Chapter 2

"Dragons?" I repeated, surprised.

"Yes, in Ionar. Several flocks have been sighted on the coast, heading west towards the sea."

"Which colours?" I asked quickly, feeling hopeful.

"Unfortunately, no blue ones. According to the reports, they were brown and green."

I hadn't expected anything else, but I was a bit disappointed. Brown and green dragons were the most common, but travelling across the sea was very unusual for their kind. Forest dragons, as humans called them, lived in woods and jungles. I'd never heard of dragons leaving their territories and entering into the dominion of another kind before. Something must have happened.

"How long ago was it since you last saw another dragon?" Colter asked unexpectedly.

I was surprised by his question and stared at him. Colter had never asked me anything about dragons before. He'd never even asked me anything that concerned my past. Not even about my time with the Fae. However, I noticed the unexpected interest in his voice, and it made me happy. I hadn't talked about dragons in hundreds of years.

"I left my mother and her pack four hundred years ago," I replied.

"That was the last time I saw another dragon."

A hundred years before I, unfortunately, met Aislin and her three siblings.

Colter didn't react at all to what I said, and I let the matter go. Perhaps I had mistaken his interest after all.

"Has nothing else happened? Nothing new about the curse?" I heard how hopeful I sounded.

′Iunius, such a naive little fool you are. Why don't you ever learn?′ I thought mockingly to myself.

Colter didn't respond but just shook his head, and my heart felt heavy. Always this constant disappointment. How long would I be able to continue? How many more years would pass before I would finally break and become completely mad? I was very aware that I was slowly losing the remaining of my sanity. I had already lost my inability to control my emotions and could hardly distinguish dreams from reality. I didn't have much time left before I would go back to being completely bonkers, just like when I first came here.

Suddenly Colter reached out his big hand to me, and I winced as the warm hand caressed my cheek. It was as time stood still. At first, I was glancing doubtfully at his hand, as if I couldn't believe it actually touched me, then I met Colter's gaze. He looked at me with his beautiful brown eyes, and for the first time, I could see what he was feeling. Compassion.

Very cautiously, as if I was afraid that any rapid movements would scare him off, I gently placed my own trembling hand over his. It was warm. All I could hear was the chain around my wrist that was rattling when I moved. My heart was hammering like crazy in my chest. Colter's hand, the first in thirty years that touched me, was soft and warm. Our eyes never left each other, which made me shudder throughout my body. I was tense like a string on a bow and could barely breathe.

But as suddenly as it had was placed there, the hand disappeared from my cheek. Colter quickly stood up, his eyes turned on the door, and every emotion vanished from his gaze. My body immediately missed his warmth, his presence.

"I must go now. I'll be back tomorrow and look after your wounds," was all Colter said.

His voice was cold.

I just nodded, and it wasn't until he hurriedly left the cell, and the door closed behind him that I broke down. Tears ran down my cheeks, and with my face hidden in my trembling hands, I cried. All the feelings that I'd been trying to deny for months rushed forth, and I was helplessly overwhelmed by everything I felt.

I loved Colter. I had never felt so strongly for anyone before, not for my first love Daraador, not even for Aislin, who enchanted me for two hundred years.

I wanted nothing more than to die. Just to let go of these feelings that took over me. All the pain I felt, everything I had endured in this cell, it was nothing compared to what I felt now. I loved him, I wanted to be close to him, but it was impossible. Never again would Colter touch me or even look at me that way. He could never be mine because of who I was. A murderer. A terrible monster.

Human's called me Iunius. My father gave me that name because he found me in June. For being a grand magician, my father really lacked imagination. He told me that it was either Iunius or Olive because he found me under an olive tree outside Nacor, the old city that was my home for the first years of my life.

Father found me in a pool of blood, where my mother left me to die by the tree. My existence was impossible. A dragon could never breed with a human, just like a dog can't breed with a cat. But what my mother didn't realize, was that the handsome man she had seduced in her human disguise, was Valerius Atticus Laelius. The most powerful magician in this world and far more than a mere human. Valerius was more like the legendary Demigods. He was a Master from the fallen kingdom Cournic. My mother must have been quite shocked when she discovered that she was pregnant and that she was carrying a fetus instead of eggs. She had desperately tried to get rid of the fetus in every way imaginable. Still, my father's magic in me was too strong. I was like a parasite clinging to its host and feeding on its very life force. She was forced to give birth to me, near death, full of fear and hatred for this thing in her.

My father felt my presence the moment I left my mother's warm inside, and he followed the magical trail, which took him to me. Many times he told how he found me, how he saw a little white dragon lying in a pool of blood and amniotic fluid, the umbilical cord still stuck in the placenta. Without any hesitation, father took me into his safe arms. And when he touched me, my shape changed, and a little girl with almost dazzling white hair and two clear eyes of different colours lay in his arms instead. From that day, I never left my father's side. He was a wonderful man who was as good as he was powerful, both in magic and in influence. Men from all over the world respected him and sought his advice.

The few years I had with my father were the only good ones in my life. My father had loved me immensely. And he always protected me and taught me everything he knew about magic. My father had lived alone for many centuries, the last of his kind. He had carried a tremendous burden himself, the magic of an entire circle, but he always put me first. He saw early on that my magical ability exceeded even his own, so I wasn't only his daughter but also his apprentice. But the loved and protected Iunius disappeared when my father was murdered. I left the world of people to flee from the grief, the alienation, and loneliness to find my mother and the blue Stormdragons.

With dragon blood flowing in my veins, I had no trouble finding my kin. And when I was living with the dragons, I got the name White. One of my half-sisters chose that name for me as I couldn't keep my human name, and my mother refused to name me. My mother was Ilia'kara, and she turned out to be the wife of the Stormdragon's fallen leader, Meg' riok. I was never really welcomed by the dragons. They hated me for even being alive. My existence should have been impossible. They saw me as a freak.

My mother never once stopped denying that I was her daughter, even though our similarity revealed our close kinship. My siblings all felt distraught about being related to an unnatural half-blood, even though my father's heritage made me stronger than any of them. The only ones that accepted me among the dragons were Daraador, the new leader who had overthrown my mother's mate. And Ro' riok, the youngest of my seven half-siblings. All the other dragons avoided me just like the humans had done. Because I was different. Not only was my appearance odd, but my magic was so strong they all feared me.

I didn't live with the pack for more than three years, and when I left, I didn't know who I was. I wasn't Iunius, nor was I White. Nowhere did I belong to, until I met Aislin, a fae.

Aislin and her three siblings called me Cadhla. In their language, it meant' The beautiful,′, and with them, I felt as if I finally belonged somewhere. I loved them as my gods, lovers, friends, and parents. They were everything to me, especially Aislin. I loved her with all my heart, and I did everything to make her happy. They were my whole world. I lived only for them.

But everything turned out to be a lie, even their love for me. They used me for my dragon blood and the magic from my father. They took advantage of my affection for them and turned me into a weapon. The siblings made me into a vicious, indifferent killer who had hundreds of innocent blood on my hands. I became what humans and dragons had always seen me as. Nothing more than a terrible monster.

As Cadhla, I was renowned. Everybody knew who I was. The half-dragon from the west, who lay with the Fae and killed and tortured in their name. Cadhla was what mothers scared their children with if they disobeyed. Everyone was afraid of me, and everyone hated me. And now, I was imprisoned here. So that everyone was safe from me, I was a monster, and Colter would never touch me again.

The tears never seemed to stop. I cried and screamed in despair. The feeling of emptiness made me want to tear my skin, but the chains shortened whenever I got upset, and I got pressed up against the wall, unable to move at all.

Once upon a time, I was a magnificent woman with my silky white hair and my passionate eyes that could seduce anyone, men and women alike. My complexion was like white porcelain, and my body was as they describe the Twin Goddess. Perfect. The longer I lived, and the more magic I learned, the more beautiful I became. All thanks to my dragon blood. Well, my outside was beautiful, but my inside was foul, and my personality was rotten. Now I wasn't even a shadow of who I'd once been. I was nothing, empty of everything. For one hundred and thirty years, I had been sitting here and was this wreck—an empty miserable shell with no purpose or right to live.

I was the Half-Dragon with the Three Names, holder of the Red Circle's combined force, and General in the Arm mór, the Great Army. And I was now deeply in love with my prison guard, a simple Captain in the army that I violently fought for two hundred years.

I'd been in this cell for a long time now. It was never really meant to be this long. When I came to the King, I was fleeing from my former masters and completely mad from the visions I had. I swore my life to him in exchange that he would set me free from my curse. The King couldn't resist it. I was far too valuable just to execute, even though he really wanted to. So the King that hated me promised to keep me safe until the curse was broken.

They placed me here in this cell, safely kept away from all the thousands who wanted to see me dead, but the years went by, and nothing happened. The curse was as strong as it was one hundred and thirty years ago, and I had become a shadow of my former self.

I was still pitying myself when the door suddenly opened, and Neil came in with the food. He stopped when he saw my tears, but pretended like nothing and set the bowl of soup on the floor in front of me. It was the usual soup I got three times a week, a watery vegetable soup with a few scraps of meat. I forced myself to stop crying and ate it while Neil watched, careful not to look me in the eyes.

The soup was eatable, it was well seasoned, and it satisfied my hunger. But I was so tired of it. The same soup, three times a week for hundreds of thirty years, would make anyone tired. In the nights, I had terrible twisted dreams. But during the day, I fantasized about whole grilled pork, deer marinated in red wine, or smoked salmon. Just the thought of salmon made me almost drool, and I put away the soup. I couldn't eat anymore.

Neil was quick to take the bowl, and he turned around to leave.

"Hit me."

That made him stop. He didn't turn around, but he was stiff as he was surprised.

"In the face. Please Neil, hit me," I heard how pitiful I sounded, but I just needed to feel something other than this emptiness.

Neil just shook his head and walked away as I fought the tears that threatened to come again. I shook like a leaf in the wind, whispered forth a "Please," and when I heard the door close behind him, I let the hateful tears come back. I was too tired. I couldn't fight anymore.

I pulled my knees up and leaned my forehead against them. I stared at one of the hovering light orbs that slowly descended to the floor. The glowing orbs, which were as large as an adult male's head and filled with daylight, were the only source of light in the cell. Three orbs were floating around, and as they began to run out of light, they dropped to the ground, and then a guard would replace it.

I was tired. Tired of the bloody orbs with their eternal buzzing, the only sound I heard besides my own breath and the rattle of the chains. I was tired of the tasteless food, the lukewarm water, the soldiers who never talked to me, and I was so tired of the damn cell.

For a hundred and thirty years, I'd been in it. I wanted to feel the warmth of the sun against my face, to hear the whisper of the wind through the trees. And to smell some other scent than the stench of giants.

One would think that the stench should have disappeared after three hundred years, but the smell was in the walls and would never fade. This whole prison had been built to hold the giants the King's army managed to capture during the war against the savages in the North. But when the Great Army began to conquer every land in the west, the Empire ended the battle against the North, and the prison closed. I was the reason they opened it again, and I was the only inmate, guarded by a company of a hundred men.

At first, I hadn't noticed the stench. I had been so out of my mind, that I didn't even know who I was anymore. But after a few years, when I learned to change the visions into nightmares, I felt the smell. I vomited for hours, and it took a long time before I stopped feeling ill. The compartment was large for a human, fifteen men could easily stand in it, but for a giant, it must have been painfully cramped. The poor beast was forced to stand up while starving to death.

This home of mine was built inside a mountain. The walls, ceilings, and floors were all carved out from the rock. The massive door was solid steel and sealed with ten locks that had only one key. The chains that held me were regular chains of steel, but they were imbued with witchcraft. They couldn't break, the chains even noticed if I tried to hurt myself, like before. And the only way to get out of them was if a Witch took back the magic in them. And I couldn't expect that a Witch would come by any time soon.

Some days are worse than others. I can list several days that belong to the worst ones. This day turned out to be one of them. Often, when you think things can't get any worse, you are proven wrong, and it gets worse—a whole lot of much worse. So when a warm hand suddenly grabbed my shoulder, I knew that this day was truly doomed.

"You have cried, Iunius. Why?"

I froze immediately. The voice was so tender, and it filled me with a paralyzing fear that spread throughout my body.

'No, no! Please, not today,' I thought to myself.

I was breathing very slowly, trying to keep myself calm, but the panic stormed inside me, and I glanced upwards.

The man who towered over me was the most beautiful man I've ever laid my eyes upon. I will surely never see anyone as magnificent as him.

He was a handsome man with impressive facial features. He radiated charm and serenity, but I wasn't affected by it. Instead, I began to tremble with fear.

Our eyes met, my wilting white and red, and his black as the deepest night.

I was lost in the black depth of his eyes when I remembered his question. I quickly wiped away the tears with the back of my hand.

"No, Eliam, I'm just having a bad day," my voice trembled as I spoke.

'Or century,' I thought bitterly.

Eliam Naor sat down on his knees in front of me, his eyes never leaving mine. He tenderly took my hands in his and held them between us. His hands were beautiful, with long, slender fingers.

Eliam's black eyes were filled with sadness and pity. And I hated it. It didn't suit him at all. He used to be strong and defiant, not like this. Although that was then, Eliam had changed in many ways.

"You know I don't want this Iunius, but it's time."

I didn't say anything about it. I'd heard what Colter said when he told me that he would come back tomorrow and look over my wounds. But I had been so busy with all my pathetic feelings for him that I never gave what he said any meaning. Although it really didn't matter how prepared I was. I was never ready for what was to come.

Eliam gently kissed both my cheeks, which he always did before It began. The feeling of his warm, moist lips on my cold face should have been nice, but instead, it almost made me cry again.

Suddenly it felt like the air in the cell was filled with the electricity from a thunderstorm. The hair on my arms stood up, and I began to feel nauseous as if I needed to vomit.

Then it came, the panic that tore my mind apart. The horror overflowed, and I screamed straight out. A hysterical roar.

We were no longer alone. The room began to get crowded with all the men, women, and children that I had killed. Eliam stood up and pulled me with him. I tried to get away from him, but he was too strong, and on trembling legs, I leaned against the wall. I stopped screaming, my throat was sore again, and I had lost my already fragile voice.

Everything was quiet, and still, as I stood trembling, surrounded by everyone whose life I had taken. Some as young as two years old, and they were severely burned, and others old and mutilated. The only thing they did so far was to stare at me. Hatred, fear, and revenge, everything showed in their black eyes.

I knew them all. Once a month, they came to me and had done so for a hundred and thirty years. But I didn't know their name, and that was something I would never learn.

Fear was the only thing I could feel at that moment. I was shaking as I whispered.

"I'm sorry. Please, I beg of you. No more. I can't do this anymore."

But it didn't matter how much I begged, they never listened.

Eliam let go of my hands, and he whispered with tenderness in his voice.

"I forgive you."

But it didn't help. Eliam didn't have the power to help me because he was nothing more than a tool used by the Twin Goddess to punish me. Eliam was just as much of a prisoner as I was.

He joined the others, and it began.

My punishment.