“Well, I’ll see you again when all this is over, Rider.”
Minki surprised herself by throwing her arms around Vadmar. “Thank you for everything. I hope I don’t disappoint you.”
“You won’t.”
Vadmar wriggled loose and moved away to envelop Kendli in a bear hug. She buried her head in his chest. “Promise me you won’t die.”
“Hey, you know me- always careful.”
She rolled her eyes and he chuckled. “I promise. I promise everything will be perfect when we get back.”
Kendli l.ooked up and Minki swore that she saw tears in the Princess’ eyes. “I love you, Vadmar.”
“I love you too, but nothing is going to happen to me.”
Someone touched Minki’s shoulder and she spun around to face Lector. “Hey, aren’t you going to kiss your boyfriend goodbye before he goes off to war?”
She chuckled, threw her arms around his neck and kissed him with a smile on her face. “I am going to kill you if you die today.”
“Then I guess I’d better not die.”
“Goodbye, Lector. I love you.”
“I want you to drive that sword through my father’s heart. Kill him for good.”
“I will.”
Soon, only Kendli, Zaria, Minki and King remained. Kendli nodded at Minki. “You ready to fly?”
“I have one stop to make beforehand. Fly slowly and I won’t be late.”
As the elven Princess mounted her dragon, she asked, “Not getting cold feet, are we?”
“No. I’ll be there. I won’t let you down, Kendli.”
“See you in the King’s Room, hopefully with a dying Ceaser Vincent at our feet.”
Are you sure that you want to do this?
Yes, I need to see my dad. He needs to know what happened.
I know.
King circled above Ardeaux, landing in front of Minki’s old house. It was a tight fit, but he made it.
The farm people flocked to the dragon and stared in awe. Some children even risked a touch. Trusting King to take care of himself, Minki ventured into the white shack she had once called home.
It was a Saturday and she found her father fixing the weathered hearth, unaware of the commotion outside. She was also surprised to see her mother knitting at the other side of the room.
Sophia Straddle’s face was utter shock as her daughter entered. “Minki…”
Her father spun around and was finally aware of her presence. His blue eyes filled with tears and he let his tools fall on the floor, running to embrace her.
“Oh, Minki, you’re alright.”
She smiled, silent tears streaming down her cheeks. “Yeah, Dad, I’m fine.”
Vadmar, Lector, Tato and Sila had cleared the western side of the palace and had reached the stairs that led to the Queen’s quarters.
Lector stopped. “I’ll take her to the barn. Go; I’ll catch up.”
Vadmar nodded. “Don’t be too long.” And then he disappeared with the two dragons.
Lector made his way up the steps slowly and found two guards at his mother’s door. He recognized one of them as his peer. As they held javelins out to him, he raised his hands in surrender.
“Patrick, come on, I would never hurt my mother. I’m here to get her to safety. It’s me.”
The other gu8ard replied fiercely. “We have strict orders to keep everyone out.”
“But I’m the Prince.”
“Not anymore.”
Patrick let his spear clatter to the stone floor. “Of course he is. You can go in, mate. How can we help?”
Lector beamed. “You can go to the barn and help Jenna get the servants to safety.”
The other guard put down his weapon and frowned. “I thought you kidnapped the Princess?”
“No. It was just a lie to get the forces out of the castle. Besides, Jenna would never allow anyone to take her against her will.”
Patrick chuckled. “Right you are. Come on, Percival; let’s go help the Princess.”
Lector opened the now unguarded door and found his mother pacing up and down in front of the window. At the sound of his footsteps, her head shot up.
When she saw him, her face contorted with fear and she pressed her back against the far wall.
“Lector, please… I always cared for you.”
He was overcome with emotion. His own mother thought that he was here to kill her. He took cautious steps towards her, opening his palms in front of him.
“Mom, I’m here to save you. What would make you think otherwise?”
“Everything. You’re here with the elves, declaring war against the humans. You have come to kill your father.”
Lector shook his head. “We’re not waging a war against mankind, just against him. Yes, we plan on killing the King, only because it’s the only way we can free the dragons. He is an abusive tyrant, Mom. And he was never really my father. We will give him the option of surrender, but you know he won’t take it. I’ve come to get you to safety.”
Her bottom lip quivered. “You abandoned us, Lector.”
“Only in order to save the dragons.”
“And since when are you such a dragon lover?”
“Since the love of my life and my sister both got one. I didn’t kidnap Jenna, Mom. In fact, this was all her idea. I would never do anything to hurt you. I’m just trying to secure your safety.”
Suddenly, his mother was in his arms, sobbing. “Oh, Lector, my boy; I missed you so much.”
“I missed you too, Mom, but I’m here now.”
*
“So, you’re a dragon rider and you’re off to kill the King?”
Minki nodded at her disbelieving father. “Yes.”
“Well, a lot has happened. And you say you’re in love with the Prince?”
“Very much… Dad, didn’t you get my note about Mother cheating on you?”
“I did.”
“Then why are you still together?”
“Because she realised her mistake and apologized. She’s changed, Minki. She’s the same loving and sweet woman I married, because now she knows that she doesn’t want to lose me.”
Minki nodded. “I’m happy if you’re happy.”
The King’s Room was a large private chamber at the top of the palace. It contained only a throne- a throne that was now occupied by Ceaser Vincent.
As Kendli entered the room, he grinned wickedly. “Can’t stay away from me, can you?”
She shook her head. “Your charms aren’t going to work this time, Vincent. You’ve grown too old. I met your son. Hard to believe that so much potential came from you.”
“Ah, I see you have a dragon now. She’s strong; she’ll be a good slave.”
Kendli bared her teeth and made to sprint, but was suddenly trapped in her place by an invisible force. She panicked and the King smiled.
“I’m using the magic you taught me, Kendli.” She felt Zaria being pinned to the floor as well. The dragon let out a powerful roar. “Only, I’m not scared to experiment.”
He threw her against the stone wall with force and she yelped. Zaria growled. Then he lifted Kendli up, almost choking her with his necromancy.
“Your dragon’s getting a little excited. Never thought I’d be able to overcome a dragon, did you? But I do. And now I only need to decide on a method to kill you… Such a shame, you are such a pretty little thing.”
The magic around her throat tightened and Kendli gurgled. There was still no sign about Minki.
Just before Minki mounted King, a hand grabbed hers. She spun around to see Ricki. She hugged him silently and then he said, “I believe in you.”
King hovered above the roof of the King’s Room. Minki sighed. Alright, there are three spells I need in order to come out of this alive: the elven spell, the physical shield and the magical shield.
Minki, no! Those are three powerful spells. You cannot do them all at once; your energy will be drained. You’ll die.
I’ll die if I don’t use them anyway.
Please reconsider.
It was too late. She had already murmured all three spells. She could feel them draining her magic and she knew that she had limited time in which to complete her task.
She took the Weapon of Saldor in both hands and nodded at King.
Suddenly, a shaft of bright light flooded into the King’s Room. Kendli looked up with the last bit of strength she had left, seeing King and Minki burst through the ceiling.
Ceaser’s face betrayed his shock, but his hold on Kendli and Zaria did not loosen. He was more powerful than she could’ve imagined.
Kendli watched as King landed, suddenly roaring as he was pinned down as well. Only Minki moved around with no constrictions. She was using the shield.
Ceaser chuckled cruelly. “Ha. This is who you send to kill me? A little girl?”
Minki didn’t say a word as she pushed forward, moving with extraordinary speed. Another spell? She can’t do that.
The King pulled out his own sword and tried to attack Minki, but the weapon sprang back, easily flicked out of his hand by the Weapon of Saldor.
A physical shield too? Minki you can’t do this; you’ll die.
For the first time that day, the King showed fear. . Minki was extremely fatigued. She could feel the spells drain the last bit of her energy.
She took one more step and plunged the Weapon towards Ceaser. Immediately, the spells that surrounded the King activated and set on fire.
Minki pressed on, knowing that she would eventually reach his heart. The Weapon delved through the fire, but Minki was engulfed by the flames.
The last bit of magical tinkling left the body, the flames scorched her skin and her energy was draining quickly.
Her limbs went numb and her eyes closed by themselves, but just before her collapse, her sword met flesh and she fell forward.
Then everything went black.
Kendli fell to the ground, clutching her sore throat and gasping. the spell was gone, which meant that its caster was as well.
She ran to Zaria and threw her arms around the dragon’s neck. We did it, Zaria. He’s dead.
Kendli…
Kendli looked up. What?
Then she was aware of it for the first time. King was shrieking like a dying animal, scratching at his own head and beating his wings frantically.
Oh no.
Kendli ran over to where a motionless Minki was lying on the cold floor. Her skin was covered in burns and blood was seeping from somewhere. The Princess knelt down and listened for a heartbeat. What she found was faint and getting weaker.
She’s dying. She has to make it. Let me try a-
Zaria came up next to her. No. You magic cannot save her now. You’ll exhaust yourself trying.
Kendli’s eyes were brimming with tears. We can’t just let her die.
I can save her.
What?
A dragon has the ability to give life to another, to let them live.
Kendli gasped and shook her head severely. “No! King can do it; he’s her dragon.”
Kendli, look at him. He can’t do anything right now.
King was still screeching, clawing ad flapping. Kendli broke out in tears and sobbed as loud as she could.
Zaria, no. I can’t lose you. Please!
You need the Rider. One dragon won’t make a difference with all the ones you’ve saved.
But Zaria- I can’t. I’ll reason with King-
He can’t focus on anything except his rider slipping away! I have to do it now before she dies.
Zaria, no!
But it was too late. Kendli felt Zaria and a piece of herself slip away and she cried. “No! No! No. Zaria…”
And then her dragon was gone.
Kendli threw her arms around the green dragon’s neck and wept.