He steps towards me. “I can, and I will.”
“I can’t believe you would just let those kingdoms fall,” I say meeting his gaze.
“Let me put this clearly, so you can understand. If I take my army to go fight the guivres, my kingdom will fall to outsiders. I will never let that happen.” He turns around and strides for the door.
“Then just you go.” I say before he leaves the kitchen. He stops, and I push on. “Just you and I with Red and Nox. We will meet them in the skies and take them down one at a time until we destroy them all. Rysden and Kaldar and their soldiers can help from the ground.” I finish and hold my breath, hoping against hope that he’ll decide to do this.
“I won’t put myself in danger like that when I could be killed. I won’t leave my sister to run this kingdom and face the Northerners by herself.” With that, he pushes the door open and disappears. I watch him go and deflate, finally sinking into my chair.
Elowen sighs deeply. “Oh, Honey.” She puts her hands over mine. I don’t say anything, because really, what is there to say. I stand to my feet. “Can I get you something to eat at least?” she tries.
I put my hand on her shoulder. “I’m good right now; thank you.”
I leave her in the kitchen and start towards my room. I don’ttell Elowen, but I know what I’m going to have to do. I’m going to have to return without Rauk, without the help of the Dragon Kingdom. I won’t leave my friends to fight this war alone. I think of Auri, and my heart tugs. I’ll give myself a few days to finish things here with Auri, and then I’ll go back.
I’ll be with you every step of the way,Redara sends me.We’ll take down those guivres without their help.
Yes, we will.
I decide to head to Auri’s room and check in on her, but when I get there, I can hear the low rumble of Rauk’s voice. I don’t want to face him again tonight, so I make my way to my room instead. I stare up at the ceiling in the light of the dying fire, wondering what I’m doing here. I roll over and try to sleep. It takes a while, but finally, I fall asleep.
I wake up with a start to the sound of horns bellowing. With my heart beating overtime, I throw back the covers and run out into the hallway and nearly collide with Rauk. He grabs my arms, keeping me from crashing into him. “What is it?” I ask urgently.
“Intruders inside the kingdom. I’ve got to go. You have weapons on you? You can stay with Auri and Elowen?”
“Yeah. Go.” I shake my head, trying to clear it. “Go.”
“Lock the door behind me.” And then he’s gone, disappearing into the darkness. I hurry after him, so I can make sure the door locks. As soon as that’s done, I hurry to my room to throw on clothes and my boots and grab my weapons. Then I head to Auri’s room to check on her.
Redara reaches out to me.Nox says the city is under attack. Areyou okay?
We’re good right now; Rauk went to see what the threat is.
Do you want us to come?She asks.
Follow Rauk’s lead; I have no idea.My voice is somewhat harsh.I don’t get to say anything else to her as Elowen meets me in the hallway on the other side of the castle. “Hey, you okay?” I ask, trying to project calm.
“Yes, I’m fine. Is Rauk gone?”
“Yes.” She nods, unsurprised. “I’m heading to Auri’s room,” I tell her.
“I’ll come with.”
We make the short trip to Auri’s room. I push open the door to her room, having no doubt the alarms woke her. “Hey, Kiddo.”
She looks small, huddled in her bed. “Hey.” Her voice is subdued. “Is Rauk gone?”
I walk over to her and sit on the side of the bed. “He is.”
“Okay.” She sounds worried, and I hate that.
“Hey,” I reach out and take her hand. “Everything’s okay. He’s just going to check with his men; he’ll be back. We’ll just kill time while we wait.” I suggest a game because I know none of us are going back to sleep for a while. We do our best to focus, but it’s definitely challenging. When we finish, I stand up. “Why don’t we try another—” Glass shatters somewhere in the castle, cutting off my words. All three of us stare at each other in shock for a moment before my brain kicks in. My heart starts a driving beat in my chest, and I can barely function. I see the terror on their faces and take control. I’m up and moving beforeI give myself a chance to think about it. I lean forward and put my arms around Auri. Thankfully, she gets what I’m doing and helps me. I pick her up and spin around a moment trying to figure out where to hide her. I wish I could take her up the stairs to the roof and then call for Redara, but there’s no time. I run to her wardrobe and open the door as quietly as possible and set her carefully inside, right on top of her shoes. I yank a blanket from her bed and cover her with it. “Not a sound,” I whisper right next to her ear. She grabs my hand as I start to pull away, but I don’t have any more time to reassure her. I squeeze her hand and then close the door behind her. I move quickly back over to where Elowen is standing. “Under the bed,” I tell her quietly. She turns to me, and I can tell she’s going to argue. But we’re out of time. “Go.” I push her towards the bed but keep one eye on the door to the room. When I’m convinced she’s going to do as I say, I make my way to the door. I debate whether to stay in this room or meet them in the hallway or the main room. But I’m worried what will happen if I’m not near this room. I decide to stay. I stand against the wall, behind the door and will myself to not breathe heavily. But the harder I try, the louder my breathing seems to get. I’m not sure how many minutes it’s been since we heard the glass shatter, and I’m starting to wonder if maybe it’s nothing. I almost talk myself into moving when the door to the room suddenly starts to open. My breathing speeds up, and my heart thunders in my chest. It’s so loud, that I know whoever is coming in here is going to hear it. I force myself to stay absolutely still as I wait.Come on, take another step forward.I need to see who it is I’m dealing with. Suddenly, my wish comes true, and Iseriously regret making that wish. The spit in my mouth dries up as two dark shadows step into the room. I wouldn’t know who they were because everything about them is dark, if it weren’t for the three marks clearly visible on their cheeks.
Redara, they’re here!
That’s all I get out. They step further into the room. I grip my daggers tight but don’t move. But when one of them motions towards the wardrobe, my time for hiding is done. I blow out a breath and let muscle memory take over. I’m no longer afraid of what might happen to me. There’s panic in my chest of what will happen if they find Auri. She’s royal blood. All I know is I’m not going to stick around and wait for that to happen. I grip my knife tightly and wait for the perfect moment. And moments later, I get it. He gives me his full back, giving me a direct line to his heart. I don’t think; I just release and let my muscle memory take over. The knife flies from my hand and strikes my target perfectly. He drops to his knees, but I don’t see what happens after that, because now I’ve made my presence known. The other warrior spins around and launches himself at me with a battle cry. I lift my arm and block his hit with my dagger. The hit reverberates up my arm, and I stagger back.
He raises his knife high and comes at me. I duck and spin away from him, but not before he grazes the top of my shoulder with his knife. I barely feel a thing as I raise my knife and prepare for him to come at me again. The fight is absolutely silent, and it’s eerie. The shadows from the fire make things difficult to fight. He comes at me again, and this time he does a crazy spin kick move, and my knife goes flying from my hand. He comes at mewith his knife, and I push it away and knee him in the stomach. He grabs my knee before I pull it back all the way and twists brutally, sending me crashing to the ground. He follows me down and thrusts his knife towards my heart. I roll away and jump back up to my feet. Before I’m ready, he knocks me in the head hard. My head snaps back, and my ears ring. He’s just too fast and strong. He hits me in the ribs, and I’m pretty sure he cracks it. Agony lances through me, and I can’t breathe. He shoves his knife towards my heart, and my preservation skills kick in. I spin away from him and kick out, but he merely knocks me away, like a nuisance. He grabs me by my hair and lifts me to my feet. I fight against him, but he’s too strong for me. He throws me into the wall, and I hit hard. I lay there for a moment,stunned.
