Darkbeam Part II

by Adrienne Woods

  “Lucian, just give it a rest. I can’t be tamed. Nobody is strong enough—”

  “Stop it. I know you’re much stronger than I am, Blake. But as long as I feel like I can do this, I will.”

  “We were thirteen when you made that fucking promise. I won’t hate you if you broke it. Drop it.”

  “Blake, I have to try.”

  “You’re going to get yourself killed, Lucian. I’m Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Don’t forget that.”

  I shut the door behind me. Lucian’s death would be the end of me. If he died by my hands, I doubted I’d be able to claw my way out of the darkness.

  I didn’t care what anyone said—there had been claimings that had gone wrong before—but to me, it would be murder. I’d be taking the life of a guy who was practically my brother.

  He knocked on the door, and I spat out the toothpaste in my mouth, mumbling for him to come in. It wouldn’t help to ignore him, because he was such a persistent asshole when he wanted to be.

  “Let’s go talk to my parents, please. I’m sure they can point us in the right direction, at least.”

  I nodded.

  Anything to get him to shut up.

  The clicked shut behind him. I wished with all my heart that Lucian could let this go.

  I didn’t want to be responsible for his death.

  That afternoon I flew to Tith while Lucian opted to take the elevator. The elevators might be fast—Lucian arrived two hours before I touched down in the garden where they were waiting—but there was no way in hell I was getting on one of those things.

  Queen Maggie rose from her chair once I was dressed and kissed me on my cheek. “It’s so good to see you, Blake. You’ve grown.”

  I shrugged, grinning at her as I took a seat next to Lucian.

  “What’s this about?” King Helmut asked.

  “It’s about the foretelling I got from Irene, Dad. We believe it has something to do with Blake’s claiming.”

  King Helmut furrowed his brow.

  “In what way, Lucian?” Queen Maggie asked worriedly.

  “According to the foretelling, Blake will turn dark on the 23rd of August.”

  Queen Maggie gasped, but King Helmut merely raised one of his eyebrows.

  “That’s not all she said. She told me I had to find something. Something that’s of great value to Blake. I think there’s something out there that can weaken Blake’s dragon, so I can claim him.”

  “Lucian, something like that is not allowed in the ring. I know you want to tame Blake, but—”

  “I don’t want to tame him! I want to save him, Dad.”

  King Helmut steepled his fingers, tapping his index fingers together. He looked thoughtfully at Lucian, then at me. “And are you okay with this?”

  I shrug. “I’d go along with anything that doesn’t get him killed. He won’t listen to me about dropping the claiming.”

  “What do you want from us?” Queen Maggie asked in barely a whisper.

  “You knew King Albert and Queen Catherine well, Mom. Do you know of anything out there like what I described? Or maybe you can point us in the direction of someone who knows something about this?”

  I looked down at my feet as King Helmut turned his eyes toward me again.

  We all knew who—besides me, that is—could tell everyone the truth, but we kept our mouths shut.

  “There isn’t, sweetheart. At least, nothing I know of. Are you sure it was a true—”

  “Yes,” Lucian snapped. “Irene’s eyes lit up and she did the creepy thing. I am the one who had to find it.”

  “Lucian…” Queen Maggie’s voice was thick with emotion and she turned her pleading gaze to her husband, but he didn’t meet her gaze.

  “I’m sorry we can’t help you, sweetheart. Kate was such a mess the last year of her life. She refused to see anyone. Albert wasn’t much better. If there was anything like what you’ve mentioned, they would’ve hidden it well and none of us would’ve known.”

  I almost chuckled at that. She had no idea.

  “Did you ask your father about this, Blake?” King Helmut asked.

  “My father and I aren’t on speaking terms at the moment,” I said matter-of-factly.

  “We have to try. I’ll speak to him,” Lucian said as he got up.

  “Oh, won’t the two of you stay for lunch?” Queen Maggie asked with a smile.

  “Sorry, we can’t. I have training at five, so I need to get back.”

  She nodded and patted his back when he leaned down and hugged her. “Thank you for listening.”

  “You are my son. I will always listen, sweetheart. I hope you get more out of Robert than you have from us. If something like that exists, I’m certain Robert would know.”

  Lucian nodded.

  “I guess this is goodbye,” I said as I got up. Without waiting for any of them to say a word, I shifted into my dragon form.

  “He’s getting desperate, isn’t he?”

  “So am I, Mom. We have a date, and it’s less than a year away.”

  “Then train as hard as you can.”

  I tuned out their conversation. She could have easily told him about Tanya, but she didn’t. Neither did.

  I should thank them for that, but a part of me was disgusted at how easily they lied to Lucian.

  I couldn’t watch my father lie to him, too.

  I sprang into the air and headed back to Dragonia.

  I’d have to let it be.

  It didn’t come as a surprise when Lucian told me my father had said the same thing King Helmut and Queen Margerite had. Everyone in Paegeia pretended that Tanya never existed.

  I still wondered how the hell she got Elena to the other side of the Wall.

  The must have given Elena the Coward’s potion.

  The Coward’s potion turn the drinker into someone that didn’t own a heartbeat. They’d seem undead for a short period. That was my theory on how the Wall only let dragons through and not humans. Dragon heartbeats are so faint, mine can’t even been heard without an EKG machine. Human hearts beat so strong and loud. But she had been merely a baby, so how could it have been the Coward’s potion?

  Which brought me back to square one.

  Master Longwei’s voice sounded over the PA system in the cafeteria as Tabitha put her tray of food down next to me.

  She grabbed my hand and brushed a kiss over my knuckles.

  “On Thursday, there will be a claiming in the Coliseum in Etan. The Prince of Tith will face the Rubicon at two.”

  Cheers erupted through the cafeteria. Students whistled and called out encouragement to Lucian, who, as usual, was seated right next to Elena.

  I shook my head, clenching my fists as I got up and stormed away.

  The cafeteria fell silent as I hurried out. I needed to get away before Tabitha followed after me.

  I wanted to be alone.

  It seemed like Lucian was avoiding me after the announcement, because he barely spent any time in our room, but I knew he was training his ass off. Why couldn’t he let it go?

  His best would never be enough.

  Usually, I’d go and take a look at his moves, but this time I wasn’t interested, not even when I heard the best trainers in Paegeia were coming to him.

  I wanted Irene but it was too risky to get close to her again. The smallest thing could trigger the memory that caused me to use my compulsion on her in the first.

  There were times when Master Longwei called me to his office that I expected to see Irene sitting there, having remembered what I had done to her that night

  Compulsion was extremely fragile and anything could set it off. And I was still a young dragon, so I wasn’t sure how strong my compulsion was.

  When Thursday rolled around, I took the bag of Fire Cain with me to the Coliseum.

  I wasn’t going to kill Lucian, not now and not ever. If I took some Fire Cain to weaken the beast, Lucian would stand a better chance at claiming me.

  Anyone was better than Elen
a and this was how things were supposed to be.

  I would still be me and be sort of free.

  Lucian was worthy.

  I paced the waiting area. Tabitha had wanted to join me, to ease my mind, but I’d told her I needed to be alone.

  The only person I wanted by my side at this moment was Irene, and Tabitha didn’t even come close to measuring up.

  I walked over to the table and lay out a line of Fire Cain, bending down to snort it.

  What are you doing, boy?

  “Everything in my power to keep you from killing him,” I muttered.

  This is against dragon law and you know it.

  “Does it look like I fucking care? You’re the reason for all of this.”

  Images of me and the dark Blake jumped into my mind. Dark Blake tried to strangle me. He was growling and breathing heavily through his nostrils. But the Fire Cain had weakened him and I started to laugh.

  He disappeared as he fought and growled.

  I was finally in control again. And maybe this time, Lucian would walk away with more than his life.

  A dragon of his own.

  I walked out of the gates and into the ring. The sun was blinding and the audience’s cheers were deafening.

  I wasn’t a show pony, so I kept my facial expression neutral as I regarded the crowd.

  King Helmut glared my way, warning me not to kill his son. Queen Maggie’s eyes seemed to be begging the same thing. Even King Caleb and Queen Gizelle was there.

  Cameras flashed in my direction, but I didn’t give them the smile they wanted.

  The crowd erupted in an even louder round of applause as Lucian entered the ring.

  He was everyone’s favorite.

  He came to stand in front of me, and I shifted into my dragon form, eliciting cheers from the crowd. I had grown over the past couple of months—the other day I had shed on the mountain; it was nothing new to me.

  Lucian arched his neck as he looked up at me, and for a split second, fear flashed in his eyes.

  “You and me, let’s show them a claiming they will never forget.”

  “There is no you and me. You are not the true royal.”

  AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” started to play. The crowd sang along and my scales vibrated to the beat.

  A chill ran down from the main horn on my neck to the tiniest one on my tail.

  The beast was subdued—still growling, still angry, but out of it.

  Lucian charged, and I pushed the effects of the music to the back of my mind.

  I wasn’t going to roll over and yield. That was not in me.

  He slid through my paws. He hadn’t been this fast the last time we’d faced each other in an arena.

  I wanted to hurt him—not kill him—to remind him what a dumb idea this claiming was. If I knocked the air from his lungs, this entire fiasco would stop.

  To my annoyance, he dodged my every move.

  How had Lucian become this fast?

  I wanted to kick myself for not watching him train.

  I peered around, looking for Lucian, but didn’t see him. Suddenly, I felt him running up my back.

  I felt him tie the rope he always fought with around my main horn, then he was gone again.

  He wanted to tangled me up in the rope so I’d lose my balance.

  Right now, it might work.

  When he swung down the opposite side of me, I let a few acid balls fly in his direction.

  The crowd gasped and cheered again.

  He was slippery fast, and proving to be worthy to be my rider.

  He tangled the rope around my front paws a few times before he retreated again. He pulled on the rope, and it tightened around me, pressing hard into my scales.

  Fight, you son of a bitch!

  “No,” I hissed. I had to fall this time. It was Lucian or the darkness.

  The beast growled again as I landed with a thud, the vibration running through the earth, shaking the crowd against the hard turf.

  Fight or I will kill him.

  “No, you won’t,” I muttered.

  Lucian looked at me, his brow furrowed. “Blake, yield!”

  I wanted to, but something was holding me back. It wasn’t the beast—he was subdued. It was the higher power.

  No, Elena wasn’t in danger. It couldn’t interfere.

  “Never,” the higher power spoke for me.

  My body—no longer under my control—pushed against Lucian’s rope. A roar left my mouth.

  The ropes broke and I was free.

  The beast laughed.

  Coming to bite us both in the end, my boy. It’s her or nobody.

  I growled again.

  I would never yield to that dragon spawn.

  But the entity fought with a force stronger than the beast’s.

  If Lucian died today, it wasn’t by my hand or my darkness. It was by this bigger force that protected Elena.

  Lucian couldn’t hold his balance as my paws stomped hard on the ground. The vibration shook my scales and I was certain I would to break from the force of it.

  Lucian kept fighting.

  Lightning headed toward him, but it missed.

  The entity controlling me became furious. It wanted this charade to be over because Lucian wasn’t meant to be my rider.

  I never should’ve asked Tabitha to teach me magic.

  Magic wasn’t allowed in the ring, but the rule was strictly for the Dragonians.

  My telekinesis pushed Lucian’s body into the ground, then slammed him against the wall before driving him into the ground again.

  The petrified crowd looked in horror.

  Lucian lay on the ground, unconscious.

  Growls escaped my mouth as other dragons filled the ring. They tried to subdue the greater power but it was still in control, still fighting.

  The subdued beast inside was laughing at me, rejoicing at the mistake we’d made.

  And just like that, I was in control again.

  It was over.

  Lucian was in the Infirmary for almost a week.

  I’d never expected the light to take over. It’d fought harder than the darkness and it brought little hope that I would ever win.

  I wasn’t the kind of dragon who’d put all his eggs in one basket, but now I had to. Paul was my last hope. He needed to succeed, and the only way he would was if I was too occupied to rescue her.

  The only thing that would subdue the light was booze, and I had to use more Fire Cain to subdue the beast.

  I would be so out of it, it wouldn’t be able to use me to do its bidding.

  That was the thing about parasites. The host needed to be well enough for the parasite to thrive.

  My only hope lay in the paws of the enemy—a Wyvern.

  I still didn’t know if he was a danger, but none of that mattered now.

  I’d try to get more acquainted with him over the weekend, and discover his true agenda—whether he wanted this life, or whether Goran had sent him.

  But I was confident I wasn’t part of his plans. He wasn’t here to keep tabs on me for Goran.

  When I heard that Lucian would be going home for the weekend to recuperate, I invited Paul to my room for a drink.

  He spoke about Elena being his rider, and how they were going to change the world, but there was one problem.

  I frowned. “Is that problem a prince?”

  Paul laughed. “Something like that.”

  “Yeah, with the way you feel about Elena, he is definitely going to be a problem, dude.”

  Paul laughed. “I guess I just have to win her over the normal way then. Any ideas?”

  “I don’t know Elena that well. She’s a bit flat-chested for my taste.”

  I took another sip of my beer and Paul followed my lead.

  It seemed like he truly wanted to change.

  He showed me what he could do.

  His fire had a green flame to it, and he was proud of it. It wasn’t anything like the pink kiss but it was something to lo
ok at—freaky and a bit evil.

  “That’s not all of it, is it?”

  He smiled. “Nope, but the other gift is kind of messed up.”

  “Dude, I’m all about messed up.”

  Paul laughed.

  “C’mon, show me. I’m curious now.”

  “As long as you promise to show me yours.”

  “Deal.”

  “It’s a mind thing that all Raven Snouts can do, or Black Weavers.”

  “No,” I laughed. “They even got your breeds wrong?”

  “Yeah, tell me about it.” Paul rolled his eyes

  “Black Weaver is such a cool name, though.”

  “It’s not bad.”

  “So… the mind thing?”

  “It’s sort of a tracking ability mixed with a blending device.”

  I raised an eyebrow.

  “Believe me, I wouldn’t have told you if I was here on other business. Wyverns do not want dragons to know.”

  “Okay, so how do you blend in?”

  “I can’t read minds, but I can put things in people’s minds.”

  “Woah, seriously?”

  Paul wasn’t smiling anymore. “I know it’s terrifying. In the wrong Wyvern’s hands…” He took a deep breathe. “You do not want to know the things I’ve seen. It’s twisted. You’re not the only scary thing out there, my friend.”

  “What kind of things?”

  I got an image of him wanting to kiss Elena in my mind and I gaped at him.

  “You saw that?”

  “You and Elena?”

  He nodded. “It doesn’t work with her, though. She knows about my gift and doesn’t trust anything she feels for me.”

  I cleared my throat. “And you’re sure she feels something for you?”

  He laughed. “There is something, she just doesn’t want to own up to it. I feel sorry for Lucian, though. He is going to lose.”

  “You think you share a Dent with her?”

  “It’s just a feeling. Like a greater power leading me. It’s hard to explain.”

  I nodded. “You don’t have to explain anything. If anyone knows about other entities driving you, it’s me.”

  “Good to know I’m not alone. You give into it?”

  “Not yet.”

  “You are much stronger than me, that’s for sure.”