Black Ruins Forest (The Elder Series Book 1)

by Karen DuBose

  “Sausage and pineapple pizza.”

  I give a knowing smirk. That’s what I thought. “You are so busted, both of you.”

  Kira cheeks get a little pink. She knows she’s busted. “Since I already know what you like, what is Bruno’s favorite food?”

  “Double bacon cheeseburger all the way,” she says, holding her head up high.

  I hear a noise come from the blaster and I rush over. My mom is still out, but she must be having a bad dream. She starts to whimper and toss and turn. There’s sweat coating her skin.

  “Rome, come here! Hurry please!” They all rush over.

  “What’s wrong with her?”

  “We can’t wait. We need to go now and hope there’s a healer here somewhere. She doesn’t have much time. She might have a few days before shock claims her and her body shuts down.”

  I pull his arm, so I am looking at him. “What do you mean it will shut down? You said she would be fine! We could have been on our way somewhere already!”

  “I’m sorry. I’ve only seen this happen a few times, and I needed to get my wife to a healer. Your mom wasn’t showing the normal signs of her going into magic shock.”

  He grabs my mom and cradles her. The rest of us grab the packs and take off after them. He’s going dragon speed, and Kira and I can’t keep up. The guys swing us over their backs and tell us to hold on tight.

  Kira’s screaming when we get to full speed. She quits soon after and starts to laugh. Only my best friend would do that. I have to close my eyes. I’m getting a little sick watching the trees zoom by.

  We slow down when we come to a bridge. Kiernan won’t let me down no matter how much I wiggle. He’s being a man handler, and I don’t know if I like it or hate it. I’ll figure that out later. I just want to know why we’ve stopped. I can’t see over the guys.

  “Why are we stopping?”

  I feel Kiernan’s voice rumble. “There’s a troll at the bridge.”

  Of course, there is. Anything to slow us down.

  “Why don’t you take him out, so we can get going.” He moves closer so that I can see the troll.

  He’s over ten feet tall and five feet wide. He’s huge and ugly. I didn’t know trolls were that huge. His brown skin looks like it’s been in the sun too long. His mangled hair is sticking up everywhere. His beady eyes are giving me the creeps.

  “Ask him what he wants so we can go. We’re wasting valuable time,” I say

  “Taz is talking to him now.” Who the hell is Taz? I look again. It’s the stocky one with midnight skin and topaz eyes. He’s very beautiful. I know men say they’re not ‘beautiful,’ but he is.

  “Hold on tight, love. This is going to get ugly.”

  The troll looks pissed and ready to stomp us. Four of the dragons shift to take the troll on. They have him distracted, so Rome, Bruno, and Kiernan take off to the other side.

  We don’t slow down until we know that the troll won’t come after us. We start to walk so the others can catch up. It doesn’t take long. Once they leave we pick up speed again.

  I don’t know how long we’ve been running. I fall asleep again. I don’t know how I held on. When consciousness returns to me. I see I’m in Kiernan’s arms instead of his back.

  “Morning, sleeping beauty.”

  “Hi, handsome. How did I end up this way?”

  “You kept slipping. I had to switch you, so I could hold onto you.”

  “How long have we been running?”

  “About a day.”

  I look at him with shock. “You guys need to rest. I can’t lose you guys.”

  “We’re going to. Bruno’s looking for a safe place to rest.”

  I look at the group and see mom lying still in Rome’s arms. She looks paler than the last time I saw her. I hope we’ll be able to find the help we need. I will not lose her. I spot Bruno holding Kira the same way Kiernan is holding me. She’s still asleep. He comes up to us and tells us to follow him. The guys take off at full speed again. I don’t know how they could have run for so long without a break. I would have died from exhaustion.

  Bruno finds a cave that will fit everyone comfortably. There’s even a place to build a fire.

  Taz says he’s going to get some firewood. The other two who I still don’t know goes with him.

  I look at Kiernan. “Ok, I really need to know all of their names.”

  “Well you know all of them here but Knox, Brody, and Aidan. He’s the one in the black tank top. He has blonde hair and baby blue eyes. Brody is the one in the yellow button up, with brown shaggy hair and dark green eyes. The other one is Aidan.”

  Aidan has blue-black hair like mine and aqua eyes. All the dragons here are built and well over six-feet-tall.

  How am I going to remember all their names? I’m just going to start calling them by nicknames. I’ll figure it out later when they come to me. They’re just going to have to each wear a different colored band until I can remember their names.

  Brody, Taz, and Aidan come back hauling a lot of firewood. Do they think we’ll be here for that long? I sure hope not. We don’t have that much time. I just hope we can find a healer.

  Kiernan picks me up and lays me on top of him. I guess I know where my bed is for the night. I’m not even tired.

  Bruno does the same thing to Kira, and Rome does the same thing with my mom. I guess it’s a dragon thing.

  I look at Kira. She’s smiling down at Bruno. I know he likes her. He just had to man up to his feelings. Guys can be so ignorant sometimes, especially with their feelings. I look down at Kiernan. He’s studying me.

  “What are you trying to figure out there, handsome?”

  “How I got so lucky to have found my true mate.”

  I smile down at him. I lower my head so I’m close to kissing him but not doing it yet.

  “Are you trying to tease me to death?” he asks in a husky tone.

  I feel it vibrate all along my body. It’s the sexiest thing I’ve ever heard. It’s doing things to my body I didn’t know even existed. I don’t even have time to reply. He had me in a deep kiss before I can say a word.

  The kiss is passionate and demanding at the same time. I’m lost in the kiss and forgetting everything. It ends too soon, and I growl⸻yes, growl⸻a deep belly rumbling growl. Kiernan looks at me with awe. He slowly smiles at me.

  “Did you just growl at me?”

  “Yes, I did. I wasn’t done with that kiss. I was claiming what’s mine.”

  He laughs and gives me a quick kiss. “Baby, I need rest, or I will not be any good for anyone.”

  I know he’s was right, but I still want to claim what’s mine. I lay my head on his chest and listen to his heartbeat.

  “Dariya, are you even tired?” Kira asks me.

  I turn my head in her direction. “Not at all. I think I finally caught up on my sleep while they ran.”

  “Yeah, me too.”

  We lay there staring at nothing, listening to all their steady breaths.

  “So, when did you and Bruno start talking?”

  “While you were gone. I cornered him when you left. I told him how I felt and that I couldn’t be with someone like Kelso. I guess he finally realized that and started to talk to me and get to know me.”

  “Guys are so stubborn sometimes. I’m glad you guys are finally talking. I was going to kick his ass if he didn’t.”

  She snorts. “I would have loved to see that.”

  Yeah, me too. He would probably shift and eat me before Kiernan could do anything about it. I’ll just keep that to myself.

  Cicero sits up in my line of view. “Ladies, if you don’t mind, we’re trying to rest and your chatting is not helping.”

  We both say, “sorry” at the same time and laugh.

  “Night, Kira, get some more rest. We don’t know when we’ll rest again.”

  “Night, sweets.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  The next day, we are awakened to loud noises coming from the e
ntrance of the cave. I jump up looking around. All the guys are on the verge of shifting, which would be a bad idea right now. There’s was no room for that without injuring the females.

  Kiernan pushes me behind him. I’m about to protest when I see Bruno do the same to Kira. My mom is being held by Brody, and Rome is next to Bruno, ready to attack.

  The guys make some kind of gesture. Apparently, they know what it means. They all nod in agreement.

  They pass us to the other dragons in the back of the cave⸻it’s too dark to see who took us. Kiernan, Bruno, Rome, Taz, and Alums stalk up to the entrance. They’re there forever it seems. They walk back with dumbfounded looks on their faces.

  “Guys, what the hell is going on out there?” I ask.

  Bruno shakes his head. “I will never get that image out of my head.”

  I push past them and look for myself. What the hell? Are those fairies getting it on? I didn’t know they were so vocal when having sex. They sound like they’re fighting, but it’s clear they’re not. I don’t think I can ever unsee this. I walk back to the group with the same look on my face that they had moments before.

  “What’s going on out there? Are we going to be attacked if we walk out of here?” Kira asks.

  It takes me a minute to answer her. I’m still wrapping my mind around what I just saw.

  “There are fairies getting it on out there,” I say

  “Then how come it sounds like they’re killing each other?”

  I just shake my head trying to get the image out of my head. “I guess that’s the way they have sex. I don’t know.”

  We wait until it’s clear to leave. Thankfully they don’t do the deed for that long, or they have flown off. I didn’t care at that moment.

  We need to get my mom some help. I check on her while we’re waiting. She’s partially shifted. Her bear claws are out, and her snout is coming into view. Please let us get the help she needs. As soon as I think that, I feel a pull. It feels urgent.

  I go to the entrance and stare out it. I turn to everyone. “Hey guys, we need to go that way,” I say, pointing toward the pull.

  Bruno walks outside the cave and looks. He turns to me. “Why are we going that way?”

  “I feel a strong pull and It feels urgent.”

  The guys put us on their backs and take off. We change course we were going to take and run at full speed again. The pull is getting stronger. I almost yell ‘stop!’ when it disappears, but they all come to a dead stop before I can.

  “How did you know I wanted you to stop?” I say

  “We didn’t,” Desean says

  Kiernan pulls me to his front and sets me down. I turn and look to see what they’re looking at. There’s a beautiful woman in a maroon cloak standing there. She has the reddest hair with gold streaks. Her eyes are as white as snow. There are no pupils or iris in her eyes, they’re just white.

  “Who needs help?” she asks.

  “My mom needs help, but how did you know?”

  “I felt it. I was the one who pulled you here. My name is Isobel. You must be Dariya.”

  I stand there looking at her. Kira nudges me to get my brain working again. I’m not expecting anyone to know we would be here.

  “How do you know me?”

  “I can feel that you are the one they call the key. Your energy is very powerful.”

  “How do I know I can trust you?”

  “That I can’t prove to you. All you have to do is feel my energy, and it will tell you.”

  How am I supposed to feel her energy? There is only one way I know how, but that might not work.

  I try it anyway I close my eyes and focus on the energy around me. Oh, wow! It’s working. I can see everyone’s energy. The colors range from gold to pretty blues and pinks. I see my mom’s and It’s turning black. I don’t think we have time to debate this. Either she helps, or we kill her. I am done being scared and running for my life.

  “I’ll trust you for now.”

  She walks at a fast pace. I guess we are to follow, so I start walking after her. Rome cradles my mom like she’s precious cargo. I’ve never seen a dragon be so gentle, except Kiernan. He is always gentle with me.

  “Did you really see the energy around us?” Kira asks while walking besides me.

  “Yeah, it’s pretty awesome. I’ll tell you what I saw later. Right now, I need to focus on her and my mom.”

  Turning back around to follow Isobel, I notice that the surroundings are changing. The leaves are almost too bright to be real. The grass almost feels like carpet. I’m lost in the beauty of this place when I smack right into Kiernan.

  “If you wanted me to carry you, all you had to do was ask,” he says laughing.

  I glare at him. That was not funny he about broke my nose.

  “Next time say something before you just stop,” I say.

  He picks me up and I can’t help but giggle. This place just makes you feel happy, even when you don’t want to be. I can feel a connection here. I just can’t figure out why. It’s like this is where I belong all along. I can’t explain the way I feel.

  “What is this place?”

  Isobel stretches her arms out. “This is where I live and a few others. We live in peace here. We have freedom away from the Elders.”

  She turns around and starts walking again. We walk a few more miles before a cabin comes into view. It’s beautiful. The wood looks like it was just cut, and it smells like it to. There are ivy vines climbing all over it. Flowers of every color are surrounding it.

  There are two circular windows on either side of the purple door. The upstairs has a wraparound porch with huge windows. There are more flowers in planters around the balcony. The stone walkway is perfectly laid out. The land around it is like nothing I’ve seen before: trees as high as the sky and grass so soft you could sleep on it. I look back to Isobel. I’m sure there’s awe written all over my face.

  “Hurry now. We need to get your mother healed,” Isobel says.

  That snapped me out of my daze. I walk faster to get there. I can’t lose my mom.

  We walk into the small cabin, but it’s nowhere near as small as it looks on the outside. This place is huge. The foyer is done in boxelder wood. Stairs are to the left of us. To the right is an office. Down the hall, I can see more doors. We walk past a few more doors before she stops.

  She swings the door open. “Hurry! Lay her on the bed. Alisa, I need you now!” She yells.

  Who’s Alisa? A tall woman walks into the room. She has brown hair and round eyes. She doesn’t speak as she looks at my mom laying there.

  “I need catnip, myrrh oil, mint oil, sandalwood oil, and three purple, blue, and white candles. Please, and thank you.”

  Alisa is out the door faster than she came in. I watch Isobel grab three quartz stones and three small pieces of paper. Alisa rushes back in with the things she was asked to get.

  Isobel places the candles in a triangle on the altar next to my mom. She places a quartz stone in front of each candle putting the oils on each candle and writes on each piece of paper. Then she puts them in the middle of the candles.

  “I need just the ones who are closest to her. Everyone else, please wait outside the door.”

  The guys look at me, and I nod that it’s ok. They step outside. Kira and I are the only ones with my mom now, besides Isobel.

  “Before I light these candles, I need to tell you what is required from you. I want you to focus on her healing until I say otherwise. Please close your eyes.” We both do as we are asked.

  She lights the candles and speaks words that I can’t understand.

  Magiam emantur ligna, et lucernam,

  Et sanitas sine egritudine reversus est.

  Magiam emantur ligna, et lucernam,

  Et sanitas sine egritudine reversus est.

  Magiam emantur ligna, et lucernam,

  Et sanitas sine egritudine reversus est.

  I feel the power behind those words. The magic that she is u
sing is powerful.

  “You may open your eyes now.”

  When I open my eyes, there’s a glow surrounding my mom.

  “I will need to do this three more times for three days. Please leave the candles burning. They need to burn for three hours,” she says before leaving the room.

  I walk over to my mom and grab her claw. It feels so limp and cold. I cover her up to keep her warm.

  “Do you think this will work?” Kira whispers.

  “I don’t know. I felt the power behind that spell. I have no idea what that spell was. I just hope I can trust her.”

  “Do you want anything?” Kira asks. I just shake my head ‘no.’

  I slide a chair up to the bed, so I can hold my mom’s hand. I must have fallen asleep. I wake up in Kiernan’s arms. I’m in a different room than the one we were in before. I fly out of his arms and run to the door, swinging it open harder than I intended to. I don’t know where her room is so, I’m opening every door until I find her. I fly to her bed and crawl into bed with her. I have this pull to be here, and it just takes me here without me even knowing it. Kiernan comes into the room as I’m crawling into bed with her.

  “What’s wrong, love?” I look at him with fear in my eyes.

  “I don’t know. I think she pulled me to her. I didn’t even know I was doing it until I was crawling into bed with her. What’s going on?”

  “Isobel said this might happen. She explained to us that even with your mom in the state she’s in, she’ll need the people she loves around her, which means that the pull you felt was your mom telling you she needs you. Why don’t you get some sleep, babe? I’ll be right here if you need me.”

  He leans over and kisses my forehead. What’s really going on? I’ve never been around magic that I know of. This is all so weird. It’s like I can feel the magic surround me and in me.

  I look at my mom. She hasn’t gotten worse from what I can see. I lay next to her and cuddle up. I fall asleep curled up to my mom. I’m woken up by the sound of whispering.

  “Do you think she’ll be ok?”

  “I don’t know, but I hope so. I don’t think Dariya will be able to cope with losing her mom as well. You should have seen her after her dad died. I didn’t think I would be able to bring her back. I don’t want that to happen again. This time we won’t get her back,” Kira says to Kiernan.