Kai Drakon's Arc

Chapter 27 of 30

They left Mosswood at first light. Kai walked beside Seraphina, the midwife who had delivered his son and hidden her royal blood for ten years. Obsidian marched ahead, blunt and armored, his fairy wings folded tight. He never spoke unless it mattered. Kai had made sure Azure understood why he had to go. She held Ren close and did not say the word she never said. Kai kissed her, promised to come home, and turned toward the elf lands. The road climbed for two days. Trees grew taller and older. Silver bark caught the light. Seraphina walked faster the closer they came, her hand pressed to the stone relic under her dress. "How long since you saw her?" Kai asked. "Ten years." Seraphina did not slow. "She was a girl then. She is not now." They crested a ridge, and the Elven Kingdom opened below. White towers rose among the pines. But something was wrong. The light was thin. A dark stain hung over the palace like smoke that would not rise. Obsidian stopped hard. His hand went to his blade. "That is not right," he said. His voice was flat and cold. "I have seen wounded ground before. That is wounded." Seraphina stared. Her calm cracked for the first time Kai had seen. "That is her aura," she said quietly. "My sister's." They reached the gates by dusk. No guards stopped them. The people they passed kept their heads down and their doors shut. At the palace steps a woman waited for them. She wore a red gown. Brown hair fell loose around a pale face. Her blue eyes fixed on Seraphina, and a black haze curled off her skin like heat off stone. "Sister," the queen said. She smiled, and it held no warmth. "You brought help. How brave." Seraphina stepped forward. "Give back what is not yours." "The stone?" The queen laughed. The dark aura pulsed with the sound. "You still think this is about a carved rock. You have been gone too long. I have grown into things you cannot imagine." Kai felt the air press against his chest. Obsidian moved to shield Seraphina, blade half drawn. But the queen only raised one hand. The black haze snapped outward and knocked the two men back down the steps but Seraphina blocked her power easily. Kai hit the stone hard and tasted blood. Seraphina furrowed her brows seeing Kai’s injury before her face became steady again, but her eyes had changed. She had come to reclaim a throne from a comfortable young ruler. That ruler was gone. "You’re stronger than I thought. But you’ve grown unwise thinking that you can replace me for this long.” She said boldly. The queen's laughter faded behind the closing doors. Obsidian aided Kai’s head injury. Half-dragon blood pools under Kai’s head and Seraphina can’t heal and fight at the same time…