Shadowborn Queen - G. Bailey Page 0,36

push the horror of what I just saw to the back of my mind as we get to a crowd of fae, and Nikaia forces us into the middle. Her hand finds mine and I look up for a second, meeting her bright blue eyes.

"It will be okay," she whispers to me. "Gold would never tell you this, but he used to be scared a lot as a child of what would happen to him. Of the life he was destined to have. One day I told him he shouldn't be scared because he was a dragon and dragons don't get scared of the sky like sheep in a field do. But you, you are more than a dragon. More than a shadowborn, or a Light Ffae, or a Dark could ever be."

She pauses as a few of the crowd look our way but soon carry on their conversation as we come out to a big clearing. "You, Izora Dawn, are blessed with the blood of the gods. And gods? They do not cower or fear their future. They choose it."

I smile brightly, feeling more brave and strong than I have in a long time because Nikaia is right. I can choose my future and save my people. I can take my throne, with my sister as the queen of the Dark Fae at my side and show the fae what compassion is. See, fae are enchanting and beautiful, but Shadowborns have something they usually lack. Compassion and understanding for the forest and a love for all things inside it. We walk for a good half an hour before Nikaia pulls me away from the bulk of the group and down a long alleyway. At the end of the alley, we both pause as a group of guards walk past us and out of the way.

Nikaia moves first, rushing around a brick wall and into another alleyway. We both run down the alleyway and out into a massive clearing, exactly as I saw it in my vision, but this time my parents are not here. I run over to the wall, knowing I don't have a lot of time to find this key. Nikaia stays back as I climb over the green stones to the gap in the wall and feel for anything, a hidden compartment of some kind.

When nothing happens, I lean back and think about it. If my parents hid the key here together, it would have been for me to find.

And only me.

I pull my sword out and cut my hand, flinching as it pours with blood. After putting the sword back, I lift my hand and place it on the stone wall. Immediately the wall shakes, cracking down the middle and bursting with green light. I cover my eyes until it fades and I look back to see a key hovering in the air. Reaching out, I grab the key and turn around to show Nikaia, but she isn't looking at me. I follow her gaze to the dark figures of giants in the distance and not far from there are hundreds, if not thousands, of dragons flying right for us.

The alarms blast in the distance, right before the haunting sound of screams fill the night.

Chapter 19

“Hide!” I shout at Nikaia as we run to the house, the crowds of fae hiding us well. Nikaia ducks under a house and I pull out my sword as two fae guards run at me. Before they get close, Gold and Luke step out behind them and together they take them down in a matter of moments, leaving their dead bodies on the floor. Scott and Axel rush over to us and I look over to see Nikaia bow her head at me before disappearing into the darkness of the alleyway.

Thank you for your help.

“We must fight,” Gold suggests. I nod and take a step back as Gold’s eyes light up, magic flooding the air as he shifts into his dragon and Scott jumps on his back. The rest of us don’t need a lift.

I fly through the dark clouds with my guys beside me. The smell of blood permeates the air before any of us hear the cries from the battlefield. My hands shake as I grip my bow. A tendril of fear snakes its way through me, but I muster every scrap of strength I possess and put on a brave face for my guys. We're about to go into battle. They need me to be brave.

I