Moonbreeze

  Then the pain surged through me again and suddenly I wasn’t in the tree anymore. I was back in my body on the forest floor.

  A jolt rushed up my hand. I had only felt this once, a long time ago – or so it seemed – when Blake was still alive, and then I heard it.

  Agonizing screams deafened me.

  I turned my head and stared straight into Zack’s face that was inches from me. It wasn’t him.

  A pink flame lit up my palm.

  How could this be?

  “Zack!” the older boy, who had my hand clamped down, yelled and Zack stopped and stared at my flame.

  “What the fuck?”

  “Meet the Pink Kiss, asshole.” I flicked my palm and a flaming pink bolt smashed into Zack’s face. He tried to shake it off, but it had already spread and was piercing into his skin. He was starting to burn alive.

  I pushed myself up on weak legs and staggered slightly to the left.

  Derick and the unknown man just watched in horror as Zack started to burn slowly.

  The screams were about to drive everyone nuts. So I wielded my shield around him and the sound immediately disappeared.

  My eyes landed on Derick when I righted myself and this time the Pink Kiss came fast. He couldn’t even run as the fireball hit him too.

  Nameless asshole on the other hand really tried hard to get away and was running for the clearing.

  I couldn’t let him escape, and touched the tree. It was as if nature saw what had happened under her beautiful trees and she recharged my entire body with energy.

  Roots sprouted out in front of him and one looped around his body and brought him back to where hell was waiting for him. He connected hard a few feet from me.

  He tried to get away as I neared, crawling backwards with eyes as big as saucers.

  I screamed again, this time it was out of anger and both my arms were aflame.

  Why couldn’t it have come before all of this started?

  I grabbed his head.

  “You still want me?” I grunted and watched his face burning inside both my palms.

  The screams coming from Derick were dying out, but this man squealed like a pig getting slaughtered.

  When only heaps of ashes were left, I couldn’t think anymore. My mind was a blur and I moved around on one spot like a zombie. I pulled my hair and found myself on my knees. A scream tore from my mouth. It was so loud that it didn’t even sound like me. And before I knew it, I was running again.

  I had no idea where I was running to, but I had to get away.

  I was exhausted and a sense of weakness overwhelmed me. Pain – pain like I had never before experienced – pulsated through my body and I shuddered in agony. The last thing I remember was falling down and not being able to get back

  Earlier that night.

  “BLAKE, SPEAK TO me, what’s wrong?” Becky begged.

  Screams, my screams, agonizing screams of pain filled the cafeteria.

  “I’ll get Constance.” I only saw the heels of George’s soles as he ran out of the cafeteria.

  This wasn’t good. Elena needed me. I felt it before the pain followed. Her heart was beating really fast – super fast. She was scared and she was in grave danger.

  But this – this was ten times worse. It’s like whoever tried to keep me from her was doing this deliberately so that I couldn’t get to her.

  I screamed again and my core felt like it was going to explode. The cold floor against my body didn’t help much. My fire was too hot for me this time and I couldn’t calm it down. It was going to kill me.

  “Blake!” Constance fell next to me.

  “I…” I grunted hard. The pain was excruciating.

  “When did this start?” Master Longwei’s voice was here too.

  “It happened so fast. He was eating and then went into a panic, saying something is wrong with Elena.” Becky spoke fast. My sister was crying.

  “Get her out of here.” I managed to look up at Dean and he nodded and took Sammy out.

  My body went into spasm again, as another scream left my mouth.

  “Elena is in danger?” Master Longwei asked.

  Becky must have nodded as the fire clawed its way out of my core.

  “Release her gifts Blake,” Master Longwei said. “If you don’t know how, turn into a dragon, now. Elena needs them.”

  I didn’t think twice and shifted.

  My tail connected hard with the wall and it started crumbling down.

  Shrieks filled the cafeteria and I could breathe again. The pain was gone.

  Elena needed her gifts. What was this? She’d never had to ask…and I felt disgusted with myself. This was all my fault. She’d had access to her gifts all along but it was doubt; I’d made her believe that they were never hers, that she couldn’t access them.

  I jolted up but it was like my energy level dropped and no matter how hard my mind fought to be strong, to go and find her, I couldn’t. I came smashing back to the ground.

  Elena…. it was the last thing that left my lips before my eyes closed.

  T WAS COLD, dark and a feeling of being broken lay heavily on my gut.

  There was nobody anymore that could pull me out of this darkness, this pain, and I had nothing to live for.

  I was freezing to death. Maybe, just maybe, I would get my dying wish this time.

  My mind started to shut down and sort of reboot when voices close by spoke to one another. One voice was masculine and the other extremely high pitched. Their footsteps were fast, as if they were running.

  I was completely numb. The cold didn’t affect me anymore and my breathing had become shallow. My aching muscles and thighs were grave reminders of what I’d been through at the hands of those monsters, but the image of really wanting to wield fire – and suddenly being able to – managed to comfort me a bit.

  My hands had been engulfed in Blake’s pink flame. I didn’t understand it, not at first; but Zack, Derick and that other idiot had just stared at it. They had been mesmerized and terrified, all at the same time.

  I hadn’t even hesitated for more than a second and then I’d killed them one by one. I reveled in the thought. It felt good. I had watched how they’d started to burn, turned dark and fell into a heap of ash.

  I knew their screams would haunt me forever and that was when I started to run again.

  I just didn’t know where to run. At least I’d gotten my revenge on three of them. They wouldn’t be able to tell anyone how I’d escaped. They would only find burning grass and hopefully dust heaps after what my fire did to them.

  The voices grew closer. I didn’t care anymore. They could bury me for what it was worth. It would be better than waking up from this trance, dealing with more shit than anyone could possibly deal with.

  One heartbeat bounced rapidly, another was so soft that I could barely hear it.

  Penelope popped into my mind. Just die, Elena, die. You don’t want to be found by them. Just die.

  Neither Wyverns nor dragons were good news anymore. Dragons were too chicken shit to stand up for what they were and Wyverns, Wyverns were evil, always had been and always would be. I didn’t think I could ever trust another dragon ever again.

  The footsteps stopped, a shriek filled the air, but I didn’t see who it belonged to, my face was turned away from them. And my eyes were barely open. They felt so heavy.

  “Is she alive?” one said in a high octave.

  I could feel a hand scorching my neck. He was so warm. “I feel a pulse,” the other one said. “We need to get her to a hospital, now.”

  Hospital? Seymour would look at the hospitals first. Hospitals weren’t good either.

  “Okay, I hate this part, but okay,” the other one with the pitching voice, replied.

  I heard the plop and the tearing sound, and could feel my body being lifted from the ground. I wanted to wake up, to scream for help, but here no help was going to come, only punishment. And after what I did to those three, I would be sent straight t
o the pits and I’d be put into the next reaping and I would be voted for, that much I knew.

  My fire jumped into my head again, but I was way too weak to wield it this time.

  I felt how my body shook slightly from the movement. I could still hear his heartbeat. He was scared. It wasn’t the adrenaline of some fun activity that was going to take place later on. A Wyvern, scared. It didn’t make any sense whatsoever.

  The movement stopped and I started to feel the wind slightly on my face. It was warm too.

  “She is ice cold, which hospital is the nearest?” the one holding me said.

  “The one in Tith, definitely,” his dragon answered.

  Tith!

  I was back home. How in the world was that even remotely possible?

  I didn’t remember leaving any borders. Nobody stopped me, maybe my fire was still around me and they got scared and ran away, but I didn’t remember any of that. I had no recollection of how I’d gotten back home.

  The last part I remembered was feeling extremely drained and collapsing.

  “Whoever you are, just hold on, please.” A soft voice spoke into my ear.

  Killing Blake flashed through my mind again. What sort of punishment awaited me here? I was still scared, believe it or not, and thought that facing evil men that wanted you dead was better than facing loved ones who wanted you dead. I couldn’t run anymore, as I was lying helpless in his arms, and I was on the back of a dragon.

  The man gasped.

  “What is it, what is it!” The dragon heard his rider’s shock.

  “No, it can’t be?” the one holding me answered.

  “Can’t be what?”

  He didn’t answer.

  “Who is it?” The dragon asked again.

  “Fly faster. It’s the Princess.”

  Another shriek left the dragon’s mouth and I could feel him taking a different course.

  “No, to the hospital. Now. We need to save her life.”

  “You’re not thinking clearly, he will kill both of us.”

  “We have no choice, he will kill us both if she dies on your back, now fly to the hospital and I promise I will get us clear from his wrath.”

  Who were they talking about? Emanual. It had to be Emanual or Sir Robert. No, it had to be Emanual.

  I hadn’t thought about either of them for a long time.

  The dragon changed its course once again and a couple of minutes later, I could hear traffic in the distance. It became louder and louder when people’s voices entered too.

  The hospital was near. The doctors were ordering medical terms and machines were beeping all at the same time. It filled my ears as if I was in all of those rooms at the same time.

  The dragon landed.

  “We need help, now. I think it is Princess Elena.”

  Footsteps with hearts beating fast and a wheeling cart was squeaking slightly as they rushed in our direction.

  I felt the rocking of being handled by people. More gasps filled the air.

  “Why is she so skinny?” a woman’s voice asked.

  A guy grunted, medical terms again, a language all by itself but by the tone in his voice, it didn’t sound good. “What happened to her?”

  “We only found her. We were taking our morning run and she was just lying there under a tree. We came here as fast as we could. What happened to her, is it the Princess?”

  No reply came and then a light shone in my eyes.

  “It’s the Princess alright. Wherever she was, I’m glad that it isn’t going to be me that will have to deal with him.”

  There it was again. What did Emanual do that made these people fear him so badly?

  The Doctor yelled at someone in the opposite direction. “Get Constance here ASAP, and whatever you do, I don’t want any press, you hear.”

  “Will she be okay?” I heard the one that carried me ask from afar.

  “We are going to find out soon. Don’t worry, we will speak to him and tell him you only found her.”

  Again they had to be talking about Emanual as Sir Robert would never speak to me again because of what I had done.

  I heard doctors speaking softly about medicine, antibiotics and a heat blanket, as I was busy dying of hypothermia. A private room was mentioned and again, no press.

  I hoped I didn’t get to see what Kevin and his cockroach buddies were going to print about me next. Probably how I deserved all of this for killing Blake and leaving my responsibilities behind.

  I thought about the sky and flying away. If Cara were still alive, I wouldn’t have been here at all. I would’ve gone back to the only home where no one really knew me. The home where I was just Elena Watkins.

  I TRIED TO feel for her heartbeat again, but for the past few hours since that horrible pain erupted inside of me, I struggled.

  Whatever she was going through, I wasn’t there to protect her from it and it was something I would never be able to forgive myself for as long as I lived. Emanual was here tonight, begging me to wait for proof of her body. I sent him away. I wanted to be alone.

  Was she still alive? I didn’t know, but Emanual knew what I was going to do if she wasn’t.

  The pain was gone. It just vanished into thin air when Master Longwei told me what it was I needed to do. Elena needed her abilities and I had to give my consent.

  It disgusted me. They weren’t even mine, they never were mine and she really needed them more.

  Her heart had beat so fast, I had felt her fear as if it were my own but the connection to her mind was still blocked. She’d left me in the dark, imagining the worst possible scenario I could.

  If only I could reach her mind. It used to be so easy before, now it was as if she’d built walls around herself that not even I could break through.

  I’d put her in this mess, and the hard part was I couldn’t get her out of it. Daylight streamed into my room. The breeze was cold but refreshing. My clock said it was six-thirty.

  A knock came from the door. It sounded urgent and I got up from bed and opened the door.

  Constance.

  “They found, Elena. She’s in the hospital at Tith.”

  She wanted to say more, but there was no time. She was here. I didn’t wait to hear her fate. The important thing was that she was here.

  I jumped through the window, morphed in mid-air and flew as if my life depended on it.

  Constance didn’t follow. She was going to take the elevator. I hated those elevator rides, they were not a normal way to travel and I didn’t trust the way you just magically appeared where you wanted to be.

  I trusted what I could see and feel, and my wings were fast enough to get me where I needed to be.

  My heart pounded inside my chest, like the first time I’d saved her life, but I didn’t stop. It felt like forever.

  I had to see her, had to know if she was okay.

  I sped up and when the towers of the cathedral in Tith came into view through the clouds, I actually got scared. I hadn’t been in the air that long. Still, Elena needed me and I was close. I knew I’d gotten fast, but I didn’t imagine this type of speed. I descended and slowed down.

  I missed the landing of the hospital by a mile and turned around.

  A couple of doctors waited for me on the rooftop. They’d known I was coming, Constance must be here already.

  I landed, my paws had barely touched the ground when I transformed back, and stopped just in time on the edge of the roof at the hospital.

  I ran back to the hospital staff and grabbed the blue scrubs one of them held out and pulled the pants on first.

  I started following them through the entrance at the top of the roof back into the hospital.

  “She was brought in an hour ago. The doctors are with her now.”

  “Who brought her in?” I said as I pulled my arms through the shirt.

  “It was a couple, they were on their morning run and they found her under a tree.”

  “Where are they?”

  “Blake.
” The woman had a grave expression on her face. “She barely had any clothes on.”

  I stared at her. I knew what that meant. Why she’d needed my fire. Why her heart had been beating like that. A part of me broke and a part of me wanted to go back into the darkness again for a while.

  I clutched my head as if it was going to explode with anger and muffled a scream.

  Their scent lingered in my thoughts. Too many people had handled her, and I wouldn’t be able to find the fuckers that did this to her. But there was another way.

  “Where are they?” I was referring to the couple. I knew my ability to do what Crown Tails did wasn’t that strong yet, but I needed to see and smell what they had, when they’d found her. It was the only way to avenge what had been done to her. I just prayed that one was a dragon; no human would breathe after I was finished with them and the list of innocent lives taken by me was way too long already.

  “They are in the waiting room on the eleventh floor. They saved her life, Blake.”

  I ran down the steps to the eleventh floor and opened the door with a slight push. It hit the wall hard and made a couple of staff jump.

  “Waiting room,” I barked at two girls who shrieked at my robust entry, and one pointed me in the right direction.

  The sign announcing the waiting room was above the entrance and I barged through the doors.

  A couple of people were sitting there.

  “Who found her?”

  “We didn’t harm her,” one of the guys said with his hands up in defense.

  He was human, but the skinny one that that was biting his nails and hiding behind him was a dragon.

  I walked straight to him and grabbed his head in both my hands.

  A scream came from him. I could feel people trying to get me off him, but I was almost there in his mind.

  I saw glimpses of them running, making jokes. They were a couple and I knew the place. I’d been there many times searching for her. It was close to the border of Tith.

  A shriek came from this one’s mouth and the other one bent down to a half-naked body lying underneath the trees. My heart broke into a million pieces. She was so skinny and her legs were so bruised. They would all fucking die.