[Vankara Saga 03.0] War of Atonement

by SJ West

I nodded, letting him know that I heard his words, but I made no promise to him in reply.

  As I turned to run down the tunnel and find my way outside again, all I could think about was finding Vincent before the others did. If anything happened to him because of me, I wasn’t sure my heart could take the added guilt. With this thought, I ran faster, determined to do whatever was necessary to protect my friend.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  When I stepped out onto the mountaintop, the glare of the sun’s rays reflecting against the snow blinded me for a moment, forcing me to close my eyes.

  “You should go back inside, Sarah,” Vincent told me, sounding worried about my safety.

  I slowly opened my eyes, allowing them to become accustomed to the brightness. Vincent stood a short distance away.

  “I will not cower inside the mountain like a frightened child and allow you to face them alone,” I adamantly informed him. “So don’t ask me to do that because it will not happen.”

  Vincent remained silent for a while as if he were judging whether he could find a way to change my mind. Apparently, he decided the attempt would be pointless.

  “Very well,” Vincent said, resigned to my decision. “Then at least stand closer to me. I will protect you as best I can. I have no way of knowing what Tyr’s exact intention is, but I am confident he isn’t coming to welcome us.”

  I walked over to Vincent to stand on his right side.

  “Here they come,” Aurora told me, looking off to the right of us.

  I followed her gaze and saw Tyr. His red, shiny scales reflected the sunlight, giving his body the illusion of being on fire. A black and a blue dragon flew on either side of him. A sense of relief washed over me when I saw that there were only three of them. It still put the odds heavily in their favor, but at least the number wasn’t overwhelming.

  “I can’t hear them saying anything to each other,” I said.

  “It’s a simple tactic,” Vincent informed me. “There is a way to shield our thoughts from others, and it’s one we will need to use in the future so Tyr’s group can’t hear us during battle. I will teach it to you when we have time, but that moment is not right now.”

  Tyr and his group swooped down and landed ten feet from us on the mountaintop.

  “Vincent,” Tyr said, his eyes squinting at my friend, “this is a surprise. I never thought you would crawl your way out of that dank little cave you’ve been wallowing inside of all these years. Did you finally get tired of grieving the loss of your human?”

  “I will never stop mourning Henry’s death,” Vincent said. “He will always be a part of me. Don’t you care what happens to the human you’ve bonded with Tyr?”

  “You believe I’m bonded to Nuala?” Tyr scoffed. “I wouldn’t degrade myself in such a way. I made another dragon bond with the Fae’s queen to make it easier for us to communicate. Nuala and I understand each other quite well. Neither of us is so disillusioned that we would consider each other friends.”

  “Does she know you’ll betray her in the end?” Vincent asked knowingly.

  “She knows what I tell her,” Tyr replied coldly. “And when the time comes for her to know the truth, she won’t care.”

  “Why wouldn’t she care that all you want to do is enslave the human race?”

  “Nuala despises people almost as much as I do,” Tyr said. “She’s power hungry and easily manipulated through that fact. She knows the dragons under my command are the only reason she was able to take Iron City so easily. If it weren’t for me, she would still be cowering on the Fae side of the Iron Wall. She owes everything that she is and everything that she will ever become to me.”

  “Once we defeat you,” I told Tyr, “I don’t believe she will be thanking you at all.”

  Tyr turned his attention to me, but the gesture seemed somewhat reluctant. I got the distinct impression he thought acknowledging my presence was beneath him.

  “I know what you are, you know,” Tyr told me, as if being a shifter was something to be ashamed of. “But it makes no difference to me that you are just a shifter. Even if the real Emma Vankar were still alive, she would have as little power as you. You are simply a symbolic leader, not one of substance. Once we bring you to your knees and make you grovel at our feet, the world will understand that fighting us is an act of futility.”

  “Does Nuala know that I’m a shifter?” I asked.

  “No. It isn’t something she needs to know. I will continue to allow her to think she has outwitted the true Queen of Vankara, at least for now. Her confidence in our plan has been lifted because she believes she’s bested a queen. Telling her that she only beat a shifter masquerading as Emma Vankar might shake her resolve. I need her confident, for now, to carry out my plans.”

  “Or are you concerned that she might change her mind if she knew the Queen of Vankara was actually her niece?” Vincent questioned.

  “I seriously doubt she would care about the familial connection, Vincent,” Tyr replied confidently. “Her sister meant very little to her. I can’t imagine her niece would mean much more.”

  “What about my brother? Does she care what happens to him?” I asked, knowing he had remained in contact with Nuala over the years. Nuala led Adam Bellas to believe that the plagues had been caused by those attending the Royal College in Iron City. My brother now knew the truth, but obviously he had trusted Nuala at one time. She may have been our mother’s sister, but I suspected they were as different as night is to day.

  Tyr chuckled. “He was foolish and gullible. Nuala simply used him to cast doubt on those at the Royal College. Your determination to discover the origin of the plagues made it easy to mislead you. We kept your focus away from us so we could follow through with our plans. Maybe if you hadn’t been so single-minded, you would have seen what was about to happen.”

  Tyr may have been trying to goad me into losing my temper, but I knew he was right. I had been completely focused on finding the source of the plagues. It never even occurred to me that the Fae were using the plagues to weaken the world’s populace and plotting to first invade Iron City before attempting to conquer the other island nations. An uneasy alliance had existed between the Fae and Vankarans for hundreds of years. The concept of war had faded from most of our memories.

  “You cannot blame yourself for their aggressive behavior,” Aurora told me. “Especially with this one leading the rabble.”

  “You should watch what you say about your elders, little dragon,” Tyr warned Aurora harshly. “Or do I need to teach you some manners?”

  “I seriously doubt there is anything you could teach me that would be of any benefit,” Aurora replied, holding her head up a notch higher in defiance.

  I heard Tyr growl as if he might be preparing to attack Aurora.

  Hoping to deflect his anger, I asked, “How did you know we were here and why did you come?”

  Tyr fixed me with a steely gaze. “Did you honestly think we wouldn’t have lookouts awaiting your return? We assumed you went to find reinforcements. Since Vincent is here, I have to presume that you went to my home and asked my brother and the others for help. You have more gumption than I gave you credit for, shifter. I suppose knowing my involvement in this little war is what turned the tide in your favor.”

  “It certainly didn’t hurt,” I acknowledged. “Why are you here, Tyr? Did Nuala send you to give me a message?”

  “No. I came because I wanted to give my brother a message,” Tyr replied.

  Before I knew what was happening, the black and blue dragons who accompanied Tyr ran straight towards Vincent, knocking me out of the way in their determination to get to him. Vincent attempted to take the high ground by lifting off into the air. The black one leapt up and rammed my friend in the chest with his head while the blue one bit down on Vincent’s tail, yanking it underneath him. Vincent came crashing back down to the mountain onto his back. The black and blue dragons quickly grabbed the top of Vincent’s outstretched wings with the talons of thei
r front legs and kept him on his back while Tyr strolled over to him.

  “Leave him alone!” I ordered, even though I knew such a demand would not be heeded.

  As Tyr walked past me, he turned his head and snickered. “Your words mean less than nothing to me, shifter. Stay out of our way.”

  To emphasize his order, Tyr flicked his wing at me, hurtling me into the air a few feet. I ended up landing on my back, struggling to catch my breath after the impact.

  “Sarah,” Aurora said anxiously, as she hovered over me. She had been wise in taking to the air before Tyr’s attack and spared herself the fall. “Are you all right?”

  I was far from all right. I was totally consumed by rage.

  As I lay there on the snow for the few short seconds it took me to regain my breath, a multitude of thoughts ran through my mind. I thought about the Harkers being unjustly trapped within Trill’s remains, never being given the chance to find peace in death. Tyr and Nuala hadn’t only doomed my parents to such an undeserved fate; they had also condemned a large portion of the world to suffer in a netherworld between life and death.

  I turned my head as I still lay on the snow and witnessed Tyr run one of his sharp, black talons down Vincent’s chest as the other two dragons made sure he stayed flat on his back. Blood pooled in the gash, dripping down Vincent’s white scales and onto the pristine snow. He roared in pain, struggling to get up but being held in place by the black and blue dragons. The sight of his torture and the sound of his wail broke something deep down within my soul, like a jar being dropped from a great height and smashing against a stone floor releasing what was trapped inside. A wave of energy coursed through my veins causing me to scream out in agony. The sound of my scream echoed against the mountains, literally causing them to tremble.

  In that instant, I let my rage and pain consume me. Distantly, I heard Aurora asking me what was happening. I didn’t have an answer for her because I didn’t know. I slowly sat up, still feeling wave after wave of energy flow over me like a waterfall. As I rose to my feet, a cold wind whirled around me like a tornado, helping me to stand. I turned to face the three dragons still standing over Vincent.

  “Get away from him,” I ordered, my voice sounding low and menacing.

  “Who are you?” Tyr asked me, his earlier bravado absent. “What are you?”

  “You need to leave,” I said, not having an answer to Tyr’s questions.

  Ledmarrow Mountain began to quake violently beneath my feet, and I knew without a doubt that I was causing it.

  Tyr stared at me with a mixture of fear and wonder. Before I had to give my warning a second time, he flew straight into the sky with the black and blue dragons quickly following in his wake.

  I fell to my knees, my body trembling uncontrollably.

  “Sarah! Sarah!” Aurora said, landing on my shoulder and rubbing her smooth head against my right cheek to bring me comfort. “Oh, Sarah, what is happening?”

  “Sarah,” I heard Vincent say as he quickly wrapped his wings around Aurora and me to shield us from the biting winter wind. He lowered his head until our foreheads touched. “Sarah, listen to my voice,” Vincent instructed in a calm voice. “You must find a place within yourself that is filled with joy and happiness.”

  “No such place exists,” I cried, unable to bring my emotions under control. I knew I was the one causing the mountain to continue to shudder, but I didn’t know how to stop it.

  “Then imagine it,” Vincent instructed. “Where would you feel safe and protected? What would make you feel happy and out of harm's way? Show me and I will take you there.”

  “How?” I wailed, feeling overwhelmed by my emotions.

  “Trust me,” Vincent said. “Close your eyes and concentrate on a place that doesn’t exist, yet might in the future. Where do you want to go, Sarah? Where do you see your life leading you?”

  As Vincent instructed, I closed my eyes and thought about what I wanted my future to be. I thought about what would make me happiest and imagined that it was real.

  I suddenly found myself resting with my back propped up against the large oak tree in the courtyard, just outside the queen’s chambers at the palace in Iron City. The sun was shining brightly in the sky overhead on a cloudless day. A slightly older Dena was being chased by a young boy who looked to be three years old. Dena wore a white dress, and the boy wore a white pair of short pants, a shirt, and a blue bow tie. Both of them were laughing so hard it was making it hard for them to run. I was smiling so broadly from watching their play that my cheeks began to ache. A larger Aurora sat to my left, and I could hear her giggle as she watched my children play.

  I felt a large, warm hand gently pull one of mine off my lap. When I looked to my right, I found Fallon sitting beside me. He brought my hand up to his lips. Turning it palm up, he planted a soft kiss against the tender flesh, causing my whole body to tingle.

  He lifted his head to meet my gaze with his own.

  “Are you happy, Sarah?” he asked me.

  “I would be if this were real,” I answered, knowing what I felt and saw was simply a figment of my own imagination. It was a place Vincent was helping me conjure to bring my emotions back under control.

  “It could become real one day,” the illusion of Fallon replied. “Dreams are only realities that haven’t come true yet. This can be our future if we’re willing to work for it.”

  “I want this,” I said, filled with a new sense of determination. “I want this more than anything.”

  “Then work for it,” Fallon told me. “The first thing you have to do is learn how to control your emotions, Sarah. You need to find the strength I know you have and use it to manipulate your powers.”

  “I don’t even know where they came from,” I confessed.

  “Yes, you do,” Fallon said, becoming the voice of my subconscious. “You’re the daughter of a great sorcerer, the most powerful one the world has ever known. This power has been bottled up somewhere deep down inside you your whole life. Now, it’s time for it to awaken and for you to use it to achieve your goals. You’re far stronger than you know, Sarah. You have friends who will help you realize your full potential. Lean on their strength when you have none left. They will see you through the tough times. Put your faith in those who care the most about you.”

  “Can I truly have this future?” I asked, squeezing Fallon’s hand.

  Fallon smiled at me. “Of course you can. The future hasn’t been written yet. Anything you can imagine is possible. All you have to do is work towards it to make it real. If this is the way you want your life to be, then fight for it, Sarah.”

  I took a deep breath, filling my body and mind with a new resolve to make my dream a reality.

  When I opened my eyes, Vincent’s wings were still sheltering me, and Aurora was still rubbing my cheek with her soft, smooth head. The mountain was no longer shaking beneath my feet, and I felt in control of the power that my anger had awoken.

  Vincent lifted his head from mine to peer into my eyes.

  “How do you feel?” he asked.

  “Better,” I replied. “More in control.”

  “Excellent,” he said, sounding pleased with my progress.

  “So I have magic,” I said aloud, mostly for the benefit of myself. For some reason, saying the words made it feel more real.

  “It would appear so,” Vincent agreed.

  “I don’t understand,” I confessed. “How could I have enough magic inside me to move mountains and not know it existed until now?”

  “I think that is something you will need to ask Dracen,” Vincent replied.

  I thought back to the time I first went to Nuala for help in finding the source of the plagues. Back then, she gave me a vial of melted snow. The snow shimmered a phosphorescent yellow when it was held by someone with magic. Nuala told me at the time that one of her mages had cast a revealing charm on the melted snow within the vial. Anyone with magic could call upon the magic that was used to bind the pl
ague to the water, proving that the plagues were magical in nature. I retold this story to Vincent.

  “You were unaware that you had magical powers at the time,” Vincent said. “Magic is a bit like a muscle. You have to exercise it for it to gain strength. You didn’t even know it existed inside you. How could you possibly know to flex it to call upon the magic within the vial? In any case, even if you had tried, I don’t believe it would have worked. I think breaking down the dam that has separated your conscious from your subconscious, reawakening Kira, is what has unleashed the magic within you.”

  “Dracen should have warned me,” I said.

  “Perhaps he thought it would remain buried forever,” Vincent suggested. “He may have thought that if he didn’t mention it, the magic would stay hidden.”

  “But why would he want it to?”

  “The power Dracen possesses is one reason he cut himself off from society. It could be that he simply didn’t want you to live with the same burden of responsibility. He may have thought he was protecting you by not telling you the truth.”

  “Then he really needs to stop trying to protect me by hiding things from me,” I complained. “I can rationalize his motivation, but not telling me things like this has only caused me more problems.”

  “He loves you,” Vincent reminded me. “He is driven by that complex emotion to keep you safe.”

  “I’m not a child, Vincent,” I said, slightly aggravated. “I am a rational thinking adult. I can handle the truth.”

  “Of that, I have no doubt,” Vincent replied. “But it doesn’t matter how old you are, Sarah. You are Dracen’s daughter. He will always try to do what’s in your best interest, even if it isn’t in his own. I think you know that.”

  “Yes,” I said, feeling guilty now for getting mad at Dracen. “I do know that.”

  “Then I ask that you remember that fact when you see him again.”

  “I will,” I promised.

  “Good,” Vincent said, sounding pleased.

  Vincent lifted his head toward the sky, as if hearing something whispered on the wind. “Gregoire and the others are close. We will need to tell them that our plan to surprise Tyr with our involvement in the war is no longer a valid option. It’s just as well. It wouldn’t have given us that much of an advantage anyway.”