Call Of The Dark

Anton had brought his soldiers who were hiding in the woods that surrounded the temple. After what happened to Maeve, all his dreams and plans came crashing down. Now there was no way to stop Lazarus. Emma was his mate. With Maeve inside her, she would have been of immense use to him, but without Maeve, she was nothing but a human who was a burden.

Quietly, he watched Emma hugging the snout of the dragon. He was awed by the dragon but at the same time hated it. He could actually hear his plans shattering with a deafening silence. His gaze went to the crystal mountain under which Ailill was buried with Maeve's soul and he felt hopeless. The fact that Maeve had a fae mate whom she hid, also gnawed inside him. Suddenly a thought passed through his mind — if her fae mate was here, was it possible that she would have married Ailill instead of him. The thought was so shocking that he almost stopped himself from stumbling.

With a tight throat, he looked at Lazarus whose focus was entirely on Emma and the dragon. Anton didn't want to think further about it so he quietly retreated from the temple and signaled his soldiers to disperse.

Every dynamic in the palace changed so sharply that there was a sense of chaos. Everyone was expecting that Maeve would possess Emma's body, but nothing of the sort happened, instead a giant dragon saved her or rather plunged Wilyra into the unknown.

When Emma removed herself from Nephie and turned, she saw an eager Yul standing beside her. "Can I meet your dragon?" he asked her while staring with awe at Nephie.

"Who is this clown?" Nephie asked Emma.

Emma giggled. She introduced them. "This is Yul. Yul, this is Nephie from Yizinia."

Yul extended his hand forward as if to shake with her. Nephie brought her snout forward. Yul froze in his place. Nephie sniffed him and then nudged him lightly on his shoulder as a gesture of friendship. Yul fell down on the ground, skidding some ten feet away. Shocked, he looked at the dragon and then seeing that she had tilted her head in amusement, he burst out laughing. He got up, brushing his tunic and pants and walked back to Nephie. With his closed fist, he patted her snout. "You are a very naughty dragon, Nephie!" And they all burst out laughing.

Magnus joined them and bowed to Nephie. "You have been wonderful, Nephie," he said in appreciation. "All our problems lie beneath that mountain," he said, pointing at the crystal mountain. "Now we can breathe in relief."

Nephie nudged him with her snout and he patted her lightly.

Lazarus came to circle his arm around Emma. "Are you tired?" he asked. She was still shaking.

She shook her head. "No, I was terrified when King Viktor found me in Magnus's room." She jerked her head back. "Oh!" she exclaimed. "King Viktor asked Olya whether it was Lord Magnus who brought her to the palace."

"Fuck!" Magnus said through clenched teeth. He traced away immediately knowing that Olya must be shaken to the core by now. He just hoped that his father didn't harm her by now. Why didn't he think about it earlier?

Lazarus shook his head. He rubbed his face with his hands and said, "Why is it that when one thing is solved, there are ten other things lined up to be solved?"

Emma cupped his cheeks and said, "Because that's the essence of life. Solving problems, untying knots to make our life simpler." She rose on her tiptoes and kissed his lips. "Let's see Magnus and Olya."

Lazarus took a deep breath in. He turned his face to Nephie and said, "I am sure that after today, my father would be the first person who would want to hunt you. Stay guarded. If you want, you can go to Yizinia."

Nephie let out a snort that was akin to laughing. She said to Emma, "No one can catch me. I will crush their skulls like the way I crushed the Shaman's skull!"

Emma grinned. "I know, no one will catch you. But stay close and stay guarded. I don't want soldiers hunting you."

Nephie flared her wings and before she took to the skies, she said, "Stay well, Emma. I will be around here for a few more days. After that I will go to Yizinia."

Emma felt… sad. She didn't want Nephie to go so soon because Nephie was her connection with her mother. Emma blinked away the sudden tears she felt in her eyes. She smiled and nodded a little.

Nephie flared her wings wide and shot to the sky.

Yul watched her awe-struck. Nephie was his new crush. "What would it be to ride on her?" he muttered.

"You won't be riding her at all," Lazarus growled possessively. "She is Emma's."

"What? Why not?" Yule cried. "Please Lazarus. Please. Please." He begged but Lazarus lifted his chin up and walked away with Emma out of the temple. Yul followed them on heels, still begging.

When they came out, Lazarus ordered his men to seal the temple permanently. He was going to fill this place with so many stones and bricks and sand that the temple would bury under a mound. Maeve would remain in this place forever.

Lazarus and Emma traced to Magnus's apartments along with Yul. Over there, when they saw Magnus kissing Olya furtively, they quietly traced back to his apartment. Yul was too excited to leave. "Lazarus what are you going to do now?" he asked as he perched himself on a couch with a huge grin.

Lazarus glared at his friend. "I am planning on taking a bath with my mate."

"I was thinking that you should—" Yul snapped his head in Lazarus's direction. His face flushed so red when Lazarus's words crashed into him. "I see," he managed to squeak. He let out a rough exhale and then traced away from his apartment, muttering something about abandoning friends and mates.

As soon as he left, Lazarus picked up Emma in his arms and carried her to the bathroom. "We both need to purge all the remnant negativity," he said and crashed his lips on hers.