Page 20 of The Magic of Eternity
‘We know the truth of what Asrael has done. He tried to curse the dragons with the aid of black magic, attempting to seal our fate through the blood and tears of OUR OWN KIND!’
The music grew. The ground beneath my feet shook with the force of it.
‘For years, he poisoned the water supply of his own people. You see, he played the long game. By doing so, he was permitted leave of this realm by his brother, the king, to search for suitable options to ensure the demon race. That was Asrael’s plan all along. He was never concerned with the fertility problem since it was his own poisoning that caused it! When we refused him an alliance, he was driven mad with rage. He concocted a plan.
‘Being unable to control our minds, he found something he was able to control. Our forms.’
My brow lifted at that.‘Your forms?’
‘Certainly you did not believe you were the only one capable of walking as a man?’Emrys winked as my mouth fell open.
‘You’re all shifters,’I gasped.‘But why would he want you in your dragon forms? Wouldn’t it be easier to control you at two hundred pounds versus two tons?’
‘Two forty.’
‘What?’
‘Two hundred and forty pounds was my weight. Solid as the stone walls lining the perimeter of the castle.’He lifted his chin and puffed his chest out, making me chuckle.
‘Apologies. You’re clearly quite the specimen, Emrys.’
‘You have no idea!’a dragon shouted, and the group started ribbing Emrys for his apparently attractive human form.
This was amazing. And they’d been stuck in these forms for centuries? There was something building here, a lightness that was sweeping through the crowd, and I realized it was possibility. Merely the possibility of things changing.
‘How many of these enclosures does he have?’
‘At least five.’
Five. And there were at least one hundred dragons in here. That meant, at minimum, there were five hundred dragons who had been mistreated, held captive, separated from their families... All we needed to do was figure out how to break the hold Asrael wielded on them.
Red’s voice broke me from my trance, bringing me back to the present. “So how did you get out of the holding pen?”
I laughed. “They bullied me. That was the plan we concocted. It was clear Asrael had some intended use for me, so we tried to test that theory. If I was in danger of being harmed, he’d likely have me pulled out of there. And that’s what happened.”
She hummed and continued her soft touches. “And how did you break from Asrael’s hold then? To be able to disobey him like you did?”
“I’m not entirely sure, to be honest.” My fingers twirled in her shorter hair as I gazed up at the ceiling of the burrow. Thick, gnarled tree roots were twisted together, holding the ground above us up. “In the past few weeks, I’ve been working on separating myself from those memories I have from the lab. Some of the dragons were able to help me talk through things, and I felt like I made some real progress. I must have. I was able to fly away with you...”
She brushed the hair off my face and I closed my eyes, surprised how much I was enjoying the feeling of her doting on me. “I’m so proud of you. We might have a real chance now. To get the others, to get rid of Asrael and Laurie... I don’t think I’ll be able to rest until they’re dead.” Her green eyes burned into mine. “Does that make me evil?”
I scoffed at her words. “There isn’t an evil bone in your body, kitten. And you’re going to be a mother. Of course you want safety for your family. So, no... it doesn’t make you evil or bad. It makes you a living being who craves stability and safety. I promise I’ll do everything in my power to make sure you get it.”
Her lips met mine, soft pecks and little licks of her tongue as she coaxed me into letting her in my mouth. The feverish fucking of last night was far away now as we lazily kissed each other, as though we had all the time in the world and there was nothing wrong.
But there was plenty wrong and I couldn’t stay here with her, not without thinking of my brothers.
I broke our kiss, giving her a stern look when she tried pouting. “That shit might work on Cam, but it’s not gonna get you anywhere with me.” Her mouth fell open in shock, and I laughed like hell. “Come on, Red. We need to get moving. It’s time to go find Vaeryn.”
Thankfully, I was able to conjure some clean clothes. Sloane didn’t need any yet, since he was currently soaring through the clouds with me firmly clenched in his claw. I’d flown the first part, just to stretch my wings after not using them for so long, and while it felt great, I was panting like a dog after a minute. Pregnancy was not conducive to physical activity, especially for someone like me who usually had no interest in such things anyway.
So I happily crawled into Sloane’s massive claw and held on tight. I was so fucking proud of him. He’d grown so much since we first met, and it seemed that with his father finally being dead, he was able to fully step into the role of the man he wanted to be, instead of letting the shadow of his father loom over his head. His time with the dragons also seemed to have boosted his confidence in both himself and his place within our family.
When he’d spoken earlier about them, his face had lit up and I could tell he’d made new friends. I didn’t think Sloane had ever really had any friends outside of Fischer, Kai, and Cam. Hopefully, I’d get the chance to meet those dragons soon and thank them personally for all of their help.
We had allies. We just needed to figure out a way to free them, and then all of Asrael’s hard work would crumble. You can’t build a kingdom on a shaky foundation and not anticipate a landslide. Everything Asrael had done since the beginning had been wrong. He wasn’t capable of keeping his narcissistic tendencies hidden long enough to build lasting, trustworthy relationships with people. He’d rather rule by using fear and terror versus winning the people over with love and respect.
I truly believed that if we could free the dragons and other prisoners he had in the castle, we could create an uprising, and Asrael would never be an issue again. I’d take great pleasure from watching him being taken down by those he felt he could control and torture. The ones he felt were beneath him all this time. The only thing that would make it sweeter would be if Laurie was there at the same time.
