I'm The Dragon King's Slave

Chapter Twenty: The Thread Of Fate

Alarik's kiss, the last flicker of hope in a swallowing darkness, has restored my mark and saved my life. But it has also restored hsi fatal curse. And the day has come for it to take his life. Wrapping my arms around him, I soften his collapse as he hits the scorched earth and pull him into my lap. He smiles weakly, all of his formidable strength sapped from him with a single tick of the clock.
    "I'm sorry. I know I told you not ot leave me, but... It's me who's going to leave you." Alarik smiles sadly.
    "No. You are stronger than this curse." I say firmly.
    "I wish I was." Alarik sighs, "But it's unbeatable." New, hot tears fill my eyes.
    "Don't say that. At least try to fight it!" I beg. Alarik shakes his head, pained, his breathing growing shallow and ragged.
    "I'm so sorry, Lavena." He sighs.
    "No!" I sob, "You should have just let me die! Why did you kiss me?!" I clutch him and cry. He reaches up and touches my cheek. His fingers are cold as ice.
    "Because I love you. It's as simple as that." He replies. I stare at him, his words penetrating deep.
    "It's better this way." He insists, "I can take the curse with me. All of this pain and suffering... it will end."
    "It won't end. Not for me." I say through shaking sobs, "It's only the beginning of my suffering. Life will be hell without you."
    "Lavena... I know this isn't fair." Alarik sighs. My whole body trembles with grief and anger, but Alarik cups my cheek with the softest smile.
    "Sorry to be selfish, but just do this one last thing for me?" He asks.
    "Of course." I nod, "Anything."
    "Kiss me."

    My heart breaks as I stare at the man before me. The man who took me, the man who marked me... The man who changed the very course of my life.
    "Please." Alarik pleads, "One last time." He cups my face in his hands, wiping my tears away.
    "No. No, no, no. I won't." I say quickly. Alarik stares up at me in hurt and confusion.
    "Because you're not dying." I say firmly, "You're not." I cry quietly, my face hidden resting atop his head. Alarik falls back, growing weaker.
    "I'm out of time." I shake my head, fresh tears falling down my cheeks.
    "No. Please. Please." I sob. A horrible pain grips Alarik then. He arches his back, clutching his chest, as though something is clawing him from the inside. I shut my eyes, trying to pull my power into me. But it doesn't come. I press my lips to Alarik's temple as he twists and screams, holding his chest as a horrific darkness falls over us both.
    "This isn't working. I don't know what to do, I–"
    "Look at me." Alarik says feverishly, "Look!" He cups my face in his hands gasping for breath. Even in his agony, he finds the strength to speak. To give me one last courageous smile.
    "Change things, Lavena. Change things in this world." He says firmly, tring to hide his pain.
    "I will." I nod, "For you." Alarik nods, satisfied with my answer.
    "Good. I know you can. Because you are extraordinary. You are mine." He falls back, the last vestiges of his strength and lifeforce stripped from him. Desperate, I cup his face and press my lips to his, full of desperation and love. Alarik is weak, slumping back in my arms.
    "I love you." Is all I can say as I press my lips to his forehead, then rest my head against his.
    "You are... the love... of my life." He whispers.

His eyes close, his once powerful, draconic body going limp in my arms. I hear a long, wracked breath escape him... and then nothing.
"No." My body wracks with sobs as I clutch Alarik to my chest, "No, Alarik, no. Please, god, no." Fury, darker than the blackest night, overtakes me in my grief. I clutch Alarik's lifeless body and scream.
"GOD DAMN IT!" I don't know who I'm screaming at. But it doesn't matter.
"I never knew love. Not before him. Now you TAKE HIM FROM ME?!" My unbearable heartbreak manifests in a bitter sob as I burry my face in Alarik's cold, still chest.
"Please." I sob, "I can't. I can't lose him, too." I don't expect an answer. I know I'm screaming into a void of nothingness. But something does answer: my Dragon's Mark. Slowly, the familiar, warm hum beneath my flesh rises to a keen pitch. I suck in a shaky breath as I watch my mark glow, the light hitting Alarik's face. It glows softly at first, then brighter and brighter... until it rivals the light of the moon above. Power, suddenly surges within me, as bright and strong as Alarik's blue flames. And I feel it: The thread of the curse. A thread, shining with the same ghose-white light as my mark, reaches back centuries, dividing humans and dragons. I can feel its legacy of brutality. Of tragedy. How many lives it has stolen and ruined. I press my face against Alarik's chest and sob. But a crackling sound mingles with my despair, and the air shummers as if alight with countless fireflies. What is this? The light gathers... forming a being... the shape of a young boy with a face I recognize.
"S-Soren?" I gasp. He doesn't answer, but he's precisely as I remember him the day he died.
"What is this? What are you–?" I gasp as he walks toward me, right through patches of burning blue flame. He gives me a brief smile, then bends down before Alarik. Closing his eyes, he takes the curse thread... and pulls. It's hard for him. He strains, giving all of his strength to the breaking of the thread.
"Srop it, Soren, you're hurting yourself!" I exclaim. But he doesn't stop. He pulls and pulls... I gently set Alarik on the ground and move behind Soren, grabbing the string and pulling with him. We pull and pull until finally... the curse thread snaps. When it does, Soren falls back, disappearing in a coud of vapor.
"Soren!" I gasp. Then, I see it: a thin veil over Alarik's skin cracks like glass. I stand frozen in awe as the web of broken glass spreads across his skin... ever so slowly... before it covers all of him. After a long, tense moment, the veneer shatters, scattering like dust in the wind, leaving Alarik's body clean and bright, all his wounds healed.
"A-Alarik?" I say his name slowly, not daring to move. Everything is still. The wind doesn't disturb a single blade of grass.
"Lavena?" I think I imagine it. His name on his lips. His eyes fluttering open. But it is no illusion. Alarik is alive, free of his curse, and rising to his feet before me. He stares down at his hands in wonder.
"Is this... am I..?"
"Oh my god, Alarik..." I gasp, "What... I-I can't believe this." I bring my hands up to cover my face as new, joyful tears threaten to spill.
"Me neither." He smiles. I laugh through my tears, stepping forward and running my hands over his body in disbelief.
"You died because of the curse. You choked and fell out of my arms, you–" I swallow hard, meeting his eyes, "-you died." My voice breaks. Alarik reaches over and brushes a lock of my hair behind my ear.
"I'm here now." He smiles, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." I nod quickly, a smile slowly tugging at my lips.
"You're not. You're shaking." Alarik presses his forehead to mine, "But I'm here. Thanks to your brother." Soren...
"For a minute there was only darkness." Alarik says, "It was like a prison. But then I felt him shatter the lock. He sacrificed himself to break the curse." Thank you, Soren. Thank you. Tears fall from my eyes and I open my mouth, but no words come. Instead, Alarik pulls me close, catching my mouth in an all-consuming kiss. I melt against him, letting every ounce of me give into the feeling of his lips, his hands... Then, a dozen massive shadows pass overhead. We pull away and look up.
"Are those..?" I ask slowly.
"Dragons." Alarik nods, "But... they have riders." Several dragons doar over us, the humans they used to enslave riding them as they all head toward my burning town. A cascade of white falls form the dragons' jaws, dousing the fires.
"That's snow from the mountains." Alarik states.
"This is unbelievable." I gasp.
"I believe it." Alarik smiles, "I think you inspired them, Lavena."
"Inspired them?" I repeat curiously. Alarik takes my hand and we make our way back to the town.