I hug my knees tighter to my chest, hissing in pain. It hurts to breathe, and it hurts to move.
My head aches, and bright light is irritating. I pass out every few hours, only to wake up a few minutes later.
I haven’t seen anyone since a dragon brought me a clean pair of clothes, just after they dragged me in here.
My uncle is even more powerful than I remember, even Mitalonys is still in pain. And when he is injured to the point of feeling pain, neither of us can heal.
I close my eyes, focusing on the moment I had with Daerius when he marked me. It seems like it was years ago. I miss him so much, I tell my dragon.
Since he marked you, you are going to miss him a lot more. In a few weeks it’s going to be painful to even think of him, Mitalonys says.
I internally groan, my f
My head snaps up at the faint rumbling noise. I search the horizon in the direction it came from and my face falls.A bright red flame shoots through the sky, on the other side of the Zhyden mountains. Then suddenly a searing white pain shoots through my skull and I collapse onto the forest floor.My Beta rushes over, shaking my shoulder but I can’t hear a word he is saying. I can only focus on a single coherent thought as everything goes black.Lyza.***I open my eyes to someone calling my name. Angel’s face hovers over me, full of concern. The agony is gone now, replaced by a strange numbness.“Daerius are you alright?” My sister asks softly.I sit up, looking around my room in confusion. “What happened? All I remember is a red flare . . .” I trail off, confused and
I can’t feel anything. My entire body is numb. My memories are distorted too, all I remember is my father telling me that we have to leave soon, and then the fire.Something presses around my neck and I realize I am being dragged to the ground by a chain. A red dragon is leading me away from the black clouds of ash.I try to fly towards my uncle, but nothing moves. It’s like my body is paralyzed.After several minutes we reach the ground. I collapse onto the black dirt, my eyes darting around in panic. A dozen unfamiliar faces surround me. One of them sticks a needle into the underside of my neck and I feel a cold liquid run through my veins. My eyelids start to fall, and I pass out moments later.***The ashes are so deep, they completely cover my feet. Black and white flecks drift in the wind down from the volcanoes.
I wake up to a loud knocking at my bedroom door. I sit up with a groan.“Come in,” I say. I look up and see one of my guards.“Alpha, the messenger from the Mountains is back,” he informs me. The urgency in his voice makes me hurriedly follow him through the house.He leads me to my office where he stands guard outside the door. I walk in to see my Beta beside a ragged-looking wolf.His hair is sticking up in multiple directions, there are dark circles under his eyes, and he is covered in dirt. His shoulders are slumped, and he looks exhausted.“I apologize Alpha for my condition, I could not stop and what I have to tell you is too important to wait until morning,” he says, his voice hoarse.“Get him some water,” my Beta tells the guard outside.
I let out a growl as the wolf continues to yell at me. I leap off of the back of the warrior’s dragon. My dress flies around me as I fall through the air.I land in a silent crouch, just inside the edge of the burning forest. With a wave of my hand the flames subside long enough for me to walk through the trees and into the clearing of wolves.My Fire Snake hisses and spits beside me, swaying side to side. The wolves look at me with eyes full of fear, all except for one; the Werewolf King.“Lyza!” he yells again, and I growl angrily.“How do you know my name?” I snarl. He takes a step forward and my finger twitches. The snake hisses loudly and slithers closer. He leaps backwards in shock.“You’re my mate Lyza! You saved my life; you saved my sister’s life!” he yells. I growl.
“I want all of them dead! Kill them all!” The man snarled viciously. The people near him flinched at the rage in his voice.“Yes, your highness,” a young man said with a bow before scurrying away, his voice quivering with fear.All of the people in the room cowered at the man’s anger. He was their king, the werewolf king, and he held extreme power over them all.He would become honored and his command would be remembered for centuries, as it led to the end of fire dragons, or so everyone thought.***Fifteen Years Later The king was staring out the window in his office, thinking about his new wife, who was currently pregnant with their second child. She was sick though, and the doctors fe
My lungs burn as they try to take in oxygen while I sprint as fast as I can across the rocky slope of the mountain. My body aches with fatigue and I feel faint, but I keep pushing myself as the voices behind me grow louder. I stumble a bit over the rocks but immediately get up and continue clambering over the boulders. My boot is suddenly tangled in a twisted shrub and I yelp as I fall forward. I catch myself before my head is smashed open but the skin on my arms is scraped and bloodied. I rip the gnarled branch off my foot and stand up.My eyes lock onto a large group of men with bows and swords and I start running once again. I hear them shout and scream profanities, but I ignore them and keep running as fast as my legs will carry me.The rocks give way to grass and I growl in frustration and pause when I see the edge of the forest. The men are still following me, so I take a deep breath before forcing my body int
“We captured the trespasser, it turns out she is female,” my gamma informs me.“Is she human?” I ask. Not many people would be brave enough to enter my territory unless they didn’t realize who it belonged to.“Not likely, she was running from a large group of men that stopped chasing her once she entered the forest. We tried to track them, but we lost their trail after they entered the Zhyden Mountains,” he tells me.“Is that all you know?”“No sir, beta Cadyn helped to capture her and is in the prison currently, he will have much more information,” my gamma says.“Thank you gamma Mykael, you may return to your post,” I dismiss him with a wave of my hand. He bows before leaving my office.Who would be crazy enough to trespass on my terri
Everything is dark, I can’t see or hear anything. I feel a small pinch near my neck and suddenly all I see is red.I feel as though I am having a panic attack, my body jerks around uncontrollably and my eyes flit across the room, seeing everything all too quickly to form a clear image.Two golden spots come into view and everything instantly freezes. I stare into the golden eyes and can’t look away. I see something flash in his eyes, it looks like panic, but quickly turns into cold fury.What is going on?I do not know Lyza, perhaps his wolf is saying something that angers him,my dragon suggests.Werewolves can talk to their wolves?I ask.Of course, all creatures can speak with their inner form,he answers, and I suddenly feel very stupid.