Chapter One
The burn of the liquor that I sipped from my glass was a welcomed reprieve from the thoughts eddying in my mind, the music of a band on the other end of the tavern so loud that it tried to cover up everyone's misery. It had been a miracle my mother and I had even found this place. Spare tables and chairs had been brought in from nearby houses to help seat those who had fled from their own villages, to help at least get a meal and some water into their system. Candelabrum hung off of walls, casting an orange hue over the people from the fires that flickered on top.
More people entered as I surveyed my surroundings, carrying as many belongings as they could after fleeing from another village. They were just like me and my mother a day ago. Demornt Village was one of the safest places to be now because they were renowned for their Temple. The blessed healers inside had attempted to extend their magic to other locations to keep buildings safe from the shadowed creatures, and so far it had worked.
I would have gone over to help them, to ask the newcomers if they had seen any of the monsters or Dragon-borns on their way over, but I couldn't help but be dragged back down by the weight of what had happened.
The main reason for travelling with Zofia and Larc was so I could protect my sister and I hadn't been able to do it. By the end of the journey on the way to find the Lyre, I had even started to trust Larc with the smallest sliver of my soul. After he had saved my life when I fell down the mountainside, I thought he couldn't truly be the same as the rest of his kind. However, my original suspicions had been proven true and rightfully placed when he betrayed us to get his wings back.
Now, Zofia was high above the clouds and there was nothing I could do to help her.
I swirled the remaining liquid in my glass before downing the contents, watching as my mother returned to her seat opposite me.
"Slow down on the liquor, you'll need to be coherent in case anything happens," she warned as she placed two plates on our table. Both held steaming mashed potatoes that were freshly grown from Demornt Village.
My only answer was a shrug. Why did I need to be coherent when all I could think about was what the Dragon-borns were doing to Zofia? They were most likely torturing her and using her for fun in whatever ways they pleased, and that was just the guards. Who knew what Larc was doing to her and what he was capable of underneath all of his kindness?
"Eat. You'll need your strength for whatever is to come next," my mother ordered as she tucked into her own meal.
I slouched in defeat and shovelled a spoonful of potato into my mouth. The empty glass still sat in my hands, causing my eyes to wander over to the bar. Perhaps one more wouldn't hurt.
My mother snatched the glass away before I could think of getting up. "And no more alcohol for you either. If you want another drink, it will be water."
"Zofia is gone and there's nothing I can do about it. Let me forget about that fact at least for tonight." I could lose my senses to the cheap liquor being served and then drown in the music attempting to keep everyone happy. My feet could guide me to dance with the group of drunkards already trying to forget the pain and suffering they had been through in the past few days.
"We'll think of a way to get her back. I won't let one of my daughters get whisked away by a big brute just like that." She took another mouthful of her meal before changing the topic. "The tavern-keep mentioned there had been some sightings of Dragon-borns in the skies above here, ones with red wings, so there might be some in the area."
"They're probably here to check up on the progress of the shadow creatures and see how much of the kingdom they've destroyed to report back to their queen." At the mention of the royal guards that had taken Zofia with ease, the desire to have more alcohol in my system grew tenfold.
"The Dragon-borns?" asked a traveller from beside us who was sorting out his bags. "We saw one on the ground by herself as we were walking into the village. We didn't go near her as we didn't want any trouble, but she didn't look like she was causing any herself either."
I had to stop myself from laughing — there was no such thing as a Dragon-born that didn't cause trouble. "Where did you see her? Was it by the front wall of the village?" Demornt was so big that it had received funding from Aerla's capital for a wall to be built around it a couple of years ago. That was another reason why it was perfect to take refuge in. "And how long ago did you see her?"
"Yes, the front wall." He nodded as he confirmed. "And it was only around ten or fifteen minutes ago."
A plan formed at the edges of my mind, clawing to get in so it could take hold and grow into something bigger. It had only been a few days since Zofia had been taken and if the Dragon-born was a royal guard, she had to know something about her. I would get that information from her by whatever means necessary.
"Haera, whatever you're thinking, it's too risky." My mother's brows narrowed as she watched me, a frown twisting her lips.
"Risky is all we have at the moment," I replied with a returning frown.
"Did I, uh, say something wrong?" The man asked, halting the sorting of his belongings.
"No, not at all! In fact, you've given us the perfect information. Thank you," I returned with a half-smile — the best I could manage.
"Right. No problem, I guess." He moved away from the table beside us, hauling his bag over his back and heading over to the tables where they were serving food.
"Haera," my mother hissed to get my attention. "What do you plan to do with the Dragon-born if you find her?"
"I'm going to sneak up on her so I can capture her, and then I'll get the information I want. Anything about Zofia, Larc, or the Queen would be useful." I quickly shovelled more mashed potato into my mouth, eager to finish the plate.
"And what if you get killed? Then what? I can't deal with losing two children when I'm barely holding on while one of my daughters is suffering!"
"I'll be safe." Be quick and agile, my father's voice rang through my thoughts. They'll never hear you coming. His advice had been for my first hunt when I helped him bring some animals home for dinner, but I supposed it could be used in this situation too. Hunting Dragon-borns was nearly the same, right? "Stay here. If I don't return by sunrise, assume the worst."
I loathed leaving my mother in a tavern in an unfamiliar village in the midst of midnight, but I had no other plan to save my sister. Capturing the royal guard was the only plan that I had come up with in the past few days, so I wasn't about to let go of it now.
"Sit back down, young lady! We haven't finished talking about this!" She yelled as my chair scraped along the sticky wooden floor when I stood. My mother looked as if she was about to forcefully tug me back down until I stepped further away from the table.
"Don't try to follow me or you'll risk ruining my plan!" I called back as I stormed for the exit of the tavern.
I was going to get Zofia back if it was the last thing I did.
Darkness surrounded the village, even more so than the usual nights that passed through Demornt. Not a soul knew how the creatures of shadow worked or what they reacted to, so all of the streetlights fuelled by fire leading up to the village had been extinguished.
I crept along the side of the wall in the shadows, hoping I wouldn't get caught in the line of sight of one of the beasts or a Dragon-born. If I got caught now, my mother would certainly find a way to resurrect and lecture me about my actions tonight — her wrath was even worse than my own.
Under the light of the moon, a pair of crimson wings were stretched out behind a woman. She had to be the Dragon-born the man had talked about. Using the brush surrounding me as coverage, I squinted to take a closer look at who I needed to capture.
The first thing I noticed was that a lot of steel covered her body. Blades from swords to axes to daggers were strapped along her thighs and torso which all gleamed with a fresh coat of polish. Did she actually use those weapons? Or were they just for show? Her dark hair was cropped and shaved on all sides to reveal several small scars along her neck and head, making me believe she had prowess in all of her blades after all. When the Dragon-born turned her face to watch the path in front of her, I could see the thick scar jutting through her lip.
It was going to be difficult to sneak up on someone like this.
Taking a deep breath, I pulled the hilt of a dagger into my hand and positioned myself ready to move.
Be light on your feet. Don't let any branches snap underneath you or you'll scare the animal away. My father's words rang through my mind, almost like a warning. I had this. All I needed to do was sneak up on her, push my dagger into her throat and pin her down so she couldn't move. That was simple enough.
With careful foot placements and steady breathing, I made my way to the royal guard. As soon as I was close enough to touch her wings, she spun around and pushed me into the wall. My arm was squeezed so tightly that I dropped my weapon and cried out in pain. I couldn't even move under her weight as I squirmed and struggled.
After a moment, I was released and the Dragon-born went back to surveying the surroundings. "Get out of here, girl. There are scarier things prowling the night than Dragon-borns, so you should get moving," she said with an eye roll, annoyed that she had been distracted from her task at hand.
"Not until I get what I need." My hand tightened around my blade as I picked it up and peeled myself from the wall, a steady comfort as I stared the guard down.
"And what might that be?" I swore I could see a hint of recognition pass through her eyes. Had she been there when the Queen had destroyed the Lyre? Or when Zofia had been taken?
"I know you know about a girl called Zofia," I bluffed, hoping she wouldn't see through my lies.
"So what if I do?"
"I need you to tell me everything you know about her starting with where she is in your stupid empire and how to get to her." Once the demand left my lips, I had to admit it sounded a little pathetic, but there was no taking it back now.
The Dragon-born raised a brow and bit back a fit of laughter. "You must be drunk because I've never seen such misplaced courage from a human. Get back inside the walls before you get torn to pieces and so I can do my job."
"Is that a threat?" I balanced my weight evenly, preparing for any oncoming attack she might have thrown at me.
"Would you like it to be? I can get my blades out if you're not gone in the next minute." Her gaze fell to the dagger I still held. "It did look like you wanted a fight."
"Well, my blades are already out and I'm willing to do anything for this information." What was I going to do if I couldn't get anything out of this Dragon-born? It wasn't like there were any more around for me to corner. I needed to make this count.
"Why would I give valuable information to someone like you? You won't be able to hurt me, let alone threaten my life, if you couldn't even sneak up on me."
I didn't know what to do. The liquor in my system wanted me to fight, to take out my anger on the guard in front of me and be done with it. However, the small rational part of my mind still present knew that wouldn't end well. This was the only chance I had.
"Is there something you would maybe like in return for the information? If you actually know what I need. I'm willing to do nearly anything." I needed to make up for the fact I had failed to protect Zofia and deep down I knew that would be a difficult thing to do.
The Dragon-born remained silent.
"Well?" I pushed, hoping she wasn't ignoring me and waiting for me to leave.
"You're that girl that travelled with the prince, aren't you?" Her suspicions fell on me with intrigued eyes.
I stiffened, my whole body tensing at the reminder of the deceitful bastard that had gotten my sister into this mess. "So what if I am?" Her expression made it difficult to tell if it was a good or bad thing.
A smirk was her only reply to my response. "Bring me something valuable this time tomorrow, something that will convince me to help you out. If you're late by a single minute, the offer will be dropped."
"What do you mean by something valuable?" That could be anything. For all I knew, she could consider a tree branch to be valuable, or maybe a shiny stone found in the gravel of the paths in Demornt.
The Dragon-born shrugged. "Something worth my while. It's up to you what that is."
Fury growled in my chest, willing to be unleashed, but I pushed it back down into its cage. Of course the Dragon-born was being difficult. Was I expecting this to be easy? "And what if you think what I bring you is up to your mysterious standards?"
"Then there's no deal. You're thinking too much about this, girl. Just bring me something."
"So, if I bring you something valuable, you'll tell me where Zofia is and how to get to her?" I asked as she went back to watching the horizon.
"I will, but you might not like the answer." She pulled out a short blade from her pocket and used it to dig out the dirt from underneath her short nails.
A scowl forced its way onto my face. "You better not play me around and give me a silly answer like 'you need to find a way to fly up and get to her'. It needs to be a genuinely helpful answer."
"I promise it will be. In fact, I'll even give you the way to get up to Nusal." She watched me expectantly, waiting for my answer.
It felt like a trap — it had to be. But what other choice did I have? "Fine. I'll be back tomorrow with something."
"Good." She smiled pityingly. "I'll see you then."
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