The Selection: Bride Of The Dark Dragon

MIRA

I gasp for air, trying to get up but two strong hands catch me and hold me in place. Turning my head left and right, my vision is still blurry. But I see the familiar figure next to me and tears start rolling down my cheeks.

“Mira!” Rien brushes his palm over my forehead, taking away wet hair off my face, “It’s fine, Mira, whatever you saw – it wasn’t real!”

“Oh, thank gods!” I wrap my hands around his neck and pull him in, to feel his scent, to hear his heart beating. I need it! I need it so much right now! “It was just a dream!” I exhale heavily.

“Actually,” he breathes somewhere into my collarbone, “It was the next test. And since you are up, I guess you passed it. Well done, little mage.”

“What do you mean since you are up?” his words help me sober up quickly, although acute nausea makes it hard to move.

He hesitates before answering, “At the moment it’s just you and me.”

I start to crawl out of our tent and see that all our friends are still unconscious. Isidore trembling in her dream, while Dereck asleep in a sitting position by the wall – he was on duty. Nort seems to sleep peacefully. But Rick… Well, I am not sure what he is doing, but he lies on his stomach on the ground and it looks like he is trying to swim. Trying really hard. I think I know what his dream might be, considering he can’t swim for life!

My nausea reminds me of itself with strong urges and I crawl a few feet away to empty my stomach. Bye-bye, magic mushrooms.

Rien is carefully holding my hair and pats my back. Unbelievable! I never wanted for him to see me like this! But on the other hand, I take it one million times if needed. Just for that dream to stay a dream.

He hands me a flask with water and I wash my face and teeth, then drink the rest in just a few gulps. This is much better now.

“What did you see?” the gerdians asks me when he pulls me back into his arms and brings me closer to my friends. We just sit there and wait for them to wake up.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” I bury my face in his chest and feel a soft k**s on the tip of my head.

“Mira,” he sighs, “Whatever it was…”

“You were dead!” I sniffle with my nose, holding back tears, “It was horrible…”

“It wasn’t real,” he tries to soothe me, but that’s when we hear coughing sounds and turn in their direction. Dereck and Rick woke up almost simultaneously and now look as if someone has dragged them directly out of a grave.

“Are you fine?” I shout at them, not being able to control my voice, and after a while, they notice Rien and me.

“Gods,” Rick trembles first, “That was horrible!”

“What did you see?” I can’t help but ask.

“I had to marry!” he shrugs, “For the sake of the Kingdom!”

I give out a loud snort. Everybody knows that Rick opposes marriage as a concept. He declined multiple brides offered by his parents and tries to avoid responsibility where possible at all costs.

“Who was the lucky bride?” I chuckle, leaning my head on Derrien’s chest.

“You!” he shrugs again. Rien tenses up a bit, but I burst out laughing.

“Did you try to swim away from the marriage?” I snort and now even Rien starts laughing, his body almost convulsing. From the corner of my eye, I notice that Dereck is not having any fun and avoids my gaze at all times. “What did you see, Der?” I ask my friend and he immediately stands up and walks towards still sleeping Isidore.

“I prefer not to say,” he honestly admits and I respect his decision. I also have no desire to share the details of my test. Remembering Dargen just makes me want to throw up again.

It’s only Nort and Isidore left. After about an hour, I check them both and they seem fine. Nort is sleeping peacefully and snoring, while Isidore looks not happy at all. Dereck stays at her side at all times and I can’t help but smile, watching the scene. However, I am worried about what will happen if one of them doesn’t pass the test.

A loud gasp – and Isidore is in Dereck’s arms. He helps her to come to her senses and I don’t hear a single nasty remark. Glancing at Derrien quickly, I receive an approving smile from him.

That leaves just Nort. We sit at his side in turns, watching him sleep peacefully and just hope that he will wake up any moment now. After several hours, we decide that it’s time to try and wake him ourselves. However, we quickly come to the conclusion that it’s easier said than done.

“I think I know what his test might have been,” Rick says sadly. Dereck and I know as well. There is only one thing that was his weakness – money. Or the lack of it if speaking precisely. He is the only commoner among us and he is the only one supporting his family. We tried to help as much as we could, but until he graduated from the Academy and gets a well-paid job there isn’t much that we can do except for just lending him money here and there, giving him gifts on occasions, and so on. So, if his test was finding money that could save his family from poverty…

“Can’t blame him,” Dereck says, “But what now? I don’t think he is going to wake up…”

“We can’t leave him here!” Isidore joins in.

“We are not going to!” Dereck snaps at her again and I sigh, everything was going so well before this moment. Nort clearly failed the test and the whole thing left us with a bitter taste.

“I’ll transport him to Brandon,” Rien says, “And we’ll continue our journey.”

“I don’t know if it’s a good idea,” I confess quietly, “What if you leave the grounds and this will count as failing the test?”

“I am not going to leave the grounds,” my gerdian smirks, “However it will take a lot of strength out of me, so for the next few hours I will not be at my strongest and protecting you…”

“I can manage myself, thank you very much!” I roll my eyes and then look at my sleeping friend as well, “It’s good that you are sending him to Brandon. Morgan is there and she is a herbalist. I am sure she’ll find a way to detoxify him and wake him up.”

Rien touches Nort’s shoulder and flames of dark magic surround him. One second – and he is gone.

“I hope nobody was sitting on that sofa,” Rien mutters, “I can only transport people to exact locations I remember or with precise coordinates.”

For a second I imagine Morgan and Brandon sitting on their sofa and enjoying a quiet evening together when unconscious Nort falls on their heads. Quite the way to remind of ourselves.

We keep walking in silence. No one is in the mood to talk anymore. I look at Rien from time to time. He said that he’ll be weaker but somehow I don’t see any difference with his usual self. Impressive.

I look up and see another emblem of Agnegard, signifying that the next test is near. I have a bad feeling about this one and when we walk through a tight passage where we hardly fit in and walk into a huge open space, I gulp. This part of the cave is huge. So much so that it takes one’s breath away.

We are standing on a dais and look down at a huge and complicated maze below us. I don’t even see where it ends.

“Seriously?!” Rick whistles and I look at Rien, “Those dragons are better to be worth it!”

“It’s important not to lose each other here”, I say before the entrance to the maze, “Who knows what’s inside!”

“It would probably be best if we use this!” Dereck gets a long piece of rope out of his bag and we all tie it around our waists.

Rien goes first, then me, then Rick and Isidore, and Dereck completes our chain. The guys and I got out our daggers just in case, Isidore grabbed a stick she found, and only Rien leads us without any weapons, confident as always.

I can’t help but admire this man again and again. During our entire journey, he never gave in to panic. He should be the one worried the most, as we are looking for his people now. Possibly even his family. But the only thing he seems to be bothered about is my safety. The thought warms my heart.

The walls of the maze are made out of stone and covered with vegetation, we have to step carefully not to trip on vines.

We don’t talk, all of us on high alert, looking around at all times.

When suddenly one of the walls moves abruptly and changes its position, cutting off Dereck and Isidore from the rest of our group.

“What the chaos!” Rick yells, holding the broken end of the rope in his hands.

“Guys?” I shout, “Do you hear us?”

“Yes!” Isidore yells, “ We are fine!”

“But Dirty dragon tricks”, Dereck almost swears, “I guess they want us to deal with it separately! See you at the exit!”

We look at each other tensely and cut the rope off without saying a word. In this kind of circumstances, it may do more harm than good. Walking carefully and watching every move, we check on our lost friends when we can. However, they seem further away from us every time.

Another wall changes and Rick is lost as well. Damn it!

“Stay as close to me as possible!” Rien grits through his teeth, I see that his eyes are full of dark magic.

“Are you all right?” I squeeze his hand that I am holding tighter.

“This is annoying,” he says, continuing our path, “It’d better be worth it. I don’t know for how much I can hold on without shifting in rage!”

“Everything will be…”, I start reassuring my fiancé when I notice that one of the vines is moving and wraps around my leg swiftly, pulling me with all its might and lifting me up in the air, “Rien!”

“Mira!” his terrified face is the last thing that I see…

I am thrown away quite far from him but, to my surprise, nothing else happens. No one attacks me and the walls are not moving anymore. I guess their aim is to simply separate us from one another.

“Rien, I am fine!” I shout.

“Damn it!” Dereck swears somewhere on the right, “You too?”

“Yeah,” I exhale loudly, “Maybe that’s why Aaron Brookland was the only one to get into Agnegard…”

“I really hope that it’s not the case!” Isidore yells, “Otherwise it would be the most disappointing trip of the century!”

“Rien?” I call for my gerdian, suddenly realizing that he hasn’t said a word to me yet, “Rien!!!”

“I am fine,” he shouts, “But I need you to do something for me. All of you!”

“Anything!” I agree at once.

“Create fireballs and show me where you are, lift them as high above your heads as you can! Higher than the walls,” his voice sounds as if he is on the verge of something.

“All right!” I do as he asks and create quite a big fireball and make him levitate above me. Soon I notice two others as well. Dereck is still with Isidore.

“Do you see?” Rick shouts.

“Yeah!” Rien sounds strange, “Stay where you are until I come for you!”

And with that, the ground starts shaking and I see a huge figure grow right in front of me, spreading its majestic wings. He has shifted into a dragon!

He gives out a roar and then flaps just one of his wings and demolishes at least half of the maze. Then he spreads another wing in my direction and I jump onto it, getting his idea at once. I climb onto him just like a few days prior, still amazed at the power and beauty this beast radiates. He does the same for my friends and in no time we are all sitting on the back of the dark dragon.

He opens his mouth and lets out a huge wave of dark fire, walking slowly to the exit and destroying everything on our way.

We stop at the very wide but not high white marble staircase that leads to two grand doors mounted into the rock. Sliding down with the help of Rien’s wings again, we wait for him to shift and start walking up the stairs.

When the door opens and strong light hits our tired eyes.