Darkbeam V, page 23
“So what brings you to the palace?” I looked at Isaack, who sat on the chest.
“My dad and a few of the elders have a meeting with the king.”
“King Albert?” My left eyebrow raised.
Isaac leaned his elbows on his knees, hunching forward. “I heard the two of you had words.”
“How the hell did you hear that?” I crossed my arms, sitting with my back against the bed’s headboard.
“News like that spread fast, Blake. How was it?”
“He was yelling at me because we freed Etan. Carrying on as if Elena was already dead. I just put him straight. He does not know who his daughter is, just like she does not know who her father is, so yeah, I spoke only the truth.”
“Ouch,” Ty’s reply came from the chair next to Elena’s bed. “It could not have been easy to hear it. How is the king still alive? And what the fuck was the missing ingredient?”
I chuckled. “Our blood. Both of our blood mixed.” I stared at Elena’s figure next to me. “She figured it out, just like Becky said she would.”
“I wasn’t that far off.” Isaac smiled.
“No, you weren’t. I should’ve known. Both our blood is magic and put together, would be even more special. It was the only thing Goran couldn’t figure out as he thought she was a dragon then.”
Silence lingered as I mentioned Goran’s name.
Isaac cleared his throat. “I heard his body is still in the morgue.”
“They should’ve torched him.”
“Yeah, Etan really changed. It’s not the same place as I remembered,” Isaack sighed.
Ty looked at him and asked, “How the fuck can you remember what Etan was like?”
“I’m a fucking Eagle, that is why.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“I’m a genius, Ty.”
I laughed at their bickering.
Isaack spoke. “She will wake up, Blake. I have all the confidence in her.”
“I know she will. She likes taking her time.”
“You heard about Helmut?” Isaac asked.
I nodded. “And Dean. Sam is going to be so pissed off when she wakes up.”
Isaac brushed his hand through his hair. “I’m sorry. We got there as fast as we could. We fought plenty of Wyverns, and when we saw George building up, I knew whatever he was going to release would be fatal. So I grabbed as many of the shifters as I could and yelled at the others to take cover. George sort of exploded. It was electricity everywhere.”
“It was fucking awesome,” Ty quipped.
“How is the Moon-Bolt?” Isaac wanted to know.
“Still asleep. George gave Becky his essence. Apparently, something she didn’t want, so I’m glad I’m not him when they wake up.”
“She must know that he can’t live without her.”
“Yeah,” I chuckled. “Sometimes I doubt Dragonians know that part.”
Silence lingered.
Ty cleared his throat. “You know the creepers didn’t come down, Blake.”
“Ty?” Isaac sighed and shook his head.
“What, he needs to know.”
My eyebrows knitted. “Know what? And what do you mean the creepers didn’t come down?”
“The bombs,” Isaac answered. “There was some sort of malfunction, and they didn’t go off.”
“Then how the hell did you guys got in?”
“A very brave Snow Dragon and a group that followed her lead.”
I frowned and looked at both of them. “Tabitha?”
They nodded.
“The capsules went off, but the bombs that were to follow didn’t. All of us were waiting. Tabitha put two and two together, came over to me, and asked me to look after you. I didn’t think the chick was that crazy, Blake. But she flew with a bomb in her claws with her rider on her back and dive right into them.”
Ty shivered. “Her shrieks are going to give me fucking nightmares for months to come.”
“She’s dead?”
Both of them nodded. “Sorry, Blake. I know you didn’t love her how you loved Elena, but she loved you with all her heart. I don’t think that she could live without you, and the fool she got for a rider knew that, too. That it would always be you.”
Tears welled up in my eyes. Her death hit me harder than I thought it would.
“Sorry, Blake,” Ty said too.
“When their bomb went off, a few more dragons followed their lead and give their life for this mission. I will always remember them, live for them until the day I die.” Isaack was wise for his age. “You see why I didn’t want to tell him yet?”
“Easy. He is the Rubicon. He needs to know.”
I sniffed and pulled back my tears. “Ty is right. Nobody tells me anything. You say their bodies are in the morgue.”
“Yeah. King Albert wants to wait, do a huge memorial type of thing for dragons and riders, basically everyone that gave their lives to this mission.”
“What the hell is he waiting for?”
They both fell silent, and I looked at Elena. “You got to be fucking kidding me. She isn’t dead.” I got up and opened the door.
“Blake!” Both of them ran to keep up with me. I remembered more or less where his office was, and I stormed in.
Yuri and Ty’s dad smiled as they looked up.
“Blake, we are in a meeting.” My father got up from his chair.
“When are you planning to bury the dead?” I asked Elena’s father.
“When it’s time.”
“It’s time! Nobody else is dying. Get that into your head. She will wake up. Bury your dead. They deserve to rest in peace.”
I turned around and stormed out of his office.
“I’m sorry, Al.” My father spoke.
“Don’t be. The boy is everything I imagined he would be. My daughter is lucky to have him as her dragon, and he is right. I have to believe that she is going to wake up, too. Tell him I’ll work on a date for the memorial.” I tuned out and went back to the room.
Isaac and Ty followed.
“Holy crap, Blake. Everyone is tip-toeing around him, but you treat him like he’s—
“Still alive. The king needs to get better, fight. We all know the king he used to be. He is still in there. Elena can not meet him like that. I won’t be able to handle her disappointment again. If my father will not fight with him, then I will. My father was there for my rider when I couldn’t be. I would be there for him when he can’t.”
“Your dad is there.”
“My dad is giving him whatever he needs. That is not what is going to get the king to his old self.”
Twenty-Six
I went to the morgue when my aunt and cousin entered, carrying bandages and disinfectants to clean Elena’s wound.
“Go with Blake. I need some time with Elena,” Constance said to Anouk.
I waited for my cousin after I gave my aunt a scolding look. She better not be saying goodbye.
“So give it to me. What does your mother say about Elena’s condition?”
“Don’t ask me, please. It’s something you do not want to hear, Blake.”
“Anouk, what does your mother say? I can’t fight for her if I don’t know what is wrong.”
“Everything, Blake.” Her tears welled up. “That machine is the only thing that keeps her alive.”
Her words pissed me off. “Am I the only idiot that can hear how strong her heart is?”
“What are you talking about? The machine is beating her heart for her, Blake. It’s not Elena. She is gone.”
“She is not gone, Anouk! Not her! You need to trust me on this.”
“I am, but my mother isn’t, and the king is listening to her at the moment.”
I nodded. “Then your mother needs to stop giving him updates on his daughter. The king cannot bury Elena. He needs to give her time. The Machines might keep her alive for now, but she will start living for herself soon. I’ll make sure of it. I just need time.”
Anouk looked defeated. “Okay, whatever you say.”
We walked in silence to the morgue, and what Annie said made me want to crawl into a corner and cry my heart out. Elena had to be alive. She had to fight somewhere to live. If only I knew where I could help. I would do anything to get her to wake up.
We entered the room that they housed all the bodies. A few loved ones were standing to corpses, whispering.
They turned the room into a freezer, and Annie rubbed her arms. The cold didn’t affect me, as I was part of Snow Dragon.
We walked down the rows of bodies sprawled out on tables covered with blankets.
The dragons disappeared into golden dust. It was what happened when we die. Our bodies disintegrated as we departed from this life and get transported to the new world. We became part of the stars.
These bodies were only shifters and humans.
We walked row for row. I found King Helmut and Goran’s bodies in the far corner.
They were lying next to each other. I lifted Goran’s cloth, and he looked identical to his brother. I got what Emanual said. The fear of dying was frozen on his face, pulling his muscles into the expression. He had a tense death.
I lowered his cloth and lifted his twin’s. Tears welled up in my eyes again. If he was here, he would’ve told King Albert that his daughter wasn’t dead. He would give it to him straight.
He was, in ways, the only king I knew. He was my king.
I sniffed and closed his face with the cloth again.
Annie rubbed my shoulder. “I don’t know how my mother could do this. I’m not great with death.”
“Not a lot is, Anouk.”
“I’m sorry that you are hurting, Blake.”
I smiled.
We carried on walking. I read through all the names. The William’s that my eye caught, I lifted every one of their cloths.
“They are not here. I checked already.”
“None of them?” I asked.
She nodded. “Meaning they are still out there.”
“I will find them.”
“Blake.” There was that warning in her tone again.
“I was worse than Seymore at a stage, Anouk. I know it’s hard for you to believe that or even perceive it, but it is the truth. I’m not built to run and hide. He will know fear when I’m done with him.”
She stared at me.
“If you don’t believe me, ask your mother to tell you the truth and to stop sugar-coating it, as I know she is.”
She nodded.
We carried on walking in silence, and I found Dean’s body. I lifted his cloth. He looked peaceful. I hoped that Sammy would have a chance to say goodbye to him.
“I’m sorry, Dean.” I hovered over his body and shook softly with tears. He was a great friend, and it was going to be hard to replace him.
“He’s Sammy’s rider, right?”
“Yeah.”
“I hope she wakes up.”
“They will. All of them will, Anouk.” I sniffed and wiped my tears.
My eyes caught the dozens of clipboards that hung against the wall, and I picked up the first one.
Hundreds of names were on the list. Dragons that didn’t make it. My gaze fleeted over Tabitha’s name. Peter’s name was on here, too, as there was nothing left of his body or any of the eight dragons that died to make sure the creepers came down.
I found other names, like Ludwig, a lot of the men that were at Dragon League. My father’s men. Many of these clipboards carried them.
I cried for each one that I knew personally, and then I found his name, and it was too much for me to handle.
I cried audibly as I slid down the wall. Anouk cried with me as she just held me tight.
“I’m sorry, Blake. This is why my mother didn’t want to tell you everything. It’s too hard to carry.”
Raymond’s name was on the paper. Flashes of how he helped me to look for survivors, how he came with us to give King Albert’s men hope. He wasn’t scared of anything. And yet, his name was on this sheet. Why did so many die? I didn’t understand any of it.
And it weighed heavily on my shoulders. Was this what King Albert foresaw? A morgue filled with bodies. And that was why he made Elena promise to let him be. To not free Etan. I thought so little of him, but maybe he had a point. Elena wouldn’t be hooked up on a fucking machine if I’d listened to her. I should’ve gotten the farmers out and let Etan rot behind the creepers.
What if freeing Etan was a mistake?
* * *
I became depressed but fought harder with my aunt every time she begged me that it was time to let Elena go.
She would wake up. She just needed time.
My father also came and begged. So did my mother. I hated all of them. It felt as if they didn’t care about me at all. Because I would literally die if she was not here anymore. Maybe I should voice it to one of them to fight harder because if King Albert buried his daughter, my life would be over.
“Enough, Blake,” Anouk yelled one day and just stared at me.
“Not you too, please.”
“No, I can’t handle this you. You keep fighting, but you look miserable. It wasn’t a mistake to free Etan. You believe she is going to wake up, then she will wake up. I believe that bedamn what the others say, but you silently punishing yourself for freeing Etan. I can’t stand that anymore. I want to show you what you did so, please, come with me. My mom can look after her.”
“Anouk, they would put the machine down.”
“I made my mom give me her oath that she wouldn’t do it today.”
I nodded and got up.
As we walked to the door, Constance came in. I stopped her. “Don’t please. Just fight with me on this. I know her.”
“Blake?” she sighed.
“You think it’s easy for me to see her like this. It’s not. It’s breaking my heart. But if you switch off that machine, then be prepared to dig two graves, Constance.”
Her face slacked.
“You know what she is to me. I can’t live without her. I’ll take my chances in death, but I won’t live without her.”
Tears welled up in her eyes, and she nodded.
“Let’s go,” Annie begged.
I sniffed, wiped my tears, and left with my cousin.
Outside, she morphed into her dragon. She was big and beautiful, and joy warmed y core. I hadn’t felt that in a long time.
“For once,” she spoke Latin. “You gave her back to me, Blake. For years I felt like a human, but you gave me back my roar, something I thought would never be possible. That wouldn’t have happened if you didn’t free me. So get your ass on my back.” She lowered down her wing, and I climbed onto her back.
She lifted off with speed and flew over Etan.
Everywhere people were building something—repaired houses, buildings, worked the lands.
They gave the deeds to the farms back to who it belonged to.
A big black ring circled around Etan, a remembrance of the Creepers. Memorials and homes covered some parts of the circle, trying to cover up the terrible memory.
Annie spoke in Latin. “It would take time for Etan to be in its full glory once more, but it would rise again, Blake. It would be majestic, just like we remembered it, even better.”
Up ahead, a vast gathering caught my eyes, and Anouk flew toward the group. There was a podium, and Caleb addressed the crowd. A silver cloth covered a colossal statue. The shift in my body came, announcing the beat of my heart pounding.
Annie landed gracefully, and plenty of the people coward in fear. The little ones hugged their parent’s legs, and the men protected their women and elderly.
Annie opened her wing, and I slid off.
Caleb spoke over the mic, and as my feet landed on the ground, he called my name.
Everyone applauded, and I looked around me. Faces, young and old, finally carried smiles.
I shook so many hands and received so many kisses on my cheek that I felt as if I needed a shower afterward.
Little kids kept touching my jeans, arms, whatever they could reach as I made my way to the podium.
I received a Medal of Honor from Caleb, and a huge thank you for my bravery. The princess was lucky to me as her dragon.
Elena would’ve loved this.
Then Annie stepped forward and asked me to translate.
“I know many of your faces as I used to be one of you.”
I translated, and plenty of faces turned her way. Confusion lingered in their eyes.
“I was violated, burned, abused, the worst of the worst. I was so afraid to tell my cousin about this, as I was scared he would look differently at me, but the truth is, we are the ones that make us feel as if we didn’t deserve this.” Sun gleamed off her dragon scales. “We deserve this. We deserve our freedom. We deserve to be treated like humans and dragons or whatever we are, just like the rest of Paegeia. It wasn’t a mistake to free Etan and to hell with everyone that thinks that. If the princess was awake, she would’ve told you that as I know her. I might not have known her that long, but I know her well. So if I can find my true form again, my true self, then you can too. Let’s give the princess the dream when she awakes.”
She finally changed back into her human form, and everyone cheered as they recognize Anouk. She got handed a robe and pulled it over her head. Many people walked up to her and hugged her. She knew plenty of them personally, and that was the cousin I remembered. She was still the same person she always was, even if she lost herself a little down the line.
“In remembrance of this day,” Caleb spoke. “We found it only suiting to reveal the statue we saw fit for the new world. Let us remember what we sacrificed to see the new Paegeia.”
He tugged on the cover and I gasped.
They carved a massive stone statue of my dragon form with Elena on my back in perfect detail.
Tears blurred my eyes, and Annie wrapped her arm around me.
She stroked my bicep as she laughed.
“Thank you,” I said. It was the only word that I could say. I kept staring at the statue. It was perfect, just like Caleb said.
We stayed for a while, celebrated today, and finally, around six, Annie took me back to the palace.
Relief washed over me when I found Elena still on the bed, hooked up to the machine.
