The Selection: Bride Of The Dark Dragon

LARA

“I’ve brought you something, “ Gideon smiles as he enters the balcony I am standing at.

“More books?” I give him an eye roll through my lashes. I am exhausted to stay locked in my room and he knows it.

Several thick books land on my elegant marble table and he comes closer, wrapping me in his arms.

“Just a little bit more, Lara, I promise,” he whispers as he places a small k**s on the top of my head, “We’ll deal with gerdians and it will all be over.”

“I’ve heard about this little Summit of yours. What’s all that about?” I lift up my head to see him better and notice a perplexed expression on his face which he soon hides away, as usual, giving me a calm smile.

“Bria has a long tongue,” my brother states.

“Bria is the only one who tells me anything! She is a good friend!”

“If you insist,” he chuckles, “We need to make them back off and hopefully lower their guard.”

“So that we could attack them first?” I furrow my brows, “Gideon, that somehow doesn’t sound right…”

“Nobody is going to attack anyone if there are no reasons to do that,” Deon tucks a lock of my hair behind my ear, “That’s not our ways. We are the creatures of Light, remember?”

I nod and suddenly feel a little bit better, but he continues.

“Of course, we never have to forget that they are the creatures of darkness. It’s in their b***d to destroy things, to suffocate Light… And it’s our duty to make sure that they will not be hurting anyone. That’s why this Summit is so important! We can learn something new about them, our people have been apart for too long and the information we have may not be relevant anymore.”

“I understand,” I have to agree with him but that lingering feeling inside of me doesn’t die down.

“Besides, that dragon appeared on our territory without any warning… And that can’t be good!”

Gideon’s eyes travel up and down my face as if he is trying to find something there. Is he looking for a reaction? Does he already suspect something?

I sigh and turn away to look at the night lights of the city. I’ve been meaning to tell him that it’s the same dragon that I met for a while, yet with every day it seems less and less like a good idea. Not to mention that I can’t possibly tell him that a gerdian comes to my dreams. And that bathroom incident… If I tell my brother about that, then we will definitely go to war… No, I’d better keep it to myself.

“I know what will help your mood!” Gideon says suddenly and gives a light squeeze to my shoulders, “Give me a second.”

He leaves abruptly but then comes back within a few minutes and I almost scream with happiness. In his arms, there are the most beautiful wings that I’ve ever seen. The feathers are soft just like the real ones. However, I can’t see how one would fly with something like that…

“What are they for?” I look at Deon not even trying to hide my excitement anymore.

“The usual, silly,” he snorts, “Come on, let me help you put them on.”

“And how do you do that? I don’t see any harnesses or…”

“You don’t need them anymore, Lara,” he smiles, “I have been working on them for a long time. They are almost the same thing as the real Light Wings. And they will work with the help of your light magic.You will just need to feed them a bit, all right?”

“Are you kidding me?!” I give out a little laugh, “Brighta the Goddess! This is the best thing that happened to me! I love you, Gideon!”

I throw myself into his arms and want to give him a little k**s on the cheek but he accidentally turns in the wrong time and my lips land on the corner of his instead.

“Oh, sorry!” I mumble but he just gives me one of his most dazzling smiles and pulls me into the tightest of hugs.

“It’s quite all right. I love you too, Lara,” he says somewhere in my hair and then, after a few moments of sweetness, pulls himself away and changes the tone, “Let’s try this!”

As soon as the golden core of the wings touches my back, I feel how my light magic pours into it and soon I start to feel them as if they were my own. I spread them and Gideon does the same with his, helping me to step on the rail of my balcony. We jump into the darkness together and then together we rise into the starry sky. This is not something that I used to. All my previous wings were mechanical and in them, I was flying thanks to my air element. But these wings work differently, so, like a little bird during its first flight, I keep falling down and Deon has to catch me and bring me back all the time.

“Who knew I’d be so horrible at this!” I chuckle, trying to hide my disappointment.

“You aren’t,” my brother says in his usual reassuring tone, “You are much better at this than your friend Bria was. You are better than most Warriors of Light!”

“Shame I could never join you guys,” I snort.

“It doesn’t make you any less,” Gideon smiles, “And your life is going to be wonderful even without all that. That’s a promise, Lara.”

“Now you’ll just have to keep your word and make it happen!” I giggle and push him away, trying to fly on my own again.

We play in the sky for a few hours, until I am exhausted and frozen from the cold air. But also the happiest I’ve been in a while.

That night, I fall asleep and see no dreams, finally getting the rest that I need so much.

And on the next day, I wake up still locked in my room…

The Summit still hasn’t begun when I am done with my morning bath and breakfast. I don’t even bother opening the new books and try to see something from my balcony. Luckily, a huge black dragon is not something you can possibly miss. However, I can say at once that it’s not smoke. Although it’s strange. They look very similar… on top of the dragon, I notice several men in black. They are just little dots from where I stand. And it starts bothering me that I am missing something. Right when my gaze falls to my new wings…

I know that it’s a terrible idea but I still do it! Maybe Gideon is right about the gerdians and their darkness. I’ve only met one and he is already such a bad influence on me!

I fly to the top of one of the local buildings to have a better look. Today I can hold myself in the air much better. I hide behind one of the columns so that no one can see me and take a better look at our guests. And at once a pair of eyes with dark magic in them meets mine! It’s him! Demir! And he is here!

All right, it’s all right… Looking at what is going on down there, I am pretty sure that he is the bodyguard of that ambassador in the centre.

Strange though, I was pretty sure that he was a rich noble. His bathtub alone is bigger than some people’s houses. On the other hand, Gerdian Empire is known to be rich and vast. Maybe this is the standard of living there.

I fly back home before anyone can see notice me. Gideon doesn’t look too happy down there and if he catches me while he is in a bad mood, I’d stay locked for months in my room! And he may even take the wings away.

I hide the traces of my tiny rebellion and start pacing around the balcony, thinking about everything. When dark flames appear in the middle of my room…