by Jade Royal
“Wait. Don’t!” the guard exclaimed. He began to surge his fire power forward, ready to breathe fire straight in Kapono’s face as a counterattack. Before he could, Kapono dove the sword into the guard’s stomach. Blood immediately gushed from the guard’s mouth, dripping to the concrete. He gargled on his own blood as he tried to breathe. Kapono slid the sword deeper until it went through the guard’s entire body. He inflicted enough pain to cause damage but it wouldn’t kill the man. The guard’s healing ability would keep the man alive.
“For the record. Her name is Ashbel Thorn,” Kapono growled. He punched the guard in the face, sending him flying in the air and skidding to the ground. Making sure Ashbel was secured to his back; Kapono took off into the night.
He ran until the only thing surrounding them was the blandness of being near the outskirts of town.
“You were crazy to come to town! Are you not in hiding?” Kapono scolded her.
“I’m sorry. But—I needed to find you,” Ashbel murmured, resting her head against his shoulder. Kapono placed his arms under her thighs to keep her boosted up on his back.
“Did Firya not tell you that I would be right back?” Kapono questioned.
“Yes, she did. That did not matter though. I just needed to be with you,” she replied. Kapono sighed.
“I don’t know what’s more painful plum dragon. For you to think that I was dead this whole time or me knowing that you were alive but you were all alone and I couldn’t find you to stand at your side even though everyone deserted you. I just wanted to desperately hold you and tell you how much I still loved you.” As she spoke, hot tears fell from her eyes. the tiny droplets burned through Kapono’s clothing; forming small holes the shape of teardrops.
“Your tears break my heart little flame,” he grunted. Ashbel sniffled and used his shirt to wipe her face.
“I don’t think I can ever be without you for too long Kapono. It will lead me into a whirlwind of panic and fear. If I can’t see you, or if I don’t know where you are—I—I—”
“Be calm Ashbel. I won’t leave you. Ever. No matter how loose your tongue gets,” Kapono said. Ashbel laughed softly. She pulled down the cloth around his face and pressed her lips to his cheek.
“I only left because I had to give into my sin. I can bear the pain only long enough. But the more I let myself be in pain, the more of my lifeforce that gets taken away. Wrath wanted to see some pain and destruction, so I had to give it to him,” Kapono explained.
“Who did you hurt?” Ashbel asked.
“A few royal guards. They were patrolling the town and they raided an old woman’s home. Thought she was hiding you and the other women. The woman was just so damned frail and they were tossing her things around and even pushed her down.”
“Oh. So, you use Wrath’s need to cause pain and terror to help innocent people and take down bad people?” Ashbel asked. Kapono nodded.
“And here you are trying to make me think you’re a monster. You’re just a vigilante, plum dragon. Firya’s been looking for you and she kept getting stories about the man dressed from head to toe who worked at night and delivered justice.”
“I still can’t be the king,” Kapono stated. Ashbel stayed quiet. She could see the warehouse in the distance and choose to spend the next few minutes enjoying being carried by her husband. Just as they reached the warehouse, Ashbel began kissing at Kapono’s neck. He stopped walking. His body shivered under her lips.
“We have two years of love making to make up for,” Kapono murmured. “That is part of the reason I want to take you away from this place so we can start our lives again.” Ashbel’s lips paused in mid-motion. She pulled away from his neck, sighing deeply.
“Little flame, please. Let us just leave this place,” Kapono groaned.
“Not with the king still alive,” Ashbel whispered.
“What is it with you and this king?” Kapono asked. Ashbel was quiet for a moment. Against his back, he could hear her heart hammering in her chest intensely.
“He’s the one that did it, and he killed our baby.” Her words were so low, if Kapono didn’t have a keen sense of hearing he wouldn’t have heard her at all. He could tell she was trying to hold back her tears and keep a strong front but as his wife, Kapono read her like a book.
He slowly let her slide down from his back. Unable to face her, he stood with his back turned to her. Ashbel watched him tentatively. His body was frozen completely, but his muscles beneath his skin seemed to be trembling.
“What?” Kapono finally spoke, his voice hard and tight.
“He was wearing a mask over his face when he attacked me at the castle. I didn’t recognize him or his scent for some reason but the knife he used to stab me. I don’t think I would ever forget it, especially because I tried to hold onto it to prevent damage. When I met him as the king his scent seemed oddly familiar for some reason and he was toting around that sword and knife set. I asked him about it. He made the mistake of telling me he was the only one that could wield that caliber of weapon. When he realized his mistake; I tried to run but he cornered me and threatened me. I was to basically pay for your crime against Emberdom. if I tried to run; he would kill the rest of my clan and my parents. Over time, I got the trust of every Drakaina in the castle. That’s how we escaped. We literally overpowered him and stormed out. That way, no one was left behind and I wouldn’t be responsible for anyone dying. Even my parents escaped and they’re in hiding too. I want to leave with you Kapono, I do. I want us to have a new life. I want us to make up for these years of being apart. But I just—he has to pay for ripping my baby out of my body. He has to know what a mother’s vengeance feels like. For those two years in the castle, I was trapped. I felt as if I couldn’t do anything because other people would pay the price. But now? Now is the perfect time. He’s hurt too many people. He’s hurt you. I will annihilate and destroy any person who dares to hurt my husband. I can’t just leave. Because I’m mad as hell, Kapono! And he will feel my wrath. That’s his punishment.”
In Kapono’s body, Wrath began to rise again. This time however, the rise was as slow as a sunrise in the early stages of the morning. It was calm yet powerful and bright. Instead of a forceful takeover, Wrath was joining himself with Kapono’s mind and body instead of just being a separate entity that took and took but never gave anything back. The change seemed so subtle, still it impacted Kapono. It was almost as if his body was out of synch and now the gauges had turned and locked into place. Wrath seeped deeper within his soul, not just attaching to Kapono’s soul but engaging and becoming one with his soul.
Kapono took his life day to day when it came to dealing with his sin. He didn’t try to understand the sin unless understanding Wrath impacted him for a certain reason. Kapono also never asked the sin why he craved destruction when it was not necessary. In that moment, Kapono didn’t understand the sin any more than he usually did. Hearing the struggle and the pain in his wife’s voice brought out an anger within Kapono that he thought was long gone. After being punished with the sin of wrath, Kapono never felt his own anger. It seemed that in the time it took for him to decimate the invaders of the castle and anyone in his path, he had used up anger he would experience in his entire life in that one moment. When it was all said and done, Kapono simply just didn’t have any anger left within in. He was an empty shell of pain and anguish; feeling lost and isolated from the world. Wrath’s anger was what drove him to cause pain onto others. Wrath’s need for destruction was what made him destroy packs and clans of people who thought they could take advantage of the weak. This was the first time since that fateful night, Kapono had experienced his very own anger.
Turning around, Kapono just looked at his wife. There was a fire in his eyes that ignored Ashbel’s own fire. Whatever was holding Kapono back before didn’t seem to faze him now.
“I thought that I killed everyone involved,” he finally spoke. Ashbel shook her head.
“All his subjects maybe, but he got away.
And he probably cared not that all those people who wanted to see him rise to the top died. They thought that the Red Dragon and the Red Breath clan only allied together to make sure to keep other clans weakened. It was never our intention but that was the result. People felt they had to rise up. King Mage? He just wanted to rid the world of the Red Dragon clan. He wanted to be responsible for putting that clan into extinction. And he thought he did.” Ashbel just pointed at Kapono.
“Make me a promise Ashbel,” Kapono urged.
“Anything,” she whispered.
“Since that night, I’ve never used my fire. That kind of power amped up Wrath, and I didn’t want to lose control. Not again. If I use my fire tonight, promise me that you’ll keep me from going over the edge into insanity. Promise that you’ll save me from that fate.”
“I promise,” Ashbel said without hesitation.
“I hope that in your eyes I will not become a monster,” he said.
“Never!” Ashbel closed the small distance between them. She looked up at him, her head tilted nearly all the way back because of his height.
“Even if you’re not a king to anyone else; you’re my king. Don’t you ever forget that,” Ashbel warned. Kapono leaned down and pressed his succulent lips to hers. Ashbel hummed in delight.
“Will you bring the other Drakaina’s with us?” he questioned. Ashbel nodded. They wanted vengeance as much as she did.
“Can I ask what makes you change your mind? Is it you? Or is it Wrath?” Ashbel asked. It shouldn’t have been important, because in the end he was still going to fight their battle with them. Still, Ashbel wanted to know.
“It’s both of us,” Kapono commented. Ashbel’s brows furrowed.
“I don’t understand.”
“Wrath doesn’t make me feel furious or enraged. He’s the one that feels those things, and he forces me to act on it to give him what he wants by making my body feel so much pain that I have to give into the sin. If anything, for the time I spent without you anger was the last thing I felt most of the time. This is the first time where me and Wrath are on the same page.”
Time to spill blood. Wrath made the declaration through Kapono’s mind. The feeling of his brain being clawed at didn’t present itself this time. Kapono opened and closed his fists, inhaled and exhaled slowly. No pain racked his body. Wrath had given an order and Kapono wasn’t gasping for air and begging the sin to back off.
Chuckling, Kapono shook his head. He may never be rid of his sin, but he realized he may have just bonded enough with the thing to live with it for the rest of his life.
“What?” Ashbel asked.
“No pain. I feel no pain. Usually I give into the sin because the pain becomes too much to bear. Wrath is telling me to spill blood and I feel no compelling urge or pain to do at the moment.”
“How come?” A sinister smile graced his luscious lips. Ashbel should have been afraid but it actually amped her up knowing that her husband was about to release hell on the man that ruined their lives.
“Because I’m mad as hell too,” he stated. “And it’s time a certain king understood the meaning of true wrath.”
Claws elongated, and teeth sharpened; the king of Fireland was stirring with anger. His vision was still hazy as his body continued to heal his burned eyes. Ashbel. Mage was going to kill her. He was going to tie her to the dungeon wall and torture her until she begged him for death. It was all his fault. He’d become too complacent. Mage thought that he had Ashbel under his thumb, stuck in the castle without any hopes of ever leaving. He had no idea that she and the other Drakaina’s were always planning their escape. And now, Mage was hearing whispers through the castle of his embarrassment. He was the one that was supposed to be proving his dominance in front of the kingdom, yet Ashbel had taken that away from him. Wherever he walked, Mage heard the snickers and the laughter from others. He had allowed a female to use her fire whip to lash him out in the public and now she was on the loose and Mage was unable to capture her. Mage gritted his teeth. He knew that when he did catch her, he was going to make sure her punishment was on display just as his was.
Mage left his chambers, the anger pulsing through him causing his talons and canines to be sharpened. It was well past four in the morning and the castle seemed to be bustling with chaos. Attendants were running in and out, and the royal guards were shouting orders.
“What in the hell is going on?!” Mage roared, stomping through the halls. What attendants that were left in the castle were there out of fear, but none of them respected Mage because of what Ashbel had done. They were simply afraid of him slaughtering them because they’d seen firsthand how far Mage would go to hunt those down that wronged him. For the townspeople who failed to adhere to his rules or criticized his ruling. Mage sent them for punishment immediately. The death toll was high and the prison was full of people locked away.
“We’re getting resistance from the commoners. For every home we went to collect your taxes, they downright refused! A squadron of royal guards were attacked by this masked man dressed in black. They’re horribly wounded and some of them didn’t make it!” Nolan appeared in front of Mage, coming from the front of the castle where Mage was headed.
“Well then send another squadron to capture him!” Mage snapped. He pushed by Nolan and kept walking through to castle. He wanted to see what all the commotion was about. One masked man and no one could take care of it?
Finally making it to the great hall, Mage paused. Royal guards were littered around the hall, all wounded. Mage felt stunned for a moment. They may have received pushback but never at this level. No one was ever strong enough to overtake the guards when they infiltrated homes. It seemed that ever since Ashbel’s escape, the kingdom was fiery with hope as if they could overthrow him. Mage would show them that their hope was all for nothing. He was going to stomp out every little fire of hope until there was nothing left but dust.
“Find Ashbel and that masked man tonight! She must still be in Emberdom! If you have to overturn every single home, then do it! If I don’t have my captives in my hands by sunrise all of you will be sentenced to death!” Mage declared.
“Sire, we have searched everywhere,” a guard said desperately. He was leaning against the wall, sitting on the ground with superficial wounds.
“Does it look like I care? Search again,” Mage growled.
“I saw them!” Another royal guard came fumbling into the great hall. He was holding his stomach from a sword wound that was taking its time to heal. Blood dripped harshly across the marble floors in his wake.
“Why were they not captured?” Mage asked him. The guard gulped and shook his head.
“I was overpowered. There—I could not apprehend her. The man dressed in black with the mask, he came to her rescue.” Mage could figure that was probably why the guard was bleeding from his stomach. This masked man was a skilled fighter it seemed.
“Mage, there’s a war coming,” he heaved as he fell to the ground.
“War? What war?” Mage asked. The guard was breathing heavily on the ground. Mage could see he was struggling to talk because he couldn’t breathe and his body was trying to heal. Mage leaned over him, shaking his shoulders.
“What war?!” He screamed. Panic was beginning to rise in Mage’s throat. Fear clouded his already dull vision and made his gut churn.
“The man. With the mask. I didn’t see his face. But his eyes. They were violet.” The guard coughed up blood as his eyes began to close.
“The prince is back. And he’s coming,” he whispered finally before losing his consciousness. Mage’s hands were cold where they were clutching the guard’s shoulders. Letting go of the guard, Mage stood slowly, a cold sweat breaking out on his face. Seeing the carnage of his royal guards, it all made sense. No one would have been that strong to fight his guards. Had Kapono really returned. Quaking with uneasiness, Mage began to back away from the main entrance of the castle that was just a few yards in front of him from the great hall. Could he
truly fight Kapono? Especially if he knew what Mage did. Mage had watched the havoc and Kapono wrecked on every invader of the castle on that night. Truthfully, he wasn’t sure how he’d gotten away, but Kapono was so angry he was only going after the men that was right in front of him. Mage hid well until it was all over. Now, there was nowhere for him to hide. If Kapono was coming, Mage didn’t have a chance. Run. He needed to run.
With his sword and knife set attached to his hip, Mage didn’t need anything else. He could take refuge in his mansion, over the hill and out of sight away from the town. If he left at that moment, he could escape. Without a second thought, Mage ran for the entrance of the castle.
“Nolan! Come!” Mage shouted for his attendant. Nolan hurried to follow behind him. without explaining, Mage rushed out of the castle and through the front garden. When he got to the front gates, his whole body shivered with ominous energy. In front of the gates, a thick crowd of the enraged occupants of Emberdom stood waiting for Mage. They carried pitchforks, their claws and teeth already sharpened. Some even had glowing hands of fire, ready to fight. There wasn’t just one clan set out to start the war. Every clan had banded together for the cause. Leading the charge, the prince of Emberdom, born of the Red Dragon clan stood tall. The tattoo of a serpent representing the insignia of the demon sin of Wrath was splayed cross his stomach, gleaming under the twinkling sky. Violet fire had consumed his eyes with his anger.
Mage’s throat was dry with fear. Not even gulping his own saliva helped ease the sandpaper in his throat. It had dawned upon him that his end had come near because in front of him stood the grim reaper ready to send his ass to hell.
“If you’re going back to the castle, you’re going there as yourself,” Ashbel told Kapono. She didn’t allow for him to counter with any argument. She flicked her claws out, shredding the shirt he was wearing. She tore at the sleeves, revealing his gorgeous biceps and glistening skin. Behind her, the Drakaina’s were whispering and gasping at Kapono’s body. Ashbel turned around. Standing next to him, she smiled proudly at the image of her man. He was powerful and a specimen worth gasping at. Even standing in front of others, Ashbel couldn’t keep her hands off him. Her fingers trailed the serpent tattoo across his well defined stomach. Kapono put his arm around her waist and tugged her into his body. He leaned down and bit on her earlobe with his canines. The reaction she gave him to the tattoo eliminated the shame he felt. If his wife could see nothing but pride in him then Kapono was going to believe her judgement. Knowing Ashbel, she would not follow a man she did not have faith in. He’d learned that from her earlier.