Chapter 18 （Elaine）To Steal a Dragon’s Heart
Chapter 18 (Elaine)
To Steal a Dragon’s Heart
I was lying in bed, snuggled up in Mitra’s arms, my head resting on his chest, listening to his heartbeat, surrounded by his manly scent. Everything I needed was here. He cared for me as if I were his most precious treasure, making me feel like the most important woman in the world. I loved sleeping wrapped in the warmth of his body. I hoped it would always be that way.
But I knew I had to get up. Today was the day. In the last few days, all the mages of higher magic force in the tower had gradually joined the ranks of the Shadow Weavers under cover of anonymity. In total, we were now about twenty mages in their organization. We went gradually to avoid raising doubts in groups of two to four mages at a time. We found posters about the Shadow Weavers in the town’s dark corners. Thus, it was easy to make it seem like we had seen the posters and wanted to join.
I was nervous because tonight. We would go to their gathering and steal the dragon’s heart. I hoped that by combining the claw and the heart, I’d find clues on bringing the dragons back to life.
“It’s impossible to sleep when I feel your nervousness,” the dark elf complained in a deep, steady voice.
My eyes fell on Mitra’s loving gaze, and his smile dispelled my doubts. “Stop worrying. You’re wonderful. I know you’ll find a way.”
His words were gentle and made my heart raced. “If you only knew how much I appreciate you,” I whispered.
His lip curled up in a sexy way, and he winked. “With the way you’ve been screaming every night, I think everyone knows you appreciate me.”
I blushed, hoping not everyone had heard me, and Mitra laughed. “Let them know. I want everyone to know.”
“Well, I’d rather them not knowing,” I said shyly.
“Are you ashamed of our relationship?”
My heart skipped a beat. “Oh my gosh, no! That’s not what I meant. But what happens in our bed should only stay between you and me.”
He looked happy with my answer, pulling me so I lay on his chest. Wrapping his arms around me, he kissed me deeply. I could feel his bulge pressing against me, making me yearn for more .
His deep voice resonated through my chest. “Good. That I can live with.”
A knock came at the door, interrupting the moment. “Elaine? Mitra? Are you guys in there?” asked Oswald’s voice.
“Don’t answer,” whispered Mitra in my ear.
His eyes were mischievous and playful. Although I wanted to do as he suggested, I knew we needed to get on with our task. “You know I have to,” I whispered back.
He pouted at my answer before huffing, “Yes, I know.”
“Just a second, Oswald,” I answered out loud.
“Take your time. I wouldn’t want to see Mitra naked. I might not recover from the sight,” Oswald said from outside the room.
Mitra burst into laughter. “It’s not my fault I look that good.”
Oswald’s laughter echoed on the other side as Mitra and I got dressed. His orange eyes were still playful when we finally opened the door.
“Sorry to interrupt your moment of tenderness,” he said with a wink.
“I’m sure you had a good reason,” I replied.
He explained, “Yes. We’ve just received a message from the king. He sent it directly to the tower from one of the mages in his army. They’re leaving this morning from Mumbur. The king expects nothing less than a parade for his return tomorrow to celebrate our victory.”
Nausea rose at the thought of celebrating this war I didn’t support. I hoped not too many dwarves had lost their lives.
“That doesn’t leave much time for preparations,” remarked Mitra.
I nodded. “That’s all right. I’ll give the orders for the preparations. In the meantime, you two go and gather the mages. We need to get ready for tonight.”
Both men nodded. Mitra placed a soft kiss on my lips before leaving with Oswald.
I went straight to the castle kitchens. “Veneficus dei,” they saluted.
I ignored the title, accustomed to it. “The king returns tomorrow. We’ll have to prepare a feast for him and the army.”
“So soon?” asked the cook in panic.
“You can requisition the help of every servant in the castle.”
The cook immediately ordered everyone to fetch the food for the feast. I went around to every servant in the castle, asking them to help where they could. We needed musicians and banners to hang in the streets, but above all, we needed to alert people so they’d be ready to celebrate. I needed the castle guards to help with the preparations, but tomorrow morning, we’d ring the bells and get the message out to everyone. Although I disapprove of war, it would be a day of celebration.
And when the king returns, I’ll have more free time since he’ll take back control of the kingdom. Was that good news? Had he fallen further into darkness? I was afraid of what I was going to find.
But that could wait. I had to concentrate on today. I headed for the mage tower. The mages were assembled, waiting for me.
I told those who didn’t already know, “We have won the war. The king is returning tomorrow.”
No mages supported the war against the dwarves, so no one cheered. Many were hoping for Mumber to stand for a longer time. Not that they wanted our soldiers to die, but they hoped the dwarves could keep their honor. I had even hoped that Mumbur would keep our army at bay for a long enough period of time so that they would return days later with few casualties. But that’s not how war went. War was cruel, and didn’t care whose life it took.
The fact that the war was quick meant it was a massacre, and everyone understood that.
“We need to prepare a parade tomorrow,” I added before returning to the matters at hand. “Anyhow, let’s concentrate on today’s goal. We only have tonight to make our plan work. When the king is back, he’ll have to approve of our actions. With his recent tainting by darkness, I’d rather leave him out of this story.”
They nodded. They all knew of the king’s ailment and agreed to exclude him from the discussions until we found a cure.
“Right,” said Mitra. “What’s the plan for tonight?”
“We know they get the heart out to bond with the dragon and absorb his magic. We need to take advantage of this. We all sit in the front rows. When they get the heart out, we don’t give them the time to pour the blood into the chalice. We grab the heart and run for it.”
“Don’t you think they will try and stop us?” asked Oswald.
“It’s not like they’re going to let us steal the heart,” said another mage.
I snapped. “Of course, they won’t! But being front row, we’ll have the advantage of surprise. We’ll be faster than anyone else. The only ones we’ll need to worry about are the priests. We’ll use the surprise to outrun them and find an exit behind the stage, away from the crowd.”
“This is risky,” Mitra said with a worried face. “Do you even know if there’s an exit behind?”
I replied, “There has to be. Just think about it. Would this old church have only one exit? It makes no sense. I’m sure I’ve read in an old book somewhere that the old church had at least three exits.”
“But the old church is in ruins,” reminded Mitra.
“Well, then, what do you suggest?” I asked, annoyed. I had yet to hear a better idea.
Mitra thought for a minute. “I’m sorry. I can’t think of anything better.”
I nodded. “Then let’s stick to that plan. Does anybody have a question about tonight?”
Oswald said, “Don’t forget. Only Elaine, Mitra, or I can take hold of the heart. We are the strongest mages.”
I nodded and added, “This is true. Any mage not strong enough will get crushed by the heart’s magic.”
The elves nodded. Mitra summarized, “Right. We get in there, sit in the front row, steal the heart, and run out.”
He looked at me with a grin. I nodded. “Exactly, and if some of them are fast enough to come after us, we blast them with magic.”
Some people cheered and applauded, but other mages looked concerned and scared. Nonetheless, they nodded in agreement.
I told them, “You are dismissed. Enjoy the rest of your day and prepare for the evening. We will regroup at the tower entrance two hours before the meeting starts, right at sundown.”
Everybody left the room, but Mitra stayed by my side. When we were alone, he grabbed my hand and brushed his thumb tenderly over the top. “I am worried for tonight.” His dark eyes stared into mine. I was surprised to see fear in his eyes rather than the confidence he usually showed.
“What is it that’s scaring you that much?” I asked.
“I am worried for you,” he answered. “I don’t know what I would do if something were to happen to you.”
He wrapped his arms around me, hugging me tightly. I wrapped my arms behind his neck. Landing a soft kiss on his cheek, I whispered, “Please, you don’t have to worry about me. I’m the Grand Wizard, remember? I will protect you.” I giggled.
He smiled at my words. “You’re right, but still, these people are dangerous, and they’ve absorbed the dragon’s magic. Who knows what they’re capable of? You’ve seen how many of them there are. They will outpower us if they catch us.”
A shiver of dread ran through my back, and I felt cold despite being in Mitra’s arms. “It will be all right,” I whispered, my voice barely audible in the moment’s silence.
“Are you trying to convince me or yourself?” he asked.
I pondered his words but didn’t dare answer what we both knew. “Please, Mitra. Spend the rest of the day with me,” I begged.
I didn’t know where this sudden fear came from or if his doubts affected me, but I felt that I needed this time with him more than anything else .
The dark elf smiled. “Well, I can think of a few things interesting we could do this afternoon. How about we revisit the royal baths? It seems you rather enjoyed it the last time,” he said with a sexy smirk.
I kissed him for an answer, my heart racing. “That sounds like a lovely idea,” I breathed in his ear. He grabbed me into his arms and led us to the bath.
Despite having been here the other day, the old church still gave me an eerie feeling, and I was eager to be done with this. We had all agreed to enter at different times. It would raise suspicions if we were to arrive as a group. However, we all needed to arrive early to be able to snatch a front-row seat. Mitra and I entered together. His love radiated to me, giving me the strength to pull this off.
When I entered the old church this time, I focused on exits. Two stairways led to the basement in the path accessible from the entrance. But squinting my eyes, I could make up the shape of a stairway at the far back of the destroyed room. If the stairway were still intact, it would probably lead to one of the backstage rooms down, meaning it could be our way out. There was no way to verify this without raising suspicion from the cult’s guards.
I squeezed Mitra’s hand. With my eyes, I pointed to the back of the room when he stared at me. Following my gaze, he nodded. This would be our best chance of exit.
We hurried to the basement. The room was still empty, the flickering flames of the candles the only thing that broke the heaviness of the air around us. It was as if a malevolent presence knew our intentions. I wondered where the heart was hidden. Perhaps it was even possible for us to steal it before the show began? It was too risky. If a spell protected it, breaking it might take several minutes, and we’d be out in the open. It was wiser to stick with our original plan and wait until they got the obsidian urn to use the dragon’s power.
As we arrived first, we could sit at the end of the first row. That way, we would be close to the apse where the priests would be, with no one in our way.
The basement gradually filled up with members of the Shadow Weavers. My anxiety was mounting, but I was reassured to see the familiar faces of my fellow mages. Even if a spell disguised them, I knew who they were. Some hadn’t arrived early enough and couldn’t sit in the front rows. I only hoped they’d sit at the end of a row. That way, they could get into action quickly when the time came.
As murmurs filled the room, the smell of incense reached my nose. The ceremony was about to begin. The priests arrived and greeted everyone. Everyone rose from their seats and began chanting prayers to Shevarash and the darkness. In the front row, we had no choice but to pretend and do the same. My heart pounded in my chest, and my hand trembled with anxiety. We couldn’t afford to be discovered.
We sat down and listened to the priest’s sermon. I was looking forward to when they would take out the dragon’s heart—every passing minute brought us closer to that moment. There was no turning back. Mika squeezed my thigh. He was as nervous as I was.
The priest talked about the group’s upcoming activities. I held my breath when he announced they would soon meet succubi. They hoped to seal a deal with the creatures. The Shadow Weavers hoped to gain access to a new power by doing so.
He gestured, and the sound of a chain was heard. A high elf came forward, pulling another chained elf who seemed semiconscious, his eyes opening and closing multiple times. His white hair and red eyes were typical of gray elves, but his skin was almost black, rather than the usual gray that gave their race its name.
The priest explained, “We’ve made a first experiment, but we had some drawbacks.”
The chained elf suddenly regained consciousness, his bulging eyes staring angrily at the crowd. He growled violently, tugging at his chains. My blood froze at the animalistic sound that escaped his mouth. There was no sign of intelligence anymore, only the raw desire to tear flesh.
The priest continued, “We’re confident that by working together with the succubi. We’ll be able to consume the blood of the lower demons without the side effects.”
I held back from making a sound, not wanting to arouse suspicion. I was terrified of the Shadow Weavers’ experiments. My heart was beating so fast I feared the priest would hear it. Fortunately, he didn’t. The priest continued, “In the meantime, we’ll keep this one locked up tight. We don’t yet know what we’ll do with him.”
The crowd rose to their feet and applauded loudly. I did the same, accompanied by Mitra, hiding the dread that invaded me. At the same time, the priest made a gesture, and the other elf returned to the back with the chained elf, who was still trying to get free.
The priest continued the ceremony, turning to the ancient texts of their religion. I took a few deep breaths to calm myself. Finally, I saw one of the priests return to the back room. I knew this was it. I waited anxiously for him to return with the heart. Too soon, and it would ruin everything.
Pushing aside anguish, I leaped to my feet when I finally saw the priest returning with the obsidian urn. My legs carried me thanks to the adrenaline I felt, but my trembling hands betrayed my nervousness. I rushed into the apse and approached the priests. Mitra, Oswald, and a handful of mages were right behind me. The priests looked at us in shock.
“What are you doing?” asked one. “Go back to your seat,” he ordered sternly. “The demigod Shevarash is watching you.”
The priest didn’t know that we had no intention of obeying him. He didn’t know we didn’t follow the demigod of the undead and that any threats he made about Shevarash’s anger would mean nothing to us.
Since there were about eight of us against the two priests, they didn’t stand a chance. The one holding the urn tried to run back to where he had gotten the heart. I ran after him while Mitra and the other mages fought with the remaining priests. The audience began to rise from their seats to intervene, but the other mages with us cast spells to hold them back.
We needed to move fast.
I got behind the stage to a long, dark corridor. A few rooms were connected to it, and I saw the priest running into the second one on the right. I followed him and hoped the chained elf wasn’t in that room. I sighed with relief, finding the priest alone in the room. I arrived in time to catch him trying to hide the heart in a magic chest. The chest was made entirely of purple crystal pulsating with dark magic so strong that I felt the need to protect myself from it. My embedded jewels activated to defend me. I needed to prevent the priest from hiding the dragon’s heart in the chest. It would be almost impossible to steal it if he succeeded.
“Don’t move!” cried the priest.
“Give me the heart, and I’ll let you live,” I offered .
I didn’t know if I’d let him live, but it would be a lot easier if he gave me the heart willingly.
“That’s never going to happen. The dragon’s heart belongs to the Shadow Weavers.” His voice was filled with the determination of his faith, and I knew there was no way I could change his mind.
The priest cast a spell, and four skeletons appeared in the air. The animated bones floated as if alive, but no meat or flesh held them together. Only magic allowed their bony fingers to seize the swords they held. They hurled themselves at me. Skeletons weren’t much of a threat, but I didn’t have the right spell to eliminate them. Undeads were weak against holy magic, but I didn’t know any holy spells. Regular magic could affect them, but they would keep rising unless banned from the living world by holy magic. I cast an electricity spell against them, holding them in place long enough for rocks to appear and crushing them.
Meanwhile, the priest tried to open the chest and bury the dragon’s heart. I was grateful he struggled, hoping to have enough time to stop him.
I used a slow spell on the priest, but the skeletons’ bones rose again. I used the same spells on them again, but the creatures got closer every time. I was only buying time. Finally, I heard words behind me, and a beam of light filled the room, and the skeletons disintegrated into ash.
I smiled in relief at the sight of Mitra. “Thank you,” I murmured, who had just cast a holy light spell to dispel the skeletons.
The priest turned his head toward us and swore. I immediately turned my attention to him. He’d managed to open the chest, but the heart was still on the floor. Using the magical powers of my jewels, I drew on my mana reserve and cast a paralysis spell on the elf before me. He wasn’t fast enough to repel the attack and was instantly paralyzed on the spot. I knew I only had a few seconds before the spell would wear off—preventing a living being from moving against its will required intense mana. The effect lasted long enough for me to snatch the heart.
I could feel the draconic magic pulsing even through the urn. The heart was far more powerful than the claw I possessed. I still didn’t know how to revive the dragons, but this heart would greatly help.
“Good. You’ve got the heart,” exclaimed Mitra.
At the same time, the others appeared in the doorway.
“Hurry,” urged Oswald. “It’s only a matter of seconds before they catch up with us. We’ve cast a spell to slow them down, but it won’t last long.”
Adrenaline pulsed through me, and I ran down the corridor to the last room at the end. It was the one I suspected would lead to the staircase I’d seen on the first floor earlier. They all followed me, and we closed the door behind us.
My heart sank as I realized that the pieces of collapsed ceiling and walls on the upper floor were blocking the staircase, preventing us from using it.
Mitra swore behind me.
We could hear Shadow Weaver members coming from the corridor. Studying the rubble, I realized I could probably move them.
“I have enough mana to push the rubble out of the way,” I said.
“But you’ll need several minutes to cast that spell,” said Oswald. “We don’ t have that kind of time.”
Mitra approached me. He put his hands on my shoulders and looked me straight in the eye. In his gaze, I could read love but also something else. Something that terrified me.
“No,” I whispered.
He shook his head and stole a kiss from my lips. Looking at the urn in my arms, he began to cast a spell. Moments later, an identical urn appeared in his hands. I knew what he wanted but couldn’t let him do it.
“Don’t do it,” I begged, my lip trembling.
Mithra spoke confidently. “You’ll have time to clear away the rubble and escape.”
“But you’ll die,” I cried.
Mitra caught my chin with his fingertip, raising my eyes to meet his. He spoke in his deep voice, “I’d rather die saving you than live without you.”
“But I don’t want to live without you,” I replied.
Without waiting a second, Mitra rushed out of the room, holding the fake urn, shouting at the top of his lungs, “I’ve got the heart. Nothing can stop me!”
I heard the Shadow Weavers following the sound of his voice.
Tears streamed down my cheeks as Oswald urged me. “Come on, cast the spell. Don’t let his sacrifice be for nothing!”
Despite the sadness that overcame me, I did as I was told. Tears blurred my vision, but I kept going until the staircase was clear, and we could all climb. There was nobody on the first floor. We rushed out of the church .
I gestured to Oswald. “Take the heart and go back to the castle. I’ve got to go back and save him.”
Oswald grabbed my arm firmly, fire burning in his eyes. “He’s already dead, and you will be too if you go back.”
I knew he was right. Yet I felt I had to try to save him.
As if he could read my mind, Oswald squeezed my arm tighter. “If you try to go, I’ll use a spell to keep you with me by force,” he threatened. “Mitra would have wanted that.”
I was stunned by his words. Oswald was a strong mage. Less so than me, but I knew he could make good on his threats.
“But I love him,” I pleaded.
He replied, “And so does he. That’s why he wouldn’t want you to sacrifice yourself.”
His words pierced me like a knife, but I knew it was true.
We kept running in the night. My lungs burned, but we pressed on. I couldn’t see anyone chasing us, but it was too dangerous to stop. As we neared the castle, I heard a whisper in my mind: “Fairfarren, my beloved.”
I couldn’t believe he used his last strength to cast the sending spell and send me a message. I collapsed against the floor of the castle courtyard as my heart shattered. It was too late.
Mitra was dead.