Starlight (The Dragonian Series Book 5) (62 page)

THREE MONTHS had passed. They went so slowly as my heart was still bleeding. It waited for the other part to reunite, but every night I sat on my sill, looking at the moon, waiting to see the outline of him in the night light. Nothing of that sort happened.

Images of what my father as the Saadedine had done before my axes struck him flashed through my mind.

I was wild at that moment, as he was busy tearing off Blake’s wing. I didn’t think and then a spear struck me. It was Goran. He’d wanted me to die so badly, ever since the day he’d seen me through the Dragonian’s eyes. The last thing I saw was the Saadedine turning into my father and then I’d woken up in that forest with Blake, unable to remember anything. Had he been saying goodbye? Finally able to show me what the Dent was, that he would love me forever and ever, but we would never get that forever?

Sure, they’d told me that he was looking for his last two orbs, but I couldn’t help but think that he was dead and they were just waiting for the right time, for when I was better, stronger, to tell me the truth.

I heaved a deep sigh and touched my scar. It would take months to heal and Constance changed my bandages twice a day for the first month after I’d awoken. The bandage was finally gone but the scar, the scar was still there. She couldn’t heal me with her touch anymore. I had to heal myself from now on with my healing ability, but it was slow, as if the Keeper of my abilities was gone. That was the other reason why I kept wondering if he was dead: I couldn’t wield my abilities anymore.

Still what he had done for me, giving me a piece of his Essence was the only part that told me that he hadn’t died in that cave. He’d been alive before I passed out and slipped into my two month coma. I had to believe that it was a coma and that I hadn’t been dead. It meant he hadn’t found me and hadn’t sacrificed himself to save me.

I’d finally found a way to tune out my new enhanced senses. The first couple of days were hard. The horrible smell, it wasn’t a horrible smell at all, it was all the smells of the world mixed together. I could smell them now, I just needed to control them, force each smell I wanted to enter first, followed by the second. It was quite an amazing ability to be honest.

It felt as if I was a dragon myself again.

The hearing was the same. For weeks everyone had to whisper; even though it sounded so loud, it was only a whisper. The best way I can explain it is that it sounded like someone whispering through a microphone.

My eyes were the best. I could zoom in and out like a photographer’s lens, but better. There were limits with photographers, there weren’t with my enhanced sight. It became my favorite sense too as I could see the night sky from my sill as if I was playing through the clouds myself.

A lot had happened since I’d woken up. I had a lot to deal with too.

Tabitha and Peter had both died. She’d lived her entire life as a coward, but had stepped up when she was needed. Not all the explosives went off as planned and the others on the other side couldn’t get through, so Tabitha and Peter had this brilliant plan that would end their lives but it had worked. They flew into the Creepers fast with a bomb attached to Tabitha. The minute it went off, the Creepers that already had my blood in them from the first explosion started to crumble and fall.

Plenty saw that it was working and eight other brave dragons lost their lives that way too.

They sacrificed themselves so the others could get through.

I guessed Tabitha couldn’t live without Blake in her life either. Peter wasn’t enough. But he’d stuck with her. Died with her.

Julia was another dragon who had died. A Wyvern killed her.

The entire McKenzie line was gone. In a hundred years nobody would even know who they were.

The only family that was left was Nichole but they carried a different last names.

Many of the special ops guys died too. Fred, the guy that was with us and Raymond also.

I’d liked Raymond.

But the most painful loss was Dean.

Sammy had almost lost her life too. She’d gotten hit with a huge harpoon and scorched plenty of guys, but a Wyvern killed Dean in the process. They found her barely alive.

I’d cried with Sammy so many times. If Blake wasn’t going to return, she hadn’t just lost her rider, the man she’d loved and who had adored her, but her brother as well.

Maybe we would team up after all, maybe not. I contemplated it as I struggled to see that future.

Fin-Tails, Copper-Horns, Night Villains, even Sun-Blasts. They all fought and a lot of them perished, but we’d won.

War was never a beautiful affair.

But good had happened too.

I now had a chance to know that man who they referred to as the Greatest King Who Had Ever Lived, personally. He was my father. It didn’t matter how busy he was, or in what meeting he was in trying to figure out the process of healing this world and his people, between two to five every day, he spent time with me.

We spoke about so many things, he even started teaching me the things the Council had tried, but coming from him, with all his personal experiences with these people, it made it so much easier to remember the things that I should’ve learned months ago. We spoke a lot about Mom too. He admitted that in the time before her death, she was desperate to find whoever was going to betray us, and that she blamed him for not trying as hard as she had. It wasn’t the truth though, just the way she had seen it.

My room was filled with black and white pictures of her, making faces, just being happy, laughing. There was even one of her playing in the rain. She was so beautiful and so extraordinarily vibrant. It was sad that she’d become consumed with grief and stopped living. He tried to speak about Blake as well, but I always told him that I was tired. That I needed to rest. I didn’t want to speak about Blake.

I didn’t know if he knew for sure what Blake’s fate was. But I refused to believe that he would lie to me because of what had happened to Queen Marguerite.

Sammy and Becky practically lived in the castle. Becky’s hands were filled with two sad cases but she made sure that we laughed on occasion, and she too tried to give us hope that Blake would return.

Sir Robert was a different dragon now that my father was back. He was fierce again.

Becky’s Dad was one of my father’s loyal men that had made it out alive with him.

I’d been in a coma and hadn’t seen most of the reunions, they’d made a big fuss about it through the media.

Lucille had been beyond herself when she saw him, or so I’d heard. They were still on their second honeymoon, where I don’t know, not even Becky knew, but she talked to him every night.

My father gave them all a choice, they could still serve the country or retire. Most of them, including Etienne, wanted to get away from Etan as fast as possible. I didn’t blame him.

My father’s hearing with the Council came soon. I didn’t think that they would’ve done that to him, but he looked ready.

I sat next to my father in front of the Ancients.

I had to suppress my smile on numerous occasions, as they forgot who he was. The day hadn’t started off like that though…

“DO I REALLY have to go? The Council and Ancients are not huge fans of mine, Dad.”

“It is the first meeting we will be together, Elena. I would love for you to be there, please.” I had the feeling that they weren’t huge fans of my father either and that just maybe he didn’t love these meetings either.

I nodded.

He smiled, kissed me on my head. “That’s my sweet pea.”

I loved his nickname for me; he’d used it a lot too, just like I used to say “for the love of blueberries.”

I put on my best clothes for today’s meeting and went with my father, Sir Robert and a couple of guards I’d used to see hanging around the Castle of Tith.

We went to the City Hall in Tith. I hated that hall.

My father and Sir Robert were speaking softly. His recovery was going well, but he still walked with his cane and there were times that I wondered how he’d got the burn scar on his face and neck. Whenever it had happened, the two never spoke about it in front of me.

Sir Robert started to laugh and my father and I looked at him.

“What is it?” my father asked through a huge grin.

“Just Blake.”

I smiled too thinking about the day he’d destroyed the City Hall.

“Should I be worried?”

“Not the least, Al. Just after he Dented, Elena didn’t make it easy on him.”

My father laughed softly. “Your mother would’ve loved knowing that. She was always worried about the future. About this Dent since the day she found out we were having a baby girl. What did he do?”

“The Council and Ancients have changed, Al. A lot. I can’t prepare you for what you are about to find.”

“We’ve all changed, Bob.”

“You know about them trying to strip away her title. What I forgot to tell you was they forgot to inform Blake about the hearing, they never sent him an invitation and somehow he got one.”

I smiled as it was Pappi who had made sure Blake had gotten his invitation.

“He almost destroyed the City Hall to get to her. The way he used to speak to them, it embarrassed me for many years, but that day, I was the proudest father there ever was.”

My father just stared at him. “What?”

We both laughed.

“Oh, I wasn’t happy either, Dad. But they said it was against their Dragon Law not to have informed him.”

Sir Robert laughed. “Breaking down the walls is not what your father is referring to Elena.”

“They disrespected the Dragon Law?” my father asked in a serious tone.

“One of the things that has changed, Al. They use it whenever they see fit.”

“Robert, how could you just let them do that?” All jokes were suddenly gone.

“How, you really want me to answer that?”

My father just stared at him. I knew now what they meant about my father and Sir Robert sharing their own, different kind of bond. They lifted each other’s spirits. He bent over and leaned with his forehead against Sir Robert’s. “Even if I was dead, Bob. You had responsibilities to all dragons.”

“They tortured me because they thought I was the one that betrayed you. If it wasn’t for Helmut…”

My flesh erupted with goosebumps, it was intense.

My father took a deep breath and sat back in his seat.

“Even if I wanted to Al, they wouldn’t have listened to me. If Blake wasn’t the Rubicon, believe me, my family wouldn’t be here today.”

My father turned his head and just stared out the window, thinking.

Maybe it had finally sunk in how much everything had changed.

The carriage landed in front of the City Hall and reporters rushed toward us.

My heart started to beat but my father, even if he felt the way I did, didn’t show it.

Sir Robert climbed out first and cameras went off. I huffed when they addressed him as Sir Robert again, asking him all sorts of questions.

My father closed the door. “What is that about?”

“Didn’t you hear what they did to him, Dad? They’ve only started to address him as Sir Robert again the day everyone found out you were still alive. Actually, not even then. It was the day you were reunited with him.”

He squinted first and closed his eyes as his jaw muscles pumped.

“You don’t have to be here today, Dad. Wait, see what they’ve became like first, prepare yourself, please.”

He smiled and touched my face softly. “It’s good to have someone care again. I’ll be fine, Elena.”

He took a deep breath and opened the door.

I feared that he really wasn’t ready for any of this. But to be honest, I wasn’t ready for what followed either.

My father smiled, waved and even stopped to shake hands with some of the reporters. He spoke to them as if they were humans, not cockroaches. He answered so many questions as he walked toward the entrance of City Hall. They all laughed at his responses. It was as if he was a different type of dragon breed himself. One that charmed everyone, that made them forgot what they were, and about their job.