Her face fell but she didn’t meet my eyes. “All right. Let’s go together, then.”
Tension was still heavy in the silence between us, but we made our way through the trees side by side. Cora led the way, eyes flashing toward every sound and sign of movement.
Finally, she stopped, holding out a hand for me to stop as well. Her body sagged with relief. “I can feel him. He isn’t close, but he’s safe. I told him to stay hidden.”
I sighed, my relief reflecting hers. “Good.”
Cora turned toward me, eyes lowered. “I’m sorry for leaving you behind. I wasn’t thinking clearly.”
I repressed my urge to reach for her, wishing she would come to me and fold into my arms the way she usually did. “I’m sorry too.”
She lifted her head, giving me a hesitant glance. “Arguing never feels right, no matter how many times we do it.”
“I suppose it’s what helps us learn more about each other,” I said.
She nodded. “There’s something my brother once told me. He said, ‘When you begin to share your life with another person, you meet both the shadows of yourself and the other.’ It was the first time I realized two people could love each other and still end up arguing.”
“Does that mean you still love me?” A corner of my mouth pulled into a smile.
Cora rolled her eyes and pressed her forehead into my chest. “Of course I do.”
The tension melted away as I wrapped my arms around her and kissed the top her head. When we parted, both our cheeks held trails of shimmering moisture. I opened my mouth to speak when the forest dimmed as if it had suddenly turned to night. We looked above the forest trees at the shadow that loomed high above, blocking the sunlight. An ear-shattering screech rang out around us before the sunlight returned and the shadow was gone.
Cora stared after it, trembling from head to toe. “It went toward the castle.”
7
FIRE
Cora
“What do we do?” Teryn asked.
My first instinct was to chase after it and run directly to Ridine, but Teryn’s earlier words gave me pause. He’d been right; I knew nothing about fighting a dragon. I knew nothing about them at all. My feet shifted below me, eager to run. “I don’t know, but we can’t do nothing.”
Teryn ran a hand over his face. “You’re right. We may not be able to defend against dragons, but we can’t hide while our people are in danger.”
That was all the confirmation I needed before my feet propelled me forward. Valorre. Where are you now?
Still safe. Images filled my mind, similar to the view before me—branches whipping by with blue sky peeking over the trees. I could feel him getting nearer, although he was still too far away for my comfort.
Good. Stay hidden. Don’t enter any clearings.
Danger. I sensed his equal concern for me.
I know.
“Look.” Teryn stole my attention back to our present surroundings as he pointed at the sky where tendrils of gray began to dance higher and higher. “Is that smoke?”
I nearly tripped when I picked up speed, feeling the sting of branches tear at my skin and tug at my skirt as I continued forward. Finally, the peaks of Ridine’s tallest towers could be seen above the tree line, and we began to slow our pace. The stench of burning filled my nostrils as I searched the sky. I was surprised to find the smoke wasn’t hovering above Ridine like I’d expected it to—it was rising from the left.
Teryn put a hand on my arm as we neared the edge of the forest, and we stilled. “We need to be careful.”
I nodded, and we took slow steps between the trees and out onto the castle grounds. Movement caught my eye at the left near the source of the smoke, and I froze. Teryn’s hand tightened around my arm.
At the center of the charred field stood an enormous, white dragon. Its body was long and snake-like with white, opalescent scales. Feathers lined huge wings that were tucked up tight against its body. The dragon circled the field, nostrils flaring and tongue flicking as it nudged the blackened earth with its nose. With a screech, it pulled its head back, opened its tooth-filled maw, and sent a stream of fire onto the ground, creating a shimmering patch of glowing, orange embers.
It began to circle the field once again, clawing at the ground, turning up black ash with immense claws. Tremors shook me from head to toe as I debated what to do. Run for the castle? Stay still? Retreat beneath the trees? Before I could take a step, the dragon stopped its circling, raised its head, and narrowed its eyes at me and Teryn. Its tongue darted in and out of its mouth as it extended its neck in our direction. We were too far for it to reach us from its place on the field, but I wasn’t as certain about the reach of its flame.
“What do we do?” Teryn whispered.
“I don’t know. For now, let’s hold still.” I pulled Teryn close to me and closed my eyes. With deep breaths, I fought the anxiety that pounded in my chest and thought about the surrounding trees. My body felt as sturdy as a tree trunk, my hair blowing like leaves in a breeze. Teryn was a tree at my side, strong and steady. I opened my eyes and saw the dragon tilt its head, then return to its circling.
What are you? I closed my eyes again, holding tight to my inner calm as I extended my consciousness toward the creature, letting it creep slowly past the flames, claws, and scales, past the unfamiliar features of bone, blood, and scale until I found the being within.
Confusion. Anger. Tired. Fury.
A roaring screech forced my eyes open to see the dragon whip its long neck toward the sky. Arrows rained down from Ridine’s nearest towers but glanced off the creature’s scales. The dragon hissed as it brought its head back toward its shoulders, and then snapped forward, sending a stream of flame toward the towers. Shouts erupted from the castle as the stone turned black. With another screech, the dragon extended its wings, beating the ground, sending ash, smoke, and dirt tumbling away as it lifted itself into the air. As it raised itself high above the trees, its shadow again fell upon us, blocking out the light. Not a moment later, it was gone.
My breaths came out in ragged gasps as I dropped to my knees and let the glamour fall. Valorre?
Still safe. You?
I could feel him much nearer now and let out a sigh of relief. I’m safe too. Do you know what those things are? The dragons?
Home.
That was all I needed to know. The dragons had come from El’Ara. The veil was torn. And we were all in danger.
* * *
Mareleau
“What was that flash of light? And why is there smoke outside?” I slid off the bed and went to the window but couldn’t see past the clouds of smoke.
Larylis followed, holding Liam. “I don’t know, but I didn’t like the sound of it. It felt like the entire castle was coming down.”
The door flew open, and I whirled around to meet my mother’s pale face. Our eyes locked, but she remained silent.
“What is it, Mother? What’s going on?”
Mother closed the door on the shouts and pounding footsteps that echoed through the hall. “I’m so glad you’re safe. Whatever you do, don’t open the windows or go outside.”
“Why? What’s happening?”
Mother dropped onto the lounge as if her body were suddenly too heavy to bear. She stared, eyes unfocused. The fear on her pale face sent a shiver down my spine. “There was a—”
The door flew open again, making me jump. Ann, Sera, and Breah rushed in, eyes wet as they mumbled in unison.
“Quiet, you fools,” I hissed. “You’ll wake the baby, and I can’t hear a word you’re saying.” Ann and Sera traded sobs for whimpers, and Breah seemed to hold her breath. “Will someone please tell me what’s going on in a rational manner?”
“There was a dragon,” Ann wailed. “It set fire to the old field and then blasted the castle. Men have been burned!”
I put my hands on my hips. “You’re speaking nonsense. Since when is there such a thing as dragons?”
“M
aybe when there became such a thing as unicorns,” Larylis said under his breath, eyes still fixed on the window. I turned toward him, surprised to see his face so grave. He didn’t really believe there had been a dragon, did he?
“I knew I shouldn’t have agreed to come here again,” Sera whined. “This place is the worst.”
My eyes snapped back to my ladies. “Speak sensibly. What really happened?”
“Lady Ann is right.” Mother’s voice was toneless but firm. “There was a dragon. I saw it from one of the windows.”
My breath caught in my throat. “You’re serious.”
Larylis darted toward the door. “I need to speak to my brother.”
“Wait, I want to come with you.” I caught up to him, and he paused. He opened his mouth as if he were about to argue but nodded with a sigh. I turned to Mother. “Will you take Liam?”
Her eyes went wide, and she looked me up and down, as if suddenly remembering where—and who—she was. “You can’t go anywhere. You are still in recovery.”
I let out an irritated groan as I lifted my sleeping son from Larylis’ arms and placed him in my mother’s. “You can’t expect me to lie in bed all day after hearing a dragon has been here. I refuse to be useless.”
Mother’s face turned red, and I prepared for a scolding. Yet, the fire extinguished from her eyes faster than it had been ignited. Her cheeks returned to a colorless pallor as she cradled Liam close to her breast. “Do what you will, then. Just don’t go outside.”
Oddly enough, her resignation made my heart sink. For one moment, she’d almost seemed like her old self. I forced a comforting smile and nodded, then Larylis and I were out the door.
“What do you think is happening?” I asked as we sped down the hall, hearing wails and shouts both above and below us. “This can’t have anything to do with…” I couldn’t bring myself to say his name out loud. Morkai. No, it can’t be. He’s gone.
Larylis clenched his jaw as he took my hand. “I don’t know.”
We moved past armed guards and concerned courtiers and made our way down the stairs toward the great hall. At the bottom of the stairs stood a man with a vaguely familiar face next to a short woman with pink cheeks and a heavy bosom. He straightened when his eyes fell on my husband.
“Lex,” Larylis said to the man. “Have you seen my brother?”
“Not since breakfast,” Lex said. “They were called away on some urgent business.”
“Do you know where they went?”
Lex shook his head. “We’ve been looking—”
“There they are.” The woman next to Lex pointed down the hall. I turned and saw Teryn and Cora sprinting toward us. Both were covered in a layer of filth and what appeared to be tiny cuts. The hem of Cora’s dress was torn and nearly black with dirt.
Larylis rushed to meet them. “What happened to you? Was it the dragon?”
Teryn looked down at his clothing as if he were surprised to find himself so unkempt. “No, it wasn’t that. We were running through the woods—”
“But there was a dragon?” I looked from Teryn to Cora, and Cora nodded.
“What does this mean?” Larylis asked, keeping his voice low. “Does it have anything to do with Morkai?”
“Morkai?” Lex echoed from behind me, making me suppress a jump. “Dragons? Am I going crazy, or did you just say what I think you said?”
Teryn pressed his lips tight, eyes darting from Lex to the woman at his side. “It’s nothing. You and Princess Lily need not concern yourselves—”
Lex narrowed his eyes. “If something is going on, you should tell me. You know what I’ve seen and the dangers we’ve faced together. We both know a threat to your land is a threat to mine.”
Teryn squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed his temples. “Fine. We should talk. But not here.”
“Let’s go to the study,” Cora said.
Teryn nodded and broke away from our group to speak with some men nearby. They nodded at his orders, and he returned to us. “I’m meeting with the council at next bell. We have until then.”
Hardly anyone paid us much heed as we scurried down the hall and into a room I’d never seen before. It was modest in size and lined with bookcases, most of which were empty. Chairs were interspersed throughout next to small tables, and at the far end of the room sat a wide desk and a high-backed chair lined with red velvet.
Cora closed the door, shutting out the chaos in the hall. She brought a nail between her teeth as she stood before the desk, while Teryn took his place next to her, leaning his backside against the desk. Larylis and I exchanged a wary glance before we sat in a set of chairs.
“Prince Lex,” Teryn said, voice flat and eyes unfocused, “you remember my brother, King Larylis, and his wife, Queen Mareleau.” He waved an unenthusiastic hand from us to Lex. “Princess Lily—”
“It’s all right,” the woman named Lily said with a hushed voice as she and Lex took their seats. “We can exchange formalities later.”
I was taken aback at her nerve to interrupt a king but appreciated the sentiment. “Yes,” I said. “Let’s talk about this nonsense about a dragon instead. What in Lela is going on? Are we being attacked with dark magic again?”
Cora shook her head. “The dragons don’t seem evil. At least, not the one that landed in the field. I connected with it just before it was shot by our archers. It was confused, scared, and filled with fury, but not necessarily seeking an attack. However, that doesn’t make them any less dangerous. Its mind wasn’t soft or welcoming like Valorre’s, or any other animal, for that matter, so I don’t imagine they can be tamed.”
“Were you able to sense why they are here?” Teryn asked.
“No,” Cora said, “but I think it has to do with the prophecy. The veil between our world and El’Ara has been torn.”
Larylis leaned back in his chair and let out a heavy sigh. “I suppose that’s better than what I had been thinking. I was sure it had something to do with Morkai.”
“Morkai is gone,” Cora said, “but he may have been the least of our worries.”
“Wait, wait, wait.” Lex held up a hand. “Why would any of you consider this had something to do with Morkai? Morkai died on the battlefield, as we all know.” Silence answered, and I could almost feel his confusion, remembering what it had been like when I’d been the least aware of the group.
Teryn finally spoke. “Yes, Morkai died at Centerpointe Rock, but he had tethered his soul to the crystal he carried on his staff. Cora found that crystal and brought it back here. He was later…unleashed.”
My stomach churned as I recalled how Teryn had been during his possession by Morkai. The unwanted attention, the lingering touch. It was still hard for me to see Teryn and not think of him as Morkai. I suppressed a shudder and reached for Larylis’ hand.
Teryn continued. “We were able to defeat him and destroy the crystal. You wouldn’t have heard about it because no one outside this room knows it happened. All our people know is that Mareleau’s uncles rebelled and caused the deaths of her father and King Dimetreus.”
Lex nodded. “That’s all I’d heard.”
“That is only partially true,” Cora said. “We hoped that would be the end of it, but there’s something else at work that we can’t ignore.”
“The prophecy.” The word felt dry on my tongue. “What does any of it mean?”
“What is it in the first place?” Lex asked.
Teryn took a step away from the desk. “When Morkai returned last year, I learned much about his past. I learned Morkai had come to Lela following clues from a prophecy he’d channeled from a woman named Emylia. The prophecy was meant to help his father, who claimed to be the rightful heir to a realm called El’Ara.”
“El’Ara,” Cora said, “is the realm of the Ancient Ones, the Elvan and Faeran. Long ago, a half-Elvan named Darius was passed over as heir to the realm in favor of his younger sister, Ailan. He was banished from El’Ara, only to return in an attempt to conquer it. W
ar erupted, and in the end, he killed his mother, who was Morkara—the ruler—of El’Ara. Before she died, she created a veil between our worlds, meant to keep them separate so no one would ever be able to move between them again. But she died before it was fully complete. With her dying breath, she secured the veil as it was, which pushed the land that had been left outside the veil into our world. That land is Lela.”
Heat flooded my cheeks. “How do I not know any of this? You’ve told me about this prophecy that lead Morkai here, but why is this the first I’m hearing about Lela being some remnant of an ancient realm? I thought we were bearing our secrets together, not keeping more from each other.”
A flicker of guilt crossed Cora’s face before it was replaced with a stony mask. “I didn’t think what I knew mattered because I thought I was the Mother of Prophecy. I thought I was the reason El’Ara could never be whole again. Now we know differently.”
I swallowed hard. Of course she hadn’t wanted to share what she thought were the repercussions of her forced barrenness. If it had been her, it wouldn’t have mattered; the prophecy would be dead. But it wasn’t her—I was the one with the burden now. “So what does El’Ara and the prophecy have to do with dragons?”
Teryn furrowed his brow. “The prophecy stated, where the veil abandoned its heart, one will be born that will stop the Blood of Darius. Only then will the veil be torn.”
Cora’s eyes were still on me. “And if we believe you are the Mother of Prophecy, then Liam’s birth may have torn the veil immediately.”
My hands began to tremble. My baby. My tiny, innocent baby. How could his fate be so huge? It was one thing to think of myself as the mother of some ancient prophecy, but it was another to consider what it meant for my son. He was the true focus of the prophecy; I was merely the force that brought him into the world. “What does that mean for Liam? How can he stop the Blood of Darius, whoever that is?”
Shades of Prophecy Page 5