through your veins, be on guard from your own actions. He may try to use you against yourself. Usually, one does not even realize it is happening.”
I nodded, appreciating her priceless insight. “Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind.”
Technically she was a Tavas, too, but she wasn’t a fighter. She had some skill in combat, but she couldn’t command the elements or even stand a chance against Ohtar up there on the mountain. She’d have to stay down here under the protection of Rydan and Mycah.
Cathar and Cílon were soldiers. Combined with my strength, we had the potential to get through this unscathed. At least, I hoped we did. Our goal was to draw Ohtar out of the magic-encased cave so that Mycah, Rydan, and Ender could freely fight him without the anti-Isil enchantment harming them.
If they had to march in there to rescue us, well, then, we’d be screwed.
So failing was not an option.
Cílon and Cathar waited nearby, and I nodded to them to signal I was ready. Rydan gave me strict orders to be careful, and I promised him that I would, followed by a quick nuzzling from Lissë and Lómë. I took my first advancing step into the cramped passageway and prepared myself for the daunting climb I had coming ahead.
“What are you doing?” Mycah’s question halted me in place.
“What do you mean ‘what am I doing?’? I’m leaving to go lure out Ohtar. This mountain isn’t going to climb itself.” I retracted the step I had taken to check his expression.
Gorgeous. As always.
And a hint of amusement pirouetting across his face with a touch of restrained cockiness to boot. “I can agree with that, but then neither are you. How about we take Dúlin instead? That’s quite a long way up to the top.”
I huffed. “Oh, well, I didn’t know he was an option, but okay then. And maybe next time speak up sooner, hm?”
“As you wish,” he breathed, a tiny smile lingering on his lips. I shook my head with a sigh.
The three of us—Cílon, Cathar, and myself—mounted the fierce dragon’s back for the trip to the top. The fiery furnace I knew to be contained within his body crackled beneath my legs with each methodic breath he took. His scales were cold and hard, but they didn’t bother me. It was the spikes he had sticking out along his neck that sent fear to my heart. Not to mention his teeth. But I knew better. I had done this plenty of times before with no problems.
We set off into the air at once. Cathar looked at me over his shoulder and said, “This is quite exhilarating!”
“Yeah, tell me about it.” My arms were tight around his waist to keep myself from plunging head first into the ground below.
“Quiet,” Cílon muttered from his place behind me.
We scaled the craggy mountain without ever having to touch it. Snowflakes whipped into my cheeks and eyes the faster we flew toward outer-space. Dúlin’s wings were strong as they tore through the wind like hurricanes. It didn’t take long for us to reach a plateau, where we were subsequently dropped off. The dragon dove from the edge, returning to his Maite’Ona. We swiftly hid quietly behind a rock to keep cover from being seen before we were ready. Strong, icy winds sliced right through to my bones as it softly snowed big whopping flakes. I touched a few that had landed on Cathar’s hair and eyelashes, admiring their delicateness.
No one threatening to our lives seemed to be walking about. The mouth of the cave lay ahead with a dark, ominous vibe spewing from it. A tremor ran through me, and I closed my eyes to keep my pounding heart from breaking out of my ribcage. “That’s where we’re going?”
“Make haste. Ohtar may already be alerted to our presence,” Cílon announced. Ever the commanding officer. Did he forget I was the queen? I listened to him anyway, knowing full well he had more strategic bones in his body than I ever would.
We slipped inside the stone entrance with quiet, careful footsteps. Immediately I felt a shift within myself. An explosion of pain erupted under my skin, and my knees buckled beneath me. I tried to stifle my scream, but it broke from my lips like a siren. White-hot, searing agony spread from my chest and eyes, out to the tips of my fingers and toes.
I was dying. I was sure of it.
Only barely, I squinted my eyes open to find Cílon and Cathar standing over me with horrified expressions contorting their faces. My unrelenting cries of anguish masked all other sound, giving me no indication of what they were saying, though I understood their lips were moving. The torment consumed me, and I felt my head fall to the rocks below.
Cílon threw me over his shoulder, and I resisted the urge to vomit. We must have exited the cave, because in an instant, the pain lessoned like a flipped switch. It was still there, humming under my skin, but it was tolerable. At least, compared to what it was only a moment ago.
I was laid along the ground like a corpse. My eyes stayed closed while I worked on breathing normally once again. My muscles shook involuntarily, and every few seconds I convulsed, as if I had endured a seizure or some sort of electrocution.
“Should that be…that way?” I heard Cathar’s voice, and I wondered what he was talking about. Was he referring to me?
“No, it should not,” Cílon clarified. “That is the essence of the ending of a Healer. The side effects; in other words, when one extends past their healing limit. Nariella should have experienced this after restoring Lord Döron from death, however she did not. What made it happen now is beyond me.” How he knew, I had no idea. Was he all of a sudden an expert on Healers?
Cathar added, “Strange is it not, that her condition has improved upon fleeing the enchanted cave?” He placed a strong hand around mine.
“That is a valid argument, Cathar,” Cílon said. “That anti-Isil spell must have a part in this for some reason that is escaping me. It is almost as if stripping her of her Isil abilities ignited the other half of her that is being consumed by the Healer’s Death.”
Rydan’s husky voice stirred open my eyes. “Nari! What happened to her?”
He was there at my side a few seconds later as he skidded to a stop and dropped to his knees. Ender was right next to him. My tone was gruff as I told them, “I’m fine.”
“Like hell you are.” Rydan gasped. “My god. What is this?”
“What? What is what?” That got my attention. I tried to sit up but my head sloshed heavily. Mycah stood a few steps back with a clenched fist covering his mouth as he stared at me. He looked like a ghost confronted him.
“I don’t know how to explain it to you,” Rydan answered softly. Ender pulled out his metal sword and held it in front of my face like a mirror, but he didn’t say anything to explain what Rydan was talking about, either.
I met my reflection for only a second before screaming and turning away. I covered my face with my arms as my elbows hit the ground. I…didn’t even know what I saw. That wasn’t me. It couldn’t be me. It was a monster.
The whites of my eyes were deathly black, matching my irises and pupils. Blacker than those black holes out in space you learn about in school. My entire eyeballs were devoured in darkness. Streaks of the same color stretched outward from them like tiny suns had exploded in my sockets and the leftover blackness had splashed onto my face. The same disease-type decaying covered my neck and chest in jagged lines that seemed to c
arry down under my shirt, but I didn’t look to verify.
“What’s wrong with her?” Rydan asked as he lifted my torso from the ground and supported it with his body. I kept my fists mashed to my face that were now buried in his warmth.
“Lord Döron explained she exceeded her limits of healing, and I assume she is now paying the price for it. The darkness a Healer absorbs from those dying eventually takes its toll. What you are seeing is a Healer far past her allowance. For her to not be dead is a miracle,” Cílon responded. Rydan caressed my back with long, feather-light strokes.
“How did this even happen?” Mycah’s voice sounded distant, but I didn’t dare look up to see where he was.
“The moment we entered the cave, she cried out in agony. Only upon leaving did she recover,” Cathar explained.
“Quite strange,” Ender said. “Nariella, are you all right?”
I pushed into Rydan harder and thought how to answer. Did I seriously have to live the rest of my life looking like this? Because that would be a really long time, if so. Eternity as a gargoyle? Please, no. I was devastated. No one could ever love me looking like this. They wanted an abomination…well, now they got one for sure. At least, someone who looked the part. I’d have to live alone like a spinster with a million cats.
I was going to be the nine-hundred year old cat lady.
My God, someone kill me now, please, and end my misery.
“Nariella,” Mycah said my name like it was sacred and more precious than diamonds. He nimbly brushed hair over my shoulder. “You are beautiful. That will never change.”
“I look like the devil,” I mumbled into Rydan’s chest. My voice was muffled and soft, but I knew they could hear me.
“Maybe, but a really hot devil.” Rydan laughed, and his body rumbled beneath me. “Now where are your horns and tail hiding? I always knew they were in you somewhere, just waiting to pop out.”
“Ugh, Ry!” I shoved him away and stood up on wobbly legs. He was only trying to cheer me up. And it kind of worked. I wasn’t shallow, but it was horrifying to turn into a beast right in front of everyone. I was embarrassed. But his jokes did make it a little easier.
Everyone closed around me like concerned parents with an injured child. I appreciated it, but I needed some breathing room. Naminé, the only other girl here, was smart enough to know this. She squeezed through and pulled me away from their smothering. “Give her a moment, for pity’s sake. She has just endured a grave ordeal. Let her cope without all of your doting.”
“Thanks.” I was afraid to look at her or anyone else.
“You’re welcome,” she replied.
“I’m fine, guys. Thanks for your concern. Let’s go back to worrying about Ohtar. What’re we going to do now?”
“I have an idea,” Mycah answered. “I was an idiot to not think of this before. Everyone, clear out. Move as far back from the cave as possible.”
We obeyed and watched as Dúlin roared a fiery plume straight into the cave. The flames licked the edges of the stones, leaving black marks everywhere they touched. He spewed fire to the inside over and over again. Just as I began to wonder if maybe Ohtar wasn’t in there after all, a guttural scream scraped across my sanity. A figure consumed by flame came running out of the hole, followed by several others protecting a body in the middle of them.
Dúlin attempted to chomp the first guy in half, but he was quick to roll away as he unclipped the burning cloak off his back and sliced at the dragon with his blade. The moment the other strangers breached the fresh air, Ohtar came soaring out of the center with his weapon held high. They spread out like rapid darts, attacking the closest person to them.
Talk about getting right down to business and completely skipping any pleasantries. Ohtar had gone after Mycah immediately, and it appeared to be Sarqua who was currently clanging swords with Rydan. A flood of others that were part of Ohtar’s guard exited the cave, swarming us like angry hornets. Many were taken out by Dúlin in an instant, and the rest were in combat with Cathar, Cílon, Ender, and Naminé. My opponent slashed his mighty sword at my throat, and I took a step backward.
“I was beginning to think you weren’t coming. You truly believe you can kill me, boy?” Ohtar shouted at Mycah. I shouldn’t have been paying attention to them, but his voice was loud and drew my focus.
“You have changed,” the guy I fought said to me as he hit my sword with a blow so hard I was pushed several feet back. “Unless I’m mistaken. Are you not the Healer?”
“Yes,” I snapped, creating a cyclone of snowflakes to form at his boots until it wrapped around him entirely. “At least I was.”
I grabbed a fist full of his shirt as I kicked my leg behind his ankles, then pushed his body off the cliff the second he fell backward. I dashed behind the guard fighting with Naminé and thrust my heel into his kidneys. She slid her blade into his heart and he dropped like a fly.
Ohtar and Mycah were at each other’s throats like pit bulls. Blood dripped from gashes along Mycah’s arms, neck, and even his side. I cringed. Dúlin would dip down to bite at Ohtar’s head, or blast him with flames, but he kept managing to dodge his attacks while still deflecting Mycah.
He was way more skilled than I could’ve imagined, even in a weakened state. And Mycah’s powers were useless against him, which made it unbearable to watch.
Suddenly, arrows were discharged at the dragon from the peak above the cave, followed by a giant net shot into the air that landed over his wings. He started dropping like a hot stone through tissue paper, but Mycah extended his arm to do something to help. Only, Ohtar wouldn’t let him. With Mycah distracted, Ohtar used the opportunity to stab him through his shoulder. I sucked in a breath.
Dúlin had to still be plummeting to his death, but I couldn’t tell because he had passed the edge of the plateau we were on. Though skewered in the shoulder, Mycah delivered a heavy blow that caused Ohtar to slide back, and Mycah immediately dove off the side of the mountain.
“Remycah!” Ender shouted after his Óre’Dae. Shock erupted within my heart like a gut-wrenching explosion, and I ran to the edge in horror. Mycah sped toward his dragon Fëa like a bullet. I had no idea if he was going to make it to him in time, and before I could see anything else happen, I was yanked backward by my hair.
My stomach clenched as I stared up into the malicious eyes of Ohtar.
Chapter Thirty-One
~Naminé~
It happened in an instant. One moment we were careful to keep a safe distance from Dúlin’s inferno, the next we were embroiled in combat. Before Nariella had assisted me, I had been struggling to keep my attacker at bay. These were some of Ohtar’s best warriors, the most skilled in swordsmanship and archery. I had no chance against them with my lesser skills. A part of me had suffered a great distraction, for I had worried for my brother who had stood not far from me in his own battle. Though trained, I knew he was not up to par with these soldiers, either.
With haste, I sprinted to a second warrior who had teamed up against Cathar and forced him to fight me rather than my brother. Dúlin had taken to the skies to bring aid to Remycah, leaving many soldiers of Ohtar’s for us to handle.
I bent backward in an arch, my opponent’s blade just missing me, before it met my own strike in a loud clang. I tried not to let my focus wander to Cathar, but he battled N’taurn, who was superb in close combat. A sickening vise gripped my heart, for I could not bear the thought of bringing home a dead Cathar to my mother and father.
N’taurn said to him, “We have met before, though I know not where. Tell me, what is your name, boy?”
“I do not have to answer to you. If your memory has failed you, then that is your problem, is it not?” Cathar bit out in return.
My enemy forced me into the mountain with a strong hand around my neck as his blade pressed to mine against my chest. He grunted and pushed harder into me, and I felt as if my bones would snap against the hardness of the rocks at my back. Calen, bless her heart, came spirali
ng from the skies in a ball of flames and passed above his head, setting his hair on fire. He lifted his weapon from mine and threw snow over himself to douse the flames. I was quick to attack with a strong arm at the ready, but he managed to deflect it at the last moment.
N’taurn’s voice kept drawing me in, “You were once a soldier of Aselaira. Yes, that is how I know you. You were trained and sent off to fight in the war. Not only a lousy swordsman, but a traitor as well…how pathetic.”
“I am not a traitor. I am a soldier, yes, but I hail from the kingdom of Lassaira.” Cathar shouted as he parried and sliced his sword at N’taurn. “It was your vile pretend king who forced my family into slavery and kept us prisoners in your domain. It is you who is the traitor for standing against your true king Remycah.”
“Do not speak of him in such a way. He murdered King Remydan and is in cohorts with our enemy—the she-elf of Lassaira. Together, they mean to overthrow the kingdom with their treachery.” N’taurn’s anger could be heard above all else as he grew more fierce in his attacks. My stomach wrenched as I helplessly watched my brother struggle against the onslaughts.
Cathar laughed humorlessly as we both ducked below fearsome blows from our opponents in the same instant. Though I doubted he noticed my struggle alongside his. He then said, “Oh, is that right? And you know this for fact, do you? Then, please, tell me. How in heavens was Nariella capable of scheming such a heinous act of murder to usurp the throne of Aselaira when at the time of King Remydan’s death, she was but a babe living in the Earthly realm?”
“You speak lies.” N’taurn found an opening and rammed the hilt of his sword against Cathar’s mouth.
Cathar held onto his bleeding lip with his free hand. “I do not! It is your wicked leader who is filling your head with ridiculous stories to keep you from seeing the truth. Which is, of course, that he is the enemy and King Remycah is the true heir. The one you owe your allegiance to.”
Suddenly, arrows flew rapidly into the air at Remycah’s Fëa Dúlin, drawing everyone’s focus to the angry black dragon. He roared a ferocious breath that melted the snow right off of the side of the mountain he had been near. A dark, shimmering net discharged from the peak above onto his wings, encasing them completely. He fell instantly.
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