by Ivy Clyde
“Daria?” My eyes fluttered open to see Adal staring up at me. His wide blue eyes were full of panic. “You shouldn’t be here.”
“Neither should you.” Pursing my lips, I struggled to control my rising panic. Both Cain and Adal were in bad conditions. My life energies wouldn’t be enough to heal both of them of the wound and the poison. And even if hell froze over, I wasn’t going to be choosing between my mates. “I am going to save you both,” I vowed. “Lie still and wait for me.” Adal’s eyes squeezed shut in pain as he turned away from me.
I was about to get to my feet when an ear-splitting scream shattered the silence of our surrounding.
My head whipped towards the sky to search for the source of noise. What I saw broke my heart…
Ivan’s black dragon had sunk its jaw deep in Norvin’s belly. The water dragon writhed and coiled, trying to get the scaly black beast off him but Ivan held on strongly. Blood spurted from the wound, the droplets falling like rain on the ground below.
Intense heat raced through my veins as rage coursed through me. Shifting in the blink of an eye, I hurtled forward and attacked Ivan’s dragon. He was so busy injuring Norvin, he left his flanks unguarded, giving me the opportunity to easily sink my jaw into his right wing and then tearing a chunk off it.
Screams of rage and pain erupted from Ivan’s black-scaled dragon. He let go of Norvin, struggling to make his wings beat hard enough to keep him airborne. With another shriek, the beast hurtled towards the ground, part of its right wing torn to shreds.
“Guard Adal and Cain,” I said, hoping Norvin could hear me through our mental link.
“I don’t know if I’ll be of any use,” Norvin’s exhausted voice rang in my mind. “There’s some kind of venom in his bite. It’s the poison that’s injured us more than the wound itself.”
“I know. I am going to heal all of you but I am going to need something from Ivan to do so.” I glanced down to see Ivan’s dragon on the ground. Blood from his torn wing drenched the snow underneath him. His glowing scarlet eyes focused on me. “Get to Adal and Cain now,” I said urgently.
“But Daria…”
“Go!” I hissed.
Norvin obeyed, gently floating away to join Adal and Cain on the ground some distance away from Ivan. The way his body moved through the air, I could tell he was in intense agony already.
Focusing my attention back on Ivan, I glided down to the ground. Once my feet touched the soft, cold snow, I shifted back to my human form.
His glowing red eyes narrowed as they focused on me.
“Who are you?” he asked, his voice a deep tremor that reverberated through my mind.
“Don’t you recognize me, Uncle?”
The slit of his pupil contracted as his eyes widened. Without another word, he shifted back to his human form. Ivan’s tall frame stood before me. His right shoulder blade bled profusely while his obsidian-black eyes stared at me. Clutching at his shoulder, he took a few steps towards me.
I stood my ground.
“You have Eibhlin’s delicate features but have Helmut’s green eyes…” He stopped short as a blast of air hit him sharply in the face. I’d slapped him without needing to touch him. Stumbling backward, he glanced at me with stunned eyes.
“Don’t speak those names with your filthy tongue.”
“Daria.” His dark hair blew in the wind as he stared at me with a vulnerable look in his eyes. “You are really here…my lost princess. Where have you been all these years?”
“I was dead and forgotten, Uncle.”
Shaking his head, he closed the distance between us. With a sudden move, he clutched my hand and brought it to his lips.
“You have no idea how much I searched for you in every corner of the four kingdoms. I took you to be dead these past few years.”
I snatched at my hand but he held onto it strongly. “If I knew you’d grow up to resemble your mother this closely, I would have made sure to keep you bound to me. Now that you’re here, we can finally start something new. You can come back to be the princess of Drakhaven. I shall marry you and make you my queen. Together, we’ll rule over the four kingdoms.”
It was my turn to be surprised.
“Be mine, Daria,” said Ivan. “We’ll rule the four kingdoms together and so will our children.”
“I see where Zane gets his sick fantasies about women from,” I said, twisting my wrist fast enough to break free from his grip. “I am your niece. Your own brother’s flesh and blood.”
“We are dragons. Our nature doesn’t consider such restrictions between uncles and nieces.”
I scoffed. “It’s always been so easy for you to give up on your humanity, Uncle. You raped my mother, the woman you claimed to love. You murdered your own brother. Even animals don’t do that to their families.”
“You’ll speak with reverence when you address me,” he said through gritted teeth, grasping my chin in his large hand.
I laughed in his face but there was no humor in my tone. “I have no time for chats, Uncle. You’ve injured my mates and I need to heal them as fast as possible.”
“Mates? You mated with them all? That’s the reason they were able to achieve their true forms?”
I let a cold smile lift the corners of my lips even when he squeezed my chin painfully. “Yes to all your questions.” Meeting his dark gaze, I said, “You need to treat me better, Uncle. I am the queen of this nation, after all.”
He smiled satisfactorily and loosened his grip. “So, you agree to be my bride?”
Wrenching myself out his hold, I took a step backward. “I agree to punish you for the crimes you committed, starting with the murder of King Helmut and the royals of Iorna, Baledonia, and Redfall.”
Rage flared in his gaze. “You dare?” he questioned in a thunderous voice.
I moved closer to him, looking deep into his eyes. “You will die today, Uncle. I wish I could prolong your suffering. There are thousands of souls who would want that too but right now, I want to claim my throne. I want the other three kingdoms to have their rightful kings ruling over them. We need to heal the land and the people. I’ll give up on vengeance for their sakes. You shall have a quick death, Uncle.”
Ivan made a grab at me but I shifted out of his reach. “Come here, Daria!” he shouted. Even though his right shoulder bled, he pulled his sword out with his left hand.
“Have you no shame, Uncle? You want to kill your niece as well?”
“You have Helmut’s blood in you,” seethed Ivan. “It is best I get rid of you.”
Cold rage coursed through me at his words. Ivan left no room for doubt. He would never repent for the things he did. Everyone in this world was supposed to play to his whim. If they didn’t, he simply used his powers to eliminate them. Being the only dragon in the four kingdoms for so long had empowered his ego even more.
With a curse, Ivan swung his sword at me.
I dodged his strike but he didn’t stop coming after me. From the apathetic coldness in his expression, I could tell he didn’t care for me. He would have bothered to treat me well only if I agreed to be his bride. It wasn’t that he found me attractive. He would claim me just to mock the memory of my mother who’d rejected him. Relationships and love meant nothing to me. He only craved power over every living creature.
“Enough!” I hissed, striking out with a needle to his neck.
He came to a halt immediately as the effects of a paralyzing poison overtook him. “What have you done to me?”
“I have poisoned you. Isn’t that your favorite weapon, Uncle? I favor them too. It’s a common trait between us.”
“Release me at once!” he demanded.
“No. I need you still so that I can extract the dark spirit residing within you.”
Ivan’s eyes widened. “How do you know about that?”
“I’ve learned a great number of things since I was forced out of home.” I struck him with another needle, effectively making him shut up.
I’
d already wasted enough time on him. Cain, Adal, and Norvin were fighting for their breaths at that very moment. I had to hurry.
Keeping my eyes on Ivan, I focused on his heart. Elga always warned us from using spirits to do our bidding. It went against nature to force them into submission. She warned us of the tricks they played against us, all in a bid to reach for their freedom.
Muttering the chants Elga taught me, I started making the connection with the entity residing in Ivan’s heart. In my mind’s eyes, I could see it drawing energy from Ivan’s powerful dragon heart. It’d grown strong but Ivan’s will still overpowered it. The process of wrenching out the spirit away from Ivan would be a difficult feat.
“But I’ve got to do it”, I said through gritted teeth. “They need me to do this.”
Closing my eyes, I channeled my forces towards the spirit. In my mind’s eye, it looked like a coiled snake of black smoke. Its ethereal form moved around the energy I threw at it, tasting it with amusement and curiosity.
How interesting, a cold, grim voice sounded in my head. Your energy is pure. This is the first time you are using your powers in the dark arts.
“Yes,” I responded aloud. “I need you within me.”
Your spirit is so much tastier and potent than this black-hearted monster. You mustn’t mind if I feed on you.
“I won’t mind. As long as you did my bidding, you can feed on me.”
Your bidding, it asked in a soft, curious voice. What might that be?
I knew it would agree to do whatever I wanted to be done. The spirit would lie just to get inside me. However, I was going to make it do the only thing it could do. I would have it heal my princes from the lethal poison of the dragonsbane.
“Come inside me then,” I said, creating a bridge of energy that the spirit could use to travel from Ivan’s heart cavity into mine.
Ivan’s body trembled as he stood paralyzed. He was experiencing tremendous agony as the spirit wrenched itself out of his body. His eyes were wide open but he couldn’t shout or scream for help.
I felt a new energy pulsing within me as the dark spirit nestled itself in my heart cavity.
Next moment, blood spurted out from Ivan’s mouth. Rivulets of blood streamed out of his nostrils, ears as well as eyes.
He is getting affected by the poison he’s inserted in his bloodstream, the dark spirit spoke with amusement. Without me, he is exposed to its effects.
I stared at my uncle’s body as it fell to the ground. There was no remorse or guilt in me. Only a cold acceptance that I’d done what needed to be done.
The dragon emperor was at the verge of death now.
While it was no longer my mission, I’d still managed to do it.
I sat down next to Ivan’s body on a patch of frozen ground, watching him slowly bleed to death. The rage in his eyes had dimmed by now. They seemed to plead for mercy now.
“How long will he live?” I asked the spirit.
A few more hours. Dragon hearts are amazingly powerful.
I didn’t have the time to wait that long. My princes needed me.
Getting to my feet, I reached for Ivan’s sword that lay a few feet away from him. Picking it up, I went back to complete the job.
Ivan looked terrified to see me poised with his sword, ready to swing it at him. His fear and pain didn’t affect me at all. He was nothing but a monster I was about to assassinate.
Raising the sword high, I brought it slashing down to cut off Ivan’s head.
The dragon emperor terrorizing the four kingdoms was finally dead.
9
Daria
Leaving Ivan’s decapitated body, I ran across the vast snow-covered field to reach my princes. The foreign energy within me swirled, sending shocks of power through my limbs.
Heart pounding in my chest, I reached the spot.
Norvin’s dragon wrapped its massive snake-like body around Cain and Adal’s bodies. A groan of relief escaped him as soon as he saw me.
“Thank the goddesses you’re safe,” he said in a slow, anguished voice in my mind.
“How are you holding up?” I asked.
“I don’t think I can keep up much longer.” He was panting hard. Blood drenched the ground where he lay.
“I am going to heal you,” I said.
“You can’t heal us all, Daria.” A sorrowful sigh rose up in my mind. “I always kept asking you to choose me over my companions but not today. You don’t have to choose me this day. If possible, save them.”
“I will never choose between my princes,” I said in a determined voice. “Never.”
“Daria…”
“Stay still.”
Walking closer to the spot where his wounded abdomen lay exposed, I sat down near it.
“I need your powers to cleanse away the effects of the poison from his body,” I said internally to the dark spirit within me.
Just the poison? It asked.
“Yes.”
Placing my hands on Norvin’s body, I waited for the spirit to work its magic.
“Do it now,” I commanded.
The spirit’s power funneled through my palms and entered the dragon’s body. In my mind’s eye, I could see the dark indigo aura slowly vanishing from Norvin’s body. In another ten minutes, his aura had completely cleared.
“How do you feel, Norvin?” I asked aloud.
“Much better.” His voice sounded surprised in my head. “The wound still hurts but I don’t feel like my whole body is dying.”
“Good. The poison’s effect is gone.” Getting to my feet, I checked the wide gash in his side. “It will take time to heal but you’ll be all right.”
“I would ask you what you’re talking about but perhaps we’ll leave that discussion for another day. For now, I need to lie down a bit more.” The dragon’s body relaxed some more and his large purple-hued eyes closed.
Walking through the spaces between the coils of his body, I reached Cain and Adal. They opened their eyes tiredly at the sound of my approach.
“Ssh,” I said, putting a finger to my lips. “Preserve your strength for now.”
“Get the poison away from these two men,” I commanded the spirit. Sitting down beside them, I laid my hands on both Cain and Adal.
I waited until the spirit worked its magic through my bond with the princes.
Gradually, some color returned to their faces.
“Don’t spend too much energy,” said Cain in a pain-filled voice. “You cannot sustain us both.”
“I’ll be fine,” I said, hoping the confidence in my voice would help to relax him.
“A lot of the weakness has left me,” whispered Adal. “Are you sure you’re feeling all right, Daria?”
“Yes.” Looking up, I realized Norvin’s dragon had disappeared. He was back to his human self. Clutching the side of his stomach, he walked towards us.
“This is a different kind of magic,” said Norvin, meeting my gaze. “I could feel it being different from your energies.”
“You should be resting,” I said in a tight voice. There would be time to explain about the dark spirit that had latched onto me but for now, they had to stop worrying about me and give their bodies a chance to heal.
When I was sure both Adal and Cain were free of the poison’s effects, I took my hands off them. Their wounds weren’t as deep as Norvin’s. Most of the bleeding stopped as soon as the toxin was driven out of their bodies.
I pressed a hand on Adal’s forehead. He didn’t feel so cold anymore. Feeling relieved at the good sign, I lay down on the ground beside him. The frozen ground and the cold breeze whipping around us didn’t bother me one bit. Being a dragonborn was incredible.
“What happened to Ivan?” asked Cain after a while.
“Dead.”
“Good.”
“Tell us how you did it,” said Norvin from my right. “It will keep us from going insane with curiosity.”
“I have half a mind to let you succumb to it,” I said with a
frown. “You went ahead without me. All of you. Do you know how disappointed I felt, Adal?”
“You’re angry with Adal alone?” asked Norvin with laughter in his voice.
“I am angry with all of you but a bit more with Adal. He promised to go through those tomes with me.”
Adal’s hand found mine and squeezed lightly. “Sorry, love.”
Tears seeped out from the corners of my eyes. “If you’d just waited…” A sob choked my throat with the mix of emotions bubbling through me. The dark spirit greedily fed on them all. “What if I didn’t get here in time?” I asked in a broken voice. “What if I didn’t know what to do to defeat Ivan? We’d all be dead, instead of him.”
Cain turned to me and gently pulled my body against him. “It is my fault, Daria. I instigated them to do it.”
I scoffed, hitting him in the chest. “Stop taking the blame for your friends.” His silver-gray eyes were glowing with emotion. “Neither Adal nor Norvin needed a reason to attack Ivan.”
“We’re sorry, Daria,” said Norvin. “We never intended for you to get hurt. All of us knew Ivan had something up his sleeve. We’d rather have him hurt us than you.”
“Do you have any idea what I went through? The uncertainty and panic were almost enough to choke the air out of my lungs.” Taking several deep breaths to calm myself, I said, “Promise me that you’ll never take such drastic steps without a thorough discussion with me.”
“I promise,” whispered Cain. One by one, Adal and Norvin murmured their vows.
Deep calm washed over me. As the last of my fear and panic left me, my body and mind relaxed. Wisps of snow fell on my closed eyelashes as exhaustion swept over me.
It was dark by the time I opened my eyes again. My body was pressed on all sides by Cain, Adal, and Norvin at weird angles. Flurries fell thickly now, covering all our bodies with a layer of snow. For a moment, I wondered what had woken me up from the deep slumber.
The reply came with a massive heave of my stomach.
Pressing a hand to my mouth, I got to my feet quickly and ran away from the slumbering princes. Reaching a group of low jutting boulders in the distance, I threw up whatever remained in my stomach. I’d gone the whole day without eating anything, so nothing much came out but my gut continued to heave.
