A Hero of Realms

  Through the pain, I thought about what he’d said the first time he’d tried to leave me. He’d said if I returned to The Shade, I could get on with my life, and perhaps live here in safety with my family.

  When the idea of moving to The Shade had first occurred to me, I’d barely been able to contain my excitement.

  Now, as much as I reminded myself of the wonder and beauty of the place, without Ben, it felt like any other.

  Chapter 3: Corrine

  After taking River to her family in the Vale, I had to find my husband. I vanished myself from Anna’s house and reappeared in the Sanctuary, directly outside Ibrahim’s and my bedroom. I placed my ear against the door, straining to hear my husband’s breathing. I couldn’t. Turning the handle, I pushed the door open and switched on the light. The room was empty. But it was more than empty. It was… an absolute wreck.

  My eyes widened. Ibrahim had a habit of not tidying up after himself and leaving things scattered about—but this… this was a level of messiness that I hadn’t thought even my husband was capable of. The room had been turned upside down. All the contents of the drawers had been emptied—piles of books, clothes and papers all over the floor—the curtains were awry, and the mattress and bedsheets had been ripped from the bed. Heck, even the rug was scrunched up in one corner.

  My pulse raced. What happened here?

  I shot out of the door and began hurrying along the hallways from room to room. Each of them were in a similar state of disarray. Not even the bathrooms had been spared.

  As I entered the chaotic living room, meeting with a similar state of mess, I was relieved to see my husband sitting in an armchair, his back to me. His head rested in his hand, and from the way he breathed, it was clear he’d fallen asleep upright.

  His face was rough and unshaven, and even as he slept, he looked utterly exhausted. My poor baby. I guessed that the state of our home was a result of his attempt to try to figure out where I’d gone, thinking perhaps I’d left behind a clue. I knelt down before him and placed my hand over his right forearm, which rested on his lap. I squeezed it gently. He twitched, and then his head lifted from his hand. His eyelids flickered open. I almost laughed at the way his eyes bulged as he looked at me. I was sure that he thought he was still dreaming.

  “Corrine!”

  “Darling,” I said, beaming at him. He stood up and engulfed me in his arms. Clutching the back of my head, he pushed his lips against mine and kissed me passionately.

  “How are you here?” he gasped.

  Letting out a sigh, I pulled him down on the sofa with me and began telling him everything that had happened since I’d left The Shade. Recounting Ben’s story was the hardest part. What the oracle had told them, what she’d predicted would happen to him… I had to pause several times to keep my voice from cracking.

  By the time I’d finished, Ibrahim’s mouth was hanging open.

  “Now I’ve seen you,” I said, “I must urgently speak to Sofia and Derek. They need to know what happened to their son, and what he’s up against.”

  To my surprise, Ibrahim shook his head. “They’re not here. They left along with Rose, Caleb, Aiden and dozens of other vampires, as well as all our dragons.”

  “What? When?”

  “According to Jeriad, the dragons used to have some understanding with the jinn. He said that he knows where their realm is in the supernatural world, and they had ties with one of the families that lived there. They’ve gone to see if they can find a way to get Ben out of this bond between him and The Oasis’ jinn.”

  “Oh.” My heart sank. I wished that I had managed to return before they left. “D-Do you know when they will be returning?”

  Ibrahim shrugged. “How could I—or they—possibly predict that?”

  “One couldn’t,” I muttered.

  The thought of having to wait an undetermined amount of time to tell Ben’s parents the news about him being bound to an Elder was hard to swallow. But there was no way I could go after them to tell them. I had no idea where they would be by now, so I had no choice but to wait.

  As harrowing as the thought was, and as much as I tried to ignore it, I couldn’t help but think that their whole mission to try to break Ben’s bond with the jinn might be a waste anyway. At least, if the oracle’s prediction came true, the jinn were the very least of Benjamin’s worries.

  I paused, trying to turn my mind to other thoughts.

  “So they left with every single one of our dragons?” I said.

  “That was what Jeriad wanted. And all the witches stayed behind.”

  “Of course,” I murmured.

  I certainly didn’t feel comfortable about them facing those devious, magical creatures without a single witch by their side, but I supposed that at least they had the horde of dragons—whatever good they were against the jinn.

  My mind wandered back to Ben. I looked at Ibrahim. “I think Derek and Sofia should be the first on this island to know about what happened to Ben. It just wouldn’t feel right to tell anyone else before they returned. So for now, let’s just keep this between you and me. I’ll tell River the same thing… though I can’t imagine her wanting to talk about this topic with anyone.”

  “I agree,” Ibrahim replied. “It’s only right that they should know first.”

  I leaned back in the sofa and looked around the distressed living room. Now, I didn’t know what else we could do but wait for their return. Although I certainly had no intention of sitting here idle. Once I’d whipped our home back into a state of sanity, I was going to sit in my library and scour every single one of my hundreds of books that could possibly contain information about the Elders.

  Although if I was being honest with myself, I knew that such an exercise would be just that—an exercise, to pass the time. To make me feel like I was doing something. To make me feel like I wasn’t helpless.

  Because deep down, I knew. Not a single one of the hundreds of books I possessed would contain the solution for Benjamin.

  Chapter 4: Ben

  I stared at the jinni hovering in front of me. As the hunger continued to rise in my stomach, at least for now, there was only one thing that I could think to ask for.

  “I need you to contain me in this apartment,” I said. “Lock the doors from the outside and reinforce them so that I can’t get out, no matter how hard I slam against the doors or walls.”

  Nuriya looked perturbed. “But that can’t be the answer, Benjamin,” she said. “You can’t just solve the problem by locking yourself up.”

  “I know,” I said, grimacing. “I know. But I need some time to gather my thoughts. I can’t afford to risk spiraling out of control again and breaking into the human prison upstairs.”

  “All right,” she said, still looking uncertain. “It will be done. Nobody will disturb you, and you will not be able to get out.”

  With that, after clutching me to her once again, she disappeared from the room.

  Of course, even the jinn locking me in here wasn’t a foolproof plan—especially now I no longer had River to help keep my thirst in check. When in the deepest throes of my bloodlust, I lost control over my actions. I had navigated a submarine from adrift in the ocean all the way up to a beach, where I’d murdered several people. I’d only realized what I’d done once I’d returned. Once it took hold of me again, all I had to do was brush against my snake bracelet and ask the jinni to let me out. I didn’t see a way to prevent this—I wasn’t about to ask them to stop fulfilling my requests. I just had to hope that I could come up with my next step before I descended that far.

  I moved back into my bedroom and resumed my seat on the edge of the bed. I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples.

  If even the all-seeing oracle couldn’t offer me any advice as to what to do, I couldn’t imagine who else would be able to. If there was any way out of this, it was clear that I had only myself to rely on.

  I played over my visit to the oracle’s cave in my mind, recalling every detail i
n case I had missed some crucial piece of information amid the shock I’d been in at the time.

  My brain focused on what the oracle had said the repercussions could be if—or when—the Elder’s plan came about. She’d said that if he managed to use me to nurse his soul back to full health, it would be easy for him to bring the rest of his kind back to strength. Especially with my help. I preferred not to think about how exactly they’d use me, though I could guess.

  But if he was successful in bringing the rest of his kind back to strength, what would this mean? From what I understood, the Hawks had been their only true adversaries, or at least the only ones to be reckoned with. But after the war that had taken place between the two species, the Hawks’ influence had been diminished to nothing. I didn’t know what would stop the Elders from rising to prominence once again. By now, I was sure that they must’ve become aware that not all the gates had been closed eighteen years ago, and some still remained today. If they managed to regain their former vitality, there would be nothing stopping them from reentering the human realm and wreaking havoc once again. Only this time I imagined it would be far, far worse because no Hawks would be there to hinder them.

  My parents had spoken of the horrors of the time when the Elders had taken over The Shade. The devastation they’d caused. The lives they had ripped apart.

  No. That can’t happen again. It just can’t.

  And yet here I’d been, with each gulp of blood I took, bringing this threat closer to reality.

  As I sat there alone in that silent bedroom, it became clear to me that far more than just my life hung in the balance. And the more I thought about it, it wasn’t even the lives of everyone I loved in The Shade either. No. This was a much, much greater fight.

  The entire human realm could be threatened by these spirits’ need for human blood. And from what I knew, the Elders posed great danger even to other supernatural realms.

  My head reeled at the implications if I allowed myself to consume even a few more liters of blood. The consequences that could follow for all realms.

  All of this rested on my shoulders. My shaky, unsteady shoulders.

  Through the confusion I’d been in, one thing became crystal clear as I sat there in the early hours of the morning:

  I had to thwart the Elders’ plan… no matter what the sacrifice.

  Chapter 5: Derek

  It was no surprise that all of our closest companions immediately volunteered to come with us on our journey with the dragons. As we stood in the clearing preparing to take off, I was surrounded by my family and friends. Sofia and Aiden stood by my side. A few feet away was Rose with Caleb, the Novalics, Ashley and Landis, Zinnia and Gavin, and dozens of other familiar faces. Even Cameron—always the fearless warrior—had offered to come with us, even though he was still a human. Of course, we’d declined his offer.

  Apart from witches, Jeriad had also thought that it was better that no werewolves came with us. I wasn’t sure why that was—why jinn had a particular dislike for wolves compared to vampires—but I didn’t bother pressing for an answer.

  It had dawned on me that I possessed a magic of sort—the ability to conjure fire from my palms. A power that I had inherited from the great witch Cora. But Jeriad didn’t mention there being a problem with me coming, so I didn’t mention it either.

  As soon as everyone was gathered, Ibrahim along with three other witches cast a spell of shadow over all the vampires. Since we were traveling atop the dragons’ backs, we would be exposed to the sun. We just had to hope that this spell would last until we returned.

  Then we each climbed on top of the dragons—most of us traveling in pairs. Sofia and I rode Jeriad, who was the first to launch into the sky, leading the horde upward, high into the clouds. It was important to me that we gained altitude before crossing the boundary, because I didn’t want the hunters spotting us.

  Once we had flown high enough and exited the boundary, the dragons picked up speed.

  Jeriad had been cryptic about what we would find on reaching the realm of the jinn, and he still hadn’t given any description about the place itself—except that supernaturals called it The Dunes.

  It didn’t take long for the dragons to begin descending again, for we were going to be passing through a gate that was close to The Shade. It was situated in an old, dried-up well on a small island that Caleb and Rose had once been stranded on with Annora. Rose had the misfortune of passing through this very gate, having been kidnapped and carried down there by the prince of ogres. Indeed, it led to the realm of the ogres. I wasn’t entirely happy about using this gate, but it was the gate the dragons had initially passed through on coming to the human realm, and they were comfortable with it. So we found ourselves descending to the jungle-infested island.

  The dragons ended up crushing many of the trees in the surrounding area as they landed. We climbed off their backs before they shifted back into their humanoid forms—for there was no way they could have fit through the gate while in their dragon forms. I caught Sofia’s hand, and we all gathered around the small well. I couldn’t help but look at my daughter’s face. Her expression was a mixture of nostalgia and horror. I could only imagine how traumatic that experience must’ve been for her.

  I pushed to the front with Jeriad, Sofia following behind me.

  “Three of us dragons should pass through first.” Jeriad spoke up. “Just in case there are any ogres on the other side.”

  Jeriad and the others passed through the gate first. After that, Sofia and I followed, and as we landed on the other side, we found ourselves on a beach lined with high, sinister-looking walls, connected by a massive iron gate spiked with what appeared to be skulls. Human skulls. The wind was harsh and chilled even me.

  As the dragons passed through the gate and landed on the beach beside us, they began shifting back into their beastly forms. Jeriad had already shifted back, having arrived before us. I was about to suggest to Sofia that we climb onto his back again, but as we approached, he spread his wings and took off into the sky before we could climb up.

  “Jeriad?” Sofia called after him, her brows furrowed in confusion. We both stared as he shot toward a patch of trees in the distance. We sped up to follow him, trying to see what he was aiming for, and soon enough it became clear. There was a choked roar—a roar that wasn’t loud enough for a dragon’s—and Jeriad lifted himself back into the sky, clasping a giant ogre between his jaws. The ogre flailed wildly, only causing the dragon to clamp down harder.

  More dragons took Jeriad’s cue, except—apparently not finding any more ogres on the beach—they began to fly over the walls.

  “What are they doing?” Ashley asked.

  The dragons didn’t take long to return. Each carried an ogre as they soared back over the walls. They touched down on the sand before tearing into the ogres’ flesh with their mighty jaws. I’d seen many gruesome things in my life, but this made even me queasy.

  “It’s a good thing that Brett and Bella aren’t here to witness this,” Sofia muttered. “I doubt they’d ever sleep at night again.”

  As Jeriad tore through his ogre’s gut, spilling a load of foul-smelling intestines, I caught Sofia’s waist and turned our backs on the scene. The other vampires followed my lead. We approached the waves and stared out toward the ocean. A much more pleasant view. It was clear to me now why the dragons had been so bent on arriving through this particular gate…

  I turned toward Ashley—who looked close to throwing up—and belatedly answered her question. “Just a little lunch break.”

  * * *

  Once the dragons had finished their meal, they flew into the ocean and washed off the blood. Then, rising from the waves, the horde landed back on the beach.

  I looked toward Jeriad. “Finished?”

  “Apologies,” he growled. “It’s been a while since we tasted ogre… And who knows when we might taste it again.”

  We passed by the huge corpses scattered about the beach—stripped to
the bone—and remounted the dragons. Sofia positioned herself behind me, wrapping her arms around my waist. I felt her shudder against me as we launched back into the sky.

  “That was so gross,” she muttered.

  I chuckled. I was happy to see her mood a little lighter since she’d found out about Jeriad’s proposal. Although there was no guarantee that we would be able to help our son get free from the jinn, we had confidence in the dragons. And at the very least, this escapade gave us the feeling that we were doing something rather than just sitting idle back on the island.

  I looked downward. The dragons were moving swiftly away from the land of the ogres, so I didn’t get much of a chance to take in the landscape. We found ourselves soaring over a sprawling mass of water. Although it was daytime, it was surprisingly dark—the sky was overcast, and I didn’t remember ever seeing such thick clouds. As the dragons gained altitude, the water beneath us disappeared, and we were engulfed by the thick fog.

  Sofia’s arms tightened around me a little, and her cool lips brushed against the back of my neck. “I love you, Derek,” she whispered.

  A small smile formed on my lips. Detaching her arms from me, I wrapped an arm around her and shifted her so that she sat in front of me, her back against my chest. I wanted to hold her rather than have her hold me. Engulfing her small waist in my arms, I kissed the side of her face before whispering into her ear:

  “I don’t blame you.”

  She smirked, nudging me gently in the stomach with the back of her elbow. Then she swiveled on the dragon’s back until both of her legs hung over one side. Now that she could face me better, she wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me down for a long, deep kiss. I reached a hand into her warm auburn hair and closed my eyes, relishing the taste of her lips. My girl. Despite being married for almost two decades now, that was still how I thought of her. The bold, beautiful, self-willed girl I’d woken up to after four hundred years of sleep.