Page 60 of The Final Battle

Seeing that he was opening his mouth to speak again, I slapped my hands over it to keep him silent. “May I speak now?“

Rolling his eyes, he nodded his head.

“Thank you,“ I said with a smile, removing my hands and giving him a kiss on the nose. “I’m just tired, the dinner was lovely and surprisingly enough, I learned a lot.“

“Tell them the important part first,“ Pax muttered, arms crossed and looking rather disgruntled.

“And what would that be,“ Cole asked, coming to stand in front of me, as if he could ever intimidate me.

“I believe he wants me to tell you that Henry is in town.“ The guys froze. “Seems he got here yesterday and has an estate, which just so happens to be right next to the church where the cemetery is. King Thomas’s grandfather is buried there and from what I hear he wasn’t a nice man.“ I added, knowing they didn’t care but I felt it was important.

If the tomb of the person was as evil as the magic it holds, it would make sense why it could keep it contained. It might also add to why no one could get to it, if an evil spirit guarded it.

Pax growled and tossed his arms into the air. “Look how calm she is, like none of this is a big deal. How can she just say that shit and not feel the panic that I’m feeling right now? He’s here, he has to know we are too, someone has been feeding him information faster than we anticipated.“

“Or,“ I cut in. “He already was planning on coming here and we just happened to show up at the same time. Either way, it doesn’t matter, we were going to have to face him as it was. Henry isn’t one to charge head first into a situation, no he’ll take a calculated position then choose what to do next.“ Not having the energy to argue, I stepped out of the circle of men.

I removed my crown and handed it off to Becka shaking out my hair as I faced them once more. “This is nothing new, you guys. We were going to have to face off with him at some point. At least now, we have a heads up. The other part is, we know where he is and where we need to go. Right now, we need to act as if he isn’t here, that we have no idea what’s hidden in that graveyard, and lastly that we plan to kill him.“ Sighing, I let my shoulders sag. “Last night wasn’t all that restful for me and I think it’s finally hitting me. Who’s going to stay with me tonight?“

“Izel,“ Cole blurted. “She had nightmares all last night and you’re the only one who can help her with those.“

He nodded in agreement and turned to Zan. “I think having you here also will help, your soothing energy will be welcome. Also, having Ezzu as a backup pair of eyes if something happens will be invaluable.“

Everyone agreed and those going to their rooms kissed me good night and left. When it was just the three of us, I plopped onto the bed, my body drained.

“Little warrior, I’m concerned this isn’t normal,“ Izel whispered as he combed his finger through my hair. “I’ve never seen you this tired before, even after sleeping in a cold tent in the mountains. Are you sure you’re feeling alright?“

“It’s as if my body is just too spent to do anything, like I’m a water flask with a leak. What I can’t tell is if it’s the babies who are taking it or if it’s something else,“ I answered rolling onto my side, tucking a hand under my head, and letting my eyes drift shut.

“Cassarah!“ Zan snapped.

My head snapped up, looking around but nothing was wrong. “What? What is it?“

“You just fell asleep in seconds,“ Izel explained. “I tried to shake you awake but that didn’t work.“

Tears started to fill my eyes. “Does that mean I can’t sleep? I’m so tired I just need to rest, it’s so much and I’m so incredibly tired.“

“Let’s get you in more comfortable clothes first,“ Zan suggested dropping to his knees to remove my boots.

The energy it took for me to do this simple task wasn’t right. Fear made me shake as I helped to get my pants off, leaving me in my undergarments and my shirt. “What’s wrong with me?“ I whispered as the feat of keeping my eyes open was becoming too much. “Don’t let him take me, get Paxton, if something happens, he’s the only one who can break his hold…“

“VASIN!“ I screamed in my head as the world went black.

“Little Dragon Queen…“

“I know you can hear me, I don’t like to be ignored.“ Henry’s snarl echoed in my head.

Desperately, I tried to reach out to Vasin, the guys, anything that might free me from this nightmare.

“Oh, it won’t be so easy this time, I’m far too close to my power source for you to possibly win.“ Henry taunted.

The world around me started to illuminate as Henry stepped into view, a sickly green glow around him.

“You’re too late, now that I’ve gained enough power, I will be able to control all the kingdoms and even the dragons. I know you did something, changed the agreement somehow, but it won’t stop me from draining them of power the way I have with my own dragon. Xatho couldn’t be trusted any longer. He stopped following orders after his ordeal with your pet. He died for a good cause though, and his body was wasting away. That happens you know, without a heart, nothing left to give you life but the power I fed him. Now he’s fed me all his power!“ Henry cried, raising his hands letting the energy around him crackle like lighting.

I tried to push myself up, not wanting to leave myself at a disadvantage laying on the ground. No matter what I tried, there was no strength to do anything but keep my body breathing. “What did you do to me?“

“Me? Oh no, it is not I who has sapped you of your power. See, the tainted heart of a dragon needs life to sustain itself. It can take life from people, animals, dragons, humans… unborn children… The purer the life is, the stronger the power. You, little Dragon Queen, have both power and life inside you. The dragons blessed you with more than you should have, more than they ever gave me!“ Henry raged, dropping to his knees before me. “Now, I’m going to take it from you, all of it, every last drop.“