4: Darken War

17: Alexandria

We scaled the back cliffsides behind the castle. we hoped to throw a rope to the tower and scale across as the tower is the only part sticking out of the ground, the rest was all underground. 

we got to our position on the top of a cliff. 

Alexander grabbed the rope, tying an axe to the end.

"There is nowhere for it to catch," i said, pointing at the tower, it was smooth the whole way around. "the only way is through the window there." i pointed. 

"why not fly across and attach it?" Seraphina asked.

i looked at her. "i cant fly."

"that's a lie." Calista spoke.

"what is that supposed to mean?" i asked feeling a bit annoyed. "i lost the ability to fly in my past life."

"no, you lost the will to fly in your past life." Calista stated. "you lie when you say you lost the ability."

"Calista can also see if someone it lying to themselves." Seraphina said, handing me the rope. "you can fly, and you will because this mission relies on it. try to remember why you wont fly."

i looked at the rope in my hands. i closed my eyes and tried to remember. i could see the battle fields that i once fought in years ago, what did i do to make myself so fearsome to fight against? i opened my eyes. 

"i used to use my wings to make myself look more fearsome to my enemy, i used them to fly down on those i wished to kill. then i had to fight against one of my sisters back then, she had betrayed my father, she told me i had always looked like a monster when i fought." i looked at Alexander. "when i gave up war back then i swore to never fly again, to never bring fear to those around me."

"you don't fight now because you were ordered to." he placed a hand on my shoulder, "you fight to protect those you love."

i nodded. i stretched out my wings and flapped them. i felt my body lift off of the ground, i looked back at my siblings and gave them a nod. 

Alexander held one end to the rope as i flew to the tower. i held out one hand and focused my push to be strong. a burst of wind opened the windows and i flew in. 

luckily there was no one there. the room appeared to be an office, a desk off to one side, a burning fireplace on the other. with shelves of books and scrolls on every empty wall. a stairway going down just by the fireplace. i tied the rope to a pillar in the middle of the room and went to the open window.

i signaled that it was safe. Alexander tied his end of the rope to the cliffside and started to walk across it, balancing as he went until he reached my side. i looked over at the twins, still unmoving. 

"ill go see what's wrong." i told my brother and flew back to the girls.

"what's wrong?" i asked them when i landed.

"there is no way we can walk across that." Seraphina told me.

i nodded. "i can probably fly one of you across at a time."

Calista shook her head and covered her eyes. "im scared of heights."

"you climbed all the way up here didn't you?" i smiled at her. 

"that's because i had my sister with me to keep me safe." she looked at Seraphina. "i always feel brave with her. because i know she will keep me safe."

"im your sister too am i not? i promise i will keep you safe." i reached my hand out to her. "and remember, i just faced my own fear and flew again, i know you can too."

she hesitantly took my hand. "ill try to be brave."

i pulled her close, almost a hug. she kept her eyes closed the entire time, shivering, but staying brave. i flapped my wings and slowly flew to the window, landing as Alexander helped guide her down.

"is it over already?" she asked, opening her eyes. "it wasn't soo bad."

"you did great." Alexander smiled kindly at her.

i went and did the same thing with Seraphina, she kept her eyes open the whole time. 

when we landed she rushed to her sister and gave her a hug. "you did great."

"not a lie." Calista hugged her sister back.

"i always wanted a little sister." Alexander chuckled. 

"Dont you have her?" Seraphina raised an eyebrow.

"yeah, but she's the older of us." Alexander laughed. "more so now that shes the Great Dragon, shes ancient now."

"now your starting to sound like James." i crossed my arms. "its just my soul that is old. my body is the same age as yours, by like three minutes though."

we both started to laugh. 

"whos James?" Calista asked curiously.

"my husband." i answered. "and Alexanders best friend."

"he was my friend first." Alexander playfully crossed his arms. "and i never gave him permission to marry you."

"to be fair." i nudged my brother. "your body was dead and soul was in me, you didnt have a choice."

"dont remind me." Alexander sounded grossed out. 

i looked at Calista. "he can unfortunately remember everything about his time in my mind. just like i can remember all of our fathers...." 

i trailed off. a though just hit me. i can remember all of our fathers thoughts. i had tired to ignore them, but if i focused on them enough.

"Theo is our older brother." i looked at Alexander. "he was the first born bastard and was heir until we were born as true born children."

"that may be why he wants revenge on us." Alexanders eyes went wide. "we not only took our father from him, we also took the throne."

"he did say something about being the rightful king." Seraphina said. "but bastards are just that, bastards. they are only ever meant to be back up plans incase something happens to the true born heirs."

"that still might explain why he can use the gem." i said. "it doesn't know there is a real heir yet, it only knows that he is the first born. once i touch it, it should see that it belongs to me, regardless of who is heir. I am the Great Dragon, and it is my eye." i looked at my feet. "i do wonder what happened to the rest of my old body though."

"since its your eye, can you use powers like it without using it?" Seraphina asked.

i shook my head. "no, its always been like a piece of me has been missing since i awakened." i pulled a little satchel from my pocket and dumped its contents on the desk. the shards from the gem of the king that i had destroyed six years ago. 

"you kept it?" Alexander looked at it closely as i ran my hands over the shards. "it still shines when you touch it."

i picked up the shards, putting them back in the bag. "it does, its powers are still in it. but it is unusable in this state." i looked at Alexander. "there has to be a reason why there are two of them, i dont think they really are my eyes from my past life. there are memories from back then that are missing, but i have no idea what they could be. they may have something to do with why i cant turn into my dragon form."

"you have a dragon form?" Calista asked almost excitedly. 

"i do." i answered. "i have tried to turn into it in the past. but for that one there is no suppressed memories or traumas. i always fought in my human form."

"so your hoping that the gem brother Theo has will unlock those memories and your dragon form?" Seraphina said. 

"yes." i looked at the three of them. "we should get going."

they nodded in agreement and we all slowly made our way down the spiral stairs.