Ariadna’s Star: Post 62

This can’t be happening.

This isn’t real.

I stare in horror as Vladykar Amon gazes at the wisps of orange magic in his claw-like hands, his once beautiful golden hazel eyes containing slit pupils, as if he were a snake.

But that’s just it. He was the Snake. The traitor amongst the people of Adytol—amongst the Wards—feeding information, supplies, even other Wards to the Vladykars. Tricking us. Me most of all, as evidenced by the ruby pendant that hangs like a millstone around my neck. The pain of his betrayal burns within me. I can see that Astralux, otherwise held still under whatever control Andeuten’s breath has over her, is digging deep trenches into the mossy forest ground despite his breath, her teeth bared up at Andeuten and Pesokvglazu, who are both holding her down.

“You should give your new power a try,” Vladykar Lochan says. “Why not on the little silver fox?”

Vladykar Amon’s disconcerting eyes drop to me. He gives me a fanged smile, and I whimper as he steps closer with a smooth stride. “Estelle! Join us!” he says, his voice altered, wrong. He holds out his palm to me, and the orange gas engulfs me. I hold my breath, but soon run out of air and gasp, inhaling a sickly-sweet scent that turns my stomach. “Give me the Star.”

“She has the Star?!” Vladykar Lochan asks. “Well done, Amon!”

Vladykar Amon smirks again, staring at me intently as he pours more of the nauseating fumes over me. “Give me the Star,” he repeats.

Despite how much I don’t want to, I reach into my vest as if my hand can’t help itself and draw out Ariadna’s Star. The eight-point crystal gleams brightly in the darkness, and I sense more than hear a warning hum from it. Both Vladykar Amon and Vladykar Lochan shift back from it, squinting at the bright light.

Vladykar Amon holds out a bag. “Drop it in here.”

I try to fight, I try to pull my hand back to myself. But it’s like something controls me, as if I were a puppet on strings, and I drop Ariadna’s Star into the bag. The lack of its light and warmth hits me hard, and a couple more tears drip down from my eyes.

“Sh, there’s no need to cry.” Vladykar Amon quickly twists the bag, sealing off all light, and then hands the bag to Vladykar Lochan. He looks back at me. “Stop crying.”

I suddenly swallow back my sob and the tears stop dripping from my face. Astralux whines, struggling with Andeuten’s command over her like Vladykar Amon’s magic seems to have over me.

Vladykar Amon kneels in front of me, stroking my chin. But whereas once I longed for his caress, now his touch makes me feel sick. The treachery stings deep. “You were my one hesitation, Estelle. I wasn’t lying when I said that sometimes my heart made me doubt—you were the source of that doubt.” A grin forms on his face, which looks unnaturally angled to me. “But then I realized—you could join us!”

“You’d be unbelievably powerful,” Vladykar Lochan says. “Such a great beauty to be feared!”

“I won’t command you to join us,” Vladykar Amon says. “It won’t mean anything to make you say you will if you don’t mean it. But I want you think about it.”

Vladykar Lochan chuckles. “There’s time. We have a few days trip ahead of us.”

“We’re taking you to Malum Palace,” Vladykar Amon says when I look between the Vladykars. “Malyncor and Noxmalum would love to meet you, the one who brought us Ariadna’s Star.”

My heart skips in fear. “Please,” I say, my voice trembling almost as much as I am. “Please, Amon. You don’t have to do this.”

Both Vladykars and their bonded dragons laugh. “I don’t think you understand, yet,” Andeuten says. “We want to do this.” He suddenly looks down at Astralux, and his claws tighten on her upper right shoulder. “Just as we want to finish what we started.”

Vladykar Amon nods, as if to some unspoken question. “I think we have enough time.” Perhaps he and Andeuten were sharing in their thoughts through their bond. “Lochan?”

“But of course,” Vladykar Lochan says coolly. “We will enjoy our catch—why can’t our bonded? Besides, Astralux is far too troublesome to take with us.”

Pesokvglazu growls as if excited, and Andeuten slams Astralux to the ground. I scream as Andeuten claws deep into Astralux’s back, tearing apart her scales, her glistening, silver glinting blood dripping down her side.

“Silence,” Vladykar Amon says to me.

The cry in my throat suddenly stops. I want to call for help but I can’t even yelp as my bonded is slowly shredded between Andeuten and Pesokvglazu, the pain erupting on my back. Astralux struggles to fight back, yet Andeuten still commands some power over her and keeps forcing her back down when she starts to reach out to claw him.

Andeuten breathes on her face. “Down,” he commands. Astralux lies back down, and the Vladykars snicker. “That’s a good girl.” Horror fills every ounce of my being as Andeuten nuzzles Astralux’s cheek, his body curling up to hers. “I always thought you were lovely.”

“No,” I whisper suddenly. The strange magic that Vladykar Amon poured over me is starting to lessen its hold, and as I result I can feel my throat muscles working again. “Please, not Astralux.”

“Not Astralux?” Vladykar Amon casts more of his magic on me before turning to look directly at Astralux. “We tried to kill her once before. Just after we killed Ward Tristin.”

My mouth falls open. Astralux freezes, turning her head to stare at Vladykar Amon, her deep blue eyes widening. “What?” she whispers.

“Oh please,” Andeuten says. “You didn’t think of this yet?” He licks Astralux’s neck, still pressing tighter to her. “How do you think we got to you so quickly?”

“Ward Tristin stumbled into a meeting between Lochan and me,” Vladykar Amon says. “I killed him, though not before he told you to flee. We tried to get you, but I saw Ward Mortimer and Undabouclier coming up on you. I realized you hadn’t seen anything, Astralux, so we decided to keep up the ruse, and rushed to your ‘aid,’ chasing off Lochan and Pesokvglazu.”

Vladykar Lochan chuckles. “And we pretended to flee.”

I stare, my mouth wide open, from Vladykar Amon to Astralux. The pain in her deep blue eyes fills me. I feel her hurt. I don’t even have to know Tristin to taste the betrayal, running so deep that it’s shattering her and me.

My Amon. The one I thought I would wed. Not only is he a Vladykar, but he is the Snake. The reason Astralux lost her bonded Tristin.

Despite the control Andeuten has over her, Astralux roars. A hot anger rushes through me in reciprocation. I know how she feels. I feel how she feels. It fills my entire being, and I scream with her as the agony flows through her veins, my veins, our veins. My sorrow combines with her rage, and I burst alight with a deep red fire.

“Ah!” Vladykar Lochan lets go of me and falls backward. “Amon!”

I can barely think as my magic explodes in waves of flame in response to the fury that courses through me. Vladykar Amon spins, staring at me, and I lift both of my hands, full of the deep red fire.

“Estelle!” Vladykar Amon says. “Stop!”

The puppet strings of Vladykar Amon’s magic latch onto my body and pull back at the energy coursing through me. The flames in my hands flicker, nearly dying out.

Then a rush of the fiery emotions I share with Astralux and she with me burn through the control, aiding me. With stuttering movements, I throw the fistfuls of fire at the two dragons attacking my bonded. Andeuten dodges, fleeing backwards, but I catch Pesokvglazu on his shoulder, and he roars as it explodes across his scales, melting them in light bronze drops.

Astralux, rising with another roar that I feel in my bones, breathes a blast of light at Andeuten’s face, blinding him completely. She twists, swiping her tail spines across his face and cutting him deep, and then lunges at Vladykar Amon with a snarl. She’s shaking, her movements haphazard as she fights with Andeuten’s breath control.

Vladykar Amon rolls backwards and smoothly draws a long, thin blade from his back, facing Astralux. His lips twist into a smirk. “You are a mighty warrior, Astralux. You would make for an excellent Vladykar.”

“You killed Tristin!” Astralux roars again, spreading her wings wide.

Sensing more than hearing the sound of magic from behind, I spin in time to see Vladykar Lochan blasting sand at Astralux’s right wing. I reach out with the fire still engulfing me, intercepting the blast and causing it to drop in bursts of glass onto the mossy ground. Then I face Vladykar Lochan squarely, my adrenaline still fighting off the control.

Vladykar Lochan’s eyes shift over my shoulder, and I half-turn in time to see Pesokvglazu breathing a blast of sand at me. I lunge to the side as the sand tears up the moss and small plants between me and Vladykar Lochan. Rolling to my feet, I hurl a blast of fire at Vladykar Lochan and Pesokvglazu. Though I miss both of them, I force them back as the fire explodes at their feet, setting small plants and dead leaves alight.

A deep roar echoes through the area, making us all jump. I look up to see the icy gray-blue scales of Kalteratem as he crashes through the trees, he and Veremund already decked out in their matching ice-blue armor, the armored glass wings on Veremund’s back. Above him is Undabouclier and Giftigbun flying down through the trees.

But they all pause, staring as Astralux faces off against Andeuten. “Andeuten?!” Kalteratem exclaims.

“Estelle!” Undabouclier shouts.

I look down to see Vladykar Lochan lifting his hands at me. Recalling that the stream is behind me, I instinctually twist away but groan as sand strikes me on my back, tearing through my blue cloth shirt and rubbing my skin raw as it shoves me down. My magic slows, and the fires around me die away. Vladykar Lochan approaches with his crossbow loaded and aimed at my face.

“Stop now, Astralux!” Vladykar Lochan shouts. “Or you lose another bonded!”

Astralux, who was about to charge Andeuten again, glances at Vladykar Lochan and then freezes, staring at me. She growls as Andeuten and Vladykar Amon retreat towards us.

“Amon, Andeuten.” Veremund stares at the bonded pair. “No.”

Vladykar Amon chuckles. “Sorry, Ward Veremund.” He summons orange gas to his hands—the sight of which causes all the Wards nearby to gasp—and pours this over my face. I hold my breath for as long as I can but eventually run out of air once more. “I didn’t mean for you to find out quite this soon.”

“Amon, you, you….” Mortimer’s eyes fill with tears. “How could you? And Andeuten?”

“Easily.” Vladykar Amon gestures to me. “Stand up, Estelle, then remain still.”

I stand up and then freeze, once again a puppet controlled by strings. Astralux’s rage in me is still fueling my energy, however, and I strain against it. Vladykar Lochan smirks, aiming his crossbow at me.

Andeuten growls at Kalteratem and the other dragons. “You are weak to follow Ariadna. Amon and I realized this, and made our decision.”

“Estelle,” Vladykar Amon says, “get on Andeuten.”

My legs slowly but methodically walk towards the dark brown-scaled dragon, who grins at me. Astralux makes a noise of concern and takes a step forward, but Vladykar Amon presses his sword to my back and walks with me.

“Don’t make me kill another of your bonded, Astralux,” Vladykar Amon says. “I rather like this one.”

“You didn’t!” Neil growls.

Once again, I feel Astralux’s pain and anger and hurt, all wrapped up in mine. My magic energy is spent, but all of a sudden I feel the strings controlling me snap once more.

I know what I have to do.

I spin and grab the handle of Vladykar Amon’s sword with my left hand, pushing the blade away from me. Kicking him in the groin, I then slam my elbow into his chin, stunning him so bad he falls to his knees. Tears stream down my face as I twist the sword out of his hand. Moving with the momentum, I keep spinning, raise the blade with a shout, and slam it into Vladykar Amon’s chest, straight through his shirt, through his ribcage, through his heart, and out the other side.

Andeuten screams, roaring with an agony that stings my ears. He falls to the ground, writhing in agony.

Vladykar Amon, however, is just gaping up at me, his eerie eyes wide. “Well,” he gasps. “I guess you are a Ward after all.”

I step back as Vladykar Amon topples over, my heart thudding hard.

There’s a pause. An indescribable beat, a pulse, that originates from Vladykar Amon. And then he falls still.

It’s been done.

“You!” Andeuten’s scream turns into a roar, and I look up to see the dragon, who’s breathing everywhere, is on his feet and snarling at me. The tan markings on the sides of his face have faded in color. Distantly, I recall that the signs of dragon bonding diminish when their bonded dies. That’s why Astralux has faded silver markings on her feet, from Tristin. “You killed my bonded!”

Astralux slams into Andeuten, dragging him down with a growl and clamping her teeth over her neck. Andeuten scratches her across her face and sends her backwards. Then Kalteratem and Giftigbun pounce on him, pinning the dragon to the ground. He breathes at their faces but Kalteratem breathes ice back, completely engulfing Andeuten’s head. The dragon stops fighting, and then goes limp when Giftigbun grabs a hold of his neck and slams his head into a tree, shattering half of his face.

Vladykar Lochan and Pesokvglazu are no where to be seen, although I spot Mortimer and Undabouclier flying high, looking off to the southwest.

I stare at the Wards. I look at Astralux, whose rage I can feel calming as she glares at Andeuten’s limp form, then at Vladykar Amon, bleeding at my feet. But in place of her anger comes a rushing sorrow, and Astralux looks up at me with her glistening deep blue eyes.

I look at my hands to see that they’re covered in blood.

I killed someone. I killed Amon. I killed Vladykar Amon.

Who killed Tristin. Who killed Dolores and Schleifen, with Andeuten’s aid. Who stole Ariadna’s Star. Who stole my heart and promptly broke it.

Falling to my knees, I take the ruby pendent from my neck, throw it at Vladykar Amon’s body, and scream as the tears fall from my face. I hear Astralux’s cry in my heart, and I lean my head into her when she nears, sharing together in our loss and hurt and pain.