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17. The Ritual
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Related chapters
The Flaming Heart 18. The Lost Stone
It was midnight inside the walls of the palace, even though the sun still hadn’t set. The prince’s castle was dead silent; even the drop of a small needle would echo off of the cold stones. All of the silver servants and golden knights were dismissed. Under the feeble and lonely candlelight, Thorn had been beside Leila’s bed all day and night. He was incapable of sleeping or eating. He put her fingers to his lips, feeling the last traces of her warmth. Leila’s stone was missing from her neck. Thorn had noticed its absence before Healer June arrived after the ritual. It was taken by someone during the chaos. Anyone who made contact with her had an opportunity to take the stone, and among all of them, the most suspicious was Nyree. Remorse and regret coiled up within Thorn like a poisonous snake. A fierce emotion, one beyond mere fury, was filling his chest. A price had to be paid. Vengeance was looming. The ritual had failed. The draconic divinity was provoked. Thorn observed her le
The Flaming Heart 19. The Deep Water
Three jet black stallions were quickly galloping through the open field. On horseback, two dark knights, Hugo and James, were dressed in full suits of armor, carrying light shields and heavy swords. Both were tall and vigorously riding, their strong thighs clamped tightly to the horses’ sides. They bent forward in order for the horses to run faster. The dragon prince was riding ahead. The chamberlain was nowhere to be found at the location Nyree had provided. He once believed that silver dragon descendants were a noble class who conducted themselves with common decency. However, after the wanted posters of the previous chamberlain were distributed across the kingdom, anonymous informants emerged from everywhere. But one thousand gold coins were not easily earned. Often times, they found that the information was false or inaccurate. It was outlandish that the prince had such difficulty locating a silver servant. This time, he hoped that he could snatch up the cunning man, alive, with
The Flaming Heart 20. The Pearl
Two boys emerged from the darkness. They looked exactly the same; each wore a blue cloak with spiky coral shoulder pads. Long earrings of algae hung from their ears. They shared a nonchalant facial expression and a fish-like bone structure, just like the other sirens. Their short, vibrant blue hair danced in the cold wind gently blowing from the deep darkness behind them. “Follow us. The master is waiting for you,” the boys said in unison to Thorn. Thorn was heavily intrigued. Who would make such a great effort to see him? He wanted to find out. Thorn followed the boys. They paced through the darkness in silence. The further they walked in, the colder it felt. Thorn could sense that his fiery energy was immensely repressed. The corridor was unexpectedly wide and grand. It seemed to be carved through a mountain of obsidian. With every step forward, the walls became a shade brighter. When they finally arrived at an open hall, the surroundings was bright as day. “Master, they are her
The Flaming Heart 21. The Crows
It had been a whole day since Thorn put the pearl in Leila’s mouth. The sphere was slowly melting and growing smaller due to her body heat. But there was still no sign of her waking any time soon. “You should rest, my prince.” Healer June stood up from bed. She lit a new candlestick and disposed of the old, melted wax. “You’ve barely slept since she…” “I’m fine,” Thorn cut in. He hadn’t shaved for days. His eyes, however, were distinctly sparkling with hope. He stretched his long legs and leaned in toward Leila, gently stroking her hair. “The pearl is smaller now.” June observed the red dust in Leila’s hand. “Be patient. It’ll work its wonders after it completely integrates with her blood. Look.” She showed Thorn the red dust; its movement seemed much less volatile and its hue wasn’t so aggressively red. “The serpent blood dust has been affected by the pearl already.” Thorn nodded with great relief. Ula didn’t lie to him—the pearl was actually working. But he wondered about the oth
The Flaming Heart 22. The Stronghold
All of the royals followed Thorn and flew up north, all except for the dragon queen, Amaya. “I have heartburn again,” she said to the others, “I won’t fly that far today.” “Did you call upon the royal healers?” Eros asked, in a tone like his queen was an acquaintance, rather than his wife. “No need. It’ll go away. It always does.” Amaya said as she winced, putting a hand over her heart. Thorn gave the queen a doubtful look, stroked a crow, and let it fly away. She then added, “The palace needs a formidable dragon to watch over it anyway. As long as people know I’m here, the palace will be safe.” With a reserved acquiescence, Thorn replied to the queen, “We will be back soon.” After they flew away, Amaya went back into her room and looked down on the servants driving away the crows. She hated the black, cawing birds for their righteous attitude and fairness when delivering messages for the royals so punctually over centuries. Not once had she managed to successfully bribe even on
The Flaming Heart 23. The Side Effect
Simply killing June was much quicker than fighting or arguing with her. As soon as Amaya took the stone, who would suspect her of killing a random healer?She walked towards Leila. The stone was laying right on her neck, shimmering darkly. It had the same sheen as the stone Tora owned before.Amaya reached over to grab the stone off of Leila. A fierce pain precisely stung her fingertips; it was a freezing pain, colder than ice, and the chill soon spread across her whole hand. She pulled her hand back at once, as if she had waited one more second, it would have fallen off.Astounded, Amaya quickly ran over to the cluster of candles placed beside the terrace and put her hand over the flame. The sharp, icy pain was mitigated by the fire, but it wasn’t enough to heal it fully.Right then, she spotted Thorn’s little sidekick running towards the bedchamber through the garden.Hugo had received a crow without a note this morning. He knew Thorn urgently wanted his attention at the palace. The
The Flaming Heart 24. The Calling
Both Leila and Thorn had a long good rest. This morning, Leila had moistened the sheets on the bed. Even in her dreams, Leila still could feel her arousal towards Thorn. Her fingers dug into his skin, while his hand wrapped around her throat. A fierce convulsions almost hit her.Then, a raspy sound interrupted her steamy dream. It echoed behind her ears, as if something, or someone, was calling out to her from a place far, far away.Sl..a..th..ar..The sound was eerily demonic, wafting towards her from a mist of black smoke. Behind the thick, cloudy haze, she felt a pair of eyes were staring at her, but she was incapable of seeing it. She walked into the mist, trying not to inhale the intoxicating air. After only a few moments, she was lost. Everywhere her eyes darted, it was the same black mist, thick as wall, quiet as a ghost.Sl..a..th..ar..It whispered again, from behind her. She turned around hesitantly. The mist gradually waned. Among the sharp peaks of black mountains, someth
The Flaming Heart 25. The Frozen Watermellon Balls
A cluster of white daisies were clutched in the dragon prince’s hand. Thorn walked through the grand hall of the gallery. Recently, the adjacent volcano had made the subterranean floor extra hot.There was a time, long ago, when he resisted coming here. He especially avoided the top floor, as the air lingering there stirred up a deep fear in his heart.But as time passed, the fear had gradually become mourning. which he found easier to handle. He started to come once a month, just to get a bit of alone time. Thorn pushed on the obsidian button on the gallery wall and got into the tomb. His footsteps echoed around the dried stones of the earthen walls, as though the spirit in the vault could hear a living being approaching.He glanced over the vault. Everything was exactly the same as before. Dust floated through the air under the blueish, slanted beams. He put the delicate flowers before the statue of his mother, Tora, the previous dragon queen. She died when Thorn was young. He sat
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The Flaming Heart Epilogue
Bolts of lightning snaked out from the scepter and scorched the entire dragon skeleton. The energy of the almighty power had given a life to the dormant, ancient bones. It was the undying existence of Father Dragon. The ashes were his flesh, burnt and crystallized.Thorn felt his dragon spirit quiver and heart grow empowered. He looked down at Leila. Her skin was glistened with a creamy glow, like a pearl, as she held the scepter like a goddess. He sensed that she was different; a more powerful being was connected to her soul.Then, the dragon eggs were lit up one by one. Soon, they illuminated the entire room.Olcan withdrew to the back of the room and tried to get away, but he was spotted by Thorn.The dragon scooped him up with his claws, then smashed him onto the ground, flashing his teeth and ready to bite off Olcan's head.Ben suddenly appeared behind them. He walked forward, restraining the urge to shift into a wolf. He moved past Leila to reach Thorn. His skin tickled from the
The Flaming Heart 62.The Moonlight
The MoonlightLeila was free-falling. Her hair was flying upwards. She was surrounded by darkness. She tried to reach, to grab onto anything around her, but there was nothing she could do to slow the fall. Fear flashed across her mind, but it was too brief to take notice. The faint gleaming of the scepter in her hands anchored her—it was a part of her. The constant noise of water sloshing was gone. She felt a tickling sensation in her throat as the air became drier and hotter. Then she heard the same whisper again,Sla..thar... Sla.. thar..As the sound grew louder and clearer, for the first time ever, Leila felt the power the word carried with it. It seemed like some sort of energy was resonating within her, shattering her muscles and bones, affecting her mind and thoughts as if an unknown power was waiting for her, and it was buried deep down below.She couldn’t possibly know how far she had been falling. When she landed, the ground was strewn with smoldering ashes and cushioned her
The Flaming Heart 61. The Fire Gem
Thorn stepped up. He placed himself between Olcan and the water sphere Leila and his baby were in.He stared at the wolf king with a deadly glare, and said with the coldest tone possible, as if every syllable was made of a sharp blade, “It was you all along.”Olcan responded with a wicked grin, pulling the string of the crossbow in his hands, aiming at the sphere, “I suggest you back off, dragon prince, if you don’t want to die with Mother Dragon. I should have killed her along with her annoying husband that day. But after I finally killed that old wretch, I was already too exhausted, giving her a chance to escape.”“But Eros’ ring... how did you get the ring?” Ula asked impatiently with a bewildered expression.“I think I know what happened that night,” Thorn answered, his gaze unwaveringly glued to Olcan as he inched towards Eros with small steps, “Olcan killed my mother and the Luna Queen. Then, he stole Eros’s ring while he was drunk and asleep in Amaya’s chamber. What always both
The Flaming Heart 60. The Mother Dragon
Olcan stood over the rampart, looking down on the ancient draconic city resting under the darkness. The palace was fully under his control. He was the first-ever werewolf king to accomplish standing at the dragon realm capital's highest point. But there was still a hole in his heart that couldn't possibly be healed.“My king,” one of his sentries approached and reported, “The dragon warriors, the so-called "Dark Wings," surrounding the palace were all captured.”“What about the brute prince and his foolish knights?” Olcan withdrew himself from the city view and moved back into the torch light.“All were put in the dungeons.”“Any casualties?”“No. The Frost Stones were very effective. As soon as the stones touched their skin, they were incapable of moving.”“You’ve done well,” Olcan gritted his teeth, “They underestimated us in every possible way, thinking I could easily fall for this imbecile's trickery.” He walked over to Serlon, who was bruised and swollen, lying in a pool of his o
The Flaming Heart 59. The Lunar Eclipse
Fenris had been tied to the back of a horse-drawn carriage. His body ached from sitting on the hard, wooden panels but was incapable of doing anything about it. Ulric’s corpse lay right beside him and had already started to emit a rotten smell.Normally, a werewolf’s corpse wouldn’t decay so quickly, just within an hour. But tonight was a special exception. A cold shiver suddenly washed over Fenris. Utter darkness had befallen the dragon land. He felt in his bones that the power of the moon had vanished. As far as he knew, the lunar eclipse wouldn’t be long—one or two hours at the most. He needed to survive it, then find a chance to escape.With quiet neighing, the horses stopped. The carriage pulled over on an empty alleyway. Fenris stayed put and tried to catch every sound passing through his ears. Someone was coming for him.“How was the trip?” Hugo flashed a grin at Fenris and pulled him out of the carriage. He then dragged him all the way into a dark house. Fenris was surprised b
The Flaming Heart 58. The Ring
Thorn forced his eyes open. The sharp water spear had become deformed, dissolving into the ocean water. He saw queen Amaya drop lifelessly onto the ground. King Eros was standing next to her. Eros picked up a handful of bubbling shells, buried his nose in them, and took in a big gulp of fresh air.“Dragon King,” Ula drawled, keeping a safe distance, “I didn’t expect you'd dare come here.”“I had to,” Eros lifted his face up from the shells, feeling better with ample air in his lungs, “I had a feeling you would make a move tonight. The streams’ mirrored surfaces only confirmed it.”Thorn looked back to Amaya, observing the fresh cut on her throat. “How did she die?”Eros glanced briefly at Thorn, dodging away from answering directly the question.“Who killed her?” Thorn pushed again, fixing his gaze on Eros.“Why are you looking at me like that?” Eros snapped, suddenly annoyed, “I did! Alright?” He raised his voice. “I had to. The capital is going to be attacked by werewolves! There wa
The Flaming Heart 57. The Golden Badge
Like a dark, looming storm, every werewolf squadron had set off for King’s Harbor under Olcan’s command. They moved faster than the night wind, carrying light-weight but incredibly deadly weapons made of frost stone. It was the night of the Lunar Eclipse, the strongest ever since the dragon race had lost their spirits. The werewolves believed that, if they could conquer the dragon palace, the first beam of searing moonlight would bless them with a century’s-worth of glory, power, and endless fortune. As for their eternal rivals, the dragons would lost their position in the world and fall to the Northern Realm, all thanks to the wolves’ frost stone.“Our fiercest enemy,” Fenris said to Olcan as they left the marshland, “the black dragon, he’s already dead.”“Your meticulous research amazes me, Brother,” Olcan said to Fenris without looking at him, “I underestimated you. I thought you were merely a careless man.”Fenris chuckled, hair prickled on his skin. “I’m glad to be of help. My me
The Flaming Heart 56. The Hidden Desert
Leila heard the voice again. It was louder and clearer this time. Sla-thar.. It came from down below, but it was too dark to see anything from her current distance. A faint reflection of the moon loomed beside Leila as she sunk downwards, cradled in Thorn’s arms. Unlike the cold and remote moon in the sky, its silver light was blazing hot, like the sun hanging over a parched desert. The path ahead was endless. The farther they went, the less it looked like an underwater world. It was the fishy scent that reminded her that she was deep in a river. The pain in her belly was subsiding; it mellowed into a slight discomfort instead of a sharp, breathless ache. What was more disconcerting than the pain was the rate of its growth. Leila’s belly was growing larger at an unprecedented rate. Thorn put his hand on it, feeling its heartbeat. Leila stared at him through the transparent bubbles on their heads, trying to decipher what he was thinking. His thick dark hair swayed in the water. H
The Flaming Heart 55. The Girl in the Room
Fenris was in a rather good mood. He just got a message from the spies he had sent to the Craggy Mountains; they reported that they had seen Thorn die with their own eyes, lying in bed and as his knight mourned. However, unbeknownst to him, it was a fake message—Hugo had forced the spies to write it with swords pointed to their necks before he finished them off for good.James and Serlon had escorted the crossbred girls back to their homes and had made sure any remaining Green Robes had surrendered or were executed. Unfortunately, Luca had died. The pain of losing one eye to Leila and further torture from Thorn was even too much for him to withstand.This city is soon to be mine, Fenris thought. He had dreamt of this moment for a long time. He strode across the damp ground, and the scent of the night seemingly became sweeter. The moon’s light was fading. It’s almost time to for their final strike. In high spirits, he entered the tent where his big brother was waiting.To his surprise,
