[Ona] Unable to stand still, I pace back and forth in the grand gallery, watching the storm clouds gather on the horizon. Primus and Carnelia have been gone for over a week and I have no idea how much longer they will be gone. By now they've either found one another and reconnected or killed one another based on the glare Little Sister was giving her mate when they left together. It is strange, being in this dream all alone, waiting for a sign. Time has no real meaning here. Without the two of them to interact with, it feels like my part of the story is merely an afterthought. This castle only exists because they need it to exist. Once they are done with this part of the dream, this reality I exist in will cease to be necessary. I hope to be long gone before that happens. I do not want to see how I might change if the dream changes around me. With no better way to spend our time, each afternoon and early each morning I come to observe the road for any sign of my wayward brother and
[Primus]The castle is a wreck. When I finally trapped and caught my mate in the tower, we rutted like the beasts we are, ramming into every surface, howling in delight to find one another again. The taste of her, the feel of her, I had forgotten how sweet it is. How could I ever leave this? I want to wrap myself in her for eternity.In the joy of finding one another again and knowing the depth of everything we have endured makes this mating even more sweet. Not only are we choosing each other for the first time in this dream world but reaffirming our original vows. We are together.We choose each other. Again and again.We finally remember who we are, a knowledge that is both a blessing and a curse.Once we are finally spent, we lie together, looking at one another in wonder. It feels like it has been an eternity since we held one another."You came after me.""You told me to. You told me to come find you, remember"She is a marvel. The golden scales that pepper her muscular arms look
[Carnelia] There is another scream. There is no doubt in our minds. That has to be Ona. "When I came in to find you," I explain realizing Primus is unaware of his sister's condition, "She was carrying a clutch." Primus' eyes widen in horror as the truth settles in. If she is carrying eggs, she might be ready to lay them. But as another scream rips through the room, if she is laying her eggs here, in this strange place, something has gone terribly wrong. A flash of fear and pain rattle into me from the bangle I share with Ona, projecting her feelings into me as vibrantly as if I were feeling them myself and I pick up speed. I'm not sure how I can help, but I can be there. The hallway is long and smooth, formed from shell and glass. I've never seen anything quite like it. Finding a window, I notice we are underwater when a large tropical fish floats past. We are in Undersea, Tritus' realm. I would stop and take a moment to marvel if Ona wasn't in so much distress. As more screams
[Carnelia] Everything stopped. And then everything started again all at once and it was almost too fast for me to see. Daax's face was a blur of hate as he reached forward to clasp the Technician around the neck to squeeze every ounce of life from her. Orion rushed to protect her, attempting in vain to break his father's grasp, struggling to defend his dying mate. Primus came behind Daax, struggling to pull him back. But after months in stasis, Primus alone wasn't enough to restrain him. I rushed to Ona's side as she cried in pain and heartbreak as she watched her family fall to pieces in front of her eyes. Father killing daughter, son defending wife. This is the legacy left behind by Segundus' evil. Generations of trauma that even love cannot cure. "Enough" The Elf King clapped his hands near Daax's head and his body went completely slack. Turning to the rest of us he ordered those of us with enough strength to assist Kora with Ona in her lab. "I can keep him contained until h
[The Steward]I haven't felt quite like myself since the incident a few days ago. There had been so much blood. The dead servant, attacked by some wild beast, was torn apart, his blood lying everywhere.And now I see that face in my dreams, but in my dreams, I do not see the face of a servant, I see my own.But then I wake up, find a looking glass, and remind myself of who I am--Crown Prince Aethos, first son of Tritus, future Kraken King.So it could not be the face of the prince I saw on the ground.Because I am the prince.This place is driving me mad. That is the only reason I can give for my confusion. There is something about it that makes my skin crawl as if I am not quite in the right skin. If I could leave today, and go back home to the Grand Sea Palace, I would. But I cannot leave until I have fulfilled my mission.It is a shame my steward died on the way here. He knew what was expected, and he always had a kee
[Carnelia] Ona is gone. My Sister Queen. My best friend. My dearest confidant and the one person in this crazy world I knew would always be there for me during times of need. A world without Ona doesn't make sense. I refuse to live in a world without her. If she cannot be here with me, I do not want to be here without her. As the darkness pours from my soul to encircle me in a cloud of death, I see her smiling face the first time she called me "Little Sister" even before I knew I was Primus' mate, or even what that would mean. I think of all of her tales of adventure from her life as a pirate and the way she taught me how to dance, so I could fall in love with her brother. When Primus was gone, she was the one to teach me how to be a dragon, how to control my body and my abilities, and how to wield them as a weapon to protect those I love. "Someone stop her!" I hear a voice around the edges of my shadow. But it is too late, it has already been released into the world. "Xane!"
[Kora] [ONE WEEK EARLIER] The shadow that walks has torn its way through the palace. We lost three servants and the false prince. All that remains is a shriveled husk where their bodies once stood. I will mourn those who fell. None of them should have died. Even my brother's misguided steward left this world confused and very much alone. How will he find his family in the great deep beyond if he doesn't even remember his name? Orion is guarding the door while I continue to work on Ona. She is exhausted body and soul, and having just come back from the dream state, she is weaker than she should have been. This is likely why she was unable to shift to save herself. Thalan and Xane took Queen Carnelia and her mate, Prince Primus, to Elfholm, leaving Ona, Orion, Daax, and myself in the aftermath of the disaster. Many of my servants have fled in terror, no longer willing to stay in the way of such great danger. My mate, a drake finer than any I deserved in this life or the next, quick
[Orion]My mate led me from the room, down the hallway to a solid wall unlike any of the others. It looked like a shell on the surface, but as soon as Kora placed her hand upon it, it disappeared, revealing another door of twisted green and blue sea glass.She taps the glass three times, and a pad with strange scratches appears. She begins sweeping her hand across them, tapping them as if writing out a message, her fingertips taking on the form of a sucker as they make contact with each mark. The door slowly opens and reveals a chamber made of a shell with a long bench.I take a step forward, but she pulls me back."This conveyance was created by my father for just the two of us. For you to enter, I will need to add you to the system. "She explains as if any of what she just said makes any sense."How do I..."She grabs my hand and sticks it where her hand had just been. The panel is no longer solid, but something that feels like the inside of a jellyfish. My hand slowly sinks through