Shadow of the Crown

by Amber Morant

  Hartiel flew out of Tosh's pocket. "I tried to help, but the cait shidhe was too fast. Doubt you even saw me before he knocked you out.

  Tosh hissed as he adjusted his weight. "Doesn't matter now. He's long gone, and I can get back to trying to live a normal life."

  "Well you obviously can't just sit here and do nothing. Devata tasked you with getting the egg—"

  "And I got it. Not my fault Azrael got it from me. Seems he knows who to take it to anyways."

  "That's not the point! You were given a task and you need to complete it."

  Tosh turned around and sat on the bed. "Look, even if I tried to go after the egg, he's a dragon guardian. I can't go around fighting him, you saw how he overpowered me." He cringed at the pain searing in his arm. "I can barely manage to survive in this room with a broken arm and face. How do you expect me to survive out there like this?"

  Hartiel landed on Tosh's arm. Despite this, the scholar felt no extra pain from the sprite's weight. Instead the pain began to dissipate. It still hurt, but it wasn't blinding anymore. "I can't heal it, so we'll need to get you to a doctor. Here," Hartiel flew out of the room and was gone for a few minutes. He finally returned holding a small rock in his hand. "We'll use this in the meantime."

  The sprite placed the rock on Tosh's bicep and muttered a spell under his breath. The stone warped into a thin stone that wrapped around Tosh's arm and tightened. Tosh cringed from the pain, but soon after felt relief.

  "That should hold until we find someone to mend it or give you some medicine." Hartiel let out a small laugh." Seems like we keep getting hurt way too often nowadays. You sure you're the best choice to be working for Devata? I mean at this rate, you're going to bed dead before winter comes."

  "Don't remind me."

  Tosh stood up and stepped out of the room. The afternoon air was stagnant with no sign of the Anjuu or Azrael having even been near him last night. There wasn't a street fair going on today, instead most seemed to scurry from the cars to different buildings to go to work leaving Tosh the freedom to wander and find a clinic without many eyes on him.

  In the distance he could see the bar where he had met Anjuu the night before and shuddered at the thought of the other shadow's body still laying in the back alley. He would have to see if they were still there and if so, perhaps have a guard come and get the body to a morgue. At least with it being the next day, no one could see him as suspicious and with a broken arm, there was no way they could believe a broken scholar like him could destroy a shadow.

  "Hartiel, how far can you fly anyways? I thought you were attached to me?"

  Hartiel shrugged. "I mean I'm not attached to you. I'm just here following you."

  "True, but you don't exactly leave my side either unless you go to sleep in my pocket."

  Tosh made his way down the stairs, worried that he would injure himself more. Hartiel sat silently on his shoulder as he made the descent. No one seemed to be in any of the rooms that they passed by, but it was possible they were all at work as well. Thankfully, the walk back to the bar was a lot quicker than when he had walked with Anjuu last night. She had made sure no one followed them, and now he was free to roam again without an assassination hovering over his head.

  "Let's see if anyone has collected the shadow," Tosh muttered and took a deep breath. He looked around the street to see if anyone was watching him before stepping into the alley. Hartiel was the first to turn the corner and stopped midair. “Don’t tell me she's still there."

  Hartiel shook his head. "No, but are you sure this was the right bar alley?"

  Tosh looked over at Hartiel, confused about the question. There was no doubt this was the bar with the awkward sexualized dragon in front of it. He turned the corner and looked at where the body was. He was expecting to see it, or even spots where the blood had dried up. Instead, there was nothing. Not any blood or marks from a fight having occurred last night. It was as if the shadow had never existed.

  He turned around and walked out of the alley. "Well, I'm done helping for the day. I'm going to the doctor, getting my medicine, and we're leaving. I'll hide on Devata's island until this entire decade of chaos stops. Too much excitement for me. Wanted to kill the queen but fuck it, this is my last day."

  Twenty-Two

  "Get the hell out of my way you fucking lowlifes! Do you even know who I am?" A yowl erupted from outside, a voice Anjuu hadn’t heard since leaving the castle.

  Anjuu peered out of the window. She had been living with the rebels, listening to their stories of injustice from the queen for the last few weeks. Hearing someone outside intrigued her.

  Outside she could see a cait shidhe being held down on the ground by a few of the older rebels. She couldn't see who he was, but as soon as she saw the entire scene, she immediately recognized him. Behind the pile of bodies was a large red dragon. Its head swayed back and forth, unable to decide if it wanted to eat all of them and chance hurting his guardian or simply stomp its feet until someone released the cait shidhe.

  Anjuu didn't bother running to the door at the other end of the house. Instead, she pulled open the window and jumped through. "Kalio sent you to kill me, didn't she?"

  Azrael looked up at Anjuu, a smile crossing his face. But it was friendlier than she had expected it to be. "I can't believe I actually tracked down the legendary queen's shadow." He pushed up against the elven rebels and then quickly got onto his feet and sidestepped everyone. "No, then the queen is most likely after me soon too. I'm here for my own personal reasons."

  Anjuu pulled out one of her small knives from a side pocket and launched toward the cait shidhe. Her hands wrapped around his collar. "Don't fucking lie to me, keres. You followed me to kill me. You think I'm an idiot?" She pushed the knife against Azrael's neck.

  "Shadow, do you know him?" a voice called behind Anjuu. Massika.

  "He's a keres, one of the queen's puppets. Don't you recognize him? You were the one to complain that she took him from your people."

  Anjuu heard a small gasp and Massika stepped closer. "I heard he had escaped the queen's hands and his sister was captured by the queen. I didn't know—"

  "My sister? What are you talking about? What's going on!"

  "Anjuu, put your knife down. He's not our enemy."

  The drow’s grip tightened, refusing to listen the Massika. "How do you know? Look at his skin by his ear, he still has her mark. For all we know, she could be tracking and listening to our conversation right now."

  "I know because his sister was captured and given to the queen for interrogation.” Massika looked directly at Azrael. “He betrayed Kalio. Though how I'm not sure."

  Anjuu turned to look at Massika, and then at Azrael. “Well? What do you have to say?"

  Azrael gulped, pulling his neck away from the blade. "I was sent by my father. Well the spirit of my father. He told me what happened to my people and sent me to find you and present a dragon egg." His eyes darted down to a side satchel.

  Anjuu looked down at it and saw a large white stone sitting inside of it. She pulled her knife away from Azrael's neck and let go of his collar. "Pull it out."

  Azrael didn't wait for a second command and grabbed the egg. "I caught a scholar trying to take off with it. I don't know what he was doing."

  "He was looking for the dragon guardian."

  "So, you did see him. He had killed another shadow so I thought he would go after you since he was so against the queen."

  "I killed the shadow. You must not know him well if you think he was that strong to kill one of us." She thought about the scholar, wondering what may have happened between them. "What did you do to Tosh?"

  "Broke his arm and made sure he wouldn't get up any time soon. Look, if he was giving this to the next dragon guardian, he obviously wasn't giving it to you."

  "And why would it go to me? I'm a shadow and a drow, Devata couldn't give two shits about me." She laughed at the idea of anyone wanting her to be a dragon guardian. It made a little sens
e since Tosh had tried to give the egg to the shadow when she had met him, but it was just a coincidence and ignorance.

  Azrael pushed the egg onto Anjuu. "Take it, see for yourself. My only mission was to take the egg to you safely."

  Anjuu grasped the egg against her body. It felt cold to the touch. She couldn't feel any heartbeat inside of the shell and wondered if it had died. She lifted the egg up to the light to see if she could see the dragon inside of the egg through the shell. The shell was too thick though, so she couldn't see anything inside.

  "It's dead. Looks like it wasn't just Tosh who failed on whatever mission you—"

  A jolt of electricity surged through Anjuu, sending her to her knees. The electricity turned to a burning sensation that started from her fingertips and flowed through her veins throughout her body. Her vision closed in until all she could see was the blades of grass near her hands. The burning was beyond what Anjuu could take and her body collapsed, the frozen egg lying next to her body.

  Anjuu was no longer in the small town with the rebels or Azrael. She was now standing on a small island with Devata at the center. A least, Anjuu believed it was Devata. The entire body of the tree had burned, leaving a dark husk in its place. There were no plants or any life anywhere, even underneath Anjuu was dried dirt that puffed into clouds of smoke with any slight movement.

  A loud dragon roar pulled Anjuu's attention behind her. Near the bank were too pearlescent white dragons fighting each other. One was half the size of the other, but both much larger than the average dragons. Their claws scraped against one another, screeches filling the air with follow-up attacks.

  In front of the dragons was a ring of fire still burning from what was left of the life on the island. She could just barely see two figures standing inside of the ring. Anjuu felt her body pulled forward. She stepped forward and squinted, realizing she recognized one of the figures. It was her Queen Kalio fighting against another figure that was still shadowed from the fire. Anjuu looked back up at the dragons and realized the larger dragon was Ream.

  A voice echoed in Anjuu's mind that she recognized as the queen's voice. "Burn them all. Burn all of them to the ground! Everyone will die by my hand!"

  Kalio sliced her sword across the other person in the fire's body. It dissipated into smoke and drifted away leaving the person's moon dragon behind. The queen turned around and waved her arm, blowing the ring of fire away. She walked closer to Anjuu, her eyes were a pale white that bore into Anjuu.

  "Your Highness! I'm innocent! Why have you betrayed me?" Anjuu attempted to step backward but her feet were stuck to the ground. She looked down and saw roots and vines wrapped around her feet and legs.

  Kalio continued to walk onward, her hand tightened on the blade in her hand. "You betrayed your people. You sleep in bed with rebels." Anjuu opened her mouth but no rebuttal came out. Kalio was now in front of her. In one motion, Kalio thrust her sword into Anjuu's body. Anjuu looked down at her stomach where the blade stood. There was no pain, but she could feel the pressure where the sword was.

  "Burn with the rest of them," Kalio hissed. The fire surrounded Anjuu and Kalio stepped back so Anjuu's vision was filled only with the flames roaring around her.

  Anjuu let out loud scream, the fire was melting away her skin and she couldn't take it anymore. "Devata! Spirits! Anyone! Stop this madness!"

  The fire ceased. The light of the day flooded back into Anjuu's vision. She found herself on the ground, curled into a ball with the egg still in her arms. The stone no longer felt cold, but instead she could feel warmth emanating from inside of it. It pulsated in her hands with a slow heartbeat. She smiled to herself, realizing that the vision somehow gave life back to the egg.

  Azrael kneeled beside Anjuu. She could see the claws on his feet extend out and retract in anticipation. Behind him, his tail swished back and forth. "Are you OK? One minute you were about to smash the egg and the next you fell on the floor convulsing before going still. What happened?"

  He held his hand out and helped Anjuu sit up. She was still dizzy from the vision and put a hand on her head and one on the ground to steady herself. "I'm not sure what happened. I think I saw the queen destroying Devata. She was fighting someone there though."

  Massika sat down next to Anjuu. "If she was fighting someone and if Azrael is being honest, then I'd imagine she was fighting you. They say when a guardian gets their egg, they receive a vision from Devata of what they are meant to do."

  Anjuu squeezed the egg close to her body. Its heat was welcoming and reminded her of her own mother and sister when she was younger. "Then we should prepare for a fight. She's not going to go down, and this county will be engulfed by fire soon."

  Twenty-Three

  Winter hadn't reached the rest of Narishma but the farther north he travelled, Persius could feel the crisp cold air touch his bones. He missed the warmth of the capital and all the wealth available to him. Down there, he was able to live the life of a pet and relax all day to his heart’s content. Now he was returning home and hoped they would still welcome him as the prodigal son he was.

  He pulled his fur closer to him, wondering if it would be best to just transform into his beast now. It would be warmer. Faster even. But he held onto his naginata so transforming would cost him dearly. If he was going to return, he needed to show his people he could face the cold without falling prey to his carnal desires and reveal himself as a true warrior of the skin walkers. Even now, he was cursing their methods of traversing the earth with only their fur and a small cloth to cover their extremities. It would make sense in the heat of the desert where the cait shidhe lived, but in the northern tundra it was too much.

  "Thank god I'm here to just collect you lot and return back. Maybe convince some to just stay down there so I don't have to walk through this—" He sneezes. "Cold."

  The path to the first village would be just a little farther ahead. Not everyone lived in the center of the snow, and some thankfully liked it a little warmer than others. Persius lifted his head and sniffed the air. A faint smell of other skin walkers wafted to his nose. They were close and some were hunting. If he didn't make it to the village soon, the hunting party would find him. He wasn't sure what was worse, dealing with the cold, or the embarrassment of being dragged home by a hunting party. He trudged along, waiting to see the small farms and huts just around the corner. Welcomed back with a warm soup and bed to call home.

  A howl filled the air and Persius picked up his speed. He refused to be caught by them. His walk soon turned into a light jog and then a sprint as the howling grew louder. He could see it now, just beyond a group of trees was a small hut. The first of many. He got closer and now could see claw marks covering the cloth exterior. The roofs were thatched with a small hole in the center where smoke could escape. On the door was a paw print. He recognized it as a bear skin walker and wondered which family it was. He had seen only one bear family when he had last been with the village, and this wasn't their home.

  Another house built just like the previous one came into view. This one had a rabbit's paw print on the door. It amazed him there were so many tribes now within the village. Peace amongst the tribes had brought them together into larger villages than even he had remembered. Something he would need to thank Kalio for when he returned.

  "Persius?" an older woman's voice called out.

  The skin walker turned and saw next to one of the huts was an elderly woman. She had a fox's pelt draped from her head and she wore a thin piece of fabric that covered both her breasts and waist. He could see every mark of age and battle she had endured for her entire life. In her hand was a small jug filled with water she shook in her hands. "I can't believe it's you. Oh, I need to tell the chieftain. He'll be so—"

  "Grandma, wait." Persius’s smile reached farther than he could imagine. The same woman who had raised him was standing before him now in her age of wisdom, but who was still giddy like a small child. He held his arms stretched out. "Can I have a hug before
we see him?"

  His grandmother smiled and walked up to Persius. He legs were thin and looked like the bones inside would break at any moment. She stepped into his embraced arms and dropped the jug. "Oh, Persius. It is so good to see you again."

  Unlike Persius’s own body, his grandmothers emitted a warmth that he fondly remembered from his own childhood. Her rich earthy smell reminded him of his own days hunting alongside her when her body could handle the exertion. "Grandma, it's good to see you too. Though I'm not here to retire like you have."

  His grandmother laughed. "Retire? Oh, I haven't retired. Just don't hunt like the rest of them. I'm better suited to teaching others to fight nowadays. Much easier to teach others how to use a staff than chase a deer through the woods." She pulled away to see Persius better. "So, what brings you back? Has the queen decided she doesn't need your counsel anymore?"

  "Don't think she really ever needed it. No," his smile drifted away, "she sent me here as a messenger. War is coming."

  "What do you mean, boy?" A gruff voice barked behind Persius.

  He turned around to see a man at least a foot taller than him with a large wolf pelt wrapped around his shoulders. Like Persius and his grandmother, he was also dressed in just a small cloth covering his genitals. If it wasn't for the fact that Persius could feel the heat permeating off the man, he would have assumed the muscles covering his entire body kept him warm in the cold weather. His green eyes bore into Persius, his one eyebrow lifted and waiting for an answer.

  "The queen. There is war brewing down south and she's asking—no she's telling," Persius puffed his chest out trying to look as tough as the man standing before him now, "all the skin walkers to go south for the war."

  "She realizes we are about to go into hibernation, correct?"

  "She doesn't care. I can survive a later start to my sleep, or are you saying you've become too soft to handle staying up late?"