Dragon Mark

by Kit Bladegrave

  “Been fighting for who? Not us, not here. You can say you’re the Lost Heir all you want, but I’m not going to follow you.”

  “And what if I could show you he speaks the truth,” Nora called out.

  The dragons glowered at her until she stepped to the side and lowered the shield that had been protecting the innocent. They cried out as they rushed to embrace each other.

  Tears of happiness slipped from my eyes out to see so many families reunited with their loved ones. The dragons dropped their swords and looked to Slade, but he was too busy walking toward us, sheathing his sword at his back.

  “Did you save them all?” he asked.

  “Every last one,” she declared. “But I suggest we do not linger here long.”

  “We won’t. Just have a few of our own dead to take back.”

  My heart fell to hear that news, but from his face, I could tell it wasn’t anyone too close to him or me. He turned back to stare at more of his rescued clan, but his shoulders were tense, and he seemed off.

  “I saw what you did,” he said quietly. “Is using that much power a good thing?”

  “I know what I’m doing, Slade. The innocent were saved, and your army has grown. Take the win. I will see you back in town.”

  She left him standing there, moving through the ramshackle village that these people had been forced to live in for decades. I asked her what she was doing, but she kept on walking, not stopping until she was back in town and ducked into a nearby building. As soon as she shut the door, she sagged against the wall, and a wave of weakness hit me, too.

  “What’s going on?” I asked her, holding my head as she stood upright again, but it wasn’t easy.

  “We are running out of time, and I’m afraid the blood magic used against you may still be at work.”

  “What? I thought the mark was gone.”

  “It is, but there are still traces of the magic within our blood.”

  “That’s bad, right?”

  She took a few deep breaths. “It’ll be fine, Everest, everything will be fine the sooner this all ends.”

  Great. Now every time she used her powers, I’d be waiting to see if we suddenly dropped dead.

  One more dimension to clear, and then the Fell Gates, and onto Radnak’s stronghold.

  The optimism I’d been holding onto that this plan would work out well for us had started to fade. I figured accepting the realization that I might die now was better than it coming as a shock later.

  If Nora paid attention to my current line of thinking, she said nothing to me.

  All that mattered was Slade living and Radnak dying.

  I waved my hand over the boulder, not wanting to see what Nora could see at that moment, and I walked down to the beach, letting the waves rolling in soothe me for a while.

  Fourteen

  Slade

  Tank socked me in the shoulder, and I glowered at him.

  “What’s with the death stare? Be happy, man, look at everyone we’re saving.”

  “It’s not that I’m unhappy about. Whatever magic she’s using, it’s affecting Everest’s body,” I told him quietly, watching her from across the rundown manor house we recently cleared out of Black Diamonds. She was tending to a few minor injuries for our soldiers, but every time she stood, her knees wobbled a bit. “Those damned witches are killing her, Tank, and I can’t do a bloody thing about it.”

  “You don’t know that for sure,” he argued until I growled at him. “Everest chose this, remember? I know you trust her, so keep trusting her. She knows what she’s doing.”

  “Sure she does.”

  Tank was right about one thing, at the moment I should’ve been jumping for joy. We successfully infiltrated the second dimension, and though we lost more than we did in the first attack, we managed to liberate this one as well. But there had been no Priests here at all, none trying to kill us. The Black Diamonds had put up one hell of a fight until Nora shut them down with a massive lightning storm that drove the rest of them to surrender or flee.

  “Too easy,” I whispered to myself.

  “What’s that?” Tank said.

  I shook my head. “Once we’re finished here, I want a meeting with everyone back in town. Pass the word along, would you?”

  “Sure thing. What are you doing to do?”

  “Have a conversation with a very stubborn woman, or seven women, you know what I mean.”

  He chuckled as I moved through the house toward Nora.

  “Can I help you with something?” she asked, not looking up from the wounded arm she patched on one of the witches.

  “I need a word with you outside, now if you don’t mind.”

  “There are still many wounded I need to tend to.”

  “Now, Nora,” I growled, and she sighed.

  I didn’t wait but headed straight outside.

  A few moments later she joined me, and I pulled her out of the way of anyone overhearing us.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

  “I’m afraid I don’t see the problem.”

  “Of course you don’t because you simply refuse to. You need to stop using so much power, understand? It’s killing Everest.”

  She crossed her arms and stared at me blankly. “This again? I have told you time, and again, she is fine. Her body and mind are both fine. You need to stop wasting so much energy worrying about her and focus on the endgame.”

  “I am, and that endgame involves Everest being alive. Does yours?”

  Her jaw clenched, but she stared at me straight in the eye. “If Everest begins to weaken, I will let you know, but until that moment in time, you have more pressing matters to worry about. If you’ll excuse me, I have wounded to take care of.”

  “I’ve called a meeting, and I expect you to be present. If your strength allows it,” I called after her.

  She stopped for just a second then kept on walking, but that was all the answer I needed.

  “Just like Everest, you can’t lie to save your life.” I uttered a curse and kicked at a stone on the ground, watching it tumble off into the weeds before I took in our surroundings.

  This dimension hit far too close to home when we first arrived. I spent most of my life here amongst the dilapidated homes and shacks that passed for shelter. Hiding. Always hiding to try and stay alive.

  Those who’d disobeyed orders had their bodies hung and displayed for all to see. Preston and Jenny had already cut them down, and they would be taken back with us, as well as the rest of our dead, to be given a proper farewell. The Black Diamonds we left there for their bodies to rot.

  At first, I considered trying to fully reclaim these dimensions, but there was too much death lingering in the air. Too many bad memories soiled the dirt. I doubted anything would grow here ever again. Everywhere I looked was just dead grass and dead land. No green. No blue sky, nothing worth saving except those of my clan.

  “Slade, we’re getting ready to head out,” Jenny called, and I waved at her.

  This next meeting would not be an easy one. First, we had to decide how to proceed with our next attack, but I had to voice my current concerns with the lack of pushback coming from Radnak. By now, I expected him to make an appearance, or attempt to hold these two dimensions, launch a counterattack, but so far there’d been nothing.

  Not even a trap. It all felt too easy.

  Having Everest still possessed put me on edge, made me paranoid, but since we attacked the camp, these battles just felt off somehow.

  I followed the wounded and the rest of my soldiers out of the portal and into town, the place that would one day be their new home.

  A few hours after the portal was sealed off to that dimension, I sat with the Council members, the clan leaders, Nora, and a few others to discuss our options moving forward.

  “Tonight,” I announced, “I want our people to have a chance to celebrate our latest success. Let them have a night to feast and drink and let go of their past fears. They dese
rve that, and I believe our fighters have earned that as well.”

  All heads nodded in agreement, except Nora’s, but I ignored her and pushed on.

  “However, there is something I wish to say before we head off to see to the festivities.”

  “What is it?” Orella asked, leaning forward in her chair.

  “Has anyone else noticed how easily we took those dimensions?”

  My words hung in the air and I waited, prayed really, for them all to shrug off my worries and tell me I was overthinking it. But no one did. Instead, their faces reflected the same discontent with how quickly we managed to push through the territories and rescue the Shadowguards.

  “I assumed Radnak would have shown himself,” Charlette said. “After all, we have been at each fight and yet, nothing. Not even an attempt to take us.”

  “It does seem strange for him to pass up a chance to attack when we might be vulnerable,” Quinto agreed. “But at the same time, I don’t want to question our good luck. Like you said, Slade, he thinks nothing of us or our armies. Perhaps he merely underestimated us and acted too late.”

  “Maybe, but it still feels wrong.”

  “You’ve been fighting so hard all your life,” Selma pointed out, “and you’ve been doing it either alone or with very few numbers. This is new for you, to have so much aid.”

  She had a point. Each time I’d encountered the enemy, I was alone or only with a few others to watch my back. Now, I stood at the head of an army, charging in beside other armies. Though my instincts screamed at me that Radnak was playing us somehow, there was no advantage to him letting us take the dimensions, or free my people, right? We bolstered our number and took away his only weapons against his Shadowguard fighters. He was always sure of his plans and that no one could ever stand against him.

  “You’re right,” I finally said, giving in. “We’ve fought hard to push back against Radnak, and we will continue to do so when we attack the Fell Gates in a few days’ time. For now, let’s relax and celebrate our victories.”

  They cheered with me and left the table to go find their friends or wives and husbands and spend a night not talking about the war.

  I stayed in my chair long after everyone had gone. This was too easy. Too damned easy. I wanted to shake the feeling, hating to think I was going to jinx us moving forward, but I knew Radnak. He had a plan, and I hated to think we were too far behind him to catch up to whatever it was he had waiting for our army. My thoughts drifted from Radnak to Everest and the power I’d seen her use the last few days. Each time, she took a hit, and no matter what Nora might tell me, the chance of my seeing Everest at the end of this grew slimmer by the day.

  I missed her, missed simply talking to her, or holding her hand. Or watching her scowl at me over one thing or another.

  “Stop it,” I muttered to myself, “you’re acting like she’s already dead.”

  But she wasn’t. She was alive, trapped in her own mind, on a damned beach. If I shut my eyes, the image of her in that white dress came back to me, and I held it close, needing something to get me through an evening where everyone around me would be smiling and cheerful, and I would be the brooding clan leader.

  Fifteen

  Everest

  “Why do you seem so unhappy?” I asked, sensing Nora’s irritation. She’d been like this since we left the meeting. I thought maybe she also shared Slade’s concerns about the fighting being too easy, but I sensed there was something else entirely bothering her.

  “They celebrate, but there is no reason to. The war is not over. This will do nothing, but distract them from their true goal,” Nora scolded. She rolled our shoulders and winced. “And our time is running short.”

  I noticed that, too, but hoped I was just overreacting. Clearly not. Slade had called us out on this same issue just a few hours ago, but Nora assured him up and down that I was fine and would continue to be fine no matter how much magic they had to use. Now I realized how much of a lie that was.

  Especially if what she said about the blood magic still working against me being true.

  “Let them be happy,” I told her, watching the crowd of dragons, witches, and warlocks dance and drink, eat and laugh in the town square. “They’re finally free.”

  “It’s a foolish waste of energy.”

  “Do you even hear yourself talk?” I snapped, starting to lose it from being trapped inside my own head and body. “They woke up this morning wondering if it would be their last day on earth, but now they’re out of that hell hole. They’re free, Nora, which is the whole point of this, right? The whole point of you possessing my body? Give them a break.”

  She fell silent, and I paced around the fire, debating on going to the beach for a few minutes to cool off, when she sighed. “You are right, but still, this is war, Everest. One should not celebrate too early.”

  I rolled my eyes as she moved along the outskirts of the main celebrations. I longed to be out there with them, dancing and laughing. Soon, very soon I told myself, I’d be able to go out there and join in with the festivities. Be happy. Be with Slade again. So many Shadowguards would live now, and that’s what mattered at the end of the day.

  “You seem upset instead of happy,” a familiar voice scolded, and I reached out, resting my hand on the boulder as Nora turned to face Slade.

  “I am reserved, that is all.”

  “And the rest of you? Everest’s body and mind? I know you’re lying about it.”

  I smiled, feeling Nora’s growing agitation at his constant pestering and questioning of her actions. “Everest is strong, as I have told you many times. The faster we defeat Radnak, the faster you can have her back, with any luck, unharmed.”

  “We will attack Radnak as soon as our forces are ready again. Our next move will be against the Fell Gates, rid the world of his Priests, for good this time.”

  “They could be ready tomorrow if you did not waste your time frolicking about like this.”

  I willed Slade to feel my agreement with one night of relaxation for everyone who’d been fighting so hard.

  His face softened as he stared into Nora’s eyes and I sighed in relief, knowing that look was for me and me only.

  I expected him to ask her about their next move, see what her plan was so he could tell her he’d already come up with one when Nora’s head whipped around.

  I groaned at the sudden wave of dizziness, feeling her unease as she stared at the portal leading back to the base.

  “Nora? What’s going on?” I asked. “Nora?”

  She ignored me and started for the portal.

  “Something’s wrong,” was all she said.

  Slade stayed right by her side, pulling a few guards with him as she picked up the pace and soon was running for the portal.

  She passed through and full-out sprinted through the base.

  Slade called out to her, but she ignored him, heading down into the mountain where the cells were located.

  They were filled with Black Diamonds and Priests captured and neutralized during the last few battles. She peered into every windowed door, cursing quietly under her breath, before she finally skidded to a stop before the one holding Nikolai.

  “Bastard,” she hissed.

  “Him? Nora, what are you doing?” Slade demanded.

  “This whole time, I knew it.” She stepped back, and as Slade tried to ask her again what she was doing, I was doing the exact same, she brought her foot back and kicked through the door. It gave way as if it was wood and not metal.

  She was inside and hauled Nikolai up with one hand around his throat before I had a chance to yell at her to stop. “You treacherous snake.”

  Nikolai coughed and sputtered, clawing at her hand, but her grip only tightened. “Witch!”

  “What have you told him, huh? What?”

  Instead of answering, Nikolai sneered, his laughter coming out in hoarse gasps.

  “He hasn’t left his cell,” Slade said, but didn’t look so certain when Nor
a turned toward him.

  “Check his hands.”

  Slade frowned, but did as she asked, as I held my breath, wondering what she was doing.

  He grabbed Nikolai’s hands and after wrenching his hands free, stared wide-eyed down at his palms. “Shit, shit! Get back to the town, sound the alert!”

  “What?” one of the dragons asked alarmed. “Why?”

  “We’re about to be attacked. Do it, now!”

  “You’re… too late,” Nikolai snarled until Nora squeezed harder. “He’s coming… for… all of you.”

  Nora hissed in anger, but she dropped him to the floor. “You will not get to see such a victory for your master,” she said and drew back her hand ready to strike him dead, but Slade’s hand fell on her shoulder, stopping her.

  “No.”

  “No? You do not wish him dead?” she asked confused, but I knew what he wanted.

  “Oh, I do. But I’ll do it myself, if you don’t mind.”

  Nora shrugged and stepped back toward the door. “As you wish.”

  Nikolai spat at Slade’s feet as he approached. “You don’t have the nerve to kill me, boy. You never have.”

  Slade drew a dagger and tossed it end over end in his hand. “Is that right?”

  “Yeah, it is. You and your parents, you were always too damned soft. You’ll never survive this war, you hear me? Radnak is going to rip out your soul—”

  The dagger flew from Slade’s hand and embedded itself in Nikolai’s forehead, shutting him up for good. “You talk too damned much,” he muttered, turned on his heel, and asked Nora if she was coming to defend the town or not.

  If I’d been there, I could’ve grabbed his hand, let him know it was alright to feel relieved at executing Nikolai.

  But I wasn’t there, and all Nora did was fall in line behind him as they hurried back to the portal to get back to town.

  I did my usual walking path around the fire as I waited for Nora to enter the fight.