Darklis
Grinning from ear to ear as she hauled her prize back down the aisle, Darklis was just beginning to look for a desk where she could settle down and read to her heart’s content when she heard a noise that made her stop in her tracks: the sound of the massive library doors being thrown open, and swift footsteps echoing through the huge chamber.
Gulping, Darklis clutched the book to her chest.
Seems like someone did miss me after all.
Maybe someone had noticed she wasn’t where she was supposed to be and come looking for her.
And here I am, holding a book I’m clearly not supposed to have, in a place I’m clearly not supposed to be.
Darklis took a deep breath. Well, she supposed she really had no one else but herself to blame for this. She’d allowed her curiosity to get the better of her. And now, she’d been caught.
The footsteps, rapid and loud, came closer.
Deciding it would probably be better to face up to whatever member of the Drakos Clan had come to put a stop to her clandestine reading without a precious book clutched to her chest, Darklis reluctantly placed the book back on the shelf. She felt a pang in her chest as her fingers lingered on the leather cover, but there wasn’t anything she could do about it now.
Swallowing, she balled her hands into fists. Time to face the music.
Better to get this over and done with, Darklis decided. She began striding down the aisle toward the door – only to stop dead in her tracks.
That... that feeling...
Darklis felt her blood run cold.
Whatever was here in the library with her was not a dragon.
Dragons could sense each other’s presence and even read each other’s thoughts – but the creature she could sense now... it was...
Just as Darklis began to realize what she was sensing, a man – a huge man, tall and broad and muscular, with close-cropped dark hair and a small snubbed nose – rounded the corner, almost barreling straight into her.
“Get away!” he shouted, his voice echoing through the vaulted library, his voice little more than a bestial roar.
Darklis, in her surprise, jumped back, crouching defensively.
A manticore.
The man snarled at her, features twisted. Darklis felt her heart racing as she tried to figure out what was going on – and didn’t have much success.
A manticore? In Drakos Castle? How can that –
It was only then that Darklis noticed the long golden scepter the manticore held in his hands. Richly inlaid with jewels and decorated on one end with a golden dragon, its wings spread and mouth breathing a stream of ruby fire, it was clearly part of the Drakos Clan’s hoard.
And he’s stealing it.
The realization came to Darklis with a jolt.
The manticore was here trying to steal this from the Drakos Clan’s vaults, while everyone was busy with the ceremony.
It was a stupid plan, of course – every Drakos dragon within a hundred miles would know the second a manticore touched their hoard, especially a piece as magnificent as this.
But maybe the manticore didn’t know that. From the way he was clearly sweating, his eyes wide with something close to panic, Darklis had to guess he didn’t.
“Get out of my way,” he growled.
He was massive – and he’d have massive manticore strength to go with it. Darklis didn’t think she could take him in a fight – but then, he was clearly running from something.
So all I have to do is keep him here until they catch up.
“What’re you doing here?” she asked, fixing him with what she hoped was a convincingly stupid expression. “Did the ceremony end? Where is everyone?”
The manticore glanced over his shoulder, before growling at her again. “Look, either you can move or I’ll make you move.” He clenched his fist, raising it. “Get it?”
“Hey, that’s a pretty amazing stick you have there,” Darklis continued on as if she hadn’t heard him. “Where’d you get it?”
Darklis cringed internally to hear her own voice coming out in such an air-headed tone, but it was better that the manticore think she was simply a silly little dragon with no brain in her head than anyone who might be a threat to him.
If only I can delay him just a little bit longer... please!
At that moment, as if her prayers had been answered, she heard shouts from the corridor outside the library. The massive wooden door was flung open with a crash that reverberated throughout the room once more.
“In here!”
“Shit,” the manticore swore furiously, looking wildly behind him.
Darklis barely had time to move before he’d shoved her aside, the force of his push jolting her painfully against the bookshelf. The manticore was just as strong as he looked, and despite her dragon strength, Darklis was knocked aside as if she weighed nothing at all.
But still, the sound as she tumbled against the bookshelf echoed through the room, as did the sound of approaching feet.
“Over here!” she called out, jumping to her feet again. “He’s here!”
“Who’s there?” A man’s voice, deep and rich, rang out. “Show yourself!”
Darklis bit her lip, before quickly chastising herself for hesitating. This was no time to be concerned about the trouble she had gotten herself into.
“It’s – I’m here,” she called out. “I’m Darklis Novak.”
“Novak?” The man – whom she still couldn’t see – sounded suspicious.
“Yes – but there’s a manticore here,” Darklis said quickly. “He’s hiding somewhere in the library.”
Despite not being able to see him, Darklis heard the man’s quick, shocked intake of breath. “A manticore? Are you sure?”
“Certain!”
From somewhere deeper in the library, Darklis heard something clattering to the floor. Without waiting to see if the mystery man was following her, Darklis took to her heels, running in the direction of the sound. She could sense the manticore’s presence somewhere ahead of her – not to mention hear him snorting in anger as he crashed into something else, sending it crashing to the floor.
No need to wonder what the manticore had knocked over, as in the next second she saw it: a bronze statue of a dragon in flight mounted on a white marble pedestal came into view in the gloom of the library, toppled between the shelves and blocking her path.
It was a temporary obstacle at best – Darklis simply leapt over it, gathering her long robes in her fists as she jumped.
“Are you all right?” her mystery man shouted from somewhere else in the library, clearly reacting to clatter of the falling statue.
“I’m fine – let’s just find this manticore,” Darklis shouted back. She sprinted onwards, letting her dragon, with its heightened senses and awareness, come forward.
Where is the manticore, her dragon snarled, smoke rising from its jaws. We will teach it a lesson.
Yes, yes, Darklis responded. But let’s find it first, shall we?
She could sense its presence – like a dark cloud on the horizon – as it moved between the shelves. Despite the fact it was being pursued by two dragons, the manticore seemed to be slowing down. Its movements weren’t quite as frantic or fast as they had been.
And there was something else there too, Darklis realized as she sent her dragon’s senses forward, seeing through the darkness in a way her eyes could not.
Almost like... almost like...
She shook her head. Could she be mistaken?
Almost like magic.
No – there was no mistaking that.
“Look out,” she called – making a mental note that she’d really have to remember to ask this guy’s name once everything was squared away. It seemed rude, somehow, to be pursuing a manticore through a dusty library with a man whose name she didn’t even know. But regardless of that, Darklis knew he’d be able to sense whatever magic the manticore was conjuring up, too.
“I can feel it,” he replied, his voice sounding a little strained.
Whatever it was, Darklis could feel it tugging on her, almost pulling her forward...
Be careful! Her dragon called out a warning a moment before a brilliant flash of light lit up the darkened space of the library. Darklis gasped, throwing up a hand to protect her eyes. But not before she realized what the manticore had done.
He’s created a portal.
A portal to... well, somewhere, anyway – all Darklis knew at that moment was that her feet were skidding on the floor as she tried desperately to stop herself from being sucked forward into it.
Vaguely, she could see the manticore wielding the stolen scepter, snarling as he prepared to jump through the gateway he had created.
“What is that?”
Behind her, Darklis heard the voice of the mystery man. She thought she should probably answer him – but then, that would have taken concentration she just didn’t have right now. Not when she was desperately trying to grab hold of whatever was in reach, as the portal sucked her toward it.
The manticore, his face wild with anger, disappeared into the swirling vortex of light.
Darklis grimaced, gritting her teeth. Now maybe he’d close the thing and she could let go of the bookshelf she was clinging to. Sure, he’d get away with the scepter, but –
“Oof!”
Darklis couldn’t stop herself from letting out an unladylike grunt as something solid, heavy and warm crashed into her back.
She barely had time to register that she had lost her grip on the shelves before she was overtaken by another sensation entirely – something that sent a bolt of electricity straight through her heart and outwards into the rest of her body, setting her fingers and toes tingling, her heart racing in her chest...
Within her, her dragon rose up, beating its wings, its mouth open wide in a triumphant roar.
Our mate, it bellowed, a stream of fire building in its throat. Our mate!
Oh, Darklis had time to think numbly, before she suddenly found herself pulled forward, unable to resist as she was sucked into the swirling vortex of the portal.