Daughter of the Red Dawn (The Lost Kingdom of Fallada)

by Alicia Michaels

  “Prophecy? What does it say?”

  Wil stood and paced behind the desk. His voice took on a haunting lilt as he recited the words that had obviously been ingrained into his memory.

  “When the sun turns red over desert sky, when the earth begins to shake, when the tides of the sea rise, when the clouds roll and thunder, when the phoenix rises high, when the water creatures cry, when the dreams of the white dove prophesy, then will come the sacred time. Seven souls united, seated upon thrones royal, will bring about the winds of change, and fertility to the soil. And when the great army marches, all will hear their battle cry. All will know and see the proof of their victory in the sky.”

  Wil stopped, his eyes fixed on Selena. “You, my dear, are the beginning of that prophecy’s coming to pass. ‘When the sun turns red over the desert sky’… it refers to the return of the eldest princess of Damu and the coming Red Dawn. Eranna fears this, for it will signal the beginning of the war. She means to bring the fight to Damu first. You will lead the army that stops her.”

  “No! No way! You’ve got the wrong girl.”

  Selena jumped up from her chair and backed away from Wil and his crazy ideas. Zoe’s eyes were as round as saucers.

  “Sorry, man, but Selena isn’t exactly a general,” Zoe said. “What is she supposed to know about leading an army?”

  Wil squared his shoulders and cast Zoe an exasperated glance. “Princess Eladria is the descendant of royalty, many of whom were great warriors. She is the daughter of King Eldalwen of Damu, one of the greatest of his time. It is already in her, young Zoe, and she will learn.”

  Selena felt as if a fist had closed around her lungs, it was so hard to breathe. She pressed a hand to her throat and inhaled deep gulps of air, hoping to calm her racing pulse and frazzled nerves. It was entirely too much for one set of teenaged shoulders to bear.

  “No,” she said softly, her eyes lowered to the cluttered table between her and the eldest Grimm brother. “I can’t.”

  “You must.”

  Jacob Grimm spoke for the first time since bringing them into the room. He was standing as well, his hands resting on his desk’s scratched surface.

  “Don’t you see, Selena? This is your destiny. Your entire life, you have felt as if you didn’t belong. I understand that feeling and so does Wil. It’s why we left Earth for Fallada. Something in us just knew it was where we belonged. You will see, Selena. Once we arrive in Damu, you will understand. It is your home and those who dwell there are your people and you are responsible for them.”

  “I don’t want to be responsible for them,” Selena countered, her hands balling into fists at her sides. “Do I look like the kind of girl who’s ready to throw on a cape and go around saving the universe? I’m seventeen years old! The biggest things that are supposed to be happening in my life right now are prom and graduation, not wars and evil plots!”

  She turned for the door, pulling Zoe along with her.

  “I will go with you to Goldun so that the Faeries can heal my grandmother, but then you are going to take me home.”

  Jacob sighed and lowered his head. Wil remained silent as he crossed his arms over his chest and stared through a porthole out into the dark night.

  “Very well,” Jake said, his shoulders sagging. “It will be as you wish, Selena.”

  ~*~

  “Are you ready to talk about it now?”

  “No.”

  Zoe frowned and went back to staring out through the porthole over her cot. After leaving Jake and Wil’s cluttered room, the girls had retreated to their cabin for the night. They’d been there for hours and soon the sun would be rising, but Selena hadn’t been able to sleep a wink. She had thought that Zoe was asleep, but her friend’s question shattered the silence in the room and reminded Selena that she wasn’t the only one who’d had a bombshell dropped on her today.

  Faeries, shape-shifting Werewolves, evil queens…it was a lot to take in all at once. Selena glanced over to where her grandmother lay sleeping on her cot on the opposite side of the room and envied her. She wished someone had given her a sleeping potion; maybe then she could escape the frenzied thoughts taking up space in her head.

  “I think you owe me at least that much,” Zoe said, drawing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around her legs. She stared at Selena pointedly. “I’m along for the ride here and it sounds like this is going to get dangerous. Plus, I’m your best friend.”

  “You only get to play the best friend card once a year,” Selena said with a smile.

  “When was the last time I used the friend card?”

  “Two words: prom dress.”

  “It’s not my fault we have similar taste in gowns. Besides, that dress looked like crap on you. Redheads can’t wear red, Selena.”

  “Says who?”

  “Says your reflection when you put that gown on. Trust me girl, I did you a favor.”

  “So what you’re saying is, I owe you for doing me that favor.”

  “Exactly. I mean, you could at least tell me more about wolf boy.”

  Selena felt her cheeks going red and her face flushed with heat. She pulled her blanket further up over her chest and sighed.

  “There isn’t much to tell.”

  “So a strange Werewolf comes into town and you don’t think to tell me?”

  “He wasn’t a Werewolf when I met him Zoe. I mean, he was one but I didn’t know it. Not until he went mental and chased me down. By then there wasn’t much time to talk.”

  “Is he cute?”

  A vision of onyx black hair and icy blue eyes filled Selena’s mind and she smiled. “So pretty I could cry.”

  “Zac Efron pretty?”

  Selena chuckled. “Prettier.”

  With a barely contained squeal, Zoe jumped up from her cot and bounced onto Selena’s, taking them both back to their elementary school days of hiding beneath the sheets with a flashlight.

  “This is crazy Selena. You’re a freaking princess! I can’t wait to see your castle. I bet you’ve got some fabulous clothes and—”

  “Zoe!”

  Selena grasped Zoe’s shoulders and shook her, trying not to let her friend’s excitement get to her.

  “You’re forgetting the part about the war and the crazy queen that wants my head on a pike. What about the part where I lead an army against her? Or the part where I become ruler of a kingdom? That means I’d never go home again.”

  “Why would you want to go home again? And what about the part where you get to meet your parents? Jake and Wil mentioned your father in the present tense, Selena, so that means he’s alive. You finally get to know where you come from and learn where you get your freaky powers. I’m still mad at you for not telling me about that, by the way.”

  “What was I supposed to say? ‘Hey, Zoe. Nice to meet you, my name is Selena McKinley and I can outrun a Mustang’.”

  “The car or the horse?”

  “Why does that even matter?”

  Zoe shrugged. “Just seems like the car might be faster.”

  “Both, okay?”

  Zoe whistled. “I can’t wait to see that. Soon as we land this thing I want a full demonstration.”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “Selena.”

  Selena whipped the covers aside and left the bed. “Look, the only reason I haven’t asked them to turn this ship around is because my Gram is going to die unless we let those Faerie people take care of her. We’re staying long enough to get her better, say thank you to the nice winged people, and then we’re going home!”

  “Where you’ll go back to being a misunderstood nobody,” Zoe said softly.

  Selena paused, her hand on the doorknob. She lowered her head as the truth of Zoe’s words sunk in.

  “I don’t intend to stay in Twin Oaks forever,” Selena said lamely. “I’ve been saving up to move away, remember?”

  “And do what?” Zoe asked from her spot on Selena’s cot. “Work as a waitress somewhere
while you struggle to make rent? Moonlight as a stripper named ‘Chandelier’ on the weekends?”

  “Zoe, that’s not funny.”

  “No, but it’s worth thinking about. Everyone knows that I’m not going to do much with my life. If I do go to college, I won’t get much further than Baylor and that’s only if my college fund covers it. I’ll end up growing old in Twin Oaks married to one of the McClendon boys or something.”

  “Hey, that oldest one is cute. What’s his name again?”

  “Mark is hot, yes, but you’re missing my point,” Zoe said. “I am okay with living that kind of life, Selena. You never have been. Maybe this is the answer, this destiny Wil told you about. It might be worth it for you to check it out and see where this leads. Who knows, you might actually feel like you belong for a change.”

  Selena shrugged as she pulled the door open, desperate to escape Zoe and the truth.

  “I’m not willing to risk my life or the lives of the people I love over this,” Selena said before leaving the room, “and I don’t intend to change my mind.”

  ~*~

  Chapter Five

  Wil Grimm stood alone on the ship’s deck as Selena climbed the stairwell. The wind whipped his gray hair around his weathered face and a gnarled, wooden pipe was clutched between his teeth. White smoke wafted up into a thin trail against the midnight blue sky. The brightness of the stars astounded her, as did the size and intensity of the moon. Wil shifted and turned to face her as he heard her crossing the deck and frowned, his disapproval clear. Selena ignored him, not caring if he was angry with her. How could anyone expect her to take the fate of an entire world in her hands, a world she hadn’t even known existed twenty-four hours ago? It wasn’t fair and Selena didn’t think it was right for Wil and Jake to try and make her feel guilty about it.

  “Don’t mind him,” said Jake as he came up the staircase behind her. He clutched the same brown leather volume he’d been carrying earlier. “Wil doesn’t understand that you need time to digest all of this information. He’s always been one with a taste for adventure, diving headfirst into things without thinking. His impulsive nature is responsible for most of our adventures.”

  Selena was not about to get into another discussion about her so-called destiny. Instead of addressing Jake’s statement, she gestured toward the metal grate covering Titus’ prison.

  “How long is he going to stay like that?” she asked.

  “Titus is a shape-shifter and can transform at will, but the dart we shot him with is filled with a very potent Fae potion. It renders him helpless and unable to shift until the dart is removed.”

  Selena gasped. “You mean you left it in him? He must be in terrible pain!”

  “He is the enemy,” Wil said as he joined them. His pipe was gone but the scent of tobacco still remained as he approached. “Or have you forgotten that you were almost his dinner?”

  “I don’t believe that he wanted to hurt me. I think that if you remove the dart, he would transform back into a human.”

  “For the time being,” Wil consented. “Do not underestimate him, he is dangerous and you are not yet strong enough to fight him off should he decide to attack you again.”

  “I don’t think he had a choice.”

  Selena stepped forward, her eyes locked on the prison carved out into the ship’s deck. Wil’s hand clamped down on her arm, surprisingly strong.

  “Everyone has a choice.”

  Selena shrugged him off and continued forward.

  “Based on what you’ve told me about Eranna, I don’t think that’s the case here.”

  The brothers followed silently, flanking her on either side as she approached the grate and knelt down beside it. The brig was no more than a small square hole in the deck, just big and tall enough to trap the massive beast lying inside. His eyes were open and glowing red in the darkness of the brig. He was curled up on the floor, whimpering and lapping at the wound in his hip with his large, pink tongue. A silver dart stuck up out of the fur and Selena could see teeth marks around it from his efforts at prying it loose.

  “Can he remove it himself?” she asked.

  Wil shook his head. “There is a special instrument for removal. One of us would have to do it.”

  “When will you?”

  He shrugged. “I had not planned on it until we reached Goldun. I must consult Queen Adrah in regards to his fate. We cannot take his attack upon you lightly. Your father will call for his blood.”

  Selena stiffened. “No!”

  Red eyes swiveled upward and focused on her. Selena felt fear rippling up and down her spine, but calmed when she realized that Titus’s whines had increased. She frowned as they increased to full-fledged yips and barks.

  “Well I’ll be,” Jake whispered, bending down over the grate beside Selena. “He’s trying to communicate with you, Princess.”

  “What’s he saying?”

  “I do not know.”

  “Then take the dart from his hip so he can change back. I know he won’t hurt me.”

  “I don’t think—”

  “Am I Princess of Damu or not?” she interjected, shooting her narrowed gaze at Wil.

  The old man arched a silver brow and nodded. “You are.”

  “Then open that grate and bring me the tools. Keep your stupid gun handy if you feel threatened, but I am going to talk to him.”

  Jake chuckled. “Yes, your Highness.”

  It didn’t take long for Wil to locate the tool—a strange-looking instrument that looked like a pair of forceps—and for the two brothers to lift the heavy metal grate and slide it aside. Selena thrust the gleaming forceps into her back pocket and threw her legs over the side of the square hole. It wasn’t too deep for her to jump down. Hopefully Titus wouldn’t eat her before she got the dart out of his leg. As if he’d read her mind, Wil stepped forward and thrust his silver pistol into her hand.

  “Do not hesitate to use it,” he said, his mouth a grim line.

  Selena nodded, thrusting the gun into the waistband of her jeans and covering it with her shirt. With one last look back at Jake and Wil, Selena vaulted over the edge and landed a few feet away from the wolf. His head came up as she dropped beside him and his eyes bored into hers, glowing with silent intensity. He did not move from his spot, but watched her closely as she stepped forward slowly. She retrieved the forceps from her pocket and held them out for Titus to see.

  “They didn’t want to let me come down here,” she said gently, hoping not to startle him by moving too quickly or speaking too forcibly. She wanted answers and Selena believed that there was more to Titus than met the eye. Something was motivating him, compelling him to do the things he’d done, and Selena had every intention of finding out what.

  “I told them that I had no reason to believe that you would harm me once you shifted back to your human form and I hope you won’t make a liar out of me.”

  Titus lowered his head and Selena took that as a sigh of acquiescence. She closed the distance between them quickly and knelt beside him, inspecting the dart embedded in Titus’ thick pelt. Her fingers ran over his soft fur and she smiled.

  “You’re so beautiful,” she said gently, as her hands ran up over his mammoth shoulder and toward his head. He whimpered and thrust his head beneath her stroking hand. Selena giggled and ran a hand over his head and ears. In response, he licked her hand with his rough, hot tongue. Selena wrapped her arms around the wolf’s neck and pressed her face against his neck.

  “Don’t worry,” she whispered as she nuzzled the soft fur. If not for the fact that he was in pain, Selena could gladly curl up against him and sleep comfortably on his fuzzy pelt. “I’ll get you out of here. I don’t know how I know this, but I believe the best of you, Titus. I know that you didn’t really want to hurt me.”

  He lowered his head again, this time resting it in her lap. Selena forced her gaze away from his face and concentrated on the dart in his hip. It took a few minutes of poking and prodding, but even
tually Selena had the dart removed. Once pulled from Titus’ fur and skin, the dart disintegrated into a silver powder right before Selena’s eyes.

  “Well?” she asked, staring into Titus’ red eyes. “What now?”

  Titus turned and began licking at the wound on his hip. Selena gasped, leaning forward on her hands and knees to watch as the injury disappeared right before her eyes; leaving no evidence behind, save for a few drops of blood. Selena leaped to her feet and moved back against the wall behind her as the wolf rose to his feet.

  He lowered his head and shuddered as his body began to contort and change shape. Fur melted away and long stretches of pale skin appeared as the wolf shrunk into the boy Selena remembered. She blushed and looked away when she realized that he was naked, but not before she caught a glimpse of a broad chest, slender waist, and abs ridged with lines and bulges of sinewy muscle.

  “Here, kid,” Wil grumbled as he tossed something into the hole. Selena turned just in time to see Titus’ naked body disappearing into the confines of a coarse wool blanket. He watched Selena intently, his ethereal eyes practically glowing in the moonlight streaming through the opening above them. Titus drew in great gulps of air, as if struggling to breath. His chest heaved and his nostrils flared as she took a tentative step toward him.

  “Selena,” he said between breaths. “Where are we? I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

  “I’m fine; it’s my grandmother you hurt.”

  “Damn it! I’m so sorry.”

  Selena could see that he truly meant it as he sunk to his knees on the floor. He pulled the blanket more tightly around his shoulders and sighed.

  “We’re on board The Adrah and on our way to Fallada,” she said. “Do you know who Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm are?”

  “Of course I do. Everyone in Fallada does. I’m certain they mean to turn me over to the Fae once we reach Goldun. It’s no more than I deserve.”

  Selena crouched beside him. “Maybe they won’t. If you tell me why you did it, maybe I can reason with them. I know you didn’t want to, Titus. I saw it in your eyes right before you attacked me.”