Destiny (Experimental Heart Book 1) Read online

  I wanted it all to be a lie. That I’d wake up and be a normal person with a normal life.

  “What kind of cruel person would do that to another?”

  My fists clenched. “Cruel? Cruel doesn’t begin to describe him. He’s maniacal and twisted. He uses his power to get whatever he wants and torture those who do not submit. He makes others appear weaker—stupid—imperfect.”

  My rage numbed me. The awful memories of the torture and suffering I had endured ran through my mind.

  “We are just tools to him, and he makes sure we understand that is our sole purpose in life. We are nothing without that single purpose.”

  I jumped back when a hand rested on my shoulder. I looked at the dragon to find his eyes filled with concern. My brow furrowed. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

  His expression twisted with more concern. “Have you never been shown compassion?”

  I took a step back and looked away. “I’m not overly familiar with that emotion.”

  “It’s not just an emotion. It’s an action.”

  “That’s right… I forgot that.” I looked up at the sky, the sun low, casting long shadows across the tree-filled landscape. I listened as the chirping of crickets filled the air and felt the coolness of the river lap at my bare feet. Everything was so peaceful and calm. “The answer to your question is not really. Very few have shown me such an action.”

  “Was one such person, the one who gave you this?” I turned to see him holding up a hairclip made of emerald. The wind picked up and my hair whipped around my face. I had been so distracted, I hadn’t realized it was missing. “I’m not sure about humans, but for a dragon to give another something made of pure emerald, you have to mean a lot to them.”

  I snorted and took the hairclip from him. “Have you not been listening to me? A misfit like me, special? That’s a laugh. I’m nothing more than a broken toy, thrown away.”

  “I did listen, but what you said doesn’t add up to that. I’ve seen that craftsman’s work before. An elf from Ravenward up north. He charges a hefty price. So, unless you stole it, then you had to mean a lot to someone.”

  I twirled up my hair and clipped in the hair clip underneath it, letting the top portion of my hair flow over the hair clip. I then looked away. “How I got this isn’t your business.”

  Silence fell between us, allowing me to think about where to go from here. I had been heading west some time, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to continue that way. North seemed like a better choice; being much colder, it gave less possibility of being followed.

  The dragon broke the silence. “What did you do to be deemed imperfect?”

  I continued to stare out at the scenery. “I failed my design. I showed emotion.”

  “What?”

  Instead of replying, I listened to the forest. I’d heard some rustling that didn’t match the typical wildlife here. I turned around to find the dragon-man had moved closer to me again, though I ignored it this time.

  “Watch yourself.”

  I continued to listen, hearing the sound of something metallic moving quick through the foliage. My eyes widened, and I pushed the dragon to the side. “Look out!”

  He fell to the ground, and a small throwing knife sunk deep into my shoulder. I bit my lip, so I wouldn’t cry out in pain and then yanked the weapon out. Spinning it in my fingers, I looked to the forest. “Come out and fight me like a man.”

  Three more blades flung out of the brush, but I knocked them away. Those weren’t thrown with conviction. “Wow, both a coward and a weak shot. This isn’t exciting at all.”

  The brush rustled and then a tall man bolted from his cover. One glance at his bizarre features made me aware of what he was. I readied myself for a fight, but before he came into range, a mass of fur barreled into him. A wolf? The man screamed as the wolf bit down on his arm and shook his head. I took a moment to glance the dragon’s way to find him gone. Where did he go?

  The attacker raked its talon-like nails across the wolf’s shoulder. It yelped and let go. The man jumped to his feet and did his best to keep his eyes on both the wolf and me. The wolf forced the man’s attention when he showed himself to be a threat, and I used the opportunity to sneak closer. Gun tucked away behind him. By the time the man knew of my presence, I was already on him.

  I thrust the throwing knife into his back and then reached around and slit his throat. I let him go, pulling the gun he held. He choked and writhed on the ground.

  He gasped for air. “Zarda will get you… you disloyal bitch.”

  I checked the gun, finding one bullet in it. Convenient. “Says the puppet bleeding out at my feet.” I spat on him. “Your master is nothing. And soon, neither will you be.”

  I aimed the gun at his head and fired, blood and viscera splattering over the ground. If anyone came across him, they wouldn’t be able to identify him from his face. The wolf looked at the dead man, and then, before my eyes, slowly changed shape into the human form the dragon had taken. It wasn’t a pretty process by any means, but I’d seen far worse in my life.

  A dragon that can take the shape of a human and a wolf? The historical texts were true. They claimed dragons were the last with the ability prior to going “extinct.” Druids could take a single form, and science tried to replicate the ability, but had only come as far as druids, with some slight variation.

  “Let me see that scratch he gave you,” I ordered.

  The dragon turned his injured shoulder away. “I’m fine. What was he?”

  “A Hunter.” I knelt down and rummaged through the man’s pockets. He didn’t wear a uniform, but many in the field didn’t so they could blend in better. Not that their features don’t make them stand out anyways. “They’re created specifically for tracking people.” I found a small object in his jacket. Pulling it out, I looked at a small shield-shaped pin with a city engraved on it. A crown hovered over it and a sword plunged through them both. “This one is from my city.”

  I tossed the pin on the ground, and continued to rummage, finally finding a few medical supplies. I tossed a tube of salve to him. “Here. It’ll keep it from getting infected. Their claws dig deep.”

  He tossed it back, “I’m fine.”

  “Very well.” I started walking upstream. “Thanks for the help. I’ve now proven I’m hazardous to your health, so I’ll be leaving.” My voice lowered. “I don’t even know why you’ve stuck around this long…”

  “Well if I’m going to help you, I guess I have to get used to that.”

  I stopped walking and looked back at him, my face scrunched with confusion. “What?”

  “Running from this maker of yours hasn’t helped you, so why not take care of him? I can tell you want revenge for what he’s done.”

  “Don’t do it,” the voice whispered.

  I regarded him for a moment. “Why would you want to help me?”

  His gaze lowered, as did his voice, though my good hearing picked him up well. “Misfits are more common than you realize.” He then looked at me again. “And we dragons are good at revenge. We like it, even if it’s not our own.”

  “Don’t listen to him.”

  He was hiding something, and I wanted to know what it was. “Getting to Zarda isn’t something as easy as heading home and killing him. He’s well-fortified and has an army on his side. There’s a resistance movement against him, but after all the time I’ve been gone, I can’t say the type of progress they’ve made, or if they’re even around still.”

  But, gods, do I hope they are.

  “Then we’ll join forces with them. With us added to their numbers, it should help, right?”

  “Refuse his offer. He can’t be trusted.”

  My eyes narrowed. Something wasn’t right. “There is no trust between us, neither can deny that. So why should I believe you wish to help me? What do you really get out of this? Revenge can’t be a sole motivating factor. I can’t even offer you payment as a mercenary.”

  He smirked
. “I have my reasons, and you appear smart enough to figure them out sooner or later.”

  “Leave now! Get away from him!”

  “You really think that’s going to get me to trust you?”

  “Of course not, but trust isn’t the aim here. Do you or do you not want to get rid of this creator of yours?”

  I thought about this and realized he was right. Running all these years didn’t slow the pursuit, and I couldn’t run for the rest of my life. It treated the symptoms, not the sickness.

  “Fool,” the voice hissed.

  I extended my hand. “My name is Eira.”

  The dragon grasped my hand. “Raikidan.”

  Chapter Two

  The crisp air clung to my lungs as Raikidan and I traveled farther up river, the orange sun setting behind the purple mountain range in the distance.

  Raikidan continued to be chatty along the way. “So, you said you were an assassin. Is there anything else you did while in service of your creator—Zarda, was it?”

  “I’m a former commander.” The look he gave indicated I’d have to explain. “It’s a rank in our military. For our city it sits just below general, which is the highest rank you can attain.”

  His brow stayed risen. “You specified your city. It’s different in other ones?”

  I gave a curt nod. “Human cities are governed differently, if they don’t have an on overarching ruler between them. This means they can choose how they wish to rank their military and civilians.” My eyes swept across our surroundings. “Are you sure there’s a safe place to rest up this way?”

  Raikidan responded with a loud snort. “This is my territory. Of course I’m sure.”

  Since it was late in the day, the two of us agreed it’d be best to rest up before heading for Dalatrend. Raikidan claimed to know a place that would keep us out of the eyes of any Hunters. Of course, this forced me to place trust in him that I wasn’t ready to give.

  “Don’t trust him.”

  The roar of the upstream waterfall grew louder and the path we took became rockier until it came into view. It wasn’t as large as I expected, but it pushed the river and had a deep pool beneath it. Behind the falling water I could see a cave. Please don’t tell me this is our destination.

  Raikidan pointed to the cave. “That’s where we can stay for the night.”

  Of course. I looked at him with a raised brow. “A cave behind a waterfall? How cliché can you get?”

  The dragon’s eyes narrowed. “It’s an easy location to defend from if we are found. If you’d rather sleep in the open, be my guest.”

  A small grin spread across my lips, despite myself. The bite in his tongue was refreshing. “As long as it’s a secure spot, I’ll give it a try, I suppose.”

  He snorted and waved me to follow him. Raikidan led me up a narrow path leading to the cave and allowed me to look around the large chamber. From the looks of it, it started out as a naturally occurring space, but the large gouges in the rocks and occasional scorch marks showed me it had been excavated by something large. Probably safe to assume he did it. I guessed this to be, at the very least, one place he’d call a lair. Whether it was his main one, where he stored hoarded treasure, had yet to be determined.

  Raikidan sat down with his back against the wall. “So, what’s your plan?”

  I leaned against the opposite wall, noting its dampness. “The obvious is to head to Dalatrend. I would like to stop at a small village on the way, for personal reasons, but unfortunately, I don’t know where we are. You wouldn’t have a map, by chance?”

  His brow rose in question. “Why would I have a map?”

  I rolled my eyes. “Typical male response.”

  “I’m being serious. What need would I have for a map?”

  I crossed my arms and shrugged. “I’m not saying you do. But everyone knows dragons hoard, so I thought maybe you’d collected one or two in whatever fashion you choose to accumulate that wealth.” I shifted my gaze away from him. “I was only asking if you had one. It’s not a big deal if you don’t.”

  He looked away, speaking to himself. The sounds came out as grunts and growls. Must be Draconic. From what I knew, dragons had their own language called Draconic and they used a unique power most called draconic magic. It was said to be the source of how they shifted and received their rarely matched strength.

  I looked around for a dry place to sit, but found none. I steepled my hands in front of my lips. Exhaling, a burning sensation rose up from my chest and out of my mouth. Harnessing the power in my hands, I discreetly pulled the flame from my lips and held it within my fingers, adding power to it to create the illusion I’d conjured the fire from my hand.

  I had the innate ability to produce fire internally in my body and use it at will. Many beings in Lumaraeon had this ability, and some had the skills to harness other abilities. They were called elementalists. A few races could go beyond that and shift into an animal, such as a druid. While shamans could speak with the spirits of the dead. Though how I produced fire wasn’t natural for a human. Not even a nu-human like myself. It had caused me my fair share of problems, so I’d come to hiding its production to ease my headaches.

  I went about drying off the rocky surface and noticed Raikidan watching me with great interest. “What?”

  “You can create fire?”

  The side of my lips twisted upward as I continued my task. “One of the many things that set me apart from a normal nu-human.”

  Raikidan’s eyes glowed with interest. “There’s a town, east of here, with people capable of doing that. I’ve never gone there since it’s out of my territory, but if you’re familiar with it, it may give you an idea of where you need to bring us.”

  My brow furrowed into deep creases as I mulled over this new information. “If it’s the same place I’m thinking, yes, I have. It’d be the West Shaman Tribe, and the town I want to stop in.”

  Raikidan cocked his head to one side. “Why do you want to stop there?”

  “I stayed there for some time and had to leave in a hurry. I left a few things there I’d like to retrieve, as they’ll be useful in our goal.”

  “If they let you stay there, does that mean you’re a shaman as well?”

  I avoided his gaze. I didn’t like the way the conversation kept shifting back to me. “You could say that.” His stomach growled, and I took the escape route presented. “You should go find something to eat. If your shifting is anything like a druid’s, then I’m sure you’ve used a great deal of energy staying in your human form.”

  “What about you?”

  I sat down in my now dry spot. “I’m not hungry.”

  He leveled his eyes at me for a moment, then removed the clothes he’d “borrowed” from the dead Hunter at my request. I was sure to keep my eyes averted. His shape changed, and I now shared my space with a large dragon. Thankfully, the cave accommodated the two of us well. I stole a glance, but he launched himself out of the cavern and took to the skies before I could catch more than the sight of some red scales mixed in with the black on his spine.

  I placed a hand on my stomach. It’d been some time since it had needed to tell me to feed. In my tormented years, it learned to adapt to a lack of food. A cave cricket jumped past me and I licked my lips. I knew it would provide some energy, but I didn’t need that dragon to know how weak I was at the moment. I’d have to resort to foraging, rather than hunting wild game.

  A cold breeze blew through the cascading water into the cave and I shivered. I should collect firewood, too. I stood up and left the rock chamber.

  My search turned up a good source of firewood, but food proved more difficult. The nuts on the hardwood trees weren’t developed enough at this time of year, and all mushrooms and berries I found were poisonous. I should have eaten that cricket. I had a feeling insect hunting would be my next resort. While most reeled at the thought of eating an insect, I understood their importance to a diet when food was hard to come by. I even knew when to suck
up my pride and dig for worms. As disgusting as they were, food was food.

  My foraging halted when I realized how quiet the forest had grown. I dropped my wood haul when a twig snapped. I drew a dagger, taking in a large whiff to gauge what may be hiding in the shadows. The petrichor masked the unknown being, but when I heard another twig snap in the opposite direction from the first. I had a decent idea of who and what was hiding beyond the brush. My suspicions were proven correct when two figures charged out from opposite sides of the forest, talon-like hands extended for a kill.

  I managed to push back their first attack, but one of them was quicker on the recovery than I expected he’d be, and managed to rake me in the side. I cried out in pain, anger flaring in me. Spurred on by that anger, I retaliated and stabbed him twice with my weapon while back-fisting his comrade. The pair backed off and exchanged glances, then tried to flank me. I dropped into a defensive stance and watched them with trained eyes. Rushing with two opponents would result in my death. But the blood wafting in the air… it teased me.

  “Kill them.”

  Yet before the fight could continue, an ear-piercing roar echoed through the trees, followed by the beating of wings. Everyone looked up to see a black dragon descending from the skies. I noticed the red scales trailing his head and spine. Is it Raikidan or another dragon? I didn’t know enough about their species to understand identification between individuals.

  The Hunters attempted to attack me in this distracted state, but the dragon swung his tail. I barely managed to jump out of the way of the attack while the two Hunters went flying into the forest. If it is Raikidan, he’s showing his true colors.

  “I told you not to trust him!”

  The dragon landed above me and snapped his wicked teeth at a Hunter who ran back into this uneven fight. The man wasn’t prepared for the attack and screamed in pain as the dragon crunched him in his toothy maw, blood splattering in all directions. The huge creature spit out the Hunter, his body landing on the ground with a thud. He lay there unmoving. I had to admit, I was impressed. That’s one way to deal with these pests.