'THAT WAS A NICE THOUGHT,' Alek commented while we walked to a favourite spot in the garden.I wrapped an arm around his waist and leaned against him as we walked. 'He made it clear, when explaining stuff to me that not everyone would make it back. I'd hate for his family to miss out on saying goodbye.'Alek looked at me disbelievingly. I shrugged, feeling a bit defensive.'Well it's true, isn't it?' At least Ignatius had been upfront about it.'It's likely,' he conceded. 'And I didn't think he was very close to his wife, that's all.''He seemed very fond of her when I asked.'We reached the spot and settled on the grass beneath a tree.'I'm only going on what I've heard.' Alek flashed a cheeky grin. 'We all know gossip isn't to be trusted.'I laughed and climbed onto his lap, distracting him from lunch in the best possible way.THE REMAINING WEEKS FLEW BY as we trained ourselves to exhaustion each evening. Even the griffons and Sito were hard at it, and it was a new experie
AUDREY WAITED ON THE OTHER side of the door with Nnelg.'Your Highness.' The dragon bowed, the blue of his scales shimmered in the afternoon light streaming through a window. I stopped and looked at Nnelg, then knelt so I sat at his level. The dragon's dark eyes widened. 'Majesty?''Nnelg.' I swallowed hard, forcing back the bile that threatened. 'You know we're going away for a bit. I need you to watch Lucky and Audi, okay?'He nodded earnestly, his long tail swishing around him. 'Of course, Your Highness.'I smiled stiffly. 'Good. Now. In the possibility that we're unable to return, for-sometime, would you look after them? I'm going to ask Ada as well, but I know how well you do this.Nnelg nodded again. 'Yes, absolutely.''Good.' I stood. 'Now, let's go see Ada.'We ran down the closest turret, all the way to the bottom floor. I paused at the bottom to give Audi a hug and ruffled the fur around her ears.'How are you doing little miss?' I crooned.The dog automatically turn
THE SOUTHERN KEEP'S COURTYARD WAS tiny in comparison to the castles. Otherwise they looked quite similar, like the Keep was a smaller imitation of the castle. Loushka landed with a heavy thud and the others dropped around us. Leseach, Ignatius, and Rashid stood waiting for us.'Leseach,' I said in surprise. 'When did you get here?'Sian, having just climbed down from Sito answered. 'Sito and I brought them through when you were sorting Audi out.'Oh right, I thought and felt a prickle of tears at leaving my beautiful girl behind. She'll be fine, and Ada will spoil her rotten, I reassured myself.I slid down from Loushka and stood beside her, ruffling her mane.'Wish it were over.' I thought to her. The solid coolness of her beak brushed past my neck.'I know, Cat. It will be over, soon.''Have you been here before?''We delivered all the supplies here, remember?'I shook my head. 'Sorry, I meant have you stayed here before?''Oh yes, a few times. You'll like it. It's rather q
ALEK AND I SPENT THE day in the stables, where Loushka and the other griffons bunked. We watched in amusement as Daron and Sian play fought.'I wonder what he said to her?' I said.'Never mind that,' Alek interrupted, 'Go on with the rest of the movie.'I exchanged a glance with Loushka and she did her husky laugh, as I tried to recall what happened next. 'Okay, so where were we? Oh! That's right. Indy has to rescue his father from a Nazi occupied castle.'Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade had always been one of my favourite movies and it was fun to recall it. Loushka made a very comfortable seat for the two of us and she enjoyed the story too.'What's with those strange machines they keep waving around? The ones that make noises?' Loushka asked.'Those are guns, a form of weapon they use on Earth. Compared to swords, bows and maces, guns require very little knowledge. Just point in the right direction and shoot.''Convenient.''Sometimes too much.''I like his whip. It's alm
YAKOV WAITED DOWNSTAIRS AND GRINNED at Alek as he arrived. 'I was about to give up on you.''I was busy.'Yakov gave him a knowing look. 'Mm. Shall we go?'They walked to the Keep's gate then set off at a decent pace on the track Yakov had run yesterday.'Good to go faster?' Alek asked.'Sounds good.'This was just what I needed, he thought. The track flashed by as his feet pounded the earth, arms pumping. The burn in his legs and chest egged him on harder and harder. The path was a bit rough and the challenge of dodging trees and leaping over a log was good fun.He could hear Yakov breathing hard behind him.'You alright?' he gasped.Yakov grunted in response. Sunlight hit the tops of the trees and began to inch downward as the sun rose. The sense of excitement and anticipation flared through him again and he bounded ahead. A sudden yell caused him to stop and Alek spun back to see Yakov bent over his knees, a small distance behind him. He jogged back to the adviser.Yakov g
IGNATIUS WATCHED THE OTHERS MOVE away, then turned and stared at the glowing door.'Here!' Rashid handed him a shirt. 'Use this.'Ignatius nodded and wrapped the garment around his hand then moved close to the door, flinching at the heat. In a quick motion, he threw the door open and charged in. He stopped short, and for the first time in decades felt the icy spread of fear.Catherine writhed, naked on the bed, her face contorted in agony. Her normally porcelain skin unrecognizable. When she lifted her head to scream again, Ignatius dived behind the dresser.The pain from both the sound and heat felt nearly unbearable, but the sight of the Princess in her true Elemental form rendered him silent. The figure on the bed terrified him. Flames rippled beneath her skin, and her hair was a mass of molten strings. Everything around her burned.Panting in fear, Ignatius tensed his muscles, waiting for the moment she drew a breath. When she did, he lunged forward with Rashid's shirt stoppin
Book Three: Feel the BurnA TANGY, SALTY TASTE ON my lips broke through the darkness. I blinked awake, trying to swallow but my tongue felt thick and awkward. An absolute lack of saliva made me painfully aware of an aching thirst and parched throat. Blinking again, I tried to make sense of where I lay, my limbs heavy and aching on a dense soft surface. I groaned, then broke into a hacking cough. Red flashed behind my eyelids. Each cough felt like a file scraped the back of my throat and I rolled onto my stomach, trying to contain the coughs while tears squeezed out. Then a different scent; musky, spicy and undeniably male registered in my brain like a bolt of lightning. I gasped, his name searing through my mind.Alek.The physical pains and desiresthroat, body, thirstvanished when sheer agony tore its way into my soul, mind seizing the memories of those barely human screams and the body contorted in anguish that I'd seen through our link. Then blackness. A sense of complete absence
THE ROOM ROCKED AND I jolted in surprise, gulping a sob. Kassie squeezed me gently.'Shhh. It's okay. We're on one of the ships.'Those words stunned me and the tears stopped. I lay there, the darkness adding to the numb sensation that spread throughout, fogging my mind.'Breathe, Cat.' Kassie gave my shoulder a light shake and I nodded dumbly, not realizing till then that my lungs burned for air.Are we really sailing South? It didn't seem fathomable. How could we leave without Alek? How could he be dead? I could still see his navy eyes, creased in amusement when I teased him before he left. His scent from the pillow beside me only increased the strange detachment. With my eyes closed, I could see his hands on my skin, feel his lips on mine.My heart beat a strange, hollow drum within the cage of my chest while the realization began to hit, each thud jarring my body as the horror set in.Jenviet had ripped him from me, torn my soul in two while she gleefully tortured him. I whim