by Avril Sabine
“I hope they get him away safely. There’s a lot of Golds that’ll be attacking us.”
“Don’t worry about them. Focus on taking out Tahmid. We have to get to him before he leaves through the Void. This will be our only chance. He’ll be on his guard after this and we’ll need several armies to take him down.”
For a moment Amber wished Kade hadn’t told her that. She didn’t want to remember what it looked like to attack with an army, but then she was glad. It hadn’t occurred to her he might run. She’d been expecting him to stay and fight. “Okay.”
“Remember, it’s survival of the fittest.”
With the amount of times she’d been told, it wasn’t likely she’d forget. She kept the words to herself, nodding instead. They stopped close behind Tahmid who was telling Roy to hurry up and explain himself properly. Amber smiled at how well Roy was doing with his garbled explanation.
A Gold stepped out of the Void. “Tahmid!” He pointed towards two dragons lying dead on the ground.
Tahmid reached for Roy. His family, and the Golds with them, came out of the Void, pulling Roy away from him.
When Kade brought them out of the Void, Amber let go of him, drawing her daggers. Tahmid spun to face her so that she met his eyes as she drove the daggers into him, her arms wrapped around his body. Shock filled his eyes as he dragged them into the Void. Amber saw Golds pouring out of the Void to attack her allies, but she couldn’t let Tahmid go. He took her with him through the Void, struggling to break her grip as he came out in a large bedroom with stone walls and a carpeted floor.
Tahmid finally broke free and Amber stumbled backwards. She threw herself at him, sinking one of the blades into his arm as he tried to draw his sword. Around her she sensed people moving rapidly towards the room they were in and guessed Tahmid had called his warriors to help him. She didn’t have long.
Again Tahmid broke free from her and this time when Amber sprang at him, she dropped her daggers. Turning into a panther, she pinned him to the ground, going for his throat. Before she managed to tear into him, he twisted under her, becoming a dragon. Then he was above her, flames pouring from his mouth. She turned human, one of her hands reaching for a dagger as she rolled out of the way of the flames. Calling up her own flames, she plunged her fiery dagger into the dragon, forcing it between two scales, her hand coated with blood as she pressed deeper.
He roared, rearing back before he dropped down to strike at her. Blood stained the carpet as she threw herself out of the way, jumping to her feet to draw her sword. It burst into flames as she spun, driving it into Tahmid as the bedroom door burst open. Blood coated her arm and, letting go her sword, she leapt out of the way as Tahmid collapsed onto his side. She heard his heart beat slow, blood continuing to flow from him.
In the doorway stood five warriors, swords drawn as they tried to crowd into the room. None of them attacked. They continued to stand there, staring at her.
She didn’t know what to do. Where was Ronan when she needed him? Mentally searching for him didn’t help. He must still be in her world because she couldn’t find him. She took a step backwards, running into the dead dragon. Trying to recall what the room looked like behind her, she continued to warily watch the warriors. Amber couldn’t even remember if there was an open window. She certainly couldn’t fly past the warriors in the doorway. Not without being cut down. What were they waiting for? Her phone started to ring, but she ignored it. Now wasn’t the time for taking calls.
The warriors in the doorway parted and a single warrior stood there, sword drawn and pointed at Amber. “You will pay with your life for the one you stole.”
If the man hadn’t been so serious, she would have rolled her eyes at his theatrical comment. Raising her hands, she formed fireballs. “I don’t think you really want to do that.” Her phone stopped ringing and she was glad it didn’t start again.
The man stepped into the room. The warriors closed ranks behind him. “You killed my father. I’m going to rip your heart out and eat it.”
Oh crap. For a moment she thought she’d spoken the words aloud. A small measure of relief filled her when she realised she hadn’t. Never show weakness. She smiled, trying to mimic Ronan’s predatory one. “I’m sure you think you’ll manage that, but you won’t live long enough to do it.”
The man laughed. “I know mages. We still have one here. You are pathetic, weak creatures. My father was probably already mortally wounded by your warrior before he came home with you.”
She thought of Cooper. Yeah, if he’d been the only mage she’d known then she’d think the same as this man. Hopefully he was about to learn differently. She really didn’t want to die. “The only wounds Tahmid suffered today were the ones I gave him.” She could see his son didn’t believe her.
The man gestured towards the sword embedded in his father. “Take your weapon. I will avenge him with honour.”
Amber started to move, then froze as she felt Ronan in the distance. He was somewhere in the dragon lands, but not close enough for her to mentally contact him. Then he was gone and when he came back into the world again he was even further away.
“Now.”
The man’s word snapped her back to the room and she picked up the dagger lying on the floor before she pulled the one from Tahmid’s body.
“Leave them. Your sword, mage. Fight me like a warrior, not an assassin.”
She slid the blades into her wrist sheaths, hoping she’d actually get a chance to clean the blood from them later. No matter how distasteful a chore it would be. Was that what Ronan was trying to turn her into? An assassin? Struggling to draw the sword from Tahmid’s body she again felt Ronan flash in and out of the world. He was going in the wrong direction. The sword free, she faced Tahmid’s son. Fighting the urge to ask him his name, she raised her sword. She would have no choice but to kill him. Having his name wouldn’t make it any easier.
“Pathetic. You don’t even know how to hold your sword correctly.”
Her chin rose and she met his gaze squarely. “And yet I was still able to kill your father. What does that say about him?”
“That you got lucky.”
Maybe she could keep him talking long enough that she’d figure a way out of here. Ronan now seemed to be coming closer to her with every flash in and out of the world. “No, I think the phrase you’re looking for is that he was beyond pathetic.”
The man came closer and Amber moved away from Tahmid. She didn’t want to risk tripping over his body during the fight. Trying to keep an eye on the man in front of her while she assessed possible exits was nearly impossible. Catching a glimpse of a closed window, she jumped to the side as the man attacked. There was no way she could beat him in a sword fight. As he came at her again, she sheathed her sword, turning into a goshawk and shooting past him to land on the other side of the room, as a human. Her scan of the room had shown her two windows with closed wooden shutters. Things didn’t look good.
“Stand and fight me, mage.” He attacked again and once more Amber avoided him by turning into a goshawk.
Becoming human, she grinned at him. “Having a little trouble catching me, are you?” If she drew him across the room maybe she could fly back over and get one of the windows open before he could reach her.
“Pathetic.” Sword swinging, he attacked, nearly getting her.
Before Amber could work out how the window was locked, she felt Ronan close enough to send her thoughts to him. “Ronan.” She landed, warily watching the man who had turned to face her.
“Where are you?”
“I’m guessing in a castle.”
“Where’s Tahmid?”
“Dead.”
“If you don’t stand and fight me, I’ll make you suffer,” the man warned at the same time as Ronan spoke.
“What were you thinking, going with him like that?”
She thought it was probably best not to tell him she hadn’t planned to go with Tahmid. “He was getting away.”
&nb
sp; “I knew you could kill him, kitten.”
“Yeah well, his son is trying very hard to make that my last kill.” Her contact with Ronan disappeared and then she felt him closer. “You’re headed in the right direction. You’re much closer now.” She slowly walked to the side, her eyes not leaving the man.
“He headed for his main castle. Get out of there, Amber. Four of his sons are in residence. It’d be suicide coming in there after you.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Amber’s heart sank. She’d thought Ronan would be able to help her. He obviously didn’t think she stood a chance if he was calling her by her name. “The windows are shut and I’m a little busy trying not to get killed to open them.” Launching a fireball at the man, she leapt into the air as a goshawk, streaking across the room to land on the window ledge, staying in bird form.
“Where in the castle are you?” Ronan was coming closer.
Amber watched the man, waiting until the last moment to fly out of his way. The sword struck the window, but it remained closed. “A bedroom.” She landed on the other window ledge.
“Try and be helpful, kitten.”
It was a relief to hear him call her that. Maybe she’d manage to survive after all. Again she flew out of the way at the last minute. The man roared as he spun to face her. “That’s as helpful as I can be. Stone walls, carpet and a timber bed. A bedroom.” Ronan was even closer now, maybe only minutes away.
The man launched himself at her and Amber felt his blade sweep past her as she flew to the other window. The sound of steel on timber sounded behind her.
“What shaped windows are they?”
Dodging another attack, Amber tried to focus on not getting killed. She didn’t know how much longer she could last before he got lucky with his wild swings. “Arched.” She screeched, glad she wasn’t human so that the laughter drawn from her wasn’t obvious. She couldn’t help thinking about having watched Playschool when she was younger. It looked like today she needed to be able to see through the arched window.
“Stay still!” The man’s attacks were growing wilder. Chips of timber flew into the room each time he hit the shutters.
As if she was about to make his job any easier by standing still for him. She sensed another person headed towards them. Was it another son? Two vengeful dragons might be more than even she could handle.
“Get one of them open,” Ronan ordered.
For a moment she was confused until she remembered they’d been talking about the windows. It was a little hard to focus on anything other than the dragon who wanted her dead and was putting in a lot of effort to achieve his goal. But what choice did she have? “I’ll see what I can do.”
“Hurry up before someone spots me.”
The man attacked her again, this time his sword clashing with the stone window frame. She was halfway across the room when another man burst into the room, fireballs in his hands.
“Attack her.” The man ordered. “But stay out of the way. This room isn’t big enough for three to fight in.”
Amber dodged behind the man and the fireballs barely missed both of them.
“What do you think you’re doing?” The man pointed his sword in the direction of his mage.
“You told me to attack her.”
Amber screeched, amusement cutting through her fear. She reached for the mind of the other mage and was surprised she was able to communicate with him so easily. “We have Cooper. He’s free.”
The mage looked in her direction. “Prove it.”
She tried to think of a way to prove it, but drew a blank for a moment. “He likes to draw fantasy art on a computer tablet.”
“He’s safe?”
“Usually, but he is free and we protect him.” She flew out of the reach of the sword that came for her.
“Will you protect me?” He launched an attack at her. It went wide. “Sorry. I have to make it look good.”
“All I can promise is to try and get you away from here.” She reached for Ronan’s mind. “If I can get a mage to jump out the window, can you catch him?”
“If I know what window it is.”
“You’re very close. No, other direction. Yes, keep on that course and you’ll be at the window.” She dodged another halfhearted attack from the mage and a more serious one from Tahmid’s son. Speaking to the mage, she said, “I’ll fly past the windows, launch fireballs at them. We need to get one open. If you jump out, my dragon will catch you.” She wheeled around and flew past the window. The sound of splintering timber rang out behind her, followed by the clash of steel and stone.
“Jumping out a window to possible death can’t be worse than living here,” the mage said.
“Was that you, kitten?”
“What?”
“The fireball coming out the window.”
“No. It was the mage I want you to catch.”
“Tell him to jump. I’m ready.”
“If anything happens to him, Ronan…” she let the sentence trail off.
“Hurry up. I can see movement,” Ronan ordered.
“Are there any other mages?” Amber asked the mage.
“No. They’d planned to capture you before they made more. We weren’t good enough for them. They wanted to know how to make us properly.”
“Then get out the window. Ronan will catch you.”
“Do you promise?”
“Yes. Now go before it’s too late.” She felt the brush of steel. A piece of feather drifted to the floor. “Now!”
The mage ran across the room, throwing himself out the window.
“Elliot! Get back here.” The man dashed to the window, hanging out it. He bellowed in rage. “Ronan!”
Amber shot through the small gap above the man’s head, arrowing through the sky towards Ronan who clutched Elliot in his front claws. “Where is everyone?” She made sure both Ronan and Elliot could hear her.
“At Kade’s place.”
“In the human world?”
“Yes.”
“They’re all safe?”
“They were when I left them.”
“Take Elliot to Cooper then come back for me. You can take me to Kade. I’ll keep flying in this direction.”
Ronan didn’t bother answering. Instead he disappeared into the Void. She felt him come out of it, a long way from her and guessed that was where Temolae Keep was. Fighting the urge to turn in the direction of her castle, she reminded herself that Ronan wouldn’t be able to find her if she changed directions. Then Ronan came out of the Void behind her. Not far behind him she sensed other dragons giving chase. She wheeled around, aiming for Ronan. His claws closed over her and she was taken through the Void to Ronan’s home. As soon as he let her go, she turned human, glancing towards the water garden, visible in the grey light filling the sky. It was nearly dawn. How had an entire night passed? No wonder she was exhausted.
Ronan landed beside her, also becoming human. He eyed her up and down. “Any of that your blood?”
She shook her head, anger coursing through her. She was getting sick of this place.
“Are you certain Tahmid is dead?”
She nodded. And sick of being dragged wherever Ronan wanted her to go.
“Have you forgotten how to speak, kitten?”
She shook her head, gaining control of her anger. “I was just trying to figure out if you were getting deaf in your old age. Or maybe you’ve lost your ability to find your way through the pathways of the Void. This doesn’t look anything like Kade’s place.”
“In case you’re interested, Roy and his family made it out safely. They should be back at their own home by now.”
“I am interested, but you didn’t need to bring me here to tell me this.”
“I delivered Elliot to Cooper. Flinn took his warriors and Crystal back to his place and they’re all unharmed.”
“What do you really want, Ronan?” A hand started to go to her hip then she dropped it when she remembered all the blood on it.
She shook her head. “That wasn’t part of the deal. Not really. All I had to do was help you-” she hesitated, unable to bring herself to say kill. “Deal with Tahmid.”
Ronan closed the small distance that was between them. “I know you, kitten. You were born for this.” He reached out and lifted her hand, turning it so her dagger was visible.
Amber tugged her hand from his grip. “For what? An assassin? Not likely. Now take me to Kade’s.”
Ronan smiled, all predator, gold in the depths of his blue eyes. “No. Not an assassin. You don’t have it in you to sneak around in the shadows. A Dragon Mage. A warrior.” He took hold of her hand, taking her through the Void.
When they came out into Kade’s lounge room everyone was shouting. Charles and Helen both had their swords drawn, facing Kade who had his hand on the hilt of his while Jasper was trying to tell Charles and Helen to put their weapons away.
“Enough!” Amber shouted.
The room was filled with silence for a split second before everyone started talking at once. Ronan leaned back against the wall near the front door, a smile of amusement. Amber shook her head. This was ridiculous. Hadn’t they just fought together against an enemy? And yet still they fought amongst themselves.
She stepped between Charles and Kade, her eyes on Charles. “Stop it. I won’t let you hurt him.”
“She doesn’t belong to you Knights,” Ronan said.
Amber rounded on Ronan, about to say she didn’t belong to him.
Kade spoke before she could. “Do you want to go somewhere quieter?”
She was sick of always having to watch what she said. Sick of the fights. Her eyes were drawn to the blood on her hands. Sick of battle and sick of the blood. Always there was blood. Even in her dreams.
Helen pointed a finger at Kade. “Stay away from her. If it wasn’t for you, she’d be a Knight.”
“If it wasn’t for Kade, Grandad would still be imprisoned.” She shouted the words, trying not to, but it was impossible. She was so tired. Tired of everything. She just wanted her life back. And this wasn’t it. Again her eyes were drawn to the blood on her hands. It was nothing like her life.