Starlight (The Dragonian Series Book 5) (55 page)

I nodded. “You too.”

King Caleb just nodded once and they waited for me to go back into the Creepers before they left.

Blake was next. Then it was Becky, George, Sammy and Dean.

I had to say goodbye to them as the minute Sir Robert came through the Creepers, our paths were going to change.

I grabbed George first. “Promise me you will make sure she gets through this.”

“Elena, I won’t give up without a fight. She will be fine.”

I wasn’t talking about their operation. I was talking about afterward.

I smiled and remembered the first time I’d seen George. His dragon form had scared the shit out of me. “Such a long road we’ve traveled down. You are a cool Moon-Bolt, George.”

He hugged me again. “This isn’t goodbye, Elena. Don’t you dare. Think of the consequences. I’m not going to lose my Princess and my best friend. We’ve lost way too many friends already.”

I nodded. “Same to you.”

Becky was next. “I know you are fierce, you’ve scared the living crap out of me a couple of times. You will be fine.”

“Remember our promise, Elena.”

I nodded. “Say hi to your dad, and mine.”

“I will.”

Sammy was last. She shook her head as tears sat heavy in her eyes. “I won’t choose, Elena. I refuse. So you both better get through this, you hear?” She looked at Blake too. “Don’t split up. Stay with one another.”

“Sammy,” Blake said.

“I don’t care if you are the fucking Rubicon. You are my brother, and you are like my sister, so don’t you dare die on me. None of you better die on me or I will burn your asses,” she spoke as a tear rolled over her face.

“We won’t.” Blake hugged her.

“Take care of her Dean,” Blake said.

“With my life,” he slapped Blake’s hand into a firm shake.

“Elena, you should go get my father.”

I nodded and went back into the Creepers.

Sir Robert was just like Emanual, he didn’t even flinch as I took him through. He gasped at the inside, like all of them had, and made sure that the orbs were securely in place.

“They will come down, Sir Robert.”

He smiled and we walked on. I pulled him back. “I need to speak to you about something.”

“Elena, don’t.”

“No, I do. I’m sorry for that beating.”

He shook his head and smiled. “You are a lot like your father, and mother.”

“I wasn’t finished yet. Sorry about not telling you sooner.”

He sighed. “Like I told you before Princess, a part of me always knew that your father was alive.”

I nodded and smiled. “One more thing,” I said. “Make sure Blake will be okay, if…”

“Don’t you dare, Elena. I am not going to do that. So you’d better make sure that you stay alive. Dents can’t live without their riders. It’s almost impossible for a normal dragon bond, but somehow we pull through. It’s not going to be the same for my son. So you fight because I won’t promise you that.”

He sounded angry.

I took a huge breath. “Okay.”

“Just tell my father then that I’m sorry, he will be disappointed that I disobeyed him.”

“Tell him yourself.”

He turned around and waited for me. I took his hand and we walked out the other side.

They went in the opposite direction after Blake and his father shared a hug. “Be safe,” Blake said.

“You too.”

I watched Sir Robert leave with all of my friends.

“What was that about?”

“What?” I asked.

“In there, Elena. I heard everything you said. You are not going to die, and neither am I. You get that.” He sounded pissed off.

“I know, I’m just…”

“There is no just, Elena. You are not going to die. We made that decision last night together.”

I nodded.

I went back and brought in Raymond who was going to come with us. He knew where we had to go.

When we came out, Raymond took the path that led to the farms, but quickly changed direction and went to total opposite direction.

Blake didn’t say a word. I didn’t even wield my shield. Why was I so stupid?
I should’ve wielded my shield.

I can’t die, and neither can he,
I thought as I started wondering what the missing ingredient was all over again.

WE MET UP with troops about three hours after leaving the Creepers. Blake gave me a robe from his bag and pulled one over his shoulders for himself.

He didn’t use a spell again to make us look like the ten-year-old and her father.

It wasn’t pretend time anymore, this was go time.

The group took us into an underground facility and we spoke about the plan again.

They had a bit more intel on the Saadedine. The pictures were blurry, someone had actually died taking one of them.

It was all so real now. But still, we couldn’t capture what he was really like. It was too dark.

“So he is in the dungeons?” Blake asked.

“Yeah, that’s what we’ve got, Blake.”

I started to feel tired. I should’ve gone to bed earlier last night. I should’ve slept more.

We were waiting for eleven in the morning to strike. There were still six more hours or so to go.

I didn’t want to listen to any of this anymore and went to sit on the floor in one of the corners. I leaned my head against the wall and just closed my eyes.

Sleep didn’t want to come and I felt Blake’s warm body sitting close to me.

He pulled me closer to him and rested his chin on my head as I pulled my legs over his.

“You are not going to die. We will stay together, fight together, and we will make it together. You can help with the Saadedine.”

“You bet your ass I’m going to help.” I was always going to help, and then I realized that he had been planning to ditch my ass in some safe place and let me sit this one out.

He chuckled.

“Just promise me one thing, Elena. Breathe.”

“I’ve promised plenty of people that one, Blake.”

“I’m not plenty of people, I’m Blake Leaf.”

“Fine, I promise I will breathe, Blake Leaf.”

“Already rubbing off on you, huh?”

I laughed softly. “It was bound to happen, we spend like every minute of the day together.”

“Not long enough,” he said as he rubbed my arm and kissed me on the top of my head.

I smiled. It was silent for a while and my mind went back to what ifs. “I know you don’t want to talk about it, but how would you picture us if we had grown up together?” I had to know.

“It would’ve been completely the opposite. Knowing that I had a rider out there, even if she has a scrawny ass.”

“I thought my ass was sexy.”

He chuckled. “It is to me, but others might think it’s a bit scrawny.” He smiled and then he huffed as if a memory just flashed through he’s mind. “It would’ve been different. That I know. I would’ve been claimed a long time ago. Lucian would still be alive, maybe even Brian too, as this, this would’ve never happened.”

“Did you speak to your dad, and find out if there was a Cooper and Marica warning them?”

“I asked if he was sure nobody had warned them. There wasn’t, Elena. My father would’ve killed Goran himself if there had been someone like that.”

I nodded.

“It was just a silly dream.”

“You think we would’ve been friends?” I went back to my previous topic.

“The best,” he spoke. “Turning into something much deeper later on.” I watched how his fingers entwined with mine.

He smelled so good; even on his way to kill a beast, he smelled good. “I cannot help but think what sort of a mother she would’ve been.”

“You would’ve been different, that is for sure.”

“I don’t think so. I mean, I wouldn’t be like Arianna.”

“You could’ve been best friends, Elena.”

“No, I would still be best friends with your sister, as she would’ve been at the palace too, just like you.”

“So you really have wondered about this a lot?”

I smiled. “More than you know.”

He kissed me on my temple. “We will never know, Elena. It is no use wondering about things that never were.”

“I know.”

It was silent for a while and I looked at our hands, fingers, entwined together.

“I love you Elena Watkins,” Blake said.

I looked at him and smiled. “I love you more.”

“IT’S TIME,” BLAKE told our group.

I was worried about Becky, George, Dean and Sammy. They had gone with the group that was going to attack at the parade an hour from here. She wanted to be the one who was going to free her father.

He was telling them about the plan for the thousandth time. The key was to not get separated and to stick with your partner.

“Elena,” he touched my leg softly.

“Huh?” I asked and looked at him.

“Now I know how the professors felt.”

“I know, stick close, it’s going to be fine. I can feel it, it’s going to be a good day.”

He nodded. “Just don’t stop breathing.”

I looked at him.
Stay alive, it’s all he wants
. I nodded and he gave me a kiss.

He couldn’t transform as Etan had almost no dragons left, they only had Wyverns and the two species did not mix well together.

He pulled the ragged cloak’s hood over my head.

I was worried about Sir Robert but Blake knew he was with George and Becky. He knew the plan well, had even come up with it and promised that he would stick to it no matter what. It was the only way he could free his Dragonian.

I’d never seen him this excited about anything.

We went to Boliva, apparently it was where our castle was. Boliva. Blake had told me about that last night. I struggle to say the name how he and the others pronounced it and he laughed every time I tried.

As the people of Boliva went on setting up their market, we stayed in the forest. The trees hid our bodies well as we watched from afar.

Blake could see all the way from where we stood that men guarded two huge, closed doors that we assumed led to the courtyard.

The plan was simple, the two kings were going to kill Goran and hope that his hold over the Saadedine might disappear or disorientate him, which would lead to an easier victory. It just had to work, as I couldn’t think of how else we were going to do this. The missing ingredient, we still had no clue.

Blake got up, pulling his robe’s hood over his face. We walked through the market. It was more or less the same kind of set-up as in Eikenborough, the only different was the palace at the back. I’d never seen Boliva before.

“Welcome home, Princess,” Blake whispered.

I smiled. This was my home. Or it would’ve been if Goran hadn’t betrayed my family that day.
And look what was left of it now.

“What am I called again, a Bolivan?”

He chuckled. “And then I saw her face, now I’m a Boliva,” he sang and I laughed. “Yes, you are a Bolivian, Elena. I know it’s not much now, but it used to be so big and beautiful.”

“No, Blake. You were just small.” Raymond came up from behind and slapped him hard on the back. “Everything looks big when you are small.”

“You can be glad I saw the light old man, otherwise that slap would’ve cost you your life.”

Raymond laughed and took a deep breath. “I am a Bolivian too, so we can finally say we’re home.” He looked at me and winked which made Blake grunt playfully as Raymond led us down another path, through the forest again, toward the castle. My home. It only hit me then.
I was home.
I felt like Blake had the day he saw Alkadeen, when he’d fallen to his knees and kissed the ground. But I didn’t.

Goran had stripped so much from me.

“Don’t let Goran and what he’s done get to you, Elena. Remember what I said. He is the two kings’ responsibility now. The hold will fade over the Saadedine, and together will we defeat him. I need you to keep your emotions at bay for only a little while longer.”

“The bond came back?”

He smiled and looked at me. “I wish.”

“Then how did you know that I was thinking that?”

He touched his stomach. “I felt it the day you brought me here.”

“You mean the day you tricked me and snuck in with me?”

He smiled. “That, and the look on your face.”

I nodded. “Got it.” I answered his previous request about keeping my emotions at bay.

We found two guards on the road toward the castle. My heart jolted in my throat as I had no idea if they were with us, or from Goran’s army.

“Don’t fret, Princess,” Raymond said. “It’s two of ours.”

Fred, the other ops guy that had come with us, greeted them and Blake took my hand and walked toward Fred and the two men.

Both of them bowed their heads as we neared.

Blake nodded and so did I.

They were speaking in Latin, and a couple of gadgets were passed from Raymond to the other guys.

Then they led us further down the path. My stomach turned as the structure of a big wall came into view.

Blake sighed deeply.

“You okay?” I asked.

“I haven’t seen this place in eighteen years,” he spoke softly.

I could see three towers rising high into the sky. It didn’t look anything like the pictures I’d once seen with Cheng in the Museum of Etan.

“What happened here?” Blake asked one of the guys we’d just met.

“From what we’ve gathered, this is what was left after the night the Creepers consumed Etan. A fire broke loose in the west wing.”

I knew it was where my mother had stayed as she was burned alive that night.

“It destroyed the entire west wing and part of the south wing as well.”

They handed Blake another gadget. “This is what we could gather of what’s inside now, Shioni got really close to Goran, Blake. We couldn’t have done this without her.”

I couldn’t remember her, but Blake had told me a little about her last night. She was one of the women I’d taken in on our second trip. When we’d gotten Emanual out. Raymond had said she had beautiful dark hair with gray eyes.

The way they spoke about her made me think of my mom.

She’d made Goran fall in love with her, and with the intel she’d gotten these past few months, this guy was right, we couldn’t have done it without her.

“Frank will see you inside.”

“Okay, let’s do this,” I said and we walked toward the wall that was closest to the west wing that was almost burned to the ground.

It was completely deserted and Blake whistled like a dove.

It was so beautiful and I didn’t even know what to say.

Two long ropes appeared and I sighed when I saw them. I was seriously not good at climbing ropes either. Still I did what Blake showed me, pulling the rope around me once and making the loop around my hand with part of the other rope. I kicked the tip of my boots hard against the wall and spikes came out.

“After you, Elena,” Blake said next to me and I nodded.

I pushed the spikes into the wall and started walking up slowly.

Blake wasn’t following yet, probably for safety reasons.

When I’d almost reached the top his rope pulled tight and he started running up the wall.

The guard that waited for us helped me get safely over and as my feet reached the ground of the tower, Blake had already hoisted himself over the tower’s wall and was landing on the ground.

I shook my head and rolled my eyes.

“Dragons do things quite differently.”

“Show off,” I teased and we followed the guard to the door of the tower.

“Be safe,” he said and Blake nodded.

We walked down the steps fast and reached the first door. Blake ran further down until we reached a second door. I saw a three dimensional map of the castle’s layout on his devices and saw a red dot on the level lower.

“Is that…”

“Yes, it’s him,” he said and we walked one level lower. “It’s not our mission, Elena.”

I nodded as we walked through the door.

Just then the red dot disappeared.

“Fuck,” Blake grunted.

“What?’ I had to know where the hell the red dot disappeared to.

“This can’t be good, there is some sort of enchantment inside the castle.”

“Enchantment?”

He nodded and fear crept over his face again as he looked around and back down at his device. He closed his eyes, swallowed hard and then the fear disappeared.
How does he do that?
“Still, we know where that red dot was, we should get word to the two kings. They must be inside already. Come.”

I didn’t like it that much, as we were straying from our mission, but I knew we had no choice.

He put the device back in the pocket of his silver vest and grabbed my hand. We ran down the hall on the left. It didn’t look anything like that time I’d been here with Lucian. Too many stone walls and not enough pictures. The carpet was dull and dirty and I remembered it had been so beautiful.

My steps were the only steps we could hear. Blake was silent. If he hadn’t been walking slightly in front of me, then I wouldn’t even know he was here.

He suddenly stopped and pushed me against the wall.

My heart stammered fast as a couple of guards walked past us. He was doing his blending in thing again. I could see the shimmer around us, or at least what it looked like from the inside. I so loved it at this very moment.

They chatted, making disgusting jokes about one of the poor maids that worked in the castle. It reminded me of Seymour.

None of them noticed us standing right there against the wall.

When they turned into a corridor further down, Blake moved in the opposite direction quickly, my hand still lodged in his.

My heart started to beat faster as we turned down into the opposite corridor. We were getting closer and closer to where the red dot had been. We were getting close to Goran.

Another couple of steps and Blake opened the door closest to us and we slipped through.

We were once again in some sort of tower with steps.

I couldn’t handle this at all. I’d thought was ready for it, but I wasn’t.

Steps from above made both of us look up and then we rushed down the steps to a lower level.

Blake showed me the sign, the one we’d come up with the previous night for when he had to kill someone.

I knew it was going to happen, but I didn’t want it to be right this instant.

I took a deep breath, and nodded as I retreated further down, as a backup in case the traitor escaped Blake’s clutches.

Not likely, but just in case.

I took a couple more deep breaths as if the air was disappearing and I couldn’t fill my lungs properly.

The beams of the steps creaked softly and I heard the gasp as swords were drawn, but it stopped just as quickly as it had started.

They were from our group.

“Shit,” Fred said with a couple of other swear words thrown in too for good measure. “Did you find him?” he finally said after taking a deep breath too.

“No, but we know he was around here.”

“I think we found the Saadedine, his growl came from the dungeons.”

“So it’s confirmed. It’s in the dungeon?” Blake asked.

Just then a group of men ran up the stairs and Blake, along with Fred and Raymond, pushed me out of the way, behind them into the wall.

They were again ready to attack.

Fred and Raymond blew out some air as I saw King Helmut running up with the two of the men we’d found earlier in the woods.

Emanual wasn’t with him.

“Where is Emanual?” Raymond asked and drew his sword.

King Helmut rested on his knees, stared at the sword in Raymond’s hands and up at Raymond. What was Raymond doing?

“Careful, Raymond. This castle is filled with enchantments. I discovered it the minute I walked in here. It drained me of all my abilities.”

“Very convenient wouldn’t you say?” Fred said.

What the hell was wrong with these two? Blake stared at all of this, still pushing me against the wall.

“Where is Emanual?” I asked again.

“We got ambushed as we found our team. Caleb and Emanual stayed behind. I had to do what I had to do Blake.”