by Amira Rain
Experiencing a little chill for some strange reason, even though the tent was warm, I suddenly rapped my knuckles on the tabletop. "Knock wood, right?"
Chuckling, Marielle did the same. "Yes. Knock wood."
I chuckled myself and began drinking my warm tea, sure that a draft was coming in from somewhere.
Later during breakfast, Marielle set her teacup down with a little gleam in her jewel-green eyes. "So...."
With the corners of her mouth twitching, it was obvious she was trying to suppress a smile, and I just knew what was coming.
"So, it sounded like some baby-making might have occurred in here last night. Sounded like you very well may have gotten pregnant. Maybe even with twins."
Now I wished for a sudden chill again. Because my face was suddenly warm.
"Well...well, maybe I did get pregnant last night. Let's hope so. And anything you or anyone else may have overheard...well, it's all for the cause, you know."
Marielle pressed her lips together briefly, still clearly fighting a smile. "Of course. All for the cause. I know it must be difficult to soldier on sometimes, but you do seem to endure it well."
A sudden chuckle burst from her mouth, and she covered her mouth with her hand. "Sorry."
I actually couldn't hold back a chuckle myself. "No, it's fine. I do seem to endure my treatment from Blake and Steven pretty well. Especially considering how hard they both are on the eyes. But I just grit my teeth and bear it somehow.”
After a little more joking and laughing, I hopped in the shower, which sprayed a steady stream of warm water. The plumbing system in the royal tent even featured a portable water heater. After I'd dressed, Marielle and I settled in for a game of cards at the table. Rain pattered against the roof and walls of the tent, but Marielle had started a fire in the gilded hearth, so the tent was perfectly dry and cozy.
She poured us each another cup of tea, then glanced over at the tent entrance.
"Guess I feel pretty bad for the guards out there in the rain. Maybe I should offer them a cup of tea, too. If they're nearby, that is. They were going to do periodic circles above the tent in dragon form, just to get a better look at things."
Just then, a loud noise that sounded like a dragon roar sounded from somewhere nearby. It startled me so badly I dropped my teacup, which fell from the table to the floor.
"What was that?"
Swallowing, Marielle slowly turned her face to the tent entrance. "I don't know. But you stay right here while I peek out."
Suddenly trembling, I did as I was told. Appearing to be trembling a little herself, Marielle got up silently, tiptoed over to the tent entrance, and peeked out through a tiny crack, just as another loud roar sounded from somewhere very nearby. She flinched but continued peeking through the crack. A few seconds went by, then five, then ten. Another roar sounded, and then a whooshing noise that sounded like a dragon breathing fire.
Slowly, Marielle turned and looked at me, eyes wide and face white as a sheet. She spoke in a voice barely above a whisper. "They have one, too. A shifter who can become invisible. He must have been able to just slip past the spy-sweepers."
She paused, swallowing. "One of our guards appears to be battling him in the air very close by. At first I couldn't figure out what our guard was doing, but then the other shifter just became visible for a quick second, surely on accident."
I couldn't speak right away. "And where's our other guard?"
"He's down on the grass nearby, bleeding from his head, and one of his wings is crushed. I think he's dead or unconscious."
My heartbeat began pounding in my ears, and a wave of dizziness rolled over me. "What do we do?"
Marielle swallowed again and then spoke in a barely-audible voice. "As quietly and calmly as possible, we call Blake or Steven. They were going to march the men in human form the first several miles of the trip until getting in a little closer to Dimwood. And based on the time they left, they should still be in human form with their phones on them right now. So, we call them and tell them to shift and fly back as fast as they can. We should still be able to get cell reception out here with no problem. Then, we simply wait for our guard to do his job and protect us until help arrives, which I'm sure he will."
Another roar sounded, a little nearer this time, and I nodded, wiping my sweaty palms on my jeans.
"Okay. Good plan. But we're going to have to use your phone. Mine's dead because I forgot to charge it before we left the city."
Marielle closed her eyes briefly with her face becoming an even paler shade of chalk white. "My phone is in my tent."
More roaring and whooshing noises came from outside, seeming even a bit closer still.
Marielle glanced at the tent entrance, taking a deep breath. "I'll make a run for it.
The Destroyer will probably be so distracted fighting our guard that he won't even see me. I think I'll grab the knife from our breakfast tray before I set out, though, just in case."
She began dashing over to the table, but almost immediately tripped on the edge of a rug and fell forward, landing on one knee with hands outstretched.
I flew out of my chair and dashed over to her. "Oh, my God. Marielle, are you all right?"
She pulled herself up to sit, wincing, and then gripped one of her ankles. "I think I twisted it." She began rubbing the ankle with one hand, wincing again. "Hurts. Really bad. I think you're going to have to run for my phone."
A near-deafening roar sounded from somewhere outside, and I jumped a mile, shaking.
"I'm not sure if I can go out there. I'm not sure if-"
"You're going to have to, Kira. You wanted a chance for bravery and a great deed, and this is it. You're going to have to make a brave run to my tent. It's the first one on the west side of the cluster of tents. It's also the only one with a kettle on a hook in front. My phone will be in my bag just inside the door. Now, go, and run fast."
I stood on legs that felt like wet noodles. And then I found that I just couldn't move at all anymore. I felt frozen, like a block of ice. More loud whooshes and roars sounded from outside, but I couldn't even move to jump from fright. I was ice. I was concrete. I was lead.
"Kira, move. Just put one foot in front of the other and go. I know you're scared, but you don't have a choice. You have to go get my phone. You have to get it to save us."
I just couldn't. I suddenly couldn't even take a deep breath. Tears welled in my eyes. I stared at the entrance of the tent, certain I could never go through it with an invisible Destroyer somewhere very nearby outside. One whose mission was surely to abduct me.
Marielle frowned at me. "Kira, I can't believe I actually have to point this out, but time is very much of the essence, here. Any second now, Blake, Steven, Alec, and the others will shift into dragon form, and when they do, their clothing and phones will shift with them and not re-materialize until they shift back again. Do you understand what I'm saying? We're running out of time to make a call for help. Now, go. Just force your feet to move."
I still just couldn't. The only moving I seemed able to do now was shaking so badly my legs were threatening to give out from under me.
Marielle heaved a sigh. "Are you kidding me? Are you really the same young woman who just a few days ago was volunteering to rescue Lord Ashcrest herself?"
I wasn't. That young woman had been crazy. Stupid. Fearless. Surely reckless. She hadn't thought things through. She hadn't realized how scared she'd be when it came time to do or die. And now there was another young woman in her place. A new young woman. A petrified one. One who was possibly going to be abducted by a Destroyer. Just because she wasn't even brave enough to run and grab a phone.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Clutching her injured ankle, Marielle heaved a sigh at me again. "I know you're scared. But think about something. That Destroyer out there may not just abduct you. He may take me, too. And think about...."
Her voice suddenly cracked.
"Think about Ava having to hear that her
mom's not coming home."
I did think about it, picturing Ava's sweet, round face, and instantly felt an ache in my chest. And suddenly, I could move again.
I nodded at Marielle. "You're right. We have to get you home to Ava. I'll run and get the phone."
Ignoring the rubbery weakness of my legs, I turned and took a step to dash out of the tent. But before I could take another, a man staggered through the doorway, groaning. It was the guard who'd been injured. He was now in human form, and his clothes, which had shifted with him, were soaked in blood.
He staggered by me, collapsed on the floor next to Marielle, and spoke in a slow slur. "Call. Has anyone called? Blake. Or Steven. Anyone."
Marielle shook her head. "We don't have a phone."
The guard, whose name was Lucas, dropped his bloody head to the floor, eyes closing. "Pocket. Mine. Phone inside."
I dropped to my knees, reached inside his jeans pocket closest to me, and pulled out his phone. Then, with trembling fingers, I dialed Blake's number, which fortunately I'd memorized without really even meaning to, simply because it was an easier number to remember than Steven's. Blake answered on the first ring, and while more roaring and whooshing noises sounded outside, I hastily explained what was going on.
Immediately after I'd finished speaking, he shouted some muffled order to the other shifters with him and then came back on the line. "Two minutes, Kira. We'll be there."
He and the other shifters must have shifted and then flown like the wind, literally, because it wasn't even that. Probably no more than a minute and a few seconds went by before Marielle, Lucas, and I heard a great collective roaring that sounded like the battle cry of hundreds of dragons charging.
Weak with relief, I let my breath out in a rush. And then started seeing funny little gray dots floating in front of my eyes. They seemed to be getting bigger and bigger. At the same time, the room began to spin. My hearing started to get a little funny, too, like I had cotton balls stuck in my ears. Marielle's voice sounded very far away.
"Kira? Kira, are you okay?"
I managed a nod. "I'm fine. I just don't feel so...good."
At that moment, the gray dots swimming in front of my eyes expanded until all I could see was gray, and then nothing. I fainted, falling to the rug beneath me.
When I came to, I was in the sky, on the back of a dark gray dragon. Blake. I was also being held in someone's strong arms. And although my vision seemed to be a bit foggy, I instantly recognized who it was.
"Steven."
"Don't try to talk. Just rest."
"Is everyone okay?"
I remembered that something bad and frightening had happened, but I couldn't quite recall what the event had been. I also struggled to remember just who exactly everyone was.
Steven nodded, tightening his muscular arms around me. "Everyone's fine. Marielle's sprained ankle will heal. Lucas the guard will also be just fine once he gets patched up. And he and the other guard, Malcolm, will each be receiving an Ashcrest medal and a promotion for fighting off the invisible Destroyer until the rest of us could arrive to take him out.
“Alec and three other shifters will also be receiving Ashcrest medals and promotions for successfully freeing my father single-handedly, even while all the rest of us were rushing back here. So, yes, everyone's just fine. Including my father. In need of a good meal maybe, but he'll live." Steven paused and pressed a kiss against my mouth. "All is well."
I sighed, nodding, everything flooding back to me at once. "Thank God."
I closed my eyes, suddenly unable to keep them open any longer. While we continued gliding through the air on Blake's broad, scaly back, I felt Steven press a few slow, tender kisses along the side of my face.
"Just sleep now."
I started to drift off, warm and cozy in the warmth of his embrace. But within seconds, another memory came back to me, and I opened my eyes, horrified.
"Coward. I'm a coward, Steven. Not brave."
"Shush. That's not true. And right now, you just need to rest. Marielle said you knocked your head on the floor pretty darn hard when you fainted. You just need to rest now. Just close your eyes and sleep until we can get you to the doctor."
Suddenly sleepy again, as well as a bit dizzy, I nodded. "Okay. I'll probably just rest now."
"That's right. Just rest."
He planted a few more soft, tender kisses along the side of my face as I drifted off to sleep.
When I awoke next, I was in my own bed in Ashcrest. Blake and Steven sat in chairs next to me, their expressions nearly identical masks of worry. Not a moment after I'd flicked my eyes open, they both flew out of their chairs, dropped to their knees by the bedside, and each took one of my hands at exactly the same time.
But Blake spoke first. "How do you feel?"
I sat up a little straighter, lifting my head off a tall stack of pillows behind me. I thought about his question for a moment, realizing that I actually felt fine, other than a slight headache. "I guess I feel okay. I'm all right."
Both Blake and Steven heaved sighs of relief at the exact same time. They were starting to seem like twins.
Blake squeezed my hand. "Thank God. We were pretty worried for a bit. The doctor says you have a mild concussion from your bump on the head when you fainted."
Suddenly recalling the events that had happened during the minutes before I'd fainted, I tried to pull my hands from theirs while my face flamed. "How can either of you even stand to look at me or touch me. I'm a coward. I'm a complete...."
Tears suddenly sprung to my eyes, and I shook my head, unable to even finish the thought.
Neither of them released their grip on my hands, and their faces both radiated sympathy and pain.
Blake gave my hand another squeeze. "You're not a coward at all. That's simply not true. Marielle actually said you were very brave. She said you were just making a dash out of the tent to get her cell phone right before Lucas arrived. She said you were willing to put yourself in great danger in order to save you both. So, contrary to thinking you're a coward, Steven and I actually think you're incredibly brave. We think your actions were heroic."
I scoffed, blinking back tears. "Then you must not have heard about what happened before I made my 'heroic' one-step dash toward the door when Lucas came in."
Blake and Steven exchanged a quick glance, but neither of them said anything, so I continued.
"The two of you must not have heard about how Marielle practically had to beg me to move for five whole minutes or something before I finally could. You must not have heard how I just stood there frozen like a statue, except for shaking like a leaf. You two must have completely missed that whole part how I was tested, but instead of proving myself and coming out brave, I just revealed myself as a complete, pathetic...." I shook my head again, tears now streaming down my face. "I'm not worthy to have a child with either of you. I'm not worthy to bear Lord Ashcrest's grandchild."
Just then, before either of them could respond, a soft noise caught my attention, and I saw a young castle maid named Elizabeth standing in the doorway of my room. With an expression of sheepishness so pronounced she was nearly wincing, she ever so lightly tapped her knuckles on the door frame. Once Blake and Steven turned to look at her as well, she spoke in a soft voice.
"I am so, so very sorry to disturb you all. But Lord Ashcrest himself sent me. He said to tell you that they're having trouble holding The Destroyers back near the city gate. They keep attacking in waves, and in between, they're continuing to destroy different things just outside the city. They've already taken out the main cell tower and one of the water towers, and Lord Ashcrest says your help is needed badly. Should I tell him the two of you will be down shortly?"
Blake nodded. "Yes. Thank you."
Elizabeth did a little curtsey and scurried away.
I sat up in bed fully, looking at Blake and Steven. "What's happening? I thought everyone thought they wouldn't retaliate right away."
Blake e
xhaled, drawing his dark, nearly black, brows together. "You're right. That's what we all thought. But The Destroyers seem to have been angered more than we thought they would be. Though the group they've sent to attack isn't that large and we should be able to get a handle on them in no time. But Steven and I do have to go now. We'll be back before you know it."
Just then, Marielle hobbled into the room on crutches. "And I'll look after her until then."
Blake and Steven each gave me a kiss on the cheek before dashing away.
Marielle took a seat in one of the chairs by the bedside, giving me a little smile. "I'm so glad to see with my own eyes that you're okay."
We talked about Alec and Lucas and Marielle's reunion with Ava, who was now somewhere safe within the castle with her grandma. Marielle hobbled over to the window to see if she could see any of the fighting.