The Crown's Fire - Chapter 51

Chapter 51: Your Family
Tarah slowly opened her eyes. Composing herself, she quickly sat back up and saw the golden draconite stone glowing on the palm of her hand.

“A draconite stone,” she breathed out with widened eyes. How did it end up in her hand? Did Prince Ezekiel manage to release one? But how?

A myriad of questions flooded into her head as Tarah got back up on her feet. Closing her eyes, she felt out her internal organs, only to see that she was already cleared of the deadly poison.

The last thing she remembered before she passed out was the painful feeling of the poison spreading inside her body. She then became paralyzed, and she heard Prince Ezekiel’s voice calling out inside her head before completely passing out.

Back to the present, she stared at the draconic stone in her hand. It had no doubt absorbed the poison out of her body, saving her from dying. Tarah smiled at that. She couldn’t wait to ask the prince how he did it now. Moving quickly, she was just about to call for him when a loud thundering roar echoed inside the cave.

*Roar!!!*

Alarmed, Tarah quickly went to look for Ezekiel. After a while, she saw the silhouettes of two familiar women. She hadn’t met them in person yet, but she already saw them in her visions before, so she recognized them to be Queen Dana, Ezekiel’s mother, and his youngest sister Mineah who was the newly-crowned Queen of Valcrez as the Vampire King’s wife. From where she stood, they looked stunned and bewildered at what they were seeing.

“Ezekiel,” Queen Mineah weakly murmured.

The dragon rustled and hissed. It was probably Vulcan in control then.

“Shhhh… It’s alright, Your Highness…” Tarah spoke as she called for Prince Ezekiel, hoping that he would take control over Vulcan. “They are your family. They’re here to help you.”

She then smiled as she caressed and patted the dragon’s body. [Your Highness…] she called to him once more. This time, through their bond.

[I’m here…] Ezekiel replied. [It’s just that I’m not ready for them to see me like this.]

[Don’t worry. I’ll handle this,] Tarah reassured him before then turning to look at the two ladies. “Greetings Your Majesties, Queen Mineah and Queen Dana. I am Tarah, the new Seer of Ebodia,” she politely introduced herself with a curt bow.

Seeing her greeting, the two women approached her. Right then, a vision appeared before Tarah’s mind. She didn’t know what was happening yet, but it didn’t stop her from paying attention.

“What happened? How is my son?” Queen Dana worriedly asked. “Can he turn back to his human form? Is he suffering right now?”

There was a pause as Tarah simply stared blankly at the two women waiting for her answer. She was still paying attention to the vision before her. But thankfully, once it was over, it made her let out a long sigh of relief.

“Your Majesty, Queen Mineah,” Tarah greeted as she turned to face her. “While Prince Ezekiel is currently struggling, I saw him succeeding with your help.”

She then took a deep breath before explaining further. “You see, we humans are made up of the body, soul, and spirit, and they all interact with each other. In this case, however, Ezekiel’s spirit was expelled when he shifted into Vulcan’s dragon form. Right now, it’s still Ezekiel’s body, but Vulcan’s soul is trying to take charge at the moment. Thankfully, it hasn’t happened yet because Ezekiel’s soul is fighting hard to keep Vulcan from fully taking over.”

“What do we need to do then?” Queen Dana interrupted.

“The prince just needs more time,” Tarah replied. “As such, please make sure he won’t be harmed in his dragon form during these crucial days.”

Queen Dana nodded. “I will make sure that no one will touch the dragon then.”

Nodding back, Tarah then looked at Mineah. “As for you, you need to find Ezekiel’s lost spirit and help it return to his body,” she instructed. “Ezekiel needs his spirit to shift back into his human form.”

“I understand,” Mineah answered. “We’ll start the search for it this instant.”

“You’ll need to replenish your energy first, my daughter. You’ve already used enough of it for tonight,” Queen Dana insisted. “We’ll resume once you’re fully recovered.”

“You two need to go back now,” Tarah reminded them, knowing that Queen Mineah had just sneaked away from King Nikolai regarding this search.

Queen Dana nodded, and right then Tarah saw a white portal opening behind them. The queen then looked at the dragon and said, “Hang in there, son. We’ll bring you back home with us soon.”

There was no response from the dragon, but Tarah could tell that it was Ezekiel who currently had control upon seeing how disheartened the dragon’s expression was. Raising her hand, she gently caressed the dragon’s head just as the two women disappeared into the portal.

“You don’t need to worry and feel too bad, Your Highness. They are your family, and like them, I’m sure you’re willing to do anything for them as well,” she reassured him. “You’re not alone, so please don’t try to fight everything alone. Let your family help you since that’s what family is all about…”

Tarah bit her inner cheek as she did her best to suppress her own emotions regarding her own family. She had lost her parents years ago, and she now only had her little brother Leviticus to take care of. She needed to stay strong for him.

[I know. It’s just that as much as possible, I don’t want to burden them too much,] Ezekiel replied. [They already have a lot going on with their personal lives. It would be too much to add my own problems to theirs.]

Tarah simply nodded back. She then remembered something as she showed Ezekiel the draconite stone in her hand. She was curious about how it happened, and it was a good way to change the topic as well. “Oh right… this,” she casually stated while gesturing to the stone. “How did you do it?”

[I’m not sure how I did it. All I knew was that I was very desperate to save you. I then thought about the draconite stones, and they appeared before me without explanation,] Ezekiel explained. [I then tried grabbing one, but Vulcan’s soul fought me over it. Luckily, I won and managed to grab one. Right then, it appeared out of the dragon’s head, and I quickly placed it in your open palm.]

Tarah creased her forehead at the explanation. That didn’t make too much sense, but hopefully, it would come to her soon enough.

[Oh, you must be hungry,] he remarked with a firm tone. [From now on, don’t go out of the cave. I’ll be the one to bring your meals starting today.]

Tarah didn’t reply but she instead touched the dragon’s head. “You…” she gasped as she saw what had happened. She wasn’t convinced by his explanation, so she tried looking into it herself. In truth, Ezekiel’s soul received a great backlash after fighting Vulcan’s soul over the draconite stone.

“No!” Tarah cried when she saw Ezekiel’s soul flicker as if it would fade away at any moment if he continued to fight Vulcan’s soul like before.