Author's note: I know I said I was going to have Bastien in this chapter, but then I realized you all might be wanting some answers about what happened after the big battle with Dominic. I hope this chapter will clear some things up. Enjoy.
Chapter 11
Mikhail couldn't believe the utter destruction Dominic's return had wrought. Gabriel and Francesca's Carpathian home lay in ruins, yet that was the least of it. So much blood had been spilled that the Carpathian's emergency supply was all but gone. The few bags of blood left stored were currently on reserve for the healers as they worked diligently to keep the others alive. Yet still, so much was needed that the Carpathian warriors had been forced to feed from over half the residents of the local village. Small as it was, the hunters had needed to spread a rumor of a minor illness spreading through town. Emotional trauma from their lifemates' injuries had had a severe impact on many of the pregnant females. No miscarriages had been reported yet, but that could change in an instant. Sara risked premature labor when Falcon nearly died rushing to the village to feed. With Sara in her last month of pregnancy, her lifemate didn't dare take his nourishment from her. They managed to leap that hurdle, but there was little doubt at this point that the baby would make it a full nine months in the womb. Mikhail could only hope the child would live.
Yet even the massive bloodshed and threat of miscarriages were not the worst of the aftermath. No, the worst was the unknown. Dominic and Zohra, or whatever they turned into, had disappeared the moment they burst into flames. If it weren't for the lack of ashes, Mikhail would have believed they were dead. For now though, the prince had dispatched the brothers Mathias, Tomas, and Lojos to search for them. The Dragonseeker women had fainted when whatever power possessing them had finished using them. For their own protection, all five had been placed in a warded holding station in Shea and Gary's lab. Having just received word that the women had regained consciousness, Mikhail headed there in hopes of answers.
"Let me out of here you numbskulls! I'm telling you we're not possessed!" Natalya yelled as she once again slammed her body into the magical barrier.
"I don't like it any more than you, sivamet, but until we are certain, you must stay isolated," Vikirnoff sent to his lifemate on their private path.
"What are you going to do to us, huh? Are you idiots planning to attempt an exorcism like in all those cheesy B movies? I'm Xena, warrior woman, not Emily Rose! I don't need this crap!" Natalya rushed into the wards again. The sound of snickering brought her to a halt. Natalya turned her head to find Lara sporting a silly grin, obviously amused by her fruitless escape attempts. "What are you laughing at? I don't see you doing anything to get us out of here."
"Xena, warrior woman," Lara scoffed. "Xena probably would have had us out of here by now. Doesn't she have that spinning blade thing that cuts through anything?"
"You mean the chakram? That would just bounce off this barrier and ricochet until it sliced all of our heads off. Xena wouldn't be that stupid."
"Really? Well still, I can't see you as Xena. She doesn't faint."
"Neither do I. That was a one time thing brought on by extreme exhaustion and magical interference."
Lara rolled her eyes at her aunt. "You still fainted."
"Why you little--"
"SHUT UP!" Skyler paced across the small room and kicked her foot into the force field. Fixing a mean stare at the two arguing women, she repeated herself. "Will you just shut up? Who cares who fainted? Dimitri could be dead! Nobody will tell us anything, and all you care about is your stupid pride!" Skyler clutched her wolf pendant until her knuckles were white. "Just stop it, okay!"
The two women stared at the floor guiltily. Lara was the first to speak. "You're right, Skyler. None of this is getting us anywhere. I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry too, Skyler." Natalya met her gaze. "I just hate being cooped up like a caged tiger--literally."
Skyler paced some more. "When are they going to let us out? I want to see Dimitri." I need to know he's still alive, she added silently.
"Soon, ladies." The women watched as Prince Mikhail walked into the room. "We'll let you out of here as soon as you tell me what happened back there."
The room remained silent for so long, that the prince was about to repeat his request. But then a low voice rose from the back of the room. "It doesn't make any sense," Tatijana said.
"How could we have forgotten something so important?" Branislava added.
"What do you mean, ladies?" Mikhail asked. "What happened when that thing took you over?"
"It wasn't a thing," Natalya interjected. "It was more of a presence--the presence of our family heritage."
"Explain," said the prince.
"Zohra and Dominic needed our help to save the dragon," Skyler said. "It wasn't an evil presence, just a desperate one. We were the tool it used to save a species."
Mikhail took a seat as the women told him a story of their long forgotten family history.
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"Long before recorded history, there was a race known as the Soul Walkers. A race of bi-fold creatures who's souls now take the form of myth. Unicorns, griffins, sylphs, even the majestic phoenix. All lived within the souls of much of humankind. But the most powerful, the mighty dragon, reigned supreme over all. It was said, the great Creator granted the dragon the wisdom of the ages. He became the protector of secrets, and keeper of all memory.
But the dragon was not beloved by all who came to know him. Many came to covet his position and plotted to overthrow him. It was the Dragon King's most trusted advisor and friend, Dorimir, the manticore, who revealed the source of the dragon's power to the unenchanted ones. Dorimir believed that the dragon's "royal blood" was not justification for him remaining in power. Dorimir wanted progress, but even with all his wisdom, the dragon seemed content to leave things as they were. Dorimir's greed soon brought an army of hunters into their domain. The very heart of the dragon king was hit with a poisoned arrow And so began the soul walkers' descent into darkness.
The dragon's knowledge passed to his living descendents, but they were also hunted and killed. Soon, there was only one with the wisdom and strength of the original dragon king. Asrella, the king's own granddaughter was forced to leave her people and seek aid from a neighboring race. What she found, however, was not an army of allies, but a lifemate for her soul. Asrella bonded with a Carpathian male named Donavon and soon became heavy with child. But the love she had for her lifemate was not enough to protect her from another evil set out to destroy her. While Asrella was giving birth, Donavan was forced to leave her side, to fight off the soulless vampires after her blood. Although he fought valiantly and saved his lifemate from the undead, Donavan was killed in his act of true love. Asrella felt her soul rip in two as her dragon began to die. With a last force of will, Asrella brought her son into the world. Though she tried to hold out for her little boy, Asrella could not survive without her other half. She left the child in the care of another Carpathian family and told them he was to be called "Dragonseeker" for he would be forever seeking the dragon who birthed his soul. It was not long after that the last pure-blooded dragon died of a broken spirit.
While the little Dragonseeker grew up and became a great Carpathian warrior, he never knew the fate of his mother's people. The unenchanted ones, soon found that dragons were not the only magical beings in the soul walker community. One by one, the hunters tore them to pieces and their numbers dwindled to almost nothing. In a last effort to save themselves, the soul walkers chose to stay forever in human form. It wasn't long before the secret of the soul walkers were all but forgotten.
But all was not lost. Although young Dragonseeker knew nothing of his soul walker heritage, he bore the mark of the dragon just like his ancestors. Dragonseeker soon found a lifemate and his descendents also bore the mark. The mark became a sign of great power in the Carpathian society and the Dragonseeker line bore great warriors, powerful healers, and developed powers no other line possessed. For within each Dragonseeker a fire burned bright. It was widely known that no Dragonseeker ever turned vampire. Many chose the dawn, but their souls could not be corrupted. Now the Dragonseekers are all but gone just like the soul walker people. The time of enlightenment is upon us. The dragon has discovered its mate, and soul walkers will rise again, for the dragon, must not die."
"That's what we learned when the presence took us over," Lara said. "The woman, Zohra, is a soulwalker. They've returned. And Dominic's dragon awoke screaming for her."
"But with the vampire blood running through his veins, he couldn't hold out against the beast. The dragon was losing the battle. So he called for our help," Natalya added.
"Ours and every other Dragonseeker who ever lived--past and present," Skyler finished.
Mikhail was in awe of their tale. Long had Carpathians wondered about the origin of the Dragonseekers. Now, they knew. But what could be done with this information? "If Zohra and Dominic are still out there, if whatever you did to save the dragon worked, what do you suppose is happening now?"
"Oh it worked. There is no doubt of that," Natalya said. "I suspect that wherever they are, they are finishing what we started. They are making sure the dragon stays safe."
Even in the underground lab, Mikhail sensed the approaching dawn. "It appears that whatever happened to you has not endangered you in any way," he said to them. "I'm going to hand you over to your lifemates and families. But I want all of you to swear that if you start feeling any strange side effects from what happened, you'll let someone know."
The women were more than willing to swear to that oath. Mikhail called Gregori in to remove the wards.
As the prince left to return to Raven and their unborn son, the brothers he had sent after Zohra and Dominic approached him.
"My prince, we searched all evening, but found nothing," Tomas said. "The dawn is coming and we need to go to ground."
"Understood," Mikhail nodded. "Resume the search on the next rising."
"Yes, my prince."
Immediately upon her release, Skyler rushed to find Francesca. She found her sprawled across a bench in the back of the lab. Her skin was almost translucent as she guzzled down what seemed like the last of the emergency blood. Skyler rushed to kneel before her mother and tried to ask with her eyes what she could not bear to voice aloud or even in her thoughts.
"He's alive, Skyler." Francesca told her when she finished her drink. Skyler let out a breath she had not realized she was holding. Francesca gathered her daughter into her arms and then met her gaze. "By all accounts, he should have died. I was losing him, Skyler. His wounds were so extensive and I felt his spirit start to drift. I had no choice but to give him my blood."
"You gave him your blood?" Skyler asked through her tears. She didn't know whether to be grateful or horrified.
"Yes. I hoped that Carpathian blood would help his body heal and help him stay alive long enough for me to stop all the internal bleeding."
Skyler nodded her understanding. "And?"
"While I was working on Dimitri, I inadvertently heard his thoughts along the new mental path. He was repeating the same thing over and over like a talisman. 'For as long as your heart still beats, I will live for you, Skyler. And until you take your last breath, I will never leave you.'"
Skyler looked at her mother in awe. "He heard me. He heard my prayers. I told him to live for me. That I didn't want him to leave me." I told him I loved him.
"Yes, Skyler. He heard you. And it was your love for him that kept him alive in that healing chamber. Not me."
Skyler wiped away her tears and once again clutched her wolf pendant. "Can I see him?"
"I'm sorry, sweetie. We had to lay him in a healing sleep. His wounds were so extensive, he'll most likely be beneath the ground for several weeks."
Skyler gave her mother another hug. "It's all right. I'll be okay. Dimitri's alive, and someday, we'll get to be together like we're meant to. That's all that matters right now."
Francesca pulled away and smiled weakly "Come on, sweetheart. We're spending the day at your Uncle Lucien's." She reached behind the bench and put something soft in her daughter's hands.
Skyler looked down to find her plush wolf with its icy blue eyes. She smiled up at her mother with tears in her eyes. "You saved it."
"Yes. I figured you'd be needing it for a while."
Skyler hugged the wolf tight and looked up. "Thank you, Francesca--for everything."
"I love you, sweetheart." Then Francesca wrapped her arms around her daughter and turned them both to mist.
Well that's it for now. I want to give a shoutout to SevenScars for supplying me with the name Asrella. It worked out beautifully. Next chapter sees Bastien arriving in town. Stay tuned. Now, please let me know what you think.