Page 50 of Burning Heir

I bolted toward the water concealed behind the trees, but three more creatures picked up on my presence, drawn by the sound of my hurried breath as I hacked through the dense undergrowth. A vine lunged at my leg, its barbs digging into my ankle.

Reacting swiftly, I sliced through the sinewy appendage, causing a corrosive yellowish slime to ooze out. It burned through my thick socks as I kicked away the coiled-like tentacles. Two more assailants closed in, their forms almost wrapping around my throat and threatening to drag me deeper before I managed to regain my footing.

Flesh met rotted wood. The death dweller spread its bat-like wings, crawling on all fours, snapping its jaw at my face. I fell to my knees, my fingers dipping into the cool bath below as the rotted bridge groaned under my weight.

I was doing this for Klaus, to silence the voice in my mind. My only choice was to slide into the murky lake. Their hot breath lingered. Dried blood clung to their wiry fur as their snapping jaws approached me.

“Swim. Now”

I slammed into the lake spine-first.

Brown sludge lined the surface as I dove down, tucking the daggers into the hem of my waistband.

Yesterday, I begged for the sun to graze my cheeks and for fresh oxygen to fill my lungs, and today, I was sinking deeper, swimming further into the depth of shadows.

My left ear popped as I searched the still, algae-laced waters. My arms beat faster as my lungs began to groan. I’d gone mad. No other word could explain why I furiously skimmed my fingers along the rocky bottom.

My elbow slid against a clump of weeds. I couldn’t see beyond the plains of shadows, beyond the debris that floated, suffocating any sunlight. My foot slid across something leathery. I swam back, feeling along the grooves and curves of what felt like enlarged ribs.

It was a creature. I slid across the torso of what I thought was a dragon and was met with a gutted skull where a rider’s eyes should have been. Wispy algae clung around the bones. That ring,still golden and shining, looped around the right index finger of the slate-grey skeleton—identical to the Serpent ring my father had gifted Klaus before he left for the academy.

There he was. Only bone and gold were left, his clothes mere particles floating around me as the months turned into years. Perhaps this was how it should have gone, with me resting with him as our lungs gave out in the same depth of water.

His dragon was beautiful. Pearlescent scales dressed the creature’s frame with a midnight ink underbelly, fading into the murky waters. I grazed my hand against its spine, feeling… warmth… which was odd.

Even light itself held no wrath over the glory of what this beast was. I could almost hear Klaus’s laughter as he rode in the sky.

“Come back to me.” I mouthed—not daring to touch his fragile bones, afraid to disrupt whatever quiet world he’d entered. That was my last bout of air before I clawed my way back to the surface.

Klaus was only gold and bone.

My fingers were the first to slice through into the air. My lungs were next as a dozen fanged, winged creatures snapped at the water’s edge. I found what I needed to see: that even the bravest could wear glass concealed as a diamond.

That voice in my mind was as silent as the moon on a sunny day. It did not laugh nor mock my feeble attempt at hope. It wanted this to happen. Lured me here for some reason—

“I did what you asked!” I screamed, feeling the rip of claws slash the water around me. I stared directly into their beady eyes as I waved a dagger violently, my chin dripping with sludgy lake water. “Stay back!” I hissed over and over.

I threw Damien’s dagger, striking the beast’s shoulder with a growl. The others hissed, stepping back on their hind legs as drool dripped from their snarled teeth. “Get back!” I yelled again, my voice hoarse, still struggling to breathe.

I gripped Malachi’s dagger, feeling the wind within my throw as it struck another beast. Only one dagger remained, yet four creatures lurked within the bushes. Their yellow eyes stalked me, pissed I killed one of them—

A silver-tipped arrow shot through the trees, striking a beast down. The bushes shuffled, and Archer’s wild eyes met mine. He looked like he might shoot an arrow right at me from how he aimed his bow along the woods.

A beast lunged for him as he dragged his arm back, shooting it in the chest. “Get the fuck out of the water,” he seethed. “Now.”

Rage and something else filled his blue eyes.

The water beneath me bubbled as Archer grabbed my wrist, dragging me over the lip of the lake. Rolling onto my back, he shot another creature from behind.

“You wouldn’t understand why I came here,” I said, taking another breath.

“I know damn well why you went here. Do I need to sleep in your hallway to ensure your safety?”

Care. Genuine care beamed within those eyes as he pulled me to my feet with the bow tucked under his armpit. “What are you talking about? How—how did you find me?”

He threw a dagger over my shoulder. “It doesn’t matter.”

“Why haven’t you sent me to Malvoria yet? And why was I worth more than seven lives?” We were both running, but my drenched slacks weighed me down.

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