Tatiana - Imperial Ruler Of Dragon's

Chapter 18

Unknown POV:

Sweating profusely while laying on my back in bed, I wonder what the hell is happening to me. It’s been a couple of days since I’ve been sick, and at first, I thought it was nothing but a fever that could easily be gotten rid of in a few days with medication. But I was wrong.

Slowly, that fever grew into multiple complications. My body became sore, head pounding with a never-ending headache, there seemed to be something wrong with my gums at the sides of my mouth because they constantly felt itchy, and it felt like something was trying to ripe through the flesh. My heart started to pound in my chest at an alarmingly slow pace, my body felt colder than the Atlantic, and my complexion has grown deadly pale.

My stomach ached and hungered for food, but no matter what I ate it turned with repulsion and a few minutes later I’d end up with my head down the toilet. Practically vomiting my guts out. I also have a violent thirst that couldn’t be comforted by water or any kind of liquid no matter how hard I drank.

I should have gone to a hospital, gotten tested for whatever sickness plagued me, only I could barely summon the will to make my body move. I felt too weak considering I haven’t been able to keep down any food for the past few days, my body felt too heavy, and my limbs felt too numb. As I lay helplessly, I wonder if this is what death feels like.

The sound of the front door downstairs banged open, causing several photographs hanging on my walls to fall with a crash to the ground. The groaning, frustrated moans of my probably drunk off his a*s step-father could be heard from downstairs, as he stumbled around in an attempt to lay on the couch and pass out just like he does every f*****g day.

I listen to the racket he makes and can’t help the feeling of loathing that filled my chest, here I am possibly dying and the fucker was off getting drunk and wasting away what’s left of my dead mother’s savings at gambling dens.

I try to sit up with the need to go to the bathroom, but unfortunately, I only ended up falling off my bed to the wooden floor with a loud thud. Pain rocked through every part of my body and made my blood boil from within, my skin heating up as if lit up in flames. At first, I thought my fall must have made my condition worsen, but I soon realize this was something else entirely.

A weird feeling moved along the skin of my back, the feeling similar to a sharp knife being run down my back and cutting through my flesh with agonizing slowness. Petrified screams left my lips when my spinal cord cracked behind me, the horrific sound filling my ears as the axial skeleton broke apart and reshaped itself until two protruding objects were violently struts out of my back and spread behind me like wings.

One glance over my shoulder confirmed my thoughts and my horrific scream practically made the entire house vibrate as I gaped at the black, awkwardly angled, skeletal wings sticking out of my back. I could barely hear the yell of my name from my step-father, his stumbling around on the stairs as he headed to my room and screamed at me to stop making such a racket or else, he’ll be sure to come in here and teach me a good lesson on manners.

But I pay him nor his words no heed. My shock over the wings don’t last long as another phenomenon took hold of my focus, fangs elongated past my gums with painful slowness just as black claws replaced my nails. Muscles bunched up with the effort not to scream some more when those claws dug into the wooden floor and blood trailed down my gaping mouth with ease.

Crawling forward on my hands and knees I try to call out for help, but instead, my cry for help turned into a deafening roar when two small horns push themselves out of my forehead. I glance up and came face to face with my reflection on the standing mirror across my room, despite the tears clouding my eyes I could see the hazy image of a monster staring back at me. No longer do I look like the person I once was, instead, the image reflected on the mirror is that of a beast.

As I grappled with this fact, a red haze covers my entire vision and left me blinded by the crimson colour. The pain slowly fell away once my transformation stopped, and I feel my mind shut down.

A movement behind my door made my head snap up sharply as a sweet smell called out to me. I don’t know what it was, but it made my hunger grow and my mouth water with drool. My stomach squeezed with anticipation, and a soft growl ripple from my lips.

~*~*~*~

Climbing up the rocky mountain with an unconscious Katrina on Troy’s back slowed down our pace, once the portal master had let the six of us pass through the barrier we hurried on our way without delay. The first sight that greeted us once we reached the top of the mountain was another thick forest facing the southwest.

Unlike the forest in the fae Kingdoms which is denser, this expanse of land appeared to be more spacious with thinner trees and less underbrush. It made travelling on foot easier for everyone. We had two rest stops and everyone was allowed to eat and wash up by nearby lakes or streams to get off grime and dirt, and the stench of not having showered for several days. I worried over Katrina considering she still hasn’t woken up yet and didn’t know what to do to help whenever Troy or the others fussed over her.

With everyone pretty focused on Katrina, Natasha and Hilgar became the only two people I could converse with. Talking with Natasha proved to be a little awkward considering neither she nor I knew one another and, she wasn’t much of a conversationalist. Just like Troy.

But she didn’t completely ignore me and instead taught me how to set traps for little animals we would dine on once darkness fell upon us, due to the rush to avoid the Seelie’s Queen soldiers we couldn’t take along much food to support us through the most of our journey. So, relying on nature and the hunting skills of both Hilgar and Natasha became the priority. I learnt which berries were edible and which berries weren’t, the right way to start a fire, and much to my surprise she offered to help me horn my powers.

Powers which haven’t shown a single appearance since I got here. Which reminds me, it has also been quite a while since I’ve dreamt of the foggy forest when asleep. For some reason, I have no idea if that’s a good thing.

Hilgar, on the other hand, taught me following the educational point rather than experimental. I learnt additional information about the Fae's and other kinds that reside in Edora. Like currently, we’re in the Kingdom of Heklor, a Kingdom of the giants, which is approximately 70,000miles to our destination.

When Hilgar described the giants, I expected 30ft tall monsters from Jack and the beanstalk, only it seems these giants aren’t more than 10ft taller than normal humans. This Kingdom is occupied by just one particular race, frost giants. These giants aren’t divided into clans, and their territories aren’t divided into cites. They don’t live by rules but according to their will and don’t have a sovereign leader ruling the Kingdom but a council of elders. Past the Kingdom of Heklor is the Kingdom of the Moon which is inhabited by shape-shifters. This is where things get complicated for the linage of witches.

All witches originated from 3 sisters popularly known as Celestial Witches, they are the first three witches to be born in Edora and thanks to the growth and expansion of their magic Edora could become a home for so many immortals. While every witch, including myself, is a direct descendant of one of these witches, these sisters could only manifest as a result of the magic and blood gotten from Oriental dragons.

Anyways, shapeshifters, mages, and witches all fall into the line of descendants of these sisters but each race is separated into different Kingdoms and it is pretty well known to all Six Kingdoms there’s been an infested growth of hatred between their kinds. Shapeshifters are descendants of the third sister, a moon witch commonly referred to as the Moon goddess in many werewolf stories.

The second sister is known as the Sun goddess, and the Mages aren’t exactly her descendants. Though created through her blood, they weren’t born by her but were manifested and conjured up from her powers. She created two spiritual beasts who serve as her servants, one is popularly referred to as Ultr (Punisher). The Ultr is a black, phoenix spirit that serves the Sun goddess as a warrior who exerts punishment and judgement on those, she deems guilty of a crime.

This spirit manifests when the world has fallen into chaotic darkness filled with blood and death, it exerts punishment by setting the entire world aflame and destroying all living things both mortal and immortal. The second spiritual beast is called Salkr (Saviour). The Salkr is a white, wolf spirit that serves the Sun goddess as a warrior who becomes a saviour and peacemaker for all immortals. These two spirits preserve the scale of the balance of the world.

I wanted to ask more about these spirits, mainly for the fact that I possibly have a tattoo of the two of them on my back but figured it would be best not to mention them. Katrina hasn’t, and I kind of noticed how resistant she had been in letting anyone besides Candy or Kimmy take care of me back at the mountain guarding the dwarves small village. Then the last sister to complete the triad is the Star goddess which created a line of descendants commonly known as White and Dark witches.

Just like Seelie and Unseelie fae’s, these witches follow the path of good and evil, but what differentiates them from the fae’s is the fact that they don’t have a line of witches who follow the neutral side. A side where one is neither good nor evil, and a side with a balance.

She was about to elaborate more on Katrina’s line of witches when a soft moan alerted everyone she’s finally starting to wake, immediately Troy proceeded to help her lay on the ground and Gavin helped him.

They checked her pulse and Gavin waved a glowing hand over her body as if checking for any internal injuries, releasing a sigh of relief he informed everyone Katrina was alright. We gathered around her body and I felt like a weight dropped off my shoulders when her eyes slowly flutter open before falling on each face.

“What’s going on, what happened?” She groaned, hand to her head when she slowly tried to sit up with Tory’s help.

“You passed out after letting the Portal Master read your mind,” Troy explained, and she sighed weakly, leaning back to rest her weight on him.

“My body must have shut down when I tried to fight off my defences.” Leaning back up she lets him help her to her feet and looks around our temporary campsite.

“Where are we?”

“We crossed through the mirror portal a few days ago and we’re safely in the Kingdom of Heklor,” Gavin explains. “Once we come out of this forest, we should be approaching the snow covered mountain soon enough.”

Staring around in confusion, Katrina puzzles over something before saying it out loud. “Something’s wrong, according to the map I found the mountain shouldn’t be surrounded by a forest.”

“What do you mean?” Candy frowns.

“What I mean is, if we crossed through the barrier, we should have come across nothing but a frozen mountain and an endless sea of snow. This is the Kingdom of Heklor,” She emphasizes, eyes searching our perimeters. “There should be a sign of green life here.”

Shutting her eyes Katrina mutters words beneath her breathe and raises both hands in the air, below her feet movement came from the grass and we watched as it became a struggle for it to grow. Every time a shrub would rise, it would immediately deflate in strength and go back to its usual length.

Reopening her eyes, she stared at the ground in frustration and cursed. Letting her fingers spread she whispered a single word and a ball of energy grew in the middle of her palm, it hummed with power and I followed along when everyone took a step back in apprehension.

I watch Katrina wearily when her eyes lit up with an unnatural glow, and with a fling of her hand, the ball of energy zips through the air like a bolt and hits an invisible wall with a bounce before redirecting back at Katrina.

Eyes wide, I was worried she’ll get hurt and raised my hand to call out to her, but much to my shock she caught the ball of energy perfectly in her palm and shut it off with the tightening of a fist.

Blinking, I slowly drop my hand and look down in surprise when I feel a small electric buzz on my skin. Just a second before my powers retreated, I caught sight of a few sparks running between each finger.

Swivelling to stare at us, Katrina sighs. “Just as I expected, there’s a cloaking barrier protecting their Kingdom. If we want to passage in, we’ll have to seek their permission.”

“Your right, there shouldn’t be a forest here. Why didn’t we think about that?” Gavin frowns.

“Probably because we were too distracted by Katrina.” Candy cursed. “How the hell are we going to move forward now, the giants are an isolated species and their relationship to other immortals is strained. Especially with Unseelie fae’s.”

Stepping forward Natasha opened her mouth to say something but tenses suddenly, taking in a deep sniff of the air around us. Everyone watched in curiosity when she sharply turns to stare at the barrier behind her, her eyes widening in alarm as she screams out in warning. “Watch out!”

Unfortunately, her warning came too late. Because not more than a second later an explosion goes off and everyone goes flying into the air. The barrier before us comes down like broken glass and I feel myself land roughly on the ground like the back of my head slams hard on what should have been grass, but suddenly became cold snow.

My vision is clouded by snow on my lashes and dizziness, cold wetness sips into my clothes as I turn slightly on my side and see everyone scattered around the snow covered ground. Unconscious and bleeding.

Despite the ringing in my ears, I can’t help the small sob of pain that slips from my lips when I feel a familiar nudging presence at the back of my head. The nudging made my throbbing headache swell with pain and I can’t control myself when tears began to cloud my vision, crunching footsteps approached slowly on the snow and I take a look in that direction.

Only, I see nothing but the blurry haze of a well-built male, before passing out.