by R L Medina
“Wait in the carriage for us.” Mom’s voice startled me out of my thoughts.
I blinked at her. “What? No. I’m not going to just sit here and wait. I want to help.”
Her lips pinched together in a frown. “It’s too dangerous. Let us go and assess the situation first.”
B’Zahir jumped out of the carriage without so much as a glance in my direction. Anger stirred inside me.
So much for his help.
Sensing my frustration, Mom sighed. “Please don’t fight me on this, Renée.”
Some of my anger fled at the emotion in her voice. I knew she just wanted to keep me safe, but I wasn’t as helpless and useless as I had been before. I’d changed, and I didn’t think she wanted to see that.
With a final squeeze of her hand and a kiss on my cheek she scooted out to follow B’Zahir. The carriage door slammed shut behind them, jarring me. I coughed on the smoke as it billowed around me. My eyes stung, but I moved toward the window to look out.
There was nothing but smoke. The smell so strong, I could hardly breathe. I pulled apart the end of my sleeve to cover my face. Were the fae as vulnerable to lung damage as I was? I bit my lip and tried to push away the worrying thoughts. Smoke was probably least of their worries.
The silence of the Red Court was terrifying. There should have been dragons fighting and elves along with the other fae flooding the border to escape. I couldn’t sense anyone’s emotions but my own. As much as I tried to soothe my fear, it kept returning again and again.
I couldn’t just sit and worry. I had to do something.
Summoning my power, I strengthened my resolve and pushed the door open. Smoke and ash assaulted my eyes. I used the scrap of fabric to cover my mouth and nose though it did little to help.
Coughs wracked my body, but I struggled past the thick blackness. The risk of what I was doing turned strikingly real. If I didn’t find clear air soon, there was a scary chance I’d succumb to the smoke. I shuddered at the thought of Mom and B’Zahir returning to find me passed out. Or worse.
I reached out with one hand, trying to feel any emotions in the area. There was nothing. Ignoring the warning bells in my head, I pushed on, hoping to hear something besides my raggedy breath. The ground trembled beneath me. My blood turned to ice. I paused and waited, afraid to step off into nothingness.
“Hello? Aunt Cindra? Des? Anyone there?” I struggled to get out the words.
My throat itched and burned along with my eyes.
“Hello?” I called again.
Hopelessness began to spear through me. I glanced at the way I’d come, and my heart dropped into my stomach. I’d gone much farther than I had intended too and now I wasn’t sure I could find my way back.
Dizziness struck me along with panic.
Oh no. I have to get back.
I tried to retrace my steps, the fear growing with each stride. My heart raced as I went. The smoke was too much. I fought the urge to sink down and rest. I had to get out.
Angry tears burned my eyes. I was supposed to be some powerful halfling princess. Someone my family could count on, but once again, I’d made a stupid choice that revealed just how pathetic I was.
I let out an angry cry and kicked at the sand. Sharp pain shot through my boot as it collided with something solid. I reached out with one hand and frowned. What was I feeling?
Something rough and dry. My heart sank. It was a tree. I walked forward, reaching out to feel more. My mind rushed, trying to figure out where I was. A pungent order filled my nostrils. It was a strong, flowery and spicy scent.
The bathhouse.
I rushed toward the source of the smell, holding the soiled fabric up to my mouth, though at that point it did nothing to block the smoke. I tripped over something and went flying into the sand. Groaning, I staggered back to my feet and tried to brush off the sand. Dizziness struck me, making my head pound.
I needed to get out of the smoke—fast.
My steps felt sluggish as I made my way forward, my alarm increasing as I struggled to breathe. I nearly sagged to the ground in relief as my hand brushed against solid, cool stone. I searched for a door or a window, trying to picture the building from my memories.
There. A knob. Please be open.
It opened instantly, and I rushed inside. Darkness shrouded me, but at least I could catch my breath. My throat burned as I sucked in the fresh air. The floral, herbal, and spice scents were overpowering, but a welcome change to the smoke and ash from outside.
Blinking, I moved across the cool stone floor and stretched my arms forward. It was warm and humid, and the sound of gurgling water echoed around me. Sweat pooled on the back of my neck as I moved slowly. The last thing I wanted to do was fall into one of the hot springs.
Fear speared through me, making me clutch my chest. Not my own, I realized, but someone else’s. There was someone else in the bathhouse with me.
“Hello?” my voice echoed back to me.
No one answered.
“Hello? Is someone in here?” I strained to hear anything over the bubbling water.
“Don’t be scared. I’m not going to hurt you.”
Fire erupted in front of me. I jumped back with a yelp. More flames leapt into the air around me and my blood turned to ice.
I was staring face to face with a dragon. A real life, fire-breathing dragon. Its yellow reptilian eyes stared me down. As the fire faded, its large scaly form disappeared from my sight, but I knew it was still there.
Unlike the other dragons I’d seen, this one I could read, and it was frightened.
Pity filled me, though I didn’t dare step closer for fear it would burn my face clean off. “What happened? Are you all alone in here?”
The creature’s eyes narrowed. You are not elf.
Its words rumbled in my mind making my eyes bulge. It sounded strangely… young. Like a child.
“Oh. You’re a baby dragon.”
Fire blasted from its mouth. I took another step back, heart pounding. Its anger at my insult thrummed through the air.
I am nearly 100.
“I’m sorry. Not a baby. I’ve never met a dragon before,” I tried to correct my mistake.
Its eyes shifted and a loud snort sounded. I’ve never met your kind before either. What are you?
“I’m human. Well, half human and half elf.”
The halfling princess.
Cringing at the title, I nodded. “I’m… Ren. Where did you come from?”
It moved closer to me. Fear gripped me as it leaned its head toward me. The large snake-like eyes were terrifying. Not to mention its massive scaled and clawed body and fire power.
From the darkness.
I frowned, trying to figure out what that meant and then it hit me. My gut wrenched.
“You mean the abyss? You came from the abyss?”
From the darkness, it insisted.
“What are you doing in here?” I glanced around at the dark shapes and outlines, wondering what it looked like in daylight.
Shame poured from it. I didn’t want to fight the ice dragons and I couldn’t find my way back to the caves with that strange black cloud. It smelled like death.
I gaped at the dragon. “You mean the smoke?”
It didn’t respond. The idea of a dragon not knowing what smoke was and being frightened made my lip twitch, but its sorrow and embarrassment kept me from showing my amusement.
“But how did you get in here? How did you fit through the door?”
The dragon snorted in what sounded like offense. I am a dragon. I do not use doors. I came through the window.
It nodded toward the blackness. I couldn’t see anything that looked like a window or entrance. Even if there hadn’t been any smoke, the sky would be dark by now. The day was almost over.
And we still hadn’t saved Aunt Cindra or Des. Or Mag. My chest constricted.
The dragons. Are they gone?
I glanced back at the yellow eyes. “I don’t know. We
didn’t see any when we arrived. But maybe they flew away.”
Sorrow tore at my barrier. The dragon shifted, its eyes downcast. Poor thing. Though it was a dangerous creature, I couldn’t help but feel sympathy towards it. What if the other dragons had been destroyed in the battle or the abyss? What if this little one was all that was left?
Dismissing my dark thoughts, I held out my hand to the creature. “Come with me and I can take you somewhere safer. You can’t stay here.”
Wariness emanated from it. Where will we go? I can’t fly in that dark cloud.
I bit my lip and tried to figure out how to convince the dragon.
“Listen, umm… sorry what was your name?”
It rumbled something that sounded more like a gargle-cough than a name. My nose scrunched up, trying to make out something pronounceable.
“Can I call you Groff?” I settled on what had sounded like the beginning of its name.
Its yellow eyes narrowed. No.
Shaking my head, I tried again. “Sorry, it’s just hard for me to speak dragon. Do you have a nickname?”
Groff sniffed. My name in elvish means fearless devourer who flies fast.
My eyebrow arched. “Okay. How about Fearless, then? Can I call you that?”
That is acceptable.
I sensed its satisfaction, and it made me smile. Though the happiness didn’t last long, as I remembered the reality of our situation.
“Okay, Fearless. We really have to get out of here. Have you seen any others? The elves? Have you seen Princess Cindra?”
Sorrow enveloped us. My blood ran cold. Had something happened to my aunt? And Des? Nausea churned in my gut. My surroundings spun around me as I tried to quell my fears.
The Princess was locked in her castle.
Relief trickled in. “Then she’s okay?”
The dragon shook its head. The castle was turned into rubble. The ground beneath it opened and an army of golems rose. I do not think any survived.
Coldness spread across my skin and seeped into my bones. A sharp pain speared into my heart. Though it wasn’t a physical pain, but an emotional one, it hurt all the same. My fists clenched by my sides.
“No. Not Aunt Cindra. Not Des and Mag.”
I do not know the names of all the fallen. Fearless answered.
Tears filled my eyes. It took all my strength not to crumble into a heap on the floor. It was too much. All of it. I was too late to save anyone. It didn’t matter that I’d survived the trials or earned my title of princess. I’d finally started to accept my power and think of Feylin as a second home and now it would be gone. Wiped clean in a day.
I am sorry for your loss.
The sincerity in the dragon’s words was soothing. Taking a deep breath, I forced down my grief and let my magic run over me. Warmth rushed through me and left me numb. My sadness had been forced into a small corner where it still ached, like a bruise that you only thought about when it was touched.
I straightened to my full height. “We have to leave.”
Fearless’s head moved closer to me, making my heart pound. If a young dragon could be that intimidating, I didn’t want to come face to face with a full-size one.
Where will we go?
“To the Black Court. It’s safe there. For now.”
Hmm. What about the black cloud?
I shook my head. “It’s just smoke. If you fly high enough, I think you’ll be able to get past it.”
But I don’t want to leave the Court of Flame. This was my home.
My heart twisted at the dragon’s pain. “I know. But it’s not safe here anymore. More destruction will come.”
Something scraped against the floor, the sound echoing around us. It’s tail, I realized. Though I couldn’t make out every detail in the dark, I could still make out the outline of the dragon’s large body.
Yellow eyes glowed brightly at me. I will go with you.
I smiled and nodded. Now I just had to figure out how to get back to the carriages and find Mom and B’Zahir. My chest tightened. Had they gone to the castle and seen the destruction? Before the grief could overwhelm me, I swallowed down my emotion and cleared my mind.
“Okay. You’ll have to go back the way you came in.”
This way.
Its body swerved, the large shadow moving against the dark. My eyes widened at its alarming size and speed. I had to remind myself Fearless wasn’t going to hurt me. This was a nice dragon. Despite having the word ‘devouring’ in his name.
Yellow eyes turned back to me. I think you are a nice halfling too.
I blinked in surprise and inwardly groaned. Why couldn’t I shield my mind against a little dragon? If I was supposed to be Feylin’s hope to control this Raj’ani creature, I didn’t know how we would make it. We were doomed.
Fearless paused. Raj’ani? I thought they left this world. Worry echoed in the dragon’s words.
“There’s one trapped in the Black Court. It’s our chance to save Feylin. We will control its power to destroy the abyss.”
Fearless snorted. No one can control the Raj’ani. But maybe if it’s just one of them…
Dread rolled in my gut. The task was insurmountable at best and there was the fact that even if we did succeed in controlling the creature, it would leave us insane—literally.
Pushing away the worry, I focused on following the dragon. Our footsteps and its scraping tail echoed across the bathhouse. As we grew closer, moonlight filtered in from a giant, dragon-sized hole in the wall.
The window. That’s where I entered.
I bit back a smirk. A window that hadn’t been there before. I gaped at the night air. How late was it now? Had Mom and B’Zahir already returned to the carriages? Worry gnawed at me. What if my brilliant plan of saving Aunt Cindra had forced Mom to search for me and put her in danger?
You didn’t see any other dragons?
Fearless’s words startled me out of my thoughts. Pity filled me at the little dragon’s fear and sorrow. I knew those emotions well.
“We didn’t see any, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t there. There was a lot of smoke.”
I breathed in a gulp of air. Only the scent of floral and herbal soap filled my nose. The smoke was gone. Above us, the moon and stars shone down as if nothing had happened. As if the world was the same, but I knew it wasn’t.
It would never be the same again.
9
Fearless led the way out of the bathhouse. I followed, letting my eyes adjust to the moonlit scene. The light bathed the dragon, making its scaly dark body glimmer and shine. I gasped.
What is it? Fearless turned to me.
“You’re beautiful.” I flushed at my awkwardness.
Pleasure emanated from the dragon. Yes. I am.
I smiled at its arrogance. Were all dragons so proud?
Fire burst from Fearless’s mouth, making me jump back with a squawk.
Yellow eyes blinked at me. Are all halflings afraid of fire?
“When it’s coming right at you, yeah.”
Hmm. I will refrain from blowing fire in your direction. My apologies, little halfling.
I snorted. “Ren. My name is Ren.”
Something like a chortle sounded from Fearless. That is a strange name. I will call you halfling.
Sighing, I shrugged. I was used to being called worse. A warm wind blew around us, carrying the distinct smell of fire. My chest tightened. The smell reminded me of Aunt Cindra and my time in the Red Court when I had first arrived. Tears blurred my vision.
Sympathy rolled from Fearless. Don’t cry, halfling. All living things must die, eventually.
Though I knew the words were meant to comfort me, I couldn’t help but feel the sting of truth in them. Using my magic, I numbed myself and took a deep breath.
You have much power. But it will not be enough to withstand the Raj’ani. Their power is much greater, and they are wicked. Tricksters.
“You’ve seen them before?”
Fearless shook, horns glowing in the moonlight and startling me. I hadn’t noticed them before.
“Where did they all go? Into the abyss with you?”
No. Even the abyss cannot hold them. I do not know why they left Feylin, but some say in the earliest days when the elves first arrived, they unknowingly led the creatures here. Together, the goblins and fae worked to send them away. I did not know any had remained. The Raj’ani are hungry creatures. They devour entire worlds, yet they still hunger.
I shivered at the dragon’s words. The more I learned about the Raj’ani, the less I wanted to meet one. Worry spread through me once more at the prospect of trying to control one. Mom was right—I wasn’t ready. I was so not ready.
Mom. My stomach twisted in knots. I had to get back to her fast. Though things had seemed to settle in the Red Court, I didn’t dare trust it to last. The Gray Court’s destruction had come quick and unexpected. The abyss could finish off the rest of the Court of Flame in an instant.
“We should go.” My voice was carried by another warm breeze.
Fire erupted in the distance. Orange and red flames streaked the night sky. I gasped. What was happening?
The remains of the castle. They’re on fire.
Fearless whipped toward me, yellow eyes flashing. Someone is in there. I can hear them.
My heart pounded. Mom.
I tore off into a run, stumbling back through the garden. The blackened leaves and charred bark made me pause. Sorrow struck me at the scene. Everything had been burned.
Wait, halfling. The Black Court is this way.
“I’m going to the castle. Someone needs our help.”
Fearless flew toward me, revealing a sparkling red underbelly. I will save them.
“Wait!” My voice echoed back to me as the dragon sped away.
I growled in frustration and quickened my pace. The burning smell grew stronger as I ran through the gardens. My heart raced in my ears.
Please be okay. Please be okay.
Weariness filled my every limb, but I pushed myself forward. My magic flushed over me, renewing my energy. I ran. Each step jolting through my body.
As I got closer, I could hear the voices too. And the emotions. They came at me in full force, tearing through my barriers.
