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“Not many Dragons have fought him and survived,” Kingston added knowingly.
“Is Venom okay?” I asked.
“Yes. Raithian knocked him unconscious after we landed, like he did with the Sky Legion, but not before Venom attacked him. That bastard absorbed Venom’s lightning bolt into his sphere like it was nothing. That was another reason I had to do as he asked. My magic may have awakened, but it is nothing compared to the might of Raithian’s power. Without a Dragon helping me, I’m not strong enough to fight him.”
The tempest that churned in his green eyes told us what he hadn’t admitted out loud yet. Today, Braxton had discovered the influence the Warlock King truly possessed, and what he was capable of when he wanted something… However, he hadn’t even seen the worst from him yet.
“Although, I don’t think I'll be able to achieve anything else with my magic as easily as I was able to heal.”
“Your Wizard powers are inherited from the Devenish, but which allows you to channel that magic and use it this way comes from your father, Khayden,” Kingston informed. “I saw him heal slaves back in the caves of the Crimson Fortress a few times. For the smaller injuries he used herbs and other potions he prepared, but for serious wounds he relied on his magic, and it looked just as you described. It seemed he was just allowing his ability to flow from him and into the injury. It wasn’t forced or guided; it was natural for him.”
“What happened once you healed him?” I pressed, needed to know everything.
Braxton shook his head, both hands landing on his hips with a troubled sigh.
“It was the weirdest thing. Intense and all-consuming while I treated him, but then something heavy fell over me, over both of us, hindering our awareness. It felt like a blanket of fog weighed down on our consciousness. At first, I thought it was just me. I was sluggish, dizzy, and confused. I couldn’t focus. Hell, I couldn’t even stand straight. Until I saw Raithian struggling too. It was then that I realized whatever had caused it, affected both of us.”
“What caused it?” Kingston asked before I could.
“My best guess? I think our Devenish magic connected in a way. Kind of like the exchange that occurs between me and the Dragons, but Raithian was somehow able to feed off it. When he did, it counteracted against us.” He rubbed his face again, but this time, a feeling of revulsion mixed with his expression. “He seemed high from the rush of it afterwards. It was disgusting.”
“And now he’s not going to stop until he gets you too.” Whirling around, I began to pace the room, my words echoing in my mind.
“It’s fine. He is not going to get to me,” my mate assured.
“We will not let him,” Kingston reiterated, but they couldn’t promise that. No one could.
“It’s not that easy, Braxton,” I argued. “Now that he knows your ability is strong, he will come back for you.” Anxiousness gripped my chest, and I stopped pacing, turning focus on Kingston. “We need to leave the Hidden Kingdom at once.”
Dread and understanding spread over my guardian’s features, chest sinking at the prospect of having to leave this place we had grown so fond of. Not knowing if we would find another hideout as giving as this one had been to us.
“Kingston, I want you to take some of the guard with you tomorrow, and lead a search for land prospects we can use to hide,” I ordered. “We will gather after you return and discuss our options. In the meantime, I will figure out how to evade Raithian until we have found a new safe haven for our people.”
“What? No,” my mate protested. “We can’t force them to leave this place. They have created a home here. A community. A place where they belong, the closest thing to—”
“And how do you propose we will keep them safe when Raithian decides to show up here again, demanding you go with him or he kills us all?” My words weren’t loud or meant to discourage him, but they were harsh nonetheless because they carried the truth.
“I don’t know,” he admitted, the statement weighing on him, not denying what we all knew was inevitable. “But I will figure something out. Please, Evie, don’t say anything to our people yet. It will devastate them, and they have enough to deal with after what happened today. They need to feel safe again. And moving from the place they’ve accepted as their home so abruptly, won’t help. Trust me, I know.”
The pain his plea secretly carried seeped into me, because I knew he was referring to having to escape the only place where he felt safe—his home in the Mirror World—after Raithian attacked them in the middle of the night and killed his father.
“Just… Please, give me time to try and find a different way to protect them that doesn’t involve uprooting them from this kingdom.”
I didn’t want to cut his wings, not when he was owning the responsibility he had inherited, and I was finally getting a partner who wanted to shoulder the weight with me. It went against everything I’ve been forced to do since my parents died, but he deserved a chance so I would give it to him.
“We will wait. BUT,” I added when Braxton began to sigh in relief. There was much he still didn’t know about leading, and he needed to understand that from now on, there would be no true relief for him until Caelisium was set free. “Kingston will go ahead with his mission, searching for an alternate place for us to settle in case we need to relocate. If you can’t come up with a solution, we will go ahead with the move.”
His shoulders stopped halfway, and Braxton tensed again. “I understand. Thanks for trusting me with this.”
“Of course.” My lips began to curve into a small smile, appreciative of his help, but something else crossed my mind. “How did you make it back after Raithian attacked Venom and fed from your magic? Urgency must have gripped him not to let you go.”
Braxton briefly glanced at my guardian, his eyes returning to me to show him even more troubled that he had been.
“I had help,” he confessed. “A new Dragon came to our rescue. Raithian lost the hold on Venom when the repercussions of his feeding affected us both. But it was because of her that we were able to fly away…”
“A new Dragon?” Kingston asked with renewed interest. “Did you call out to her? How did she find you?”
“I’m not sure, to be honest. She must have been close. Maybe she felt my weakness through my connection to the Dragons and came to my aid.” Braxton’s eyes shone with love and caution as he took my hand in his. “You know her, Evie. It was Star.”
Pain swelled in my throat with the mention of a name I hadn’t heard in so long, and I pulled my hand from his. “Star?”
