Chaos (Dragon Reign Book 4) Read online

  All we really knew was at some point Zohar stepped down or was dismissed as King and Malcolm took his place. I’d never questioned how it came to be, but as I flipped back a few more pages and tucked into the words, a very different story than the one I expected appeared before my eyes.

  Celandine was indeed a princess amongst the dragon clans, the eldest child and heir to the throne after her father. Her mother it appeared, had died in childbirth of her youngest brother, his name scratched out in the text so badly I couldn’t make out any of the letters.

  Zohar was proud of his daughter, and it was mentioned several times she excelled as not only a leader as far as politics, but in the military as well. She was trained alongside the soldiers and was considered one of the best swordsmen the dragon clans had seen in a very long time, perfecting the Darrah art of fighting.

  I thought back to the first time I taught Kate to use that blade and realized quite quickly it was far from her first time wielding a sword.

  I grunted in annoyance at where those thoughts started to lead, wondering if Craig’s vision came true I’d wind up fighting against her for real, but pushed on and flipped the page, not wanting to linger on those darkening thoughts.

  Not until I had to.

  I reread a few lines when I caught Broden’s name and learned he was originally the Captain of the Royal Guard and though a demon, he claimed the honored position by proving himself in combat against Celandine at a tournament.

  He had been entered by his king to fight for the privilege to serve the Darrah clan…

  “Kin to the Pagus Demons? Kin?”

  “Find something interesting?”

  I jumped, not realizing Crane had stayed so close. “Maybe, Kate kept asking if demons and dragons had been related at one point, but I wasn’t sure what to tell her. I always believed the demons and dragons hated each other.”

  “No, not always. Dragons and demons stemmed from the same clan from thousands of years ago. There wasn’t any divide until the realms were forced apart. Those with mixed blood died out fairly early, and with no new unions, there were no more hybrids.”

  “But Broden, he wasn’t one?”

  “No, he was full demon. However Malcolm was a hybrid. He was also the first hybrid King, and the last, sadly.”

  Kate had told me she witnessed Malcolm’s face shifting like Craig’s did when his demon half tried to push through.

  My gaze shifted back to the page, and I took in every word, noticing this time when Crane left and came back, so he wouldn’t catch me off guard again.

  I flipped another page and made it back to the page Crane had opened the book up to.

  Malcolm was the eldest son of another family and was set to marry Celandine. It appeared at first, she turned him down, but after several long months of courting her, and proving he was just as strong of a warrior as she was, she agreed to take his hand in marriage.

  I smirked, wondering what Broden thought of that after seeing how he’d reacted in the vision of the past. Not that their union stayed for long, though.

  We knew Malcolm married another and Celandine, she did not become the clan leader as she was meant to.

  I sat up, hunched over the book as I read on, wondering when their lives changed for the worse.

  3

  Forrest

  Carrying the tome under my arm and a bottle of demon grog I snatched from the sorcerers’ stores, I banged on Craig’s door.

  “Come on, open up.”

  “Go away,” he growled from the other side.

  “No, we need to talk about what I found, and the sorcerers are going to need us both soon.”

  I heard the bolt slide back, and Craig appeared in the doorway, grinding his teeth and his face appearing to be in the midst of shifting again.

  “You look like hell,” I said lightly as I stepped inside. “Have another vision?”

  “Not as long and all I saw was Kate alone, watching… something.”

  He growled in annoyance and sank to the floor, leaning his back against the stone wall. He hung his head, holding it in his hands, and for the first time since meeting Craig, I saw his more vulnerable side.

  He was Kate’s protector, in our past lives and this one, and here he was, trapped and not able to fulfill his destiny.

  I sat down beside him and shoved the book his way. “Found some interesting information out.”

  “Yeah? Does it help us now?”

  “Yes and no, but I found this, too.” I tapped his shin with the bottle of grog.

  He smirked when he saw it. “Help yourself.”

  He popped the cork out and took a swig. “Damn,” he sputtered. “Did you check to see how old this shit is?”

  “Can’t be that bad.”

  He handed me the bottle, and I took it, shifting the book towards him again. “Have at it.”

  I took a large gulp and choked it down, burning my throat like I swallowed my own dragon fire. After a few gasps, I managed to breathe normally again and set the bottle aside. “Right, maybe the grog wasn’t such a good idea after all.”

  “What is this?” His brow furrowed as he hefted it up into his lap. “I thought there was nothing about our past lives?”

  “Before the plague,” I said, voice still raspy from the old grog.

  “About who they were?”

  “Yes, and it’s quite the story. I’ll tell you about it over something other than this grog.”

  4

  Kate

  I whipped around with the Executioner blade in my hands as the beast came at me again, talons at least a foot long, and fangs hanging over its bottom lip.

  Its fur was tainted black, but was bloodied now from our fighting.

  “Come on!” I yelled, needing the fight to be over.

  It had slashed my arm and blood dripped down it onto the ground. This was the third one I’d killed in so many days, and I needed to find a safe haven for the night, a place to rest for at least a few hours and clean up my wound before it festered.

  That and the potion I doused the blade with wouldn’t last much longer. The beast howled and charged at me again, and I waited until the last second before I blew dragon fire down the blade, catching the last of the potion, then sank to my knees and drove the sword right through the chest of the plagued monster.

  Its screech echoed off the dead trees surrounding us, and it crumpled over, finally dead.

  I yanked the sword free, arms weak and beyond exhausted, but it was finally dead.

  I only made it a few steps before I had to stop and catch my breath, bent over double, holding the sword.

  “Great idea, Kate,” I muttered to myself. “You really outdid yourself this time.”

  Three days I’d been here, three days of fighting off monsters and hiding while trying to figure out how the hell to track down the rest of the shield pieces.

  The night Crane showed us that scroll, and I saw the faces of Celandine’s family, my family, everything clicked in a horrible way.

  The name I heard them mention in my glimpse into the past, Zohar, Celandine’s father.

  The reality of what happened back then hit me full in the face. All of it. It was like her memories were now mine, and I struggled to navigate my way through the maze of confusion that was now my mind. I was still in there somewhere, but now I felt like I was fighting against myself for space, to stay in control.

  I hadn’t wanted to leave, but what other choice did I have? Celandine showed me the truth of what would happen if I stayed because it was exactly what happened to her and Broden and Malcolm all those thousands of years ago.

  I couldn’t let Craig and Forrest get killed, not when I was the only one Zohar and Celandine’s brother were after.

  The wound on my arm throbbed, and I staggered to my feet to find a safe place to wash it out with the healing herbs and fresh water packed in my bag.

  I was down to a few more bottles of the potion Mama made before we left to see the sorcerers. I needed at least
one for Allis.

  Celandine’s voice whispered to me warnings that he was here, somewhere, biding his time. The rest… the rest of the potions were for Zohar.

  He was here, too, waiting.

  I had no way to know if they knew I was here yet, but I wasn’t helping myself by leaving a trail of burnt corpses along the way.

  I dragged my butt through the trees and found a rock overhang jutting out of a hill.

  There were a few boulders resting that gave me decent cover, so I headed for it and dragged a few branches with some leaves left to help cover the small alcove more. I dumped the bag on the ground, leaned the sword back, and tugged up my ripped sleeve, cursing as it pulled the slashes apart.

  “If Forrest and Craig could see me,” I mused as I sank to the ground and dug around in the knapsack. “I’d be getting at least three lectures right about now.”

  Despite how annoying I found their overbearing attitudes before, I missed hearing them scold me for pushing myself too hard. Or for thinking I was invincible, for getting hurt.

  I missed their smiles, too. The way they both had their own grin when they saw me watching them. Missed their hands tucked in mine as I fell asleep, and the warmth and solid comfort of resting my head against their shoulders as sleep came over me. I sniffed hard, forcing back the pain building inside me, part of knowing I might never see them again.

  There wasn’t time to wallow in those feelings, not now.

  I came here to save them, and I needed a clear head to do that.

  Washing out the wound was more painful than getting it, but I bit down hard on a stick I found and doused it with the water, rubbed in the herbs, and washed it out again before I wrapped it.

  My entire body shook from the pain, but when I finally rested my head back against the stones, I was satisfied that at least I wouldn’t wind up sick with the plague.

  I heard nothing around me and rested my eyes, needing to catch a few minutes of sleep… just a few.

  5

  Kate

  I jolted awake, blinking in the darkness surrounding me. The air had grown chilly, and I shifted quietly to grab a few more branches and light a small fire.

  The first night, I hadn’t had one, and it was too cold. I’d nearly frozen to death just because of it. The second night, I lit one and nothing charged at me, so I took the chance again, and with a quick puff of fire, got one going at my feet.

  I scooted as close to the flames as I could. and sighed in relief at the warmth.

  My arm throbbed, but it was manageable. I was far from rested, but I’d come here for a reason.

  Once again, I dug out the shield pieces and held them all spread out in my hands.

  “Work this time,” I whispered and closed my eyes.

  Crane had indeed given me a potion to drink that he promised would help enhance my ability to sense the other shield pieces as long as I held these, but so far, nothing happened.

  “Seriously?”

  I shook the glass shards in my hands and scrunched my eyes shut tighter.

  Still, nothing happened.

  “Damn it!” I slammed my fist into the ground and second-guessed my idea of taking off, again.

  You had no choice, a familiar voice whispered in the wind, and I glanced around, wishing I could see her instead of simply hearing her in my head. You are saving them, something I failed to do.

  “Yeah, and in the process, I’m going to get myself killed.”

  You doubt yourself.

  “Don’t you?” I snapped. “You were born a warrior, I was not, remember? Just leave me alone.”

  I hunkered down against the wall, ready to get a few more hours of sleep, but my mind raced, and I sensed the strange tugging in my gut as Celandine’s memories flowed back to the surface.

  I didn’t want to see anything right then, but I never had a choice anymore.

  My mind was dragged back in years until I landed in another one of Celandine’s memories.

  I glanced around, thankful for no death and destruction this time. Instead, this day appeared peaceful, a clear blue sky overhead, green grass at my feet, and gardens stretching out along either side of a castle wall.

  “Did you hear me?”

  “Sorry,” I heard Celandine answer and glanced behind me to see her and Malcolm sitting on a bench beneath a large willow tree.

  “There is much on my mind today.”

  “Such as our wedding?” His hand was on her thigh as he shifted towards her. “I know it’s coming much faster than we anticipated, but it’s for the good of the clans. I hope you know that, otherwise I would push it off for months, years if necessary.”

  Celandine smiled softly and rested her hand on his. “I wish that was all on my mind these days. A wedding, what comes afterward, seeing who we can be together.”

  Her voice caught in her throat, and though she might not have loved him in the beginning, I sensed she cared for him deeply now as he squeezed her hand, and kissed the back of it.

  “You are worried… and afraid,” he said. “What is it? Do you hate me so much already?” he teased, trying to lighten the mood, but she didn’t smile, and his brow wrinkled. “Celandine, talk to me, please. What troubles you?”

  “How do you do that? Know how I’m feeling?” she mused.

  He smirked. “A gift, I have always been good at reading those around me.”

  “Well, I shall have to be on my guard from now on,” she replied before her eyes darkened. “And no, this has nothing to do with you. It’s Father, he’s acting strangely of late. He will not speak to me of what bothers him.”

  “Perhaps he is merely trying to find a way to accept his eldest child is a grown woman.”

  I paced around in the memory, admiring the castle nearby as I continued to listen. “No, he’s been locked away in his study at all hours of the night, and I fear what he is meddling with. Cassius is with him sometimes as well, but neither will tell me what they’re planning.”

  “Perhaps you’re overthinking. Maybe it’s a surprise for you, for the wedding.”

  Celandine did not appear convinced, and I didn’t blame her. “This is different. He has missed the last three council meetings, and has removed troops from our eastern outposts. Why would he do that without consulting me first?”

  “The east?” Malcolm repeated, and his gaze glanced behind him, I assumed in an easterly direction. “There has been no trouble there of late. He could have sent the men home, giving them much needed time with their families.”

  “No, none of those men have come home, Malcolm. They’re just gone, and when I ask him of it, he refuses to answer.” I sensed the struggle within her mind of trying to convince herself her father wasn’t up to something, but she appeared to be losing.

  “Again, you may be overthinking. You have much to deal with of late.”

  “That’s not what Broden says,” she argued, and I turned at the sound of that name, thinking of Craig. “He too senses a darkness approaching… and then there is the prophecy.”

  Malcolm pursed his lips in annoyance. “Fallen from the lips of a man considered by many to be mad. We have no proof it will ever come to pass.”

  Celandine sighed and tugged her hand away. “Darrahs have always felt a need to strive to be better, be more powerful, but my father, I fear he is tempting fate, reaching for a power he does not understand.”

  “Your father is a great king. He would not risk his people.”

  “And you know this for certain?” she argued hotly. “You are not his child, and though you seem to understand my mind, you will not presume to know his.”

  “My Lady?” another voice said roughly behind me, and I turned to see Broden approaching, dressed in chainmail and tunic, sword at his hip, and a scowl on his face as Malcolm stood and the two men glared each other down. “I heard raised voices.”

  “It is nothing. I will see you tonight at the feast,” she told Malcolm, and hurried away, her head hanging and her lips moving as she muttered to h
erself.

  Broden stepped closer to Malcolm, and I longed to hear what was said between them, but this was Celandine’s memories, not theirs.

  All she heard was Broden growling as Malcolm started to scold him for interrupting before the memory shifted and we were suddenly walking down a darkened corridor.

  The hour was late, and Celandine walked quietly as if she did not want to be discovered.

  I had no choice, but to tag along, wondering what she was up to.

  Until we came to a sudden stop at a window and peered out into the darkness of the night.

  “Bastard,” she growled, and I hurried to the window to stare out with her.

  There, riding off into the woods, was a man in a cloak. I had no idea who he was, but that horse was the King’s.

  “Where is he going?” I asked and jumped when she answered me, and I found myself back at my tiny camp, the fire still burning away happily.

  Zohar. Many a night he left the castle and disappeared into those woods. I should have stopped him… but I was too late to act and by the time I did… the darkness had consumed his soul. There was no getting him back.

  “Why would he do that?”

  I never knew. He declined to tell me.

  “How did you know?” I asked quieter. “That you were meant to be the Vindicar?”

  When I was meant to be Queen of the Darrahs instead? When the plagued dragons first attacked after we drove my father from the castle, I led the army to stop them, Malcolm and Broden by my side. We did not understand then what they were, but our blades did not kill them, and we were killed by the hundreds.

  Her voice disappeared, and I thought for a second she was gone, but then a growling filled my ears so loudly I winced.

  We were surrounded, the three of us, prepared to die. All I had left was a shield in my hands, too weak to shift. Malcolm was injured as was Broden. Our shoulders were pressed together, but a power deep inside of me roared to life. Filling me with the strength of our entire clan, every Darrah ever born, and runes came to life on my body, flowing into the shield I held. When the first plague struck, it blasted them all back, killing them instantly and the Vindicar was born.