The Crown's Fire - Chapter 27

Chapter 27: Inhospitable Forest
Tarah quickly mounted her horse and made her way towards Ezekiel’s direction, with Elijah and Cora following after her. She saw how wizard Lurio ran toward the prince as well, which allowed Sibil to create a black portal for his escape.

‘This can’t be!’ Tarah grumbled.

Seeing how much Ezekiel was writhing in pain at the moment, something was definitely wrong with Ezekiel. She could tell that he was battling Vulcan inside of him, so she quickly jumped off her horse the moment she reached him.

“Subdue the enemies and claim our victory!” Elijah shouted, quickly taking over the battle while Ezekiel was still on the ground.

“Is His Highness alright?” Cora asked her.

Without a moment further, Tarah started checking on Ezekiel using her inner energy. A beat passed, and her eyes widened when she felt how much his inner core burned at that very moment.

“This… This can’t be…”

Ezekiel seemed to understand her expression, so he quickly got up from his feet.

“I need space…” he remarked as he then looked at wizard Lurio. “You and Elijah can take over from here.” He then turned to Cora and issued another order, “You, have Her Grace be escorted back to safety.”

He then mounted his horse with a grunt and rode away.

Left alone, Tarah turned to Lurio and said, “I need to follow him alone.”

Lurio didn’t bother asking as he simply nodded. With permission granted, she quickly got back on her horse and rode after the Prince as fast as she could. A few moments later, she caught up to him, and her eyes widened when he screamed.

What followed was something Tarah didn’t expect.

‘He shifted into a dragon under the waning crescent moonlight,’ she thought to herself with a frown while staring at Ezekiel’s back. His clothes were being torn apart, and dragon scales on his back were starting to burn.

“This isn’t good,” Tarah hissed as she turned around. Ezekiel and she had entered the inhospitable forest, which was far from the battlegrounds.

She didn’t know how long they had been riding on their horses, but she still could tell how far they were now from where they came from. The forest they entered had an eerie feel to it, with trees so packed that they choked out the light, letting the fog roll in like a slow breath.

Tarah didn’t know what to do in this situation. With no other options left, she closed her eyes and asked the heavens to give her guidance.

If she truly had the Dragonrider’s blood, then she wanted to use it to help Ezekiel in his plight. She tried her best to recall how she had chanted in an unknown language, which somehow helped Ezekiel calm down after Vulcan’s attempt, but nothing came to her so far.

Slowly opening her eyes, they immediately widened the moment she saw him. “Your Highness!”

Ezekiel had fallen off his horse, and his body was currently shaking on the ground. Tarah swiftly got off her horse to rush to him. Immediately, she could feel the strong heat emanating from his body. All his clothes were gone as well, and his entire lower body was now covered with dragon scales.

“Stop!!!” Ezekiel shouted. “I will not let you have your way!”

“Your Highness,” she breathed out as she extended her hand out to touch him, but Ezekiel only quickly moved away from her.

“Don’t come near me. It can smell you, and it wants nothing but to kill you and get rid of the scent of the d-dragonrider’s blood,” Ezekiel painfully stammered.

Tarah felt helpless as she watched the prince suffer. He was trying his best to fight off Vulcan inside of him.

‘I must see the Zion Priests…’ she thought. It was the only way she could find out more details about the Dragonriders.

“Go back, Tarah. I’ll be fine soon,” Ezekiel reassured her with a pained tone. “I’ll be able to h-handle t-this d-damn d-dragon.”

She had no choice but to let him be. She already saw enough to know how hard the struggle was. As such, Ezekiel walked, and Tarah simply followed behind him from a respectable distance.

Some time after, however, Ezekiel suddenly turned around to face her. His eyes were glowing like fire, and with a smirk, he closed the remaining gap between them.

“Dragonrider,” he menacingly gritted.

Right then, Tarah knew that it was Vulcan speaking. He held her by the neck with his hand. And then, with a devious smile, he said, “I thought I already finished off every single one of you! None of your kind should still be in this world!”

Tarah struggled for breath, and without a second thought, she started chanting using the same language she remembered using before. Ezekiel growled, and seeing how it seemed to be affecting Vulcan, Tarah repeated her chants with a clearer diction. Immediately, she could feel an unexplainable force inside her.

“You!!”

Ezekiel’s hold on her loosened, and he gradually let go of her until she eventually fell to the ground. Gathering her bearings, Tarah quickly approached him.

“Are you alright?” she asked, trying to help him back on his feet.

She stared into his eyes and saw how it was back to normal. Meanwhile, Ezekiel simply stared at her, his face dark and gloomy while his eyes fixated on her neck. Reaching out, he gently caressed it before cupping her cheek.

“I’m sorry about this,” he distressedly murmured.

Tarah gave him a reassuring smile. “It’s fine, Your Highness. That’s not you.”

For some reason, Tarah loved the feeling of the prince cupping and caressing her cheek like this. It was comforting and soothing.

But then he seemed to realize what he was doing and quickly pulled his hand away.

“Forgive me,” he muttered as he then looked at himself. “This…” He stared at the dragon scales on his body. “I can’t return like this…”

That was true. There was no way he could hide the scales now since they’d overtaken half of his neck and jaw by now.

“How about you rest and meditate for some time in that cave, Your Highness?” Tarah suggested while pointing at the cave not far from their direction. She then went and grabbed the horse and said, “I’ll go back and see you there in the cave, Your Highness. Let me look for wizard Lurio first, so I can inform him of our location. I’ll also discuss this situation with him.”

There was a pause before Ezekiel nodded, “Let’s do that. No one must see me like this. In the meantime, I’ll try figuring out how to go back to my normal form.”

Tarah nodded and gave him a curt bow before quickly mounting her horse and leaving. Time was running out… She must see the Zion Priests this instant.