Legends Read online

  4

  Craig

  “Well now, isn’t that precious sight?”

  I jerked awake at the sound of the familiar voice and glared fiercely through the bars at Raghnall, standing there with Reginald and two guards at his side.

  I thought a day had passed, perhaps two, but there was no way to tell how many hours passed down here in the darkness of the cells.

  “What the hell do you want?” My arm was already tightening around Kate’s shoulders protectively.

  She’d fallen asleep with her head on my shoulder before I passed out from exhaustion, too.

  “A father can’t visit his son?” he leered.

  “Cut the shit, Raghnall, we both know you never considered me your son.”

  His face went blank, and I braced, waiting for him to command for them to open the cell, so he could come in and take his anger out on me—or Kate.

  I wasn’t about to let him lay a finger on her, but he remained safely on the other side of the bars.

  Not that it was too comforting.

  “What were you doing at the Darrah ruins?” he demanded.

  “Since you asked so nicely, I’d be happy to tell you,” I answered with a smile.

  His eyes widened for a split second and then they narrowed again. “Insolent bastard!”

  “But I’m your bastard,” I shot back, still grinning.

  He grabbed at the bars, shaking them in his fury, but the two guards moved closer as if ready to drag him back if he went too far. “You will tell me what you were doing with the prince and a damned Darrah, and you will tell me, now!”

  “Why? It won’t change anything, and before you try to lie to my face, I know you too well, Raghnall. I’m not telling you a damned thing.”

  “Open this door,” he growled, but the guards refused to move. “Do as I say!”

  “Kadin has given us strict orders not to allow you near him,” one of the guards replied firmly. “The prisoner is still under his protection and his guard, King Raghnall.”

  I smiled wider at his being denied what he wanted, watching the veins bulge at his neck in his rage.

  He ground his teeth, and I hoped it would be enough to send him on his way, but that would be too easy.

  “I know we’ve had our differences,” Raghnall said, and I fought the urge to laugh in his face at his sudden attempt at a gentle tone. “However, I can help you with this quest of yours.”

  That caught me off guard, and I froze. What game was he playing at? “Help me?”

  “Yes, with finding whatever it is you’re looking for.”

  “And why are you interested now, when for years I tried to tell you what was happening, and you refused to listen? What’s in it for you?”

  He said nothing, but his demeanor shifted to a more aggressive stance, and I caught his eyes dart to Kate then back to me.

  I was on my feet in a shot, blocking his view of her, and snarling in his face at the bards.

  “You will never lay your hands on her,” I growled in warning. “I will kill you first.”

  The guards moved in closer, too ready to act, but they weren’t fast enough.

  Raghnall’s hand shot out too fast and grabbed me by the throat, yanking me forward as he choked me.

  I clawed at his arm, but he didn’t seem to feel the pain as he squeezed.

  The guards yelled, aiming their spears at him, but they weren’t the ones who got him to let go, as dark spots filled my vision, and I started to go limp.

  A roar that reverberated off the stone walls and shook the floor erupted behind me, and a bright flash of blue-green light shot out, surrounding me and sent Raghnall flying back against the bars of the other cell.

  His head bashed into them as Reginald and the guards struggled to stay on their feet.

  I sank to my knees, hacking harshly as I held a hand to my bruised throat.

  My vision was blocked when Kate stepped in front of me, the runes on her body pulsing with power.

  “Touch him again,” she snarled, “and I’ll rip your heart out and shove it down your throat, Raghnall the Weak. Raghnall the Betrayer.”

  That voice… that was not Kate, but I wasn’t about to stop her. The guards helped Raghnall to his feet, but he angrily shoved them away with a curse.

  “You, you will regret this,” he snarled at me, but I saw fear in his eyes for a second when Kate continued to growl at him, but it was all she could do since Magnus had bound her dragon.

  He should feel so lucky. He brushed the dirt from his black shirt and turned to leave.

  “Who was Broden?” I croaked, forcing myself to stand.

  Raghnall’s steps paused, and he threw a glare over his shoulder. “Who?”

  “You know damned well who.” Every word hurt, but if he was so interested in what we were doing, he knew something, I was sure of it. “Who was he?”

  Raghnall stormed off with Reginald behind him, not saying a word.

  Behind me, I heard a curse and whipped around in time to catch Kate when she started to fall.

  “Damn it, love, will you stop doing shit like this?”

  She managed a weak smile as we sat down together, her fighting to catch her breath as the runes stopped glowing.

  “Saved your ass again, Craig. What am I going to do with you?”

  Her lips curled in a teasing smile, but I was wondering the same thing about her, and I wasn’t smiling. Not anymore.

  5

  Forrest

  Only a single candle burned in the infirmary. I tossed the blanket aside, and my bare feet hit the floor silently. A guard would be posted outside, but I was not going to spend another night cooped up in here, forced to rest my tortured mind that was not tortured at all.

  When I’d woken earlier, I found Magnus sitting at my side, staring at me with a strange air of curiosity—as well as worry—before he told me Craig and Kate were safe in the dungeons.

  Safe. None of us were safe, not yet.

  And from the way Magnus’ eyes twitched, I knew he was lying. Something had happened to him down there while he checked on them. He saw something, or heard them speaking. His conviction that I was crazy seemed close to slipping, but that conviction wasn’t ready to fall by the wayside just yet.

  There was a second way down from the infirmary tower. It was a tight squeeze, but it would have to do. I did not want the guard alerting Magnus, or worse my father, that I was up wandering the palace at night.

  My father seemed content to believe I had some spell placed over me, and would have me sent right back. And this time, I had no doubt he’d chain me to a bed until he believed I was well. Not that he had visited me since I’d been forced to take to bedrest. Apparently, he was content to wait this out, wait until his true son emerged once more. Eventually, he would be forced to see the truth, just as I had been.

  I moved to the rear of the room and shoved aside an old tapestry showing the family lineage of the Chimalus clan. Not so long ago, I’d been proud to say I belonged to such a great family, but now… now I might be the son of a murderer.

  Embedded in the wall was a round metal hook. I tugged on it hard, wincing when the stones groaned, but managed to slip into the narrow passage that would take me down around the tower. The path going was dark, and the stairs were hardly visible even with my vision, but it would bypass the entire tower and dump me out on the main floor of the palace.

  Running my hand along the wall as I wound around and around, I focused on getting to the dungeon undetected.

  Craig no doubt believed me to be a traitor, and I had to make them both see I was nothing like my father, not anymore.

  By the time I reached the last step and peered out through the tapestry that hid the entrance to these steps, I was ready to take my chances and sprint down to the dungeon. My gut told me they needed me, and I hated being apart from either of them.

  Craig and I might not get along, but whatever connected the three of us was stronger than any animosity I had toward the half
-demon. We were in this together, and the notion they no longer trusted me ate at me the longer I was forced to stay away.

  Pulling the tapestry gently aside, I waited a few seconds, but when no guards appeared, I risked it and darted across the corridor toward the wing leading to the dungeons.

  A guard was usually posted at the top of the steps, but luck was on my side tonight.

  The bell tolled the hour, and I realized I was just in time for shift change.

  I sprinted down the steps, holding my breath until I slipped into a darkened alcove, just in time for two more guards to appear at the end of the hall, yawning and muttering to each other.

  “Raghnall is on edge,” one of them said, annoyed. “I thought he was going to murder his son right before our eyes. Apparently, he’s still spouting threats from his chambers.”

  “He might’ve managed to choke him to death if she hadn’t done what she did.”

  “What did she do? I’ve never seen power like that.”

  “No, me neither, but if she’s a Darrah, who knows what she can do. I’ve heard the rumors about how strong they were… makes you wonder what this place would be like if they were still alive. Doubt we’d have any trouble from the demons then.”

  I pressed myself deeper into the shadows as they passed and kept on moving.

  Raghnall almost killed Craig?

  Kadin was very strict whenever he had prisoners in his cell. His sense of honor made him keep them all safe until judgment was passed or they were released to whatever party claimed them.

  The guards should’ve been enough to deter Raghnall from acting rashly, but it seemed not.

  Knowing my time was limited, I rushed down the rest of the steps, along the corridor, and made a sharp left when I heard voices whispering in the semi-darkness of the cells.

  Kate and Craig.

  I skidded to a stop on the dirty, stone floor and peered into the cell on the left.

  “Forrest?” Kate asked, squinting at me weakly through the bars.

  “It’s me, sorry it took so long,” I whispered, throwing a worried glance over my shoulder, but I didn’t have to look to know Craig glared at me. “I’m sorry, for all of this.”

  “Really?” He was on his feet near the bars, looking ready to come after me. ,

  I didn’t need a bright light either to see the bruising around his neck. Raghnall must’ve choked him through the bars.

  “Craig, don’t,” Kate scolded. “He’s here now, isn’t he?”

  “Yes, but is he about to get us out of this cell?”

  “I would love to say yes, but I can’t. There are too many guards. We’ll never get out of the palace,” I told them. “The guards are in a shift change; it’s the only reason I made it down here now.”

  “Of course it is.”

  “Craig,” Kate started to say then broke off with a sharp gasp of pain.

  Craig cursed and sank back to her side. She hadn’t moved since I showed up. Now she was curled in on herself, making a horrible snarl of pain.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked, desperate to get inside the cell and help her.

  “Why don’t you ask your bloody healer?” Craig snapped. “He did something to her dragon.”

  “It’s not… that,” Kate muttered. “The visions… I keep seeing them all…”

  “What is she talking about? Craig, talk to me, please!”

  “Celandine is still trying to show Kate something of our past,” he replied tightly.

  He picked Kate up in his arms and carried her to the tiny cot in the cell. He laid her on it, and she squeezed his arm before closing her eyes and appearing to sleep.

  I gripped the bars, wishing I was strong enough to push the metal rods apart, and get them out of this place tonight, but we would get caught, and they’d wind up chained somewhere else, instead of being able to stay in the same cell.

  Craig stalked toward me, nodding his head, so I moved farther down, away from Kate. He shoved his hands in his pockets, leaning back against the wall so he could keep an eye on the one thing we both cared about.

  “She can’t stay here long,” he whispered roughly, sounding exhausted, and as if talking caused him pain. “The visions, whatever’s happening to her, it’s fighting against what Magnus did to her dragon. Her mind is fighting too hard to get free.”

  “He must’ve bound her dragon, thinking she was too dangerous.”

  “Well it’s going to kill her if we don’t remove it,” he snapped. “Each time she falls under, it costs her strength and power. If I have to watch her bleed out in this cell, I will kill your father for it.”

  I believed him, too, Whispering, I said, “I’ll be right behind you.”

  His eyes widened in surprise.

  I glanced at Kate as she shifted on the cot. “When the time is right, I will get you both out of here, I swear on my life.”

  “Oh you swear, do you? And why should I believe a damned word that comes out of your mouth?”

  “You think I would let her die? Again?”

  His hand reached through the bars and grabbed my throat, nearly bashing my face against the iron. He bared his teeth at me, growling furiously as his eyes narrowed, and the bones in his face started to contort and shift.

  I didn’t fight back, I couldn’t.

  Beneath the rage in his eyes, lay the fear of losing Kate, of losing the one person who meant the world to both of us in our past lives, and apparently in this life too.

  I didn’t understand anything that was happening to us, but being near these two felt right, and I wasn’t going to fight that.

  “I will get you both out of here, I swear it. I just need time, Craig,” I promised. “That’s all.”

  “She doesn’t have much time,” he warned, and slowly removed his fingers from my throat, hanging his head in defeat of not being able to protect Kate. “If these visions keep coming, I don’t know how much more she can take before it drives her into insanity.”

  We both looked toward the cot where Kate was turning and muttering under her breath.

  “I’ll see what I can find out tonight, but you have to be ready. When our chance comes, I won’t be able to give you any warning.”

  “We’ll be ready. You better not fail.”

  The weight of their lives fell on my shoulders, and I whispered for Craig to take care of Kate before I ducked back into the shadows.

  The next set of guards for the evening would be down here any second, and I had to get back upstairs.

  Tracking down our bag with the shield pieces in it would have to wait until tomorrow morning, because tonight I had a different destination in mind.

  We were still in need of any information we could dig up on the Darrah line, and what happened to them before they all but disappeared.

  Craig mentioned knowing some answers were hidden away in the archives, so I turned right at the steps, barely dodging the patrol headed for the dungeons, and moved toward the east end of the palace where the library resided.

  The heavy doors were unguarded, and I silently pushed one open and slipped inside the vast halls of books and scrolls—documents that detailed the entire history of the dragons and many other races. No fires burned here, but several lanterns were kept nearby for the scholars who sometimes worked late into the night.

  I picked one up, and with a puff of dragon fire, lit the small wick within.

  The warm glow of light lit my path as I moved along the shelves that reached two stories high and covered every inch of available wall space. Anything on the Darrahs, if anything remained, would be toward the back of the library, so that was where I headed.

  My mind kept drifting back to Kate, in pain, trapped between the past and the present while locked away in a cell. My fingers gripped the lantern tighter, and a growling echoed around the room—coming from me. I paused and forced my emotions down before someone heard and came to investigate.

  At the rear of the library, I found the oldest stacks, mostly filled with loose pages
the scholars were still busy copying into leather bound books to preserve. I set the lantern down and began sifting through the stacks, but after a half an hour of finding nothing, other than useless ramblings and dust, I tossed aside another stack with a curse of frustration.

  The temptation to torch the entire library out of spite because of my foolish father allowing a dark part of our history to burn nearly got the better of me, but I leaned on the nearby table instead, glaring at the wood grain beneath my fingers.

  I would have to return to my bed and find another way to get the information I needed in the morning.

  As I picked up the lantern and turned to leave, something glimmered in the lantern’s flame.

  I frowned, shifting back again to see what it was, when I saw the gems in the wall behind the shelves. I swung the lantern closer, but all I could see were two sapphires, and maybe a ruby—or two.

  Something was carved into the stone! Not caring if I made a mess, I set the lantern down, grabbed the front of the shelf, and yanked it forward.

  The wood legs wobbled and scraped the stone floor, sending papers falling everywhere, but I had a clear view of the wall behind it.

  “No,” I whispered to the empty library as my jaw fell slack and I stared at the wall.

  Before me, carved in perfect detail, was the shield of the Vindicar.

  At one point, it had been filled with precious stones and gems to give it color, but many of them had long since disappeared leaving a sad few left behind.

  Gingerly, I ran my fingers over them. The carving was the size of a shield and in the very center was a strange symbol I didn’t remember from the tapestry at the ruins.

  A whispering voice brushed against my ear, and my hand moved of its own accord, pushing in the central black stone.

  It sunk into the wall, and dust puffed out around the wall in the shape of a doorway that slowly swung inward.

  I hesitated for a split second before I reached back for the lantern, and stepped into the room I never knew existed. From the layers of dust covering the few scattered tables and shelves that filled the small space, no one alive might know it was here either.