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071: When Shadows Walk
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Related chapters
Reclaiming My Beloved Dragon Prince 072: Miracles
[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
Reclaiming My Beloved Dragon Prince 073: The Mad Genius
[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
Reclaiming My Beloved Dragon Prince 074: The Queen's Gambit
[Eleanora] The peaked ceilings of the Aerie in Skyfall seem to fade into the sky they are so impossibly tall, the spires reaching beyond the clouds. It has the airy loftiness often seen in the structures designed for the children of the air and is a fitting place to hatch the future kings of Luxandra. And I find it pleasant, watching the birds and dragons fly past my windows. It makes dealing with all the ugliness of today much easier. The first group to speak before me is a rag-tag collection of survivors from what was supposed to be a simple fetch-and-return mission. Fetch the princess, my prince, and anyone else associated with his disappearance, and return here immediately to deal with their sentencing. Search the premises for any sign of the Technician and retrieve my specialist if possible. Simple enough. Especially since we had a person on the inside and the element of surprise. "So tell me again, very slowly, why it is that you return to me empty-handed," the ends of my ta
Reclaiming My Beloved Dragon Prince 075: Sweet Reunion
[Carnelia] The halls of Thalan's home in Elfholm are gilded with glowing blue writing, creating knotted vines and blooming jasmine in delicately applied ink. Between the knotwork are stylistically rendered scenes that do not look much different from the pages of the book about Carnelia the Great. I reach out a hand but stop short of touching. They are so beautiful and intricate, the paint so vibrant that it looks freshly applied. "How often do you repaint these," I wonder aloud, curious to know how long it might take to create something so fine. "Maybe once a century," he smiles, "The starstone we crush into the paint keeps it from fading. It also helps that these walls never see sunlight." His words confirm what I already suspected. One of the reasons nobody can find Elfholm is that it doesn't exist on the surface. "We do have a few waystations above ground, but we prefer to be as close as we can to our sacred crystal. For all other creatures, starstone is exceptionally toxic and
Reclaiming My Beloved Dragon Prince 076: Frozen Time
[Cordelia] Primus. He was dead to me for so long that it feels strange to see him alive. Not just alive, thriving, laughing, and full of love. And yet, it also feels like it could have been like this forever--a happy family. Royal, yes, but otherwise normal. Seeing moments like these makes me wonder what it might have been like between us had we been born at a different time, when our people weren't at odds. Would we have been introduced at a ball or through some other arrangement? Would we have known we were mates from the first time we danced? I've never seen Primus this content. If I could freeze time, I would leave us at this moment, a mother and a father rocking their babies to sleep, placing them one by one in bed, kissing each little forehead before leaving them to rest. I wish we could say here like this, far away from all our troubles on the surface, free of the responsibilities of rulership and war. I place a hand on his back as he sets two more of our younglings next to
Reclaiming My Beloved Dragon Prince 077: The Revolutionaries
[Lyra]She glowed like a thousand falling stars when she lept after her mate, wrapping him in her arms.Our sister. Stella.It is a shame we may need to kill her.Because she doesn't remember who she is, or who she can be, she is more of a danger to us than a savior. And there is no way that she can truly remember herself if she's mated to that Terran. She doesn't know what it means to be a sun dragon under Terran rule if she can love one of them."Tis not her fault, Sister," Cosima advises. "Remember how Vega was when we found her, wandering the streets, believing she was human? She also had no idea what it meant to burn like the sun while trapped, chained to the Earth. Her mind had blocked the pain.""But she is his mate," I gasp in disgust. "She chose the Terran Prince over her own lineage. She may not be salvageable.""Hate the sin, not the sinner," Vega speaks up. "She knows not what she does."We didn't know our sisters had survived until our mother visited us in dreams. Cosima a
Reclaiming My Beloved Dragon Prince 078: The Shadow Walker
[Carnelia] The shadows call me now. I'm no longer alone when I leave the light. "A consequence of spending too much time too close to the void," Thalan explains as we turn the corner. "I was wondering how long it would take for you to hear them. Had I known you were a universal dragon sooner, I'd have pulled you from the dream immediately, even at the risk of your mind." We pause by a dark window. Everyone is asleep or close to it now. I left Primus with our children. I long to return to them and to reassure my mate that I will not leave him. I don't know how we are going to make this work. My heart is torn in two. But one thing I've never been more certain of is the importance of our little family. Even if I have to burn this world and forge another from its ashes, I'll find a way for Primus and I to rule together in peace. "The void," my words echo as it bounces along the crystal-covered cavern walls. "You keep mentioning this void, but I saw only Primus' dream." "Then how did
Reclaiming My Beloved Dragon Prince 079: Broods and Bonds
[Carnelia] "Primus" Moving as a shadow I find myself by my mate's side. I became the shadow. My husband is curled up in the nest with our children, snuggly resting by their side, lending them his warmth and protection, but as soon as he senses me in the room, his eyes snap open, glowing green like fresh leaves. "Carnelia."He slowly untangles himself from our brood, and I want to smile at the sweetness of it all but I'm terrified. Not only by what I just heard from my uncle but by what I might become. A creature of shadow. A creature of the void. "You came back to me," he cups my face as he brings himself closer, touching me tentatively like I might turn into vapor and disappear. For all he knows I might, I hurt his heart when I walked away. "I will always come back," I wrap my arms around him, taking pleasure in his solid strength. I need him to anchor me. Without him and our children, I might float away, becoming darkness. I need this. Breathing him in deeply, his warmth comf
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Reclaiming My Beloved Dragon Prince 086: The Wanderer
[Primus]Her face haunts me in my dreams. My beautiful wife. I can't stop thinking of our last evening together when we finally reconnected and pledged to do whatever we must do to stay together.But she isn't here with me and I can't find her. The way to Elfholm is a mystery as no traveler who has encountered the elves remembers where. The illusions are so thick that they often lose themselves. It seems that the harder I search for her, the more difficult it becomes.Fate can be brutal. It doesn't matter how strong you are, how honorable or just, fate doesn't care. A king can be brought to his knees by it's whim. Carnelia is not with me but when I close my eyes, It's almost as if I can feel her in my arms again. Carnelia. My sweet and wonderful mate. It has been two weeks since I last held her. Two weeks since I heard I saw her through a film of darkness.She was so brave. So strong. But I can feel her pain. She needs me more than ever. Whoever has her, they are treating her cruelly.
Reclaiming My Beloved Dragon Prince 085: Love and War
[Kora]I tried to call the Celestial Kingdom using the shared communications devices between our two countries. I wanted to update them on Orion's situation, to ask for aid and counsel. Elfholm has stopped sending messages demanding my presence at their Moon Council. I have tried sending my messages only to find my signals blocked.The False Queen demands my presence at Skyfall. With each refusal, she sends me a new piece of my love. At first, it was just a bit of hair, an article of clothing to remind me of his fragile situation.But it has been weeks.So now it has become talons and horns, fangs and scales.How long do I have before it is fingers and toes? His arm? His manhood?I am tired of being stuck here. I am tired of waiting.My father kept many labs. He was an anxious sort, very suspicious, and tended to over-plan. I can appreciate this about him as these are traits the two of us share. The colossus at my castle was not the only one, and while I am tempted to take this other
Reclaiming My Beloved Dragon Prince 084: Shards
[Ona]She didn't warn us. She hardly even said goodbye. She looked at us with such sad eyes as she swept her hand upwards and we became encased within a sphere of darkness."I am so sorry..." Her last words faded and distorted as my brother screamed her name, screamed for her to stop.But she couldn't hear him.I held my little brother close while the darkness swept our little family, our remaining guards and nurses, up and out of Elfholm to Luxandra above.Freedom. She sacrificed herself for freedom.When the inky darkness receded, we were only footsteps away from the Eastern Gate in the Realm of Air, close to the home duchy of Eleanora the False Queen. Carnelia used her newly developed abilities to phase our entire number across a vast amount of space.Not even the Elf King himself was able to move us all so far so quickly.What is she becoming now that she is growing up into her power?"We need to get moving," I try to urge my brother, who has fallen to his knees, his hands reaching
Reclaiming My Beloved Dragon Prince 083: Moonspeaker
[Carnelia]"I refuse," I hold my head high. "Allies do not treat one another like prisoners. If you wanted my help, you should have asked rather than chain me to this realm.""We're sorry, Your Majesty, but we feel it is necessary with your history to keep you contained. It is for your safety as well as the safety of all gathered here," an elderly drake steps forward, the starflower jasmine glowing blue throughout his long tendrils of hair."It took three of us to bring you back from the shadows when you unleashed your small nightmare," he explains. "We must keep you powerless or risk your wrath. We know the pull of a mother to her children. Why did you try to flee? You are safe here?""Why would any mother feel a need to leave quickly with her children and family--fear for their safety." I glare directly at my uncle. "As you say, I am too powerful. If someone were to threaten their lives," I refuse to remove my eyes from my uncle, who matches my gaze with his steely hardness, "I might
Reclaiming My Beloved Dragon Prince 082: Torn
[Carnelia]The darkness takes me again, but this time, I have learned how to navigate it. The seemingly limitless void takes on shape and form. If I can find my anchor, I can find my way.Remembering the last time the shadows tried to take me, and how I used the shadows to take me to Primus instead, I focus on his voice, his scent, and the way I feel in his arms. He will be my anchor, my mate.The darkness slowly recedes and the silence is replaced with the sounds of my children crying as Primus calls my name."Oh gods, Carnelia," he weeps along with our babies as his hands grasp mine.Looking up, I see a dark, unnatural cloud looming just above the exit to Elfholm. Thalan doesn't plan to let any of us escape after all. I thought my uncle had at least a little bit of honor, but if I think about it, I can see the advantage of keeping us here. Ona and Primus he might let go, but me, my babies--we're his blood. His brother's legacy. Had I been born powerless, he might have let me go, but
Reclaiming My Beloved Dragon Prince 081: Homebound
[Carnelia] Ona and I began to make plans immediately. We would all leave under the guise of returning Ona and ensuring her safety. Because our children are so very young, we would be taking them with us as well. Once returned, we'd close the gates again. As far as we understand, the Moon Dragons cannot phase into the Celestial Kingdom. The only way to get to the Celestial Kingdom without the gates being opened is by using a 4th form. Yes, the Moon Dragons have a 4th form, but that doesn't mean they'd just be able to enter the Celestial Kingdom without resistance. There are other defenses in place as well. They'd have to bring an entire army of Moon Dragons. And there is no reason great enough for the Moon Council to approve such an open act of war against fellow Celestials. The plan wasn't bad for one cobbled together from excuses, driven by hunches and fear. Elfholm isn't safe for our family any more, not with the Elf King so determined to keep me here. A drake like him wouldn't
Reclaiming My Beloved Dragon Prince 080: The Queen's Knight
[Athony] The universe can be cruel. Sometimes the mate she chooses for you is a dream. Sometimes she is your nightmare. Often she is both. Eleanora keeps me around because I am useful. She is very stubborn with a willpower of steel--excellent qualities in a queen, but terrible ones in a mate. But she is loyal to those she finds useful. Why else would she still keep Segundus' corpse rotting in a vat of amber fluid? We thought it had been lost to the fire, but the universe isn't just cruel but capricious. She saw fit in her infinite wisdom to hide his corpse below several layers of earth, down a long lost tunnel leading to tracks that go to the sea. We found it a moon cycle earlier, and the joy in Eleanora's eyes was only overshadowed by her smile of victory. "We must have the Technician," she insists. "When that beast is in our grasp, we will win this battle and reclaim our rightful places." "You deserve to be Queen of us all," I bowed before her. As she touched my shoulder to r
Reclaiming My Beloved Dragon Prince 079: Broods and Bonds
[Carnelia] "Primus" Moving as a shadow I find myself by my mate's side. I became the shadow. My husband is curled up in the nest with our children, snuggly resting by their side, lending them his warmth and protection, but as soon as he senses me in the room, his eyes snap open, glowing green like fresh leaves. "Carnelia."He slowly untangles himself from our brood, and I want to smile at the sweetness of it all but I'm terrified. Not only by what I just heard from my uncle but by what I might become. A creature of shadow. A creature of the void. "You came back to me," he cups my face as he brings himself closer, touching me tentatively like I might turn into vapor and disappear. For all he knows I might, I hurt his heart when I walked away. "I will always come back," I wrap my arms around him, taking pleasure in his solid strength. I need him to anchor me. Without him and our children, I might float away, becoming darkness. I need this. Breathing him in deeply, his warmth comf
Reclaiming My Beloved Dragon Prince 078: The Shadow Walker
[Carnelia] The shadows call me now. I'm no longer alone when I leave the light. "A consequence of spending too much time too close to the void," Thalan explains as we turn the corner. "I was wondering how long it would take for you to hear them. Had I known you were a universal dragon sooner, I'd have pulled you from the dream immediately, even at the risk of your mind." We pause by a dark window. Everyone is asleep or close to it now. I left Primus with our children. I long to return to them and to reassure my mate that I will not leave him. I don't know how we are going to make this work. My heart is torn in two. But one thing I've never been more certain of is the importance of our little family. Even if I have to burn this world and forge another from its ashes, I'll find a way for Primus and I to rule together in peace. "The void," my words echo as it bounces along the crystal-covered cavern walls. "You keep mentioning this void, but I saw only Primus' dream." "Then how did
