I hated the tube, hated the crowd, and I felt suffocated, but with Marek, the ride was bearable. At least now I was filled with hope that I could find the way back home.
“Of course, I wanted to help them, young man. For years my dear husband had been telling me that there was another world beyond this one, but I always laughed at him. I thought that he was crazy believing in such nonsense. Then last night I saw Fran appear in the sky through some kind of portal,” she whispered.
I could tell that she was a little offended.
“Them? What do you mean by them? Are there more of you?” Marek asked, and Aly glanced at me in panic, realising that she said too much. I only just met him, and I had no idea if I could trust him. No one apart from me, Nicolas and Aly knew about the egg.
“One more warden managed to walk through the crack with me, but had to stay at home. He was stabbed in Draconia,” I quickly explained.
“There is something going on in Draconia. I keep hearing that more and more cracks are appearing randomly in different parts of the city,” Marek said. “Most wardens don’t even notice it. They are too brainwashed and scared to open their eyes.” I noticed that he was staring at my wrists and I had a feeling that he was going to ask me about it later when we were alone.
It was clear my whole world turned upside down last night. Yes, I struggled to pull myself together after Dara’s death. I struggled to get up every morning, knowing that I would never see her again. She was my beam of sunshine in a gloomy reality. I was furious with the system, angry with myself that I dropped that blood in the tunnel when I saw the crack in the wall for the first time in my life. I failed her.
“Francesca, are you even listening to what I’m saying?” Marek’s question brought me back to reality, and then I remembered that he was still talking to me. The cracks weren’t a new occurrence. After I found out the truth about the egg, I started looking into our history. I researched dragons and the Dark Ones power. It turned out that the magic in our country became unstable after the dragons started dying off. More and more cracks started appearing in Draconia then, so I suspected that the two things were somehow connected.
I never went to school—only the wealthy wardens and the Dark Ones could afford to get a proper education, but I always wanted to learn. I was fortunate that a few wardens on the streets taught me how to read and write. I felt stupid for never looking into my own history before.
“Sorry, but I can’t focus in here. How long before we can leave this stuffed wagon?” I asked, aware that sweat was dripping down my face. Aly was holding my hand, but anxiety was creeping over me again. She was like my guardian angel. We’d only known each other for about twelve hours, but I already knew that I wouldn’t have survived another minute in this world without her.
Back in Draconia, I was always emotionally detached. I didn’t have many friends, but I had people that I trusted. Dara was my only family. My parents had abandoned me when I was little, and I never bothered to look for them. I didn’t think I needed them to be happy.
“Two minutes, and we should be out. We will talk about it in the pub,” Marek muttered. He must have finally figured out that I wasn’t doing so great being in the tube, so he left me alone. Finally, after a short while, he gestured to me and Aly that we had arrived at our stop.
We followed the crowd, and I kept taking long deep breaths. My head was throbbing with pain again, and my chest felt tight. I hated being so weak. Other wardens had considered me their leader. I was the best thief in Draconia and I always got the job done. But there was that tiny voice in my head reminding me that I was no one in this world. Just some lost warden who couldn’t deal with her own emotions.
It took us another ten minutes to get out from the underground and I nearly had another meltdown at the ticket gate. For some reason, the card didn’t work correctly and some man in uniform told me to top it up. Aly offered to help me, but I nearly lost my shit.
Finally, once we left the tunnels and I inhaled some fresh air into my lungs, my heart stopped racing. Marek kept telling me to keep my head down and follow him. Aly didn’t ask questions. She seemed to know where we were, so I calmed down a bit more.
We started walking through the busy streets, moving past hordes of people. I saw small shops and stores around me. I kept picturing myself back in Draconia and that made me feel a lot better. Marek was walking fast.
Ten minutes later, he turned to the left and took us into a less busy alley. It seemed that Marek wanted to walk through the residential part of London just to be on the safe side. He kept glancing behind him and then walked even faster. The slow buzzing of magic in my ears indicated that there were possibly other wardens around. Sometimes, I could feel my magic zooming and pulsing around me. This happened very rarely, but when it did, I knew that there was a Dark One nearby.
“We need to walk faster. I don’t like those two policemen behind us,” Marek said fervently, and Aly looked like she was struggling to keep up.
In Draconia, we had keepers that were responsible for policing the city. Keepers were wardens who worked for the Dark Ones; they were trained in magical spells too. They had the power to arrest wardens that didn’t comply with their rules. I wanted to assume that the policemen in this world had similar roles, so we truly had nothing to worry about.
We turned to the right walking straight into an isolated alley. I could sense vibration all over my skin; the unknown energy was lifting the tiny hairs on my neck. I had no idea where Marek was leading us, but soon we realised that it was dead end.
“We are screwed. They must have seen your eyes,” he informed us, going pale.
I turned around, and noticed that the two policemen had caught up with us. They were wearing blue and white uniforms with funny looking hats. They were only humans, so I didn’t know what Marek was so afraid of. His magic could wipe them out in seconds.
“Gentlemen, I think we are a little lost. Could you kindly direct us—”
Aly stopped talking midsentence when their appearance started to change. She quickly backed away, opening her mouth in disbelief. The magical energy zoomed over my skin, causing my heart to vibrate dangerously fast. Their uniforms turned into long dark cloaks. Magic—dark, powerful and deadly—illuminated their skin.
My stomach tightened, and feelings of nausea rolled through me. There was a large building right in front of us. Aly’s eyes widened further, and she pressed her hand over her heart, mumbling incoherent words to herself. This wasn’t good. I was a fugitive, and by now, my face was most likely splattered across every street corner in Draconia.
I didn’t want to believe that Marek couldn’t defeat them. Both males lifted their hands, each creating a ball of light in his palm.
“Two wardens in London. We were lucky, Michael, because we both know what the punishment is for walking through the cracks,” one of them said, moving the ball of light from one hand to the other. “Oh, and the girl must be new. She must not have known about the cover. That’s a pity.”
Seconds later, Aly began screaming. Her whole face went red and then she slammed on the ground, unmoving. I went to her, but she was unconscious. My heart was in my throat.
“Now that we’ve taken care of the human, we can focus on the two of you. One each. What do you think, Michael?” asked the taller one and then he removed his hood. I glanced back at him in complete shock. Back in Draconia the Dark Ones never took off their hoods. And now I finally understood why.
7
The magic within.
Their faces shimmered with silver and gold, like there were millions of small crystals under the surface of skin so pale, it was almost transparent. Their irises were deep red, and this bizarre surprise freaked me out. Fear paralysed me. I couldn’t move. I felt like I was chained to the ground, still holding Aly in my arms.
In Draconia, everyone could produce magic, even the tiny amount in my system counted, but now I began to understand why the mages always wore their heavy cloaks. Their magic
hummed and visibly skyrocketed through their veins, and that’s why they were sparkling so much. I needed to get closer to them, experience their strong power. The magic—it was addictive. They were standing several meters away from me, but I felt this invisible pull towards them. I could almost taste their fire on my tongue. Now, being in this world, it was obvious that their long, thick cloaks were protecting them from wardens. Their magic was so strong, it was irresistible to us. We wanted and needed to have it.
I stood up and took a few steps towards them, but their magic pushed me against the wall. My body slammed into the bricks, and the world around me spun out of control. The Dark One standing closest to me approached slowly, smiling.
Sharp pain lanced down my side, and I gritted my teeth, trying to keep it together. It felt like someone was trying to pull my limbs out of their sockets, then crush my body at the same time. Marek stood still, and I wanted to slap him to knock some sense into him. I needed him to do something, anything. After all, he had magic. Why the hell wasn’t he using it?
“Let’s all calm down. I’m sure we can come to some sort of agreement. There are other wardens in London,” he said nervously, holding both of his hands up, backing away. I took air in through my nose, inhaling the sweet scent of their magic. Their energy was rippling around, reaching deep within me.
Aly was lying on the ground, unmoving. I screamed when the pain intensified, and my breathing became heavy and laboured. I was struggling to get oxygen into my lungs. I thought that if I could just reach my pocket and grab Aly’s gun, then maybe… but my muscles were paralysed. I couldn’t take this all-encompassing pain spreading down my spine.
Marek backed away further towards the building. The Dark Ones’ skin was so beautiful, I wished that I could just touch them.
“We are going to play a little game with you guys for a bit. That way we will learn where the other wardens are hiding out. There might not be enough of us around, but we will eventually get to each and every one of you,” said the shorter one with wide shoulders.
Finally, the pain eased, and I rested, thinking about hurting them—badly. Then a blue light lashed out of the Dark One’s fingertips. The magic tendrils changed into a silver-coloured rope and wrapped itself around Marek’s body like a chain. The Dark One was draining away his last bits of energy. Marek screamed, arching his back, and my fingertips tingled. These bastards weren’t going to spare us.
I thought about Dara and Aly. I knew I couldn’t allow the Dark Ones to get to the egg, and somehow, I had to save my human friend, along with Marek.
I slammed my eyes shut, trying to ignore Marek’s screams, and concentrated on the fact that I had to survive this. Last night the crack in the wall saved me. I’d gone too far to give in and die now. The egg was back in Aly’s place, and after so many years of injustice, someone needed to expose the Dark Ones. It would only be a matter of time. The Dark Ones may think they’re judge and executioner, but I was going to show everyone in Draconia who they really were and what they were doing to all wardens. They were going down; they just didn’t know it yet.
Warmth began to rise in the pit of my stomach. Goose bumps appeared on the surface of my skin. The energy deep in my core rose to the surface, and I noticed that my fingertips were suddenly inflamed.
In Draconia I wasn’t able to learn basic spells, or produce any kind of real magic like the others. My genetic cells had never produced enough static electricity, and people mocked me when they realised that I couldn’t even spark a fire. I became one of those wardens that had to get used to life without magic, without the feeling of being able to coexist with others. I was always the outsider.
This really bothered me, and I suffered a lot of abuse in my early years because I was weak. Then a few weeks back, something truly extraordinary happened. I was inside the old abandoned house, trying to get blood for Dara when the monster attacked. The energy inside me exploded, throwing that blood sucking creature several meters away and most likely killing him. I was in fight or flight mode and had no idea where the magic came from, but it had saved my life that night. Maybe it was a defense mechanism and my magic was tied to it somehow. I honestly had no idea.
And now, I could feel the same power rising again, almost like something switched on inside my body. Was it my magic or something foreign? I didn’t have time to think about it. Marek was begging for mercy, then he was screaming, and I watched how the flames around my fingers were growing larger. I took a deep breath, ready for anything. I suddenly felt amazing. Someone or something was pulling me from the darkness that had been shaded upon me since the day I lost my best friend. I was thankful as the strange power continued to rise in its intensity within me.
“Do you smell it, Corey? This cannot be it. Magnus made sure they had been hidden away,” the shorter Dark One asked the other one. I stopped moving, becoming high on magic that was drifting towards me. Marek slammed on the ground. The Dark One who was holding him must have released his magical hold.
As I gained strength, I saw real fear in the Dark Ones’ red eyes. Good.
“The energy, the egg… You’re right, this cannot be,” whispered the other one.
I wasn’t listening to them anymore. All the pain was gone, and no one held me anymore. When I glanced down at my body, I saw bright red and orange flames.
“On Qesborth, what is happening?” Marek whispered, staring at me like he was seeing some kind of monster. I didn’t care. I had wasted enough time in my short life. Maybe this was another one-time deal—like what happened in that abandoned house when I was trying to save Dara. Either way, it was one chance in a million, and I was going to use it.
I could see and feel electricity spreading all around me; magic pounded inside me. I brought my hands together and smiled wickedly.
The Dark Ones weren’t even looking at me. Once I launched my secret weapon, they didn’t have a chance to move. Bright red light streamed from the palms of my hands, blinding me for several moments. It felt like the world around me stood still. A red ball of energy crashed into them and I was thrown backwards, landing on Marek. The smell of burning flesh wafted into the air.
I must have lost consciousness for good few minutes, because when I lifted my head the two Dark Ones were gone. My pulse was speeding away and I felt magic rising over the surface of my skin, crackling loudly. I could get used to this euphoric feeling—the buzz that my newfound power gave me. Maybe there was always magic inside me and when I crossed over to this new, non-magical world, the crack awakened it. I had no idea. Either way, I liked being in control.
I lifted myself up from the ground, the world around me was spinning, but I felt amazing. I took a few steps towards the space where the two mages had been standing just a few moments ago, and gasped.
“No…impossible. On Qesborth,” I whispered, still pretty much high on this unknown energy that buzzed and spread what felt like lightning bolts to every tiny cell inside my body. I must have turned the mages into ash, because that’s all that was left of them. Unbelievable.
Trembling, I swallowed hard when an image of the golden egg flashed in front of my eyes. Was it possible that the tiny creature inside had somehow made a connection with my magic? I’d read everything that I could get my hands on about dragons and their offspring. Once the dragon laid an egg, the creature chose a warden to connect to. Their energies became linked forever. At the time, I didn’t understand it, but now I finally began to realise that maybe this was what happened to me. It was the only logical explanation.
I knelt over Aly’s unconscious form, telling myself that she was going to be all right. Marek started coming around. He moaned and swore a few times. I was worried about my human friend. She was so pale. Her white hair was tangled, and her pulse was weak. She must have hit her head, and I needed to take her to a healer right away, although I wasn’t sure if I could even find one here in London.
“Who are you? I thought you were from the lower class?” Marek shouted, trying to put his ha
ir in order. His eyes were scary wide. There were deep visible marks on his cheek and left arm. We were lucky that Marek chose this isolated alley, but I knew we couldn’t stay here.
Finally, Aly opened her eyes. I kept telling her to breathe in, assuring her that everything was all right.
“The Dark Ones. What have you done to them?” Marek asked, seeming agitated. He was pacing around, running his hand through his hair.
“I’ll explain later. Right now, we need a healer,” I told him, still aware of the magic circulating around me. Aly asked me to help her get back on her feet.
“Honey, I’ll be fine. I just bumped my head, but I feel much better now. You were right. I don’t understand magic, and now I won’t be trusting the authorities after what I just witnessed,” the older woman said. The colour in her cheeks was coming back, and I felt like my energy was warming her up, maybe even healing her.
“We have to get going. Just keep your head down, girl. There might be more of them around,” Marek said, finally snapping out of his aggravated state.
I finally began to understand what all the fuss was about. The magic gave me strength, and it filled me with euphoria. It almost felt like I was invincible. Maybe with some practice, I could change someone’s appearance, even my own. The possibilities were endless, but right now, I really needed to think about Aly. She seemed all right, but what if she had a concussion? She wasn’t a youngster anymore.
We quickly left the isolated neighbourhood and started moving through a less busy street. The area looked run-down. Rubbish was scattered around and there were a lot of homeless people trying to stop us. This time, we walked for another several minutes before entering an abandoned-looking building through the back entrance. There were wooden boards covering the windows and doors with a “for sale” sign in front.
Hatched (Draconia World Book 1) Page 5