Dawn of Legend: Dragon Dusk Book 1 (Dragon Shifter Romance) Read online

  My body glowed with a brilliant mix of green and gold. The light pulsed around me and cleansed the ground of the black muck, allowing grass and flowers to bloom at my feet. Vines climbed up my good leg and their stalks bloomed with beautiful purple flowers.

  I drew my hand back and flung it forward, releasing a large wall of light. The wall passed through Tristan and he stumbled back with a roar. The brilliance struck the golem and soaked into its body. The creature tilted its head back and opened its wide mouth to the starry sky. It let out a strangled cry before its body erupted in a burst of golden dust.

  The change to the woods was immediate. The ground burst with green life of vines, grass and flowers that flowed over each other. Leaves sprouted from the trees and the birds flew overhead, chirping their glee. The ellyll trapped in the monster fluttered above its remains. My little ellyll friend squealed and joined them as they all chattered together.

  The strength granted to me by the magic left, and I clutched my head as a deep fatigue washed over me. Through my fingers I saw Tristan revert back to form and hurry over. He wrapped his arms around me and pressed my side against his chest.

  “That was quite impressive,” he complimented me.

  I looked up and gave him a shaky smile. “I didn’t know I had it-” I froze. The pain in my leg shot up my limb and seemed to race through my veins up to my chest. My heart was seized by a terrible cold

  “Christine!” I heard Tristan shout.

  And then I knew nothing.

  21

  Nothing, that is, except a terrible cold mingled with an almost unbearable heat. My whole world was consumed by those contradictions. Darkness and light. Sun and shadow, and the time in-between. Dusk.

  A few slices of consciousness intruded on my bleak existence. My eyes fluttered open and I found myself staring at the canopy of my bed. A warm fire crackled in the hearth and the shadows from the windows told me it was still dark.

  I turned my head to my right and saw Chloe seated in a chair beside the bed. She was turned to the nightstand where a bowl of water stood. In her hands was a small cloth from which she wrung water.

  At my moving she turned her head to me and her eyes widened. “Chris!” She scooted to the edge of the chair and brushed her hand over my bangs. Her hand was so warm, but not as warm as my forehead. And yet, the rest of my body was stuck in a chill. “Don’t try to move. The poison is all over your body.”

  My eyes swept over the room. It was only the two of us. I returned my attention to Chloe. “T. . .Tristan,” I whispered.

  “He’s gone to fetch a doctor, but I’m sure he’ll be back soon,” she assured me.

  I slipped back into the feverish state. More time passed, an imperceptible amount of minutes and hours. Sometimes I would almost awaken, and other times I swore I was awake and that voices hung around me like shadows. They whispered words in tones that I didn’t like. They frightened me.

  Eventually the chill and fire faded. One sunny day I found myself able to open my eyes. My fever had passed and the chill in my body had lessened, and yet I still felt this strange tension in my body. The warm fire still burned in the hearth and the sunlight flowed into the room through the open windows. The seat beside the bed was occupied, but the light cast the front of the person in shadows.

  “Tristan?” I whispered. My voice sounded so hoarse.

  The figure chuckled. “No.” He leaned toward me and revealed himself to be a young man of twenty-five. His hair was blond and reached to just below his ears. “My name is Maddock. According to some people I’m a doctor, and others call me other names.” He smiled down at me. “I’m here to treat that nasty curse that’s on you.”

  I blinked up at him. “Curse?”

  He placed his hand on my forehead and nodded. “Oh yes. Many monsters in this world leave their mark on the lives of those they touch. For you, that’s quite literal.”

  I tried to sit up, but my arms shook so badly that I ended up falling back. An effort to move my legs was met with the same failure, but panic began to nibble at the corner of my thoughts. “Why can’t I move?” I asked the

  “You’ve been in bed for a week,” he revealed as he slipped an arm beneath my head. “Let’s get you sitting up so you can get some nourishment.”

  I was too distracted with his words to do more than stare at him with wide eyes. “A. . .a week?”

  “I was told you drew a great deal of elfennau from the forest,” he reminded me. “That combined with the curse made you very ill. However-” He looked down at me with a kind, almost pride-filled smile. “You have a certain degree of stubbornness about you that’s matched only by your husband.”

  I blinked at him. “My husband?”

  His expression was one of shock, but his sparkling eyes told a different story. “Did I say that? I meant Tristan, of course. So silly of me to mistake those two words. Now let’s get you up so you can get some food into that body of yours.”

  Maddock tucked a bunch of pillows behind me and helped me sit up. He grabbed a glass from the nightstand and clasped my hands around it. “Take this. It should get some of your strength back.”

  My hands shook, but I clutched the glass hard between my palms and raised the mouth to my lips. The drink was thick like a milkshake and tasted like strawberries. I happily swallowed the whole cup and handed the drink back to the doctor.

  “What was that?” I asked him as he set the cup back on the nightstand.

  “A medicine of my own making, along with a little bit of ancient knowledge to prevent any nasty side effects,” he added with a wink.

  I set my hands in my lap and studied the young man. “So Tristan got you for me?”

  He leaned back in his chair and nodded. “Yes. I happen to be very good at my job, though some people would beg to differ. I am an athrylis like Tristan and yourself, and my specialty is healing medicine, and Tristan fetched the best person for just this job.” He tilted his head to one side and examined me. “He’s quite lucky. I didn’t expect his wife to be so pretty.”

  I blushed and looked down at the sheets that pooled in my lap. “He. . .he said something about being his bride, but I think he was just teasing me.”

  His expression was one of bemusement. “If that’s true then I’m sorry my friend developed such a poor taste in humor. However, none of this talk is going to help you get better, so we should let the matter drop.”

  I shook my head. “But I want to know now.”

  The doctor paused and stared at me with surprise before he leaned back and laughed. After a moment he wiped a few tears from his eye. “You must excuse me. Someone once said that exact same thing to me a very long time ago. It was rather annoying then, but time soothes all wounds, or so the saying goes, and now I find it very humorous to hear it from another’s lips.” He stood and took the cup in hand. “But you really should get some sleep. My medicine will help.”

  “But I’m not-” My eyes grew heavy and I fell back against my pillow.

  Maddock leaned down and brushed his warm hand against my forehead. “Sleep well, sweet briodferch, and dream of twilights to come.”

  Time was pulled from me and passed beyond my reckoning. The next thing I was aware of were voices. They were soft and yet firm, angry and yet quiet. They were also familiar. It was Tristan speaking to Maddock.

  “She has the right to know,” Maddock insisted.

  “She intends to leave,” Tristan countered.

  Maddock snorted. “You and I both know the likelihood of that happening is slim, at the very best. Your spell brought her here for the rest of her life, and that was your intention all along.”

  I peeked open one eye to a slit and saw that the darkness of night enveloped the room. Maddock occupied the chair, though the back of the seat now faced the nightstand. Maddock himself had one leg folded over the other and his arms were crossed. His gaze lay on a dark figure near the fireplace. It was the tense form of Tristan. He leaned one arm across the mantel and stared hard
into the fire.

  When Tristan spoke his voice revealed anger, confusion, and even a little regret. “I won’t lie and say that wasn’t my intention. However-” He pressed a hand against his chest and narrowed his eyes. “Even a creature such as I can regret their actions.”

  Maddock sighed and rolled his eyes. “You’ve been listening to those villagers again, haven’t you? The ones that give you that look out of the corner of their eyes that tell you you’ll never be like them.”

  Tristan straightened and turned to face the bed, and his gaze fell on me. Sorrow was etched into the lines of his face. “Can a monster not wish to be like others?”

  Maddock leaned back in his chair and a little smile appeared on his lips. “He can, but I think she would love you as you are just as much as she would love you as a man. However, why don’t we ask the young lady herself?” He looked to me and winked. “Right, briodferch?”

  I opened both eyes and shrank beneath the covers. “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop.”

  “It was rather careless of us to speak in your bedroom,” Maddock pointed out. Tristan shot him a suspicious look which the good doctor returned with feigned innocence. “Why, Tristan, you look as though I had planned the whole conversation.”

  Tristan marched past us and out of the room. I winced at the hard slam of the door. As his footsteps faded down the hall I sat up and looked to Maddock. “Is he angry at me?”

  Maddock turned to me with an arched eyebrow. “Why do you believe he would be angry with you?”

  I hung my head and bit my lower lip. “Maybe he’s disappointed in me for that fight. I let that thing get a hold of me and then I was sick. It must have been a pain to-”

  “That’s enough.” The sharp tone cut into my words and I whipped my head up to Maddock. His humor was gone and his face was creased with a hard, serious look. “He would never be disappointed with you. On the contrary-” He returned his attention to the door and sighed. “I would say that he’s more angry with himself for placing you in that danger.”

  “But I’m the one who insisted he take me,” I pointed out.

  A few whispered words left Maddock’s parted lips. “If only he would see that mortals are reckless and wonderful in their sacrifices.” He shook himself and turned to me with a smile. “But that’s enough of that. How do you feel?”

  I raised my arms and looked myself over. “I don’t feel very tired anymore. At least, not as tired as earlier.”

  “Then I’ll have you drink another glass of medicine tonight and let you rest until tomorrow,” he suggested as he grabbed a new cup from the nightstand and held it out to me.

  I dutifully drank the strawberry-flavored medicine, and Maddock moved to leave. He was at the door when I called back to him. “Maddock?”

  He paused with the door open and half-turned to me. “Yes?”

  “Could you ask Tristan to come in here?” I requested.

  He pursed his lips. “I could, but I doubt he’ll come.”

  I flashed him a mischievous smile. “Then tell him I’ll come to him if I have to, and remind him how reckless we mortals are.”

  Maddock chuckled. “Smart girl. I’ll see what I can do.” He bowed his head and closed the door behind him.

  22

  I plumped the pillows behind my back and tried to ease my butt into the mattress, but there was no making myself comfortable. It wasn’t the bed that was the problem, but my nerves as I waited to see if Tristan would visit me. I kept my eyes on the door, and every creak and groan made me think it was his footsteps in the hall.

  Finally, there was the soft but firm footfall of his shoes. The door opened and Tristan stepped inside, but not completely. Part of him remained in the hall. “Maddock said you wished to see me.”

  I folded my hands in my lap and nodded. “I did. Please close the door behind you.”

  “You should get some-”

  “Get in here and shut the door behind you,” I insisted.

  Tristan looked like he was about to leave, but he moved all the way inside and shut the door. His stiff manner reminded me of a naughty schoolboy about to be punished. The comparison made me smile.

  I patted a spot on the bed beside me. “I’d like to talk to you.”

  Tristan reluctantly moved to the side of the bed, but didn’t sit. “So Maddock tells me. Are you hurting? Should I fetch the doctor to-” He turned to leave, but I caught his sleeve.

  “I’m fine. I just want to talk to you about something,” I told him.

  He turned his face away. “On what matter?”

  “On the matter of you avoiding me right now,” I explained. I leaned forward to catch his eye, but he averted my gaze. A sly smile slipped onto my lips. “Maddock says you’re mad at me for messing up.”

  Tristan stiffened and whipped his head to me. “I told him no such-”

  “I know.” My firm voice cut through his words. I gave a harder tug on his sleeve. “You know, you’re really tall and it’s kind of hard to talk to someone really tall when you’re sitting in bed.”

  Tristan eased himself down on the bed. “Then what do you wish to speak with me about?”

  “I want to tell you you can stop beating yourself up,” I explained.

  He arched an eyebrow. “Over what?”

  I shrugged. “Over everything. Bringing me here, taking me into the forest. Everything.”

  His gaze fell on my forehead. “My taking you into the forest nearly cost you your life, and my bringing you here has cost your life.”

  I reached my hand up and cupped one of his cheeks in my palm. “But you gave me a new one, and this one is a little more exciting than my last one. As for the forest, I don’t mind being sick before.”

  Tristan pursed his lips. “Maddock hasn’t told you.”

  I blinked at him. “Told me what?”

  “The mud golem cursed you,” he revealed.

  I soaked in the information before I smiled. “Yes, he told me about that, but I feel a lot better now.”

  Tristan shook his head. “This curse isn’t one that can be defeated by rest alone, and the effects are far worse than a fever.”

  My heart quickened and my eyes widened a little. “What do you mean?”

  Tristan stood and walked over to the vanity. He removed a hand mirror from the top and returned to sit beside me. With some reluctance he lifted the mirror so I could see myself. I froze as I noticed a black smudge on my forehead between my eyes. The stain was shaped like a crude circle and in the very center was a red rock the size of a pea. The dot glistened like the red eyes of the golem.

  I reached up with my shaking hand and gingerly touched the mark. The stone was solid, as was the smudge. I looked over the mirror at Tristan. “What is it?”

  “That is a mark of the void beast, in this case the golem that touched you,” Tristan explained. “The curse it brings is to consume your life force to sustain itself. That was why the golems sought the Harlipren and the portal. They sought to consume every living thing to satiate its corrupted appetite.”

  I grasped my chest with my shaking hands and swallowed the lump in my throat. “How much of my life force will it consume?”

  “If left on its own it will consume everything and kill you.”

  My heart stopped. I hung my head and fought to hold back the tears.

  Tristan cupped my chin in his hand and raised my eyes to his. They were full of sorrow and apology. “I’m sorry. The life I offered you is not a safe one, but I had hoped it would be brighter.”

  I took a deep, shuddering breath. “Isn’t there anything we can do to lift the curse?”

  He dropped his hand and looked away from me. “The curse of the void beast is not easy to break because it is less magic than it is other things.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t understand. What other things?”

  “Alchemy,” he explained as he reached into his pocket and drew out his hand. He opened his fingers and nestled in the lines of his palm were tiny pieces
of glass. “The ellyll found this in the woods near a pond where the golem fetched water for its body, and where he first began to corrupt the forest. It is the remains of a vial alchemists use to store their creations and explains the horrible mutation of the golem. “Alchemy would also explain why Gwill wasn’t able to sense the creature.”

  I looked up at him with wide eyes. “So there’s alchemy in this world, too?”

  “Yes, though I’m not sure what stories are told in your world about its potency,” he mused as he tucked the glass into his pocket.

  I shrugged. “Just that they were always trying to make gold.”

  “That would be a blessing indeed if they kept their research to merely making precious metals. Unfortunately, this adventure has reminded us both that the alchemists in my world are less preoccupied with earthly goods than with creating chaos.”

  “What were they trying to do?” I wondered.

  He furrowed his brow. “I’m not sure.”

  “So Gwill couldn’t sense the golem because alchemy was used on it?” I guessed.

  Tristan shook his head. “Not quite. The alchemical potion used on the golems granted them a certain degree of invisibility from magical beings. That was why it was able to penetrate so deeply into the grounds and destroy so much of the forest before the ellyll fetched us.”

  I leaned back against the headboard and frowned. “So can just any alchemist do this type of potion?”

  “It is a rather tricky potion to concoct,” he admitted as he studied my face.

  I reached up and brushed my fingers against the mark. “So this alchemist might have a cure for my curse, right?”

  “That is likely, if only to cure themselves of the the curse if they should accidentally fall victim to it,” he confirmed. He raised his eyes to my forehead where the mark bore witness to my attack. “Unfortunately, alchemists are rare in this area and I myself know of none.”

  “I think I might be able to help with that,” a voice spoke up. I looked past Tristan and saw that Maddock stood in the doorway. In one hand was a slip of paper that he held up. “I just had a message from a friend in Laethion who included this bit of news. It’s a list of the alchemists, living and dead, who are known to be in this area.” He walked over and handed the list to Tristan who studied the paper with fervor.