A Crown and A Curse

Chapter 1

Thirteen Years Later

Zora

I awoke all at once, jumping straight up in bed as if I had been given a good shock. My body was weighed down with a strange sort of heaviness that I had never felt before. Something was missing-the buzzing in my veins that I had grown so accustomed to was gone. And then the memories flooded back in.

The brisk air of the late fall sent shivers down my back, despite the shield of my cloak. I pulled my hood tighter against my ears, staring up at the starry sky through the gaps in the birch. This was my first night watch in months and I was beginning to remember exactly why I hated them so much.

 However, it was me who had begged Edmond to let me come on this hunt, so I supposed it was only fair that I drew the short stick when it came to sleep.After a while, when my eyes were beginning to drift dangerously close to shutting, a familiar body plopped down beside me, stirring the adrenaline back into my veins.

"Hey, stranger," Ari said as he scooted closer to me, our shoulders touching. His blue-green eyes focused on my tired face, a smirk dancing across his lips,

"Having trouble staying awake?" He asked, bumping my shoulder lightly.

"It's not as if these woods are exciting in the slightest, and I'm sure I'll fall asleep even faster with you to bore me into oblivion," I retorted, reaching my half-asleep arm up to ruffle his shaggy platinum hair. Two years my senior at twenty-one, Ari had been my best friend for as long as I could remember, the closest thing I had to an older brother.

"Hey," He brooded,"I am literally the most riveting person in this bloody forest." I was about to reply back with something witty when a branch snapped, putting both of us on alert, my daggers were in my hands in less than a second. I motioned for Ari to stay behind me as I stepped towards the source of the noise.

I peered into the darkness of the surrounding trees, no use in trying to see an adversary from here, with us out in the open the advantage would be theirs regardless. I motioned silently to Ari to wake the others. He flitted through the clearing like a ghost, quietly moving from tent to tent. Satisfied enough with their safety, I tightened my grip on the daggers and crept into the treeline, determined to find the source of movement.

Another branch snapped and I whipped towards the noise, not sensing the danger behind me. I hissed as I was dragged backward by the hood of my cloak. Large hands pinned my arms to my sides. If I was lucky, the person behind me was the only threat. I took a deep breath, and executed a maneuver I'd practiced hundreds of times, shoving the top of my head hard into my captor's chin, and then swiveling quickly out of his grasp. I squared off against the now-enraged man, squinting my eyes to assess him in the dark. He was twice my size and wearing the uniform of a Drimorian scout. We were as good as dead. I could only hope Ari and the others had fled.

The Drimorian Royal Guard was a group of ruthless pricks, stealing and killing to please their tyrant king and the royal scouts were no better, but much stealthier. If they came across a group of magic wielders hidden in the woods, they would kill first and ask questions later. We were all on an execution list after all.

The burly scout lunged and I ducked to evade his blade, bringing my own to his ankles. The sickening sound of metal meeting bone echoed through the clearing. The man's cries of pain pounded through my head, quick as my pulse. That's when the first scream rang through the forest. From the back of our camp.

I cursed under my breath, quickly dispatched the scout on the ground and took off in the direction of the noise. Our small camp was in disarray, the tent was burning. I bit my lip and kept running. Just through the trees, I could see the outline of ten figures-good-no one was dead yet. I slowed my pace, hoping they wouldn't see me coming. As I got closer to the confrontation, I made out Ari being held with a knife to his throat. Veli and the others were being restrained by two captors and Asa-Ari's sister- was pleading for her brother's life.