The next day he’d left Sundland behind. Father would have cleaned up the mess, which only made it worse. He couldn’t be the noble king Endland envisioned him to be. He was like his father: a monster. But while he was down here in the dark debating his next move, Liane was somewhere above ground in need of him. Saving her wouldn’t change what he’d done, nor would it change him. But he couldn’t let another death weigh on his conscious.
Listen here, Erich addressed the dragon.
Deep down, he felt it stir, lifting its head and its nostrils flaring.
I’m going to let you loose but only to find Liane. Understand?
Protect. Her.The words rumbled through his mind. That was likely the closest thing to an agreement he was going to get. Erich exhaled and let go of one chain, then another, the rest he held in check, preventing the full transformation. Power tingled across his skin; his senses were suddenly more aware, more acute, and he smelled magic in the air, a heady scent that brought with it an insatiable hunger.
With the dragon’s vision, the darkness faded, and he could see Fritz, the shimmering silver aura surrounding him, and his luminous golden eyes staring straight at Erich. The dark had never been a problem for the elf, had it?
“I see you took my advice.” Fritz smirked.
Erich shook his head and turned away from Fritz, ignoring his teasing. Inhaling the scent of sunshine and something else he couldn’t quite pinpoint. It was faintly reminiscent of stardust but not as potent. Squinting in the gloom, he saw a shimmering path winding through the tunnel. Something told him that’s the one he should follow.
They headed down the tunnel, turned a corner, and he noticed a gap in the rocks. When he stepped through, it opened onto a massive room; the impossibly high ceiling supported black and white pillars, and on the floor a mosaic of the interlocking sun and moon. Fritz’s gasp echoed back at them as he walked reverently toward the center of the room.
“What is this place?” Erich asked, his voice reverberated across the walls making it sound foreign to his own ears.
“One of the lost temples of the Divine Twins. I thought they’d all been destroyed,” Fritz said in a hushed whisper, as he turned slowly in place, taking in their surroundings.
There wasn’t much time to marvel at it, but as they passed through the hushed space, Erich craned his neck to take in the domed ceiling painted with constellations, and the sun and moon split in half at the center. It reminded him of the two-toned stag.
A hallway connected with the temple room, and they followed it out. Time seemed to stretch out. Minutes felt like an eternity, and doubt began to creep in. The dragon was being suspiciously obedient and hadn’t turned to attack Fritz nor fought for control of his body.
Then the end of the tunnel started to lighten, and he smelled the sea. Erich quickened his pace, and as the scent grew stronger, he ran, eager to be out of the darkness and gloom but closer to Liane. Orange light illuminated the end of the tunnel, as he threw himself forward, stumbling out onto a rocky shore. It let out along a small cove along the coast, and gulls reeled overhead, crying mournfully as they flew out across the sea toward the setting sun. Not much time was left before the final tether holding back the dragon would be severed.
A horn blew and drew his attention to his left. Scrambling over rocks, he got a better vantage point of his location and saw the nearby harbor. The wind carried the scent of fish, salt, and beneath it, magic and stardust. He followed the trail, down the outcrop and toward the dockyard where boats were being loaded with goods. The smell of magic was getting stronger, and then he smelled something that angered the dragon, and he had to hold on tight to keep it from bursting free. It was fear. Liane’s terror. Erich clenched a hand into a fist.
Fritz came to stand beside him and shaded his face against the setting sun as he surveyed the numerous buildings.
“She could be in any one of these buildings,” Fritz remarked.
And he’d investigate every one of them if that’s what it took. Desperation flared in his chest as he threw open warehouse doors, weaving through barrels and stacks of crates being loaded onto ships. With each failure, panic rose like a wave threatening to crest over him; the dragon rolled, growing overeager, being let loose of that final chain. If he weren’t careful, he’d lose control here in the center of the dock, killing innocents and failing to save Liane or worse, hurting her in a haze of madness. But where was she? He couldn’t find her among the muddle of scents and sounds on the dock.
A foghorn blew again, rattling around in his ears, but beneath it, he heard something else: Liane’s scream. It ripped through him, and the dragon roared in reply. All his senses sharpened, narrowing in on her as he pinpointed her location and raced down a narrow alley to a warehouse at the far end of the dock. Two scarred men blocked the entrance, and as he rushed toward them, they brandished cudgels in a failed attempt at intimidation. He hardly paused, knocking them both over with a quick punch to the gut, and they doubled over, allowing him access to the warehouse door.
Erich threw the door open, and his vision narrowed, focusing on Liane writhing on the floor and Heinrich standing over her with a malicious gleam in his eyes. Erich’s vision turned red as he rushed toward him; his feet seemed to hardly touch the ground. Erich grasped Heinrich by the neck, squeezing, and his eyes widened with shock as he tossed him aside like refuse.
Then he knelt beside Liane, cupping her cheek, scanning her to assess her injuries. Her breaths were short and pained. Seeing her this way made his blood boil, and the dragon clawed to be freed. He cradled her in his arms, caressing her face and praying to the Trinity she’d open her eyes. For a moment, the world slowed down, and he held her close; even the dragon quieted inside him. Then after a few heart-rending moments, her eyes fluttered open, and she blinked up at him.
“Erich…?” she croaked.
“Shh. You don’t have to speak,” he said, brushing damp hair from her face.
Her hand caught his wrist. “Why… what are you doing here?”
A simple question with a complicated answer. She probably thought he’d lied and used her. Where did he even begin to explain? From the moment they’d met, she captured his attention and when he imagined her in danger, his insides felt as if they were being pulled out, hung, and smoked like sausage. They just met and he’d move heaven and earth to protect her.
Before he said anything, someone drove a knife into his back. With a roar, he stood to see Heinrich striding toward him, too far to have cut him, and yet he felt the wound bleeding. Heinrich was bleeding too; blood ran down his chin from a split lip. The bastard was more resilient than he had thought.
Erich set Liane down and placed himself between her and Heinrich, the dragon’s power thrumming in his veins. He’d love to rip the bastard apart, limb by limb, but before he could, an invisible hand struck him in the gut, knocked the air out of him, and his knees buckled.
He tried to get back up, but invisible hands held him down, as Heinrich’s lackeys had done in the forest.
“Now, doesn’t this feel familiar? You on your knees, and me over you.” Heinrich smirked.
Erich growled, more monster than man in that moment. He’d tear his throat out.
