I watch in horror as Jayce transforms into his dragon form and creeps slowly toward our assailants, keeping me hidden from their withering gazes with his giant body.
"Jayce, be careful!" I call out.
"On my signal, you run and don't look back," he says. The two dragons standing opposite from
us bare their teeth and viciously snarl. I catch the smoke churning in their throats before I see the fire. As if on cue, Jayce gives me the signal.
"RUN!" With no hesitation, he attacks, and faster than I've ever seen him move, he bears down on the green dragon, sinking his teeth into its neck. With a hideous shriek, the green dragon shakes itself loose and goes on the offensive, swatting Jayce with gnarled talons across his forearm, while the blue dragon snaps its jagged teeth at him. With the two rampaging dragons keeping busy at Jayce, I take off sprinting towards the thick vegetation growing at the edge of the forest.
I haven't even made it halfway to the forest when the blue dragon lands right in front of me and roars right in my face, the force almost knocking me back. I can smell the rot emitting from its mouth and a few drops of thick saliva dribble down my arms. Scanning the ground around me for something capable of being used in a fight, I spot a jagged wooden piece that must have been snapped off of a larger tree. Eyeing the dragon warily, I cut sharply to the left, pick up the jagged branch, and hold it menacingly out in front of me just as the dragon lunges for me. I hear a satisfying howl of pain and look up to see the branch has left a bright red slash across the dragon's hand. Despite my small victory, the beast quickly collects itself and once again bears down on me. I take off running and darting between scattered rocks and loose roots littering the forest floor. Sweaty and exhausted, I shoot through the trees at top speed, only slowing down when the sounds of the fight fade from my ears. I don't know how long I have been waiting, hunched behind a wide tree when I hear something shuffling through the trees. My whole body immediately tenses and I chance a peek around the bark. Jayce is limping through the woods, one arm wrapped around his lower stomach, and the other helping him find purchase against the trees. I immediately remove myself from my hiding spot and rush over to him.
"Jayce!" I exclaim. He startles, but when he realizes it's me, he visibly relaxes. His face is screwed into a mask of pain and I realize he's covered in blood.
"You're alright?" He asks, looking me over quickly. Before I can answer, he collapses.
Night has fallen and Jayce has been in and out of conscience for hours, mumbling softly in his sleep. In that time, I've cleaned the blood, dressed his wounds, and built a fire for warmth. I'm changing his bandages from shreds of my dress when Jayce cracks an unfocused eye open, his head resting in my lap.
"Anna," he says quietly. I ignore the hurt that invades my heart when he calls me by her name, and pretend to busy myself catering to his wounds.
"It's me, Jayce. Cyrilla. You're safe," I say. He squeezes his eyes shut for a moment as if willing to focus, and when he opens them again, he looks at me with clarity. He makes himself sit up, but he winces and gasps in pain at the movement. I place a palm against his chest to gently guide him to lie back down again.
"Careful, you took quite a beating. You need rest."
"It's not safe here," he says quickly. "We need to go."
"What we need to do is wait for you to feel better," I say firmly. "I will not have you survive a battle with two feral dragons just to bleed out at the home stretch." To my amazement, Jayce doesn't argue. He looks down at himself and his trademark grin creeps onto his face.
"If you need an excuse to get me out of my clothes all you had to do was ask," he chuckles, but winces.
"Seriously?" I demand. "We just had a brush with death and you're still cracking jokes?"
"I did tell you to run," Jayce says. "If you had listened, you wouldn't be stuck here now, infantilizing me."
"And if I had run, you would have probably bled out, so be grateful that I didn't," I point out.
"My hero," Jayce sighs, nestling his head back into my lap.
"And don't you forget it," I laugh.
"So..." he says slowly, voice serious as he gazes up at me. "Be honest. What deviant acts did you perform on me while I was sleeping?" I can't help but laugh at his affinity with cracking jokes despite the pain he's clearly in. I affectionately run my fingers through his hair.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" I tease. Suddenly, his smile fades and a shadow falls across his face.
"Someone is coming," he says quickly, eyes darting around.
"The dragons?" I ask.
"No," he shakes his head "I killed the dragons. This is something else. Something lighter." And sure enough, I hear it too. Light footsteps crunch across the soft grass. As quietly as possible, I help Jayce up and wrap his good arm around my shoulders to support him. Jayce turns his head to whisper to me, his mouth against my ear, and his breath tickles my skin.
"Follow my lead and be ready to run if things take a turn," he says quietly.
"What?" I ask. "No. You are in no shape for a fight and there is no way I am leaving you behind." Jayce glares at me, eyes narrowed.
"Of all the times for you to be stubborn, this isn't one of them."
A woman sneaks into the clearing, her hunting crossbow trained on the two of us.
"Move a finger and I will impale you," she says warningly. The woman's brown hair falls into her face, dark eyes narrowed. She's dressed in leather hunting gear, and a golden necklace with an intricate symbol hangs from her neck. She points at Jayce with her weapon.
"What happened to him?"
"We were attacked by dragons," Jayce explains. "Nidhogg. We barely made it out with our lives."
"You barely made it out with your life," the woman says, looking at me. "She seems fine." Jayce removes his arm from around my shoulders and shifts unsteadily to block her sight of me.
"I am a warrior," Jayce clarifies. "She is not."
"I'd reckon you're more than that," the woman says angrily. "You're a dragon."
"Not any dragon, Trisha," another voice chimes in. "We're in the presence of royalty." A blonde man drops from the trees and drops into a mocking bow. "You are a long way from home, Your Majesty."
"Thomas," Jayce growls.
"So you do remember those whose lives you derail and bring to ruin," Thomas says. Just like Trisha, Thomas is wearing leather hunting gear, but his is blood red.
"Dramatic as always," Jayce scoffs. Thomas angrily unsheaths a sword from his side and points it at Jayce.
"I will take great pleasure in making you scream just like they did. By the time I am done with you, you will beg for a swift end." They? Who is he talking about? These two clearly have some history.
"Do you always talk so much when action is required?" Jayce taunts. Thomas moves as if to attack, but the woman from before– Trisha– places a hand on his chest to stop him.
"You haven't changed at all," Jayce smirks. "You still have no follow-through."
"Oh, that is rich coming from the Dark King himself," Thomas scoffs. "Have you told her whatyou've done? Who you are?" I turn to look at Jayce, raising a quizzical brow.
"What is he talking about?"
"Stay out of this, Cyrilla," Jayce says sharply. "He doesn't know anything."
"Anything?" Thomas yells, pushing out of Trisha's arms and taking a dangerous step closer. "I know everything. I know who you are underneath the red cloak and dagger. Darkling!"
"Stop this at once!" Jayce roars, stepping so close to Thomas their eyes are mere inches apart.
"Or what?" Thomas demands. "You will let your freak flag fly and burn us all to a crisp where we stand? I have been waiting for this moment for too long. Do you really think I haven't taken measures to prepare myself?"
"Your quarrel is with me," Jayce says firmly. "Let Cyrilla go and we will settle this." But Thomas shakes his head, taking a step back as he raises his sword.
"You and your lady friend are not going anywhere."
"You really think that you can stop me?" Jayce taunts, looking at Thoma's sword in amusement. "Even on the brink of death, I could eat you alive. And I mean that literally, of course."
"I think we have enough firepower to put down an army of dragons, not just one," Thomas shoots back.
"What a joke!" Jayce laughs. "I think it is high time I remind you how small and feeble your kind is." Jayce starts to change into his dragon form, but before he can, someone rushes up from behind and sticks a needle into the side of his neck.
"I think you are the one who needs to be reminded that beasts belong in cages," a man says, his long brown hair falling over his face. This man grapples with Jayce for a moment, but after a few moments, whatever he injected Jayce with takes over and he slumps forward weakly. Before he can fall to the ground, I grab his arm.
"What did you inject him with?" I demand, whirling on the new man.
"Something to remind him of his own mortality," the man sneers.
"And what of her?" Trisha asks, pointing her crossbow at me lazily. "What do we do with her?"
"She is not human," the third man says. "And she keeps vial company. I say we kill her."
"Seconded," Trisha nods. Jayce seings unsteadily against me until I can no longer support his weight and he drops to his knees. I hold on tightly to his shoulders from above.
"You... want her... you... go... through me," Jayce manages to get out.
"Look who still has some fight left in him," Trisha laughs. "I say we skin his little girlfriend right here so he can enjoy the show."
"I will flay the skin off of all your human bones," Jayce says furiously.
"Good luck with that, pet," the third man chuckles. "The serum we injected you with is some potent magical stuff. You will not be able to turn into a dragon for a long time to come. And we don't even plan to let you see the sunrise, so let's get on with it, shall we?"
"No, wait," Thomas says, stepping forward. "You gave me an idea, Ren. We don't kill him. We expose him to pain and humiliation so powerful he will wish we had killed him." He looks between the two humans with a wicked grin. "Folks, welcome home our new pet dragon. I don't know about you, but I've always wanted one."
"Fine," Trisha shrugs. "Works for me." She walks over to Jayce and, taking advantage of his ailing condition, slips iron shackles around his wrists. "Chin up, pet. You belong to us now." Then, Jayce laughs loudly enough to startle me. I look down at him and find him staring at our assailants with blazing wrath in his eyes and a manic grin playing on his lips.
"Firstly, I regret to inform you that your potion didn't work. And secondly– run." With a jerk of his wrists, he snaps the shackles in half and the heavy metal falls to the ground.
"Impossible," the third man– Ren– gasps, taking a fearful few steps back. "There was enough dark magic in that to kill an elephant." Jayce gets off his knees and calmly regards Ren.
"You die first." His voice sounds deep and echoing like it is coming from some celestial being and not from the Jayce I once knew.
"How is this happening?" Ren asks, looking at Thomas and Trisha wildly.
"It shouldn't!" Trisha exclaims. "Unless..."
"It's the curse lurking within him," Thomas says slowly. "It has repelled the potion. The dark magic inside him neutralized the potion's dark magic."
"But that means–" Trisha gulps. Thomas nods.
"We have just awoken the curse within him."
Jayce, turning his sights on Ren, rushes at him with impossible speed and wraps a hand around his throat, lifting him straight off the ground.
"No," Ren gasps, kicking his feet desperately. "Please!" I watch in horror as Jayce reaches out with his other hand and roughly shoves two fingers so deep into Ren's eyes that I hear the squelching sound as he drills into Ren's brain. I manage to look away just as Ren's blood splatters on Jayce like rain, leaving his body dangling lifelessly in Jayce's grip. Not paying any mind to it, Jayce roughly flings the body aside and steps toward Trisha.
"Your turn... pet," he growls. Thinking fast, I step in front of him and place both hands against his chest.
"Jayce, pelase stop," I beg. "This isn't you." But he just keeps moving forward, my grip on him hardly slowing him down at all. Letting go of his chest, I reach up to cup his face, trying to get him to meet my eyes. "Jayce, please come back to me. I know you're in there." For a fragment of a second, his eyes meet mine and I see recognition in there. But as soon as it appeared, it's gone. Jayce pushes me aside, slamming my back against a tree. Unbothered, he continues going after Trisha. Suddenly, I feel someone grab my arm and pull me into a wild run behind them.
"Come on," Thomas whisper-yells. "Run faster."
"We should have just left her," Trisha mutters, falling into place beside us.
"Wait!" I exclaim, glancing back over my shoulder. "I can't leave him. I have to go back!"
"Go back to what?" Thomas demands. "There's nothing left of the one you want to go back for."
The three of us run as far as our legs can carry us until we eventually come upon a cave and stop to catch our breath.
"Thomas," Trisha says, moving to his side. "Are you okay?" Thomas doesn't answer. Instead, he infolds her in his arms and a single tear slides down his cheek. I stand there quietly, unsure of what to do. After a few moments, they separate, and Trisha goes off on her own, leaving me alone with Thomas.
"Trisha went to collect kindling and wood for a fire," Thomas says, turning to me. "She'll be back soon. We'll camp here for the night." I hug my arms around myself, lightly shivering from the crisp night air. Thomas sits down, leaning back against the cave wall, and motions for me to do the same.
"I'm sorry about the Darkling," he says. "I know you were close."
"You're sorry?" I demand, taking a seat on the ground across from him. "Not too long ago you wanted to rip him to shreds."
"I still do," Thomas shrugs. "Now more so, but that doesn't mean I don't feel for you. I'm not heartless."
"Well, I'm sorry about your friend too," I sigh. "I have never seen Jayce this way before. It was like he was somebody else."
"He sort of was," Thomas says. "It wasn't really him that killed Ren. It was the curse."
"The curse?" I repeat.
"Have you been living under a rock?" Tomas asks, staring at me in confusion.
"It's a long story," I sigh, "but the short version is I don't remember anything past a few days ago."
"Oh," Thomas nods, surprised. "Well, damn. I have seen a lot of bad things, but that is brutal. Relearning your place in the world and how you fit into that... that cannot be an easy feat. You must have a lot of questions."
"I do," I nod. "But right now, I'd like to know about the curse."
"It has many names," Thomas begins. "Curse of the Dragon. Darkling. Nidhogg. Dragons plagued by the curse are born with it. For some, it sits dormant for years, and for some, it makes itself known at once. During the first stages, the only way to tell if a dragon is Nidhogg is by the fire they spit. The curse is originated by dark magic, so the fire of dragons infected by it is pitch-black."
"But I have seen Jayce's fire," I say. "It wasn't black."
"The Darkling is the only one I've seen whose plagued by the curse and yet can control his fire," Thomas explains. "From what I know about the curse, the more you fight it, the quicker it takes you over. And changing one's fire is damn near impossible. Doing it must cause him a lot of pain."
"But why would he go to all that trouble to change his fire?" I ask. "Especially if it hurts him?"
"Because the ones that have the curse are hunted down by other dragons and killed," Thomas replies, leaning his head back against the cave wall and closing his eyes. "Usually cursed dragons are killed as soon as they exude signs of being Nidhogg. So if, for example, your child can spit black fire, you are obligated to kill it. Some of the worst atrocities in history have occurred because of this curse. And for your boy, it is even worse. He is king. Do you really think the people would rile behind a king they knew could be taken by the curse at any moment? They would end him." I nod and stand up, crossing the cave to sit down beside Thomas.
"But how did this curse even start?" I ask him.
"Some mages believe that Nidhogg is a result of one's humanity being fractured in two," Thomas shrugs. "A part for the human side and a part for the beast side. Such a connection is fragile and so it tends to break. Having the curse basically means that connection has failed and your human mind will eventually become consumed by your beast side. It means nature wins. Two broke, entirely different things cannot exist as one," Thomas adds. "It's like Ouroboros. The snake that devours its own tail. The dragon side eventually devours the human side until there is nothing left." He looks down at me, a solemn expression on his face. "The person you knew is gone." I take a deep breath and nod.
"So there is no way to break the curse? Cure someone of it?" I ask.
"Is there a way to cure someone of old age or death?" Thomas counters my question. "Some things are inevitable. I have seen people taken by the curse before. You do not want to be around when that happens." He looks down at his hands, his expression saddened. "To watch someone you love go through it... it can break a person."
"What exactly happens when someone is claimed by the curse?" I ask slowly.
"It starts small," Thomas sighs. "They start losing their temper more and more. Then they go dark sometimes like your friend did back there. They become so tethered to violence and hatred that it twists them up inside. They can't control themselves. They covet to inflict pain and suffering. They lust for it." Thomas looks up, staring at the cave's ceiling. "They gaze upon the faces of the people they love and they feel nothing. Only animosity and acrimony. Most of them end up killing someone they love. They completely lose themselves after that." I nod, pushing Thomas on.
"The final stage is where there is no humanity left for them to hold onto anymore," Thomas explains. "The beast is all that remains and so they become trapped in dragon form forever. They can no longer turn at will. Eventually, they forget they were ever even human. They are just... feral. Gone. Trapped in an existence where they can only feel agony and hatred." I feel the hot prick of tears in my eyes and my vision grows muddy.
"You really are attached to him, aren't you?" Thomas asks, glancing down at me.
"I know you abhor him, but no one deserves to suffer a fate like that," I say quietly, wiping my eyes.
"He has done a lot of abominable and repugnant deeds, Cyrilla. And not all of them were a product of the curse lurking within him," Thomas says slowly.
"I don't know about what he has done in the past," I remind him. "I do know though that he has had a lot of terrible things happen to him. Things that would make anyone a little unpredictable and wrong in the head."
"Wrong enough in the head to commit genocide?" Thomas retorts.
"What?" I gasp quietly.
"You have no idea the things he's done to come to power. And to keep it," Thomas says lowly, meeting my eyes. "He exterminated my tribe. My family and friends met their end at his hands. So forgive me for not seeing his whole rogue act as charming. He is a bad pwerson, Cyrilla. And I made a promise to my people. Nidhogg or not, I will mount his head on my wall."