The Sweet Series Box Set: Books 1-4

by Bailey Ardisone

  “Nariella, run!” my grandfather warned.

  “No, we all have to leave! Stop this battle! Please, call your army out of here! There is no point in all of this death—I can escape with you, but I will only go once you command every Tavas’Elda out of here this second!” I begged with all my might. “Grandfather, you must do this! Go! I promise I can take care of myself.”

  I could see the hesitation in his eyes, but he finally gave in. He roared out a string of Elvish words, and immediately the Tavas’Elda army tried to fall back.

  The Isil’Elda soldiers pursued them, not letting any leave. Both my grandfather and I defended every Tavas’Elda we could in our vicinity so that they could retreat.

  A pang of familiarity hit my spine. It sent a wave of tingles coursing through my veins, flooding my stomach.

  Mycah.

  There could be no denying that he was near. And his fury could be felt from here. I whirled around in the direction I could feel him in, and sure enough, my eyes landed on him in battle.

  Hatred bubbled forth, waiting to spew all over this freaking place. He cannot kill my people in front of me. The magical blood in me wouldn’t stand for it a second longer.

  Yet, I was kept mesmerized by the beautiful fluidity that only he had when he fought with a sword. He resembled a graceful cheetah that was after its prey. Or a viper that had no rival. Perfect. Precise. Effortless.

  And in that moment, it made me sick. He ended a life right before my eyes, and I cried out in anguish.

  My feet immediately moved and propelled me in his direction. I swung my sword at his throat, but it was no problem for him to step out of the way.

  His eyes met mine, and for a second his hesitation to fight me made my chest tighten. But then I remembered the Tavas’Elda he just slaughtered.

  I thrust my sword toward his heart, but he effortlessly deflected. I was no match for him. I could feel it already. I tried to focus. I tried to find my inner calm.

  I brought Ender’s training to the front of my mind. Stay calm. Stay in control. Don’t let the negativity overcome my sense of right.

  Mycah sliced his sword toward my head, and I barely had the time to duck. I was paralyzed for just a second out of shock that he would actually try to hurt me. I didn’t know why I still clung to the idea that he may care for me, because it was so obvious that he didn’t. I was his enemy, he was mine, and there was no more debating it.

  He came at me again, making me stumble to the ground on my butt.

  “Really, love? Is that really all you’ve got?” he mocked, and his British accent made the words sound more sarcastic. I growled with frustration.

  “I hate you,” I bit out, grinding my teeth.

  “Ah, you finally get it.” He twirled his sword in circles with his left hand, and then with his right, waiting for me to get up and continue our match.

  “I’m not playing, Mycah.” I jumped up and wiped the bloody grass off my backside.

  “Neither am I, sweetheart. Neither am I.” And then as he finished the sentence, he was already attacking me.

  I brought my sword up to block his descending blade, but he was too strong. It knocked the weapon right out of my hands, sending it skittering across the ground. He chuckled toward his feet, looking up at me through his eyelashes.

  Despite everything, he still sent my heart crashing in my chest.

  I hated it.

  I let out a noise of pure frustration as I pounced for my sword. Once I returned to my feet, I attacked him with all my strength. But this time, it wasn’t with my sword.

  It was with my energy, with my mind, with my elda gifts. I made the ground shift beneath him, causing him to fall on his bum. His incredibly sexy bum. But nonetheless, he fell. And that was all I needed.

  I jumped on the moment and rose to strike, but he was still too fast. He sent his own burst of energy right into my gut, sending me flying backward.

  I sent a torrent of wind at him. He shielded himself with some sort of energy force, so all I managed to do was ruffle his already ruffled devilish black hair. Dang it!

  “You will pay for what you’ve done! I won’t let you get away with all of this murder, Mycah!” I yelled.

  “You have no room to talk. How do you answer for all the lives you yourself have stolen?” He pointed his shiny elven blade at me, raising his eyebrow in question.

  “I...I only did it because I had to! I don’t kill innocent lives just for fun, unlike you! I’ve only defended my people. But you…you kill for no reason! You kill for that hideous monster, just because he tells you to!” I hurled my accusation at him with fury.

  “You speak of what you do not know,” he retaliated.

  “Don’t belittle me. I do know. I’m not blind.” I swung my sword at his head again. He knocked it out of the way without even flinching.

  “Stop this, Nariella. I will hurt you. You are no match for me, and you know it,” he spit out, clenching his jaw.

  “You have no idea what I am capable of. It is you who speaks of what you do not know,” I threw his words back at him.

  “If that’s your choice.” He threw his hand out in front of him, sending a wave of some force I couldn’t see, and I once again flew backward.

  I clawed at the ground, pulling myself onto my knees, and snarled from afar. Letting out a battle cry, I sprung right into a full out run, readying my strike.

  An unexpected attack from my side caught me off guard. It was an Isil’Elda soldier, interrupting my fight with Mycah, who was also already in another battle.

  Defending myself from my new opponent, I blocked each advance he forced against me. With each strike I made, he countered even more fiercely.

  He was good. Way too good. I had no time to focus on my stronger abilities. He gave me no moment to rest so that I might call upon the elemental forces of the land.

  And this would be my downfall. I was too new at it. No practice equaled no point in having the gifts at all when I couldn’t use them in battle.

  But then a boulder-sized epiphany smacked me in the head as he continued his onslaught of attacks. Ender’s warning and Mycah’s words screamed in my head like a bullhorn, snapping me back to reality—These Isil’Elda soldiers were my people, too. I had burned in me that they were my enemies, standing firm on the Tavas’Elda side, but that wasn’t actually the case. They were also my kin. My Tavas’Elda grace may have burned brighter in me, but that did not diminish the fact that I had Isil blood in me, too. I suddenly felt dirty for trying to use our Aselaira land against them. Ender was right—I needed to fight the hatred my Tavas blood ignited in me. I could harness both powers, but not with the intent to kill.

  My moment of clarity had me distracted, so I didn’t notice it until it was too late. The soldier’s barrage of attacks was actually his way to draw me closer and closer to the edge of the cliff. He was trapping me, and it wasn’t until he made his final hit that the realization dawned on me. He thrust my body over the side of the mountain, and I was left staring wide-eyed as I felt my feet lift away from the ground, my fingers letting go of their sword.

  Because I was falling. I reached out for something to grab, for anyone, for anything, but all I caught was a hand full of wind as I flailed toward the jagged rocks and crashing ocean below. My eyes stayed wide in morbid horror as I free-fell to my death.

  Gravity would be the force that finally ended me. I knew this was it.

  If I had been breathing, I would have gasped in surprise as Mycah leapt off the side of the cliff, diving after me. He whistled a short melody, just as he gathered me up in his muscular arms and held me to his chest.

  At least I didn’t have to die alone. I jammed my eyes closed, waiting for the onslaught of sharp rocks to tear us apart. My heart pounded so fiercely, I was sure it would rip right through my chest just before our deaths.

  Mycah maneuvered me in a different position, but I paid no attention. Because the moment I opened my eyes, all I saw was rock and giant crashing waves
in my view.

  At the last second, just before rock smashed into my face, we landed on something entirely different instead.

  I felt the sensation of flying, but was too scared to open my eyes. I clutched onto Mycah so tightly, my knuckles had to have been white. I was certain my face was a ghostly white to match them.

  Mycah still had me pressed to his hard body. He caressed the hair away from my face and kissed my temple. He kept his lips on my skin and slowly grazed his thumb across my cheek. There was absolutely no stopping my stomach from doing a complete flip.

  A roar of fire froze me in place and ceased my heart from beating. Now I had to open my eyes.

  But when I did, I spiraled into a whole new wave of shock.

  We flew on the back of a large black dragon.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  ~Naminé~

  “Lómë, could you use your senses to locate Viresse’s mother?” I asked.

  The tigress sniffed the air contained around the young elda. Lómë bounded away with heavy footfalls.

  “It is all right little one. We will find her,” I whispered softly in Viresse’s ear.

  We followed Lómë around the side of the castle. She continued to sniff the air along the way.

  The battle continued to ensue around us, never breaking for a moment. We stayed untouched, for there were not enough enemies to bother us, and the Isil’Elda soldiers paid us no attention.

  It did not take Lómë long to discover the location of the child’s mother. We chased her back into the citadel. I instantly suspected where she was going.

  “Of course! There is a shelter right across the way,” I said aloud. Lómë galloped to the door. Cathar opened it, and Viresse wiggled out of my hold.

  “Atara!” she cried, calling out for her mother.

  “Sinome, Viresse!” her mother answered, stating that she was here. Viresse bolted to her mother, crying even more than she had been previously.

  Cathar laid a hand on my shoulder. “I need to find Mother and Father. And then I need to fight. Forgive me, dear sister. I cannot stay with you,” he told me reluctantly.

  “But I only just found you!” I opposed.

  “Naminé, I am needed. I am a soldier. I cannot just stand back and watch,” he pressed the issue. With a long sigh, I realized I had no choice but to concede.

  “I understand. Please give Father and Mother my love, and keep safe.” I kissed him on his cheek with a heavy heart, and he returned the gesture.

  I watched him depart out of sight.

  Ender took up a sword from the ground as he said, “I must find King Remycah. He is outside.”

  “Then let us go,” I agreed. Finding Remycah would certainly be the best thing for us to do.

  Rydan wove our fingers together. We advanced toward the gate hastily. A sea of bodies stood in our way, but we pushed our way forth.

  The moment we exited the castle, we were halted to a standstill.

  A ferocious dragon, darker than a night with no moon could ever be, soared up from beyond the precipice.

  And riding on that dragon was none other than King Remycah and Nariella.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  ~Nari~

  I had no reaction, because I remained in shock. We flew just a hair above the water, the dragon’s wings barely touching the surface.

  We rose higher, giving me a bird’s eye view of the enchanting landscape. Stunning didn’t quite fit how breathtaking it truly was. There were no words. No description great enough.

  “We’re...on a dragon,” I breathed out, unsure if I actually said it out loud or not. Mycah didn’t respond. We flew further from the battlefield, setting off an alarm in my brain. “Hey! I have to go back. Rydan is down there!”

  “We’re not going back,” Mycah responded nonchalantly.

  I stared behind us, worry filling my belly like hot Jell-o.

  Please make it out alive.

  The dragon soared through the air, its long spiked-tail bobbing up and down from the effort. It would flap its giant wings with such power, it made me feel tiny in comparison. Of course, I was tiny next to a dragon.

  I was slung across Mycah’s lap. The proximity to his heart beating next to my ear and his pulse below my fingertips began gnawing at my sanity. His familiar sweet but oh-so manly scent drove me wild.

  With all my resolve, I pushed those feelings deep into the pit of my being. I didn’t know why he had to be so enticing, but the fact that he just tried to kill me not ten minutes ago should make his foreign charm obsolete.

  Yet...it didn’t, maybe because he also just unexpectedly saved my life. I was so confused!

  “I...I want down. Put me down, please,” I ground out with determination. I couldn’t be this close to my “enemy” if I had any chance of saving my people.

  “Ndu, Dúlin,” Mycah spoke in Elvish to the dragon, and it immediately obeyed. It lowered us down to the ground, taking one last gigantic flap before landing.

  I jumped off Mycah and slid down the side of the humongous dinosaur-beast. Mycah slid down with poise and grace. He spoke something in Elvish, and the dragon quickly took to flight, vanishing in the distance.

  “I don’t understand. I thought you wanted to kill me. Why did you save me?” I immediately jumped head first into a full-out interrogation.

  “I believe it was you who attacked me first,” he pointed out, glancing at me from under his eyelashes.

  “Because you were killing innocent people! How could you do it? I thought you were someone worth fighting for! Not someone I had to fight against! Innocent elves are still sacrificing their lives as we speak for no reason—we have to go back right now.” I began walking away, but I knew it was hopeless. We were too far now.

  “We cannot go back! Everything is bloody ruined,” Mycah yelled as he shoved a hand through his hair.

  “What’s ruined?”

  “Forget it,” he bit out snidely.

  “No, tell me. What is ruined, Mycah?”

  “Everything! Ohtar now knows I have my Fëa. He will hunt Dúlin to every corner of this realm until he finds him and kills him. You were supposed to be nobody to me. It is obvious you are not since I just exposed every card I kept hidden to save my Kingdom, all for you!” His consonants clicked over each other in his British accent.

  My heart stopped.

  “I don’t understand what you’re saying. You were killing innocent lives for Ohtar—You’re on his side now!”

  “Wake up, Nariella! It was all an illusion. None of those Tavas’Elda are dead. I had only put them to sleep. You were just too blind to see it. Did you really not recognize any faces on the battlefield just now?”

  “What?” The ground started to spin.

  “If I hadn’t made Ohtar’s soldiers believe they were dead, they would have killed each one themselves. I was trying to save their lives!”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?! Why do you always keep me in the dark?! All you do is keep secrets from me! If you had a plan, you should have told me what it was from the very beginning so I could help you!”

  “You do not understand. Ohtar has many gifts. But his strongest one is his ability to sense deception. I could not risk your life by telling you the truth—By telling you my plan. You never would have been able to hide it from him. He would have immediately sensed it in you and then tortured you until you told him what it was.”

  “I could have handled it. And you could have protected me!”

  “Nariella, I have no power over Ohtar. His mind is much stronger than mine. Everything you have seen me do in the Earthly realm is entirely different than what I can do against fellow elda here. Their minds are stronger than humans. Protected. My abilities have no affect on most of my kin.”

  “Are you saying you can’t defeat Ohtar?” All hope I had left in my heart sunk to the depths of my stomach in one giant abyss of disappointment.

  “No, I cannot. Not the way I am now. That is precisely why it has all just gone to bloody he
ll!” Mycah paced back and forth. I had never seen him this anxious before—this bothered.

  “Mycah, you cannot keep secrets from me anymore! You have to learn to let me in! And Rydan...we all could have helped you!” I watched him close his eyes and clench his jaw. I could literally see the burden he was tasked with weighing him down.

  “No, I cannot risk your lives. None of you stand a chance against Ohtar.”

  I stormed over to him and grabbed his face in my hands, forcing him to look at me. “They are already at risk! All of us! Why must you insist on doing things all by yourself? Why do you put it all on your shoulders and yours alone? You don’t have to be alone in this, Mycah!”

  “I do have to! I made a deal with Ohtar. He would have let Dae’Sûl kill me instantly if I hadn’t. I am only alive right now because Rydan is still alive and free. I agreed to let Ohtar be king if he would stop hunting Rydan. If he were to kill me before he got a hold of my brother, then the kingship would have passed to Rydan and Ohtar couldn’t risk that. Not when Rydan was still out there, undetected. But then you...you show up right in the lion’s den! I told you to stay in Kennebunkport where you would be safe, but you didn’t listen!” It all kind of made sense, but I was still having a hard time letting go of my anger.

  “Why did you have to pretend to hate me?” I asked in a small voice, wanting the full truth now that he was finally willing to give it.

  “It is penalty of death to unite with an enemy of the Kingdom. Had Ohtar or any of his servants discovered any sort of attachment between us, we would have been put to death immediately as traitors. I needed our distaste to feel truly genuine; otherwise Ohtar would have sensed it being false. It is considered betrayal of the King to love an enemy, and elda kings hate traitors above anything else.”

  “I was miserable,” I admitted shyly, but the anger and resentment loosened its grips on my heart. He softened then. His shoulders dropped in defeat, and he let out a long sigh. He stared into my eyes and let me see his raw emotions.