The Crown's Fire - Chapter 33

Chapter 33: Bloodline of Dragonriders
Tarah gasped when Ezekiel suddenly hovered over her. He then pinned her down on the ground with a grunt. Looking into his eyes, however, she saw that they were still sporting their normal hues.

“Your Highness,” she called to him.

It was right then that his eyes started flickering from their normal hues to a flaming red shade. Even further, he was clearly in pain with how much he was gnashing his teeth.

“I… I can’t,” Ezekiel whispered as his face slowly leaned down towards her. He was cursing to himself, and Tarah could only guess that he was currently suffering against Vulcan. “The scent is too strong…”

He weakly whispered against her cheek, close enough that Tarah could feel his warm breath against hers. She gulped when she felt his lips and nose brushing against her neck.

“What’s going on?” Tarah weakly muttered.

“Stay still,” Ezekiel whimpered as he begged.

Left with no choice, Tarah did as she was told. However, she couldn’t just stay idle like this. She was practically sweating due to the amount of heat emanating from his body.

Slowly, he backed his head away from her and then stared intently into her eyes. This time, there was a grin on his face as his eyes turned into fire.

“You’re a Dragonrider! I will kill you soon, but not yet because you still have a use for me so I can fully take control of this stupid Prince!”

His voice was menacing. Obviously, it was Vulcan who was in control right now. And like last time, she started the same chant she did before. This time, however, it was not working.

“Is that all you got? It won’t work. Not when I have now gained more control over him,” he menacingly laughed. “Your scent disgusts my soul, but my spirit is currently not cooperating with me right now since it wants you as its dragonrider.”

She gasped as Ezekiel then touched her lips before he continued, “This fool desires you, and I will use the darkest desires he’s been holding back like a forbidden fruit to break the connection between his spirit and mine.”

Tarah frowned as she mulled over Vulcan’s words. She should do something, so she quickly closed her eyes to channel Saul’s memories. However, she only gasped when she felt Ezekiel’s lips press against hers. He was practically ravishing her lips like a madman, and there was nothing she could do against him.

‘No!’ Tarah screamed in her head as Devon’s face appeared before her eyes. She struggled hard beneath him, and tears started running down her eyes the longer she tried.

“Please, stop,” she whimpered in his mouth and right then he suddenly stopped.

“I’m sorry,” Ezekiel muttered followed by a faint curse.

Tarah slowly opened her eyes while he was still hovering over her.  He then rapidly blinked at her as his eyes turned back to normal. Shaking his head, he once again cursed under his breath. He looked horrified like he was in great pain as he struggled to move away from her.

Tarah didn’t know what was going on inside Ezekiel’s body, but she was sure he was currently fighting hard against Vulcan’s influence. He gritted his teeth while he stared at her. His eyes were shifting colors again between his normal hues and the burning ones, and she already knew what she had to do.

Quickly, she closed her eyes and started recalling the memories she got from Priest Saul. If she wanted to help Ezekiel, she had to go back to the temple of Zion. Not all details about the Dragonriders were destroyed. Priest Saul kept all the important ones hidden inside a magical chest buried under the altar for burnt offerings, and no one aside from him was aware of this fact.

In addition, the Priest was able to read some of the books, but not all of the parts that were written in the book. Some were blurred in his visions, but that was something she could work on at another time. For now, Tarah focused on the task at hand, navigating the memories where the Priest was reading information about the dragon riders.

Right there, she saw a passage… and Tarah parted her lips as she subconsciously uttered the words she needed.

“No!!!” Ezekiel growled loudly.

It sounded like it was an ancient dragon language that could distract a dragon. Things were a bit blurry to her though, so Tarah hoped that she was reading well from Saul’s memories.

“Tarah,” Ezekiel calmly murmured. She quickly opened her eyes to him. He was panting hard as he gently cupped her cheek and whispered, “Thank you. I think Vulcan will give me a rest now for the time being.”

Tarah let out a sigh of relief at that. However, she still held her breath as Ezekiel wiped the tears that remained visible on her cheeks.

“I’m sorry…”

Without another word, he then moved away from her. She didn’t move for a while, and instead simply stared at the dark ceiling of the cave before her. She had been through a lot that day. All she wanted right now was to dip herself into a body of water and clean herself. Unknowingly, she touched her lips. It wasn’t Devon who kissed her, but Ezekiel. So why was Devon’s taunting and devious face appearing before her? Was he bound to taunt and traumatize her for the rest of her life?

Tears quickly started streaming from her eyes. However, realizing that the prince’s gaze was still on her, she quickly moved to get up.

“I’m sorry,” Ezekiel once again said. This time, he had his head bowed down to her.

“I’m alright, Your Majesty. I’m just a bit flustered.” Tarah said with a half smile. She then approached Ezekiel, but the latter quickly moved away from her.

“Don’t go near me,” Ezekiel murmured. “Lurio will be here soon.”

Tarah bit her inner cheek at that news. She had been unable to meet with the wizard yet since she went straight back to Ezekiel after getting transported by Devon’s portal.

“I apologize, Your Highness, but I passed out on my way here and received some visions,” she lied, and she hated the fact that she was lying. “I then decided to come here soon after…”

“What vision?”

“About the Dragonriders. I will need to go back to the Kingdom of Zion to obtain some information,” she stated. “You are right… I’m a descendant of a dragonrider.”

As a consolation, at least the last words she spoke were facts. She had found out through Priest Saul’s memories that her mother was from a bloodline of Dragonriders… She and her brother Leviticus were the last of their kind.