The Crown's Fire - Chapter 43

Chapter 43: His Forbidden Desire
Tarah gently touched her forehead as she slowly opened her eyes. Looking around, she let out a relieved sigh once she saw that she was back in the same forest. She was thankful that Devon transported her back here as she requested before she passed out on him. Still, that was only half of what had to be done.

“Your Highness?” she immediately called out as soon as she got up. The horse was still where she left it, but Ezekiel was nowhere to be found. “Where is he?”

“Ugh…” she whimpered with a frown.

The pain in her head due to all of the information she absorbed from the magical scrolls was still taking its toll on her. It was filled with energy stored by the last of their bloodline before Vulcan’s massacre of all the Dragonriders, and she could still feel that energy flowing within her body as it slowly activated the dragonrider blood in her. Resting her back on the trunk of the tree, she closed her eyes and let out another sigh.

‘How long has it been since I passed out?’ she thought. The sky was bright now, although there was no sun to show for it. Snow had started to fall as well.

Tarah tried her best to relax her body. She had to find Ezekiel, and she now knew how she could call on the dragon. However, she still didn’t know if it would work since there was no dragon bond between her and Ezekiel yet.

“But…” she murmured before closing her eyes. Channeling her thoughts on all the information she got from the scrolls, she whispered, “Right, I’m the twin flame of Vulcan’s spirit, so it should hear my call…”

Taking a deep breath, Tarah took her time meditating. Breathing slowly, she waited until all the nerves in her body were calm and relaxed, making sure that she already had a good grasp of the foreign energy from the scroll before moving forward.

From there, she got rid of her other thoughts before working on acknowledging the dragonrider blood in her veins. Being a dragonrider wasn’t an easy task as was evident when Tarah witnessed how every single one of them trained physically and emotionally for the task at hand. It took years to perfect everything, and it was something that she didn’t think she was able to do.

In Tarah’s case, she didn’t have that luxury if she had plans to save Ezekiel. Instead, she performed a very crucial form of cultivation within her to make sure that she would be able to absorb everything in a short period. Right then, she coughed blood as she took a bit of backlash from her actions, but she was determined to do it regardless.

It should work. The dragonrider blood was flowing in her veins, so she was confident that she would succeed. During her ancestors’ time, magic and spells weren’t as developed and enhanced as they were now in their era, so Tarah incorporated some spells that she knew to speed up the process of her mind taking in every detail and information she needed.

A few more moments passed, and an invisible aura of energy suddenly surrounded Tarah, enclosing her whole body in a sphere. Shen then felt an overwhelming sensation inside her body, and all the remaining pain she felt earlier quickly disappeared as it was replaced with an indescribable feeling.

It was then that Tarah’s lips stretched wide. She was now confident that she had succeeded in fully activating the dragonrider blood within her. Right then, she started speaking the Draconic language, and it came naturally to her without even a lick of effort.

“I want to connect and form the dragon bond now,” she communicated to the dragon spirit. She was sure the dragon spirit would respond to her call and bring Ezekiel to where she was.

As she stood up in the forest, Tarah felt a sudden shift in the air. She heard a whisper of something primal, something ancient. And opening her eyes, she looked skyward, her heart skipping a beat as a silhouette emerged against the canvas of the heavens.

With majestic wings outstretched, each flap was accompanied by a thunderous echo in the stillness of the atmosphere, the dragon descending with a grace that belied its enormity. Its scales gleamed like molten gold against the sunlight, casting a radiant glow that illuminated the surrounding landscape. Its eyes forming pools of molten amber, fixed themselves upon her with an intensity that sent shivers down her spine.

With every beat of its mighty wings, the dragon drew closer, its presence commanding the very air around it. As the dragon descended before her, its breath a warm caressed her skin the closer it came to her.

‘He already shifted?’ Tarah thought as she stood rooted to her spot.

[How dare you call for me!]

Tarah flinched as it directly spoke through her. It was Vulcan, and she quickly closed her eyes and chanted in draconic to have the dragon freeze on the spot.

[You!!!]

“Quiet,” Tarah commanded as she immediately approached the now bent over dragon. Gently touching its head, she caressed it as if it was already tame. She then closed her eyes to see if there was anything she could do.

“No…” she breathed out. From her contact, she witnessed how Ezekiel’s spirit got expelled from his own body. She then gulped as she witnessed how it happened.

Once she was done, Tarah immediately removed her hand from Vulcan, her face turning deep red at what she just saw.

Meanwhile, Vulcan simply laughed hard as he taunted her. [You finally saw how weak he was when it came to you. You are his weakness and his doom,] he cackled. [It was all too easy for me to expel his divine spirit with how much his soul had become tainted and dark because of his forbidden desire for you.]

Tarah frowned before quickly gathering her senses. Ignoring Vulcan’s blabbering, she touched the dragon once again.

[Your Highness, are you in there?] she asked as she tried speaking to Ezekiel’s soul. [Can you hear me?]

[He won’t be able to hear you because he’s still too busy making love to you like there’s no tomorrow,] Vulcan grunted.

[Your Highness, it’s me, Tarah!] she pleaded. [Please get a hold of yourself and focus on fighting Vulcan’s soul from inside your body.]

Tarah didn’t know how many times she repeated her words, but there was no response from Ezekiel’s soul. But just as she had given up hope…

[I’m here,] Ezekiel suddenly spoke.

Tarah’s eyes shone as she opened them and uttered a soft thanks to the heavens.

[I hear you, and I’ll make sure Vulcan’s soul won’t fully take over,] he uttered.

Drawing a deep breath, Tarah said, “Please do. It won’t be easy, but I’ll be with you every step of the way, Your Highness.”

[But my spirit…] Ezekiel weakly murmured.

Tarah nodded in understanding. Yes, they needed to find his spirit, but she didn’t know how they would do it right now. It was currently beyond her knowledge and capabilities to even think of a solution for it.