Darkbeam Part II

by Adrienne Woods

  “Good for you.” She spat out the words.

  She sounded cold and ruthless. “You are a selfish little bitch. You didn’t deserve to be his girlfriend.” I tossed her back on the bed and stormed out of the room.

  Sammy stood by the door, her lower lip trembling.

  “Don’t ever ask me to come here again. If she wants to die, just let her die.”

  Sammy gasped.

  “Blake!” she called after me as I ran down the stairs.

  I didn’t care about Elena.

  Irene had been right and wrong. She did have an advantage, and the Ancients knew it. That was why her name hadn’t been printed on that plaque.

  I didn’t even feel sick around her anymore.

  It had all been in my head.

  She wasn’t the light, there was no force protecting her. Nothing.

  She was nobody.

  I snorted almost the last of my Fire Cain. I knew this wasn’t the fight Lucian had meant, but I was fighting. Fighting to keep the beast calm. I didn’t care if it was going to take my life.

  It was so hard for a dragon to die. I envied Brian. He had no idea how lucky he was to be dead.

  Weeks passed, and I didn’t even notice. I’d stopped going to class and stopped training my Warbel team. Master Longwei didn’t push me to resume normal activities, though he called me to his office to ask me to help Elena shift to her dragon form.

  But there was no fucking way I was going to help that selfish bitch ever again.

  That was the last time anyone asked me for anything.

  They all knew my fate.

  I let the Fire Cain do its job and I drifted away.

  A loud knock on the door woke me up.

  “Blake,” Constance said.

  Why couldn’t she just leave me the fuck alone?

  She continued banging on the door, but it felt as if she was banging on the walls of my aching head.

  I got up and opened the door.

  “You need to come,” my aunt said. She looked horrified.

  “What happened?”

  “It’s Elena, she isn’t a Thunderlight, Blake.”

  “What?”

  “Get your ass moving and come. She almost killed your sister.”

  That was enough for me to get me moving, and we were in the sky in no time.

  “Is Sammy okay?” I asked as Master Longwei joined us.

  “Yes, Sammy said Elena didn’t want to kill her. She just wanted her to back off. It was like Elena didn’t know who she was.”

  “But, that isn’t possible. We always know who we are, even transformed.”

  “Let’s just find her,” Master Longwei said.

  I found her beacon. It was incredibly strong.. I’d never felt anything like it before.

  “You said she isn’t a Thunderlight. I’m picking up a massive Dragon.”

  “She isn’t a Thunderlight.”

  “Constance, what is she?” If she said the Saadedine, I was heading straight back to my room. I didn’t sign up for that shit.

  “A Rubicon.”

  No way. I sped up until I came to a clearing. Elena was inside the heap of broken branches and trees she had destroyed. I heard her growl as she struggled to free herself.

  I descended with my aunt and Master Longwei behind me. I shifted into my human form on the ground.

  I took the robe from Constance and pulled it over my head.

  Elena was breathing hard and her heart was silent.

  Before it had beaten like crazy.

  This girl was a mystery, that was for sure. She’d taken down half the forest.

  “What the fuck?”

  “Watch your language, Blake,” Master Longwei said.

  “Just be careful. Sir Edward says that she is a Rubicon,” Constance reminded me.

  “Oh, come on. Only one Rubicon can live at a time, Constance.”

  “I’m just repeating what Sir Edward said.”

  A warning growl came from the heap. Only then did I see her figure trapped between a few of the fallen trees.

  “She’s here,” I said as I moved closer.

  She growled again. But it wasn’t hostile … She was afraid.

  “Is she okay?” Constance asked.

  I took another step closer. I needed to see her face. “She’s still in her dragon form,” I called to Constance, then I softened my voice. “Elena.”

  She was completely trapped. She couldn’t even turn her head.

  Her scales shuddered slightly as she stared at nothing. I heard the rumble of her fire deep in her belly. She wanted to breathe. The Pink Kiss left her mouth. I wielded my shield just in time, blocking her fire.

  I rushed toward her and grabbed the whiskers around her chin.

  She released another breath and I blocked it with my ice.

  Suddenly, her fear dissipated.

  “I’m sorry,” she said.

  I lowered my shield. “Are you calm?”

  She nodded her big head.

  “I’m scared,” she whispered in a deep voice.

  Master Longwei and Constance neared us, and they both stopped to stare at her in shock.

  This was seriously insane. How was it possible?

  “Why can’t I control her?” Elena gasped softly and dug her head into her paws.

  She was strange.

  I pushed my aunt and Master Longwei back and they retreated. “Are you sure you are calm?”

  “She’s calm, Blake. We need to get her out of this,” Constance said.

  Master Longwei started chanting and I felt magic in the air.

  Tabitha had been right. Dragons could do magic. The magic Master Longwei wielded was just as strong as the magic some Dragonians wielded.

  The trees moved away from Elena and fell on the other side, some rolling down the mountain.

  Once enough rubble was off her, I asked her, “Can you move?”

  She didn’t answer, just looked away.

  “Look at me.”

  She ignored me again, and it was starting to piss me off.

  “Elena, look at me!”

  “No!”

  I sighed and walked closer to her large frame as she said she was ugly. I made a joke, she was insulting my beauty.

  Then it hit me. Why she was here.

  Why Paul had found the Elementals so fast. Danger was coming, but not in the form of the Wyverns, or the Hippogriff, or even Goran.

  I was the danger. Elena had become the Rubicon for one purpose.

  My lips curved into a smile as relief washed over me. My life made sense again. I needed to train her to succeed.

  I wasn’t going to become Goran’s. He’d have a Rubicon if he wanted one, but it wouldn’t be me.

  “Okay, look into my eyes. Think about your human form.”

  She nodded and started to shrink. Her whiskers grew shorter, her snout and the horns on her back shrinking slowly.

  The process was still very slow, but I would help her improve.

  Finally, she was human again, naked and shivering.

  Our gaze broke.

  Constance hurried over and put a robe around her shoulders. Elena clung to it.

  She wasn’t used to being naked.

  She’d have to get used to it. We weren’t as self-conscious about our human forms as everyone else was.

  She looked up at me and smiled. “Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  For the first time in a long time, I felt happy.

  And it was because of Elena.

  This time I wasn’t afraid to admit it.

  She was sent to kill me.

  And I would make sure that she succeeded.

  Master Longwei and I walked back to the cliff’s edge. Master Longwei quiet and clearly confused.

  If there was one thing Elena was a master at, it was confusing the fuck out of people.

  “I thought only one Rubicon lived at a time?” Elena asked Constance softly.

  I chuckled and Master Longwei smiled
.

  “That’s true, but ever since you came to Paegeia, Elena, plenty of things have happened that we just don’t have answers for,” Constance replied.

  “Yay me,” she sulked.

  Constance laughed softly. “See, you’re almost back to normal.”

  It was quiet as we walked, everyone lost in thought. What was going to happen with two Rubicons roaming the skies?

  that the urge to kill Elena was completely gone.

  She brought hope.

  Constance was still speaking to her. My aunt was great with handling everything that wasn’t normal.

  She explained to Elena that once she embraced her dragon, things would become easier.

  “Will I become evil, too?”

  It made me feel as if she was seeing herself as my peer.

  But she wasn’t. I was hers.

  “I don’t know, Elena. Only time will tell.”

  We finally reached the edge of the forest and I took my robe off, shifting and heading back to Dragonia.

  I landed first with Master Longwei on my heels, and we both shifted.

  “Master Longwei, can I speak to you quickly?” I asked him and he nodded.

  We walk to the entrance of the academy.

  “What is on your mind, Blake?”

  I cleared my throat. “I’ll help her, seeing that I’m the only one who can.”

  He nodded. “Something doesn’t make any sense.”

  “You heard what Constance said. Strange things started happening the minute Matt brought her here.”

  “I know, but I was so sure, Blake.”

  I frowned. “Sure of what?”

  “It doesn’t matter now.” He sighed. “She is what she is. There is no denying it, but I’ve never seen a breed change to become something else. She was a Thunderlight. She should’ve stayed a Thunderlight.”

  I nodded.

  “Thank you, Blake,” Elena said as she hurried past me, her cheeks red. I realized I was still naked and rolled my eyes.

  “Thank you for your assistance tonight and for that offer. I thought that we lost you there for a while.”

  “Me too.” I said goodbye with a wave to my aunt.

  She frowned and waved back awkwardly.

  What was with everyone?

  I ran up to my room, feeling delirious with joy. I hadn’t felt anything but sadness and utter loneliness for so much of my life.

  Now my life had a purpose, even if it meant I had to die to fulfill it.

  Part II

  Something had shifted in my core, mind, and soul when I discovered that there was another way out for me.

  It made everything calmer, because the darkness seemed to be far away.

  The loss of Lucian felt ten times worse than it had before. All the feelings I had suppressed were intensified.

  I felt happy and sad simultaneously.

  It was all because of Elena. She wasn’t my rider, but she was my salvation.

  A knock on the door pulled me out of my thoughts.

  I opened the door and found Tabitha standing on the threshold.

  She smiled and I pulled her into my chest.

  She pulled away and looked up at me with a puzzled expression on her face.

  “What’s—”

  “Uh-uh.” I shook my head with a smile and kissed her softly.

  “This I can deal with.” She placed her hands on my shoulders and jumped up, twining her legs around my waist.

  I walked to my bed and set her down, kissing down her neck. This time, the sex was good for both of us.

  I was no longer a parasite who only took what I needed.

  “Fuck,” I muttered.

  She laughed. “What’s wrong?”

  “I’m late for Warbel.”

  She kissed my cheek. “Do you want me to wait for you?”

  “Definitely,” I said as I got up and dressed. I gave her a quick kiss and rushed out the door.

  I reached the arena five minutes later. The players stopped as they spotted me.

  I didn’t know who trained the team in my absence, but the looks on their faces told me that they were not happy with my reappearance.

  Still, no one said a word as I commanded them to run three laps.

  They took off, grumbling under their breathe.

  We did core training and physical training, and once they were completely spent, I started with the real training.

  “You complain like old people!” I yelled.

  George had a smirk on his face as he pushed his Moonbolt form harder.

  I loved everything about my Maggots. I laughed, realizing I missed being their coach.

  Time carried on, even after the death of someone important.

  After a little more practice, I told them to go hit the showers.

  Back in my room, I grinned when I saw Tabitha was wearing one of my shirts and on the PlayStation

  “So hot,” I said as I fell on the couch next to her.

  She paused the game as I lay my head on her shoulder.

  “We need to talk,” Tabitha said.

  “About what?”

  “Is Elena a Rubicon?”

  “It seems so, yes.” I nodded.

  “And let me guess, Master Longwei wants you to show her the ropes,” she huffed.

  I laughed. “I don’t want to fight about Elena, okay? She’s just another dragon, that’s it.”

  I kissed her.

  The next day I felt slightly different.

  Nothing had changed. The mission was the same, and yet, I felt a bit of darkness clawing into me again.

  “Morning, sleepyhead,” I murmured as Tabitha opened her eyes.

  She smiled.

  Fuck, I hated myself for the way I had treated her.

  “I feel like I’m still dreaming, and I’m afraid to wake up.”

  I frowned at her, sneaking my hand under the covers to squeeze her thigh where I knew she was ticklish.

  She let out a shrill giggle.

  “Do you feel that in your dreams?”

  “Noo,” she cried out through her laughter. I kissed her once and she grinned at me. “I like this Blake.”

  “Yeah, he’s not so bad,” I said as I got out of bed. “Can you do me a favor?”

  “Anything,” she said.

  “Can you write a note saying to meet me at two on the mountain.”

  “Which mountain?”

  “Just that.”

  “Okay,” she said, clearly confused.

  “I need it before class starts,” I said over my shoulder as I headed to the shower.

  She didn’t ask any questions and I was glad for that.

  I didn’t want her to rile up the beast.

  This, the way I felt now, it was manageable.

  Before class, I handed the note to Sarah. “Give this to Elena, please.”

  “What am I? Your errand girl?”

  I turned around and walked backwards. A lopsided smile played on the corner of my lips. “You make it look so damn good, Sarah.”

  She blushed.

  Even class felt different. It was as if I took on Lucian’s motto: enjoy each day to the fullest.

  I was going to do that until the day Elena killed me.

  I didn’t participate in class but I paid attention.

  I even paid attention in Pheizer’s class. She was still acting weird.

  She was like Irene. They both hated it when they were wrong, and boy, had Pheizer been wrong about me and Elena.

  It seemed like it an eternity since I’d wanted to kill her.

  Class had barely started when Master Longwei’s voice filled the system.

  “Elena Watkins, can you please come to the office?”

  I smiled. I was excited at the prospect of training another Rubicon.

  It was thought that two Rubicons would annihilate the world, but I disagreed. I didn’t feel the need to kill her anymore.

  Then again, I was going to be training her to kill me, which was probably why I didn’
t have the urge to eliminate her.

  The bell rang and I was the first one out of the class with Tabitha by my side.

  My arm wound around her neck and I stole a kiss when we reached the stairs.

  “Think you can be in my room again after school?” I whispered in her ear.

  “Oh, what do you want me to wear?”

  “What about nothing? I can’t wait to be inside that warm—”

  “You have terrible handwriting,” Elena interrupted, holding the note in her hand. “Just tell me where you want me to meet you.”

  I smiled at her. Tabitha’s body went rigid when she realized the note she had written was for Elena. I looked at her as I spoke. “There’s a mountain right behind the—” I frowned. She didn’t look happy about this.

  She raised her eyebrows slightly.

  “What is it, Elena, why the long face?”

  “How do you suppose I get to that mountain Blake?”

  “You can fly,” I said sarcastically.

  “You think that Ms. Hyde is going to remember to meet you there? Because I can promise you, she won’t.”

  “Then I’ll just have to hunt you down,” I teased.

  She looked at Tabitha.

  I could feel the bad vibes between them.

  Well, there went my plans to spend the night with her in my bed.

  Chicks, seriously.

  “Forget it, I’ll make peace with her on my own terms,” Elena muttered as she walked away.

  “Elena!” I ran after her.

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” Tabitha hissed.

  “I’ll explain later, I promise.” I grinned at her over my shoulder, then hurried after Elena.

  “Would you slow down?”

  She spun around, face stormy. “Why do you want to help me all of a sudden, Blake?”

  “I have my reasons, and once you’re ready, I promise I’ll share them.”

  “Fine, whatever, but I’m not flying to some stupid mountain,” she sulked again.

  “Then meet me behind the Parthenon dome,” I said as I walked away.

  I needed to find Tabitha and explain, which I was sure would end up in another fight.

  “What time?”

  I turned around and she waved the note in her hand. “Couldn’t decipher that one either.”

  I chuckled. “At two.”

  Tabitha seethed about my meeting with Elena, but when I told her to keep the bed warm because I wouldn’t be long, she smiled.