45. Dax
Chapter forty-five
My jaw falls slack as the face of a man I never thought I would see again comes into view. Though changed with time, worn and filthy from being locked away for a lifetime… Still the same face of the man who I idolized more than my own father.
“How?” I ask dumbfounded. I blink as though my vision will clear and he will no longer be standing in front of me. Cano looks as shocked as me as he looks at the man whose arm is draped around his shoulder and barely hangs onto life.
“Who did this?” I ask another question, but he does not answer either. His head lulls to the side as though he is going to pass out at any moment.
“Dax, I don’t think now is the time…” Cano says, pleading with me to keep moving, but the shock of the ghost standing here has my feet rooted in place. This doesn’t make any sense. Why would uncle Declan be here? Why would he be a prisoner of Demetrey? A hand clamps down on my shoulder pulling me back and I turn with a furious growl, my sword angled up to sever the throat of whoever dares touch me.
“Careful… We are on the same side.” Osiris says as he levels me with a cold glare. “Cano is right. We need to—” Osiris’s words are cut short by the sound of another voice.
“I should have known…” The man says behind us and Osiris’s shoulders tense. His lip curls back in fury as he lays eyes on whoever is at my back. “You can never stay out of trouble can you, son?” Osiris’ jaw flutters and my eyes narrow on the motion, then I turn to face the King of Valeska, my blade still angled for the kill at his son’s throat.
Fire flickers in his hand as he looks to the point of my blade and pulls Cano closer to him by the crook of his arm. The threat is clear for all to see. My head tilts as my raven surfaces, the glowing embers in my eyes blooming and casting the world a vicious shade of red. Shadows spill from me and curl around my arms, slithering along the length of my blade toward Osiris.
Even if Osiris is on our side, Cano and I have history. I won’t allow anything to happen to him. Not now that he is finally trying to come back around to be the man who was once my best friend. If I can see that, then perhaps there is potential in him after everything he has done.
“Drop your blade… and your magic.” He growls the demands, and a wicked smile lifts to my face as I realize his mistake. He doesn’t realize that Osiris is working with us , not against us. Looking back at Osiris, I wink before letting my shadows creep around his throat in a noose of darkness. His chest vibrates, his shoulders becoming more tense than before, but I drop the blade. Sheathing in its scabbard with a slow hiss.
“You let them go, and I will let your heir live…” I point to Cano and his brows drop at my words but I shrug. “Don’t, and I will kill everyone standing in this hall. The choice is yours… either way, I walk away.”
“Dax, maybe we—” Cano starts, but Phyrrohs blinks, quickly turning his head to the man in his grip.
“Dax? As in…” His graze narrows on his son. “The mate ?”
“The king!” I respond in a snarl, my shadows whipping out at my side menacingly as I step forward toward Phyrrohs. “What’s it going to be? Are you going to disregard a king’s orders while visiting his land? Or are you going to start a war here and now?”
“There would be no order to follow if you were dead.” Phyrrohs pushes Cano away from him, and flames billow out around him in a blinding light. His flames do nothing to my shadows though; as they do with my own fire element, they spear through the flames, extinguishing them anywhere they touch. I wrap Phyrrohs in them, pinning his arms to his sides, and step in close. My shadows fill the space around everyone, keeping them at bay but not obscuring our vision.
“Please tell me you are ok.” Raelle’s voice echos through my head, and I blink from the interruption. Stunned having heard her clearly as if she were standing right beside me. I focus on my words as I try to respond…
“My queen,” Relief floods me as I sense her through our bond. “Are you safe? Did you make it to the others? My brother?” All of the questions come at once as my mind flits through my whirling thoughts.
Phyrrohs thrashes in my hold, and my shadows flare with his attempts to be free and use them to squeeze him into submission. He growls in protest; his flames try to burn through my shadow’s hold, sending a burst of pain through me. “This is an attack against my kingdom. I WILL END YOU FOR THIS!” I bellow over the pain.
“Dax?!” Raelle’s panic courses through our bond, causing me to flinch.
“I’m with Osiris. Cano is with us. We’ve—” My words are cut off by a searing pain low in my stomach. I look down to see the cause and blink as I confusingly watch my blood spill from the wound, a blade of dark shadows piercing through my skin. My head jerks upright-looking Cano in the eyes as his face blanches and his eyes go round, flicking from my stomach to whatever is at my back.
“Go to the caves. Get the people to safety. Nothing will keep me from reaching you, Raelle.” I feel my magic waning, but I know she heard me. As I lose my connection with her, our minds fading apart, I feel her scream a raw visceral pain. Everyone in the corridor heard her cry, only to be echoed by a roar that vibrates everything around us as Osiris falls to his knees with a grunt, his eyes distant as though he is fighting his own internal battle.
My shadows fall away, letting the hallway become illuminated once again by King Phyrrohs’ flames. A hand presses into my back, and I move to spin toward whoever is there, but my feet are rooted to the ground. The hand moves sensually up the center of my back along my spine before fingers press into my hair and wrench my head back.
“Hello, handsome.”
“Violet?!” Her name is a ferocious snarl from my lips, my teeth bared, and my raven bursts from me, unable to control my anger. My wings push from my back, sending her back a few feet. She laughs, but I still can’t move my feet.
“What a happy little family reunion we have here…” Soren’s voice comes from further back and I marginally hold my rage. My chest is rising and falling rapidly as I seethe, waiting for him to show himself.
“What a fun little trade-off… Although, I must admit, a bit of a kink in the plan. You made things easier for me.” Soren continues, and he steps between me and Osiris, whose face reflects the same hatred as mine surely does. Only Cano, Declan, and I are held captive by the foul magic that is flowing from Violet in a heartbeat of darkness. “Now I don’t have to go to Castenelle to kill you.” He growls as he steps forward, the glint of a dagger in his hand. I snarl a frustrated groan as I pull at the cancerous shadows, wanting to meet him halfway and fight him like a man. But being the coward he is, he doesnt allow me to fight back before he lifts the blade and aims to plunge it into my heart. The hand that comes between us to stop my death surprises me.
“I hope you remember my warning, Soren Croix.” My uncle says, as his skeleton-like fingers wrap around the wrist that wields the blade I made, the very blade that saved my life not long ago now aims to take it away. It takes everything in me to keep my composure. It’s all I have right now.
“How could I forget the ramblings of a man who has lost his God’s loving mind?” Soren sneers, dismissing my uncle with a shrug of his shoulder. Declan’s hand falls away as the sharp point’s trajectory is moved. Cano’s eyes flick between everyone else as he silently watches everything unfold, still holding my frail uncle.
“Careful, Soren, the Gods become vengeful when their plans are encroached on. My life is a testament to their vengeance…” Declan says ominously. I chance a look at the prince as Declan and Soren are in conversation and see the slightest flick of his eyes looking up before they lock on me and a subtle nod follows.
Within moments, the ground begins shaking, sending everyone off balance as the dragon slams into the rock face behind us. Its growl sending the next shudder through the earth.
“Why is your fucking dragon attacking my castle!?” Soren bellows as he ducks low, covering his head with both hands as debris falls from the rocky surface that the hallway is hollowed from. “Tell it to fucking stop!”
Cano struggles to keep himself and Declan from harm, but I see that he is trying to reach out with a grunt, taking my uncle’s arm and slinging it over my shoulder too.
“ No . She’s doing just what I want her to do.” Osiris’ blade ignites with fire as he lunges toward Soren and Violet. The latter threw up a shield of malignant purple-hued smoke, stopping him from making his mark. But he smiles wide as he reaches down. I see a glint of silver in his hand before the dragon surges the stone again, this time with a raking sound—metal on stone piercing our ears as it drags its talons across the backbone of the castle.
“What are you doing, Osiris Haakon Drach!? CALL HER OFF!” King Phyrrohs grips the wall to steady himself as the earth below us rattles and shakes with every attack the dragon gives, but Osiris keeps his eyes trained on his father while ushering us toward the raging beast.
“You were never a good king and a far worse father. You reap what you sow, King Phyrrohs. May the gods have mercy on your soul. I, however, will not. I refuse to be like you. I will not abandon those I love.” Osiris and Phyrrohs stand fixed in each other’s stoic stares while the world around us tumbles down.
“You have chosen your destiny. Do not beg for my help when the time comes, son . I will have no mercy for a coward who chooses to chase ghosts over what is right for his kingdom!” Phyrrohs surges forward in a stance to attack, and without another thought, I throw my shadows out, casting us backward and hitting him with a torrent of caliginous magic.