The Crown's Fire - Chapter 34

Chapter 34: Kill Her
Ezekiel frowned as he stared at her and asked, “How did you confirm that?”

“I saw myself going back to my kingdom, and there I will see the answers I seek to help you control the dragon inside of you,” Tarah answered.

“That doesn’t confirm you are a dragonrider,” he pointed out.

“There’s a family tree of the dragonrider’s bloodlines on ancient scrolls, and my name was on there,” she answered. “I’m a descendant.”

She wasn’t telling the truth, of course. The scrolls had been destroyed a long time ago to protect their bloodlines, and everything she was talking about was only from how much of Priest Saul’s memories that she managed to see.

Ezekiel didn’t respond and simply nodded. He then looked at himself, his expression unreadable as he stared at his own skin. Some of the dragon scales on his chest had already disappeared, but some were still visible on parts of his body like half of his neck and right jaw. Clearly, he wouldn’t be able to return to camp in his condition.

“Let me stay with you,” Tarah offered. “I’m afraid it’s best that I not leave you alone right now, your Highness.” Besides, Wizard Lurio wouldn’t be able to help the prince with his current condition anyway. Only she could help him with this situation. “Wizard Lurio wouldn’t be able to help you. Only I can.”

Tarah spoke with her voice filled with determination. She knew she must help Ezekiel in his plight no matter what. She must help him succeed because only he could destroy Devon.

There was a terse silence as they heard each other sighing. Both of them seemed to be in a deep stupor, but Ezekiel broke the silence first as he turned to her.

“Stay here for a while. It’s almost dark, and we need to eat,” he told her. “I’ll go hunt us some dinner. This cave is safe, so you don’t need to worry.”

Tarah simply nodded, and as soon as Ezekiel left, she made a fire to keep herself warm. From there, she then started looking around inside the cave.

“This is truly the cave I saw,” she muttered as she saw a familiar set of carvings in the form of the stones and some glowing worms in the exact position as in her vision. It was indeed the prince’s lair once he had shifted into his dragon form.

At times, it still amazed her how her dreams and visions turned out much more accurately than she thought. Having this kind of foresight was truly fascinating, but scary at the same time, especially when she saw bad omens sometimes.

She had no intention of holding back Vulcan’s soul from taking over Ezekiel. After all, that was the only way for the dragon’s spirit to awaken and activate its power. Still, she would have to make sure that Ezekiel would be fully in control of its great power.

Wandering around, her lips widened after she reached a certain area with prominently crystal blue water. Not hesitating, Tarah undressed herself and quickly took a dip.

“Oh, it’s deep,” she murmured and she quickly stepped back to the shallow part of the pool. It was a natural pool of warm and clean water, one that she believed to be about six feet deep. Thankfully, the other side of the pool was marked with rocks because the other side had a current with its waters flowing directly into a river of some sort.

She quickly brushed herself clean. Devon’s bites were still all over her skin, and it was too disgusting for her to look at. Submerging herself fully into the water, she immediately used her mana to clear the marks of that horrendous man from her skin.

Of course, Tarah made things quick so that she would be done before Ezekiel returned. Once she was dry, she pulled out one of her simple dresses from her magical pouch and put it on. She then threw the one she just used into the fire she made.

She was expressionless as she stared into the fire, and right then, another vision came to her. Paying attention, Tarah’s lips stretched wide as tears started streaming down her eyes. It was a vision she longed hope to see…

*******

It wasn’t hard for Ezekiel to hunt for their food, especially since his senses were stronger now compared to an ordinary human. He could feel how Vulcan’s power was gradually growing inside him, and it was making him more than what he was before.

Letting out a sigh, he had just picked up the deer he just killed when something came to him. “Her scent…” he mumbled. “There’s an awful mix to it.”

Like what he just said to himself, he noticed some kind of awful smell lingering around Tarah once she came back to him. However, Ezekiel didn’t point it out at the time.

Shaking his head, he made his way back to the cave. He was probably just imagining things due to Vulcan’s sudden attempt at controlling him.

[It’s a man’s scent,] Vulcan casually remarked. [And quite an ominous one too. A demon!]

He did his best to ignore the stray voice. Unfortunately, the dragon’s soul could freely access his thoughts now, which was why Ezekiel could no longer hide a thing from it. Vulcan was even using his own thoughts against him in an attempt to gain full control of his body.

[It could be Devon. Who knows if she’s really telling the truth?] Vulcan questioned. [She didn’t look for your wizard too while she was gone for a long time…]

Against his better judgment, he had doubts in his head. That was why Vulcan was adding more flames to the fire.

[If she’s a spy, she could’ve easily sold me out to Devon while being alone and helpless like this,] Ezekiel found himself reasoning against Vulcan.

[Who knows what they’re planning? You’re dumb for trusting her. She’ll be your doom, and you must be forgetting that old man’s warning about a woman that fits her appearance,] Vulcan reasoned back.

[Let’s just kill her if you have no plans of letting your instincts take over. You want her as your woman, but she’s your Seer, so you’re controlling yourself. What if she’s also the woman fated to bring you to your doom? It’s so unlike you to hesitate like this. Just kill her.]