by Eric Vall
“Maybe they would like some of the new houses in a private section of the city, that way they can stay together and have privacy from the Hatra citizens,” Julia suggested with a smile. “Also, when they return home, they won’t leave their neighbors alone and isolated.”
“I’ll talk to Nike about it in the morning,” I chuckled. “I’m sure they’d appreciate having their own space again. They’ve all been stuck in that cabin for months, they have to be sick of each other at this point.”
“I’m sure it’s not ideal for any of them,” Ruslan laughed with me. “Especially when Raisa and Azra go on their tangents. They have a tendency to get a bit … passionate about their work.”
“Passionate is one word for it, I guess,” I snickered, “but they are brilliant, so we can’t say much about them.”
“That they are,” Julia agreed with a nod. “Their plans for the city are incredible. I’ve never seen anyone able to design such detailed work in a short time. It’s admirable.”
“That’s for sure,” I murmured and suppressed a yawn.
A comfortable silence spread between all of us as we walked. The sky had begun to grow dark as the sun set, and when the sun dipped just below the horizon, Julia spoke again.
“Hopefully, we can manage to stay on schedule even with this new additional work to the tunnels,” she mused.
“We have to,” I replied confidently. “We don’t have any other choice. We just have to hope there’s nothing inside the tunnels that can delay us further.”
Julia hummed and nodded.
“I’ll look for other spells that could help while I search for a way to extend the length of my barrier enchantment,” Alyona offered.
“You don’t have to push yourself,” I said softly.
“I’ll be fine.” She rolled her purple eyes with a small smile. “I want to help in the best way I can, which is through my magic.”
I sighed since I knew there was no arguing with her, and we arrived at the temporary palace a few minutes later.
Ruslan and Julia turned toward their room once we walked inside.
“Goodnight, Evan, we’ll see you in the morning,” Julia said as she wrapped me in a hug.
“Night, Julia.” I returned the hug and turned to Ruslan. “See you in the morning, Pops.”
“Night, son,” Ruslan told me with a smile before he glanced at Alyona. “Night, Princess.”
“Goodnight, Lord Ruslan, Lady Julia,” Alyona replied sweetly as my parents entered their room and closed the door behind them.
I escorted Alyona to her own room and hesitated as I reached for the handle of her door.
“You’re not going to sleep, are you?” I asked and narrowed my eyes suspiciously at her.
“I don’t know what you mean.” She looked down and shrugged.
I laughed at her guilty expression.
“I can stay up with you, if you’d like,” I offered. “I doubt I’ll be able to sleep anytime soon. I’m too wired about the passages. We can search for your spells together.”
Alyona smiled brightly and wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug. I could feel her press against me, and I swallowed thickly.
“Thank you, Evan, you are very thoughtful,” she replied, and her voice was coy.
She pulled away and bit her bottom lip as she smiled, and I could feel my arousal begin to tent my pants. I took a step forward and pressed her against the door. Then I pushed my lips against her, and she moaned into the kiss.
“Keep making sounds like that, and we won’t be doing much research,” I mumbled against her lips.
I’d just had the princess the night before, but my appetite was insatiable when it came to her.
“As much as I’d like to procrastinate,” she giggled, “I should probably do some research tonight.”
“Alright,” I sighed with mock sadness, “if you insist.”
Alyona laughed, and then we sat at her desk as we pored over her books. I read quickly, but I didn’t quite understand much of what I read.
“What about shield spells?” I asked.
“No,” Alyona answered without looking up from her book, “they aren’t permanent. We need something that can either last forever or can be recharged regularly. Most shield spells only last for a short time.”
I scanned through more pages.
“What about a guardian spell?” I suggested next. “It says it creates a barrier that if crossed, sends said person flying back twenty feet.”
“It could work, but those spells attack anyone who tries to break through. That would mean we’d have to take it down and replace it whenever anyone inside the city wanted to leave or return.”
“This is a lot harder than I thought it would be,” I sighed.
“I know how you feel,” Alyona laughed. “I’ve been poring over these books for months now, and I’ve only found a few spells that would be useful for us.”
“It’s okay,” I said as I reached across the desk and grabbed her hand.
“I just hate feeling so helpless.”
“You’re not helpless,” I argued. “You saved us from the echidnas. Without you, we’d probably still be fighting those nasty bugs.”
“Ravi helped too,” she reminded me with a smile.
“Okay, well you also saved Valerra and her egg when they were attacked.”
“My father saved her. I just kept her alive.”
I frowned. “Alyona, you’re incredible. Don’t let yourself ignore all your previous accomplishments because you are stuck right now.”
“You’re right,” she murmured and averted her eyes. “I’m sorry.”
“Are you okay?” I asked with a furrowed brow.
“I’m fine, it’s just stressful,” she sighed.
“You should get some rest.” I closed my book. “You can continue to research in the morning.”
She looked ready to argue, but she sighed and nodded. “You’re right. Maybe some sleep would do me some good.”
I stood from the desk and kissed her forehead. Then she stood up as well and walked toward her bed. She’d already changed into her nightgown, and she pressed a sweet kiss to my lips before she collapsed onto her mattress.
“Goodnight, Evan,” she called as I walked toward her bedroom door.
“Goodnight.”
“I love you,” she added with a yawn.
“I love you too, Alyona,” I said as I extinguished the flames from the candles and lanterns in her room. “I’ll see you in the morning,”
I shut the door behind me quietly and turned toward the empty hall. Then I saw a flash from the corner of my eye and turned my head quickly.
Nothing was there.
“I must be more exhausted than I thought,” I muttered to myself and shook my head.
But an unpleasant feeling settled in my stomach.
I made my way back down the stairs and toward my room quickly. I checked behind my back sporadically as I walked, though, since I had a strange feeling of being watched. I listened for any sounds, but I couldn’t hear anything, so I opened the door to my room and slipped inside quietly.
I walked to my bed, with plans to collapse and fall asleep, when my toes nudged something along the floor. It was one of the bags I had found inside the tunnels. I’d forgotten all about them.
With a sigh, I grabbed all three and opened them up. Their contents spilled over my bed, and I inspected each thing to look for any evidence of who they belonged to. The parchments were all blank, besides the ones that contained the line drawings, so I rummaged through the clothes a bit, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
Then a glint caught my eye, and I turned my head.
Within the clothes, something metal reflected off the candlelight. I pulled the item out, it was a black cloak, nothing too strange, but when I found the object that glittered from it, I dropped it onto my bed like it had burned me.
It was a small silver cloak clasp … and it was designed into the shape of a green leaf.
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br /> The Green Glass Sect had been in the tunnels.
They were no longer there, though, which meant they had either escaped from the tunnels through one of the secret passages or they were now in the city.
The Green Glass Sect knew about the secret passages. That was the only way they could have slipped past our guards and into the city.
My blood ran cold. I knew they wouldn’t have left, they were here inside Hatra. I didn’t know where or why they were hiding, but I knew without a doubt they were here. The tunnels were no longer safe, and I wouldn’t send anyone else down there until we figured out where the sect members had been hiding all this time.
I quickly summoned my messenger dragon to my hand.
“Find Laika, Nike, Daya, Raisa, and Azra,” I ordered. “Tell them to come to the temporary palace immediately. I need to talk to them. It’s an emergency.”
The little dragon spun around in my palm before it flapped its miniature wings and took off through the wall to reach the recipients.
I continued to think about how close we must have been to the Green Glass Sect. We must have nearly caught them when we began to seal the tunnels weeks ago. They would have never left something like this cloak behind on purpose. They knew our plan.
They’d been here for weeks, which meant they were here while I was off with Ravi’s tribe and during the echidna attack. They’d been here lurking in the shadows.
Rage boiled in my blood. I didn’t even know who I was more angry with, the Green Glass Sect for existing in the first place, or at myself for not realizing all of this sooner. I knew something was off in the tunnels since we found the garbage that first day, but I allowed myself to be persuaded it was nothing. There had been no concrete proof, but I felt it in my gut.
Suddenly, the sound of quiet footsteps echoed outside in the hall, and I turned my head in surprise. I listened closely, but I didn’t recognize the step pattern. I looked toward my door, and waited for the steps to pass, but they stopped right in front of my room.
Nothing happened, so I stood from my bed and walked toward my door. The stranger was still out there, I could hear their heart as it pounded in their chest, and adrenaline rushed through my body as I reached for the door handle. Then I took a deep breath and flung the door open.
Green eyes stared back at me in shock from behind a black mask, and I quickly grabbed the stranger by the fabric of their black clothes, shoved them back into the hallway, and pinned them against the wall.
“Who the hell are you?” I snarled as I lifted them off the floor.
They huffed as they caught their breath, and their eyes glared down at me, but they didn’t answer.
“I asked you a question,” I growled and pressed them harder against the wall until I heard their bones creak.
The stranger gasped for breath and reached up to claw at my hands. I knew they didn’t have the strength to push me off, but then they spat a word in a language I didn’t know, and I felt the air charge with magic a moment before a static shock ripped through my body.
I grunted in pain as my grip loosened, and my opponent used this opportunity to slip easily down the wall and out of my reach.
“The Green Glass Sect sends their greetings,” a deep voice replied, but it was slightly muffled and distorted by the mask over their mouth. “Tonight, dragon, you will die.”
Chapter 9
My blood boiled at the mention of the sect, and I felt scales crawl up my arms. My body instinctively wanted me to shift, but I knew I wouldn’t have the room here. I’d have to fight in my human skin. So, I quickly reached into my storage space and pulled out Miraya, and her long steel blade glinted in the candlelit hall.
The assassin looked down at my sword before he pulled out a short dagger from a strap along his leg. Then we stared at each other as we waited for the other to make the first move.
Finally, the assassin lashed out with his dagger, and I barely had time to parry his attack with Miraya before he struck out again. His weapon may have been smaller than my sword, but he knew how to use it, and he had speed and agility on his side as he continued to send a flurry of silver flashes toward me.
I relied solely on my instincts as I blocked the different attacks until I miscalculated his movements, and a blow finally landed on my hand. His blade sliced down to the bone, and I let out a hiss of pain but refused to drop my sword.
Thankfully, my magic reacted instantly and quickly healed the wounds.
The assassin’s eyes widened in outrage as I raised my fully healed hand, and he reached behind his back to pull out a small, marble sized ball. Then the intruder’s eyes curled in what I assumed was a grin before he tossed the ball at my feet.
I quickly jumped back out of the way, but the small ball exploded mid-air and sent a fine, silver dust floating around the hall.
Dust flew into the air and into my eyes, and I held my breath to prevent any debris from getting to my lungs. For all I knew, it could be poison. Then I blinked rapidly to clear the dirt from my vision but nearly yelled in pain. Each time I tried to blink, the dust scratched painfully across my eyes, and I heard a slight chuckle from the assassin ahead of me.
“Dust made from glass can make a very useful weapon. Once it is in your opponent’s eyes, they are practically blind.”
I bared my teeth in fury, but my magic reacted quickly and healed my eyes in a matter of moments. I could hear the assassin’s footsteps as he approached me, so I snapped open my eyes, jumped forward, and caught him by surprise. I used his shock to my advantage and summoned fire to my hands. Then I sent my flames out to the assassin, and the man was instantly consumed by the red-hot fire.
I smirked as the flames burned around his body, but my expression quickly fell when I realized the assassin was still standing. In fact, he didn’t seem to be affected at all. The flames just danced across his skin, and I realized with a growl that this bastard had fire magic.
“You’re not the only one with a trick up your sleeve,” the assassin sneered as the flames lifted from his skin and retreated to his palm. “The Green Glass Sect knows all your moves. That’s why they sent me. I am immune to flames.”
The fire in the assassin’s palm died out quickly, and he twirled his dagger with his fingers. It just figured my fire wouldn’t work against the assassin sent to kill me. Nothing could be that easy.
I could still feel the fine glass dust in my eyes whenever I blinked, but I never took my gaze off the stranger.
I was sick of dancing around this bastard. It was time to end this.
I growled once more, and then I charged forward with Miraya in hand. The assassin was quick on his feet and tried to jump back, but I anticipated his movements, feinted to the right, and then came at him with a powerful swing from the left.
The assassin stumbled as he tried to change his trajectory, but he was too late, and my sword caught him in the gut and sliced horizontally. He staggered back with a painful yell and then fell to a knee, and I could see the dark clothes along his lower abdomen turn slick with blood. The assassin placed a hand gingerly on the wound, and his palm came back red.
“That hurt,” he snarled, and his green eyes burned as they glared at me. “I had planned to make your death quick, but for this I will make sure you suffer greatly.”
He jerked his bloodied hand down, and from inside the sleeve, a small silver knife slid into his palm. Then, with a flick of his wrist, the knife sailed through the air, and it would have connected with my left thigh, but I sidestepped quickly and let the blade ping off the stone wall behind me.
Then the assassin screamed in rage and ran at me with another dagger ready to strike. Fury fueled his movements, and when I lifted Miraya to parry his attacks, my arm vibrated from the force of his blows. We danced around each other for a long moment, neither of us able to land a hit, but then the assassin made a small yet critical error. As he jabbed again at my ribs with his dagger, he stepped too close, and I was able to grab his wrist and yank him toward me.
The bones in his forearm creaked in the grip of my hand, and he grunted in pain before I slammed my forehead against his. My healing magic protected me from the headbutt, but the assassin groaned as he lost his grip on the dagger, and it clattered and slid across the stone floor beneath us.
I grinned in victory before the assassin let out a grunt of frustration and kneed me in the stomach. The blow didn’t really hurt, but the wind was knocked out of me, and the assassin used my momentary distraction to drop to the floor and kick out at my legs. I jumped back just in time, but the assassin vaulted upwards faster than my eye could track, and he executed a roundhouse kick that knocked Miraya from my hand. The sword dropped to the ground and joined his dagger, and I cursed under my breath while the man grinned.
Fine, we could settle this without our blades.
I threw a punch with my left hand toward the assassin’s face, and when he dodged, I threw a second punch with my right at his stomach. My blow connected with a meaty thud, and the assassin grunted before he elbowed me in the jaw.
My magic healed me quickly and also gave me a bit of a boost as the assassin and I continued to fight. We parried blows back and forth, but then my enemy kicked me in the stomach, which made me stumble back into my bedroom.
The assassin followed me inside, lunged forward, and grabbed me by my shirt. He held another small silver knife in his hand, and he raised it above my chest.
As he brought the dagger down, I deflected his momentum with my left hand and threw a punch toward his face with my right. My knuckles smashed into his nose, and I felt cartilage crunch into dust beneath the force of my blow.
“Agh!” The assassin dropped me as blood poured from his nose, and he stumbled back with a hand to his face. Crimson liquid poured from between his fingers, and he shook his head to reorient himself, but by the way he staggered, I could tell I’d rung his bell good.
This was my chance.
I needed a way to subdue him, and I had just the trick up my sleeve that I’d been wanting to try out.
Before the assassin could regain his bearings, I reached deep into my spiritual sea and tugged at the new ability I’d won from the driders.