Chapter 39
Roksana
What’s going on? How is this happening?
The bies refused to let me pass, each attempt to move forward ending with me closer to the den.
Still, if I couldn’t see, how could I understand why a creature of the mountain heights was hunting in the frozen swamp?
In an act of pure madness, I climbed onto his back.
Now, I was sitting on the monstrous beast like a child on their first pony.
‘Roksana, get away from it! What are you doing?’ My jaw dropped at hearing the one voice I could recognise anywhere.
Frantically, I searched the sky until I saw him, Reynard, the Berserker King of Dagome, riding the biggest dragon I’d ever seen.
He was waving furiously for me to move, while the dragon swept the treetops.
His wings held in position, jaws apart, an ominous glow building in his maw, but all I could see was the man on top of the beast.
‘Reynard?’ I whispered, blinking rapidly. It was him, black armour and all. My heart stuttered almost to a halt when sudden relief washed over me. I couldn’t relax just yet; my bestial mount was still agitated, pawing the frozen ground, ready for battle.
‘No,’ I said, pulling on the fur, my heels squeezing his side with all my strength.
The bies turned his massive head, eyes staring with confusion and warning.
I patted its shoulder, muttering soft platitudes.
I almost had him calmed until a gust of wind dragged his attention back to the enormous crimson beast, now landing at the bottom of the hill.
To make it worse, Reynard drew his sword, sliding off the dragon’s back, and charged at the bies, shouting my name.
‘Reynard, stop!’ I shouted back, grasping the beast’s antlers when it lowered its head to confront the blade. They were sharp as spears, the lethal edges cutting my skin, but I didn’t care. If I couldn’t stop the clash between the berserker and the bies, one of them would die.
My gaze landed on the dragon, who observed the scene, the vertical pupils narrowed to a slit. He didn’t join the fight; if anything, he took a step back, the intensity of his gaze almost burning a hole in my skull.
‘Help me,’ I mouthed, hoping he would understand.
He didn’t move, and there was no time left to think.
Reynard was too close. The bies lowered its head further, almost throwing me off its back.
Instinct took over as my magic flared to life.
Emerald strands dug into the ground, and the roots of the ancient oak sprang from the frozen earth, wrapping around both fighters’ legs and dragging them to a halt.
Is that enough? It had to be enough. If I could only talk to him…
‘Rey, stop! Please, stop! I’m safe!’ I shouted, hoping my voice would break through the berserker’s rage. Sweat beaded on my forehead as I begged all the gods, above and below, for mercy. I didn’t want this kind beast to die because of me. Still, if I had to choose…
‘Please stop,’ I whispered, fighting back tears.
Reynard shook his head, hesitation flashing in his eyes.
His gaze darted between the bies and me, slowly realising I was sitting on top of the monster, struggling to keep it still.
However, I was slowly losing the battle.
My hands were slick with blood and covered with shallow cuts.
My magic was slipping away, the snare weakening with each passing heartbeat.
I released the antlers, letting my body slide off bies’ shoulders. With shaking hands, I reached for my belt, grasping the poison a moment before the dragon’s roar shook the swamp forest. Both Rey and the bies turned to look at him, and I took it as my chance.
My knees buckled, sending me to the ground, and I kneeled in front of the beast, reaching for its bovine-shaped head and crooning.
‘It’s alright; he won’t hurt you. I’m safe.
You kept me safe.’ My words, but even more, the soft hum of my mother’s song, soothed the rage in the monster’s gaze.
His eyelids closed as he listened, exhaling puffs of warm air into my hand.
He was calm, enchanted by a Vila’s song. Now, I needed to face the king.
When I turned, Reynard was standing there, utterly still, with only a muscle twitching in his jaw.
If not for that, he could’ve been mistaken for a statue.
His eyes still burned with golden fire, his berserker fury barely restrained, but he wasn’t fighting.
He just looked at me with an intensity that sent shivers down my spine.
One wrong move, one threatening gesture, and his control would snap.
I had another beast to soothe, and, as violent, terrifying images flashed across my thoughts, I wondered if this would be possible.
‘Roksana, come to me… slowly.’ His voice was so low it was barely different from the growl in the bies’ throat.
‘Sheath the sword first. He’s afraid you’ll hurt me.’ The confusion in the king’s eyes made me sigh. ‘Rey, please.’
‘You want me to trust a creature whose herd killed half my riders in the Lich King war?’ He swallowed hard, stretching out to me. ‘Come here, Viper.’
‘I’m asking you to trust me,’ I said, standing up and placing my hand on the bies’ muzzle.
‘This one is mine.’ I challenged the king, and for a moment, we stared at each other, equally unyielding.
Then, slowly, Rey sheathed the blade, and I sagged in relief, holding back the sob that threatened to escape.
This single act told me more about our future than words ever could. All the tales from the war praised how ferociously the king fought against the raging monsters, leading the heavy cavalry… and how few of them survived the fierce battle.
And he put that aside for me.
‘Thank you,’ I said calmly as I cautiously stepped closer.
One hesitant step after another, my hand reaching out while he observed my approach with singular focus.
When I was close enough, I took his hand and pressed it to my cheek, tears blurring my vision.
The king exhaled. His shaky, uneven breath misted my skin when he leaned into my touch.
‘I thought I’d never find you. If Cinared hadn’t sensed the shift in the aether, your magic… gods, Viper. I thought I’d lost you…’ His jaw tightened, muscles trembling as he ground his teeth. ‘Then I saw you fighting the bies…’
‘He was trying to protect me,’ I said while the bies paced behind me. ‘Just like you were. Was it you, earlier… the shadow in the sky?’
‘Fuck, Viper. Only you – only fucking you could tame nature itself.’ Reynard grunted, and in the whirlwind of motion, too fast for the human eye, he scooped me up, and I was pressed against his chest so hard I could hardly breathe.
What broke me were his sharp, jagged breaths of a man desperate to hold back tears.
‘I was the shadow you saw. I couldn’t get past those pillars.
Even Cinared faltered. The swamp was my only chance to get to Tivalaran and burn my way to your prison.
’ There was so much pain in his voice, so much anguish that I pressed my face into the crook of his neck.
‘But you found me,’ I whispered while Reynard peppered my face with hundreds of little kisses. I whimpered as his hands tightened on my body as if seeking to reassure himself I was still there, that I wasn’t an illusion.
The flashback of other hands blurred my vision, and my body stiffened as the fear rushed through me. I fought the drowning darkness. It’s Rey. You’re safe. He’ll never hurt you. The litany ran through my mind as I slowly regained a sliver of control
‘I will lock you in the castle and make my dragon guard you for another century. Never in my life have I felt so terrified, so utterly helpless.’ He lowered me, missing my flinch at his words.
When my feet touched the ground, he took my face in his hands and pressed his forehead to mine.
His expression was so utterly vulnerable that the fear subsided, replaced by my love for him.
‘Promise me you won’t leave my side again. I can’t be without you. I can’t rule without you. I can’t even fucking breathe if I don’t know you are safe.’
‘I can’t make such a promise,’ I replied, stroking his cheek, tears slipping free. ‘Could you promise me never to go to war, to never charge a bies, never fly to the enemy’s castle knowing they have dragon ballista on the walls?’
‘That’s different.’ Rey’s eyes darkened when I shook my head.
‘No, there is no difference. I love you, Reynard Erenhart, and I’ve sworn to protect you and your kingdom. So, I will, whatever it takes,’ I said, biting my lip, and he cursed
‘So, you walked into Tivala’s castle.’ Rey touched a fading bruise on my cheek. ‘He hurt you, didn’t he? Fuck, Viper, why can’t you be one of those ladies who sit on their rear and embroider favours for their lover?’
‘I was sitting on my arse. I wasn’t embroidering, but I was safe and warm. Then you and that enormous dragon dropped from the sky and tried to kill my bies, so… clearly, I’m not suited to court life.’
The huff, accompanied by a plume of smoke, surprised me, the dragon shaking with laughter.
A massive head filled with rows of serrated teeth bent over me, making the bies growl.
Before I could worry about the beast behind me, the one above spoke.
‘I like you, woman. I see why he was desperate, why the fear in his mind pushed me to fly day and night.’ There was a lisp in his voice, clear when he used certain sounds.
Wrapped in Rey’s embrace, I almost forgot how he’d arrived here. This new revelation stared at me with fire swirling in golden irises and an awareness that seemed to penetrate to the deepest recesses of my soul. An awareness that called to me.
I lost myself in the dragon’s eyes. He was just like Rey, primal fury locked behind ice-cold control. The fire burning within was so intense that it rivalled the sun. They were one soul with two minds.