The Familiars [Book 1]

Chapter 7

                  

(Artemis POV)

When I woke up, I rubbed my head. I must have hit it. I tried to remember what happened yesterday and last night, but my head hurt too much. I slipped out of bed and there was a knock on my door. I walked over to the door and opened it. Eldrax was standing in the doorway. 'Good morning your majesty. Today we will decide your mate' said Eldrax with a smile. 'What should I wear?' I asked. 'Let me have a look at your closet' said Eldrax walking into the room and over to the closet. He opened it and the most beautiful dresses reflected the light in the room. Eldrax reached in and pulled out a beautiful green dress. 'Now my dear, you have to get dressed and we will all be waiting in the throne room ok?' smiled Eldrax. Something in my heart was telling me this was wrong but I paid no attention to it. I smiled and took the dress form his grip and I laid it on the bed as Eldrax closed the door behind him as he left.

(1 year later.......)

(Artemis POV)

These dreams I keep having. What do they mean? Every time I have them, there is always that man in it. But when I wake up, I wake up to a different man. His name was Caleb. And he was an Earth Dragon. His arm was wrapped around my waist and holding me to him. I had never liked Caleb. Something told me this was wrong and every time we touched, I could feel something in me slowly dying. Then I heard Caleb shift and his eyes opened. 'Good morning beautiful' said Caleb with a hint of one of his evil smiles playing on it. And when he had one of those smiles, the things he would do. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to forget the things he had done. Nothing virtuous rested in those memories. My stomach twisted into a knot. Something was telling me to get away from him, but I couldn't disobey him. That's what Eldrax had told me. I couldn't stand his proximity or his voice. I swallowed in fear and a shiver went down my spine as Caleb pulled the blankets away from my throat.

'Please Caleb' I begged and suddenly Caleb sank his fangs into my throat. I screamed in pain and my back arched in agony. He drank deeply of my life force, but he greatly enjoyed the fear and pain mixed with it. He told me that it made it taste so much sweeter. He then retracted his fangs out of my throat and pulled back and smiled. My throat throbbed in pain. I closed my eyes as Caleb smiled down on me. Whenever I closed my eyes I would imagine that man from my dreams. I would imagine his voice, soothing me and telling me it was alright.

Then there was a sudden knock on the door. 'You're Majesty! You're needed in the throne room!' yelled the messenger of the mountain. Caleb growled and I slipped away from his grip. 'We'll continue this later. But I'll make it even worse than just now...' laughed Caleb evilly. Inside I was praising the heavens for stopping Caleb. But I knew he would make it worse later. I got dressed and so did Caleb. We walked out and down into the throne room. I walked up to my throne and sat down. 'Your majesty! We have a problem! The human kingdom to the west discovered our nests in the forests and has destroyed all of the nests!' yelled a woman with tears running down her face. I stood up in anger. How could the humans do this to our kind!? 'I will go to the forest and see for myself. I will be back in a few days and no. I won't need any guards. I will be fine' I said before Eldrax could interject. I turned and walked into the other cave to the other side of the throne room and I followed it down into the portal room. Only I could use it. My blood activated it under my command.

I walked up in front of it, and thought about the destination. Then the portal glowed and changed to a green colour. I stepped through and the portal closed. I took one step before I saw the destruction the humans had created. Tears of rage and sadness flowed down my cheeks as I looked for any sign of life. All the nests were destroyed. Nests were demolished as far as the eye could see. Eggs were smashed and shattered all over the ground. And all of the baby dragon body's that lay on the ground, they were covered in blood, mud and grass. I knelt next to a nest and one baby dragon in the nest in particular, was lying torn and ragged in the nest. Its eyes stared at me with a frightened look. My hands curled into fists of rage and I smashed the ground in rage. The ground shook with a small tremor and suddenly I heard a little cry. My head shot up and I followed the sound over to an egg that had cracks all through it. The egg was a golden colour that shimmered in the sunlight. Then a little dragon head poked out of the egg.

'Mamma??' asked the baby dragon. I smiled and I gently patted the baby dragons head. It purred at my touch and tears of happiness flowed down my cheeks. One baby dragon had survived. I was going to keep him. 'Are you going to come out of your shell?' I smiled and the dragon cried out in happiness. The dragon pulled its head back into the eggshell and suddenly there was more cracks as the dragon kept pushing on the shell from the inside. I pulled off my cloak and laid it on the ground in front of the dragon's egg. Then the eggshell crack in half and the dragon baby slipped out of the eggshell onto my cloak. I picked up the cloak with the baby dragon in it and I lifted it up and held it against my chest. The dragon was covered in a layer of slime but I didn't care. Then I felt the baby dragons head against my chest. 'Mama...I'm hungry....' Said the little dragon. Then the baby dragon but down gently on my wrist. A small amount of electricity flowed through my veins and suddenly I felt a memory of mine surface. I saw the man from my dreams, but he was holding me in his arms and feeding on my life essence.

My eyes drifted closed as the baby dragon kept feeding. Since the dragon was still only just born, he didn't have teeth and claws yet. I leant my head against a tree behind me and suddenly I heard a voice. 'Artemis?' asked the voice. My eyes shot open. It was the man's voice from my dreams. I looked around and saw the man standing in front of me. 'Who are you?!' I asked trying to stand up and walk backwards. But the baby dragon was sapping my strength as he fed on my life essence. I fell to my knees and the man rushed to my side. 'Artemis....I can't stay for long. Come to the shadowlands. When you desperately need my help Artemis, call my name. I have to go. Please come to the shadowlands if you want to know who I am...' said the man as he faded and disappeared. 'The Shadowlands....' I whispered. Then the baby dragon let go and laid its head against my chest. Eldrax had warned me to not go to the shadowlands, but the man was there....he knows why I have been dreaming about him. I stood up slowly, still a bit weak but strong enough to keep standing. I clicked my fingers and the portal appeared. I thought of the shadowlands and the portal glowed and turned a black colour. I walked through and the portal closed behind me. I looked around and everywhere all around me was black.

The sky, the ground, the water. Then I saw a large black looming mountain in front of me. And I could see dragons flying around on it. I walked forward but was suddenly stopped. I could sense dragons watching me. 'I know your there! Come out!' I yelled into the air and suddenly 4 men appeared from behind trees. 'It's the queen! Take her!' yelled the leader of the group. I hugged the baby dragon I was holding closer to my chest. Something in me told me to transform into my dragon form. But I didn't. I couldn't. Then suddenly the men leapt at me and knocked me to the ground. The baby dragon flew from my arms and hit the ground and he cried out in pain. 'No!!!!!!' I screamed. I could see blood dripping from his side and I tried to push the men away but they were stronger than me because I had fed the dragon. The men grabbed my arms and dragged me to my feet. 'No!!!!! I have to help him!!!!!' I screamed in rage. 'Leave it!!!! Just to teach her a lesson!!!!' laughed the leader of the group.

"Mamma!!!!!!!' cried the baby dragon. Then suddenly I felt something unlock in me and I unleashed my magic. The men holding my arms suddenly flew back into the trees and yelled in pain. 'This will be fun!!' laughed the leader of the group as he stood up and wiped the blood from his mouth. Then I felt my body cringe in pain as a spell tried to push my magic back and lock it up again. I cried out and fell to my knees. The leader of the men laughed and transformed into a black dragon. 'Take the stupid little dragon with us' laughed the leader as he flew into the air and he grabbed me in his talons. One of the other dragons grabbed the baby dragon and the dragons holding us flew up and towards the mountain.