Mated to the Dragon

Chapter 18

Fiona’s POV

The adrenaline floods my system like it's on an intravenous drip - right into my blood at full pelt. I think my heart will explode and my eyes are wide, letting in every ounce of the fading light.

My body wants to either run fast for the hills or work to find weaponry, but instead I stay right where I am. Sometimes freezing is the best of the choices, and let's face it, there really are only three.

 I want to quell the hammering in my chest, but there's no way that will happen now. I don't regret it though, coming here to the compound, it was my mission after all. I thought that sacrificing myself in order to bring back the blood of the ghost would be useful but I was stuck here. In the limbo and now I could not get out of here.

How come all those knights in the stories weren't ever scared? Maybe they were, maybe they were scared all the time, perhaps that's what bravery really is. The compound lights come on, unusual for this time of night. My adrenaline surges so fast I almost vomit, I can taste the saliva thickening in my mouth to a rancid paste. At some point I'll have to move.

But suddenly I hear the beating hooves of horses. It was like I could hear things but I could see anything at all.

“Are we too late? Has she already done what you were afraid of?” asked a male voice with urgency.

Then he paused for a bit and said,” How is this possible? That she looks exactly like you? Is this some kind of dark magic that we are dealing with?”

There was rustling and moving about around this circle that I was locked in. I was trying to push this wall of darkness that was moving around me and had even knocked it several times in hopes that they would be able to listen to me whoever was here. I had no clue at all how they entered the Vale of the Blessed in the first place without encountering the keeper of the Orchards. This was a blessed land where there could be no bloodshed in the first place which would lead anyone attached to it having earned a curse which was going to be hellish to get over.

And suddenly I heard a female voice. It was like I knew her from somewhere but from where I had no clue. I could not even remember if I knew her for sure but it was like a vague memory which had been buried in the deep recesses of my mind.

I could hear her saying,” Do not be such an impatient buffoon. I might have sworn my allegiance to you but that does not mean that you will go on trampling like an i***t over all this beautiful place. Be thankful that we have not encountered the Keeper of the Orchards.”

I could not help but smile even in this state of mine. This girl was a fire cracker and from the manner of her speaking I could understand very well that she was a royal. Most probably a Princess even and that made my heart fonder. She would know very well how to take control and charge of the situation. I could feel that someone was touching my skin but it was not feeling like it should have. Suddenly I could hear Roscher snorting in their direction and beating his hooves on the ground impatiently.

I knew he could speak but I guess he was not wishing to spook them out by speaking in a human tongue. After all no one expected that. And then I could hear a shriek.

“How in the name of the holy mother of heavenly lord is this possible? How? It is not humanely possible….Ghost Horse???” asked the female voice in an awed voice and I could hear Roscher neighing. Even though I could not understand what she was saying properly but there was some kind of commotion.

“Are you aware of the identity of this horse, my Lady?” asked the man. He seemed to be a knight from the way he was speaking.

“Do you recall the story of my ancestors and the Challenge of valentine’s that I spoke to you about when we were riding out on our way here? Do you remember that I told you about a horse who was the one of the main reasons that he had won the challenge in the first place? In order to win the hand of the Desert Rose Princess Salandra?” asked the female voice. Even I did not know about this story that she was speaking of. This was really frustrating. I could not see anything but I could hear. It was like being locked alive in a wooden box.

I could hear a menacing cackle revolving around me in an echo and I had to admit that nothing had me more scared in my life than facing an unknown and dead assailant.

“It is the horse that Razl had been gifted by his father and the horse that had helped him the hand of Princess Salandra. This is a sign…it is a sign that we are in the right place…she is not gone yet…. Can you feel her?” asked the girl’s voice in urgency and I wanted to scream out to them.

I wanted to shout and say that here I am….look I am trapped her, help me out. And I did. I screamed until my voice and throat was hoarse and parched but to no avail. They could not hear anything.

“My lady, I know that you felt something about this strongly, but I think that she is gone. I think that we must accept death bravely when it comes and she has done that. You did the best that you could…” said the man’s voice and I still beat that invisible thick wall of darkness in frustration trying to say that I am here, I am not gone.

“Believe me, I have not even started yet. She has been led astray and has been locked in an astral plane. She would be able to come out of that place if she knew how to harness her powers but since she does not, I am going to do that….” She said and I knew that it was my own voice speaking. How that was possible I did not realize, what kind of magic this was I did not know but I waited.

Soon I could hear that she was growling out loud as she was moving around me and I could hear the shrieks coming out in a ghostly voice. The voice was so bad it reminded me of the tale of the banshee that my mother had told me when I was young. And it sounded just like that. It was a cacophony of all kinds of weird sounds and it was a literal pain to my ear drums. But I knew that this was happening only because the woman outside this dark prison was trying to free me.

And just like that I could feel that the solid walls which were till now not moving or budging an inch started turning into liquid right before my eyes. They were melting down just like when ice melted down and trickled down to water in your hands. I could hear her screaming out loud in an otherworldly voice and the screams of the ghoul were intensifying even further. And suddenly there was nothing any longer.

I could see the light. I could see everything. But it was still like that there was a wall over it. It looked like a gauzy curtain which was putting a layer on what you saw making it translucent and not transparent or clear.

“I have done my best and banished that foul creature back to where it belonged but now she has to make the choice to come back. It is not in my hands any longer,” said the voice of the woman and I still could not see her face. I could feel that if I spoke then it would probably be heard in the same way by others but how was that possible I had no idea.

“You have done very well, Princess. I am glad that I have been appointed for your protection and that I have your allegiance as well. But how is it possible that you are lying on the ground unconscious and unmoving and yet you are standing forth before me talking to me,” said the male voice.

“That is because they are twin sisters you imbecile,” spoke another voice. It was Roscher and the moment the words were in my ears I could feel myself breathing in a gulp of cold air and opening my eyes.

And there she was standing before me. My doppelganger. My sister.

It was just like I was looking in a mirror. I could not believe that after all these years of yearning for a sister I was finally coming to know that I actually had one.