The Golden Dragon
Ava Pov
Time was passing by fast. I was getting a better hold of my powers, although there were some minor setbacks, such as me cracking the ground or shattering windows, to be exact. None of us tried to focus on any of those things, though. With all the damage I had done, there was just as much beautiful work as well. Not only was I able to do my damage, but I had also managed to make a bloom of flowers around the castle that brightened it up in some way. Everyone who was leaving the realm stood in awe of what I had done. I left with them when the evacuations were happening to make them feel welcome. Like Atlas’ father said, though, they all wanted to fight, even though it would mean they would die to forces much more powerful than them.
Their hearts bleed dragons, even though they were humans, and I was proud of all of them. After helping them settle in, I went back to Draconis to visit the witches’ castle. Or my castle now, I suppose. Most of them were welcoming, and with the sigils I had placed around the Shadow Realm, I was able to find the ones who were not in support of my reign. These were the same ones who helped in the kidnapping of Atlas’ mother freely, believing they would rule Draconis with Ana. They were quite bitter, in fact, when Ana’s reign with Adam’s came and they were to remain shunned across the border, so they took on running the witches’ castle themselves. Even if their power pronounced me their queen, they did not, and a few attempts had been made at my life. I tried to go the route my mother would have taken by talking to them and getting to the root of their issues. I had not let Atlas know I knew their involvement with his mother because I wanted to spare him the hurt, and they were my coven, after all. It did not go well.
“You think, because you’re our queen, that we will be forced to listen to you,” they said.
“I am trying to do what is best for all of you.” I replied in frustration. My patience was running thin, and my magic wanted to break free and silence them. My magic sensed danger was close. Using my powers, I looked into their eyes and saw knives raising and pointing at my back. I was not afraid, only annoyed. My coven was trying to warn me, but I linked them through magic that I already knew. They stood, waiting and watching.
“You will never be a queen to us,” one of the traitor witches said, and the rebels started chanting, which caused the blades to come straight at me. I used my magic to make the knife come through my body with no reaction and into the witches themselves, killing them.
“Powerful indeed,” my advisor Tracie said to me. Tracie had made herself known the first day I met her with her kind spirit, but she was also battle-ready when needed. She showed me how, in the past, she was my mother’s advisor and worked to keep their side of the realm safe.
“I tried to talk them out of it. They would just not listen,” I said to her, dismissing the other witches. I went to my office.
“They were stuck in their ways. They practice dark magic and were the cause of a lot of misery here, along with Ana, who worked as her henchwoman. The coven is thankful to you all the more for disposing of them,” Tracie said, and I sighed.
“I want better for all of us,” I said.
“You have already made us better, sovereign. You got rid of the border and have protected the people of the Shadow Land. You have brought light to each side and united us as one over the course of a week. I have no doubt that you will do more. It is all your mother wished for you,” Tracie said.
“I miss her,” I told her, thinking of my mother.
“As do I,” she replied. A silent moment was held between us before my magic alerted me to a presence coming through the doors. I could feel him coming towards me already somehow, but I don’t think I would ever get used to the feeling. Atlas and I had not had much time together since he was training with his army every day and then going over battle plans. He was also leaving through portals to my realm to check on our people daily. I was always here, getting better with my magic with the help of Sarah. She had decided there was no more she could have taught me that she didn’t already know herself, and she proclaimed me as the strongest witch she had ever had the pleasure of meeting. She was happy her bloodline was strong, but by the look on her face, I could tell there was something behind her reference. Before I could ask, she had already disappeared.
Atlas came straight to my office and stood at the door. He looked down at the dead bodies on the floor, then at me, worried. I dismissed Tracie and motioned for him to come in.
“Your highness,” he said, playfully bowing. I rolled my eyes. I told him when he did this before never to call me that or bow to me.
“You’re quite the asshole, you know,” I told him, smirking. I was secretly taking in his appearance. His beard was messy. His hair was uncut. I could tell he had just been training with his army due to the sweat rolling off him. It was driving me and my wolf crazy, and the dream I had a week ago came back into my mind, though I brushed it off.
“When are you coming back to Draconis?” he asked, sitting down at my desk. He was always so relaxed when I was around. It was very different from how we first started.
“I was actually thinking of coming today,” I told him. I had some things I had to finalize, and Tracie was handling the covens’ preparation for the war. He looked at the bodies on the floor.
“Your traitors. I presume,” he said, and I nodded. After a moment’s decision, I decided to tell him.Material © of NôvelDrama.Org.
“The very same response for your mother’s kidnapping.” I said. He looked back down at them with annoyance, but I could see a sense of gratefulness. We were closer to bringing both Rose and Brandon relief from Ana. All that was left was to kill her.
“I want you in Draconis when this all goes down,” he said, and I rolled my eyes again.
“I’m not some princess you can just shelter away, you know. I’m probably even more powerful than you,” I joked. He laughed out loud at that, with his bright silver eyes smiling at me. It was a beautiful sound. I wanted to learn more about it if we survived this encounter.
“I don’t doubt that you are, Ava, but that’s not why I said it. Our God, Typhon, has sent a warrior to us. She is probably the most fearsome warrior I have ever seen, and that’s saying something. Not to mention, her dragon is pretty damn special. It almost offends me. I want you and her acquainted and placed in the front of the battle with me. Your father, sister, and the others have decided to be frontline in this plan of ours as well. My uncle will hold the middle, and my father will command the rest. We will hit Lucifer’s army with everything we have, until none of them are left standing,” he said, and I nodded.
“Let’s go then,” I said. We left for Draconis with him flying as Kai and I levitated, using my powers to match speed in flight. When we arrived, the army was training more. I could imagine an army composed of many different species. Some of whom I had already met in prisons. That was not what struck my eye, though. A flash of gold whizzed past me as it aimed for both Ellis and Atlas Father. A better view allowed me to see that it was a golden dragon. She was smaller than the dragons I had seen so far, but quick and fierce. A long green line ran through her scales. She had managed to subdue Ellis’s dragon and was now attacking Atlas’s father’s dragon. They were toe to toe in defeating each other until she got the upper hand by having tree roots extended, grabbing him, and subduing his dragon. He shifted back on the spit.
“She controls the elements of the earth,” I acknowledged in both delight and surprise.
“Every dragon is given a special gift. Adam had the gift of portals. Uncle Ellis can read minds and see the truth in feelings. My mother could also open portals, but she could bloom flowers with the touch of her hand as well. My father has the power to conjure hellfire through his dragon breath. I too have that ability, but it isn’t my special power. I have yet to know what it is, and Kai won’t tell me,” he explained in my mind. Kai growled, but I could sense he was laughing at Atlas. I nodded. We landed on the ground as the fight concluded, and the dragons changed back, minus the golden dragon. She did not intimidate me. I knew she was meant to be here ever since I saw the future vision of the golden dragon flying by Atlas’ side. I could see a portal opening, and my dad, along with Samael and Jasmine, stepped through. The golden dragon seemed more alert as she looked at them. Shock grazed her eyes as they widened. Curiosity grazed mine.
“Your powers will definitely come in well,” Atlas said to her, but her concentration on the others would not break.
“Is something wrong?” Atlas asked, noticing her expression. She has still not shifted.
“Hey, sweetheart,” Dad said as they made their way to us, and he scooped me up. I hugged him back. He took notice of the golden dragon.
“Very beautiful dragon. Is this the help your father said someone would be sending?” Dad asked Atlas, and he nodded. Now that they were closer, I could tell the dragons’ focus was now trained specifically on Jasmine, who looked uncomfortable.
“What is wrong with them?” Jasmine asked. No one said anything.
“Shift and tell me your name,” I told the dragon. Her gaze shifted to me, back to Jasmine, then to dad, and back to me again. In a flash of light, she shifted to her human form with her back to us and hunched over from being naked. I started to conjure clothes on her, but she did it herself, using the ground to create clothes on her. It was a sight, for sure. Her black hair was beautiful as it pooled around her all the way to her hips. She stood up and spoke.
“Apologies, your majesty; I was just caught off guard by what she said as she turned around, but a loud gasp came from Jasmine as she took in the new woman in front of us.
“SABRINA”!!!!!!!
Meanwhile, in the Demon Lord’s Realm
“Father, is the ceremony complete?” Ana asked the Demon Lord. His wicked smile spread across his face as he raised his hands, covered in the magic he had siphoned from Ava while she was unconscious.
“It is, ” Lucifer told Ana, who smiled to herself. Finally, her father would be free, and there would definitely be hell to pay. He would seek to claim Ava to make her queen, as were his plans, but Ana had a different plan. There is no way in hell she would make it, so Ava would be more powerful than her, expression magic or not. Ana had her own plan on how to murder her twin, and it will be her best plan yet!