Spirit (Legend of the Dragons Book 1)

by Denelle Elison

  The man shook his head slightly. “Do you think you’re actually going to be able to get away? Don’t be stupid, beautiful. Every entrance to this house is blocked off.”

  Briahnna began to conjure her wind and make the earth shake. The man shook his head with a grin once more and extended his hand. She felt the wind whoosh from her like it was sucked away and gaped as she saw his other hand shoot forward. He was a wind magik. Feeling a prick in her neck she fell to her knees, grabbing at a dart.

  Briahnna heard a scream come from behind and tried to turn as the world spun around her. Gabriela was running. Why is she running so slowly? Briahnna thought as she reached out to her. She tried to speak to Gabriela, to tell her to run away, but all that came out was a garble of noises. Just as Gabriela reached her, Briahnna’s vision faded and she passed out in Gabriela’s arms.

  Chapter 24

  Jerrick came back to the palace the morning before the wedding and found complete chaos.

  “What’s going on?” he asked a servant.

  “The princess is missing, My Lord.”

  Jerrick’s heart leapt to his throat. “Where is the King?”

  Wide eyed, the servant meekly bowed his head and softly answered, “I do not know. I am sorry, My Lord.” He scurried away.

  Jerrick sprinted up the palace steps and entered to find King Rinald, Daniel, and Reed assembling a small team of palace guards.

  “What’s happened? Where is she?” Jerrick demanded when the King looked at him.

  “Where have you been?” Rinald roared.

  “What do you mean?” Jerrick yelled. “Where is Briahnna?”

  King Rinald paused in surprise. “You mean she isn’t with you?”

  “No! I have no idea what’s going on! Will someone please tell me?” Jerrick was frantic. He was searching desperately for her but he couldn’t feel her. He couldn’t even feel the indifference that he felt when she was able to block him. She was mute.

  “Jerrick, can you at least track her with your connection?” Daniel asked calmly.

  Jerrick shook his head ready to explode. “WHAT HAPPENED?”

  The King shook his head and closed his eyes. “She didn’t come down to breakfast this morning. We sent for Gabriela to fetch her, but when she wasn’t among the servants, I went to Briahnna’s room myself. Her bed was empty, completely made, as if it hadn’t been slept in. We’ve searched the grounds. All the servants say that they haven’t seen Gabriela since last evening. They are both missing and we can only assume that they are together.”

  Rinald blew out a slow breath. “Daniel. We’re going to need you to track Briahnna after all.”

  With a slight bow, Daniel made his way to the doors of the palace as everyone followed.

  “Jerrick!” shrieked Queen Adriahnna as she made her way to the entrance hall. “Where is she? Is she with you?”

  Jerrick, feeling completely useless and shocked, shook his head.

  Rinald took the Queen in his arms and whispered in her ear. She nodded to him with tears in her eyes. “I’m sure she’s fine.” Adriahnna tried to reassure herself. “She probably just decided to go to the school to see the children. Or maybe she made one of her rash decisions and headed back to the battlefront. She’ll be fine. Just find her fast, please.”

  The King nodded and beckoned for everyone to follow Daniel.

  . . .

  Daniel led the team of searchers to Gabriela’s home.

  Rinald groaned upon seeing the door hanging by a hinge. He, Jerrick, and the guards entered while Daniel went around back.

  “It’s been ransacked.” King Rinald shook his head. “We can guess what happened.”

  Jerrick collapsed on a chair with his head in his hands. “Slave traders,” he groaned. “Is this where Daniel felt her trace?”

  “They went to the forest,” Daniel answered, entering the house. “Her trace leads to the forest. Directly into the forest; not the border crossings.”

  “Search the house for anything that might help,” ordered Rinald.

  “Your Majesty,” Reed said, coming in from the kitchen. King Rinald turned and found Reed with two children about nine and ten years old. “I found these two hiding in the cabinets in the kitchen.”

  Rinald strode over to the two children and knelt before them. “Trista and Kyle, where is your sister?” he asked gently.

  Kyle looked down sadly as he held his sister’s shoulders in his arms. “She was taken with the Princess and my mother.”

  “Do you know who took them?”

  Kyle shook his head. “They just barged in and my mother and Gabriela shoved Trista and me into the cupboard.”

  “Where you stayed all night?” the King asked in surprise.

  “I was afraid to come out. I didn’t want them to have Trista too,” he said, pulling his sister closer, protectively.

  “I understand.” Rinald gave the boy a pat on the shoulder. “Do you know why the Princess and Gabriela were here?”

  “They said that the slave traders had made it into the capital and wanted us to return to the palace with them.” Kyle boldly looked into the King’s eyes. “I’m sorry.”

  “Oh Kyle…” the King sighed. “It’s okay. We will do everything we can to get them back.” He turned to one of the guards. “Take these two back to the palace and inform my wife that we will be there shortly. Have the servants gather provisions and get the packs ready for the horses. It looks like we will be traveling on the other side of the forest.”

  “I’ll go now,” Jerrick said, standing up quickly and heading for the door.

  “And what makes you think that you will do any good by going alone?” Rinald began as he walked toward Jerrick. “You can’t feel her outside of the forest. Nor can you within the forest. What good will it do? You’ll just get lost.”

  Jerrick felt completely helpless, angry, and frustrated. How could this happen? He shouldn’t have left with Samson. He should have stayed at the palace until the wedding. He should not have closed himself off to her.

  “Come,” Rinald said as he watched Jerrick’s mixture of emotions play across his face. “We will find her.”

  . . .

  Briahnna opened her eyes to feel the ground moving beneath her. Her vision blurred with brightness, and her head pounded in agony. Focusing, she looked around and saw Gabriela sleeping beside her and Gweneth on Gabriela’s other side. She turned her head further and found more bodies crowded together. They were all riding on the bed of a wagon, everyone’s hands tied behind them and everyone’s feet tied to the wagon. She felt her hands behind her were bound as well.

  Briahnna wiggled herself into a sitting position and looked around some more. She could see a vast range of mountains in the distance and gasped. She felt it. The pull she felt when she made her own fire. It was coming from that range of mountains. They called to her. She had to get there somehow.

  “Ugh…” she groaned, trying to shake her head free of such ridiculous musings. I’m going crazy, she thought to herself. Then she thought of her family, her home, and Jerrick. They were supposed to be getting married in one day. Or was it today? She didn’t know how long she had been out. It didn’t matter. In a day, or maybe even hours, she was supposed to be taking his name. He was supposed to be making her his…completely. Obviously, there wasn’t going to be a wedding. Briahnna looked down at her bound feet, and even though she was completely bound, for the first time in a long time, she felt a sense of freedom.

  Chapter 25

  “Jerrick.”

  “Mallek.”

  “Have a seat,” Mallek said, gesturing to a stump near the fire.

  Jerrick kept his stance, watching as Mallek ate his food casually. “You made a mistake, Mallek.”

  Mallek paused with his utensil halfway to his mouth, then set it in his bowl and leaned his elbows on his knees. “The way I see it, I did you a favor. Selling those magiks to slave traders from Thornhold gives Mageia proof of Thornhold’s supposed treachery against
us,” he said with a lazy grin.

  Jerrick stepped nonchalantly toward Mallek and took a seat on the stump to which Mallek had gestured. He took a bowl from the pile of cookware and dished himself whatever slop Mallek had made over the fire. “I’m not talking about selling magiks to Thornhold. I knew a long time ago that you decided to go into business for yourself by working with the slave traders. I decided to overlook it because it did incriminate them… but you crossed a boundary, Mallek.”

  Jerrick reached his hand out to take Mallek’s air, but Mallek was too quick and counteracted by taking Jerrick’s. Jerrick’s eyes widened for a split second before Mallek walked menacingly toward him. “I’ve learned a few things myself, Jerrick, and don’t think for a minute that I’m not going to be ready to defend myself against you.”

  Jerrick ground his teeth together and stood up, face to face with this arrogant fool.

  “Impressive.” Mallek grinned. “Usually people panic when their air is taken. How long do you think you can last before your heart stops, Jerrick? I could time it. Would you like that?” he said, circling Jerrick like a vulture. He stepped in front of Jerrick and smiled maliciously.

  Jerrick returned his smile and blasted Mallek off his feet.

  Taking a deep breath of fresh air, Jerrick walked slowly toward him while conjuring an orb of fire in one hand.

  Mallek froze. He’d never seen a wind magik who was able to manipulate fire. He doused it quickly with water from the nearby stream. “Seems you’ve been keeping a few things from me.”

  Jerrick leaned down so he was face to face with Mallek. “I try to not to reveal all of my secrets at once.” Mallek was so hungry for money that Jerrick never had to threaten him with his magic before. To Mallek, Jerrick was just a power-hungry man with more than enough money to spare.

  Yellow light flickered from Jerrick’s hand and he pushed it toward Mallek, who cringed away in dismay. “With one touch I could stop your heart, Mallek. I really should. You took what was mine. Had I known, I never would have let you escape through the forest. You’d be dead right now.”

  Mallek shook his head. “No, I followed protocol. I was in the most depleted part of the city. People there were starving and useless. Had they known where they were going, they probably would have chosen to go.”

  Jerrick touched Mallek, giving him a little sample of what he could do to him, and Mallek screamed in pain. After the pain subsided, Mallek slid backward trying to get away from Jerrick’s searing hand.

  “I swear!” Mallek yelled at him. “I didn’t take anything of yours!”

  Jerrick’s eyes blazed with fire. “You should have done your homework! You should know who you take! Every single name!” Taking a paper from his pocket, Jerrick chucked it at Mallek.

  Mallek’s eyes widened at the stack of paper full of thousands of names. He picked it up and thumbed through it.

  “Last page!” Jerrick growled.

  Mallek groaned as he read the last few names on the page, Briahnna of Maldon, Gweneth of Ashguard, Gabriela of Ashguard.

  “So you recognize the name,” Jerrick said watching Mallek.

  “Briahnna of Maldon is the Princess of Mageia,” Mallek said as his eyes scanned the rest of the paper. He looked up at Jerrick. “You must see that I didn’t know, Jerrick. Why would the princess be there?”

  “The home you broke into was that of her lady’s maid. They were there trying to get the family out.” The light in Jerrick’s hand brightened and Mallek backed away again.

  Mallek took a deep breath. “So they have the Princess of Mageia? So what? Couldn’t you use that in your war?” he asked, eyes pleading with the need to stay alive. “Couldn’t you use her as leverage?”

  “Yes!” Jerrick seethed.

  “I don’t understand!” Mallek stood and took another step back. “Why are you angry? What has she got to do with you?”

  “We were to be married the day after you took her!”

  Mallek swore and took off in the opposite direction but ran into an invisible wall. He turned. “Jerrick! I swear! I didn’t know. You have to believe me. I can help you. I can find out where she is!”

  Jerrick watched him and nodded for Mallek to continue.

  Mallek sighed in relief. “I don’t know the name of the men. They wanted to stay anonymous, but they take their goods straight to the trading grounds. We can go there and find them.”

  “You work with anonymous traders?” Jerrick asked angrily.

  “I–,” Mallek shook his head. “They pay the most.”

  Jerrick had had enough. It had been two months since Briahnna’s disappearance and he knew it was too late. He didn’t have time to look anymore. The Elders had reinstated him. He and a few others were in the process of “convincing” the rest of the Elders to let him finish what he had started. After he finished this war he would find Briahnna. He swore it. Stretching out his arm he released just enough magic to stop Mallek’s heart, turned, and walked away.

  Part 2

  Chapter 26

  “Prince Desmond! I am your healer! How am I supposed to do my duty if you won’t heed my word?”

  Prince Desmond turned to the old healer. “I have to see to the people in my charge, Brinson. It has been too long since my father or I have been here to see to their needs. I will not be an invalid stuck in the castle anymore. Besides, walking and using my muscles is good, is it not?”

  “Not when over-used,” Brinson answered. “I would consider riding a horse and walking around all of those fields to be too much. I will tell you one more time in hopes that it will enter the thickness of your head. When a bone has broken in more than one spot it can be easily broken again, especially when it’s a joint. Practically your whole body has been broken. Healing it takes longer than four months! Especially when a month of it was in a carriage that jostled your body around.”

  Desmond ground his teeth together. Stroking Othur’s muzzle, he coaxed his horse to kneel in front of him so that he could hobble onto its back. It was bad enough that he could barely walk with the help of a cane, but he couldn’t even get onto his horse properly.

  Brinson turned to Prince Desmond’s guard and closest friend. “Will you talk some sense into him, Liam? He listens to you.”

  Liam gave Brinson an incredulous look. “You can’t be serious. He’s up and moving! I say ‘praise the Southern Mountains,’ for my prince is healed!”

  Prince Desmond laughed at his friend jumping onto his own steed with a triumphant grin. “Don’t incense him further, Liam. I’ll pay for it when he shoves more of those disturbing herbs down my throat,” Desmond whispered.

  Brinson huffed and returned into the towering castle of Thornhold.

  Desmond turned Othur to the fields and groaned inwardly at the woman standing before them.

  “Good morning, Liam, Prince Desmond.”

  “My Lady,” grinned Liam. He turned and winked at Desmond.

  “Hello Enielle,” Desmond said with a slight bow of his head. “I see you’ve come to visit with my sister once again. Don’t you think she should be visiting with other twelve-year-olds?”

  Enielle smiled her sweet smile at Desmond. “Yes, if those other twelve-year-olds were worthy of her, Your Highness. She is young and needs the influence of a woman in her life. Though you have helped your father to raise her well, she lacks in the finesse of womanhood.”

  Liam snorted. “She’s twelve!”

  “Yes,” Enielle smirked at Liam, “and you’re what, somewhere in your thirties? Yet, I see little difference.”

  Liam grinned, shook his head, and let his horse prance in a circle around her.

  “Isn’t that what a lady’s maid is for?” asked Desmond.

  Enielle slowly walked forward, eyes glittering flirtatiously, straightening so that every curve of her body was in view. She had raven-black hair, rich cream skin, and chocolate eyes. “I have more to show her than any lady’s maid. Wouldn’t you agree, my Prince?”

  Prince Des
mond scrutinized her and turned away.

  Liam vigilantly circled her, keeping her from getting too close to Prince Desmond.

  She looked up annoyingly at Liam. “Besides,” she said, “maybe it wouldn’t be needed if she could keep a lady’s maid.”

  Desmond nodded. “Point taken. I shall find her a better lady’s maid. Good day Enielle.”

  “Wait!” Enielle said, causing him to pause. “Since you’re up and about, will you be joining Atira and me for lunch?”

  “No. I have too much to do today.” Desmond looked at Liam. “Come. We need to get started.”

  They both turned and rode to the fields. Desmond cringed in pain, wanting nothing more than to tumble off of his horse and lay on the ground under the open sky. Feeling the grind of bone upon bone would nauseate any man, and it was weakness.

  “You know,” Liam said glancing at Desmond,” you have to pick a bride someday. You’re not getting any younger.”

  Desmond glared at Liam through the corner of his eye. He could barely move his stiff neck.

  Liam laughed. “She may be horrifying, self-centered, beastly, even snobbish.” Desmond couldn’t help his tight laugh, and Liam continued, “Ruthless, hard hearted, cunning…did I miss anything?”

  Desmond shook his head stiffly, concentrating on breathing in and out as the pain continued its stubborn assent to unbearable. “I think you’ve pretty much covered it. Oh how I wish she’d spend more time with my sister,” he said sarcastically.

  Liam gave the prince a ruthless smile. “She is beautiful, undeniably curvaceous.”

  Desmond barked out a laugh then cringed, looked at the sky, and exhaled. “Nice word,” he said painfully.

  “Thank you!” Liam’s smile was wide. “I made it up.”

  Desmond sighed, “You are twelve.”

  “My point is,” Liam continued, “that you could have her by your side in an instant. See such beauty every morning. Touch her soft skin every day. Listen to her loud yap every hour.”