31. Clara
31
CLARA
“ W e must ensure that Drakonis is safe,” Clara said for what seemed the hundredth time. Even though Drakonis had assured her that everything would be alright she didn’t believe it. She heard the noises, and duty drove Drakonis. He would shoulder anything for his people. He said he would be fine, but she wasn’t sure if he would avoid his chained fate at the Ancient Isle.
“And what do you think you can do for him? You have your gifts, but you cannot survive here without protection,” Nero said.
Clara balled her hands into fist, sucking in a breath. She held it and tried to exhale slowly. It was like in the beginning of her journey, except now she felt worthless. She was not strong like Elisora or Romanus, but she could not just abandon the love of her life.
“There must be something I can do,” she answered in a strained voice.
“There is,” Nero confirmed. “You can make it to the border where Hadrian and Romanus will be waiting for you. When you are safe that dragon can relax. You would only be a distraction if you tried to help him.”
She bit the inside of her mouth. Things were going differently than she had thought, and the danger to her love was on three fronts: his own family, the Pythia, and Phaedrus. He accepted death so easily, because it was not his final one. The Moirai would, stubbornly, not show her his ultimate destiny. Out of all the visions she had, his was the most important. She was nothing but a sick joke to the gods.
“And my Queen wanted me to give you this.” Nero tossed her a vial. “Hide it under your cloak.”
“What is it?”
“Your vial of defensive magick. Queen Nordskov said it was too much to explain, but that you should keep that on your person. If you ever in danger you merely need to break the glass.”
Thank you, Elly , Clara thought. Although it was too late to give to Drakonis, which was her intention, she appreciated something. Maybe this could be helpful to Drakonis when they least expected it.
“You have my word, that as soon as you are delivered to Herrlof, I will return to Drakonis to help him,” Nero said.
“To make sure your ally awakens so you can use him.” Clara narrowed her eyes, raising her hood. She had many feelings about Lord Nero. Gratefulness. Admiration. Frustration.
“My words seem harsh to you, but would you rather I use Drakonis, or our enemies? The Pythia would treat him worse than a slave according to your vision. Or maybe you want Kazimir experimenting on him so he can take his power?
Clara gulped. It was because of her vision that she was being this way. She just had to know he would survive his awakening.
But Nero was right. He and King Nordskov would at least, seemed to allow Drakonis freedom. Hope blossomed in her chest. If she was headed to Herrlof then maybe she could appeal to King Nordskov through her sister. Make sure Drakonis had all the support he needed, and at least help her stop the Pythia.
“I will follow quietly. Just please…” Please make sure Drakonis is alright.
“My lady, I do not pretend to know what love or mate-ship is,” Nero started. “But I have seen what it has done for my King. He is my dearest friend and relative. I have learned that your family has a strength that at least I did not know existed. All I can tell you, is listen to me. I will not let harm come to you, or a pawn that will be most useful to Ragnar.” Nero pulled his hood over his head, making his horns disappear, and pulled a piece a cloth up over his chin and nose. The only thing she could see was his red eyes.
“I believe you,” Clara answered. “And my wish is not only for Drakonis to be safe, but you as well.” It was small, but she did smile at Nero.
“Worry about yourself, my lady. I’m the one person in this world that you least have to worry about.”
Clara saw the bits of fire and madness that burned in his eyes. Emotions came hard to him, but she could tell there was pain brewing deep inside of him. Had she the time, she would touch his onyx skin and see what she could help with. But she would not do without his permission, and this was certainly not the setting to get lost in visions. Clara nodded and tucked the point, in a glass vial necklace, inside of her cloak. Nero pushed a blade in her hands. “Tie this around your waist and stay close.”
“I know very little about the blade,” Clara said.
“Yes, but I cannot leave you with no protection. The sounds of war above tells me that chaos is closing in. Now come.”
The putrid, moldy smell of the staircase became more potent with each step. Nero, as before, carried her in his arms because of her “weak human sight” as he said. She had no complaints. From what his fireball showed there were creatures hanging from the ceiling with beady yellow eyes, and splashes pushed off Nero’s leather boots as he walked up. In her sandals, she would feel every bit of it. Was it water? Urine? Blood? She did not want to find out.
The sun glared bitterly in her eyes as they entered from beyond the door. She gasped as a decapitated body greeted her. It was a soldier with similar armor to her vision in Zillah. Those men were pillaging and being violent towards the villages. Did this mean she was too late the stop Kazimir’s purging? She prayed that Drakonis made it in time to at least minimize what she saw.
Nero touched the gold bracer on her forearm, a finger to his lips. He pulled her along in the shadows, maneuvering around bodies.
“That bastard Prince Drakonis is barely holding onto his power.”
Nero pushed Clara into the shadow of a half-burned barn. In the distance, she saw a familiar short and plump dragon with red cropped hair and a gray beard. Valen Zenos. He spoke to another soldier in the same armor, his expressions barely discernible through his helmet.
“Though Kazimir was quite entertaining to throw those degenerates in the volcano,” Valen continued.
Nero covered Clara’s mouth with his clawed one. Her heart stilled.
“Yes, my lord,” the soldier said.
“We must utilize that Pythia once more. That human woman escaped once but she is the key to Drakonis’s undoing, and for the awakening. If this Heir truly exists, we must make sure that our side is the victorious one.”
“My lord, I have heard that Prince Drakonis has declared the human his mate,” the soldier responded.
Valen let out a boisterous laugh. “A dragon with a human? It does not surprise me since it comes from the dragon who allies with gargoyles. Were it not for his victories in war he would be nothing. Gavril is now dead and the emperor has suffered consequences for doubting Kazimir.”
The emperor had suffered consequences? Something did not sit right with her about that. She looked up at Nero who narrowed his red eyes.
Nero grasped her under his arm and jumped through a window, hiding them in tall grass. The woods were close yet so far away.
“A woman who has used her body to seduce gargoyles is now seducing dragons. How daft do these gargoyles think we are?”
Valen’s voice was still so loud despite them jumping away. He roamed around the broken village where dead soldier were piled in a pit. Another group of bodies were burning in an orange flame. These had to be dragons, but without the red armor. The smell was putrid; like when blacksmith burned leather.
“We must hide within the smell,” Nero whispered in her ear. She held a hand to her nose.
“You hear me you harlot princess? Now make life easier by giving yourself up!” Valen bellowed.
“My lord, there is no one here but us,” the soldier said.
“Nonsense. Drakonis chased that oracle out into the woods. I saw it with my own eyes. If this woman was indeed his mate, he never would have returned to Ouroboros without her or knowing where she was. My men died here so that woman must be here.”
Nero ground his teeth. How was this man, who Drakonis always described as daft, able to figure things out?
“You have a mission don’t you lady oracle? You said it yourself to the royal family. You must awaken the Heir of Phaedrus. There is no heir yet. Your job is incomplete.” Something burned in her heart. A push that wanted her to break from Nero’s arms. The world started to lose its color and turn to sepia. Nero shook her. She cut her eyes to him. He made no sound. No movement. At first. “Come out my lady!” Valen said, continuing to walk the land. “I have orders not to kill you if that puts you at ease. But just you. That gargoyle of yours is another story. He must pay for his crimes of espionage and harming a sacred being.”
Clara gripped Nero so tight her knuckles turned white.
Nero gripped her hand, moving them back. There was a cart full of wooden crates. They stayed low to the ground as he moved them. In their direction Valen blew fire, his golden scales lighting up. Clara hoped that, since they made no noise, he would give up, but he continued to tail them. Valen motioned his soldier to move. The man quickly disappeared, but she could not see where.
“Do not think I do not know your crimes, my lady. Such treacherous things a woman can do. It’s because of you that your sister was sold into slavery, yes? That your homeland was destroyed?”
Clara’s eyes widened. How did he know such things?
“Our royal family has done quite their research,” Valen continued. “You do not think that Drakonis wants the power of Phaedrus as much as Kazimir does? Who in their right mind would not want a power that could control all of dragon kind?”
Nero gripped her waist, where the dagger was. They met eyes, and Nero nodded to the woods. Was he telling her to run? She nodded. Her job was the escape to the border. She would do what she needed.
Nero released her and she moved to the end of the cart. She looked over the barrel to just get a glimpse of Valen. Nero pushed down his mask and blew fire in the direction of the building they just came out of. With the distraction she ran.
Swish! Clang!
Swords clashed and she feel hot flames at her back. There was a fight going on between dragon and the fire gargoyle. She did not worry about sound. They were already so close to some kind of border and, if she could only reach the other gargoyle, she would be safe. She did not know of him but heard stories from her sister.
Her legs burned as she ran, and her breath became shallow, but she did not stop.
Howls sounded around her. Menacing eyes staring from the darkest parts of the wood. Please gods, do not let this be the same wood that Drakonis did the hunt in. The empress had told her about all the different types of creatures that resided here, and she did not have the ability to fight them off.
Eyes became four legs. Wolves that had shadowy fur and venom from their vampire like teeth were chasing her. She jumped over tree branches and hid where she could to throw them from her trail. If she could not even avoid these, how could she have thought she could do something for Drakonis?
Drakonis give me strength . She wished he could sense her. He would not come but feeling him would push her through this fright.
A wolf came close. She could hear its labored breathing, but an orange light and a yelp told her that it had died. Hopefully, it was by Nero’s hand.
“You can run, Lady Oracle, but you cannot hide,” Valen’s voice said, echoing in the trees. Was he not fighting Nero? How could an out of shape noble man keep up with her? “I have orders from Prince Kazimir to bring you back. I cannot very well disappoint the future emperor, can I?”
His taunts were wearing her down emotionally, but she focused.
“Ah!” She gasped. Her ankle twisted as she fell to the grass. She scrambled up with pain shooting up her leg. She could not fail Drakonis.
Clara used branches to climb up a rather robust tree. She may not have been a princess of the wood, but Elisora had taught her a thing or two about mischief. Thank Poseidon for that.
Her fresh dress stuck to her sweaty body. Her forehead burned, signaling her eye.
No! Go away! It was not the time for her to have a vision.
The undead looking wolves ran past her in a red blur. She covered her mouth to try and stifle her breathing. These dragons had just as good hearing as any esseri.
A light wind flew threw and, just when she thought she was safe, a slithering feeling started at her ankles, over her waist and around her neck. A serpent she was all too familiar with. A horned white one with ghostly eyes.
Phaedrus? She thought.
“You must go back my pet,” the voice said inside of her mind. She shook her head.
I will not kill Drakonis! You cannot make me! she thought back.
The snake bound her, as if it was hugging her.
“I do not wish to hurt you,” Phaedrus whispered to her. “But I told you that we must let fate take its course. It is dangerous for him to run from his destiny.”
They will torture him. They will hurt me, she answered mentally.
“He will be filled with my power and Hades’s magick. Nothing will be able to hold him. Your physical pain will be temporary, for once he is awakened, I will be free.”
I do not want your protection! Silent tears streamed down her face. She glanced down to see more creatures sniffing around, looking for her. Her legs and lungs burned. She could not get down until they were gone, even if it took until past sundown. I only want Drakonis. He will take back Ouroboros.
“You pain me with jealousy,” Phaedrus whispered. The snake that was now draped around her shoulders, raised up as if it was nuzzling her face. “I have never felt such an emotion. It is exhilarating.”
She wanted to swipe at the snake, throw it over the tree branch to be a wolf’s dinner, but it bound the arm covering her mouth and the other at her side. She could not move even if she wanted to.
Please, Clara begged.
“I have waited too long I’m afraid. While I am weak to your wills, I cannot delay any further my darling.” A dull pain began at her stomach and started to spread through her body. “Be strong for I will take you back. Fulfill what the Moirai have demanded of you, and I will ensure your protection.”
No!
But it was too late. Phaedrus, who should have been Drakonis’s ally; her ally, used his power to push her over the branch. The constricting feeling of the serpent were gone but now she was flying through air. Her hand left her mouth as she let out a scream. She clutched her eyes shut as gravity made her fall quickly. The snake watched her with those ghostly eyes. The bastard claimed to care but he would kill her this way?
Muscular arms caught her midair, landing onto the soft grass. Nero had saved her!
She looked up with a smile, but it was brief. Looking back at her was not the gargoyle she believed, but the soldier that followed Valen.
She squirmed in his arms trying to get free. She could not outrun a dragon, but she would try. She would not be caught like this. The soldier let her down but held her arms behind her, binding them.
“I’m sorry Lady Oracle. I truly am.”
“Unhand me this instant!”
Or what? She asked herself. What could she do? Only the gods knew where Nero was. Gargoyles could not help her from over the border, and there was no water for her to jump in or call upon Caius. Drakonis was in the place she could not return to.
“I must say I have better things to do than chase such a weakling around the forest.” Valen appeared from the treeline. He was winded but smiling triumphantly. His clothes were torn and his hair askew. Whatever fight happened clearly did a number on him.
“You will regret this,” Clara spat, narrowing her eyes. “You can do all you want to me, but I will not awaken the Heir.”
His chuckle was dark.
“You will do as commanded woman. I do not know how you were raised, but here in Ouroboros, you will submit as all women do.”
“You cannot kill me,” she said. “Not while you need me.”
“There are plenty of ways to make a woman bow to your will,” Valen taunted.
He approached her and clutched her chin. She jerked her head and bit his finger. His eyes closed with disgust, and he flicked his hand in the air. He used the same, heavily ringed, hand backhanding her.
“I see what the two princes see in you, Lady Oracle. However, I will not be the one to fall to do your seduction. You will do as you are told. You will awaken the Heir within Prince Kazimir.”
“I can only awaken the one Phaedrus has chosen you fool! I do not choose the Heir!” She spit out the little blood that coated her tongue. The soldier tried to move with her, and she kicked him in the shin. In his moment of reaction, she tried to run again, but Valen had grabbed her, yanking her long hair back. She refused to scream. Refused to do anything but fight.
“I was only told I could not kill you.”
Clara was not sure what happened, but she felt something in her neck then the world went black.