Once Walked With Dragons
Chapter Thirteen

Another two days passed and Keara still didn’t awaken. On the third day, Deryck was lying near the pool, finally asleep, while the Ravens were on watch. They were growing anxious and so all of them had decided to stay with her.

It was near sunset when the vines of the dome began to retract back into the soil they had grown from. Everyone became alert. Joseph woke Deryck, who for a moment, had forgotten where he was, but soon remembered and quickly got to his feet just in time to see Keara emerging from the water.

As Keara emerged from the water, her body rapidly drying as the water was exposed to air. The water slithered off her body along with the silver substance covering her wounds. As her hair dried, it straightened and flicked the last of the water from the tips.

Deryck could not believe what he had just seen. Before him stood the true picture of a Drow, exactly as they were, with the exception of black hair and purple eyes. He quickly snapped out of his trance, removing his coat and wrapping it around Keara’s shoulders as the last of the silver substance flowed from her body.

After Keara had gotten dressed and Michael patiently explained to Deryck what had happened at the pool, they were all sitting at the table by the fireplace with a cup of tea.

Deryck was giving all his attention to Keara, though he was growing very tired. Keara herself, was also tired, but she knew she would not be able to fall asleep; not until she talked with Michael, alone.

They had decided not to talk about Keara’s expedition until the next morning. And she preferred it that way. She still had a hard time accepting all the things she had read only days ago.

Deryck had fallen asleep in his chair. Keara covered him with the blanket he had originally covered her with.

Stepping outside, she looked around. Everything was quiet, peaceful. She started strolling down the path and found Michael standing in the field, staring into the distance. She walked over to him and stood next to him and looked up at the moon and the stars.

Keara sighed deeply, then started, ‘Crucis Salerra.’

Michael slowly looked at her, knowing that she was very upset over his previous silence.

She looked him in the eye, ‘You couldn’t tell me that yourself?’

‘I was just trying to protect you.’

‘I almost died in Velmoura; just to replace out that I’m Crucis Salerra, the Drow Queen. How is that protecting me, Michael?’

‘Just, try to look at from my point of view.’

‘Your point of view sucks. It almost got me killed.’ Keara exclaimed, ‘I told you that secrecy is dangerous.’

‘Keara, do you have any idea how hard it was for me to allow you to go to Velmoura?’

‘I would’ve gone regardless of your decision.’ Keara informed.

‘I know.’ Michael rubbed his forehead, he hesitated for a moment, ‘I’m so sorry, Keara. It was never my intention for you to get hurt.’

‘Look Michael, I know it wasn’t your intention. But the fact is, your reluctance nearly cost me my life. Scander and Sharzak are out there now, and I have already transformed into Crucis Salerra. You don’t have the luxury of keeping secrets from me anymore.’ Keara spoke.

‘Keara, you don’t understand...’ Michael started, but Keara interrupted him.

‘Michael! The only reason I haven’t ripped your head off in anger, is because you’re my brother.’ Keara was starting to lose her patience, ‘Don’t ever tell me that I don’t understand your point of view. Because you have refused to understand mine.’ Keara tried hard to keep her voice down, which she found a little tough, because she was starting to get angry. But she calmed herself before continuing, ‘I’m no longer just your sister. I’m no longer just another Dark Elf, or a Raven. I am the Drow Queen. Admittedly I have no intention of ascending the throne. But now more than ever, knowing the history of my kin is important to me. And if you won’t tell me, Zarra surely will.’ Keara finished.

‘I know it’s not worth much, especially not now, but I am sorry; for everything I’ve put you through.’ Michael apologized, completely sincere.

Keara nodded, then said, ‘Go get some rest. After standing watch for so long, you need it.’

Michael touched her arm, then walked off, deciding to listen to her and go into Reverie.

‘Okay, so how do we defeat Sharzak?’ Jonathan asked the next day while they were all sitting around in the Raven common room.

‘There may be a way, but it won’t be easy.’ Zarra said.

‘It never is.’ Keara added.

‘With all due respect, Deryck, I think it would be best if you weren’t part of this.’ Zarra said.

‘What?’ Deryck was surprised.

‘She’s right.’ Alexander started, ‘Getting the king’s brother killed is not exactly on our to-do list.’

‘Who says I’m gonna get killed?’ Deryck was somewhat offended.

‘Do you know anything about Sharzak?’ Keara asked.

‘Well, no. But that doesn’t mean I can’t help.’ Deryck pleaded.

‘We don’t wanna get you involved in this. This will probably be the most dangerous thing that even we’ve ever attempted.’ Keara stated.

‘But the Ravens are famous for attempting to do the most dangerous things. How can this be too dangerous even for you?’ Deryck didn’t understand.

‘Because even the Dark Elves couldn’t kill him.’ Keara reported.

Deryck’s eyes grew wide, he couldn’t believe it, ‘Are you serious?’

‘Yes.’ Zarra replied, ‘But he does have one ultimate enemy.’ she fell silent for a moment, then added, ‘Crucis Salerra.’

Keara looked at her, not expecting to hear that, ‘What?’

‘You are our only hope, Keara. The only reason Sharzak’s powers were sealed away when Scander was chained down in that tomb for so long, was because we’ve been waiting for Salerra to re-emerge; his only true opponent and enemy.’ Zarra explained.

‘And I suppose you have all the information that could help me do this?’ Keara asked incredulously.

‘Yes. But I’m afraid the prince must leave.’

‘Why?’ Deryck started.

‘The information that I’m about to share, should only be heard by the Ravens. It would be much too dangerous for a human, especially the prince, to walk around with such knowledge.’ Zarra said.

‘But I wanna help you. I can help.’ Deryck argued.

Keara folded her arms, ‘He’s gonna replace out sooner or later, anyway.’

‘Keara, I know you two like each other.’ Zarra started, ‘But that’s not a good reason to involve the human prince.’

Both Keara and Deryck felt a blush of red flush over their cheeks.

‘That’s not the reason, Zarra.’ Keara managed.

‘Then what is it?’

‘He’s a Rorin, and he’s brother’s the king. And at some point we’re gonna need the king’s help; in which case they’re both gonna hear about this, anyway.’ Keara explained.

Zarra’s expression became a little softer and started showing signs of emotion, ‘Keara, this is Drow business.’

‘Then my other brothers shouldn’t be here, either.’

Zarra fell over her words, not sure what to say.

‘She wants him here, Zarra.’ Michael pointed out.

Zarra fell silent for a moment, ‘Very well.’

Zarra started explaining what she could, which, as it turns out, wasn’t very much. Almost none of the information was useful to them.

Deryck just smiled at Keara. She looked at him sideways. Her features immediately softened and she smiled softly at him.

Zarra had explained to Keara what she must do to control the creature. She first had to master the elements and as hard as that sounded, there wasn’t a lot of time. Keara didn’t pay much attention to what Zarra was saying. They could talk forever about what she was supposed to do, but unfortunately no one could really know what to do. Keara knew that the task that was given to her, was not going to be easy. She wasn’t even sure if she would survive.

‘You have to command the element to obey you. Once you’ve mastered all four elements, controlling Salerra would be that much easier.’ Zarra explained.

‘And exactly how am I gonna do that? Controlling the elements is one thing, but Salerra has a will of its own.’ Keara stated

‘Well, not exactly, Keara. Salerra is you; it’s a different side of you. You just need to understand that side. You have to understand its purpose. You have to understand why you possess the gene.’

‘Yeah, yeah, I get it.’ Keara said, ‘I have to understand.’