Legends

by Kit Bladegrave

  He slipped back from the bars. “That bastard, he betrayed us.”

  I shook my head slowly. “No, no he wouldn’t. Not after everything he saw.”

  “He did, Kate. The second his guards showed up, he let them drag us off, brought us here, and when I came to he was standing beside his daddy… with Raghnall.”

  His face paled, and I heard him swallow loudly.

  Raghnall.

  If Craig’s father was here, I wasn’t sure what would happen. He’d put a bounty on his own son’s head. Whatever happened next, I couldn’t let Craig leave my sight, not for a second. But Forrest, he wouldn’t betray us. We had a connection, the three of us, and he knew that now. He sensed it. I saw the truth in his eyes right before Allis appeared and attacked us. I understood Craig’s anger, but I wasn’t ready to believe the worst of Forrest, not yet.

  “We can’t trust him,” Craig growled, and I glanced up to catch him studying me.

  “We don’t know that.”

  “Yes, we do!”

  “He might not have been able to get them to listen to him. He said it himself, Kadin would not believe him so easily,” I argued. “Just give him time, alright?”

  “Time? You want to give him time to what? Convince Raghnall not to kill me?”

  I flinched at the harshness of his words, and the truth he seemed to believe. “I don’t think he’s come here to kill his only son.”

  “Bastard son.”

  “Doesn’t matter!” I grunted, annoyed. “If Forrest doesn’t get us out of here then we’ll find our own way out. I won’t let him hurt you,” I promised, thinking back on the past lives, and the connection the three of us had. “I won’t watch you die.”

  “As we watched you die all those years ago?” he whispered, so quiet I almost didn’t hear him.

  I wasn’t sure what to say, so I kept my mouth shut and walked around my cell. It wasn’t large by any means, but at least I could move inside of it. There was a pathetic excuse for a cot and a bucket in the corner. I was not looking forward to having to use it. I rubbed my wrist, wondering if I could find a way to contact Forrest with the magic Mama Lucy gave us in those bracelets, but it was gone.

  “Shit,” I whispered, frantically searching the floor.

  “They took them,” Craig informed me, leaning against the bars still. “They took everything from us when we arrived.”

  “Course they did,” I muttered, kicking the bars in annoyance, then cursing when my toes throbbed. “How many guards do you think there are?”

  “You’re kidding, right, love? You know where we are?”

  I stared blankly at him, arching one eyebrow, and waited.

  “This is the palace of the clan leader. It’s a damned fortress. We’re not getting out easily, and not without help. Majority of the dragon army is here. If they’re not roaming the halls on patrol, they’re encamped right out front.” He glanced around and from the look of it, was already defeated. “It’d be impossible to sneak by that many dragons, especially when they’re all on high alert for sensing a Darrah.”

  “Are you saying I stink?”

  He smirked, and sniffed the air. “No, far from it. But they can sense other dragons. They’ll know you’re out before you even reach the stairs.”

  I didn’t want to just stand there and do nothing, but after pacing every inch of my cell at least twenty times, I realized there was no way out of there.

  As a last resort, I closed my eyes and focused on my dragon. She lifted her head and snorted in reply, shaking out her massive body, ready to get to work and bust our way out with brute force, when she roared in pain, and I fell to my knees with a cry, holding my arms to my head as it throbbed.

  “Kate!”

  My mouth opened, but no words came out. The cell spun violently around me and then I was on the floor.

  I heard Craig yelling for help, screaming for anyone as I writhed in agony.

  What happened to me?

  The dragon thrashed inside me, but I felt her restrained, as if someone had gone inside my mind and chained her up, so she couldn’t be free. I thought that had all been some horrible nightmare, but now I realized what they’d done to her was real.

  My fury grew, and I roared, struggling to get her unbound, but the pain in my head increased, and something warm dripped down my face.

  “If you do not stop, you will kill yourself,” a man’s voice said calmly. “Is that what you want?”

  “What did you do to her?” Craig yelled. “Stop it, or I swear to the gods I’ll tear out your heart!”

  “I am not the one hurting her,” the man replied, still calm. “Kate, you must calm yourself, do you understand? Take a deep breath and relax.”

  “Relax?” I seethed. “How can I relax?”

  “Do you want to die?”

  “No.” Who the hell was this man? I squinted open an eye and blinked rapidly.

  The man from the hall where I’d been chained up stood at the bars peering down at me. He still had a kind face, but in his eyes, in those damned blue eyes, I knew exactly what was happening.

  “You did this to me!” I lunged for the bars, but the pain in my head exploded, and I collapsed again, curling into a ball of pure misery.

  Craig was spitting curses, shaking the bars on his cell as hard as he could to get out, but I knew he wouldn’t.

  Blood dripped out my nose, and my ears felt warm, too. I took a deep breath, in and out again, waiting for the pain to subside. The last thing I wanted was to do what this man was telling me to, but I wasn’t going to die in this cell.

  It felt like it took forever, but eventually, the pain subsided, and my rage abated, or at least enough for me to sit up and stare at the man now crouched outside my cell, studying me closely.

  “Fascinating,” he mused quietly, stroking the white beard on his face.

  “Care to share? Or do you just like gawking at your torture victims?”

  His grin widened, and his eyes glimmered. “You are certainly a Darrah with that mouth of yours, I’ll give you that.”

  “Who are you?” I snapped, not in the mood to play games while I had blood running down my face. I wiped it off with my sleeve then tended to my ears, waiting for an answer.

  “Magnus. I’m the healer for Kadin.”

  “Healer? Ha! Funny since whatever you did to me almost killed me.”

  “I merely am keeping your dragon from showing herself. You wouldn’t want to kill everyone in this palace, would you? Innocents do live here.”

  I ground my teeth, part of me ready to say I didn’t care, but I did. Hadn’t Celandine died so all the races could live? I hung my head, and was suddenly overcome with images of her final moments again. Watching Allis charge toward her, me, watching him kill me.

  I gasped as I felt that death again, sucking air in as I fought to remain firmly planted in the present.

  But something was wrong.

  I coul see Magnus, and Craig in his cell, heard their frantic voices, but I couldn’t hold onto them.

  My mind dragged me back again, and I was no longer in a cell…

  There was a fierce battle raging, and I was on the front lines, sword in hand as well as the shield, whole and beautiful in my hand. Above me, dragons flew, magnificent in the fiery sunrise breaching the horizon. The battle had waged on well into the night, and now that dawn approached, I longed to find a bed, but the enemy was on the run. We couldn’t stop now.

  “Drive them back!” a familiar voice bellowed beside me.

  I managed a glance to my right to see Broden, two swords in his hands, face contorted as his demon shone through. His blades were bloodied, as was his face and shoulder. He’d been stabbed. I remembered it happening, but Broden had torn the plagued brute to pieces before charging on ahead. My own leather garments were drenched in black blood, as well as more of my own. Rest would have to wait a few more hours… just a few.

  A mighty roar cascaded over us as blue fire crackled, shooting from the mouth of t
he lead dragon. Malcolm. He spun in mid-air before barreling through those beasts managing to take flight. He sent them scattering, and I watched as he landed, smashing more beneath his clawed feet before finally shifting back—well, not all of him.

  His face remained exactly as Broden’s, contorted and fierce, just like a demon.

  “They are fleeing!” he yelled over the din of fighting. “We have beaten them back!”

  My arms sagged in relief, letting the soldiers behind me, demon and dragon, elf and human, sorcerers and all the rest, charge after the plagued beasts.

  Finally, victory was near, and we could rest for a moment at least. I wanted nothing more than to sink into the mud and collapse, but the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.

  I had no idea what was coming, but from Celandine’s racing thoughts and how her dragon suddenly reared its head, I knew it wasn’t good.

  The ground shook beneath our feet, and all sense of victory was dashed as the sun disappeared from view.

  Darkness poured in, over the land, shooting up into the sky like a tidal wave.

  I was terrified, but Celandine was furious. I gripped the sword tighter and bared my teeth, daring him to come.

  Him?

  I needed to see, but a sharp pain shot through my head and I was thrown back into my present body, still in the cell.

  Magnus had opened the door and hovered over me now.

  He held his hands to the sides of my head, whispering words under his breath.

  My body shook uncontrollably as fear overwhelmed me.

  What was happening to me?

  Every time I blinked, I caught a glimpse of that tidal wave moving closer, ready to swallow us all whole.

  And all I could do was stand there and watch.

  3

  Craig

  I yanked on the bars again, needing to get to Kate. Every jerk of her body and whimper of pain tore at me until I couldn’t bear it.

  “I have to help her!”

  “You can’t,” Magnus, this supposed healer, argued without turning my way.

  “Yes, I can, you bastard! Let me out of here!”

  He whipped around with a furious snarl, but when Kate screamed, flailing as if something had attacked her, his lips thinned, and he nodded to the two guards close by. “Bring him here.”

  The second my cell door was open, I sprinted across the corridor and fell to my knees beside Kate. Magnus had his hands on her head still, but I shoved him away angrily, growling protectively as I shielded her from him with my body.

  “I can help,” he insisted.

  I snarled louder, and he backed off.

  Gently, I rested my hands on Kate’s cheeks, holding her head as steady as I could without hurting her, and stared into her eyes.

  “Kate, I need you to listen to me,” I said firmly.

  Her eyes were glazed over just as they had been at the ruins, but something was wrong. She was slipping in and out of the trance taking her to the past, and whatever was happening back then, was not good. Her hands curled into fists at her sides, and her face screwed up in sudden pain.

  “Katherine, focus on me and only me. I know you can do it.”

  Every breath seemed to pain her, and it killed me to see her this way, but her eyes cleared again and latched onto mine.

  “That’s it, look at me,” I whispered. “Listen to my voice and only my voice. You need to stay here, in the present with me. Celandine is long dead. Whatever you’re seeing, it’s over, it’s already happened. You’re safe, Katherine.” I nodded slowly with her, and her body began to relax. “You’re safe with me.”

  “What did you do?” Magnus asked quietly.

  I kept my gaze on Kate’s, not ready to let go until I was sure she was firmly planted in the present. “I would tell you, but you wouldn’t believe me. No one does.”

  Magnus shifted nervously, and I studied the old man closely.

  “What do you know?” I asked sharply.

  “Nothing, nothing at all.”

  He was a damned liar, but I had to focus on Kate. I didn’t even blink until her eyes closed peacefully and she went completely limp in my arms. I shifted her, so she rested in my lap and then glared pointedly at Magnus.

  “You want to know what’s wrong with her? Talk to your dear precious prince who just betrayed us,” I snarled. “Talk to him and ask him why we were at the ruins, ask him what we saw, what we went through.” My arms closed tighter around Kate as if that alone could protect her from ending up like Celandine. “Get out of here. She needs her rest.”

  Magnus looked as if he was going to order the guards to drag me back to my cell, but thought better of it and stood. The three of them left us alone, closing and locking the cell door behind them.

  I hoped they’d forget to lock it, but no such luck.

  I held Kate for a long while, not wanting to move and disturb her sleep. She’d dug deep grooves into her palms from her fingernails.

  Gently, I ran my fingers over them, wishing I had some way to soothe the cuts. They’d sting whenever she woke up again. I hated to ask what she saw, but needed to know. Any bit of information could help us at this point.

  I wondered what Forrest was doing right now and if he enjoyed being back home amongst his own people. If his father was doting on him, so glad to have his son home, alive and well.

  I remembered his yelling when the guards came and attacked us, but they didn’t listen to him, and now we were all captive.

  Possibly worse than captive. If Kadin believed we kidnapped his son, he would demand retribution. My life and Kate’s hung in the balance, and I had little faith Forrest would get us out of this mess in time. If at all.

  Kate stirred and opened her eyes, squinting up at my face. “What happened?”

  “I think your past life is still trying to show you something,” I whispered. “Go back to sleep. You need your rest.”

  “No, I don’t think I can sleep.”

  I expected her to push away from me, but she stayed right where she was as I leaned my back against the wall. Being near her was comforting at least, even though I sensed we both knew the serious trouble we were in.

  “It was horrible,” she whispered, and a shiver rushed through her.

  “What you saw?”

  Her head bobbed. “We were in a battle, long before the shield was stolen. I saw it, whole and in my hand. It was so powerful… and the Executioner… you and Forrest were there, too.”

  She shut her eyes again, and I worried she was slipping back into another memory, but when those green eyes opened, they were clear.

  “We were fighting the darkness, pushing it back and we weren’t alone. All the races were there behind us,” she said in awe. “Fighting together to save our world… but then… then he came, and everything changed.”

  “He? What he?”

  It seemed she wasn’t able to answer for a long, tense moment. “I don’t… I can’t remember the name, but I felt his presence, and I saw a tidal wave of darkness rise over us. It crashed down… I couldn’t stop it,” she whispered, horrified, and appearing to be in physical pain. “The dead, there were so many dead…” She trailed off, curling in on herself.

  I held her close, doing my best to keep her calm. These raw emotions of hers were going to drag her right back into another memory. We had to get out of this place before that happened and she lost control completely.

  “It’s over now, you’re safe,” I reminded her. “You’re back in the present.”

  “For now,” she muttered darkly. “I can’t keep doing this, but she’s trying to tell me something.”

  “Who, Celandine? How do you know?”

  Roughly, she wiped at her face and sat up. “When I was in her head this last time, I felt like she knew I was there, and I felt more a part of her than the last time. I know that makes no sense whatsoever, but whatever happened back then, we need to see. Maybe it’ll tell us who erased everyone’s memories.”

  “Unless it ki
lls you.” I was tired of seeing her with blood streaming down her nose and out of her ears, shaking violently as if some dark force possessed her.

  “It won’t.”

  “You don’t know that, love.”

  I pushed to my feet, needing to get up and move. I was anxious for what was going to happen next, but I was more worried about Kate. I’d dealt with physical pain before. I could handle it.

  But Kate? She was a Darrah, and whatever Kadin decided to do to her, I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, or simple. I walked until I reached the bars and rested my head against them. It was bad enough we were locked up in cells, but if Kate continued to have these damned mental attacks, I wasn’t sure what we’d do.

  I started when her hand slipped into mine. I hadn’t even heard her get up. Mine closed around hers automatically, and she turned me around to face her.

  “You worry too much,” she mused with a slight smile.

  I watched as her face shifted from Kate to Celandine and back again, my heart pounding in my chest as the Broden in me realized she was alive.

  Broden loved that woman, and I realized quite suddenly, I was bound to do the same with Kate. There was no fighting it, and I didn’t want to.

  The longer I stared into her eyes, the harder it became to decide which emotions were mine and which were Broden’s, but suddenly I didn’t care.

  I closed the short distance between us and kissed her. She was so warm beneath my hands, and we moved back, so she was against the wall, wrapping her arms around my neck and standing on her toes.

  I’d never known what it was like to be home, have that secure feeling, but with Kate, I finally knew, and I never wanted to leave it. I gently ran my fingers through her hair and kissed her cheeks and her forehead before simply holding her in my arms.

  “We’re going to be fine,” she whispered against my shoulder. “We didn’t come this far to fail now.”

  “I damned well hope not,” I replied and kept my gaze averted so she couldn’t see the fear in them, that just like Broden had back then, I was going to watch her disappear from my life forever.