Page 138 of The Kingdom of Eternal Ice
“Wait a moment,” I stare at him in both awe and shock. “You are like a deity? You are to the dragons what the Moon Goddess is to the werewolves?”
“I’m not as powerful as a deity,” he explains. “We do have a dragon deity, Aengus. He grants us our mates. Like all shifters, we have fated ones. It’s just that the royal lineage is granted a particular blessing.”
“Which allows you to give other dragon shifters their dragon,” I conclude. “You are a dragon prince, aren’t you? Elio told us you are.”
“Actually, I’m their king,” he explains. “If it weren’t for the woman in white and the evil witch binding my mind and power, I would reign now.” He pauses. “My father was... I don’t want to say that he was a good man, but he wasn’t bad either. Unfortunately, he also wasn’t the strongest ruler,” he sighs. “Some say he was naïve, and didn’t understand the danger.”
“You mean when the witch first started to target the dragon shifters?”
“It started with a battle,” he explains. “Something riled up my fellow dragon shifters; it was as if they weren’t themselves anymore.”
“The wasteland,” I say. “This is where the battle happened.”
He nods. “From there on, things went downwards. My father tried to keep our kingdom going, but our powers diminished. Due to most of the golden dragons being dead, we couldn’t grant blessings anymore, and many shifters were without their dragon, which means they were easy prey. My father was tricked by the witch and killed, and then it was just me and Elio left. At that time, I wasn’t old enough yet to have my powers, which is why the witch wanted to get my father out of the way. She thought if she captured me, she could easily manipulate me. I sent Elio away to hide somewhere, and before she could take my body over completely, I locked my own spirit in this world. This is my very own realm of dreams. She didn’t, and doesn’t, have any power over my mind, yet. The necklace she put on me prevents me from waking up on my own, and keeps me locked in here, waiting until I’m too weak to keep up my guard. My power is diminishing, and sooner than later she will be able to tear my guard down.”
“And then?” I ask nervously.
“Then, she will make me her pawn and use me to create more shifters that follow her every word. Dragons are powerful, and it could mean the end of many shifters and the world as we know it.”
“How was she able to do that?” I ask.
“The woman in white, she’s existed ever since sorrow existed. The witch who woke her up and preyed upon her grief made her a pawn. She is very old.”
“She made him a pawn? This means Artio wasn’t the only creature being awoken and used against
their will?”
“Artio woke up too?” he asks. When I nod, he frowns. “Then the witch is running out of time. She is searching for something. Because she might be able to manipulate Artio, to make him aggressive, but she can’t use a deity, even a lesser one, the same way she uses the woman in white. A deity is still a sacred being, and deep inside, Artio might already battle the spell. Whereas the woman in white is just the manifestation of sorrow, of pain.”
“Then she isn’t Cailleach?”
“She is, and she is not,” Favian explains. “The witch merged them together. Cailleach herself isn’t evil, she is a divine being. She is said to have created these lands. The thing is, she has always been part of this world, whereas a deity like Artio has lived in his own realm. Artio isn’t roaming around here regularly. This made it easier for the witch to attack Cailleach, bind her, and then merge her with that sorrowful creature we know as the woman in white. It gave the latter more power to seek her revenge.”
“Why does she hate me so much? The woman in white, I mean.”
“I don’t think she hates you. I think she wants to get rid of you, because you are the key to waking me up. It almost happened already when you sought me out actively before.”
“Wouldn’t that put you in danger, though? Being woken up now?”
“No, because if you wake me up, it means you might be able to get past her spells. I’m not a normal dragon shifter, which is why she resorted to mind games to break me. Once I’m free of my chains with my mind still firmly in place, I will have most of my power. I’ve been spending years here and am old enough now to shift. You would need to remove the necklace, though.”
“I almost woke you up?” I ponder. “That must have been when I was meditating,” slowly realizing that it indeed means I can help Favian. I can help him return to the living; to save him and his people. “But, what about Favia?” I ask. “Elio, your little brother, told me that he doesn’t know a Favia. You don’t have a sister, but I saw her.”
“Oh, that,” a smile curls Favian’s lips. “As the reigning dragon prince…” he pauses, “I am two sides of a coin.”
Here it is again! The two sides of a coin from the prophecy. “What does that mean?”
He smiles, and while he is still smiling, his body changes into…
“Favia!” I blurt out.
“Oh hello, little butterfly,” she smirks teasingly at me. “I’m the other side of the coin. You could say, in a way, I am the personification of Favian’s dragon. His third form.”
“But, I thought dragons don’t have their own entity?”
“Normal dragons don’t,” she sniggers. “But, I’m a divine spirit, blessed by Aengus himself. When a golden dragon is born, one of us will be gifted to them as guidance.” She looks at me insistently. “You need to wake us up, young Princess.”
“But how? I’m caught here too.”
