by T. F. Walsh
At once, a jolt of electricity rocketed up her arm. And with it came small shivers, then hard convulsing, engulfing her body. She held onto Saber. Never releasing him.
Her mind screamed that she and Saber loved each other. That had to mean they were soul mates. Her inner dragon growled with ferocity like never before. Was this the calling Balc had mentioned earlier?
Across from her, Balc climbed to his feet. All the mundane thoughts from her life muted and the only thing she cared for was that moment. Hope hung in the air, waiting. When Saber didn’t stir, she leaned closer and cradled his head against her chest. She kissed his brow, and her words barely made a sound. “Saber. Please.”
Nothing.
“It’s me. I… I love you. You’re my soul mate.” She placed her fingers on the side of his hardened neck—no pulse. Emptiness overflowed into her as nothingness took hold. Lowering herself over him, she kissed his lips. “Come back. Don’t leave me here.”
Fallen’s world darkened to the pits of the underworld. This couldn’t be happening. Not now. The Creators let him die, dooming everyone. Magic tingled on the air and across her skin.
The ground seemed to sway beneath her, and her inner dragon erupted in her veins, growing to the point where the heat became too much. Her dragon stretched outward, filling every cell. The world should open up because every expelled breath was a knife slicing her. She’d finally found someone she loved, and now it seemed as if her legs and arms had been torn from her body. She was alone. Saber had left her, and she didn’t know how to go on.
With that thought, a sudden and violent but involuntary explosion of fire streamed out of her mouth, striking Saber in the chest.
Her mind screamed to stop, but her body wasn’t her own. The dragon controlled her, whispering calmness into her ears. None of that worked. Not while she watched Saber’s body encased in flames, glowing like an ember.
Stop! I beg you to stop. Take me instead.
Balc’s mouth opened wide and his face contorted as he gripped a single piece of paper, the corners fluttering in the breeze. He was yelling something, which didn’t register, and kept showing her the paper. What was Balc saying?
Everything in Fallen’s world fell away into a darkening terror, along with endless tears. She cascaded into the emptiness of her own mind, unable to understand why her dragon had attacked Saber. Why the Creators didn’t spare him. Why they killed her with their cruelty. She let the void take over and silently prayed she would never awaken.
23
Saber’s heartbeat drummed in his ears. Energy rippled through him, prickling the tips of his fingers and toes, while the wildfire sweeping across his chest was a heated blanket keeping him protected. The sensation reminded him of the time he’d awakened on a metal bed in his stepfather’s crypt. Balc had told him he hit his head in a house fire and must have suffered memory loss, which was why he couldn’t remember a single moment of his life beforehand. Nothing. He believed Balc, yet he’d never been able to forget the loving presence clinging to his insides when he had first woken up in the crypt.
Until now… he felt the same way again.
Saber forced his eyelids to open to a silvery moon, its hue flowing across the tapestry of stars pinned into a black sky. With a light breeze washing across his face, came a honeysuckle fragrance. Fallen.
His mind awakened to clouded memories: the church burning, Fallen transforming into a dragon, him dying. Where was he now? The abode of the Creators or the underworld?
He pushed himself to a sitting position, his vision wavered, and he convulsed. Bones cracked and snapped. Panic gripped him, constricting his chest. What the—
A yell escaped his mouth. It felt as if someone had pulled him in every direction, all the while an explosion of fire burned in the center of his chest, so bright and powerful that it might kill him.
The sensation of knives raking down his arms had him belching another scream. He writhed on the ground, and when the pain finally subsided, he lay there in absolute stillness for a long pause, waiting. Tentatively, he lifted himself when he caught sight of the onyx scales covering his flesh, glinting with a silvery shine from the moon. Elongated, scaly legs with three digits on each foot and long claws, along with his thick torso.
He reeled backward on all fours, his spiked tail swinging left and right across the field behind him. Mind spinning, his breaths grew shallow. No fucking way… he’d shifted into a dragon! How?
The smell of roasted meat drifted from the distance and rumbled his stomach. His wings stretched out, dark and leathery, like a bat’s. It was a strange sensation yet liberating, like a long-suppressed part of him was finally being released. A pleasant hum traveled through his veins. He studied his new appendages, bewildered that someone had bestowed such a gift on an Ash.
How had he transformed into a dazmeu? Was that why they had stamped his wrist with a dragon mark four weeks earlier? Had the Creators seen the future all along, but bound him to Fallen so she could help him finally come to that conclusion too? He regretted not believing Fallen and fighting his belief in the Creators choosing him. But it didn’t explain how he had turned into a dragon?
He felt more alive than he had ever during any part of his entire life because he’d been right all along. Fallen was his soul mate. His attempt to speak rolled out as a guttural roar, and with it, he tapped into the fire burning inside. An inferno streamed out of his mouth, illuminating the enormous field ahead of him.
Joy gathered into the darkest recesses of his mind, and he spun on the spot, searching for Fallen. Only the woods lay at his back, and emptiness surrounded him. How had he gotten here?What was obvious was that his bond with Fallen was finally broken. Was that because he’d become a dazmeu? But where had Fallen gone?
A sickening pain churned in his gut, the kind that screamed something horrible had happened. What if the Guardians caught her and put them into prison? They would have thought Saber dead and left him behind. He didn’t understand the Creators’ decisions, but at that moment, he embraced them in his heart because they had given him a second chance at life, at love. And nothing would stand in his way to track down Fallen.
He spread his wings, beating them slowly at first, then quicker. His feet lifted off the ground. He crashed back down to his knees. Get it together. This time, he ran on all fours, gaining momentum, and thrashed his wings furiously. The air shifted, careening beneath him as he flew. Wobbling like a plane in turbulence, he kept working, soaring higher. His gaze swept the green rolling hills for any sign of a fire to see where the smell of food was coming from. Perhaps it was Fallen.
Ahead lay the Life Tree, lit up with enchanted lights. Realm drae lived within the branches, while others resided underground in a myriad of interlaced tunnels. Could Fallen be there? He doubted she’d visit such a public place, considering her earlier fear of the realm.
His wings thundered through the skies, fresh air whipping around his body as a sense of freedom claimed him. If this was how Fallen felt flying, no wonder she’d been cranky so often, needing to conceal the dazmeu side of herself. Now they shared this with no one else.
Saber remained high above the Life Tree to prevent draes from seeing him. This was a week of celebrations leading up to the Blood Moon in a few days. He’d heard stories about the Creators giving everyone life when the moon dripped with blood.
He angled one wing as he crested the tree and homed in on the castle behind the Life Tree where white stone walls covered in ivy came into view along with slate cone-shaped turrets jutting into the sky. Mullioned windows reflected the crimson moon and the dozens of decorations illuminating the building.
The urgency to move faster became his primary focus. He rounded the gleaming castle where flags stitched with the realm’s insignia of a dragon expelling fire. Crenelations ran between the towers, and the keep was barren because guards were too busy celebrating on such an auspicious week.
Farther behind the castle, an elaborate garden stretched out for
miles like a river, along with the largest maze he’d even seen. Tiny lights followed every turn and twist. Saber had once gotten lost in there with his Guardian buddies when they snuck into the gardens on a night the queen had left the kingdom. A few too many ales had the potential to make anyone do crazy shit. They’d destroyed some of the shrubbery walls to escape and never got busted.
Now flying freely above the castle came with a strange sensation in his gut that he was trespassing, but everything was different. He’d been reborn a dazmeu, but what about the Ash message embedded in his chest? No time like the present to find out. Saber wouldn’t live in fear or the unknown for a second longer.
He circled the backyard. Hundreds of drae crammed on the lawn, separating into two groups. Six feet of green hedges surrounded the location, along with trees filled with fruit. Nothing grew in the Baciu forest, yet inside the realm, everything blossomed. His gaze sailed across the white flower petals waving from the greenery, the water fountain filled with orange koi, and the thick woods flanking the castle.
Below, Queen Kesra paced in front of the masses, her hands pressed to her hips. Braids and dreadlocks of her long, white hair trailed down to her ankles, while her snowy gown sparkled like a star in the sky.
When Saber’s gaze landed on his stepfather holding a limp Fallen in his arms in front of Her Majesty, his heart stopped.
He couldn’t halt the flow of thoughts that seemingly swallowed him. Was Fallen dead? Had the queen done something to harm her? Fallen was terrified of the monarch for some reason. Had she been right not to trust the ruler all along?
Wings tucked against his body, he dove, all rationale leaving his brain. A roar echoed from his mouth, and with it, fire shot out.
She couldn’t be dead.
Below, a rumble of screams discharged, and draes scattered in every direction, creating a perfect landing spot for Saber in his dragon form.
His feet pounded the ground upon landing, claws digging into the soil.
Shrieks surrounded him. He ran toward Balc, who recoiled at the sight.
The queen sheltered behind him, panic twisting her face. Guardians assembled in a protective barrier around her before Saber’s sights landed on a few of his buddies, one in particular, Leif. The guy had shoulders to rival a bear but the kindest heart. When Saber had been exiled, Leif returned to the kingdom, and it was he who told Saber to run and not return. Today, he still stood tall, ready to defend his queen.
Smoke wafted from Saber’s nostrils. When he saw familiar faces, it softened his fiery rage. He had to speak with Balc and Queen Kesra to uncover the truth about Fallen. First, where was his dragon retracting button?
Everyone who’d gathered stood frozen, eyes locked on him. Saber wasn’t sure how to transform back into his drae form.
Words crammed in his mind. When he released his words, a spark of fire sizzled instead, shooting out of his mouth in every direction. The Guardians never ducked, not even when the tiny embers struck. Queen Kesra swatted them away, and a few landed on Fallen’s cheeks. A loud exhale gushed from her mouth, and she awakened.
Balc lowered her to her feet.
Desperation overtook Saber, and he wanted to sweep her into his arms. This moment brought more relief to him than anything in his past. To know Fallen was safe and alive, and they were indeed life mates meant everything.
She spun around, her glazed eyes widening as she stumbled. When she turned toward Saber, her mouth gaped open.
In his mind, words poured out. Instead, only another grunt.
“Capture it,” the queen demanded. Her hands were placed on her chest while she stared with a kind of awe that indicated she had never seen a real dazmeu.
The Guardians lunged.
Fallen screamed and rushed forward, elbowing past one of them. She turned her back on Saber and faced the group. “Don’t harm him. He won’t hurt you.”
Well, if anyone laid a hand on Fallen or his stepfather, that little promise of hers flew out the window.
Fallen then twisted to face Saber, her eyes glistening. Her hand outstretched toward him as he lowered his head. Her stroke across jawline was feather soft.
“How?” Her body pressed closer to his. “How did this happen, Saber?”
His attempt to respond turned into a grumble.
“Lower yourself.” She inched closer before whispering again, “Think of your happiest memory and imagine yourself removing the dragon form as if it were a heavy, winter coat.”
No other thoughts came to his mind because he knew she understood his dilemma. More than happiness, it was part of the care and love she had for him. His body tingled, and he visualized the dragon skin falling off his back. Allowing the breeze to wash through his hair and prickle along his skin, he opened his eyes, which he hadn’t recalled closing. He stood in front of Fallen. Her smile radiated brighter than the sun on the hottest day.
From the crowd, Balc released a gasp. Leif stared at Saber with renewed understanding. His nose screwed up as if he’d been fighting an internal debate. The other Guardians’ faces washed blank with confusion.
“He’s an Ash. Get him!” The queen’s words were sirens, ringing in his ears. Just like on the night he woke up standing over her bed with a knife to her throat. He was supposed to have killed her, but an unexplained instinct woke him up from his trance. Was it the Creators intervening, well aware back then that his life would end up in the realm again?
Guardians charged, except for his friend, Leif, who lingered in the back, his brow furrowed. Saber nudged Fallen to stand behind him as he called forward his inner fire.
Balc pushed forward, waving a piece of paper from behind the line of Guardians, his voice piercing the previous silence. “Your Majesty, he’s not an Ash. I was telling the truth. Saber is back and safe. Please, listen to me. This note, his mission to kill you, has been magically removed from Saber’s body with Fallen’s help. He poses no danger.”
Saber recoiled, despite the guards holding their position, taking Fallen with him. “You removed the note from inside me?”
Her smile widened as she glanced at him. “I have no idea how, but I must have.” She lowered her voice. “I think when my dragon doused you in flames, she awakened your animal, calling to your spirit. Somehow you must have dazmeu lineage in you. It doesn’t take much. That must be why we both had dragon marks from the Creators.”
“So, you burned me with your fire again?” His brows arched, while the corner of his mouth pulled upward in a cocky smile.
“Ha! I saved you.”
Finally, he was truly rid of the Ash burden! He couldn’t change the shit that had happened to him in the past, but now he was given a new life, and for the first time ever, his mind relaxed. Especially with Fallen in his arms.
“Guards, stop!” The queen stepped between two Guardians, her eyebrows knotted.
Balc rushed to Saber’s side. He pulled his grimy tunic up and over his head, then offered it to Saber. “Put this on, son.” He stood there in matching pants, covered in the same dirt as the top.
Saber pulled it down over his body. A bit snug across the chest, and it fell just above his knees. “Thank you.”
Her Majesty stared long and hard at Saber. “How is this possible? You were an Ash, and now you fly in here as a dazmeu.”
“Fallen explained that perhaps I was created with ashes from a drae who had stronger dazmeu heritage. But it took Fallen to awaken my dragon.”
The queen stared at Saber with uncertainty, doubt radiating from her narrowing gaze. “Someone, bring me the taster.”
One of the Guardians darted out of sight and into the open doors at the rear of the castle. A silvery hue from the moon splashed shadows across the white stone walls where ivy didn’t reach, carrying with it an ominous feel. Except, tonight was anything but menacing for Saber. Somehow, he had to convince everyone else of that.
Fallen’s words called him back to her. “I can’t believe you’re alive.” Her body trembled, and tears rolle
d down her cheeks. Saber pulled her tight against his chest and swallowed past his thickening throat. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m a dazmeu and wouldn’t have it any other way.”
She pulled back and caressed her hand down Saber’s face, her eyes locked on him as if not quite believing he was actually by her side.
Words pressed on his mind, but all he did was smile. He pulled Fallen into his arms once again, not ready to step aside. Not when he intended to spend his future making new memories, happier times filled with laughter.
Saber glanced over his shoulder at hundreds of gawkers. For him, this was a day forever ingrained on his mind. He was so close to regaining his life, his friends, his family—they sat like a golden nugget barely out of reach.
Then Queen Kesra stretched out her hands toward Fallen. Guardians watched, weapons ready.
Fallen recoiled, backing into him. Saber draped an arm over her shoulders. “I’ll keep you safe.”
The queen took her hands, and Saber’s eyes landed on Fallen’s inner wrist where her dragon mark was now filled in with glittery silver. He stared at his own mark, black as his wings had been. Was this part of their dragons calling to each other as Fallen had mentioned?
“Do I know you, dear?” The queen’s strong voice sliced his concentration as she focused on Fallen.
Fallen shook her head.
Saber butted in. “She’s with me.”
Fallen squared her shoulders as if ready to charge into a battle. “I don’t know you, Your Majesty, but I’ve heard many stories.”
Queen Kesra broke into laughter, hard and forced, filling the silent night. “Dearie, there are more fabricated myths out there about me than truths. I don’t care for those. Tell me who you are?” Her voice deepened.
The crowd waited for a response, and Saber couldn’t work out what held Fallen back.
A snarling grunt erupted from the castle, and Saber jerked around, his hands curled. A feaster, resembling a chimpanzee, crawled on all fours alongside a Guardian. The creature snarled, yet he wasn’t charging them like a starved blood-hungry beast. This one was pasty and bald with only a few strands of hair from his chin. The bony body told Saber this fellow hadn’t been drinking much drae blood. The character sidled up to the queen, reaching her hip. She patted his head.
