Starlight

by Adrienne Woods

  I’d never experienced this kind of magic before and to be honest, it scared the living shit out of me.

  I didn’t understand or see where Blake was and I didn’t like our separation at all.

  I was trapped inside a stupid magic spell while he was out there, in the real world, having to find Goran now to break this too.

  King Helmut sat down and rested with his head against the wall.

  “There has to be a way,” I said.

  “There isn’t.”

  “How long will this last?” I asked.

  “Until they kill Goran.”

  “What?”

  “Elena, sit down. It’s not a bad thing. It means you’ll be safe.”

  “While Blake is fighting against Goran and the Saadedine? This wasn’t the plan.”

  “There is nothing you can do.”

  “I don’t believe that.” I started to pace up and down.

  There were no windows, not one.

  I couldn’t stop thinking about how messed up this had gotten. Blake was going to die. I couldn’t live in a world without him.

  Goran knew we were coming, but why hadn’t he escaped from Etan? Why wait for this day?

  I sat down opposite King Helmut and rested my head against the wall.

  “There has to be a way, c’mon. You know magic, we need to get out of here.” I got up again and tried to summon my own, but nothing happened. Blake had given me consent, whether he was in human form or not. We’d practiced long and hard to succeed with it, and…

  I shook my hands once again. Nothing.

  “What don’t you understand? You are wasting your time, Elena,” Helmut said. “It’s useless. This zone is magic free.”

  I looked at him and started to get angry with his don’t care, don’t fight attitude. It wasn’t like him to give up. We needed to get out of here. “No!” I wasn’t ready to give up. I needed to get to Blake. This felt so wrong.

  I closed my eyes hoping my heartbeat would calm down. It was silent for a long time as I thought about ways to get out of here. I kept staring at where I’d seen Blake the last time. Was he still there?

  “It was you,” King Helmut said.

  My head turned to King Helmut who no longer had any expression on his face. He was just sitting there, giving up.

  “What was me?” I asked.

  “I just realized it now,” he huffed.

  “What?”

  “You’re the reason my son is dead.”

  “WHAT ARE YOU talking about?” I looked at King Helmut. This must have been part of the spell that this maze of a hall cast on some people. They turned your sadness into something vengeful. “I didn’t kill, him. Nora did and she’s dead. You made sure of that.”

  “Yes, but it still was you. If my son hadn’t loved you, he would still be here today!” I flinched as he yelled that last part at me. “We should’ve never have come here today. We should never have freed Etan or your father.” He chuckled. It sounded so broken and I just stared at him. “You think your father was so saintly? Many people have no idea what he and his dragon did, he deserved to be cast out. The things he did. The things they did.”

  “Stop it, this isn’t you. You loved my father. You told me so many times.”

  “It wasn’t love, it was years of years brainwashing and enslavement.” He chuckled again. “Ironic, isn’t it. He gave voice to all the Chromatic dragons and yet us, the ones who were always so close to him, never had one.”

  “I don’t believe you. Stop this. It’s this place, we need to get out of here, so stop your whining and help me get out of here.”

  “I LOST MY SON!” he roared again.

  “I didn’t kill Lucian and it took me a long time to finally get that.”

  “You did kill him. It was his love for you that put him in that cave. And how do you repay him? You fall for the Rubicon that used to be his best friend. You would’ve killed him if that Hippogriff hadn’t.”

  I didn’t say anything as I knew that was the truth.

  “Now I have no one to take over Tith, Elena. No one.”

  I felt his sadness, hell I’d been there myself, but it was not the same. He’d lost a child, two in fact, in a span of ten years.

  “Nora wasn’t enough, was she?”

  He shook his head. “At first she was, but then I thought about it again.”

  “Killing me isn’t going to bring him back either, Helmut.”

  “It will make me feel better.”

  “Like killing Nora made you feel better? You need help. Not killing people because nobody will bring him back.”

  “No one can help me, not even Marguerite.” I stared at him. He’d never said his wife’s name using that tone. It was as if he blamed her in some way.

  Fear crept into my gut and thickened inside my chest. This was all so wrong. It shouldn’t have been like this.

  I shook my head. Blake wasn’t here, he wasn’t going to reach me in time. The mission was to kill the Saadedine, not fight Helmut. Blake thinks I’m safe with Helmut.

  The wall slightly rumbled and we both stared at it.

  “They need our help, Helmut.”

  “They don’t. Etan is lost, we should’ve never tried to free it.”

  I took a deep breath. Blake was right about our foretelling. I’d done my part, now he had to do his. But never in a million years did I think I wasn’t going to make it. One was going to die, and it was clear that I was that one.

  And then something happened.

  I didn’t know if I was me finally giving up too, as I really didn’t want to die, but something just happened. It was some sort of courage and my mind conjured up a plan without me really thinking about it.

  I let out a breath. “Then fine, if you want to kill me, do it. If that is going to bring you peace, do it. But just remember this, you have to kill Blake too, because he was supposed to be there and he refused. He came later, so if he’d been there on time, your son would still be alive. So if you want to kill everyone for disappointing Lucian, then you have to go after Blake too,” I said, hoping that knowing he would have to go and kill Blake would put everything back into perspective for him.

  I didn’t blame Blake anymore. He was dark then and he thought that I would die instead of Lucian.

  “I’ll cross that bridge when I get there,” Helmut said without any expression on his face. He looked so different without the mustache.

  “Just make it quick please.” I couldn’t believe that this was going to be the way everything ended.

  I closed my eyes and could hear King Helmut stepping forward, drawing his sword.

  I love you Blake…

  Blake.

  Earlier.

  MAGIC ENGULFED ME and Elena and Helmut were trapped inside the spell. I smelled her scent it was so strong, and when I finally realized what it was, it was too late. I’d only heard about this spell, never experienced it myself.

  This was the one Sir Edward had told us about back at the Academy. That nothing could break it.

  I knew immediately that she was right in front of us, inches in front of me. I could’ve just pulled her back, but I was too late.

  At least she would be safe while I went after the Saadedine.

  My heart bled for her as she kept running toward me, thinking that I’d died. She couldn’t find a way to me, confusion all over her face as she would just find Helmut standing in the middle again.

  “It’s no use,” I spoke to Raymond as he kept throwing acid balls at the shield. Our abilities had come back the minute they stepped through the barrier. I could feel the magic of this spell getting stronger, drawing all power, separating us so we couldn’t fight the Saadedine together. And King Helmut was trapped inside of her because he knew they would send him to kill him. “It won’t break. It’s one of the strongest spells there is. She is at least safe.”

  “Blake you can’t kill the Saadedine by yourself.”

  “I have no choice, it was always my job. Hers was to
get all of us in. Paul was right, Goran knew all along.”

  “If that is true, we walked into a death trap!” Raymond yelled.

  “No, he knew this day was going to come. He doesn’t have enough forces. Listen,” I spoke and cocked my head toward the wall, “they are fighting outside. He doesn’t have enough men and the Wyverns don’t stand a chance against the dragons. Once the Creepers are down, they will lose.”

  Footsteps ran toward us just as I made the decision to leave, to go find the Saadedine.

  It was Emanual. It felt as if I could breathe again. He was alive. King Caleb was right behind him, with his guard. He wasn’t going to like this one bit, and then my heart stopped as I looked at the fourth person running toward us. It was Helmut.

  Jeff, Virgil and Raymond wielded their abilities as I stayed standing on one spot.

  Emanual blocked his company from us.

  “This castle is filled with enchantments, it is me,” Emanual spoke. “It is me, Emanual, your friend, not your enemy.”

  “We know it’s you Emanual,” Raymond snapped at him. “What are you doing with him?”

  Emanual turned around and stared back at the king, then turned back to me.

  “Where is Elena?” he asked as he stared at my frozen body. “Blake, I haven’t left Helmut’s side since the minute Elena brought us in. Where is the princess?”

  I turned my head and looked at Elena. I’d finally found myself again and wielded my pink kiss, as an angry grunt left my mouth. I attacked the wall with everything I had.

  Virgil and Raymond put two and two together real fast.

  We were the idiots who had been fooled. I knew I should’ve trusted my instincts when I saw him on those stairs.

  “Blake!” Emanual’s voice yelled and came closer.

  “We need to destroy this wall or she is going to die.” I grunted and put my hands, engulfed in the pink kiss, on the wall. It lit up, fire ran to the corners, turning the spell into a door of fire, but it never budged. The spell was strong, even stronger than my pink kiss.

  “Blake!” Emanual yelled this time and the fire on the wall disappeared. Then they all saw my worst fear.

  King Helmut and Caleb just stared at Elena and Helmut’s twins speaking to one another about how they were trapped, that she was safe.

  Helmut wielded his fire and as one all four of us turned our abilities on the wall.

  I couldn’t believe I’d been such an idiot. How could I have gotten fooled like that? I was the Rubicon and I’d put my princess’s life in danger. She was trapped with the one guy we were trying to surprise. He didn’t just know we were coming, he’d participated, planned everything. I should’ve fucking used more precautions.

  Emanual, Helmut and Caleb didn’t say a word as they helped try to break the spell. We even did one together, a spell King Helmut knew well, one of the spells he’d used many times through his twin, but it was no use.

  The wall was waning, but it didn’t break.

  “Again!” I roared.

  “Blake it’s not working. He gotten too strong,” Helmut spoke. “Even for me.”

  “He is your twin, you must have some sort of a connection with him still.”

  “I don’t.” He sounded defeated.

  Still Emanual, Caleb and I didn’t stop trying to break through the enchantment.

  Elena and Goran were both just sitting there, and then Goran started speaking about Lucian’s death, and how it was all her fault.

  A cold finger traced down my spine as I looked back at Elena. “No!” It barely left my mouth. He was going to kill her, and she would think that it was by the hands of King Helmut.

  “You fucking bastard!” Helmut yelled, sounding deranged. “You killed my son, you and that filth you love so much!”

  “We need to break this spell!” Emanual roared and threw his fire. I helped with everything I had. I screamed and tried so hard to connect with her mind as she’d started buying his words. Believing that it was Helmut.

  “It’s not going to work, Emanual.”

  “Well, then you just became her murderer as she believes with all her heart that it’s you.” Emanual gave Helmut a glare I’d never seen him give to his rider before.

  “Elena, fight. This is not the way you are going to die!” I screamed. I felt so helpless. I yelled out spells, Helmut even tried but they took time to work. We didn’t have much time.

  I tried to break down the wall again, but nothing. Not even a crack.

  One of us was going to die… No, no, it’s not supposed to be her. I hit on the wall again.

  She’d given up and tears streamed down my cheeks.

  “Fight, Elena, fight.” She bowed her head and he drew his sword. “Elena!” I screamed. “It’s not Helmut, it’s Goran, fight!”

  “Blake, calm down, she is not going to hear you,” Helmut said with tears glistening in his eyes too.

  “You should’ve told her!” I screamed at him.

  He drew the sword.

  “Noooo!” I yelled as Goran raised his sword. I could’ve sworn it had been Helmut on the stairs. He’d truly known about everything we were planning.

  Elena.

  I BOWED MY head, and just waited for his blow. “Elena!” Blake’s screamed filled my head. “It’s not Helmut, it’s Goran, fight!”

  “Blake, calm down, she is not going to hear you,” Helmut said. Images of them watching from behind some glass wall appeared in my mind.

  “You should’ve told her!” I heard Blake’s voice screaming that it wasn’t Helmut, it was Goran, his twin. That was what he’d been hiding.

  I saw the image in his head, how I’d just given up, and knew when he was going to strike. Just then, I ducked and rolled out of the way.

  He hadn’t expected it at all. He came for me again and hit the wall as I ducked that blow too.

  “You’re not Helmut, are you?” I yelled. It all made sense. Why Blake was contemplating on the steps, why none of them had lowered their swords. They all knew what Goran looked like, and they’d tried to hide it from me. That was why all the secrecy when it came to the king’s missions.

  The way he’d said Maggie’s name, she wasn’t his love.

  I had my hand on my one ax, which was safely in its sheath on my back, without taking my eyes off the man, whoever he was.

  “What are you tattering about? Of course I’m Helmut.”

  “No,” I shook my head. “Helmut’s never said Marguerite’s name with so much hatred. Who are you?” I yelled.

  Blake’s voice was gone.

  “Answer me.”

  He started to laugh and bounce on one spot. “Answer me,” he mocked me in an animated voice.

  I knew immediately that the voice in my head was Blake’s. The connection had come back, even if it was just for a second. The man changed drastically, the way he spoke, the way he moved, it was the Dragonian from that day in the woods, when Brian had died, who was being controlled by Goran.

  “Goran,” I whispered.

  “Ta-dah,” he joked again and laughed. He took a bow without breaking his gaze on me. “Elena,” he smiled. “So nice to finally meet you.”

  He looked so much like Helmut, the spitting image. Now I knew why Helmut had shaved his mustache to pretend to be his brother so we could get closer, yet this idiot had used it against us, making it harder to tell who was who. Even for Blake. “You knew we were coming today, didn’t you.”

  “You should’ve listened to Jerry, or was it Malik? No, it was Paul.” He had a smile on his face.

  “He’s dead and I don’t listen to dead cowards. Now answer me,” I spat at him.

  “Yes, I knew you were coming, I had my informants and I’ve been waiting for this fight for a long time.”

  That brought on a new fear. If he knew how we’d gotten in why…. “Why didn’t you just use my father’s blood to get out?”

  He gnawed on his lips and smiled.

  “No,” I had tears in my eyes. He couldn’t be dead.<
br />
  “Sorry,” he mocked me again.

  I screamed and went for him, and he pushed me away.

  Calm down Elena. I heard Blake’s voice again, but it wasn’t like before. It was from the time I’d trained with him. He’d found ways to make me angry and I would attack in anger, seeing my ass each and every time. I pushed my father’s death to the back of my mind.

  “So you would jeopardize millions of innocent people’s live just so you can have your stupid war?” I huffed, because I knew he would.

  “I guess being locked up in Etan for… how old are you now… nineteen, twenty? Doesn’t matter. A long fucking time does that to you!” he yelled that last part as if it was my fault the Creepers had trapped them.

  “No, that was your dragon’s fault for giving you too much of her Essence.”

  “She didn’t give me shit!” he roared.

  I squinted. “How did you manage to grow this old then? Without a trace of aging?”

  “I took it from her, and then I killed her.”

  Bile struck my throat.

  “Oh, they all believed that it was her dying wish, oh Sarafina,” he acted, mocked his dragon. “If only they knew what a coward she was.”

  “Swallow Annexes are many gracious and wonderful things but never cowards.”

  “She was, when she didn’t want to give me her Essence.”

  “Yeah, and now I know why she didn’t want to. I wouldn’t either. She knew what was truly in your heart. You were evil even before you took her Essence.”

  He mocked me by pulling his face and shaking his head. “It looks like we have a real know-it-all.”

  “It’s your fault everyone is locked up, Goran. You betrayed my father. He was your best friend, how could you?”

  “You know, my brother asked me that same question, that night.” He looked at me, leaning on his sword, and started to laugh like a mad-man again. “It was easy, your father wanted to control me, like he did everyone else.”

  “Bullshit.”

  “Ohhh, Katie wouldn’t have liked that mouth of yours.” He was mocking me again, pointing his sword at me as we circled one another.