Ablaze

Chapter 4

                                                                                             Rezzik

“What in dragons’ god did you say?” I roared and growled, getting out of my massive four-poster bed and tearing the thin curtains out of the way. The blanket and covers were in a mess as I left them, standing in front of a dragon shifter in a black uniform and a blue cape.

It was early in the morning. The sun already started shining in the east, which was to my left. The light streamed in through the open window, with thick white curtains pushed widely apart. In my current half-naked human self, clad only in a soft and loose night trousers, I was oblivious to the coolness of the winter air, a status quo in Draconia.

The short-haired messenger knelt down on one knee in front of me, head bowed. “My Crown Prince Rezzik—”

I didn’t wait for him to finish his sentence and strode out of my spacious bedchamber. I pushed open the wide double doors that were made of fireproof steel, which was reinforced with a protection spell to keep me safe. As soon as I was out, my personal female keeper—Ydraz—was readily at my heels, and the messenger was also fast to catch up with me, walking the wide halls. Our steps almost echoed in the quietness around us.

“What did the healer say?” I demanded, glancing at the messenger. I ignored the bowing of the heads of guards that stood in their respective positions.

My tapered fingers ran through my long charcoal-colored hair as my long strides turned into a slow jog, heart beating fast. I had no idea but my entire being was gripped with fear. Hearing that my father, the Drakkon King, was suddenly found gravely ill this morning, many things had already reeled in my head.

Is he going to be fine? What really happened? Why? How did it happen? Is this natural or has someone manipulated what is happening to him? If so, who did this? And again, why?

My father was never ill for a day. Heartbroken he was may be, when my mother passed away a decade ago for experimenting on some dark magic that misfired. She died instantly. However, I never saw my father break down. He was strong, and I always thought he’d live forever.

I didn’t care for the Drakkon throne and the crown as I was contented with everything I had. Being the Crown Prince was even a burden, but I had no choice. I was born to this royal family. I wasn’t blessed with siblings, so lately, my father had urged me to take a consort. But I didn’t want to. There was only one dragon shifter I wanted. The first time I saw her, I already knew she was my ultimate one. But she had no idea of my existence. Yet.

I could still remember I once flew stealthily over Doragon Queendom last year. Since I heard there were beautiful princesses in that queendom, I got curious. For this reason, I thought I should feed my curiosity to get it over with. Most of the time, rumors were just rumors anyway, nothing solid and nothing much is true.

I carefully flew over, evading the patrol guards that soared around the vicinity of the Doragon fortress. The main palace was at the center, surrounded by other smaller ones. However, they all looked indestructible. There were parapets on other castles but the main and largest one had none. At first glance, I knew its pointy roof was made from the sturdiest material of all Draconia, enforced with strong magic. Everywhere was galvanizing, telling me the powerful magic used to protect the fortress. I could feel my black scales with a hint of rainbow color reverberate. But my stealth powers were enough for me to be undetected despite my closeness to the fortress.

Stealth was one of my best and strongest assets.

I circled twice and then… I saw her.

She went out of the smaller castles, together with a keeper. I could tell right away because of his uniform, which I observed Doragon warriors wore. Even though this one had a slightly different one, his physique and action readily told me he was.

“Where are you going at this time of night, Kal?”

I clearly heard the male dragon shifter ask though it was in a low tone. With my stealth power came with enhanced senses. Dragon forms already had intensified senses but with the stealth, it was a few times more because of magic and training.

I was fixated. My white-silver eyes focused only on her. She was slender, with red wavy long hair that reached to her equally slender waist, which I could very well tell that my human hands could span easily. Her creamy skin was like beckoning me to touch her body, making me feel hot all over. The way she moved elegantly and gracefully, it made her sexier to me.

“Shut up, Davroz! I owe my brother one more match.” She materialized a tie to gather her red hair into a high ponytail. In just a blink of an eye, her sexy dress was changed into a tight overall that sported her alluring curves. It almost made me growl, salivating at her beauty. But I was still in the present state of my mind, keeping what I felt all in as I continued to observe her.

I noticed a small jade-colored thing that snaked around her wrist. It moved and hissed. I was rather even more attentive to the shifter named Kal. Her name was no secret in Draconia. I knew her by name.

Kalai.

I thought her name was merely that. A name without any meaning, just represented a princess in Doragon. The youngest one. But the owner of that name was actually exquisite. And from what I could see, she was someone who had a strong personality and most probably a strong shifter.

I watched as she approached another castle, raining the window with daggers, making the owner of the said dwelling come out growling.

“Kalai!”

“Good evening, too, brother.” I saw the smirk on her beautiful oval face.

I glided as closer as I could without touching the invisible boundary. Or else, I would be caught snooping. Even though I had no intention of spying, I could easily be accused of it, especially that I flew around here stealthily. They would think Drakkon is up to something, and it might create a misunderstanding, and trouble would naturally ensue as dragons were territorial.

“What are you doing?” her brother demanded in contempt.

“Oh! Did I disturb you, Nystru? Were you doing something…?” She let it trail off suggestively and snickered softly.

Ah, this shifter is a tease, I thought, slightly grinning.

Nystru jumped off the window and landed gracefully and fiercely in front of her. The two immediately engaged in a spar. Blow by blow, their punches and kicks were thrown at each other. I watched with interested eyes, amused. Something warm wrapped around my heart, for some reason, for something I couldn’t comprehend. It was close to pride. Why was I feeling proud while I watched her standing her ground as she fought with an obviously great warrior? Kalai did surprise and amaze me.

Aside from Ydraz, there was no other female shifter that I admired most when it comes to combat. But here she was. Kalai. She was apparently in par with my best keeper. Her every movement was sure, strong and graceful at the same time.

I saw her deliver a sidekick, sending her brother backward. She followed it up with a flying double kick, hitting him again in the chest. This time, her brother was down to the ground, slumping, groaning and cursing.

“I’ll get you for that!” Nystru roared, standing up.

She extended her left hand, where the snake was still wrapped around. “What do you think of that, Haalash? One point for me?”

“The score’s even now, Princess Kalai,” the snake answered.

That made my eyes round. I never knew snakes could speak at all.

“I wasn’t really counting my losses since you trained me, brother. But ever since Haalash came, she did it for me. And for as long as I can remember, we’re now even, aren’t we?” She smiled sweetly at Nystru.

“Ahh… You want to prove you’re something now, huh?” Her brother smirked. His dark eyes connected with hers.

“Aren’t you proud of me? You’re my teacher after all, brother.” She winked at Nystru who laughed at her.

In just a few strides, he caught her into a brotherly embrace. He patted her back, and she put her arms around his waist.

I had no idea but something deep inside me wanted to tear them away from that embrace. This type of feeling had never occurred to me since I was aware of myself.

“I’m proud of you, Kalai,” Nystru said, letting her go to cup her face.

“Thank you, Nystru.”

He kissed her cheek and forehead as she closed her eyes, smiling.

“I love you so much, my sister. Go and rest.” He turned to his sister’s keeper. “Ensure that she’s not going out at this time, again. Or, I’m going to have your head and have Haalash devour your remains, Davroz.”

Without even blinking, Kalai’s keeper bowed his head. “Yes, my prince!”

I somewhat tilted my head to the side. But this Davroz was impertinent. He addressed Kalai with only her name, without the title when I think of it now. I wondered what was between them.

My eyes were fiery as they settled on the keeper. From my observation, he was one type that female shifters would love to ogle. I had the instinct to growl in jealousy but I held back and flapped my wings instead, beating the wind underneath.

I finally decided to leave when I saw Kalai with her keeper going back to her castle. I flew back in the Drakkon Kingdom’s direction, with Ydraz appearing beside me. I particularly told her not to cross the boundary for safety—or rather diplomacy—purposes. Just in case.

“I was worried they caught you, my Crown Prince Rezzik,” she said quietly when we transformed into our human selves. As a reflex, we materialized our clothes when we landed on the expansive lawn near my castle before our feet touched the ground. She was in her uniform, and her undercut past-shoulder hair of gold color was in tiny braids, caught in a ponytail.

“You worry too much, Ydraz. You know that no one could match my stealth powers in Draconia,” I spoke with confidence, giving her a mocking smile.

From then on, I went to visit Kalai once in a while. Just a glimpse of her was enough while she was unaware of my watching her from a distance. But I hoped one day she’d meet me in person, in a normal circumstance. How? I had no idea though.

Right now, all I knew was that her brother was abducted, hearing it discussed by some palace maids. It was supposed to be a secret, but it seemed that all the servants already knew of this fact. I wondered why Queen Gaemeris wanted him. But I could only watch what was going on. I shouldn’t be too nosy about it since I knew the Draggan Queen of the White Dragons was a psycho. She was one paranoid shifter. She even had her children executed for fear that they’d take the throne and crown away from her. One misunderstood action and they were gone. Now, she had no more children to kill off.

But why indeed did she abduct Nystru? To top it off, he was kidnapped in Doragon, from what I heard. With his excellent skills in fighting, he must have been overpowered by number. And stronger magic.

I kept wondering, and I was afraid that Kalai would do something reckless to get her brother back. Judging by her personality, she most probably wouldn’t just sit back and wait for his return. I knew she already heard of Queen Gaemeris’ reputation. Everyone did all over Draconia. She was one mad queen, and she was dangerous.

Now the guards quickly opened my father’s bedchamber, so I could enter unhindered. My eyes darted to his lying form in his huge four-poster bed.

“Ifadi!” I burst out, calling my father.

The thin white curtains were down but I shoved them away with magic, baring the bed of cumbersome curtains. The healer was standing at the side of the bed. Obviously, he was there waiting for me.

“What happened to him?” I merely glanced at the old healer, who was looking downcast. My eyes traveled up and down my father’s pitiable form. He was unmoving as he was unconscious. His lips were violet, and his pallid skin color was clear enough to tell that he was truly sick. I couldn’t even hear his breathing. His chest was still. It was like he wasn’t breathing at all, but I did hear earlier that he couldn’t breathe properly. So, what was going on now?

“Crown Prince Rezzik, I’m afraid there’s no cure for it,” the healer slowly said, unable to meet my eyes.

It was like I was suddenly stabbed in the gut. “What did you say?” I couldn’t accept it. I grabbed the healer by the neck, gritting my teeth and trying to not feel the desperation that already shrouded my heart.

The healer was choking as I gripped his neck. He instinctively held my wrist with both hands, but I was stronger than him.

“Summon the healers all over the kingdom and find the cure! If you can’t cure Ifadi, you’re good as dead!”