TAKEN BY THE DRAGON KING

CHAPTER FIFTY EIGHT

MIRANDA

The old hag stared at me like I’d lost my mind and was spouting nonsense, I’d begun to question why I’d even bothered to come here in the first place.

“This was a mistake,” I tell her gritting my teeth in anger. “Rot for all I care.”

“Wait!” Her voice echoed off, followed by the weak tendrils of her magic trying to claw out through the binds I’d put her in the binds glowing a faint blue as it siphoned more and more of her energy with every resistance she put up until finally she collapsed, a strained sigh escaping her lips.

“Girl,” she groaned hard, her breath coming in short bursts due to exhaustion. “Just how far did you go? I warned you girl, I warned you-”

“Spare me the lecture,” I said gritting my teeth hard. “If I needed one, I know where to go, can you help me or not?”

“I cannot,” she replies defeatedly. “I’m afraid this is quite above me, especially since you’ve been siphoning my strength.”

“Waste of time,” I spat angrily, turning to make a quick exit from her. “You’ve always been useless hag!”

“I do know who can!” Her voice rings out, echoing into the cavernous dungeon. “But there are some things you should know if you want to have much of yourself left for the journey.”

“For what price do you offer your help?” She snarls. “Let me guess, your freedom? Should it come to that, I’d humbly decline.”

“This help I offer for free,” she tells me. “I taught you to think of the consequences before bargaining, and as usual you’ve neglected my advice, Chaos is not a man, he is an entity of creation itself, you cannot begin to fathom what madness and horror will follow in his wake, freedom will be the last thing any of us have, especially you, his host.”

A cold chill sweeps through my body because somewhere deep down, I know she is right, I can feel the miasma of power swirling and churning inside of me, waiting for just the tiniest slip up so as to be unleashed, regardless I maintain a strong front, the scowl seemingly permanently plastered across my face, I stood to lose more of anyone saw the slightest break in my facade.

“Well,” I say a bit too nonchalantly. “Spit it out!”

“Chaos itself like any other entity needs to be fed to thrive, so this negative energy you put forth, this constant and unbearable hate for the world you have makes you a perfect snack for it,” she says. “Let me cut straight to the point, you want to slow it down right, then tone down the bad girl attitude, stop ticking the fucking time bomb for our sake.”

“Is there a way to control him, harness him?” I ask hoping for a shred of light in this seemingly bleak situation. “Away I could use him back.”

“Many have tried,” she tells me. “None have ever succeeded, the last man was in fact my father, and the explosion of the great war, that massacred fair and human folk alongside the rest of our kind was the result.”

I swallow a bit of dry spit, the situation seemingly becoming deadlier with each passing word uttered from her mouth.

“You see child,” it’s voice slithered in my head. “You cannot bit begin to fathom my power, yield and you will not suffer, that I can promise.”

“What do I do then?” I ask, the fear starting to drip from my voice. “How do I-”

“You die,” she says bluntly. “Or you bind him, but for that you’d need the guardian of all knowledge, keeper of all, I believe his last current location was the Eternal Glaciers.”

“That’s-” I begin. “That’s so far.”

“Your choice child,” she tells me. “Make the journey, or wait till your mind is consumed by an entity seeking nothing but complete endless and utter destruction, it’s your choice.”

Sensing that her words had hit home she turns from me, retiring back to her corner in the cell, the only tellings of her being the faint light emanating from the chains binding her.

My legs feel like jelly infused with lead, and I’m surprisingly chilled as I walk back. Inside of me is a turmoil save for my battle with the cancerous chaos seeking new ways to infest and devour my existence, a war rages on in my mind and several thoughts make themselves known.

“My lady,” a guard bows and revers me.

I walk past him in a daze his words and reverence seem to come from quite far away, in the end, there is no choice as much as my hatred for this world spans, I want to it be rebirthed not destroyed.

It’s quite a while for me to gather the strength and courage but eventually, the influence of Chaos becomes unbearable forcing me to take action quicker and call for a meeting. I stride with power and burst into my throne room, the courtesans and councilmen bow their reverence to their ‘king’ amplified by the waves of power they felt rolling off of me but didn’t quite understand.

“I’m going on a mission,” I announce, looking them squarely in the eye. “It is a solo quest deemed by the gods themselves, I do not know when I’ll be returning but until then I leave my second in command Freya in charge, you are to honor and reverence her as you do me, I leave in three days!”

The crowd immediately bursts into murmurs and speculations begin to rush forth even in my presence, it’s all that I have and the old hag’s warning for me not to burst my top.

“Is this about the princess?” One of the councilmen who I quickly recognize as Duke Edmont of the Gayle asks. “Surely they are other plans in motion to get her back, his majesty must not put himself in such danger, it is wouldn’t-”

“I’m afraid it has already been decided,” I tell him bluntly.

“I leave in three days!”

I send them out, leaving them to squabble like chickens on their own turfs. I turn to Freya, a trusted aide of mine, whom knew of my true identity.

“I trust you can run these blundering fools while I’m gone,” I say to her with an earnest smile, my fave feels hard from it only then do I realize just how long it was since I had done it.

“They are foolish men pretending to be smart,” she says returning the smile. “Taming them should be no problem, tell me what’s with the quest.”

“It’s something I have to do for all our sakes,” I tell her. “You’ve always trusted me, so trust me on this one too ok?”

She nods as I arise from the rather bulky throne.

“One more thing,” I tell her. “Make sure our guest is still in her bonds when I arrive, would hate to lose her company.”

She smiles and nods again.

Supplies won’t come easy for the quest and I began packing rations, storing them magically just in case of emergencies when his blasted voice pops back into my head.

“Foolish mortal!” It snarls. “Why are you so hellbent on your destruction, I give you a choice, and you toss me around like your plaything.”

“Get out of my head!” I snarl right back. “My mind will no longer be infiltrated by the likes of you.”

A crude laugh echoes off into the voiding space of my mind.

“Your mind is as good as mine,” it says emphasis laid on top each and every syllable. “There is no escape from me, you cannot save yourself from me, after all you invited me here.”

“Now I’m telling you to get the fuck out!” I squeal so loudly, the jar next to me, explodes from an onslaught of power escaping me.

“Brat!” It growls. “Impudent brat, go on your foolish quest, but know that if you fail you should know what is to befall you and your pathetic soul.”

It’s like being thrust in a vision only I can feel the wind breathe the putrid odors in the air and my scream rings out as a wave of intense pain wracks my body, my skin seems to boil, my body on the verge of breaking as scream after scream after scream escapes my lips.

It’s hard to describe, it is like a fire not the warm ones that fueled my blood in order to achieve my passions but an intense one that seemed intent on devouring me from inside out, my arms and legs are at odd angles and all I can do is continually scream into the darkness hoping something will save me.

“Witness,” Chaos’s voice manifests a thousandfold. “Tiny fragment of life what I will do to your bloody essence should you fail, know that if you do not willing accept me, this will be your faye, this will be your life, accept child!, Accept!”

I groan in pain, wanting no needing to escape and all of a sudden I’m back in my room, my clothes soaked with sweat, my eyes stained with tears, my arms shiver ever so slightly and the mirror in it falls to the ground cluttering, cold fear grips my heart and I think of surrendering.

“You’ll doom us all,” granny’s voice floats into my head.

Damn the old hag for being right as always.