His thoughts abruptly stop as I crawl deeper into the cave.
I can’t help but grin, thrilled at the prospect of evading capture a little longer. The thrill of the chase always gets my heart racing.
I slide down a smooth rock, landing at the base of a massive, damp cavern I explored earlier.
I dust myself off and adjust my dress.
The cavern is dark, with only a sliver of light managing to find its way in. The size of this new space is breathtaking.
It reminds me of the cavern deep within the mountain where I first met my second mate, Lochness, or Nessy as I affectionately call him.
He had been hiding among mountains of treasure.
This cavern, however, is devoid of treasure. But as I take a step forward, I sense a presence.
Earlier, I found an exit leading to the forest from this cavern, and it seems someone has found their way in.
I see a lone figure, a woman hunched over and sobbing. I quietly approach, maneuvering around a stalagmite to get a better look.
The woman is tall and thin, dressed in a ragged, heavy dress that trails behind her. A glowing wolf pendant rests on her collarbone, catching the light as her fingers trace the cave walls.
It seems like she’s searching for something. Interesting.
She’s murmuring to herself, her words laced with magic. She’s a mage. And not just any mage, but a Blood Raven—the most powerful kind and a sworn enemy of the Twin Dragons.
Curiosity piqued, I decide to see what she’s up to.
“Hey!” I call out, striding toward her. “Who are you? Where did you come from? You don’t have permission to be here.”
She turns to face me, and I freeze. Her eyes are streaked with mascara, and her dress isn’t just ragged—it’s stained pink and red with blood. It was a wedding dress.
Her black hair, once styled beautifully, is now a tangled mess, torn from the clips that still remain. She’s clearly been through a lot.
I ask her, “Um, lady, are you okay? Do you need help?”
“No,” she snaps. “Just leave me.”
“Do you know who I am?” I try to approach her, but she tenses up.
“Yes. Your long red hair, your pretty slave dress, and that collar of ownership.” She glances at me. “I despise you, slayer. You sleep with the dragons you should be hunting.”
I don’t agree with her, but I don’t want to argue. “What’s your name?” I ask.
She turns to me again, looking ready to attack.
That’s when I notice the small, golden shards in her hand. They’re fragments of a gem she’s been picking from the cave wall.
It looks like there was an explosion, and she’s picking up the pieces. Her gaze shifts to my feet.
I look down and see that I almost stepped on one of the shards. That was close—it could have cut me.
I bend down and pick up the shard. It’s beautiful, pulsing with trapped magic. I’ve never seen anything like this before.
As it pulses with power, I’m filled with awe. “You’re collecting rare gems?” I ask, trying to keep the conversation light.
“It’s a shattered talisman, you idiot,” she sneers, holding out her hand. “Give it to me now and leave. You can’t handle that kind of power. Only I can contain it.”
“Not if you’re going to be so fucking rude,” I retort, closing my hand around the shard. “Who are you?”
“I am Tavora. Give it to me or I’ll kill you. I’m in no mood to deal with you right now,” she threatens, clutching her bloodstained wedding dress.
Blood Ravens and their obsession with blood—it’s their main source of power. And it’s clear she’s been up to no good.
“Can’t we have a conversation, Tavora? I might be able to help.” I try one more time. “And I wouldn’t bother attacking me. Hael and Lochness will be very unforgiving. Very. You’re in their territory.”
Tavora laughs, a careless, bitter sound. “So? I’m already dead to this realm, little slave girl. You will never understand what I just went through.”
She starts whispering to herself, chanting, “Reingard, forgive me. I can only hate her.”
In Tavora’s hand, I see the shape of a screaming face with fangs, growing and blowing up in size until it’s larger than life. It’s a female wolf’s spirit, contorted and hurting. A ghost, maybe?
Tavora throws the spirit at me, but before it can touch me, a golden glow emanates from my hand. It disperses her powerful attack, leaving only a wisp of smoke. The energies cancel each other out.
I didn’t do anything. The shard of the talisman in my hand—protected me!
Tavora is no longer visible. Mist fills my vision—my mates have arrived. Perfect timing.
Hael and Lochness appear in front of me, still in their human forms. They take in the sight of the distraught bride.
“A bounty? Fuck the bounty,” Lochness sneers, snarling at her. “I’ll be your judge, jury, and executioner, Blood Raven. You dared to attack my mate. It’s over. On your knees.”
“Careful,” Hael warns Lochness. “We don’t know what that gem is around her neck, and it’s full of a power I can’t recognize.” He looks at me, his gaze falling on the shard in my hand.
We lock eyes. His anger has faded, but he’s still worried. I nod at him, letting him know I’ve got their backs.
“Oh, you’re very young dragon lords to be so naive. Knowledge is power, and you don’t know what a talisman is?” Tavora cackles.
Hael’s voice rumbles, a low growl. “What are your intentions?”
She leans in to whisper to Hael. “Ever lost a lover to another realm? No? Then you can’t possibly understand my agony. Reingard was mine. I waited a lifetime for him, loved him eternally.”
When none of us respond, clueless about her ramblings—especially since her dress is soaked in his blood—she falls silent.
Tavora probably thinks we’re mocking her as we just listen and stare, expressionless.
She sneers, her voice a shrill scream. “You’re mocking me, aren’t you! You’ll all die, and the realms with you! Follow me if you dare.”
With a swift lift of her dress, Tavora flees from the cavern, but not before snapping her fingers together.
A deafening hiss echoes around us from the walls, like a ticking time bomb.
“Shit, she’s summoning sulfur, the old dragon’s bane.” Hael’s rooted to the spot. “Hold your breath, sweetheart.”
That’s the only warning he gives me before a cloud of poisonous gas erupts from the cavern’s cracks, instantly filling the air.
Hael whirls around, scoops me up, and bolts.
Lochness is our guide, reaching back to hold my hand.
He finds the exit, and we make it to the forest—just in time for my dragons to collapse, gasping for fresh air while their skin blisters.
I, too, gulp in fresh air, but I haven’t been running, and the sulfur isn’t a bane to me, so I’m not as affected.
Once I’m set down, I scramble to my feet and head toward the trees, searching for her.
“There she is!” I spot a shadow between distant trunks. “Tavora’s heading for the lake!”
“Don’t follow…without us,” Hael manages to gasp out the command.
He tries to immobilize me, but his power is waning. I’m stiff only for a moment, then I shake it off and sprint toward the trees and Tavora.
“I’m safe from her. I have a shard of a talisman too,” I explain.
“I’ll stay close,” I assure them gently. “We can’t let Tavora escape! She wants to annihilate the realms. You heard her! Meet me at the lake. She’s taking the usual path there.”
I’ve always been a fast runner, and I reach the moonlit lake first.
I watch as Tavora swims to the center, twirling around and beckoning me with a finger, a smile on her face as she sinks. Her talisman bursts with purple light, and she vanishes.
Her sly gesture is an obvious invitation.
What’s strange is that the shard of the gold talisman in my hand feels like a magnet, pulling me toward the lake. It’s as if it’s guiding me, telling me what I need to do. We have to follow her.
I hesitate, thinking of my children who are tucked in their beds right now. I can’t bear to leave Luvenia or Lex. They’re only three!
But despite Tavora sounding like a deranged, heartbroken Blood Raven—they’re notorious for their emotional instability—I believe her threat is genuine.
She doesn’t just want to kill everyone; she wants to obliterate everything. She plans to destroy the realms.
I nearly jump out of my skin when Hael places a hand on my waist, stopping beside me, still covered in green-and-yellow powder.
“Wait here.” He wheezes, still coughing as he dives into the water to wash off.
Lochness follows suit, and they thrash around, splashing water vigorously to scrub off the poison.
When they stand up, they see me with my arm outstretched, still holding the shard.
Lochness brushes his black hair out of his eyes, his emerald gaze fixed on the shard in my hand. “Be careful, Rat. That looks as sharp as broken obsidian.”
Nessy rises from the water, walking toward me. He places his firm hands over mine, attempting to take it from me.
He’s trying to protect me, even from something as small as this. I resist, curling my fingers around it.
“You might cut yourself, and we don’t know what that is,” he warns.
“I’ll hold it,” I murmur. “Trust me, Nessy.”
Lochness tightens his grip on my wrist, contemplating forcing my hand open, but he snorts out smoke and lets go.
“What is it? Let me see it,” he grumbles, opening his palm instead. He tries a different tactic to get me to comply, but I still shake my head.
“We can’t delay. We have to follow her while the portal is open. We have to go wherever she went. We have to stop her,” I whisper my concerns.
Hael and Lochness exchange a look that only twins share.
They glare at each other, then both scowl at me.
“We have to stop her,” I insist. “Think of our little ones. We can’t just stand here and hope she doesn’t return.”
Hael exhales a groan and makes the decision.
He glances at the sky, then shakes his head, looking back at the rippling water. “You’re riding me, Pet,” Hael declares in a tone that even his brother won’t challenge.
I nod.
“Lochness, you will lead us into the lake.” Hael instantly transforms into his giant emerald dragon, picking me up with his tail and placing me on his back.
I grip his bumpy scales with one hand and flip my hair over my shoulder. “Ready!” I call out, grinning. I love flying!
I just grin.
Hael spreads his wings and takes off into the sky.
Lochness bolts in the opposite direction, his jet-black dragon form cutting a sharp angle in the air—his mouth brimming with swordlike teeth.
His emerald eyes flash at me, flames dripping from his snout.
A single black wing unfurls as he plunges full speed into the water.
Just like that, Lochness is gone.
Hael makes another round over the lake, his gaze fixed on the pulsating purple light below that swallowed his brother. The light dims, but it remains a portal.
He then veers sharply, diving toward the water. It takes every ounce of my willpower not to scream from the sudden drop—I love flying, but this is different.
I also realize he said all those sweet things in case we end up fucking dead.
We plunge into the lake, but instead of sinking, we continue to fly…upward.
