“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“We chose you as her protector, and you agreed. Now she needs you, and you’ve run away.”
Erich’s stomach lurched, and the dragon stirred, arching its back as it filled the space within him, threatening to break through his human shell.
“I made no such promise.”
“Your actions speak otherwise,” the two-toned stag said. Its mismatched eyes seemed to peer into his very soul, stripping it bare and laying it on the forest floor between them.
“She’s better off without me. I’ll only cause her harm.” He looked up to the rising sun, one day before the full moon. Tonight.
“The wielder needs your help to draw the blade.”
Erich shook his head. Ancient being or whatever, he was wrong. The darkness in his soul would only corrupt her, and if it didn’t, then the dragon would consume her. As if it read his thoughts, it raised its head to scent the air, teeth bared.
“I don’t even know where the sword is. I couldn’t find it.” The excuse felt paltry when talking to something as ancient and powerful as the stag.
“It’s inside her.”
“Inside her,” Erich echoed, feeling like a fool. “What does that mean?”
But before he could get clarification, the stag disappeared. He spun around again, half expecting it to be hiding in the shadows as Fritz often was, but it was gone leaving Erich with more questions than answers.
He couldn’t go back. It had taken him all night to get this far, and on foot, by the time he got back, it’d be hours before sunset, and the transformation would happen no matter his determination. And yet…
Someone grasped his shoulder, and Erich grabbed hold of it, twisting it behind their back before pressing his blade tip against Fritz’s bobbing throat.
“It’s me.” Fritz gasped, hand up in the air.
“What are you doing here?” Erich asked as he lowered his weapon.
How’d Fritz known where to find him? Perhaps in the same way the stag did. Erich realized there was still a lot to learn about magic.
“I had a vision.” Fritz’s eyes were silvery as moonlight and unfocused as if he were still seeing beyond time and into some distant future.
“Did the stag speak to you too?” Erich asked, gesturing toward the place where the stag had just been.
“You saw Aolois as well?”
“If you mean the dual-colored stag, then, yes.”
Fritz practically vibrated as magic spread from him in thick black tendrils, arousing the dragon’s interest as he watched him pace.
“Then I was right; our fates are intertwined. In my vision, I saw the moon and the sun colliding. At the time, the elders thought it meant the end of days, but I knew it couldn’t be. Why did I not see it before? It all makes sense now…”
“Maybe for you…” Erich scratched his head. All this talk of prophecy and visions wasn’t adding up for him.
Fritz turned to face him, his eyes bright golden and rimmed in silver, his gaze bottomless, ageless. As if the cosmos wheeled behind them, seeing beyond time and space to futures upon futures that he might only imagine.
“You and Princess Liane were always destined to meet. You who carry the blood of dragons, and she the sword’s wielder… why did I not see it before? Together you can restore balance.” He threw out his arms, and the shadows around him darkened, coalescing into a shimmering starry sky haloing his body.
“What does Liane have to do with any of this?” His throat tightened around her name, as he thought of their final parting and the stag’s warning. Erich cleared his throat. “The stag mentioned the sword was inside her. What does that mean exactly?”
“The sword chooses its wielder, and during the ceremony, they are bonded. Something must have gone wrong to prevent the union, and it fused with her body to protect them both. We assumed they hadn’t met, but this changes everything! We must get the sword before it’s too late!” Fritz started pacing again.
“What are you suggesting? We kidnap her or…?” Getting a weaponout of the city was one thing. But smuggling a princess, that was quite another. And he wouldn’t consider the second option.
Fritz stopped in front of him, grasping him by the shoulders. His pupils were the size of pinpricks, bouncing back and forth as he studied Erich’s face. “There’s more that I haven’t told you yet.”
