The Selection: Bride Of The Dark Dragon

LARA

I looked at him with a blank face. If he thought that I would clap my hands and throw myself on his neck, he thought wrong.

“I thought you knew nothing about what I am,” I c*cked my brow and he shifted from one leg on the other, not looking confident at all.

“After Gideon killed my father and I pleaded with him for my and Bria’s life, I was spared and gave a magical oath… Then, after he shared his plan with the warriors who were about to go with him on that mission, I returned home to my father’s office and started looking for anything I could find about seraphim – the mysterious people sent by the Goddess Brighta herself.”

I watched him expectantly crossing my hands on my chest. It was funny to see him this way. The Fabian I knew was always…fabulous, confident, magnificent. He had this glow about himself that attracted everyone around him. But now it was gone. Something was off with him. He rubbed his neck nervously. The confidence he always produced also was gone. It was just a shade of the man he used to be.

“What happened to you?” I asked him bluntly, “You don’t even look like yourself anymore.”

“I am not myself,” he admitted easily, “To be honest I really think that we’ve made a big mistake.”

“Oh, you’ve done plenty of those,” I gave out a chuckle but looked at him with newfound pity.

“It all felt so wrong from the very beginning,” he exhaled heavily and leaned over a nearby wall, “I mean… Well, you know me since we were children, right?”

“I do,” I agreed.

“And I,” his gaze shifted to the dark corridor behind us, “I was never perfect.”

“Nope, you really were not,” I nodded again, interested where he was going with that.

“I did questionable things, Lara,” Fabian clearly was not comfortable talking about it as he unbuttoned his shirt a bit, “For a warrior of Light that is… I slept with girls knowing that I will not be marrying them, I got into fights, I could be selfish…”

“There were worse things hat you did,” I snorted, remembering him pushing me into dirt and calling me names.

“Yes, yes,” he admitted, “But even through all those things I felt light in me. Always…”

He got silent and my lips parted in shock. He wasn’t saying…

“It started with your brother,” Fabian continued, “After he murdered my father and seized power… I thought… I thought I was imagining things at first. But now I know that I wasn’t. I…I stopped feeling light coming out of him. And you know that Gideon was always one of the strongest Warriors of Light…”

That was the truth. Deon had a gift and only a few other people from the White Archipelago could compare to him..

“I was thinking for a while about all this and came to a conclusion that the rules of the White Archipelago are not just words written in the ancient scroll, Lara. We have to live by them to receive the blessing of the goddess. And when the war started, every day I felt less and less light in me.”

“What did you do?” my voice turned into a whisper.

“We were killing people, just to provoke the dark dragons,” Fabian lowered his head, his silver lock falling onto his face and I noticed a few tears rolling down his bronze skin. My heart clenched from pain but he went on. “We were just a distraction. We didn’t even need those deaths in the long run. But Xander and Gideon had an agreement. And our new leader wanted to fulfill it at all costs. I hoped that the fact that I gave the oath would spare me… But I guess it doesn’t work like that. The light inside of me is dying, Lara.”

I covered my mouth with my hand. I knew very well now that he was not lying to me.

“And now I am worried about you,” he said all of a sudden, and I looked at him in surprise.

“Me?” I blinked a few times, “Why? I didn’t go on that useless killing spree.”

“You don’t understand,” he came closer and bend his hand lower to mine to make sure that only I would hear what he was about to say.

“Your b***d, Lara,” he whispered, “After I drank it, my Light came back. For a short while. But it did. I bet every one and each of us felt it. Now they all know that all we need to get our strength back is to just have one drop of your b***d…”

I recoiled from him in shock and he smiled sadly, “Do not worry. I am not planning on doing this ever again. If anything, it also made the Light I had remaining disappear faster… I don’t think that the Goddess of Light is proud of what we’ve been doing to her greatest gift to us.”

He stretched his hand and brushed it over my cheek, “I really wish we could turn back the time. I wouldn’t fool around and try to conquer your heart before you ever met your dragon and all that madness began. It all could have been so different…”

“No offense,” I said, distancing myself away, “But I don’t think that anything could be done about that. Demir and I… we are soulmates. I will never love anyone the way I love him…”

“Doesn’t matter now, does it?” Fabian chuckled darkly, “We are where we are…”

“It also doesn’t mean that this is the end,” I lifted up my chin to look into his golden eyes, “You know that what you did is wrong. There is still hope for you.”

His gaze traveled me up and down with newfound amusement.

“I hoped that you would say that,” he smiled, “Lara, I think you need to get back to the White Archipelago. From what I read, like a seraph, you should wield enormous power. The Goddess never sends your people to us without a plan. I think she wanted to give the islands another chance. But we… we are destroying it with our own hands.”

“Unfortunately, I don’t know anything about that… There was no one to train me how to awaken the powers inside of me,” I sigh, “That’s if I have any.”

“A drop of your b***d gives unlimited strength and power,” Fabian snorted, “It’s in there somewhere. And also, I don’t think that you need any training on how to use it. It should come naturally to you. Seraphim always come alone. And they always fulfill their destiny.”

“I wonder what that destiny is,” I smiled weakly.

“Don’t you see?” he looked puzzled at my expression, “You need to return our people to the right path! You need to restore the Citadel of light and finish that war. You know, everyone who followed Gideon is already dead. It will happen sooner or later. They may prolong their lives by drinking your b***d, probably. But it will ruin their souls.”

I shivered remembering how they all were drinking from me. That was something I really wanted to avoid.

“But there are others, Lara,” Fabian continued, “The ones who refused to follow Gideon. Most of those were thrown to the dungeons of the Citadel of Light. I thought of them as of fools before… But now I actually think that I was a bigger fool. I won a few days of freedom, but I lost my Light… and probably my soul.”

I didn’t have anything to say to that. Because he was right.

“You need to stop Gideon until he destroyed everything,” the man in front of me insisted, “And I will do whatever it takes to help you. Just tell me what you need…”

“And what about your oath?” I reminded him.

“I am sworn not to seek revenge on Gideon and not to think of ever marrying you. I am not going to do any of those things,” he straightened his death, “Instead, I choose to follow you as my leader and try and save my people. I will shove my romantic feelings towards you to the back of my mind and will do my best to assist you instead. Just tell me what you need. If I am going to die anyway, at least I want to die as a true Warrior of Light, fighting for what we believe in.”

I swallowed a lump in my throat. He was putting his life in my hands and trusting in me. Even though I still had no idea what to do.

But on the other hand, he gave me the confidence that I needed. I couldn’t afford to be the weak damsel in distress anymore. I never thought highly of Fabian but he was willing to die for what was right. And if he could do that, so could I.

“Fine,” I gave up, “There are two things that I need before anything.”

“What are they?”

“I need you to take me to the dungeon now,” I said firmly, and they demonstrated to him the two magic blocking bracelets on my wrists, “And I need you to find a way to take those off.”

“The dungeons are being guarded by red dragons, Lara,” Fabian replied at once, “They will not let any of us there. Especially not you.”

“Why?” I clenched my fists, feeling b***d boiling inside of me again.

“Because Xander ordered it. Everyone knows that you are the Emperor’s soulmate. You can help him heal if you are next to him…”

“But he is alive?” I asked hopefully.

“Yes, they plan to execute him publicly, so no one is going to kill him before that,” Fabian confessed, “But they…”

He didn’t finish but I knew what he wanted to say. They tortured him, weakened him…

“I still need to see him!” I insisted.

“I will not be able to help you with that, Lara,” Fabian rubbed his forehead, “I am alone and you are without magic. We can’t get inside by force…”

“But there must be a way!” I g*****d in frustration.

“And there is…” a familiar voice interrupted us both.