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17. The Ritual
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The Flaming Heart 18. The Lost Stone
It was midnight inside the walls of the palace, even though the sun still hadn’t set. The prince’s castle was dead silent; even the drop of a small needle would echo off of the cold stones. All of the silver servants and golden knights were dismissed. Under the feeble and lonely candlelight, Thorn had been beside Leila’s bed all day and night. He was incapable of sleeping or eating. He put her fingers to his lips, feeling the last traces of her warmth. Leila’s stone was missing from her neck. Thorn had noticed its absence before Healer June arrived after the ritual. It was taken by someone during the chaos. Anyone who made contact with her had an opportunity to take the stone, and among all of them, the most suspicious was Nyree. Remorse and regret coiled up within Thorn like a poisonous snake. A fierce emotion, one beyond mere fury, was filling his chest. A price had to be paid. Vengeance was looming. The ritual had failed. The draconic divinity was provoked. Thorn observed her le
The Flaming Heart 19. The Deep Water
Three jet black stallions were quickly galloping through the open field. On horseback, two dark knights, Hugo and James, were dressed in full suits of armor, carrying light shields and heavy swords. Both were tall and vigorously riding, their strong thighs clamped tightly to the horses’ sides. They bent forward in order for the horses to run faster. The dragon prince was riding ahead. The chamberlain was nowhere to be found at the location Nyree had provided. He once believed that silver dragon descendants were a noble class who conducted themselves with common decency. However, after the wanted posters of the previous chamberlain were distributed across the kingdom, anonymous informants emerged from everywhere. But one thousand gold coins were not easily earned. Often times, they found that the information was false or inaccurate. It was outlandish that the prince had such difficulty locating a silver servant. This time, he hoped that he could snatch up the cunning man, alive, with
The Flaming Heart 20. The Pearl
Two boys emerged from the darkness. They looked exactly the same; each wore a blue cloak with spiky coral shoulder pads. Long earrings of algae hung from their ears. They shared a nonchalant facial expression and a fish-like bone structure, just like the other sirens. Their short, vibrant blue hair danced in the cold wind gently blowing from the deep darkness behind them. “Follow us. The master is waiting for you,” the boys said in unison to Thorn. Thorn was heavily intrigued. Who would make such a great effort to see him? He wanted to find out. Thorn followed the boys. They paced through the darkness in silence. The further they walked in, the colder it felt. Thorn could sense that his fiery energy was immensely repressed. The corridor was unexpectedly wide and grand. It seemed to be carved through a mountain of obsidian. With every step forward, the walls became a shade brighter. When they finally arrived at an open hall, the surroundings was bright as day. “Master, they are her
The Flaming Heart 21. The Crows
It had been a whole day since Thorn put the pearl in Leila’s mouth. The sphere was slowly melting and growing smaller due to her body heat. But there was still no sign of her waking any time soon. “You should rest, my prince.” Healer June stood up from bed. She lit a new candlestick and disposed of the old, melted wax. “You’ve barely slept since she…” “I’m fine,” Thorn cut in. He hadn’t shaved for days. His eyes, however, were distinctly sparkling with hope. He stretched his long legs and leaned in toward Leila, gently stroking her hair. “The pearl is smaller now.” June observed the red dust in Leila’s hand. “Be patient. It’ll work its wonders after it completely integrates with her blood. Look.” She showed Thorn the red dust; its movement seemed much less volatile and its hue wasn’t so aggressively red. “The serpent blood dust has been affected by the pearl already.” Thorn nodded with great relief. Ula didn’t lie to him—the pearl was actually working. But he wondered about the oth
The Flaming Heart 22. The Stronghold
All of the royals followed Thorn and flew up north, all except for the dragon queen, Amaya. “I have heartburn again,” she said to the others, “I won’t fly that far today.” “Did you call upon the royal healers?” Eros asked, in a tone like his queen was an acquaintance, rather than his wife. “No need. It’ll go away. It always does.” Amaya said as she winced, putting a hand over her heart. Thorn gave the queen a doubtful look, stroked a crow, and let it fly away. She then added, “The palace needs a formidable dragon to watch over it anyway. As long as people know I’m here, the palace will be safe.” With a reserved acquiescence, Thorn replied to the queen, “We will be back soon.” After they flew away, Amaya went back into her room and looked down on the servants driving away the crows. She hated the black, cawing birds for their righteous attitude and fairness when delivering messages for the royals so punctually over centuries. Not once had she managed to successfully bribe even on
The Flaming Heart 23. The Side Effect
Simply killing June was much quicker than fighting or arguing with her. As soon as Amaya took the stone, who would suspect her of killing a random healer?She walked towards Leila. The stone was laying right on her neck, shimmering darkly. It had the same sheen as the stone Tora owned before.Amaya reached over to grab the stone off of Leila. A fierce pain precisely stung her fingertips; it was a freezing pain, colder than ice, and the chill soon spread across her whole hand. She pulled her hand back at once, as if she had waited one more second, it would have fallen off.Astounded, Amaya quickly ran over to the cluster of candles placed beside the terrace and put her hand over the flame. The sharp, icy pain was mitigated by the fire, but it wasn’t enough to heal it fully.Right then, she spotted Thorn’s little sidekick running towards the bedchamber through the garden.Hugo had received a crow without a note this morning. He knew Thorn urgently wanted his attention at the palace. The
The Flaming Heart 24. The Calling
Both Leila and Thorn had a long good rest. This morning, Leila had moistened the sheets on the bed. Even in her dreams, Leila still could feel her arousal towards Thorn. Her fingers dug into his skin, while his hand wrapped around her throat. A fierce convulsions almost hit her.Then, a raspy sound interrupted her steamy dream. It echoed behind her ears, as if something, or someone, was calling out to her from a place far, far away.Sl..a..th..ar..The sound was eerily demonic, wafting towards her from a mist of black smoke. Behind the thick, cloudy haze, she felt a pair of eyes were staring at her, but she was incapable of seeing it. She walked into the mist, trying not to inhale the intoxicating air. After only a few moments, she was lost. Everywhere her eyes darted, it was the same black mist, thick as wall, quiet as a ghost.Sl..a..th..ar..It whispered again, from behind her. She turned around hesitantly. The mist gradually waned. Among the sharp peaks of black mountains, someth
The Flaming Heart 25. The Frozen Watermellon Balls
A cluster of white daisies were clutched in the dragon prince’s hand. Thorn walked through the grand hall of the gallery. Recently, the adjacent volcano had made the subterranean floor extra hot.There was a time, long ago, when he resisted coming here. He especially avoided the top floor, as the air lingering there stirred up a deep fear in his heart.But as time passed, the fear had gradually become mourning. which he found easier to handle. He started to come once a month, just to get a bit of alone time. Thorn pushed on the obsidian button on the gallery wall and got into the tomb. His footsteps echoed around the dried stones of the earthen walls, as though the spirit in the vault could hear a living being approaching.He glanced over the vault. Everything was exactly the same as before. Dust floated through the air under the blueish, slanted beams. He put the delicate flowers before the statue of his mother, Tora, the previous dragon queen. She died when Thorn was young. He sat
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