~ABIGAIL~
I rush around the camp helping others pack up their tents and making sure the children were taken care of. Raphael and Kris were off god knows where. I imagined they were preparing the warriors in case of attack.
There was so much to do and so little time. I debated on leaving, but I knew I had to help before I did. The King may be after me, but I wouldn't let him hurt innocent people in his mission to get me. All the children were forced to leave camp with Raphael. He was one of the strongest who could lead them and protect them. A few other people went with him to keep the children safe.
“I don't want you to stay behind. You should come with me," Raphael demanded before he left, his eyes staring me down as Alyse and Kris watched on. Kris tried to intervene, but I glared at him until he backed off. Mate or not, I didn't need anyone to stand in the way.
"Excuse me? Are you seriously trying to send me away with the other women and children when you know just how much I'm capable of?" I asked, my eyes narrowed to slits. How dare he think I was some weak woman? I could fight like any of the other men.
"Fine! You stay here and get yourself hurt. See if I care!" He stomped off like the ass that he was, leaving me to wonder if he'd even care if I was hurt. I noticed the bruising on his right cheek, but since he was being an arse as usual, I’d brushed it off.
Kris wrapped me in his arms, and Alyse watched Raphael with a frown. “I swear, sometimes that man is not the man I raised. He’ll realize you’re his mate soon enough,” she comforted me while Kris and I both absorbed her words.
“Mate? But Kris is my mate.”
“I’m her mate,” Kris said at the same time I spoke.
Alyse smiled at us as if we were naïve. “Yes, you’re mates, but I could tell the moment I met you, that you were meant for more. I have a feeling you will have three mates.”
Kris looked at me, his eyes widening in shock. “You don’t mean...”
“Mean what? If one of you doesn’t explain, I’m going to get extremely pissed off.”
A roar split the sky, and Alyse’s hand went to the sword on her hip. “We don’t have time for this. Abby, go get your sword. We need to give Raphael as much time as we can to get the kids far from here.”
I took off, not needing to be told twice, while Kris remained behind to get instructions from Alyse. People were running around, terrified, and I waited for the impending flames the dragons would bring.
I reached my tent and hurried to grab my sword. When I turned to leave, a man was standing at the entry. “Abigail Fiammetta, you’re coming with me.”
His tall, intimidating form looked familiar. I thought he was one of the guards who worked for the King. “I’m not going anywhere,” I boldly said.
He pulled a sword from his sheath and let it dangle at his side threateningly. I grinned and lifted my sword up to meet his challenge.
I guess he wasn’t expecting me to be armed or to fight him off because a wariness crossed his eyes. “Don’t make this hard, Abigail. Drop your sword and come with me,” he demanded with a bit more hesitance in his voice, yet still demanding.
“You want me to go with you, well you’re gonna have to make me,” I challenged, my sword raised to meet his.
He lunged at me, and I attacked. It was over in a matter of seconds when my sword plunged straight through his chest.
He dropped to the ground, and I pulled my sword from his torso, leaving him to bleed out on the floor of my tent.
I ran outside, gasping in shock. The whole camp was under attack. People were killing each other, and I ran to help those I recognized. By the time I’d dispatched fifty people, I started to wonder if the fighting was ever going to end.
People were screaming, yet I still heard Alyse’s scream above the rest. I didn’t think, I just ran toward her screams, and what I saw had me stopping in my tracks.
The King stood above her body, his sword plunged through her stomach as he smiled down at her maliciously. Something inside me snapped at seeing my friend’s body impaled by the King’s sword.
“You sick son of a bitch!” I screamed as I ran toward him, my sword raised in anger. I would fucking kill that bastard! How dare he come here and ruin my life again? It was bad enough he took my mother from me, and now he was going to take my mentor? Hell fucking no!
The King yanked his sword from Alyse, causing her to cry out in agony, and a haze of rage descended on my vision as I attacked him. He was not prepared for the ferocity of my attack, and I couldn’t help the smirk when he stumbled backwards.
He flipped to his feet, and we circled each other, calculating our next move. “Look how well you are trained, Abigail. And here I thought you knew nothing about the dragons who were in our lands?” he mocked, trying to distract me.
“No, I didn’t know them. But you, you brought this on yourself.” I swung my sword, aiming to hurt him, and he just blocked my attack, a cocky smirk in place.
“I see you’ve made yourself at home. Tell me, where is Conor?” he asked as he flung my sword from me, advancing slowly.
My mind raged that he’d disarmed me as if I was nothing but a mere child. As he approached me, his sword poised to strike, but another blade blocked his attack.
The King was thrown back by the appearance of a man dressed in armor. His arrival was followed by dragons roaring through the sky, many mixes of purple and gold. Red dragons respond to them and I looked back at the man. How could he cause so much loyalty from the camp?
A fierce expression was on his face as he battled the King. The more he swung, the more frustrated the King grew. I smirked, getting to my feet when arms help me. Kris stopped my elbow from hitting him in the face. “Relax Abby, it’s just me.”
I saw Alyse still on ground and made my way to her, Kris joining me. My knees scrape across the dirt as I collapsed at her side. Blood trickled from her mouth and I dug deep inside me for my powers, but she grabbed a hold of me.
“Abby, it won’t work. There’s something you need to know,” she rasped out.
Tears streamed down my face. “No, don’t talk. I can try my powers. They will work, I will make them work!” I gritted out, determined. I tried and tried to no avail, my powers remaining buried deep inside me.
“ARGH! Why won’t they work!” I cried out.
Kris wrapped an arm around me as Alyse smiled up at me softly.
“They won’t work on me, honey. I’m destined to protect you, not the other way around.”
“What? No, I have these powers, I should be able to protect you.”
She smiled at me sadly. “No, Abby. It doesn’t work like that. I need you to trust me ok? You are meant for bigger things. Come closer,” she begged.
I moved out of Kris’s arms, tears still falling while the one person who had given me a chance was dying. I should have protected her!
She reached up, holding both hands on either side of my face, a small whimper of pain escaped her at the jostling of her wound. I went to move away, but her grip tightened. She closed her eyes and whispered, “Let the truth set you free. Reveal your birthright.”
Images slammed into my mind. Standing on a hill with Raphael, our hands intertwined as we looked down at the castle before us. “Don’t worry, Abby, we will save them,” he murmured comfortingly.
The image faded to another. Raphael and I were in a cave, his eyes lighting up. “I don’t want to fight this anymore. I wanted you the moment you saved Conor. I saw in you the spirit of someone who fights for what they love.” He pulled me close, kissing me passionately and the vision faded to black.
Kris, Conor, and Raphael were smiling at me across a green field. They all shifted at once into their dragon forms. I gasped and I was thrown back into the present into Kris’s arms. Alyse’s hands had dropped from my face, her eyes glazed over in death.
I sobbed in Kris’s arms, the reality of my friend’s death sinking in when I heard a man’s pained cry. Kris and I both shot up to see Conor’s unconscious form being dragged away by one of the King’s guards. Kris ran after him, picking up my fallen sword as he went, but the King intercepted him.
They fought while I stood by, my brain still struggling with the onslaught of information. Kris, Raphael and Conor were the three dragons I saw. The dragons I saved. The reason my mother died.
Anger and sadness raged in my mind and when the King struck at Kris, something inside me snapped. I walked back to my friend’s lifeless body, picking up her fallen sword.
The moment it touched my hand, a burning pain infused it, but I was beyond caring. The King would not take what was mine without consequences. Power ran through the sword and into my body, colliding with the powers already nestled inside me.
I heard Alyse’s voice whisper through my mind, “This is your destiny, Abigail.”
Her words rang true deep in my soul, knowing I was meant to be the one to destroy the King.
Kris was being hauled away as the King stood there watching me, a look of satisfaction on his face. “Well Abigail, that’s two of the dragons you supposedly didn’t know. How about you just make this easy and tell me where Raphael is?”
I took slow steps toward him, and he seemed to think I was giving into him until I lifted the sword in my hand, a soft hum coming from it.
“Impossible!” he growled when I swung my sword at him, and manage to leave a nice slice on the side of his face.
I grinned, excitement bubbling up inside me. “Come on, your Majesty. Surely you’re not afraid of little old me?” I asked, my body in a defensive stand waiting for his attack.
“I don’t know where you got that sword, but you are to hand it to me this instant!” he demanded as if he actually had any say in what I did.
The sword swung in my hand as if it had a mind of its own and clashed with the King’s just barely missing his face. I held his eyes, my fierce determination empowering me. Now was my chance to destroy him once and for all.
The King recognized my resolve and I saw a flicker of fear before he pushed back, attacking me with everything he had. I thrust my sword at him when he had an opening, but he was too fast. The longer we fought, the weaker I got and I knew I couldn’t hold out for much longer.
I got lucky and thrust at him, cutting him along the arm. He hissed in pain, dropping his sword and sending a blast of power at me, throwing me backwards.
The sword went flying and I crawled toward it, but the King stopped me, his foot holding me down. He pushed and I heard a bone crack, a sharp pain followed immediately, but I refused to scream. He’d gotten enough of my screams.
“You pissed off the wrong person, Abigail!” He kicked me over and over again, aiming for my stomach and ribs.
I gasped as the pain in my ribs intensified, meaning one of them had to be broken.
I spat at him, the dribble of blood landing on his face, giving me a small glimmer of satisfaction. “Do what you want to me, you sadistic bastard! I won’t tell you anything!”
“Oh, Abigail. That’s exactly what I wanted to hear.” He reached down and touched his hand to my shoulder and I felt the pain in my back intensify until I yelped.
The last thing I wanted was to show him how much his touch pained me, yet here I was, in his clutches again. The power inside me raged to be set free and I battled the anguish, unsure how to let it go.
He got up and gestured to a man off to the side who had hold of Kris’s unconscious body and the guard started walking away. When he disappeared into the trees, many of the King’s other guards followed, taking off into the sky in their dragon forms or running through the woods. I watched as Conor and Kris were taken from me and my power broke free in a wave. The force of it sent the King and his two remaining guards crashing into the ground across from me.
The King got to his feet as I slowly stood, the pain in my body nothing compared to the anger I felt. He took my mates from me!
The King glared at me, seeing the fear behind his slowly crumbling facade. “Abigail, Abigail, Abigail. Looks like you’ve been hiding a lot more than I thought you were.” He turned to his guards. “Grab her,” he commanded, a smug look on his face as he returned his gaze back to me, but I was done playing games.
I let instinct drive me and held my hands facing each of the guards, and they froze where they stood. I smirked and aimed my hands at the King, but nothing happened.
I frowned confused. The King took a step toward me and I back away.
“Well, I guess no one told you how to use your power yet,” he mocked, as my heart hammered away. “Maybe it’s time for you to learn a valuable lesson, Abigail. Don’t mess with those more powerful than you.”
His eyes shone full of power and my own rose to meet his. It exploded out of us and met in the middle causing an explosion that sent us both flying.
I laid on the ground, the pain consuming my body and I knew I was dying. I closed my eyes, regretting that I hadn’t followed my heart further; that I hadn’t told Raphael how I felt. That I didn’t get the chance to know Conor. That I didn’t get more time with Kris. The last thing I saw before death claimed me, were vibrant purple eyes filled with tears.
~RAPHAEL~
I saw the explosion of power and while I should have done my duty and killed the King, my only concern was the still, bleeding form of the woman I was starting to love.
She looked broken, as if the life had seeped from her body and I knew I had to save her. I shifted, letting the power take over me before gently grabbing her in my claws and taking her to our new camp. Most of the people were slowly starting to trickle in, using the measures we all instilled in them.
Only members who had been with us for more than a year knew of our procedures. If we were attacked, you were to wait three to four days before joining up to the new camp. Others were told to sneak into the outlying villages because at one point or another we would send someone down to bring them back. It was our way of assuring safety, but that didn’t matter now. It was the first time the King had found us and it was all my fault.
I let a traitor in our camp. I found him, the man who told the King exactly where we were when I had set up the new camp. He left me no choice but to exterminate him, especially when he made veiled threats about Abigail.
Abigail, the fearless woman who was hard to forget. Those radiant eyes drew you in and her sense of strength and honor made her that much more attractive to me.
I looked down at her pale body, knowing I could have lost her. My brothers were taken and she was the only one left to protect. Who knew what the King would have done had he gotten his hands on my beautiful Abigail?
“You need to rest. Hovering over her isn’t going to wake her any sooner. She needs time to process. Alyse gave her a glimpse into her past and future. That’s a lot for any of us. It’s why the original Queen banned the use of our powers. It can be a terrible burden for one to carry, knowing that the things they see will happen regardless of what they do.”
I nodded my head in agreement, but I still couldn’t look away from her sleeping form. I requested she stay in the tent with Harold, at least he could watch her.
“I’ll get some rest, but if there is any change, and I mean even the slightest change, you let me know, ok?”
“Of course,” he agreed.
I went back to my tent, and laid down on my pile of furs and looked up at the sun shining through the canvas. How could I possibly rest when my two best friends, my brothers for all intents and purposes, were in the King’s clutches? How could I rest when the woman I loved might never wake up again?