Skye
“Do you know my nature?” Tabor asked, though his voice was deep and garbled. The Drakoon’s voice.
I pinched the bridge of my nose. The ache of hours of relentless probing spread from my temples and forehead to my eye sockets. My head was a ticking bomb at this point.
“Where is Amandalyn?” I challenged, not for the first time. “Where is Thomas?”
“I will rule over all,” he said without regard to my inquiries.
Power. That was all he craved; this creature summoned from beyond by my ancestor. He was motivated by greed. Aeromin made sure I understood this before I left Hivernia.
“You must not forget,” Aeromin had warned. “The Drakoon is forever tied to the Mercier royal blood because of Girvin. And because of the royal lineage of two species—man and elven—your blood, and that of your sister, is the most powerful to him.”
“He already has her. He can use her for whatever it is he wants. He doesn’t need me.”
“No. While you come from the same Mercier line, only your blood is alive. A half-breed elf does not sustain the magic without—how would you understand it?” Aeromin pursed his lips in thought.
“Refueling?” Griffin suggested, and I looked to him and searched for meaning in his explanation. “When I saved your life with my blood it infused your dormant blood with my magic. We gain most of our power from Hivernia, from this world. That is why the elves who live in the Enchanted Forest are not as strong as those here. We gather some strength from Lake Ceresius but it is nowhere near as powerful as visiting or living in our homeland makes us.”
Refueling. Now I understood.
“Skye,” Griffin said. “Your elven traits will become more evident the longer you are here. Your abilities can grow to match ours. With your blood, you can walk into Everly unchecked.”
Everly knows who is welcome. Griffin had said that when I first arrived. I drew a shaky breath.
The Drakoon wanted me because I was the royal who had immortality in her blood and the world at her fingertips.
“You will not rule me,” I managed as cold fingers gripped my chin and dug into my skin until the warmth of my blood trickled across my skin. I held back a whimper.
“Open the gate.” His gaze betrayed him and flicked over my head—searching.
The gate to Valeyah was here. Every time he spoke of it his black eyes narrowed on the open field behind us. No wonder his camp was in such an indefensible location. He was one step closer to his endgame. But so was I.
I slapped at his arm as the vise of his fingers tightened on my jaw. My throat ached to make words. “I … d-don’t know … how.”
Once again a chisel went to work hammering away in my exhausted mind. With the rising of the sun, he’d alternated between abusing my body and battering my mind. Close to an entire day, and I still had not cracked.
Lifting my face, I met his narrowed eyes. You will not rule me. I repeated the words over and over hoping that somehow, in his quest to invade my head, he might hear my thoughts. That he would know I would not succumb to him easily.
He growled and thrust me away, his arms flinging into the air with his rage. “Did you think your hastily trained villagers could defend themselves from my fae?” His boot landed a blow to my ribs that had me crying out as I scrambled backward. “My army will end your people and you will have nothing.”
Wincing from the pain in my side, I sat up as best as I could. “I will take that chance since it would leave you with nothing as well.”
Taking a shallow breath as the pain from his kick radiated across my ribs, I stared at Drakoon in defiance as he walked away. What was happening with Tyalbrook’s soldiers? Where was Xander? I sank to the ground in a heap.
“Do you want to go home?”
My muscles protested the movement as I rolled to my back and cracked my eyes to find Selene standing over me. Tired and swollen, they slid closed again. Just a little more rest before Tabor returns.
Pain jabbed at my hip and I instinctively folded my body into a fetal position for protection. “Do you want to go home?” Selene hissed again, her voice closer.
My body uncurled. “To Montibello?”
Her long, raven colored hair tickled my face as she hunched closer and shook her head. “Home. Through the portal, to your old life?” She glanced about then straightened.
“My old…” I struggled to sit up.
“Open the gateway to Valeyah for him, Skye. Open it and I will shove you through a portal back to your home and you can be free of this all.” She spoke with urgency. This wasn’t something she was doing on the Drakoon’s behalf.
“Why?” I swallowed what little saliva I had and tried again. “Why did you betray Rioden and Xander? Were you always against them? A traitor to your people?”
“I loved Rioden. You are the one I wanted gone.” She snarled and looked down her nose at me. “Everything for the future Queen. I would have lived in that cabin in the woods with Rioden forever, but he would not let it go. He clung to his duty. To this place and your responsibility to protect it. We could have forgotten it all.”
“And let Tabor and the Drakoon kill everyone here?” Selene’s shoulders shrugged. She preferred the extinction of this world if it meant her happiness? The Semvon that had guarded me were no longer nearby. We were alone.
“He can’t win here, Selene. If he does, he will move to the next place. To the elves homeland, to the fae, and eventually to Earth.”
She fell to her knees and grabbed at my arm. “He will kill you if you do not open the gate.”
It was my turn to shrug. “He kills me and he never gets the power he wants.”
Her head jerked up and her eyes grew. “Wait—”
An angry roar, a flash of black, and a crack to my skull, then everything went dark.
“Skye?”
I flinched as my body was jostled and pain like lightning streaked up my neck and across my head.
“Skye, wake up.” The voice was more fervent this time. “He is on his way. I need your help.”
I clenched my shut eyes, then blinked. “Thomas?” I asked, my voice cracking in my dry throat. His blurry dark features scrunched with worry as his gaze roamed my face. I smiled and he pressed his palm to my temple. “You’re here.” I sighed and sat up on my own.
Or attempted to. Thomas pressed me into his side with one hand wrapped firmly around my back and locked at my hip while he studied me.
“Are you hurt?” Thomas asked. “You are bleeding from a head wound. Any other injuries I should check?”
Lifting my hand, I took over where he held a shredded piece of fabric to my temple. I’d blacked out. Tabor must have struck me hard considering the pain radiating through my cranium and the absence of sunlight. I glanced up. The moon was high and stars dotted the sky.
Fire pits lit the field with a red and orange glow that would be beautiful if we were back in Montibello with the people we loved. Here, with a madman and his monsters, it was terrifying. The setting for a final act.
My gut churned as I squeezed Thomas’s hand and reestablished my independence. “What’s happening? Have you seen Manda?” I bit my lower lip to hold my groans with each shift of my body. The pain from the Drakoon’s abuse mixed with the stirring of butterflies tickling at my stomach.
Could it be? I allowed myself to hope as the heat intensified.
Thomas shifted restlessly, his head swinging about as he spoke. “The Semvon dumped me here and sent for Tabor. He should be here any moment. It is time.”
“Time?” My gaze snapped to Thomas hovering next to me. His dark brows arched, challenging me as they often did, to answer my own question. My eyes narrowed on his shadowed face. In this light … in this moment … The muscle in his chiseled jaw leapt and a shot of familiarity jolted through me. He was so like Xander and Rioden in looks. A Guardian from Valeyah. Loyal to me from day one.
I inhaled through my nose and released the air with a sigh as the truth clicked into place. “You’re a Martin, aren’t you?” The flames of the nearby fire flickered across his dirt streaked face. “You’re Xander’s family. That’s why you’re here. Why you were sent here as a child? What do you know, Thomas? What haven’t you told me?”
His always watchful eyes softened. “Tabor cannot cross into Valeyah with the Drakoon still in possession of him.”
“We’re here, aren’t we? At the gate. It’s in this meadow? That is why there’s so much magic swirling over me. Do you feel it?”
His large hand cupped the back of my head and held me still. “He cannot step into Valeyah. Not on his own, not with Tabor.”
“But if we kill him—”
“The dark spirit will latch onto a new body.” Thomas nodded.
My head jerked left, the complete awareness that Xander was nearby had me surging to my feet. Thomas stood with me, his hand tightening around my elbow for support. Black robes fluttered in the nearby distance—the Semvon heading our way.
“Yes, he is out there,” Thomas’s lips touched my ear as he kept his voice low. “He will not chance Tabor grabbing you and disappearing through a portal. We need to act now. I will sacrifice—”
“No.” I fisted his torn tunic. “You cannot fight his magic any more than Tabor could.”
“I will not have to fight him. He will be weaker. You could imprison me.” He throws ideas at me out of frustration.
“Imprison you? I wouldn’t even know how to do that. He may be weaker at first but you know his strength. And then what? We let you die? No.” I slapped at his chest. “Besides, we have no weapons, no way of killing him.”
The deep murmurs of the Semvon picked up as Tabor appeared through the darkness. They took up the space before us with their black robes trailing behind them. Thomas hissed my name, his grip tightening but I pried loose and limped forward. I would not let Thomas sacrifice himself. I knew what must be done. I just wasn’t sure what happened after I played my part.
“One last chance, Queen Mercier,” the Drakoon spoke as he neared where we stood. The man known as Tabor was nothing but a vessel for a being summoned from the darkest of magic. “Open the gate to Valeyah, or your friend dies.”
The creatures around us stirred, their limbless bodies floating above the ground and twisting about restlessly. I could see the depictions of the Valeyah war, the scenes from the books we’d studied, come to life before me in their smoky presence.
“I don’t know how to open the gate to Valeyah, Tabor.” He didn’t flinch at my use of his name. Straightening my spine, I inched forward. Thomas hissed my name, but I waved him back. “Certainly you are aware of how little I’ve been told about my prophecy. How little I know about everything to do with this world. Why do you think I was sent away as an infant?”
The Drakoon drifted closer, his teeth flashing. “Oh, you know more than you let on. You wear the mark of the chosen on your pretty face, girl. You can open the gate, and you will.” A deep growl worked its way up his throat as he jerked his head to the side. “After you watch your rescue party die.”
As though on cue, a piercing shriek in the distance followed his words, then chaos reigned. I had little opportunity to comprehend the sudden movement of the Semvon around us before Thomas grabbed me from behind and twisted me around, his face inches from mine.
“Run.” He shoved me toward an opening in the circle of guards before he swung around and threw his body at the nearest Semvon with a war cry. I stumbled forward, grabbing my skirts and staggering toward the cover of darkness as the pounding of hooves shook the ground.
I checked over my shoulder as I moved, watching the moment unfold. Soldiers trampled a fire pit, sending sparks flying into the night, as the last of the possessed fae Tabor kept behind pulled their swords and moved south toward the fight. My legs managed to drag me a few more feet before the clashing of metal upon metal resounded at my back. Guilt halted my retreat and I wheeled around in search of Thomas when a hand snatched at my hair and yanked me off my feet. I kicked at the air on my descent to the ground, ready to engage my attacker, when Thomas appeared from out of nowhere.
“Go!” he ordered as his arms circled the creature’s neck and jerked sharply.
“What about Tabor?” I shouted over the noise of the approaching battle and scrambled to my feet once again. We could not let him get away. Not again. This ended now. My gaze swept the field. Patches of grass were ablaze, adding illumination to the macabre scene. The moonlight glinted off the steel of a blade as it brought down a fae. I averted my gaze and breathed deeply as I got my first look at the Guardians and soldiers in Montibello armor riding and fighting their way through our enemies. Both relief and fear mixed at the sight. Red would stain the grass before sunrise. I forced back my nausea and clutched my stomach while I searched for Xander among the crowd.
“Milady!” A horse and rider bore down upon me. “Get on,” he yelled, his arm reaching for mine and lifting me before I uttered a scream. For preservation’s sake, I clasped the soldier’s forearm and leapt, landing sideways before his lap with an ‘Omph.’
“Barda?” I asked when a wisp of red hair came into view. His young, freckled face a sight for sore eyes.
He smiled and spurred his horse forward. “Hold tight.”
“Where’s Xander? How many of you are there? Have you seen Manda? Tabor?” I threw questions at Barda while tucking my face in his chest and wrapping my arms around his waist.
He swerved left and I followed by proximity as the thrum of his sword clashing with another hummed in my ears. “We have plenty for this fight,” he said with a grunt.
“Plenty?” I dared to lift my head and look over his shoulder.
The melee was mostly behind us. Fighters had taken to the ground and I watched as one by one Tabor’s fae fell at the hands of my men … and the elves I had not previously seen. “Hivernia sent help,” I said breathlessly. My optimism grew as more and more flashes of earthy green armor came into view.
Their way of combat mimicked the easy grace of a dance. Each step they took, each lunge and parry. The elves fought with the lithe movements of deadly assassins, and wherever the steel of a Hivernian blade swept, its target fell. The field emptied of standing bodies with little effort now.
“We can win this.” I squeezed Barda’s waist. “We can—” Barda’s deep bellow broke my elation. The sense of our horse buckling beneath us hit me as Barda shoved me from his lap.
Ground and sky tumbled as I hit the field hard, rolling over and over before coming to a stop with a groan. Tenderness flared through every inch of my body.
“Barda?” The battle field blurred. It took every ounce of my strength to force my legs under my body and push to my knees. “Barda?” I called again. Dazed.
The keening cry of a Semvon’s death reminded my foggy brain where we were. The cue forced my head up in time to see a black cloaked figure move forward and stop at a fallen tree not ten feet away. Wait, no…
I swiped the dirt and sweat from my eyes. It wasn’t a tree; it was a horse. Barda’s horse and…
“No!” I shouted when arms lifted and a sword hovered. “Take me,” I begged, my body crawling along the ground, working its way toward my friend. Barda groaned, his body partially trapped beneath his still horse. The helmet that covered his red head was gone and as his beloved face turned my way, his eyes beseeched and his mouth formed one word. “Go.”
Sobs heaved from my lips. “Tabor, please?” Vacant black eyes met mine; a devious grin on display. Barda pushed his shoulders from the ground, his head shaking as he kept his gaze focused on me. Everything about him urged me to run, but I would not leave him. I could not. My attention left them for one moment—a blip of time in the grand scheme of things—in search of something, anything, to fight back with. The flash of silver in the nearby grass had me scrambling… That was all the time the Drakoon needed as his sword plunged into Barda’s torso.
“No!” I fell forward, reaching for Barda as his red head hit the ground. The mischievous blue eyes I’d become too accustomed to remained open—locked on me—but he did not move.
Rage burned in my chest and fueled my weakened body into action. It was me and the Drakoon. No other men, no fae or elves. My shout of denial should have brought my entire army to us, but Barda’s steed had carried us just far enough from the declining battle to leave me alone with the creature who took from everyone I loved. I crawled forward and closed my fingers around the hilt of a familiar short sword; swallowing painfully at the leather wrapped grip. Barda had sat in the great hall only days ago replacing it. He must have thrown the sword my way when he pushed me from his horse to save me. With a dark smile, I stood.
This was just as I wanted it. Me, locked in a solitary duel with the Drakoon.
“You will not win,” I said with conviction. “You will not get to Valeyah. You will not use me, or my sister, or anyone in my family, ever again.”
He stepped around Barda’s still body and I forced my eyes not to glance at the ground again. “Where is your lover, Queen?” he asked. “I know he is here. He brings a surge of magic with him.”
Deny, deny, deny. Anything to keep Xander away.
“You know only Mercier blood can open the gate. That is how this all began. Isn’t it?”
A pact was made between Girvin and the Drakoon. Magdalyn created a powerful spell when creating the gateway between Tyalbrook and Valeyah. It was charmed so no one other than a Mercier could open it. She did not consider how deep Girvin’s greed and hatred went. Who would expect the man to not only kill his own brother for the crown, but to also send a monster after a child?
Awareness flashed in the Drakoon’s eyes. A memory perhaps, of the past and his deal with my ancestor.
“But something changed, didn’t it? You stole Amandalyn thinking she could walk you through. We do have the same Mercier royal blood.” I moved forward slowly, Barda’s sword hidden in the folds of my skirt. “The witch changed the spell when she realized not all Merciers could be trusted. She locked my people into two kingdoms to wait for the day a child would be born who could save them all.”
The Drakoon laughed a dark, humorless laugh. “You cannot save anyone.”
My fingers tightened around the grip of Barda’s sword. “You are wrong. I can save Tabor. I can rid him of your evil. What are you without his body? You do not exist.” I ran forward, gritting through the agony of pain, and using all my strength to throw my body into his as I swung wide, aimed my weapon, and sank blade into flesh.