Page 25 of The Dragon King

Talon slew another enemy before he turned to me, and our eyes locked. “Go.”

Uncle Ezra ran through the forest to take her to the east, where the most vulnerable members of the elven society were to remain until the battle was over. The healers were there already, treating some of those who had been removed from the front line.

But once the queen was brought in, they turned all their focus on her.

They immediately removed the pieces of armor that were still intact, and with no regard to her dignity, they cut her clothing free. Her pale skin was visible from her neck down to her hips. Her breasts were on full display, but no one seemed to care because of the circumstances, not even my uncle.

I looked away out of respect for her.

“Save the queen,” Uncle Ezra ordered. “Save my wife.”

I stepped outside because I didn’t want to watch my uncle suffer. I wasn’t a healer, but I had watched Queen Eldinar inch closer to the end as I held her in my arms, watched the light grow fainter with every passing minute. Her injuries seemed too dire, her loss of blood too great. When I looked down at myself, all the blood on my armor was hers.

I gazed into the distance and saw the fires burning the forest. Listened to the cries of battle raging on. I knew it would all end soon, because the Death King would save us all. I continued to look into the distance and then noticed a great rush of wind blow through the entire forest—and then the fires were extinguished.

I knew who had conjured the wind from nothing. “Riviana…”

Chapter 5

Talon

I stabbed the goblin through the heart then kicked his body to the ground so he would slide off my blade. Black blood covered the blade to the hilt, and I watched it drip before I looked at the army of the dead that stood there, idle in their places, staring at me with only their eye sockets.

I knew the battle had ceased because it was quiet. Whatever enemy remained had begun to flee back to the hiding places from which they’d come. Their leader lay dead in the grass where I’d executed him. “Your service is fulfilled. Go be in peace.” I was used to the dead, used to their exposed bones and dry joints, bodies without heads, some with flesh still on the bone. All my loved ones were dead on the other side of the world, so it didn’t disturb me. But if my loved ones had been here…it would disturb me greatly.

They slowly walked away, heading back to the cemetery where they’d been ripped from their graves by my command.

I felt a presence behind me, an enemy that tried to sneak up on me when my guard was down. I spun and whipped my bladearound, blocking an attack that I assumed was aimed at my neck.

But the enemy was neither a Behemoth nor a goblin. It wasn’t a dark elf either.

It was a woman with red hair that glowed with her own light.

I felt invisible knives stab me everywhere, pricking my flesh without drawing blood, inflicting physical pain that I could feel but not see. Her eyes were green like the forest, but they were different from any other color I’d ever seen. Her beauty was unmatched, and her presence was as powerful as a hurricane. She continued to stare at me with a guarded expression, the light so brilliant around her that her expression was unclear.

I knew who she was without an introduction—Riviana, the God of Caelum.

When she spoke, her voice came from everywhere but her lips, all around her as if the trees spoke on her behalf. “Bahamut is your master, yet you risked what life you have left to serve me.”

With the black blood still on my blade, I sheathed it across my back.

When I didn’t say anything, she stepped forward and raised her palms. The wind had been nonexistent a moment ago, but it picked up instantly, and a swirl of air passed through the treetops and snuffed out the fires instantly.

I hadn’t seen Bahamut since I’d entered these lands, and I knew it was because he was forbidden from this forest. It was the only time I’d been free of him since I’d sailed to his island deep in the Southern Sea.

Riviana turned back to me, her red hair flowing in the wind. “You didn’t just protect the living. You also protected those who have already lived. Peace continues to reign in the Realm of Caelum—because of you.” She continued to stare at me with eyes that possessed more intelligence than any mortal I’d ever met. “Your love for Vivian continues to burn, even though your heart now beats for another.”

Her name was like a dagger to my heart. A pain so potent it would ache permanently. “It’ll always burn…”

Her hair continued to whip around her without wind, flowing beautifully. “But you’ve chosen a different path. One that will separate you from her for eternity.”

“I don’t regret my decision.”

“Talon Rothschild, you’re worthy of both love and forgiveness. A lesson you learned too late.”

“It’s a lesson I’ll never learn.”

Her eyes softened slightly, like she pitied me. “I hope you find peace, Talon. Someway. Somehow.”

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