[DRAGON REALM]
They had to wait a day in that cave; it was so agonizing for Alaris to just do nothing.
Finally, the passage day was open and immediately they headed for where they believed Tyrek was held captive.
Ny'ka had gone first, so there was a high probability that the army would believe that those who had been sent to kill them had eradicated all of them. They wouldn't be expected.
While they were on their journey, they found the stranger who had declared the coming of the White King’s army. He was on the ground, dead. He must have been dead for a while and killed from a close rage, too; there was a hole in his heart, one in which a dagger would have been - Nyka’s dagger.
That same dagger had made its way into his heart.
He balled his fists by his sides, retaining control with the gruesome thoughts of killing her once again.
Ny'ka must have taken the now dead stranger along with her to lead the way and tell her everything he knew about the presence of the White King’s army that held her father hostage, then she had killed him because she knew that he would spill under pressure.
It was something Alaris found pleasing. It was the best thing to weed out likely disloyal ones when they had exhausted their usefulness.
It was the exact thing he would be doing to her.
While they continued their journey, however, Alaris was worried about Belladonna and the possibility of creating an army with the newly acquired gem.
Belladonna’s mind was still weak but what was even worse was that the resistance to death she had before had now vanished.
The Priest said her aura had now weakened greatly.
Her most vulnerable time was now.
____
____
Finally, they got close enough to the ambushed caves as the sun began to set.
Alaris took to the sky once again and he was able to see where their enemies were gathered and how best to strike them.
They weren't expecting a dragon and something about the way Nkya was made him believe that she wouldn't say anything about it even if her life was threatened.
It wasn't a way he thought about her before, but maybe having heard tales about her while waiting for the passageway to open up and seeing that dead stranger had changed something.
She would keep her lips sealed no matter what but what if her father’s life was threatened?
He couldn't trust her.
They still had to be careful.
“You must wait behind here,” Alaris said to Belladonna when they reached one of those deserted caves that had been left behind because of an ambush. It was empty and the things that were found there signified that it had only been recently deserted.
The White King’s army was certainly responsible for this.
Belladonna didn't argue to go with him. She knew of her witness and how vulnerable she was. She would try her best to protect the rest of their cave that couldn't join in the ambush, like the children, the sick, the elderly, and those who weren't warriors.
It was just as big of a task as marching into the battlefield.
“Come back alive,” she said, pressing her forehead against his and he smiled, promising to do just that.
The warriors departed from them, leaving Belladonna and the Priest behind with the rest of the cave.
They stayed in the darkness, knowing that light would attract intruders. They blocked the mouth of the cave as much as they could and there, they hoped.
____
____
It was too easy to take down the White King’s army and retrieve Leader Tyrek.
There was no dragon shifter amongst the army, and they hadn't been expecting one.
They conquered the place and spared the lives of none who belonged to the White King’s army.
On their way back to the Cave, however, Alaris realized something due to the cries of Leader Tyrek.
“My daughter! Ny'ka. Saviour, please let us go back for my daughter.”
There were some guards who didn't leave the newly conquered land, however, driven by his thirst for revenge, Alaris went back for Ny'ka himself.
She was only his to kill, his dragon wouldn't rest otherwise.
____
____
Still in the darkness, Belladonna and the others waited.
Then suddenly they heard a sound.
The Priest stepped forward immediately, the almost silent sound of a sword being pulled out of its sheath filled Belladonna’s ears.
She saw the flames first, dancing in the hands of the intruder.
She thought it was Alaris and was lured into a false sense of safety, only to realize that he wasn't the one.
His brown glowing hair was nothing like Alaris; he was bulkier with a menacing smile on his face.
A blast of flames shot out through his palm at them.
Seeking desperately for defense, Belladonna tried to connect with the gem, but all she saw was still darkness; her mind was still weak - she was useless.
The Priest and a blonde-haired warrior tried to distract the attacker so that he wouldn't keep staying there as an obstacle to their escape, but he easily took them down.
Finally, he fixed his gaze on Belladonna and the gem she carried.
It happened all too quickly.
One second, she was in the cave, and the next, she was in the air - captured and being taken to the White King.