by G. Bailey
“Where is Thorne?” I ask, not seeing him anywhere. I search for him in my mind, frowning when I can’t sense him near, and he keeps getting further away. Thorne?
I did this because I love you. I will get you the throne, he tells me. My mouth parts in shock when I realize he has gone back to Dragca alone. He is going back to see his mother.
No! Come back. We do this together. Your mother will kill you! I plead with him, but I know he won’t reply to me, because all I can feel from him is how certain he is. Everyone finally makes their way to me as I stare angrily at the ground, tears pricking my eyes that I can’t let fall.
Why would he do this? Why couldn’t he wait? my dragon whines in my head, making me not only deal with my emotions but hers as well. I won’t lose my mate because he is an idiot that thinks he can do this alone. I am the one that is meant to stop Tatarina. If Thorne kills her, he will never forgive himself. No matter what Tatarina is…she is still his mother.
“Isola…he had to do this,” my uncle says, coming to my side, and I glare at him as I lift my head.
“Did you tell him to do it? Tatarina won’t pause before she kills him, and I thought Thorne knew that,” I say, growling low.
“He is her son. He has a better chance than you do,” my uncle says, shrugging like it is a done deal and not important that Thorne might be killed. I ignore him to look back at Dagan’s guilty face, and to Korbin who seems just as guilty as he stares at the ground. I don’t even need to ask if they planned this, if they let him go while I was distracted. I know they would be behind a plan to save me fighting Tatarina…but nothing is going to stop that. Part of me understands the need to try and save the ones I love, but it doesn’t mean Thorne is right to fight her alone.
“We are going to Dragca now!” I growl out, and I look up when a snow flake falls on my nose. The dark clouds in the sky start letting it snow, and I stare at the white flakes falling from the sky, watching the way the wind moves them. They stick to the trees, making everything seem so alive. It somewhat seems perfect that it is snowing as we leave Earth, and I know I won’t be returning for a long time. Not until I am queen. Dragca is my home and where I want to spend the last of my days. Where I want to build a future, not only for myself and my mates, but for the people of Dragca.
“I’m sorry, Isola. Thorne is the only one that can get close to her,” I hear Dagan say to me as I continue staring up at the sky.
“No, he isn’t. Tatarina wants me the most because I am all that is left of her best friend and the man she was in love with. I am her enemy and the only thing left she feels she needs to destroy. That is why she hasn’t killed Elias, it is why she will hold Thorne hostage…to get me to come to her. Tatarina has my throne and she is destroying my home. I am going after her, with or without you all,” I tell them all and finally look away from the snowing sky to see not only Dagan, Korbin and my uncle watching me but dozens of other dragons. And other people.
“We are with you. Always,” Korbin agrees and Dagan nods.
“I’m sorry for letting Thorne go…you are right. We are with you, our queen,” Dagan tells me, bowing his head a little before meeting my eyes. I’m still mad at him for letting Thorne go, but I know he is only doing this to try and save me. I can tell him off later for being a know-it-all douchebag.
Jonas comes running over to me with snow-covered blond hair, pointing at his collar-free neck. Someone has given Jonas a big adult’s jacket, so he won’t get too cold.
“The witches are taking the collars off. I’m free,” he says, grinning up at me like it is Christmas. His happy, innocent face almost makes me forget everything and smile. Almost. I pull him into a hug, and he doesn’t resist, staying at my side when I let him go. “I’ve never been without this on unless they were testing me. You said we would be free, and you were right. Thank you.”
“Freedom isn’t something a child should have to be given. Children should always be free, Jonas,” I whisper to him. “You will always be free, from this point on. No more collars.” Jonas gives me a shaky nod, before resting his head on my arm as I look away from him to Dagan who smiles down at Jonas before glancing at me.
“We need the dragons that can fight free from the collars before we go back to Dragca, and also somehow get them weapons. I will go with your uncle to figure out who will come with us,” Dagan says, and I nod once to him. I love you, he whispers in my mind, making my lips tilt up for a second before I remember that both Thorne and Elias need me. Urgently.
“What is Dragca?” Winter asks, walking over from the trees and stopping right in front of me. She has a big cloak on now, the hood pulled up to protect her from the heavy falling snow. Though with a name like Winter, I doubt she minds the snow.
“The land of Dragons. We come to Earth from a portal, and our worlds are linked. I am the last ice dragon princess, but I will soon be queen when I take my throne back from the murderer sitting upon it,” I explain, and her eyes widen, taking it all in. I step back as a huge black wolf walks to Winter’s side, and she places her hand on his head. The wolf growls, baring its huge teeth, and Winter tuts.
“Jax behave,” she says and looks to me. “Wolf shifters can be a little territorial, but it seems your own dragons are just the same.” I follow her eye when she looks to my left, seeing Dagan and Korbin talking to Atti, but their eyes are constantly looking back to check if I am okay.
“We have a lot in common it seems, Queen Winter,” I reply.
“My friends don’t call me Queen. It’s just Winter,” she replies, winking at me, and I chuckle. “Do you need any help in your homeland? As queen of the supernaturals, I want an alliance between us. I want to help, but we have just been at war ourselves. I’m sure you heard about it, and we lost a lot of our people, but we can still send a small army with you and weapons.”
“We need to go in quiet and unseen, so we can not use your army this time, but thank you. Some weapons for the dragons here would be much appreciated. I will always owe you for getting us out of there and even offering to help us after your own war,” I say, and Winter nods, both of us standing quietly in the falling snow.
“That was nothing. If anything, we should be sorry we couldn’t stop the hunters and save you sooner. Are you sure there is nothing I can do for you other than the weapons? We have time; Atti and the witches will take at least half an hour to get all those awful collars off,” Winter offers, and I look over at Melody and Hallie, who are holding hands and quietly talking.
“There is one thing.”
Chapter Fifteen
Isola
“Jules…” I whisper, letting go of my sister’s arm when we appear in her room, as I can’t help the smile on my lips from seeing her. I don’t know how to exactly define my relationship with Jules, but she is as close to a second mother as I have. She is family, and I missed her. Jules is sat in a chair by her bed, her very grey hair in a tight bun like usual on her head and a massive smile on her lips. Jules’s fashion sense hasn’t changed, and I somewhat love seeing the flower-covered dress she has on and the yellow knitted cardigan. I run to her as she opens her arms for me, her watery eyes looking so happy to see me.
“I knew we would see each other again, child,” Jules gently says to me as I pull back and pause in shock. I look to the left at the massive tree in her room, and a familiar pod hanging from it. The tree looks like a bonsai tree…but much bigger and brighter than normal. There are dozens of plant pots around the tree, filled with bright flowers that crawl half way up the tree’s trunk. Everything in the room is so bright and colorful; when I look back at Winter, Atti, Hallie and Melody, they look as surprised as I am. That is not what you expect to see in a regular nursing home. “Your little friend is quite the gardener.” I laugh at Jules’s unasked response.
“Seems so,” I mutter out as I still laugh, and Jules smiles up at me.
“You have changed in the time we spent apart. You seem older. Stronger. It is what I have always wanted to see you as
,” Jules says, taking my hand in hers and squeezing it tightly. “I always knew this strong woman was inside of you, but you just had to grow into her.” Jules’s statement brings tears to my eyes, and I gently release her hand to wipe my cheeks. I go to reply when the pod flap opens, and Bee flies out. We both stare at each other, as I take in the rush of our bond coming back into place. I open my arms, needing to have her close, and she flies straight into them. I stroke her hair gently, happy to have her back near me. Pulling her off me a little, I take a closer look at her, seeing she isn’t as bright as she usually is, but she looks okay. We need to be back on Dragca. We need to go home so she can connect with the magic there.
“Miss you,” Bee mumbles, flying out of my hands and sitting on my shoulder. “Lady gave me food. Good food.” Jules laughs, smiling at Bee and me.
“I missed you too, Bee. We keep getting separated, but never again,” I whisper to her.
“That looks like a green less-troll-like female version of Milo,” Atti tells Winter, who nods staring at Bee. I turn, remembering that they are still here and I haven’t introduced them.
“Sorry, Jules. This is Winter and Atti, they are friends. You know Hallie, and this is my sister, Melody,” I introduce them all. They each say hello in an overly kind way, except for Hallie who just smirks at me, and my lips tilt up a little in response.
“I’m glad to know you have friends on your side,” Jules remarks. “Family and friends. That is all anyone ever needs.”
“Jules is a very wise woman it seems,” Winter comments.
“I like this one,” Jules replies, winking at Winter who laughs. “Come and let me see you, Melody. I see your sister a little in you.” Hallie tugs a nervous looking Melody over with her to Jules.
“I need a favor,” I quietly say to Winter, while I watch Jules fuss over Melody who is blushing.
“Anything,” Winter answers. “Well, anything I can offer you.”
“Hallie, Melody and Jules need to stay on Earth with you for a while. Dragca isn’t safe for them,” I tell Winter. “I wish for you to protect them until I can send someone back with good news. I am returning to Dragca because it is where I belong, and I will die or rule there. There is nothing in-between. As a queen, I’m sure you understand the hard decisions you have to make to do what is right for everyone…but I can’t lose them. They are my family.”
“You have my word that your family will be protected. After we are done at the hunters’ base, we will come back and move them into our home. The castle is the safest place on Earth,” Winter replies, and I place my hand on her arm.
“Thank you,” I tell her, before walking closer to Jules.
“Dragca is where you are from, right?” Jules asks me. She has always been smarter than anyone knows, or Hallie has been telling her a lot recently. I nod. “You must leave and save your world. Right?”
“Yes, I have to leave. Dragca needs me. The men I love need me, but I am leaving Melody and Hallie with you and Winter. They need time to recover and relax. Where we are going…well, it isn’t safe, and it is a dragon war,” I explain, and Jules’s eyes widen. I guess she didn’t know exactly what I was, but the cat—well, dragon—is out of the bag now.
“Can I have a quiet word, sis?” Melody asks me, and I nod at her before turning back to Jules.
“One day, I will come back and get you. I want to show you Dragca and explain everything,” I tell her, and she reaches for my hand. I slide my hand into hers, and she squeezes tight.
“One day, child. I do look forward to it,” she says with a big smile. I squeeze her frail hand once more before letting go and walking over to the door, pulling it open. Melody follows Bee and me out into the silent corridor of the nursing home, and she shuts the door, so we are alone.
“I wish I could come with you to Dragca, but I cannot,” she says solemnly. “I am not meant to be at your side in this fight. I just had to get you here and hope for the best. For all the futures I see…I do not know what will happen next.”
“I figured as much when you didn’t disagree when I asked Jules to have you here,” I say. “I wish I could have you at my side too…but what is left of Dragca needs to be won by dragons, and I cannot lose you in a dragon war.”
“The seers have not all been lost in the war, and I truly believe they will help you. I need to tell you something before you go back, something very important,” she says, and I cross my arms as Melody’s eyes leave my face and go to Bee on my shoulder, who is holding onto my hair, from what I can feel.
“Light and dark spirits are twins. Both are meant to be together, bonded with one dragon who becomes the balance. Nane—the dark spirit—can only be stopped if she bonds with you like Bee did. No one else could understand and control her. Too much light or dark in one world would destroy it. One dragon is meant to be the balance from the start,” she says, shocking me into silence. “I saw a vision just before Tatarina attacked us in Dragca and we had to leave. The vision was of the past, of the last time a light and dark spirit were born. They did both bond with the dragon they chose, but the dragon couldn’t handle the power and died from the bond.”
“How the hell do I even get close to Nane then? What if I die bonding with her?” I ask in disbelief. I can’t fight this whole battle for Dragca just to die at the end, trying to become some kind of balance between light and dark. I glance at Bee, and she smiles sadly at me. Bee already knows this, and I wonder how she feels about Nane. If they are family like Melody says, Bee must care.
“I don’t know. Nane has to choose to bond with you because she must understand you. Bee bonded to you because she saw your innocence, your compassion and love. Nane bonded with Tatarina because she saw her hate, anger, jealousy and mistook it for darkness. You have that darkness inside of you, that anger, and Nane would easily bond with you if she let you in. To be honest though, she has taken in so much darkness without Bee to balance her out that I don’t know if you could survive bonding with her now. Bee’s light might not survive it either,” she says sadly.
“What happens if I don’t bond with her?” I lightly ask, needing to hear the answer out loud, even if I have a sneaking suspicion of the answer.
“Dragca needs both light and dark at the same time. There cannot be one without the other. If Nane dies—”
“So do I,” Bee interrupts to explain, and I look to her, seeing the sadness on her little face. “My sister will destroy our bond. I chose you…she chose bad.”
“I won’t let that happen to you because Nane made a bad choice,” I tell Bee, and she shakes her head a little, before looking away.
“Then you need to get close to Nane once Tatarina is gone,” Melody states. “You must bond with her before anyone else does to save Bee. Nane can’t take any more darkness from anyone else…she will destroy every living thing as well as herself if she does.”
“Okay. I will sort it,” I say, reaching to hold her hand. “You will look after Hallie, alright? I may be mad at her still and you as well, but I love you both.”
“More like she will look after me,” she chuckles with a grin that soon disappears as the seriousness of the situation hits us once more. “Elias and Thorne need you. You must go,” she says, and I nod before walking to the door, and pausing with my hand on the handle.
“Am I going to lose Eli or Thorne?” I whisper, my voice cracking because I don’t even know how to ask the question or if I want to hear the answer.
“There are many futures I see…I just don’t know what will be left,” she quietly replies, and places her hand on my back. “I only see in every future that they love you more than life, and that makes you one of the lucky people in life. Sometimes just having one person love you that much is worth everything.”
“Be safe, sister,” I whisper, and open the door. It’s time to save my dragons before they destroy themselves.
Chapter Sixteen
Isola
“That’s everyone free from those collars,” Atti exclaim
s proudly, coming over to us as he burns one in his hand. I stare, fascinated with how these witches can control fire just like dragons. We are more alike than we think. Except that I come with scales and wings…and they have more fur and disappearing acts. I clip the daggers to my new belt, thanks to Winter, and look back at my uncle who is quietly talking to Korbin and Dagan. They all have new weapons, as do all the dragons here who want to fight. Winter really came through with that promise, and we might have a slight chance of surprising Tatarina long enough for me to kill her and take the throne back. I can’t even think of Elias and Thorne right now. They would be a distraction when I need to focus on the right now.
“Do I have to stay with them? I want to come to Dragca with you,” Jonas says, snapping me out of my thoughts. I glance at him, seeing how nervous he seems as he stares at the group of children the witches are taking back to Winter’s home. They are all bundled together in the snow-covered forest, with thick coats on. Behind the children are groups of supernaturals and a few dragons that can’t fight bundled in groups with a witch in charge of each group. They are taking all of them to Winter’s castle where they will find homes for the ones that want to stay and temporary places for the dragons who wish to return to Dragca in the future. Either way, I know Winter and her kings will keep them safe.