Chapter 76 The Announcement pt3
I walk back from the roosts alone, my mind reeling.
My life is like a feather in the wind, blowing whichever way dictated by some force I cannot see or touch.
Some people want me dead, more say I’m the answer to a question yet to be posed.
I’m supposed to save Amaranthine from the dragons and redeem its people from the clutches of fear, but how?
I’m just one girl.
A girl who made a decision long ago.
A mistake, or a destined choice, I will never fully understand.
I feel powerless as my feet silently pad the ever-warm cobblestones of Hellbane Fortress. Silas is still missing. Malachi is assumed to have scampered back to him the moment he was done being questioned. I have enemies I never asked for.
And allies I didn’t know existed.
At the beginning of all this, Thorne told me my life was at risk and he wouldn’t stop people from trying to kill me. He told me it was part of being a slayer, part of earning the tantalizing title I wanted so badly.
I don’t know when it changed, why he’s suddenly willing to kill for me.
To die for me.
As the days go on, I understand the devotion of the people in my life less and less, and it scares me. I don’t deserve this. Any of it.
When I stumble into my shared rooms with Thorne, I notice a landing platform has been built for my new alicorn. For long moments, I barely move, blinking back tears.
Thorne stands there, holding a silver-stained leather and matching halter. My alicorn’s wings flutter with excitement and he whinnies in greeting. He dances over to me, nose immediately dropping to my pockets and searching for sugar cubes.
I realize then why he wasn’t at the roosts. He was waiting for me here where I belonged.
I turn glassy, emotional eyes to Thorne and ask every question I have with only my gaze, though he either doesn’t understand my silent plea, or brushes by it unnoticed.
“He’s magnificent, Anara,” he tells me as he runs his fingers through the silver mane. “Have you named him?”
“I have to name him? I thought they told us their names.” I twist my lips in thought, petting the alicorn and stroking his long spiral horn. When Sylvain told me her Alicorn’s name, I guess I had assumed the filly told her in some way.
“I’m afraid telepathy is a magic no one has yet mastered,” Thorne says with a smirk.
The fool knows absolutely nothing, my mind mentor quips.
Thorne steps back, his smile fading. “Bonding to your alicorn is important, Anara. Name him, claim him as he has you. Only then will you stand a chance of surviving tomorrow. Alicorns are crucial to this final test, and if you are not bonded…” With that, he turns and leaves me on the balcony, letting the rest of his ominous sentence go unfinished.
I sigh, trying to reclaim my grip on reality. Trying to control something in my life, anything.
“So, what should I call you?” I ask the magnificent alicorn before me, trying to distract myself from the present situation.
The stallion huffs loudly through his nose and shakes his head, mane rippling like a silver waterfall.
This creature saved your life, came in when he sensed your terror, and rescued you. He is a hero and deserves a heroic name.
“A heroic name…” I whisper, pressing my head to the stallion’s cheek in thought. “Champion, Sentry? Guardian Angel?” I chuckle as the stallion stomps his hoof in annoyance.
“What about Warden?”
I turn and smile at Maggie as she approaches. She looks at the stallion with obvious awe but keeps her distance.
“Warden?” I ask, smiling fondly at the old woman.
“Well, why not? What is a warden but someone held of high esteem whose purpose it is to protect their ward?” Maggie steps forward slowly and lifts her hands to pet the stallion. “It seems quite fitting.”
Warden startles and whinnies, backing away a few steps, but the old woman shushes him gently, backing away and showing him respect.
I cock my head to the side and squint my eyes as I watch them get acquainted. I could swear I saw a flash of green reflect off Warden’s shiny black coat for a moment.
“Warden is a perfect name for this creature, Anara. I just know it,” she tells me.
I nod and wrap my arms around my stallion’s neck. “Warden,” I whisper, and burrow my face into his mane. This time, the stallion doesn’t rebut but lays his massive head against my back as if he’s embracing me.
I’ve lost so much in such a short amount of time, and the pain of that loss sears me inside. To have gained Warden as my companion makes everything hurt just a little less.
As if feeling my pain, I sense him send his healing powers directly into me along with a calming, affectionate feeling. And a hungry one. As he rubs his jaw against my back, I receive a clear image of a handful of sugar cubes as he clicks his hoof three times against the cobblestones.
Chuckling softly, I promise I’ll get him some.
Tomorrow.
After we pass the final test and l fulfill my destiny.
Tomorrow, I become a Dragon Slayer.