Dragon Frost (37 page)

I force
myself to stand and my body collapses on the hard ground. I gasp in
pain and my lungs begin to burn. Why can’t I move? Why can’t I
stand? Why does it hurt? I hear strongly frantic footsteps and my
door swings open and there stands both Dante and Altair. The two
rush over to me and help me into bed. “I told you to stay put!”
Altair growls.

I don’t
take notice of his words. “Why does it hurt?” I ask.

There’s
silence. I repeat.

“
Why does
it hurt?” I don’t know how much time has gone by with a tension
filled silence but I know whatever their answer is it isn’t good.
Instead, I ask the worst—something which I don’t want to
know—though it’s something I desperately need to know. “What
happened to me?” Altair stands and closes the door, Dante places
his arms around me and begins to whisper in my ears what the medics
determined happen but Nerelda fully examined my body and the worst
has happened, I was beaten, stabbed and injected with fortix and
left to die. “Who did this?” The virulence in my voice couldn’t be
missed. I knew it.

“
Vedric,”
whispers Dante and I vowed than when I found him, I’ll torcher him
slowly before he died or maybe I would keep him alive long enough
to have him eaten internally. “We can send you home . . . you can
have help.” Dante offers. Home, what is home? Then I’m a warrior, I
know the consequences of lifting a sword and walking head on into a
battle. I know the cost of not just the value of my life but my
pride and respect all of which I lost a long time ago.

“
No.”

There’s
silence.

“
Are you
sure?” he asks.

“
Positive. I still have a duty to do and if you think some
bastard is going to stop me think again. I’ve been in worse shape
and he hasn’t taken anything that someone else has already taken
before. I’ll be fine.” I hold his gaze and his face is tense. “I
don’t always need you to protect me . . . the fact that this is a
war means there will be consequences, means that there will be loss
and bloodshed. I’m not some princess for you to
protect.”

“
But you
are a princess! You’re 
our
 princess! The future of
our
people.” A title I left behind the moment my sister died
and yet I can’t seem to believe she’s dead. She was the rightful
heir not me—no matter what they say. “You should go home to the
queen; you should go home to your grandmother.” I shake my
head.

“
I know
I’m a liability now but I won’t be in a while. If what Altair said
was true my body is changing. There is nothing that a person can
take from me when I already had nothing. You can knock me down but
I’ll get back up. You can strip me of everything I have but I’ll
regain it and you can humiliate me but I’ll be humble enough to
accept that fact and walk around with my head held high. There is
nothing that this monster has done to me that I haven’t already
mentally, emotionally and physically prepared myself
for.”

He nods.

“
Okay . .
.” He goes to stand and I grasp his wrist.

“
Can you
stay?” I ask. “Please . . . I want to have . . . for once I want a
dream without a nightmare.” He nods and turns to Altair who I
painfully notice looks at me in agony and pulls open the
door.

“
I’ll be
outside.” he says before disappearing.

“
You
shouldn’t do that you know.” I regard Dante with
confusion.

“
Do
What?”

“
Push him
away like that,” says Dante as I place my head on his chest after
we manage to comfortably lie on the bed properly.

“
Why
should I not? He’ll have me eventually.” Dante doesn’t say
anything. “Why does it matter?”

“
It’s
because he truly cares.” He says after some time. I refuse to
believe that womaniser cares. Still images of his face flashes
across my mind, slowly I return to a deep sleep. When I come to, I
find Dante above me with worry across his face. I’m sweaty and a
little disorientated. “Kal! Kal! It’s just a dream . . . it’s okay.
I’m here.” I glance down and realise that my claws are digging into
his scales. It’s an interesting fact, our scales are so strong and
so indestructible that they can’t be scratched by a speeding
projectile at top speed. Instead, they can be ruined or torn apart
by another dragon’s claws—the secondary strongest bone in the
world.

“
I’m
sorry . . . I’m sorry . . .” I mutter and he shushes me until I
return back to sleep. I couldn’t even remember what the dream was
about but when I finally woke, it’s midnight and Dante still
remains by my side. My body feels numb and I couldn’t figure out
what had happened in the dream but fear floods through me and I
brush it off—hoping it’s just that, a dream.

“
If they
want more . . . they can come and get it. I won’t die so easily.” I
mutter and slip out of bed, using the bedside table to rest my
weight. The fortix must still be in my system to make me so weak. A
substance that can burn through our scales long ago, apparently it
was created by the angels to aid the mortals survival should we
decide to conquer their worlds.

I force
open the door and there, Altair on the ground with his back against
the wall and his elbow on his leg, his sword is unsheathed and
clasped in his free hand. I move over to him and rest my hand on
his shoulder, his blade slides against my cheek drawing blood, his
eyes are savage at first before they begin to register after I
smile at him. “Kal?” He questions and his eyes land on the cut on
my cheek. “I’m sorry . . . I never wanted to . . . I’m—” I cut him
short, my finger is firmly placed against his lips.

“
It’s
okay.” I whisper. I repeat it a few times as his head rests on my
chest and clings to me. I had no idea how painful it is for someone
to feel so powerless until now even though I’ve been beaten pretty
bad it must be heart breaking to see me like this. Never in my life
have I seen him cry the way he does now and I don’t try to fight
it, if I can’t cry than he can cry for me. He can cry for the both
of us . . . but we both knew the risk of war. We both knew the toll
it would take.

The only
power anyone has over me is the people I truly love more than
anything; my grandmother, my sister, my father and Dante. I don’t
know what time it is or what day it is but at the same time I don’t
care. “Altair . . .” I whisper in his ear and slip one hand through
his long silver hair, allowing the tresses to slip through my
fingers. He doesn’t say anything but I know he’s listening. “Please
don’t blame yourself, I chose to go to the Vault, in a way I chose
what has happened. So please . . . don’t blame yourself.” I whisper
and I feel him nod.

“
But Kal
. . .”

“
No.
Right now I need you to be strong . . . okay?” I ask and I feel him
nod once more. “You can’t give up on me.” I say as I wrap my
fingers around his jaw and force him to look me straight in the
eyes, I can’t afford to lose any chance to save these people—if
Varden is the key to all of this—he’s of more value to us than we
had ever previously anticipated.

“
Okay.”

“
No you
won’t.” I demand. I need him to never surrender. “If something
terrible happens to me, you have to promise me . . .”—I regard him
once more, scanning his face before continuing—“that you’ll protect
Varden, he’s the key to saving the people of this world, his
people. Once he’s on our side, the other royal families will have
to align themselves with us. In time the Grattican will lose their
power but to be able to ensure that . . . if I can’t continue on my
duty, you have to protect him for me. Okay?”

He looks
me dead in the eyes, his eyes both glaze with pain and admiration.
“Okay. I promise.”

Later
that night, I stare at the ceiling of my room, concluding I won’t
return back to sleep, I pull off the covers and swing my legs over
the edge. I feel the cool air on my naked form and my scales begin
to wrap around my body from my toes to my neck. I leave the room.
There are things to be done I need to ensure Varden is safe and I
need to hunt down Vedric—that pathetic coward.

I move
down the halls and make my way to the common room, its pitch black
and deathly silent. I glance back at the window that reveals my
reflection against the obscure glass, my white gown, scales and
silver hair look rather ominous. My blue eyes are sharp like icy
daggers and above all emotionless—they are devoid of any
expression. I glance towards the door. “Why they show up now of all
times?” I mutter and exit the compartment.

The air
is silent . . . too silent. I scan the dark distant horizon, the
moon shimmers above the hilltops gracefully. I pull my gaze back to
the courtyard below. Standing on the balcony adjacent to the common
room does help my mind relax a bit. Still I can’t wait until I get
my hands on Vedric. Slowly will I make him suffer . . . there is
nothing that any man or woman can take from me that no other hasn’t
already taken.

If the
wind around me is still as death and the air as cold as ice; then I
know my fate has been sealed for I am nothing more than a woman
cornered by many. How things in this world seem to give me more
pain is unanswerable? There are lives that have been taken and
things to do but I have no choice in the matter that which I must
choose—to live or to die—is my fate and my choice.

Can
anyone tell me the truth of my negligence? I guess not. There’s
nothing more unbecoming in this world than me but I stand tall as
I’m surrounded. They pull themselves out of the shadows. Their eyes
dance in the darkness like sinister knives of death. I have no fear
no erratic heartbeat to tell me if I’m scared or in shock. Then
again . . . I’ve never been the one to be shocked and as such my
stubbornness has been my down fall.

“
I was
informed you were close to death . . .” comes that voice. I don’t
answer, the silence is my answer, it is the unspoken truth but I
have no reason to be ashamed. I have no reason to feel less than
what I am so for that instance I glower at the figures before me.
“No matter . . . you’ll die by my hand!” she declares and unleashes
her force of demons, upon me. 
Golgotha!

They
launch—flying towards me with undeniable speed. The first one
extends his claws and I bring up my forearm in an effort to deflect
the attack only to see my white fleecy gown slashed with my white
scales . . . my wound . . . drawing blood. “Not so tough . . . now
. . . are you?” taunts Galavin where he stands on her right behind
her.

I evade
the next attack and land ten meters behind me, closer to the doors
of the long winding bleak dull walls of the Sector. The ground
cracks under the impact, and I’m forced back against the wall—claws
are sharp and nick my chin—the warm fluid of my blood slides down
over my cleavage and breast. I attempt to draw my own dragon claws
but fail.

“
What’s 
wrong
 Princess? 
Can’t
 fight back?” it teases. I feel my arms, legs, chest,
waist and shins becoming heavy. 
My armour is now active.
 I head butt-him hard and
a 
cling
 sounds above me, I have no time to react and my
curled fist connected with his jaw. I pull out my wire and wrap it
around it its neck, where it whips around its thick neck twice. I
yank on the wire and bring my boot down on the taut line. The
monster falls forward and I pull out my crossbow and
fire.

It is not
that which I do not understand but by the impact that is ranging
towards me I don’t necessarily have time to question one reason for
another—they’re attacking me . . . that’s just it. That or Golgotha
knows the truth, knows that I didn’t hand over the Prince. As if on
cue, her voice breaks through the agonising cries of demons—their
blood bathes at my feet. My scales, remain white but with my armour
and weapons, parts of it streaks and splattered in my blood or the
demons, I’m unsure at the moment. “This is a new look for you . .
.” mutters Golgotha before she inclines her head to the side,
examining every inch of me. “Find him!” she orders another batch of
demons.

Where
they keep coming from is unknown but what I know more than anything
is that this woman won’t hesitate to pull down brick from brick
that keep up the roves to find him. “No!” I cry and attempt to stop
the demons only to be cut off, they charge towards me and I battle
fiercely in order to move past them. In all this time and fighting
my energy seems to have faded and I’ve become winded, sweat beads
pour down my features and I pant heavily. “Oh . . . what’s wrong
Kal? The big bad demons are too much for you?” she teases in a
mocking baby voice, the ones as if she was pretending to talk to a
child. I swing my blade towards her only to have her form become
gaseous at my impact. “How can you kill me . . . when you can’t
even touch me?” Her laughter echoes throughout the corridor and I
step to the side avoiding the oncoming demon, its teeth are bare
and claws scrap the air where I once stood.

At this rate I
’ll never reach Varden!
 I think furiously.

Claws
grind along the walls as I sprint down the corridors, several
demons pull their way from the shadows and I kick several down out
of my way while I slip my wire around the throats and limbs of
others that avoid my path, I hear Golgotha cry after me. “Stop her!
You pathetic beasts!” I hear a slashing sound and turn over my
shoulder to see a red whip has extended from her finger tips and
she slaps it towards the demons like a sled-dogs, they squat and
growl under the strikes and chase after me. I turn over my shoulder
and force my way through the line of demons, the task is difficult
and I’m exhausted, my body aches and blood smears my scales from
the re-opening wounds Varden had said they needed to stitch
together because I wasn’t regenerating enough energy to heal
myself. According to Dante, it suddenly had stopped and when he
said that I knew that he concluded the worst, “you may have energy
clots” the thought of it didn’t bother me.