Forgotten Crown (The Two Hunters Book 1) Page 8

  The scream that ripped from Silvan’s throat clawed at my heart, the sound filled with animalistic fear and fury.

  At least I got to see him one last time. I could die knowing he hadn’t forgotten me, that he’d still cared for me.

  I watched, stricken, as Silvan threw himself off the cliff face, his body hurtling toward mine with inhuman speed. I couldn’t stop him. I couldn’t save him. He planned to die with me. I would have found it terribly romantic if I hadn’t been so frightened, so close to death.

  Silvan arched his back as he fell, his face contorted in concentration.

  And then he changed. His body lengthened, his skin covered in countless silver scales, glittering harshly in the red light. He had a long, sinewy neck, his face now serpentine in appearance, two curved horns protruding from his head. He unfurled his wings and they beat together, pushing him so the distance between us was closed in a moment.

  I shuddered at the impact of hard muscles against me. Silvan wrapped his arms around my frame, his wings jolting us to a sudden stop, then we were hurtling upward, flying away from the molten death below us.

  Silvan was a dragon.

  A dragon. My mind numbed as I watched the lava fall away as we climbed higher and higher into the heavens. I was cradled in his arms, held close to his chest. It felt warm, like a fire smoldered deep in his heart. I almost laughed. He probably did have flame inside him. His wings beat in a quick staccato until we were level with the clouds, then the beating evened out in a steady rhythm, like a heartbeat in slumber, strong and sure. Was he a real dragon, or merely enchanted? Was he cursed? I looked at his slim, muscled dragon-body, and mentally shook my head. No, whatever this was, whatever he was, was a blessing, a gift; not a curse. He was too pure, too good.

  Twisting in his arms, I peered behind me, looking at the halls of the Chosen. My home. It was crumbling in on itself, slowly succumbing to the lava. No one could have escaped that. Not even my parents. “Goodbye, Momma,” I whispered. I expected to cry, to feel sad, something. But I didn’t. I felt tired and lifeless, like a plant I’d forgotten to water. How do you grieve for someone who never loved you?

  I looked back to face the mountainous expanse before us, my mind numb.

  I was the last survivor of my people. I didn’t know what that meant.

  Perhaps it meant nothing.

  We passed a collection of houses built into the rock of the mountainsides. I looked at them with mild interest, until I realized who they belonged to. “The Elite,” I breathed. “Are we going to your home, Silvan?”

  At that moment, the earth gave a great shudder below us, and the homes and structures of the brotherhood began to collapse. Smoke and flames of flickering red and orange sprang from the widening fissures.

  Silvan gave a strangled shriek, and began to fly faster, heading east.

  I could only stare in horrified fascination as Silvan’s home was bathed in fire.

  16

  Silvan

  My people were dying.

  I flapped my wings, trying to gain more speed as we soared past the Elite’s sanctuary. My home, my brothers. Master.

  I tried not to look as the rock buckled and crumbled far beneath me, keeping my gaze on the pale horizon. If I could get Glacia somewhere safe, I could help. I could do something. Somehow.

  Several minutes later—it felt like hours—and we were nearly beyond the mountains, rocky slopes began to give way to grassy plains. With an extra push with my wings, I careened toward the foot of the mountains, and landed with a heavy thud. I gently placed Glacia down, hoping my terror-filled gaze conveyed the urgency I felt boiling in my stomach. I needed to go back and render what aid I could to the Elite. Could I leave her here?

  Glacia’s gaze mirrored the fear I felt, but she stood on tiptoes and patted my dragon-nose. “Go,” she whispered. “Help your brothers.”

  I snuffled, a wave of affection for Glacia crashing over me like a suffocating wave. I turned, and leaped into the air, my wings propelling me upward.

  My heart hammered against my rib cage so hard it hurt. I peered ahead, trying to pierce the thick smoke that hung over everything like a haze.

  Was I too late? Would I die, and leave Glacia alone and unprotected in the wild? The thought was almost enough to make me turn around right there, but I had to know my people escaped from the devastation alive. I had to know.

  The smoke rose before me like a wall, almost like a living thing, as it coiled and writhed before me. I opened my mouth, fire ripping into it, and shuddered in relief. In my fear-clouded mind, it’d looked like one of the demons itself. I shot through the cloud—

  And beheld the devastation before me.

  Where my home had once proudly stood was nothing but shattered rock and ruin. Pockets of flame burned across the village, and the stench of blood and charred bone reached my nostrils. Landing on the ground, I transformed, ignoring the fatigue that seeped into me. I hurtled through the ruin, tears blurring my vision as I cried out, trying to find survivors. Broken bodies lay everywhere. No one moved.

  The demons were still close; I could feel their filthy presence, but I couldn’t see them. Were they even aware of the countless lives they snuffed out in their continued war with one another for power?

  I hurtled through the shattered streets, looking, searching, my heart splintering further with each dead brother I saw. “Master!” I shouted. “Maaaaster!”

  I finally found him—a scorched bundle of tattered robes and broken bones. A large boulder had crushed his body. I tried to push the rock off him, but it was too heavy. I pushed again. Nothing. I gripped the boulder, screaming my anguish. Light and rage gathered at my fingertips and the rock crumbled into ash.

  I knelt beside Master, taking his hand in mine. “Please be alive,” I begged. “Please say something.”

  I was too late. He was dead. Everyone was dead.

  I knelt over his body, his fingers clutched in mine as I sobbed openly. My heart shattered into a million pieces. I should have stayed. I should have helped. I should have died with them. “F-forgive me,” I choked, hardly able to speak. “I’m sorry for not being stronger.” Tears dripped off my nose. “I should have tried to meditate more, and told you my secret sooner.”

  Secret.

  Glacia.

  She was still out there.

  And so were the demons.

  They were here, lurking in the shattered stone. I could no longer see the great behemoths of darkness, but they were here.

  I gently laid my Master's hand on his chest and stood. “Show yourselves,” I growled. “I know you're here.”

  A ripple out of the corner of my eye caused me to turn and look, but nothing was there.

  Shifter. The word crawled across my senses, and I summoned magic, fingertips glowing with light.

  “Demon,” I snarled in response.

  The voice laughed, splitting into several voices. Terrible voices.

  Silvan. The Dragonblessed. Scorn pressed against my mind as the broken stone about me darkened, shadows gathering. Abandoning your people. Letting them die.

  I yelled, and spun around, unleashing my power in a circle of burning light. “Get out of here!” I screamed. “Go!”

  The shadow gathered in on itself, and then lunged at me, like a massive wolf.

  I met it head-on, magic raging through my blood, exploding from my fingers in a blaze of lightning.

  The demon shrieked when the energy slammed into it, shadows ripping away to writhe in the air before coming back together in a human-like shape, crouched on a boulder several yards away.

  Give up while you can, child, it hissed. You cannot defeat me. You cannot defeat us.

  I shifted into my dragon form in response, fire roaring from my maw. The demon flickered and was gone, dodging my flame.

  Shadows wove through the air, flickering about me like a dance. You left her, too, the voices snickered. The others will find her. The Forgotten Crown. Last of her people.

 
Others? I stretched out my senses, fear constricting my throat when I realized I could only sense one of the demonic presences. Hurtling into the air I soared above the ruins below me. Grief weighed on me. It’d be so much easier to let pain and loss take me now.

  Except I had made my choice. And though the consequence of my actions cut deeper than any knife, bled my heart more than any wound, my powers didn't extend to reversing the past.

  But I could do better in the future. I still had a solemn duty to protect this world.

  I had to protect her.

  As I flew back toward the plains, I sensed the second demon as I drew closer. Guilt and shame tore my insides to shreds as I realized that being an Elite didn't matter to me as much as keeping the slim, lonely, golden-haired girl from the Halls safe. She mattered more than life. More than duty.

  But my love for her had come at a bitter price.

  I howled, bathing the sky in fire and smoke as I flew through the air like an arrow from the bow, leaving the smoldering remains of my home behind.

  I knew I'd never see it again.

  17

  Glacia

  Grassy earth stretched before me, touching the horizon. It looked strange. I knew that there was more to the world than mountains, but I hadn’t expected to ever see that difference. Barren and empty, the plains still looked safer than the disaster we were leaving behind.

  Well, I had left it behind. Silvan was still back there. Was he safe? Was he battling the demons now? Maybe he'd even won.

  Maybe.

  Despite it being summer, I shivered, wrapping my arms around myself. Fear trembled through me. What if Silvan didn't come back?

  Weariness crept over me, and I lay down. Letting the grass sway about me, I could almost pretend that this is where I'd lived all my life, in a field of endless green.

  Rift child. Shuddering, I sat up and look around, but didn't see anyone.

  “Just my imagination,” I said, though I didn't really believe it.

  You could do so much more than what Silvan would have you believe. The voice sighed through the grass like a wind. Let me help you.

  Time to go. I jumped to my feet and began walking, away from the mountains.

  It was coming for me. I could feel it in my bones. I didn't dare look behind me, and broke into a run. Laughter drifted about me, grating my nerves.

  “Silvan,” I whimpered. Where was he?

  A long, heart-rending howl rippled through the air behind me.

  Fear clogging my throat, I whirled around to face whatever was behind me, demon or not.

  Dark mist gathered like a cloud, bearing down on me. I knew it wasn't an ordinary fog. Not in this heat.

  Fire ripped into the mist, dispelling it. Silvan bore down on me in his dragon form.

  I flinched, but he didn't hesitate in scooping me up and holding me close. I was airborne again, hurtling with immense speed over the plains, gaining altitude. I gasped as I felt something worm its way into my mind, something dark. Sinister. Evil.

  Fall. Die. It is so much easier than what lays in store for you.

  I blinked, and suddenly found myself alone. I was standing in black emptiness. Before me stood one of the demons, standing several yards away from me, but it might as well have been no distance. Too close for me. It seemed to have diminished in size, but not in power, not in its menace.

  The creature regarded me silently, hatred rolling off it in waves. I wanted to curl up in a ball and weep. I shuddered, almost unable to stand in my utter fear. My mind quailed under the feelings of malice, hopelessness, and despair.

  You are mine. The demon suddenly stood before me, an inch from touching me. It had shrunk again, but still towered over me, nearly seven feet in height. I have marked you, rift child. There is no escape. Silvan cannot save you. There is no hope. No matter where you go, I will find you.

  I shied away from the creature, stumbling away, my mind numb with horror and abject terror. I didn’t think to fight; how could one fight with such overwhelming fear?

  Unless . . . the voice paused for a moment, as if considering a thought. Submit, and I will take care of you. I will keep you safe from your inner demons. Your worst fears. And I will protect you from the silver boy. But you must submit.

  I shook my head, taking a step back.

  Submit. Submit. Submit. I thrashed on the ground, unable to control my limbs, unable to remember when I had fallen. I couldn’t see. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t speak, not even to scream. Nothing existed except the voice, the unholy creature standing above me. I opened my mouth. I wanted to beg mercy, scream, cry, something, but I couldn’t control the horrific shaking of my body. I couldn’t win this. Not alone.

  A whoosh of air blew all around me in a sudden beating of wings, and with a shuddering gasp, I opened my eyes.

  I blinked in the blinding daylight. Real daylight. I didn’t know how much time had passed. Had I fallen asleep? Time had passed, I could tell from the glorious blaze of the newly risen sun. I couldn’t tell if what I had experienced was real or imagined, but I was too afraid to look behind me.

  We were still flying over the green grassy plains, but the horizon was a glittering haze of grayish blue. As we drew closer to it, I realized it was the sea.

  I stared as the plains disappeared to be replaced by a large strip of rock and sand, and then the ocean. It was massive, and completely unlike anything I had ever seen. My little pond had been a drop of rain compared to this huge, moving entity of water. It was beautiful, the blue and gray shifting to deep green. The sunlight bounced off the waves, like diamonds had been scattered across the surface of the water. I looked around, not seeing any land before us, and with a chill, realized Silvan meant to fly us across this massive body of water. Was it possible? I didn’t know, and after a moment of consideration, decided I didn’t care. Dead or alive, I would be with him.

  I stayed silent, listening to his snuffling sobs as we flew. I felt numb, too weary to cry in response to Silvan’s pain at losing his family. I knew that was what happened, or we would have gone back. I knew he hadn't meant for any of this to happen, but that he'd chosen to protect me first. He’d abandoned them.

  For me.

  I didn’t know what that meant, what that would entail for our future, but I felt a surge of affection for my dragon. My friend. My boy with the silver hair. I had left everything behind, and so had he. Silvan was my reality. He was all that mattered.

  The day had just begun, but I was exhausted, like I had lived an entire life in just one morning. I closed my eyes and let my mind drift.

  18

  Glacia

  I could hear music, haunting and lilting, on the breeze. I listened to it, swaying in time to the rhythm. I wanted to dance. When was the last time I had danced? Had I ever danced?

  The music grew stronger, a rise and swell of crashing rhythm, like the roar of ocean waves. I turned and saw the sea, stretching wide before me, and I gave in, diving into the water. I could breathe, deep under the waves. It was comforting down here, dark and still. I kicked my legs, only to realize I had a tail. I laughed. I was a mermaid, like the ones I’d read about in stories. Darting to and fro beneath the waves, I explored this new world. A school of silver fish hurried by, like a shimmering storm cloud. Soft seaweed, its greens ranging from brilliant to soft and muted, drifted on invisible currents. I saw the rotted, barnacle encrusted remains of sunken ships, and the slithering shadows of dark, hidden creatures, slipping out of sight whenever I turned to look.

  Something glittered up high above me. The sun? No. It was silver, its form long and lean, with great shining wings. A dragon.

  It was drowning. I watched it, alarm growing within me. Why did I care if a dragon died? All must die someday.

  Silvan.

  I opened my eyes with a gasp and realized I was drowning. I was several feet underwater.

  Panic gripped me like a vice. I didn't know how to swim. Silvan's tail dipped toward me and I grabbed it. Kicking my fe
et furiously, I climbed up the dragon's tail and hauled myself up to the surface. Gasping when my head broke through, I greedily gulped air; sweet, wonderful air.

  Silvan was slowly sinking, his snout the only part of him not completely submerged by the waves. “Silvan!” I screamed, and the dragon’s snout dipped under water with a snort.

  His wings thrashed and I was clipped on the shoulder, the force of it propelling me several feet into the air. I took in a huge gulp of air as I hit the water, kicking my way back to the surface. I struggled in the now churning waters and saw Silvan was wide awake, his body fluid and sinuous as he treaded water.

  “Silvan!” I screamed through a mouthful of water. “I can't swim!”

  He grasped me with his massive front claws and, unfurling his wings, hauled us out of the water and into the air. My heart clenched in fear when I saw that there was no land in sight. I coughed up some seawater. “Are we going to be okay?”

  Silvan’s wings beat faster and increased the speed until my hair was whipping about me in wet, dark blonde strands. I squinted at the horizon. I must have fallen asleep while we were flying, and then Silvan did, too. Judging by the sun before hanging before us like a golden globe of fruit, beginning its slow descent beyond the horizon, it was late afternoon. We needed to find land, and soon. Silvan had been flying for over twelve hours.

  It wasn’t until twilight fell that I saw a dark blur spread across the horizon. “Keep flying, Silvan,” I said. “We’re almost there. We’re almost to land.”

  Silvan rumbled deep in his throat, determination making his body taut. His wings flapped, but I noticed with a tremor of alarm that he was flying lower over the water. Exhaustion painted his every movement.

  “Remember the first time you took me away from home?” I said, hoping to keep him awake. “And we saw that will-o'-the-wisp? I haven’t seen any since. I guess they just live in wild places. I wonder if we’ll see any more.”

  Silvan didn’t respond, but his grasp around me tightened for a moment, as if thanking me for the distraction. So, I continued to talk about whatever came into my mind, the land drawing slowly closer.