Reborn: Draconia World Book 5

2. The new me

Chapter Two

The new me

I had only been in the council building once before, a long time ago, when I was being questioned about having stolen items in my bag. Victor, my ex-boyfriend, had run away, leaving me alone. It was because of him I was sent away to prison in the Dimond city. Now, being in this place, I was having trouble gathering my thoughts.

The entire auditorium was full, and everyone was talking loudly. The wardens were excited. We had finally gained control of the city, but I wasn’t sure how long it would last. The Dark Ones had been pushed out, but they weren’t defeated. Wardens needed to realise that, sooner or later, many of them might return, and we had to be ready.

Their source of magic was in the Dimond city. We needed help to defeat them in the underworld: warlocks, and any aid from the outside world. Humans couldn’t get involved. This wasn’t their war, or even their world.

I saw Ripley in the distance; he was standing next to Harvey, and a group of warlocks were with them. Their faces were grim, and clothes burned, most likely from fighting alongside the wardens. There were many more than I expected to see in the first place, but still not enough to defeat the enemy. Gloomy thoughts began shading my mind. Flashbacks from the tunnel were still making me nauseous. This wasn’t good, especially under the circumstances, where I was supposed to be positive.

Rhian dragged us all the way to the front row. Cole was talking loudly with Gregory. I glanced over at my brother. He was a handsome warden, and I had never asked him about his father. We had a lot we needed to catch up on, but I realised it might be a while before that could happen. I was just happy to have him in my life now.

My thoughts were racing while we waited. It was unexpected: the uprising, the bodies, and all the magic that now drifted around the city. I had never felt this kind of intensity. Sure, Draconia was filled with energy, but this was stronger, different. I had an uneasy feeling in my gut that we’d defeated the Dark Ones too soon. It was all just too easy. It was possible that, maybe in the morning, they would be planning a counterattack when no one was expecting it. That’s why we needed to have someone inside the Dimond City, but that thought was immediately pushed back to the gloom I was feeling inside.

“Fran, I think you should address all the wardens in here,” Cole said as he walked up to me unexpectedly. “You were the leader of this uprising.” I stared at him like he’d just lost his mind.

“What? I’m not ready,” I said. “You created the League, and I nearly ruined everything in the tunnel. You should be the one speaking to them.”

He looked uncomfortable, running his hand through his hair, before he returned to Gregory. I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to speak to anyone. Rhian and Nicolas didn’t have to say anything, but I knew what they were thinking. They were wondering how Idris could have done something so despicable to me and all the other wardens. We’d been living in oppression for so long, and everyone thought he understood that.

“Attention, attention.” Cole spoke into the microphone, touching it a few times. The snippets and whispers died down. Many wardens had stayed behind to take care of their loved ones. There were going to be massive burials tomorrow morning. At the same time, the League knew they needed to stay active. This was only just the start of the real war. “Thank you all for gathering here tonight. We did it. After years of injustice, and struggling under the Dark Ones’ control, we managed to take over the council—our city!”

The wardens clapped and shouted, others cheered. The joyful energy moved throughout the room in waves.

“You were all very brave, and we’re all aware of how many lives that were lost tonight, but we want everyone to realise that this is just the beginning. The Dark Ones won’t accept what’s happened. They will return to punish those who rebelled against their order. They’re probably gathering inside the Dimond City right now. We’re strong, stronger than we were before, because of the warden girl, sitting in the front row here in this auditorium. Francesca, she was the one who voted for change, the one who discovered the truth about the eggs and Dragon Fever. The Dark Ones were never planning to reveal the truth. The wardens have always been the original keepers of the dragons in the Lower World. The Dark Ones created Dragon Fever. They’ve been lying to us for a very long time, and, for most of us, as long as we can remember, but now everything is going to change.”

More cheers and joyful words moved around the room. Some of the wardens had no idea what Cole was talking about. It was still too early to reveal the whole truth, to tell them that they had been manipulated all these years. A few wardens who were sitting behind me, began congratulating me. I didn’t want to be the centre of attention right now. I thought about Dara. She was dead, and it made me sad. I never realised that, one day, I’d be sitting in this council building, thinking about her. She would have been proud of me.

Cole continued to talk about our plans, about sending the League members to the strategic points of the city. Even the wealthy wardens were involved, and that normally never happened. They must have been inspired, too. Cole mentioned we were going to need a few days to gather an alliance from other parts of the Lower World. I had no idea who he was talking about. The Dimond city was under the Dark Ones’ control. I suspected they were hiding more eggs there. The two dragons we had freed were on our side now, and they would never return to captivity. They could play a key role in what was going to happen, but the underground? That was a completely different story. It was the place where magic thrived, and fighting there would be the most challenging.

After the speech ended, the wardens looked like they were motivated to carry on; they needed to realise that we still had a lot to do. Many of them began approaching me afterward, thanking me, and telling me that things were going to change for them now. I was glad when we were allowed to leave. As the hours passed, my energy diminished.

It was late when we left the council building. The warlocks were using their much-advanced magic to deal with most of the bodies on the streets. Apparently, Harvey found a way to create a mass grave outside the city. Frederick used his fairy magic to open a crack of magic in order to transport them there. I was a little surprised they were willing to go the extra mile to help us. Especially the fae.

“We should treat the injured ones tomorrow,” I said, feeling the light breeze on my face. “Right now, everyone needs to rest. It’s been a hell of a night.” The navy sky was scattered with stars. The smell of blood was strong. One of the buildings was still burning, but it was a sense of overwhelming freedom that made me realise we had done it. Now, at least for one night, we could feel safe in the place where we were born.

“We shall have a meeting here tomorrow,” Cole said, “gather around midday to discuss further steps. My people are already setting up wards in strategic places around the city. Even more warlocks will arrive from the human world once they find out we defeated the Dark Ones.”

“Really, did Harvey or Ripley say that?” I asked with disbelief.

“Yes, Ripley assured me that things are going to develop quickly,” Gregory answered for him. “Ripley wants a seat on the council, so he’s working with us.” I was shocked to hear about this. Harvey was convinced that warlocks didn’t care about the Lower World. Well, we’d promised them a reward, and I had yet to see him fulfil his part of the bargain.

“Fine, that sounds good, but neither of them can be trusted,” I told them. “Just keep an eye on him.”

We walked in silence until Gregory caught up with me.

“Hey, Sis, stop thinking about Idris,” he whispered in my ear. “His true nature took over, and I’ll help you get your dragon back.”

I nodded but didn’t say anything; I just couldn’t talk about this right now. I missed Avianna. Rhian and Nicolas continued walking with me toward our bikes. The wardens regrouped and worked together to protect the city. Even if Idris wanted to send his mages for the eggs, he wouldn’t be able to get to the city. We couldn’t control everything, but the Dark Ones were weakened by the fact that we had dragons.

My heart ached for Avianna. I had no idea what was going on with her, or if she was injured, or worse. I forced myself not to think of the what-ifs and only focus on what I could control. I had to; otherwise I would drive myself mad with worry.

I was still hurt, injured, and felt pretty down. I didn’t feel like I’d contributed much to the fighting. Next time, I was planning to slaughter many more Dark Ones.

We took the steam bikes and returned to Mangus’s residence. A cold shiver traversed down my spine when I looked around at all the destruction.

“I’m afraid to return to my own home and see what’s left of it,” Rhian said. She was talking about her home near the square where she had been under house arrest for years.

Timothy stayed behind. We hadn’t had a chance to talk, but I suspected he was going to head home soon. I hated Idris now, I hated the fact he had to ruin this for me. It didn’t matter that my heart was shattered to pieces, saving Draconia was much more important. I was ready to dive into the Dimond city and kill him with my bare hands.

“The wards seem untouched,” Nicolas muttered, looking around. Eventually we walked inside the house once Rhian took down all the protective spells.

“The eggs are still here. I think some of them might even hatch soon,” Rhian stated as we walked around the living room. I instantly felt better. The eggs’ energy was truly magical; they were already healing me. “And Fran, please don’t beat yourself up over what’s happened. No one could have predicted that Idris would betray us like that.”

“I’ll try,” I muttered.

I really needed to rest. I felt like my body didn’t belong to me, like I was living in someone else’s skin. We were supposed to be celebrating tonight and then possibly making love upstairs. I didn’t think it was possible to go from loving someone, to hating that person almost in a matter of moments, but that was me now.

I had a shower and washed all the dried blood from my body. I thought I could wash off his scent, too, but I could still smell him on my pillows. This was torture, but eventually, I fell asleep.

“Francesca, hey. It’s me. Can you hear me?” A female voice was asking. I suspected I was dreaming. It was so dark, and I was in a tunnel, wearing a white sleeveless dress.

For some reason, I recognised that voice from somewhere. Warmth began to spread over my chest. I looked around, disoriented, wondering what or where this place was. My feet were bare, and the torches were burning, showing me a long narrow tunnel in front of me. I could grab one and return the way I had come, but the voice drew me closer.

“Carry on walking; you’re so close, my dear,” the voice said, and I felt more warmth. This encouraged me to keep going. This was the voice of my blood, someone from my family. Natalie was my aunt, but I had only seen her briefly.

I started walking ahead, while my heart pounded inside my chest. I didn’t feel cold, and my magic; the energy was rushing through my veins, thumping inside my ears.

“Who are you?” I asked, moving inside the tunnel, but no one answered me. I had a strange feeling of déjà vu. This couldn’t have happened to me before. My subconscious kept reminding me that it was just a dream.

Then the tunnel ended, and I walked into a cave. There were dragon eggs everywhere, like in that cave near the Dimond city.

“Francesca, I knew you would come,” the woman said, appearing out of nowhere. My breath caught in my chest. My mother, but how? She was in prison, and this tunnel was part of the Dimond city. What did this mean? Did she escape?

Now that I was staring at her, I could see the strong resemblance. I truly looked like her, and she was beautiful. This dream—I had no idea when it was going to end—made me realise I had a chance to get to know her.

“What are you doing here? I was told you were in prison,” I said, and my voice was a little shaky. She took a few steps toward me, smiling widely. My heart was jackhammering in my chest. I felt hot and cold at the same time.

“The Dark Ones allow me to walk around the tunnels sometimes. It depends who is guarding me. Come here, I want to touch you,” she said, reaching her hands out toward me. Then out of nowhere, I saw another hand. A Dark One grabbed her and wrapped his arm around her neck, holding a knife.

When he stepped closer to the light, my whole body locked up in fear. No, no, no, this couldn’t be happening. I refused to believe it.

“It’s time to end your life,” Idris said to my mother and then looked at me, “and you’re going to be next, little one.” He was smiling, and then a second later, he slashed my mother’s throat.

I started screaming, grabbing and tangling my hair. She was dead—he killed her.

I awoke screaming, the nightmare was so real. Then Nicolas barged into my room. Sweat was running down my face. My T-shirt was soaked, and, for a long moment, I was disoriented, wondering why the hell I was screaming in the first place. My heart felt like it was going to explode inside my chest.

The images from the dream were rolling in front of my eyes. Idris killed my mother. No, this only happened inside my head. It was just a dream, a really, really bad dream. I needed to pull myself together.

“Are you all right, Fran?” Nicolas kept asking.

“Yes, it was just a nightmare; go back to sleep,” I told him, after I glanced at the clock. It was just after four a.m. Nicolas didn’t move, and I wanted him gone. I felt so embarrassed that he was seeing me like this.

“But you’re—”

“Nicolas, please, I really am okay,” I said, more sharply than I’d intended. I needed to be alone. I was still trembling, but it was just the shock from what I’d seen. His room was on the floor below, so I must have screamed pretty loudly. He sighed and finally left me alone. I dragged my hand through my messy hair, thinking that this nightmare represented my time.