AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I don’t understand. How do you know my name? Why am I able to hear you? How am I able to hear any of you creatures?”
“You creatures?” the wyvern hissed. “You possess an ability most would kill for, and you have the audacity to be so flippantly disrespectful? To the same creatures that granted your lineage the ability to communicate with us in the first place? Watch. Your. Tongue.” The wyvern took another step, encasing me with its scythe-like wings, and I retreated again, colliding with a boulder.
Stars formed in my vision as I looked up at it—taking in its golden scales and magnificent stature. I was a mere mortal human in comparison. One swipe of its claws and my guts would spill onto the ground. I didn’t dare question the wyvern—but what did it mean by my lineage? Why did the realm depend on me?
The wyvern’s eyes widened.
“The answer’s been under your nose this entire time, and you mean to tell me you don’t know whose blood runs through your veins? You’re the daughter of my king. The true heir.” The wyvern nudged me with its head, lifting me to my feet. “You must get out of here safely and reclaim what’s yours before it’s too late.”
I shook my head. “No. No, there’s no way that man—that monster—is my father.”
“That monster is not my king. To insinuate as much is insulting!”
“Then what are you saying?” I rubbed my temples. The wyvern was confused—mistaken—that was impossible. Stars, I was tired of the riddles. Tired of not understanding and feeling incompetent. “Maybe if anyone just said what they mean around here, I’d know what you all were talking about!” I shouted. My mother was venomously against the fae, I couldn't be one. No. I refused to believe it.
I couldn’t be—how?
“That’s enough.” The scales lining the wyvern’s spine raised like hackles. “You mustn’t keep wasting time, Elowyn. I’ve already said too much. Now grab the vial of elixir and let us be on our way.”
I wiped my nose and lifted my chin to meet its hard stare—such a magnificent beast. The illustrations didn’t do them justice. I wanted to keep probing and get to the bottom of its wild accusation, but the wyvern was right. As much as I hated to leave questions unanswered, the sooner I got the elixir, the quicker I could get home and forget this horrible nightmare.
With a sharp inhale, I turned on my heel and hiked up the narrow path, one foot in front of the other, not daring another breath. It was everything I could do to keep my focus straight ahead until I reached the tiny bottle and pretended like I wasn’t one wrong step from falling to my death.
My hand hesitated, and I twisted the ring around my finger before I picked up the elixir and stuffed it deep into my vest, inching my way down the trail to the solid plateau.
The wyvern dropped its head, and straightened its wings, allowing me access to its back. Its webbed wing was like a thick leather blanket under my fingers as I climbed, trying but failing to wrap my arms around its neck.
“Hold on,” the wyvern said.
“To what?”
The wind swallowed my words as the wyvern surged forward, my knuckles whitening as I clung desperately to its rugged scales. With closed eyes, I felt my stomach drop as it leaped off the edge. A strangled scream escaped my throat as we swooped to the ground, my lungs growing horse from the force.
The fae court rapidly came into view as we descended, the crowd once shapeless and unrecognizable, now fully defined.
Their cruel faces were laced with disappointment. Others with rage as we neared the ground.
The wyvern skirted to a stop and flung me off its back, landing within feet of Aeron’s splattered body. I glanced away and got to my feet, brushing the dust off my pants.
King Harkin’s amber eyes bore into mine as I revealed the pink bottle of elixir from my vest, and Prince Bowen sneered, gripping the armrest of his throne with such force it appeared to bend under the pressure.
I tried not to appear intimidated, tried to hold my chin high, but their weighted stares made me want to claw out of my skin.
The king leaned over and whispered into his guard’s ear, and he nodded, summoning his fellow men as he briskly made his way down the stairs.
Time slowed. Blood surged to my ears—muting the commotion. I didn’t understand what was going on. Why was everyone rushing toward me? What did I do? I was the last competitor remaining. I should be released from this star-awful prison, yet they were surrounding me as if I’d obliterate their entire court.
I searched for Talon, spotting him just as he hopped over the railing, his expression tight while he rushed to me—the king’s guards on his heels.
“Halfling filth!”
“To the gallows!”
The faerie court chanted.
Each voice was louder than the last, slamming into me one after the other at a mind-numbing cadence.
Halfling? What did that even mean?
