Chapter 8

“This isn’t right,” Kai said as he followed the bright trail of magical golden sparkles into the ruins.

The trail hadn’t diminished this time. It seemed to grow even brighter as we reached the tail end of it.

Kai wasn’t referring to the trail behaving differently though. For all I knew it was supposed to remain visible once the disturbance had been located.

The male knelt in front of a bright purple flower that seemed to glow from within, plucking it from the ground before he sniffed it. “It’s… alive. Nothing grows outside of the barrier.” Kai glanced around as if he expected something horrible to descend on us at any moment.

As I stepped around him, I found a multitude of the gem-like flowers surrounding one single pillar. Warmth heated on my wrist, making me look down to find the source.

One of the divots in my bracelet had started glowing.

Well, that’s interesting.

My wings fluttered when a vibration ran through the ground, making my legs tingle. I flashed my attention over the horizon and noticed shadows moving.

“Kai?” I said as my voice lilted upward with worry. “There’s something out there.”

“Wrath Monsters,” he said, then rushed around me. “We’ve got to retrieve the artifact and get out of here, fast. They’re probably here for it too, which means it’s valuable.”

A screech cut through the air, making bumps rise over my skin. “What do you usually do when you run into a Wrath Monster?” I asked.

He began clawing into the pile of rocks, making slow work of unearthing whatever was underneath. “You run.”

I bit my lip, then pulled out my pitiful flute.

Kai might want the artifact because it would get him more stupid floral points.

I, on the other hand, needed answers. And whatever the disturbance was, it was interacting with my bracelet. That meant it had something to do with the Lost Queens.

The diamond royals, specifically.

“Do you have a blade? I can hold them off if you give me one.” I rolled my eyes in his direction as I remembered what he had said at the Healing Hut. “Or is that unseemly because I’m a girl?”

He chuckled, then pulled out a foil from his boot. The long, thin blade was one I had recently learned how to use with Killian and it sent a twist of emotion through my chest. “I only said that because we had an audience and my family would disown me if I didn’t vocally support the old ways. I need them to keep talking to me.” He flicked his ruby gaze up at me again, hesitating as if he had once again said something he hadn’t meant to. “I respect women, Vivienne. In fact, I trust one with a blade more than I trust myself.” He held it out to me, hilt-first.

I gave him a raised brow and accepted it, testing its light weight as I watched him return to digging. A quick scan of our surroundings revealed that the shadows were coming closer, but they’d slowed down.

They seemed to be avoiding the pink flowers and the soft glow they gave off.

“You can call me Vivi,” I said as I approached one of the denser clumps of pink flowers, then twirled my blade as I readied myself.

Because this was going to be a fight, and I didn’t exactly know what I was up against.

I was also on my own. Kai needed to focus on his task and I’d just taken his weapon.

He was trusting me, and I wasn’t sure what to make of that.

And I was a Dragonrider without a dragon… but isn’t that exactly what the Academy had been preparing the students for? That was why I had learned how to use a foil in the first place.

A quick check-in with Solstice made me frown because she wasn’t sleeping in her nest anymore.

She’d flown out the window and taken to the skies… looking for me.

Go back, Solstice, I told her.

She sent a wave of refusal back at me that might as well have said “Not a chance,” followed by a wave of irritation that added “You shouldn’t go anywhere without me. Now you’re in trouble.”

She was right. A shadow launched at me, making me act on instinct as I ducked just in time. A creature screeched and gave me a brief view of its features with eyes too large for its face.

As well as a massive set of pointy teeth.

It had its maw open ready to sink those things into me. I sliced with the foil, hitting it on the side and injuring the creature. It screeched again and disappeared into the darkness, but another quickly took its place.

Three more came at me, and when they approached the pink glow of the flowers I got a better look at them.

“What are these things?” I cried as I jumped over one that had dove for me, landing on its head as I sliced at another.

The foil managed to scratch it, but I was in a poor position to fight as the creature I’d been standing on popped up, sending me flying to the ground.

Outside of the protective glow of the pink flowers.

The third took advantage of my fall, landing on me and snarling. Pain ran up my arm as it clawed at me and I pushed it away, breathless when the thing was ripped off of me.

Kai pulled out his flute and blew a sharp note, one that made me cover my ears as best I could while I still held the foil. New cuts formed over my skin, making me hiss in pain.

“They’re goblins,” he said as the shadows momentarily retreated. He turned to me and helped me up. “Sorry, my attack magic hits everything in the vicinity. I’m used to working alone.”

I stared down at his flute that had just released a painful sound that had literally cut me. “Impressive,” I murmured.

He gave me another one of his smirks that made me miss Killian, then he pocketed the instrument before he started digging again.

The edge of a bright pink gem sent light spilling over the ground, revealing some sort of gem that Kai’s magic had found.

“Is that the artifact?” I asked, my eyes rounding as he touched the smooth surface.

“It must be,” he said, frowning. “But this seems to be repelling the Wrath Monsters. I don’t know why they want it, unless they’re trying to destroy it before we can use it against them.” His eyes found mine, his gaze turning wild. “We’ve never found anything that could fight them, Vivi. This is huge.”

We both stared at each other while goblins screeched in the background, no doubt readying themselves for another wave.

Darkness washed over us, momentarily blinding me. I ducked out of instinct, feeling a breeze rush over my head.

“Kai?” I yelled, but there wasn’t a response.

Something hard hit me from behind, then claws raked around my ankle and dragged me across the sharp rocks. I screamed and tried to wiggle myself free, but I was being moved too fast to stop it.

“Kai!” I yelled as panic surged in my chest.

The sky light up in golden fire and a horde of goblins closed in around me with sharp teeth and wild eyes.

I’m going to die.

They screamed in pain as fire blazed over them, but didn’t harm me. When they cleared, I spotted Solstice—in her normal massive size and full glory—as she sucked in a long gulp of air and then breathed out another wave of fire.

Thanks, girl, I whispered to her.

She stormed over me, protecting me with her massive weight as she fanned out her wings to deflect any other goblins who had retaliated.

A sharp bite of pain on my wrist made me flinch and I grabbed it.

There was another stone now. A pink one the same color of the object that Kai had found.

Pink light emanated from the bracelet and Kai yelled in the distance.

I scrambled out from underneath Solstice’s body and dove into the darkness until I came out on the other side where Kai was standing over an open pit in the ground.

“It was just there,” he said, crestfallen as he fell to his knees. “I… I saw it. It was a shell and it cracked open… and now…”

My eyes widened as I looked back down at my bracelet.

I knew what we had found.

It was one of the Lost Dragon Queens and I was now carrying her soul.

This was why Violet had brought me here. She was hoping I would find all the diamond royals and contain their souls for her.

She was sending me out to do her dirty work, leaving me to fend off Wrath Monsters, goblins, and the gods knew what else.

Violet… I have a few questions for you.