The Falling Rider

Chapter 18

"Li! Gallagher!" I shout as we fly around the kingdom, dodging arrows and catapults.
"Adira!" I hear Skyrah shout from behind me. Her and Ember had been shot down and enemies were approaching her. Storm senses my panic and flies down to them at full speed. We land in front of them protectively as Ember cuts the rope with her claws. Storm shoots long water blasts at the enemies. Soon, they're all unconscious and Skyrah and Ember are up in the air again.
"Thanks Adira! I have to find Darius! Come with me?" She asks and I shake my head.
"I need to find Li and Gallagher! We got separated when I was taking care of Leo. By the way, Leo's unconscious and his dragons is guarding him, so that's one down." I say as Storm and I fly into the sky.
"Good job!" She shouts, then waves at me. I wave back and we fly towards the castle. As we fly, I start to think about getting separated from Storm. I'll need a weapon. I quickly take my sword and hilt out of the saddle bag along with my bow and arrows. I strap my sword and hilt to my waist and throw my bow and arrows on my back.
"Good thinking." Storm says.
"Thanks." I thank him as we near the castle. I see my mother getting taken from the castle by Raamah's men. She's even worse than my father, but I should help. I guess. I pat Storm's neck and he lands in front of them with his wings unfolded and raised high. I take my sword out of its hilt and point it towards them.
"Let her go." I say, glaring at them.
"Or what?" One of them asks, chuckling.
"Storm." I say and he quickly blasts hot water at the one who spoke, sending him about 15 yards away. The other men watch as their little friend lands in a tree, then quickly look back at me. They shout in anger and rush towards me, taking their swords out of their hilts while two stay behind to hold my mother. Well, if it's a fight they want, it's a fight they'll get. I quickly jump off of Storm and swing at one of the men while Storm blasts two of them into trees. I take notice that the man's reserving his right side and block his swing. I push him off of my sword and he stumbles back. I take the opportunity to slash his right leg. He falls to the ground, holding his bleeding leg. He doesn't show any signs of getting up, so I walk over him, stepping on his stomach in the process which makes him groan in pain. I walk towards the men holding my mother and they cower in fear when Storm walks forward as well.
"Let. Her. Go." I say as I tower over their shivering forms. Wimps. They immediately let her go and run away.
"Adira. I-" she starts.
"Save it." I cut her off and jump back on Storm while putting my sword in its hilt.
"Get back inside the castle and go to a safe place. The bunker should be good." I say and fly away before she can respond.
"I need to find Li." I say. Storm nods and flies at full speed. I search the ground while Storm searches the skies.
"There!" I shout and Storm looks down. Li's being held by Raamah. Hell no. Storm dives towards them and hits Raamah with his tail. Raamah stumbles and falls onto the ground behind him, letting Li go. We land in front of Li and she runs towards me.
"Adira!" She says as she jumps into my arms. I get off of Storm and put Li on him in my place.
"We'll talk later, Li. Storm, go find Midnight and stay with Li and him, no matter what." I say sternly.
"But what about you?" He asks.
"Li is what matters right now. I wanna see what this guy wants. I'll call if I need anything." I say and he hesitantly nods. He slowly unfolds his wings and looks back at me. I nod and he flies into the air.
"I see you care about your sister even more than your parents do." I hear a voice behind me. I turn around to see that Raamah has gotten up and is now walking towards me. I glare at him and he stops in his tracks.
"I see you've worked on your very own death glare. Very nice." He says, smirking. Chills run down my spine from his smirk. So creepy. He's looks to be only a few years older than me.
"What do you want with the kingdom?" I ask, crossing my arms.
"Oh, sweet, little, naive Adira. I want to control this kingdom. Make it mine. You know Adira, this kingdom was supposed to be my father's. My father was your uncle." He says and my eyes widen. My uncle?
"W-what?" I ask and he chuckles.
"My father was your uncle. That makes me your cousin, Adira." He says, his smirk turning into a smile. His smile was real.
"Then, why are you destroying this kingdom?" I ask.
"I'm avenging my father. Your father killed my father." He says sadly.
"I don't blame you, but that's why I'm taking control of this kingdom. It was his dying wish." He says.
"I'm so sorry about your father, but this is not the way to deal with it. I understand you want to fulfill his dying wish, but that doesn't mean I'll allow you to hurt everyone in this kingdom." I say sadly. He may be trying to take control of the kingdom, but I can't help but feel bad for him. Also, my dad killed his own brother?! Jeez.
"I've come so far already. I can't give this up. I'm sorry Adira. You don't remember, but when you were just a baby and I was 7 years old, I'd take care of you. You were my favorite person in the entire world aside from my father. When I was 12, your father killed my father and I was forced to take care of myself. I had no one." He says, looking down at the ground.
"Why did my father kill your father?" I ask.
"My father tried to steal his wife. I guess it was a dick move, though. You're dad overreacted. He killed my father just because of it instead of letting him off with a warning." He says angrily.
"That's not what happened, Raamah." I hear a familiar voice say. My dad.
"Your father slept with my wife. When I caught him in the act, I had no choice."

~King's flashback~

"How could you?! That's my wife!" The King shouted as he stepped closer to his brother who was running about, trying to put his clothes back on.
"Brother, I'm sorry. I couldn't help myself." He apologizes. The King turns to his wife and glares.
"And you! How could you do this to me?! What about the kids!" The King shouted, picturing Adira and Li's faces if they ever found out.
"P-Please let me explain. It was stupid, I'm sorry! I love you so much." The Queen says, crying and regretting what she's done. The King turns towards his brother who is now fully clothed and shivering in fear.
"I'm going to kill you!" The King says, taking his sword out of its hilt. His brother runs out of the room only to be followed by the King. He only makes it right outside of the castle before being tackled by the King.
"Any last words, brother?" The King asks, holding his sword to his brother's neck. His brother looks towards his son who is staring at them in fear.
"Raamah, take the kingdom." He says before getting his head cut off.

~End of flashback~

"So, you see? Your father only got what was coming to him. I'm sorry I didn't explain it to you at the time." My father says as he steps towards us.
"I wish you'd told me sooner. This kingdom wouldn't have been destroyed." Raamah says, blowing into a horn. Soon, all of the dragons and soldiers returned to Raamah's boats. Storm and Midnight then land next to me and Storm nudges me.
"I'm sorry. I just didn't know the whole story. If you'd like, I can help you rebuild everything." Raamah offers.
"No, no. That's fine. Just go back to your island. Hopefully we'll see you soon." My dad says. Raamah nods and walks towards his ships. After the boats start drifting into the water, I heard rustling in the bushes. I turn to face my mother that had just emerged from behind a tree.
"Are they gone?" My mother asks, frightened. She sounds like a coward.
"Yes, my darling. It's all over." My father comforts and they hug each other. Then, they both turn towards me.
"Adira. Thank you for saving my life." My father thanks me. My mother's eyes widen as she looks at my father.
"She saved your life as well?" My mother asks quietly and my father nods.
"Oh, uh, thank you, Adira." My mother says and I nod to both of them. Storm walks up to me and nuzzles my neck. I hug his neck and sigh. Something feels missing. Only my best friends and my boyfriend! Shit.
"Sissy!" Li shouts, running towards me. I hug her just as Skyrah and Darius land next to us.
"Have you seen Gallagher?" I ask them. My parents look shocked that I would even mention him, but they don't know anything yet so I'm not surprised.
"No. We were just looking for you and figured Gallagher would be here, too." Skyrah answers. Worry begins to build up in me and just as I'm about to get on Storm, I hear a familiar roar. Rain. As soon as Rain lands, I run towards them. Gallagher jumps off of Rain and engulfs me in a hug. He nuzzles his head into my neck and I do the same.
"I was so worried about you. I haven't seen you since Leo came." Gallagher mumbles into my neck.
"I was worried, too. I was just about to come look for you." I say and he pulls out of the hug, but keeps me in his arms. He caresses my cheek and I lean into his hand. He quickly leans in and kisses me passionately. We hear someone clear their throat and quickly separate, looking to the source of the noise.
"When did you two get together? What about Leo?" My father asks.
"Well, first of all, Leo's a traitor and we broke up a week ago and Gallagher and I became a couple soon after." I say as Gallagher's grip tightens around my waist. My father nods and smiles while my mother smiles from behind him. I hear wings flapping and look up to see Lightning. Storm and Rain bound towards us and stand on either side of us, growling. Lightning lands and Leo looks at me.
"Like I said, love sickens me." He says, smirking.
"Why don't you go join Raamah? You know, my cousin." I say and hear many gasps.
"He's your cousin?" Skyrah asks.
"Since when?" Darius asks.
"Did he hurt you?" Gallagher asks.
"Yes, he's my cousin. Since I was born. No, he didn't hurt me." I answer all of their questions and they nod.
"Whatever, he was a jerk anyways. By the way, yes I do care about you, Adira. That's only because I was friends with you for years. I don't have any other feelings for you, just to make it clear. Well, besides that hot body of yours." Leo says, smirking. An uncomfortable feeling washes over me. Gallagher gently pushes me behind his back and glares at Leo.
"What did you just say about my girlfriend?" Gallagher asks.
"I said she was hot. Can you blame me for thinking that? I mean come on, that's gotta be the only reason why you're with her." Leo argues.
"While she may be beautiful, that's not the only reason I like her. She's smart, funny, and amazing in every way." Gallagher says, looking back at me with loving eyes and smiles at me. I smile back and hear Leo gag.
"Stop. You're gonna make me barf. Ugh, whatever. I'm outta here." Leo says, patting Lightning's neck. They quickly fly in the direction Raamah went. Well, that went better than expected.

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Hey guys! So, there's only a few more chapters to this story. I'll try to post the next chapter tomorrow if I'm not busy. See ya then!