All Novel Romance
Chapter 83
MIRA
No, it can’t be! I look at the flames and I cannot comprehend what is going on. It’s fireworks. Or Derrien came out to play in his dragon form. It’s most definitely not the Selection castle in flames. No! No, no, no… That’s not it!
“Mira,” Dereck puts his hand on my shoulder and I turn to look at him. I’ve been standing like this for some time I guess. “We need to move.”
“Der, I need to get there. To the castle!” I plead with him, “There are people inside! Girls! Gods, who did that?”
“I told you, Mira, we are at the beginning of a war,” he says, sadness in his voice. And that’s when I realize everything.
“Tristan did this?! Why?!”
“I don’t know all the details,” Dereck admits, “But whatever he does there – he does on the King’s orders.”
“Is the King mad?” I yell, tears streaming down my face, “There are at least twenty innocent girls there! Akyrian girls! Our own!”
“What can I say, Mira?” my friend shrugs, “We are lucky we could get you out! If not for Ragnard – you would be one of those girls there! And as selfish as it sounds, I am happy that at least we still have you with us! There are two important gerdians inside that had to be killed. I believe this is done now. And the sooner we get to the capital – the better. As the capital would be shielded the most.”
“Shielded from what?” I feel the worst headache of my life and it’s incredibly hard for me to concentrate. Everything is blurry.
“From the gerdians’ response. They wouldn’t leave it like that!” Rick joins us, coming closer and wrapping his cloak around me.
“So why the chaos are we doing that? We have already been at war with them and we lost miserably! You have no idea what kind of power they possess! We stand no chance…”
“Everything changed,” Nort interjects, “Our artifactors have been experimenting for a long time and found a way to make us stronger. So now we can fight them! And we can be free of them! And no girl would have to experience what you have experienced!”
Oh, gods! What have I done?! The experience wasn’t that bad for me, but the boys are sure that it was a nightmare.
“Guys, it wasn’t that bad!” I try to reason with them, “If anything, I did manage to fall in love and…”
“Oh, Mira…,” Rick sighs, “Tristan told us everything… It’s going to be all right…”
“It will all go away as soon as you are home,” Nort smiles, “It’s an illusion. It’s not a real feeling…”
“Gods, that’s not even important now! Can you just help me get to the castle? We need to help the survivors! The girls…”
“It’s out of the question,” Dereck says firmly, “We are taking you to the Sapphire Castle and that’s it. We’ve been riding for more than an hour now. Even if we wanted to come back – by the time we get there it wouldn’t make any difference.”
“You speak about it so calmly!” I exclaim, “Those are real lives out there! Real people! People that I know!”
“That’s not perfect. But this is what war is like, Mira,” our leader says, “This is what we all have been training for. And right now our country needs us the most! We need to go back and help whenever we can! It’s our job as battlemages! And as for those lives… They are sacrifices. The gerdians that were killed right now were worth it. Without them, the Empire would be weakened!”
Wait… two gerdians who are important. It can’t be…
“Who are those gerdians you are talking about?” I look Dereck in the eye but he avoids my guess. “Who are they?!” I shout as loud as I can and by the look on his face I know that Derrien is one of them.
No, no, no, no, no! No!!!
“Give me your horse!” I growl.
“No,” he answers way too calmly for my liking.
“Dereck Ashterton, to chaos with you! Give me your damn horse!” I scream.
“Rick, Nort,” he nods at them and they start moving. And I know all too well what that means.
I summon fire to the tips of my fingers. Never have I thought that I would have to do this to my friends.
Nort and Rick charge at me, clearly fearing the fire coming out of my hands, creating shields to protect themselves, and coming closer. And that’s when I hit the ground forcefully with my foot, summoning my earth element, and the ground cracks open as if from a strong earthquake, throwing both mages away in different directions by the power.
Dereck stretches his neck and moves forward, not wasting any time and bringing out his own fire. Fire is his strongest element. And so is mine. One of the reasons we were so good at training together, we could test each other to the maximum. That’s why he knows all my weaknesses and I know his. And we both know that chances are almost equal. Almost. But not quite. Our fire waves meet in the space between us and the struggle begins. I am weaker than usual today, but so is he. I guess he had a long journey after all. All I need is to throw him back for a few seconds and get to his horse! I do that and I can flee.
Suddenly, a strong gust of wind throws me off my feet. Rick is back. I want to attack him quickly, but that’s when Nort catches my hands and twists them behind my back.
“Stop it!” I yell at them. Chaos! There are three of them and just one of me.
“One day you will thank us for bringing you home!’ Dereck sighs and gets a familiar bottle out. Damn it, that’s the one Tristan had, the one that contains Somnium Nox, the potion that can put down a horse! Gods, I hate that potion!This belongs to NôvelDrama.Org - ©.
“No, please!” I beg, “You don’t understand! You don’t even listen!”
“Mira, it’s over,” he pours the bitter liquid down my throat, “You are going home!”
I notice how every time I drink Somnium Nox it takes longer to lose consciousness. Here, on a top of a hill, in my friends’ arms, I look at the flames of the Dark Selection castle. My heart hurts for Derrien. We’ve been so happy just a few hours ago! And now I don’t even know if he is alive. I don’t know if Morgan and Desirae had time to get out. And I know for sure that Isidore back in the dungeon definitely didn’t. So many victims!
Suddenly, I notice another flash of fire in the sky. And then again. And again. Something creates fire…in the sky. Just like a…
“Dragon!” my teammates say almost in unison…