"I set up some protective wards around the grounds a few days ago. The two of you must have triggered the spell. Now, our Wyvern shifter isn't able to produce much magic at all,” Bratlav says and quickly adds. “Bring her here. It’s time for me to play a little.”
I swallow hard, understanding that he's seriously not planning to let Ruscal know that I’ve been captured.
I should have suspected that the grounds were going to be saturated with protective spells. Damn. I’ve been so foolish and arrogant thinking that my plan could work. Two wild shifters approach; the one on the right grabs me, while the other one fiddles with the lock on the chains.
"Harm her in any way and I’ll make sure that your death will be long and painful," Jorgen sneers, staring at Bratlav with hatred in his eyes. I try to fight the smaller one, but every time I move the pain in my ribcage triples. And I can't bare not feeling my dragon. It's like someone’s ripped it from me… like Jorgen's. No, no, no. Bratlav couldn't have done anything to me. I would have remembered going through the cutting of the mage ritual.
Seconds later, I'm forced into a chair in the middle of the chamber, and the large shifter kicks me again. I hiss, breathing hard, trying not to fall apart. It's difficult to stay sharp and alert when I'm about be tortured.
I keep telling myself that everything will be all right. Aria, Emilia and the rest of the shifters should be on their way here. They won't wait for Jorgen, they’ll fight for the city. Maybe there’s a reason Bratlav isn't planning to let Ruscal know that he captured me. Maybe he has other plans for me.
Either way, I have to do something—anything, otherwise I might not be alive much longer. Someone behind me grabs my hands and within a few minutes, I'm tied to the chair. The chains are still around my wrists, digging into my skin. I should be used to the pain by now, and I don't want to give those fuckers the satisfaction of knowing. No one has ever broken me, and they won't either. Jorgen keeps staring at me, and we both know that he can't help.
Bratlav approaches me slowly. The other shifter hands him a knife and his eyes flicker with twisted excitement. It's a very small hunting knife, with sharp edges and carved wooden handle.
"I’ve been thinking about this moment for a while. Ruscal wants you, he’s wanted you for a long time now. I’m finally beginning to understand why," Bratlav speaks, and I don't dare move. "I’ve broken the duke with the ritual, taken the witch's magic and now I'm going to take your dragon, and your fire. It will be wonderful."
As he stands in front of me, tension uncoils and he leans closer. He wants to see a thread of fear, but I won't give into his intimidation tactics. I’ve been through too much to lose control now.
"I'm much more powerful than you and sooner or later I'm going to kill you," I tell him, barely in a whisper. I try to draw in a shaky breath, tightening my insides. Bratlav smiles wider, and runs his dirty finger over the blade.
He places it on the table behind him and then takes something out of his pocket. A white bag that’s slowly drowning the static energy until a fierce throbbing slices through my temple.
I'm panting now, but refuse to scream. He wants to see panic in my eyes, and I clench my fists hard until the pain finally goes away.
"The fire magic of the Wyvern is going to make me the most powerful shifter in the entire Eastern World," he shouts, and then he throws some sort of golden powder around. At the same time Jorgen screams, pulling his chains, but he’s only exhausting himself.
The dust doesn’t fall on the floor; it's suspended in the air all around me. Another dose of sharp pain makes me gasps for oxygen. A drop of sweat rolls down my face. Bratlav’s connecting with me, and I see him. He must not be aware that he's sharing parts of him with me—important and precious secrets.
Energy is crackling all around me, forming a ball of light, momentarily robbing me of sight and sound. Bratlav laughs, and pain slides through me again. I fight with myself, refusing to scream. More pain rolls through me, but I will not show emotion and I’m damn sure not going down without some kind of fight, even if it kills me.
Then, I feel my beast swirling deep inside me again. It’s finally awakened. My dragon starts panicking like something from the outside is interacting with its energy. Nothing is happening and my numbness shifts into a pain again.
Bratlav keeps mumbling something under his breath, lifting his arms up and the powder still isn't falling.
"No. Stay with me, Astri. Don't let him into your head!" Jorgen roars. I try, but keep failing. The leader of the wild shifters is tearing my molecules apart, stripping away layers of my magic. My energy, the beast and every part of me that makes me special and unique is being ripped away.
The beast inside me roars, trying to stay with me, but it's being torn apart. Layers upon layers of my magic along with my fire song begin to diminish.
The pain increases with every heartbeat until I drop my arm, screaming now. I'm done being brave, done fighting now.
My heart trips up as I whirl around, almost trembling on the chair. Bratlav’s reaching deeper, and further than anyone else ever has. It's like every magical cell in my body is being switched off and I can feel it—all of it.
He hums under his breath while Jorgen screams as he’s being held by other wild shifters.
"Almost there, just let me take the rest of it. The fire magic brings death, and in a moment, it’ll belong to me," I hear him say loudly while I experience the worst kind of suffering in my life.
My legs feel like jelly, and skin is burning and aching. It's like he’s dislocating my joints, and pouring arsenic all over my body. I thought I could take it, but now I just want it all to end.
My beast roars out in pain, leaving its host and I try to fight it, swirling on the chair, seeing the shimmering gold powder all around me. This can't be happening, he can't take away my fire magic. It's part of me, and if I lose it I might as well die.
Then everything stops and I hear glass shatter somewhere close to me. Loud banging rings out and in the same moment, the golden dust drops to the ground. The connection is broken and my beast comes crashing back to me.
Chapter Sixteen
The old trunk and treasure.
The pain eases off the moment my powers return. I scream at the top of my lungs, as every ounce of energy rises on the surface of my skin. Then, I glance at Bratlav. He's standing in the middle of the room, filled with crazy rage. His eyes are wide, his chest keeps rising and falling in rapid movements. I still remember his vision that he must have accidentally shared with me. Either way, that's not important right now, because he's going to pay for what he tried to do to me just a second ago.
There’s a large stone right next to him, and the main front windows are smashed to pieces.
We see shifters barging through the doors and I hear Jorgen shouting for me to run. Others release him from the chains and I focus on my magic. We were lucky. Alexandra and Tom must have encouraged the others to attack the castle walls tonight, even without Jorgen being present. It was a good move after all.
The waves of energy inside me are like a breath of fresh air. This is finally the end.
I melt the chains around my wrists and legs, seeing that Bratlav is searching for a way to escape. More shifters are flowing into the chamber. The two wild shifters who were holding me earlier are now laying in the pool of blood. I see Thayer following the other shifters inside.
My Pixies, Aria and Emilia should be around here too.
I grab the chains, forgetting about any kind of pain and swirl them around my head. In that same moment, Bratlav starts rushing towards the other set of doors. My energy pounds through me, increasing my blood pressure. I can sense it floating over my head, sliding into every active cell in my body. My fire starts turning into a molten lava, but this time my dragon is guiding me.
Bratlav doesn't get very far when I release the chains. He slams on the ground, when I hit him with fast moving shackles right in the back. Thayer, Jorgen and someone else gather bes
ide me, trying to talk to me, but I block them out, concentrating on my power. This wild shifter is all mine to kill. I walk over to him slowly, seeing how he's franticly trying to free himself from the metal chains. More deadly energy rushes through my spine—the sparks of electricity break out over my skin, inflaming my fingertips.
I grab the chain linked cuffs, wrapping them around his throat using my magic, and squeeze hard. The metal starts heating up, burning patches of his skin. He roars, trying to pull away, but he's trapped, unable to get away. The same dark eyes that were once looking through me filled with greed and power are beginning to lose their spark of life. He knows that he's going to die.
"You should have never performed the cutting of the mage ritual, maybe this wouldn't have happened. Now you're going to pay for it," I tell him, slowly releasing the fire that’s been brewing inside me. I know that Ruscal’s still out there and he has to suffer, but Bratlav has to pay too.
The chains are tightening around him, causing deep wounds around his neck. His screams are muffled, and the smell of burning flesh wafts through the air. My beast roars, begging me to end him.
"Astri, let's go. We have to leave before Ruscal realises what’s going on," Thayer says, shaking me, but I don't want to move.
I want Bratlav to realise what he’s done to Jorgen—what he tried to do to me. He reaches for me with his hands, and his eyes are now begging me to spare him.
"If you kill him, then this will be over and my dragon might be lost forever," Jorgen’s voices finally reaches to me, but I don't want to listen. I glance at him, seeing panic in his eyes. He has an old sword in his hand.
Jorgen doesn't understand that I already know where the venom might be. Bratlav was connected to me and involuntary let me see inside his thoughts.
For some reason, I know that things are going to get better after that, and besides that it's already too late. My fire magic has taken full control of me. By the time I take another breath Bratlav stops moving, slamming on to the ground.
Raw fire pounds through me uncontrollably, and I don't exactly know how much time passes. Thayer leans over Bratlav's burnt body and shakes his head. My fire song vibrates through me, and I no longer care that I probably should have stopped myself.
Now, my mind is clear and I don't understand what's happened.
"Dead, he's dead," Thayer states and I finally pull away from the trance. Sorrow and disappointment fill me, but I shouldn't feel guilty. He asked for it and I couldn't reverse the power that started causing destruction around me. My dragon was pissed and took full control.
"Come on, let's go. He didn't use the venom, otherwise he would have taken my fire magic. It's somewhere in the castle and we have to find it," I tell him alerted and a little freaked out that my energy had seen his most intimate thoughts.
"He's dead Astri, and we don't know—"
"Listen to me Jorgen, I wouldn't have killed him if I wasn't certain that he still had it," I say.
We both hear roars, and fighting going on around the castle corridors. Aria, the Pixies and Emilia are most likely close by. My own plan backfired, but right now getting the venom is what’s most important. We must find it before it's too late and Ruscal returns.
Jorgen hesitates for a second, looking around. Then he walks up to Thayer.
"I'm leaving with Astri, Thayer. We have something that we need to take care of," the Duke states with determination in his voice.
"We won't be able to resist Ruscal's shifters for too long," Thayer says and I'm aware that we must find the venom tonight, otherwise it might be lost forever.
Shortly after that, we leave Thayer and run through the smashed doors, passing several bodies along the way. My heart pounds in my chest and for the first time in a while, I feel relieved.
Pollock tried to kill me and Bratlav was ready to steal my fire magic. They both deserved to die. Pollock took me away from Rivenna. He tortured me and after being inflicted with so much hatred. I lost control, releasing something that had been silent inside me for over eleven years.
"We have no idea where Bratlav could have hidden it," Jorgen tells me, following me to the higher levels in the castle.
It's been so long since we’ve been here, and it feels strange running through the place that in the past meant so much to me.
In the distance, we see Alexandra and her husband. They’re fighting several injured wild shifters. Lenin and Jetli are there too, but we can't afford to stop. I tell Jorgen to head towards the left and soon after, we start climbing the marble staircase leading us towards his old private quarters.
"We need to get to the old chamber that used to belong to Hans," I tell Jorgen, sensing dark and twisted magic approaching not too far away.
It might be Ruscal with his wizard, so we must hurry. We run, passing through the long empty corridors, passing several chambers on the way. About a minute later, Jorgen pushes me to the corner when we hear voices. Neither of us can be sure if any of the shifters are our or allies, but right now we can't afford to waste even a second.
Once the path is clear, we sprint down the hall. It's the same spot where I once saw Jorgen greeting Cassandra. That memory still turns my stomach upside down.
"Here. This used to be my father's healing room. I have no idea what you saw when Bratlav made a connection with you, but he shouldn't have known about this chamber," Jorgen explains and I purse my lips.
When I'm staring at the door, I have no idea if we’re in the right location. Nothing seems familiar and my beast isn't guiding me anymore. Everything is kind of blurry at this point, but a second later Jorgen barges inside. The doors are unlocked. The chamber seems disorganised and the scent of frankincense oil wafts around, irritating my senses. Bratlav was here, his magic is still present. He might have lived in the forest most of this life, but he certainly embraced his new position. There’s some strange artwork on the walls filled with deformed creatures and animals.
"Start looking through his stuff. The flask is here. He must have been keeping it to use later for some kind of special occasion," I say, tossing the blankets and pillows from the bed.
Jorgen gets to work, removing the contents from the cupboards and throwing them on the floor. He’s silent, and keeping his anger at bay for now. The dread of fear starts rising in the pit of my stomach.
I want to believe that the venom is here, otherwise I might have just wasted Jorgen's last chance of getting his dragon back. The chamber is massive, and there are several old trunks in the back.
I throw the covers from one and remove the box filled with some junk. Using the energy that’s still flowing through my fingertips, I melt the lock. Jorgen stands behind me, probably trying to stay sane. This is very unnerving.
We’re both on the edge, waiting to see what might be inside, hoping that sometime later he can finally reverse the cutting of the mage ritual.
"The cupboards are empty and I’ve looked everywhere. There’s nothing here, Astri," Jorgen says. His voice vibrates with emotions. I have no idea what he might be going through, but we aren't giving up yet. There’s something important in this trunk. The vision was a hundred percent real and the venom must be in here somewhere.
I open the top of the trunk and I'm instantly surprised by its contents. Bratlav has been in possession of rare plants from the very beginning; they aren't even from this part of the Eastern World. There are more flasks inside the trunk , and I check them one by one, while Jorgen continues throwing stuff out, searching franticly.
There are some throws filled with magic, and a flying carpet that we saw in the past. I glance at Jorgen, afraid that he may lose what little calm he has if we don’t find something soon. Most of the objects inside are rare and valuable. There are things here that were banned during the Great War.
My pulse is racing away. I keep tossing books away with anger, smashing some flasks, not caring that I'm wasting valuable magic. Jorgen’s panting. We’ve been through so much together and this can't end now.
Finally, Jorgen pulls out an old black box and inside he finds one flask. I recognise the colour of the dragon venom straight away. It's deep black and extremely thick like glue. I used the other one to heal Jetli. Apparently, each flask of the venom is different. Emilia read about it and mentioned that sometimes only a few drops are needed to heal the other person. In Jetli’s case, we had to use the whole bottle, and I truly hope that with this one, we can use it to help Emilia too.
"This is it, Astri. It's the real dragon venom. I can't believe it," he whispers, staring at my shaky hands.
"Yes, it’s the venom. I sense its power. What do you—"
He doesn't let me finish my sentence, because he grabs my cheeks and then presses his lips down to mine in an urgent, demanding kiss.
My arms find their way around his neck, and I slide my fingers through his silky locks of his hair. Suddenly I'm no longer controlling myself, lost in the wave of lust.
Jorgen growls and my pulse pounds. Slowly, every part of my body explodes with fire. His fingertips are brushing against the lace of my knickers and I moan into his mouth.
This is it, our moment—the one that I’ve been waiting on for so long. It's even better than I imagined. Heats starts ravaging my entire body, rushing between us, connecting us once more.
When he finally pulls away I can barely catch my breath and my lips are swollen, almost painful. Jorgen's intensive stare turns the butterflies in my stomach. I love him more than anyone else.
"I'm sorry that I ever doubted you, Astri. You have been nothing but devoted to me this entire time, and I’ve been filled with so much anger," he states, looking ashamed.
Heat rushes through my veins and I feel dizzy with desire. We both glance at the small flask that can save him and possibly Emilia. He's not hurt or dying, but without his beast, he will never recover.
Now all we have to do is to get back to the forest and Jorgen must drink it.