by Lola Gabriel
But why go after Nyx?
Was he just planning on killing the Dragon Princes one by one, or was there a specific reason Flint was targeting Nyx?
Was it because Nyx had something he wanted, or was it something more?
Did she just conveniently become part of Nyx’s life to fall into the hands of Flint, who wanted to create a bear army to kill Nyx?
Romi had known of the Dragon Princes for a very long time—most of her life, actually—and there was no doubt that they were powerful. Powerful enough to withstand an attack from an army of bears? Absolutely.
As soon as Nyx would transform into his dragon form, he would be unstoppable. His fire-breath paired with the smoke created by his massive gray wings would create a world of confusion for any enemy before the bolts of lightning which blasted from his throat would incinerate anything within a mile radius.
Nyx would have no trouble defeating Flint and his army of bears, which troubled Romi. Why would Flint go to all this trouble to capture Romi and create all these bears if he knew it would be such an easy fight to lose?
She took a deep breath as she glanced at the young man in front of her again, and she flashed him an apologetic smile.
The words of the spell formed almost automatically on her lips, and she tried to detach herself as much as possible from what was happening around her. The terrified eyes of the young man on the altar would no doubt haunt her for years to come, if she was lucky enough to live that long.
She felt herself being freed from her earthly body, and her celestial spirit hovered above the ground, above her body. Romi saw everything from a bird’s eye view, and it was magnificent and tragic at the same time. She could see the thread of her being transferring from her own body toward the newly created Immortal shifter, her own aura glowing a fraction dimmer than before. She was dying and there was nothing she could do to stop it.
The air around her unexpectedly changed, causing her body to jolt ever so slightly. Her spirit was abruptly and desperately yanked back down, but she remained composed, so as not to attract any unwanted attention to herself. Her body temperature rose as the familiar feeling filled her up to the brim, giving her new strength.
It was Nyx.
Had he found her?
It had to be him.
He found her!
Although there was no doubt in her mind that he would, she was still relieved to feel her heartbeat quicken and the weight on her shoulders decrease. Breathing didn’t hurt as much, and her skin even started to feel warmer, and not as transparent.
But there was someone else with him, she sensed. She closed her eyes, silently chanting a spell of her own, a spell she had not used in a very long time, as it had broken her heart once before.
The All-Seeing-Eye spell, as her father used to refer to it, was a spell she had taught herself at one of her most desperate times in her life. She had sensed that her mother was in danger, as she and her mother were strongly connected energetically, and she had quickly taught herself the words. Much to her horror, she saw the scene where her mother was killed as if she was there beside her, and it was nothing short of horrific and traumatizing. She watched her mother die, and she wasn't able to do anything about it. To this day, her father never knew she had done the spell, and she had no intention of telling him either.
But, as the saying went, desperate times called for desperate measures, and this time she was convinced it would not be a tragic decision. The words echoed in her mind, faster and faster, until she could make out the image of a black Jeep speeding along a country road. Mentally zooming in, the image of Nyx behind the steering wheel and her father in the passenger seat was as clear as daylight to her.
They were coming for her.
An unlikely partnership, but the relief washed over her.
“Stop!” she heard Flint bellow beside her and she brought herself back to her current location. Her lips stopped moving and her hands immediately dropped down to her side, the orbs vanishing into nothing.
“What did you do?” he asked apprehensively.
Romi turned her attention to the young man on the altar and her eyes widened. He was halfway transformed into a bear, his fur light gray, almost albino-like, and his contorted and deformed body lay lifelessly on the large, flat rock. Like an animal who died before developing as they should have.
“I’m sorry,” she said quietly.
“Don’t be sorry. What the hell happened?”
“I am tired. I need to rest, regain my strength,” she tried to explain, but Flint was beside her within an instant and grabbed her by the shoulder.
“You’ll stop when I tell you to stop, is that clear?”
“Yes,” she answered painfully as he threw her down on the ground.
He still gripped her shoulder as he pointed to the unconscious young man on the altar. “Fix your goddamned mess!”
Romi’s eyes flashed red, like two glowing flames, and the unconscious body floated off the rock. His body contorted as he fully transformed, and he regained consciousness. The red glow faded from her eyes and the bear landed on the ground, his eyes fixed on Romi. His light gray fur was unlike any of the other bears she had created, and her eyes lingered on it for longer than necessary.
“Get it out of here,” Flint ordered.
Romi was still puzzled by what she saw. Somehow, she didn’t feel as unsettled as she did before, and she wasn't sure whether it was the knowledge that Nyx and her father were coming for her or the intense stare from the gray bear which calmed her nerves, or a combination of the two.
The world started to spin around her and all she heard was Flint calling out to the next one in line.
“Next!”
A ringing in her ears erupted like a volcano and she stood paralyzed on the spot, staring at something, nothing. Her eyes glazed over as she was transported back in time, as a vivid memory ripped its way through her mind, forcing her to listen, to watch.
It was important.
The skies were blue overhead as Romi ran through the meadow, but the fear was too intense to ignore. Following closely behind her was a blonde-haired girl, the same age as she was, urging her to run faster.
“He’s going to catch us, Romi!”
Her high-pitched scream echoed through the air as Romi noticed the angry gray clouds appearing behind them.
“I’m going as fast as I can, Naomi!”
From behind the two girls, a large brown bear stampeded toward them, his eyes wild with rage.
“Run, Romi!” Naomi urged her, her tiny voice filled with urgency.
In front of them, a formation of rocks signaled the end of the road for the two young witches, and Romi stopped abruptly.
“What now?”
Naomi held her hand up in the air and chanted words Romi had never heard before.
Romi swallowed the lump in her throat, watching in terror as the bear swiftly made its way toward them.
“Naomi…” Romi said in warning and panic.
Naomi kept chanting, repeating the words over and over again without paying any notice to what was happening around her. Her eyes suddenly flashed and a ball of yellow light emanated from her small palms. She directed the glow toward the bear, and in one sudden movement, the yellow energy blasted toward the bear, plummeting it through the air.
Romi’s eyes widened in both shock and amazement as the bear crashed down onto the ground.
“There’s still no way out,” she pointed out.
“There’s always a way out,” Naomi corrected.
The ground suddenly shook under their feet and a high-pitched shriek filled the air, but it didn’t come from either of the two girls.
Behind them, large wings flapped through the air, and Romi looked up in absolute shock and awe. A large, golden dragon rose up into the sky, its yellow eyes glowing almost as bright as the sun. Romi’s blood froze in her veins, as she recalled every tale of the dragon her father had told her, but somehow she didn't feel as afraid as she thoug
ht she would be. The dragon was as magnificent as it was ferocious, but it seemed more interested in the bear, who was already making its way back to the girls.
Another deafening shriek escaped the throat of the dragon, which forced Romi and Naomi to cover their ears, followed by a thick spray of fire coursing through the air and straight onto the bear. It was instantly incinerated, and there was no sign of it, as if it never existed at all. All that remained was the singed grass and the two frightened little girls.
The dragon lowered its head, as if trying to somehow assure the girls that everything would be okay, before flapping its powerful wings and flying up into the clouds overhead.
Romi and Naomi looked at one another in awe and Romi whispered, “We’ve got to tell my dad.”
“No,” Naomi exclaimed and grabbed Romi’s arm. “You can’t tell anyone about this! Especially not Uncle Henry.”
“Why not?”
“Just because.”
“But that dragon saved us,” Romi argued.
“Romi, you can’t tell Uncle Henry, or anyone. Or it’s not going to end well. Everyone knows dragons and witches don’t play well together, and if they did, it could mean the end of the world.”
Romi’s eyes opened as the vision vanished and she let out a slow breath. She had always kept wondering why her cousin urged her not to tell her father, but now she understood. She had the power to alter history, but she didn’t because everything which had happened in her life, in the world, had been leading up to this point. Here, at Stonehenge.
Everything happened for a reason, which had been her mantra for as long as she could remember, but only now she understood. She was meant to have been captured by Flint, she was meant to create an army of bears for him, as it would ultimately lead to her rescue by her father and Nyx.
A dragon and a warlock.
Two enemies since the beginning of time, now working together to save the person they loved most in the world. It wasn’t violence which had brought her father and Nyx together. It was their shared love for her, and there was nothing more powerful in this world than that. There was also nothing more powerful in this world than the power of a dragon allied with the magic of an elder warlock.
In the corner of Romi’s eye, she noticed the light gray bear, sticking out like a sore thumb between all the others, and she cocked her head slightly. Something seemed familiar about him, but she still couldn’t figure out what. As her gaze moved toward the man who had just stepped onto the altar—next in line, of course—her gaze fell upon Flint. He wasn't looking at her, but rather up at the sky.
And the warm feeling of Nyx’s presence started to fill up inside her.
He was close.
Flint rushed over to her, angrily grabbing her by the shoulder and dragging her toward the altar, pushing away the human who was next in line. “Perfect, you did exactly what I hoped you would.”
“And what was that?” she snapped.
“Lure the Dragon Prince here,” Flint answered, laughing maniacally.
Romi’s blood ran cold in her veins, but only for a moment.
Sure, she had been the bait, the lure which would draw Nyx out, but Flint didn’t know that her father was with him. She was sure that no one would expect her father to be at the side of the Dragon Prince.
Flint shoved her down on the altar and gripped her neck. He retrieved a ceremonial dagger, which Romi immediately recognized as part of her father’s collection. The dagger had been used for effectively killing and dismembering witches from as far back as the ninth century.
A mix of anger and fear rose up inside her. “You had no right to take that. It doesn’t belong to you,” she snarled.
Flint smirked at her and laughed again. “Once I kill you, your little Dragon Prince will be nothing but an empty shell, which my army can easily rip to shreds.”
So that was his plan, Romi thought to herself. She struggled against Flint’s grip, but he was just too strong for her weak and fragile body. The dagger moved closer to her flesh, and as much as she tried to push it away, there was no stopping it.
The tip of the blade touched her skin, and immediately her skin started to burn, as if the blade had been heated to an infernally high temperature.
Her father had told her the blade was forged out of the steel of Livia Ambrosias' cradle, which set alight the moment she was born. No one other than her parents—who were mere mortals—could touch it without being instantly incinerated. Her father was a humble blacksmith, and after she had learned her first spell, which she had to figure out on her own, as no other witches even existed, he took a section of her crib and forged and crafted it into a dagger, with a guard made of opals and pure gold. Over time, the gold was stolen off it and the opals wore down, but the power of the steel was what kept it in immaculate condition. When Henry had inherited it from his mother, he restored the guard to its former glory and kept it for Romi, to one day pass onto her descendants.
That plan was looking a little bleak at that moment.
Romi cried out in pain as the tip of the dagger penetrated her skin and sank down into her flesh. Her chest was instantly on fire, and as she threw her head back, she noticed the true magnificence of Nyx, in his dragon form, flying overhead.
9
Romi’s pained scream shot through the air, triggering Nyx’s natural instincts of attack, and he swooped down, his large, gray wings slicing through the air. Henry held on for dear life, perched up on his neck, his eyes glowing.
Nyx caught sight of Flint as he circled around the site of Stonehenge and recalled a previous encounter, similar to this one, where Flint had run away, wounded not only physically, but also with his pride shredded into shards.
This time would be the same thing, only there was much more at stake.
A powerful roar pulsated from his throat and Flint glared up at him, moving his arm in a circular movement. Nyx noticed the army of bears, who now made their way toward him. Their growls grew louder as Nyx swooped down and spewed a ray of fire at them. Some of them were consumed by the flames, but others simply kept going.
Nyx found it rather amusing that Flint was under the impression he would be able to defeat him with an army of bears. They couldn't fly, or breathe fire, so what chance did they have?
Henry yelled out to him, his voice muffled by the wind, “Look down there! It’s Romiera! And the dagger!”
Nyx knew exactly what dagger Henry referred to, as his father had been stabbed with it several times on the night they were cursed by Rhaena. Much of that night was still unknown to Nyx, as his father never felt the need to share it with him or any of the sons, but the dagger was one of the most mentioned things in that story.
Nyx glanced down and spotted Romi, lying on the flat rock in the center of the circles, on what used to be the altar.
The sacrificial altar.
As soon as he noticed the ceremonial dagger stuck in her chest, his rage exploded and he plunged down onto the ground. The bears now surrounded him, but he didn’t even care. He trampled several of them with his powerful hind legs, or swatted them away from him like flies with his front claws. Still spewing fire at those who remained, he noticed a light gray bear running toward Romi.
Instinctively, he rushed toward Romi, curling his tail around the stone of the altar to protect her.
“I’ll get her,” Henry said and slid off his neck.
Nyx nodded gratefully and continued to deter the incoming horde of bears. It was hard to believe that Romi was able to create this many bears in such a short period of time, but then again, she was an Ambrosias descendent. Powerful beyond belief and wise beyond their years, they were a true force to be reckoned with.
Henry grabbed Romi, who was barely conscious, ripped the dagger’s blade out of her chest, and called out a series of chants. The wind suddenly picked up, creating a vortex around Henry and Romi, engulfing them completely.
Nyx felt powerless, as he couldn’t do anything to help them, except keep the bears away
from them. He spewed fire around him at an alarming rate, his rage growing fierier with every second that passed. Knowing it was time to change things up, he released a large cloud of smoke from his nostrils, engulfing all the bears.
The bears were disorientated, unable to see or know where they were.
From deep within Nyx, lightning built up inside him, and as he opened his large mouth, his teeth glimmered even through the smoke.
Lightning bolts shot out from his throat, shooting straight at the bears, killing them instantly. When some of them tried to retreat, he shot them down like a sniper, with no chance of survival.
Amongst the chaos, Nyx spotted Flint, who seemed agitated and irate that his plan hadn’t worked as well as he thought. He definitely didn't expect that Romi’s father would join in the fight, especially not alongside Nyx.
Nyx shot down even more of the bears until there were none left, expect for Flint, and a low growl formed in the back of his throat. His dark gray wings folded against his back as he transformed into his human body. The smoke still hung thick in the air, giving him a few moments to get himself together—and to get dressed, of course. He grabbed the backpack Henry had carried with him and quickly donned his clothes. When he was done, he stepped away from the altar, knowing he didn't need to check on Henry and Romi. They were perfectly safe inside their vortex of magic. Hopefully Henry knew what he was doing, as there would be no greater loss for Nyx than losing Romi.
That was it, he thought to himself as the revelation became clear. Flint needed Romi, not only to create a bear army for him, but also to lure him here. Once he was here, Flint would kill Romi, therefore weakening him so that he’d be easier to kill.
That wasn't going to happen, Nyx vowed as he stepped out into the meadow and the smoke began to clear.
Flint stood by an upright slab of rock, his eyes glowing an angry red.
“It’s all over, Flint!” Nyx called out to him as he slowly made his way through the thick grass.
