Luminescent (Inheritance Cycle and Beyond)

Chapter Sixty-Nine: Blinding

Grifen clung to Alethea as she flapped her wings with a sense of urgency. Her whole body now trembled as the Dragon rose into the air. Mal had given her a job, get Murtagh and Yirlitá, and she would do her job.

"It is okay, Little one," The gentle voice of Alethea echoed in Fen's brain as she shivered. "giving birth is natural."

Fen wrapped her arms tighter around Alethea's neck as she continued to blaze forward. Fen had wondered what it was like to fly on a Dragon, but she hadn't wanted to find out because Mal was in pain and needed Murtagh and a healer. The two sliced through the air, traveling across Osilon in record time.

"Hold tight, little one," Alethea said to Fen. Fen tightened her grip on the glittering necklace around the dragonesses neck as the Dragon suddenly took a dive. The wind whipped past Fen's face as the pair neared ground at a record-breaking speed.

Just when Fen thought that the dragoness was going to plow the two of them into the ground, she flared her wings. Their decent was brought to a sudden halt as the Alethea landed on the ground, hard.

The elves scurried away from the Alethea as the ground shook slightly. Thorn who had been resting instantly rose to his feet at the urgent arrival of his mate. Murtagh materialized in front of Alethea, his eyes zeroed in on Fen perched upon the white Dragon's back.

"Fen, what is?" Murtagh asked. Fen's lips trembled as she tried to get words out. Mal had told her what to say, but the words seemed to float out of Fen's brain. At this point, only one word came to mind, so that was the word she uttered.

"Mommy!" A fraction of a second after Fen said the word, she burst into tears and Murtagh intuitively knew what was going on.

"Yirlitá!" Murtagh yelled out in a panic, his eyes darting around the market.

"We will inform healer Yirlitá, Shur'tugal. Go." A male elf said, bowing his head. Murtagh said a quick thanks before bounding onto Thorn's back. Together both Dragons' launched back into the air and with hard wingbeats, headed directly home.

It was an agonizing flight to Du Weldonvrangr or the wandering forest as they had named it, and Murtagh felt as if his heart would beat out of his chest. The two Dragon's picked up their pace, flying even faster as their home came into view.

Just as she had done at the market, Alethea did a hard dive before flaring and landing, Thorn following milliseconds later. Murtagh leaped off of Thorn and darted over to Alethea's side. Fen slipped off Alethea's side and landed in his arms just as Yirlitá hustled up to the treehouse.

"I came as fast as called Shur'tugal." The old woman said before the three of them hurried towards the house. Murtagh paused when he saw a trail of blood on the front steps. "I knew this would be a fast one, come Shur'tugal, your mate needs you."

Following Yirlitá, who in turn was following the trail of blood and transparent liquid, the two of them ran up the stairs and followed the trail that led directly to the main bedroom. Yirlitá pushed the doors open.

Murtagh instantly froze, Mal sat on the floor in front of the bed they shared, one hand propping her body up and the other on her stomach. Her face as already covered in a sheen of sweat and her whole both shook with every gasping breath she took.

"Oh, you poor dear," Yirlitá murmured as she hurried over and knelt in front of Mal. Murtagh followed behind, unsure of what to do. Yirlitá looked up at him and beckoned him to sit behind Mal. "sit behind her, the poor girl is already exhausted from holding herself up."