The Daath Chronicles- The Complete Series

by Eliza Tilton

  “Don’t let it snap your head off.” I sidestepped, making my way to the creatures left flank.

  “Its breath weapon is acid,” Terra added. She held her stilettos and crouched low. “Only vulnerable spot is its belly. We need to flip it.”

  “That should be interesting.” This creature weighed as much as a house. Flipping it would be nearly impossible. Someone would have to slide under it.

  Putting the staff away, I slid the sais out. “You two distract it, while I attack from the rear.”

  Derrick nodded, and dashed forward. The crok opened its maw, sucking in the air around us.

  “He’s going to fire!” Terra yelled, sprinting to the side.

  Derrick continued to run forward, unfazed by the creature’s attack.

  “Fool!” I yelled, running out of the way. “It’ll kill you!”

  Anger boiled within me, changing my aura into blood red. I cared little if the human lived, but we needed him alive to reach the gate.

  A giant cloud of yellow-green burst from the beast’s mouth. I flung myself to the side and shielded my eyes, not wanting to see the bloody mess Derrick had become. Screeching, loud and piercing, rattled through my head. I covered my ears to stop the noise from blasting my hearing. The ground shook beneath me, and when the scream stopped, I lifted my head.

  Standing in a faded cloud of green, Derrick pulled his sword out from the creature’s neck. Not only had he survived the acid breath, but he killed the crok in one stroke!

  Terra squealed and jumped at him, throwing her arms around his neck in a foolish show of affection. “That was incredible! I thought you were dead for sure!”

  I stood, shaking the dust off my clothes. “Impressive indeed.”

  Derrick smirked, seeming to enjoy Terra’s flattery. “You’re not the only one who has power.”

  So Father was right. The human is immune to this world’s magic, in any form. “Then you will have no problem taking us to the gate.”

  His smirk faded to the stern expression I was more familiar with. “Yes.”

  “Come on.” Terra tugged Derrick’s arm. “We’re almost there, and those bugs will be back soon.”

  Derrick slid his sword into the sheath. Terra eyed me, her violet eyes maniacal with delight. “My prince.” She waved her hand in a mocking bow, grinning.

  “Do well to remember your place.” I deepened my voice, removing all humor. “Soon I will be king and your deal will be irrelevant.”

  Her smile faded and she narrowed her gaze at me, the delight shifting to wild anger, but whatever words she thought of saying, she held her tongue and took lead.

  With the beast disposed of, we continued, the sky shifting black as the day changed to night. The ravine narrowed, all light dissipating down its rock corridor. The cavern walls rose into the sky, and the cliff’s edge blended in with the dark. Terra held out her palms, facing forward.

  “It’s in there,” she murmured, eyes closed as if she heard the way spoken to her.

  I stepped to pass, and she stopped me with her arm. “Wait. I sense a huge amount of energy, but it’s blocked.” She bent low and picked a rock off the ground, then tossed it into the ravine.

  Lightning struck out from the mountain, blasting the ravine with light.

  “And how are we supposed to enter?” I asked.

  “With him.” Terra pointed at Derrick.

  “Ahh, yes, the human boy who’s impervious to our world’s dangers. How does that help us?”

  Derrick rolled up his sleeves. The red tattoo, which I remembered being on his chest and neck, had spread out across his limbs like veins. “Grab an arm.”

  Terra placed her hand on his arm. I followed suit. With silent steps, we entered the dark. Lightning shot out, but never touched my skin. The current seemed to stop inches short of my body as if an invisible wall protected the three of us. Derrick had changed. I wondered if this new attribute would pass back into Tarrtainya.

  My sight adjusted to the darkness. A small breeze moved around us, lifting and tingling the tiny hair on my skin.

  “It’s close,” Terra whispered.

  Through the breaks of light, I saw a moving mass of starlight. Beams twinkled within a pool of liquid black, hanging in the air in an unnatural way. The clothing I wore pulled forward as if the strange mass tried to tug me closer. It reminded me of the hole in the temple on Daath.

  Is that where we would return? We had no way of knowing if this gate would take us back to Tarrtainya. We could enter in a new world, but I refused to think otherwise. Tarrtainya and Mirth were tied, unexplainably.

  “Is that it?” Derrick asked.

  “Yes,” Terra said. “Are you two ready? We run together, straight through.”

  I nodded, determined to return to my lands and reclaim my birthright.

  “Go!” Terra shouted, and in unison, we charged into the moving mass, letting it swallow us whole.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Jeslyn

  Sand crushed under my feet. I ran across the beach, searching for Hadda. She flew in from the west, finding me before I could whistle. I grabbed the feathers behind her neck.

  “Go to the island, and hurry.” I slid onto her back and she soared into the sky.

  I knew something was wrong with Lucino. If I couldn’t talk sense to him, maybe Romulus could. This “new” plan of revealing himself, throwing the king’s emissary in jail, none of it is what we talked about.

  Had it all been a lie?

  Wind ruffled my hair as the island came in to view. Hadda landed on the beach and I patted the top of her head. “Stay hidden. I won’t be long.” She nuzzled my hand with her beak, and flew back into the sky.

  Deep breaths.

  Jezebel stayed in my chambers. If Lucino came to visit, she would say anything she needed to keep him away. If Lucino noticed I had left my chambers, he would search, and if he discovered my destination, I might put myself and Romulus at risk. While the Lucino I loved would be angry, he would never harm me or Romulus, but something had changed, and until I knew what, I couldn’t trust him.

  Moonlight guided me to the shack, and instead of searching and waiting, I opened the hatch and climbed into the tunnel. Torchlight bounced against the rocky walls. The door at the end opened and Romulus stepped out.

  “Come in, quickly!”

  Without wondering how he knew I was there, I dashed down the corridor and into his lab. He closed the door behind me.

  “You should not be here. If Lucino finds you—”

  “I know,” I said, “but I need your help.” I rambled before he could tell me to leave, rubbing my hands together. “Lucino has been acting strange. At first, I thought it was nerves from the wedding.”

  Romulus stood in silence, peering at me with those beady yellow eyes.

  I paced, shaking my head. “Then when he took me to the tunnels—”

  “He took you underground?” Romulus’ stony eyes grew large.

  I nodded. “But that’s not all.” My heart raced and my stomach churned so intensely, I thought I would be sick. “Last night at dinner… he…” Romulus’ large nostrils flared and I ignored the bumps on his prodigious nose. “He walked into the room in his natural form.”

  Romulus opened his mouth, and for the first time since I’ve known him, said nothing.

  “What’s wrong with him?” I asked. “Does he not want to marry? Has this been a lie?”

  Romulus cleared his throat and shook the shock off his face. “Lucino is not well.”

  “Ever since that night he was attacked, he’s been strange. Do you think the magical necklace you gave him is somehow affecting him? He said it’s dangerous to humans, but he’s half-human.”

  “Describe this necklace.”

  It worried me Romulus asked me to describe a gift he gave Lucino. Shouldn’t he kn
ow what it looks like? “It’s a teardrop shape, and so faceted a thousand rainbows shine.”

  “Hmmm…” Romulus tapped his chin. “Could it be?”

  “What are we going to do? He’s already thrown the emissary in jail and is refusing to trade. Everything will be lost? How do we help him?”

  “Calm, girl. You talk too much.” Romulus shooed me away and moved to the table. He picked up a quill, dipped it in ink, and began drawing on a parchment. “Does the crystal look like this?”

  “Yes!”

  “Hmm. Go back until I call for you. I must think on how to retrieve the necklace without him noticing it.”

  “Go back? That’s it?” Hopelessness beat my chest. If Romulus couldn’t help, no one could. I couldn’t go back and pretend Lucino was fine. That I was fine. “I don’t want to.” My lip quivered, but I held back the tears. “Can’t I just take the necklace? Tell him you need to examine it?”

  “No. If it has changed his personality, he will not part from it. I must think of a solution.” He shoved me towards the door. “Go, before he notices you are gone.”

  I left the lab and returned to Hadda. As she flew me back to the island, I cried in her feathers, sobbing and wishing someone would give me answers. If I had left the night Avikar, Derrick, and Raven had come to save me from Lucino, things may have turned out different. So many lives lost, all because I fell in love.

  Hadda landed on the sand. I sat hugging her. She nudged my face with her beak. Dawn broke across the tree line, casting the beach into a warm light.

  “Something’s wrong with him, Hadda. I don’t know what to do. I’m scared… and I feel so alone.” Tears poured down my cheeks, and my chest broke with pain.

  With morning here, Jezebel would have a hard time keeping Madara from entering, and though Madara was my servant, she was loyal to Lucino. He would know the moment I wasn’t there.

  “I think I’ll go for a swim.” I stood and took a deep breath. I couldn’t go back with my eyes and face red from crying. “Yes. That’s what I need. Care to join me?” Hadda squawked and I smiled. “Of course, you would.” I rubbed her head and kissed her beak.

  Slipping out of my dress, I left my clothes on the sand and ran into the waves. The cool water crashed against me and I dove under. When I popped my head above the surface, Hadda flew above me. I splashed water at her. She responded by sending two small waves at me.

  “Ah!” I dove back under the water, before the second wave slammed into me.

  Swimming and playing with Hadda released some of the worry and fear I had. I would find a way to fix this. Romulus would think of a plan, and everything would be fine. Lucino would be back to normal, and the wedding would be beautiful.

  Was I overreacting? Yes, he had been short with me, and showing up as a Reptilian at dinner was extremely unusual, but he had treated me the same, and he swore his people wouldn’t kill us anymore.

  But could I really trust him?

  A picture of those poor dead people on the cart flashed into my mind. I shook the image away. We would find a way. We had to.

  Feeling refreshed, I grabbed my clothes, kissed Hadda, and returned to the mansion before anyone noticed I was gone.

  Lucino’s shouting echoed through the mansion. I wrung out my hair and ran to the parlor where I heard him.

  “What do you mean you don’t know where she is? How are you her ladies and yet, you have misplaced her?”

  Jezebel and Gwen stood in the parlor, chins held high, wearing their nightgowns.

  “I’m right here.”

  Lucino whirled around at me.

  “Where have you been?”

  “I went for a swim.”

  He narrowed his gaze at me. “You were not on the grounds.”

  “I went to the ocean.”

  “The ocean? You went to the ocean at night, for a swim?”

  I folded my arms. “Yes. After what happened at dinner, I needed to clear my head.”

  “Leave us.” Lucino pointed at Gwen and Jezebel, but his glaring gaze stayed on me.

  “My lord, let us take Lady Jes—”

  “I said, leave!” Lucino cut Jezebel off, and I held my breath in fear she would argue with him, and this would end in disaster.

  Jezebel’s brow furrowed, but instead of fighting with the “lord” of the house, she nudged Gwen to follow her out.

  Lucino’s jaw twitched. “You will no longer leave the grounds without an escort.”

  “What?”

  “It is for your own safety. There are enemies everywhere.” His voice softened a bit, but there was no compassion in the way he glared at me when he spoke.

  “So I’m going to be babysat, again?”

  His eyebrow arched.

  “Did you forget what it was like when you had your sister babysit me? I’m not a prisoner!”

  He stomped toward me, and I instinctively stepped back. “If you desire to leave the grounds, you will ask Willis and he will assign a guard. If you don’t comply, I will gladly keep a guard posted by you all day.”

  My heart pattered. “Just like before.”

  There was no love within his bright blue eyes.

  “Lucino… why are you acting like this? Is this how my future will be? Locked and guarded night and day? I won’t live like that.”

  “No, and it is not the life I wish for you.” He reached for my hands, and I gave them to him. “This is only until after the ritual. There are too many of my kind who would see you dead.”

  “Dead?”

  “Trust me.” He grazed a finger across my face. “This will all be over soon.” He gave me a quick kiss then left me alone.

  Trust him?

  Jezebel and Gwen came back in to the parlor.

  “What is wrong with him?” Gwen asked. “He’s been throwing a tantrum all morning. You should see his office.”

  Jezebel placed a hand on my back. “Everything okay? You were gone so long. I couldn’t keep him away any longer.”

  “I know. I’m sorry. Where’s my mother and Calli?”

  “I had some of the girls take them to the village.”

  Knowing my family was out of the house relaxed me. “Let me know when they return. I want to take Calli to the ocean.”

  “I love her,” Gwen cooed. “She’s so happy, and fun.”

  Gwen continued to go on about how much she loved Calli, and how it had been so long since she had been around children. My insides were numb. I couldn’t think past anything other than what Romulus had hinted at.

  The necklace Lucino wore had something to do with his strange behavior, but what?

  “I’ll have Madara run you a rose bath, wash off all this salt water.” Jezebel ran a hand through my hair. “And I’ll bring some warm cheese and bread to you.”

  I nodded.

  Walking back to my room, I thought about Lucino and how he was on the island. I remembered the night when he revealed his true form, and how hesitant he was. I remembered how his hands warmed my skin, and how I knew he was the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.

  How could he change so much? And why?

  By the time I reached my door, all the sadness came flooding back.

  What was I going to do?

  I opened the door, ready to throw myself on my bed and not get back up.

  “Hello, Jeslyn.”

  Lucy stood in the center of the room, holding a wine glass. Her raven black hair cascaded down her back, contrasting against her porcelain skin. She and Lucino had the same piercing blue eyes and perfectly proportioned features. She tapped the glass with her long nail. The last time I saw her, she wore skin-tight leathers, ready for battle. Today she was back to her too-revealing corset gowns.

  “What are you doing here?”

  Her usual smirk disappeared. “I’ve come to che
ck on you.”

  In those few words, the direness of my situation crashed on top of me. I crumbled to the floor. Surprisingly, she placed the glass down and knelt beside me.

  “Tell me what has gone on in my absence.”

  Over the next hour, I told her everything. About seeing the tunnels. What happened at dinner. His outburst downstairs. I let everything spill out in a sobbing mess. By the time I finished, the rose bath had cooled and I was blotching from crying.

  Lucy called Madara back in to reheat the water. I stood to get out of my dress.

  “I’m supposed to marry him in a few days!”

  “I know he’s not himself, lately, but things will be resolved shortly.” She placed her hands on my shoulders and undid the lace at my neck. “You must act like nothing is wrong, and don’t leave the grounds.”

  “You can’t be in here!” Madara, who barely ever said a word, stood at the door, refusing to let Lucino in. “My lady is getting prepared for her bath.”

  “I will do as I please!” He shoved Madara aside.

  Lucy stepped in front of me. “I thought you had much better manners.”

  Lucino smiled. “Lucy! What a pleasure.” He clapped his hands together. “When did you arrive? This is great news. I have much to discuss with you.”

  “I’m sure. As I have news from the west.”

  Lucino smiled again. “Wonderful. I need a few minutes with my betrothed, do you mind?”

  Lucy glanced back at me. “Well, considering she’s still clothed, somewhat. Have fun. I’m off to the kitchen. The journey has me famished.” She flicked me a wave before vanishing out the door.

  Lucino glared at Madara until she left us alone.

  I folded my arms across my chest, covering myself. While I was still in my dress, the top half had fallen with the laces undone. “What do you want?”

  “You were at the lab.” His smile faded and my heart stopped.

  How did he know? Romulus never would’ve told him.

  “And?” I kept my breathing even. “What of it?”

  “What did you want with Romulus? You have always shied from him.”