Trudging down the stairs, I felt empty and desolate inside, like a part of me had already died. With open arms, I accepted my fate just to save the one person I could still call family.
I'd fallen down the pit of darkness to Hades just like Father. And I hated myself for it.
How could Father ask Peter and Alicia to make the same sacrifice?
When Alicia saw me, she ran over and embraced me. "At last! Did you see him?"
When I didn't reply or squeeze her back, she pulled away with a furrowed brow. "What's wrong? You're as pale as a ghost."
"He's a Fireborn. He's one of them."
"Good gods! What did he say?"
"If I join the Fireborn, he'll rescue Bragda. If I don't, he'll let her die in captivity."
"What?" Alicia narrowed her gaze. "I'm marching up there right now to give him a piece of my mind!"
"No, don't bother."
"What? You already said no?"
I cast my gaze down at my leather ankle boots. "I agreed to his terms."
"What?" Alicia's face turned an odd shade of red. "Oh, I'll tell him just what I think of his so-called offer. I'll tell Papa to take away the funding for his little operation quicker than--"
"The Ministry commissioned the Fireborn, Alicia."
"Impossible!"
"It's true. The Free World is that desperate."
"We'll go up there together," Alicia said with a stern expression. "Negotiate a better deal. Tell him you weren't thinking straight, and you've changed your mind."
"I can't!"
"Why not?"
I sighed and retrieved the parchment contracts from my leather satchel. "I've already given my word."
Alicia gave me an incredulous look and snatched one of the copies out of my hand. We rushed out of the pub and headed towards the trees. As she began to flip through the pages with a furrowed brow, Peter landed on my shoulder.
"What happened?" he whispered in a husky croak.
"I can't believe your father used legal clairvoyants," Alicia said with a huff. "This contract is garbage. It instates you as ruler of the Fireborn, but it sounds like you're beholden to him."
"Ruler?" Peter asked, incredulous. "Beholden?"
"I need to save Bragda. You'd do the same to save Seraphina."
"At what cost?" she cried as she shoved the copy back at me. "No, you go back up there right now and say you've changed your mind."
"I can't."
"Of course you can. It's your legal right. Speak to my father. He's a Ministerial lawyer who can help you get a fairer option, one where--"
"It's too late," I said. "I already signed it."
"So what? Renege!"
"In heart blood."
"What?" Peter and Alicia croaked in unison.
"You signed this document in heart blood?" Alicia exclaimed. "So you can't change your mind, or you die? Are you crazy?"
I squeezed my eyes shut. "It gets worse. Father won't allow Peter's soul to enter the Fireborn unless I sign a contract declaring his unconditional fealty. He won't even free Marcus unless you pledge your life to the Fireborn as well, Alicia."
"What the--?"
"This is messed up!" Peter growled. "Your father tricked you, and now he's blackmailing us?"
"And I hate him for it!" I said. "Maybe you have the strength to refuse, but I couldn't let my sister die."
"Come on, Peter," Alicia said, petting his feathers. "We can't accept this."
He pecked at her fingers, and she yelped. "Don't pet me, please."
"Sorry."
"I have no way to defeat Lord Darius if I don't become a Fireborn."
"If Liselle doesn't have the balls to tell this dragon snout what's what, we will."
"Would you sacrifice Marcus?" Peter asked. "I can't stand by and watch Minningen fall."
Alicia thrust the contract back at me. "Chaff it all!"
Peter gave me a gentle peck. "Sign for me, Liselle."
"I can't make you his slave."
"It's my choice," he insisted. "And I'm telling you to sign it. It's the only way I can defend Minningen. It's the only way I can protect you and Seraphina."
"I can protect myself."
"You know I can't stand by and watch the city burn to ashes." He ruffled his feathers and croaked. "I can't watch Father kill her again."
I pursed my lips. "Damn it to Hades!"
He nestled in the crook of my arm. "Sign it, Liselle. Please. Or I shall return to the Tree until she can heal me. I can't watch everyone I love die while I fly around helpless in raven form."
With a heavy sigh, I returned to the pub with Alicia and left an hour later carrying a signed contract for Peter.
She was carrying one of her own.
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Later that night, I awoke with a startled yelp. I drew several ragged breaths as beads of sweat trickled down my forehead.
Another fisca? Or was this another verita I was trying to ignore?
Peter flew down from the bedpost and hopped on the covers until he nestled against my hand. I stroked his feathers, and he snuggled against my leg.
"Oh, sorry," I said, lifting my hand away. "My mistake. You told Alicia not to do that."
"I don't want her touching me," Peter said, his voice harsh and unyielding. His tone softened into a deep, soothing sound. "You may touch my feathers whenever you please."
I stroked his feathers to calm my frayed nerves.
"Am I making a big mistake?"
"You're doing what you must to protect your sister, and you signed for me because I asked you. My heart blood curse lies with me, not you."
"What if the future of the Fireborn means nothing but agony and war?"
"Then I'll stand by your side and fight," he said. "You're never alone."
I gave him a grateful smile and took a sip of water. The cup slipped through my hands, and I could feel the pull of Nature again, drawing me down, down, down.
"Not again!" I slurred in anguish as I could feel my body begin to convulse.
"Calm!" Peter said in a worried tone, pecking to keep me awake. "Stay with me."
"I...can't--"
"Shh, Liselle," he said. "I'm here. You're safe."
His voice faded from me, and I fell into the depths of time and space.
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The darkness enveloped me, gripping me like a vice until I stumbled onto a basalt rock plain. Devoid of all hope, I choked on putrid, sulfuric fumes as the hot air seared my lungs. Volcanoes erupted in the distance, spewing chunks of rock and fiery lava into the air.
Dark as the deepest evergreen, my skin glistened in the fiery light. With a furious growl, I glanced at my upturned palms. Pale and ribbed like a snake's belly. My stomach revolted, and I began to dry heave. I touched my forehead and shuddered when my trembling hands brushed across great horns protruding from my temples.
I'm a Fireborn! Gods above!
Ebony clouds swirled in the heavens, blocking out the sun. In the distance, I heard the clanging of blades, the cries of the injured, and the roars of Warriors calling on their gods for protection.
War.
Summoning all my concentration, I drew my fearsome weapon. As a Risa, I could never have lifted such a massive blade, but as a Fireborn, I heaved it with the same ease as a seamstress grasping a needle.
The enemy roared as she approached--all fury and flame, all muscle and grief. When I whipped around to finish her, I expected a humanoid firedrake or a Dragonborn berserker.
I couldn't have been more wrong.
It was Bragda.
The oceanic depths of her eyes flashed with the rage of the sea in a hurricane. My sister's braided beard whipped from side to side as she raced towards me, her wild mane flowing in the wind.
"Sister!" I cried.
Bragda wielded her iron battle-ax with a roar, prepared to strike. Out of reflex, I pivoted on the ball of my foot, expecting to face a Shadow Rider behind me.
No one stood there.
She was attacking me.
I parried her blow with ease, and Bragda gritted her teeth as she struggled to gain the upper hand. Scarred from war, a thick blemish traced from her temple to her jaw--a mark from battling the Dragonborn. She roared and grunted from exertion as she fought me.
A tear traced down her cheek. I was too stunned to speak. My sister hadn't cried even after Father and Mama had died.
"Why?" she roared, her cry twisting and writhing from the depths of her soul. It hit me with more force than any metallic blade. "Why did you do it?"
"To protect us," The words tumbled from my lips of their own volition. "To protect you!"
"I never wanted this for us." She swung her ax with a half-hearted blow that I easily parried with my broadsword. "You should have let me die at Castle Halcía like a Warrior."
"You ask the impossible of me. They would have ripped your soul apart."
"Why did you bother rescuing me? You fucking ripped my soul apart with your treachery."
"Treachery?"
"How could you let this happen?" she asked, drawing in breath with furious gasps as our weapons clanged in protest. "You had the gift of sight. The gift of intellect. The power of a Risa."
"Put down your ax, Bragda, and I'll spare your life."
"For what?" She cast a cursory glance at the desolate land. "You wanted to save Minningen, but look at what the Fireborn have done. I'll never live to see your flag fly over our home. Never!"
My sister must have been battle weary. Delusional. Mad from the terrors of war. That was the only explanation for her crazed behavior.
I held up my palm while I backed away from her.
"Do you have combat sickness?" I swallowed the lump in my parched throat, my voice raspy and deep. "We're fighting the Gatál. We're friends--sisters in arms! We're family, for Hades' sake."
"That was long ago, you fool!"
What? Is this the future?
"Stop fighting me," I cried. "Leave, please!"
Bragda used my attempt to negotiate in order to thrust me away from her, and I fell onto my back. She pressed her booted heel on my sternum and lowered her ax to my throat.
"What are you doing?" I exclaimed.
For a moment, her expression softened. "I will spare your life if you call off your troops," she said clenched teeth. "Don't make me kill my own sister. Gods know you've made me suffer enough."
Shocked, I merely stared at Bragda, her bushy auburn eyebrows narrowed in hatred. On her lapel, she wore the rank of Captain of the Guard, leader of the Minningen Militia.
The future. I was seeing the future.
When I opened my mouth, no words came out. I could not speak.
Bragda's ax bit my tough snakeskin flesh. "Choose, General Alaria! Now!"
Alaria? Who in Hades is Alaria?
"Choose!"
As I stared hopelessly into my sister's eyes. I watched another tear trail down her bruised face through the dirt, grit, and blood. Her bottom lip quivered as she squeezed her eyes shut.
"So be it."
She slammed her blade down, about to cut off my head.