Singed (sampler)
Knight 1
Singed (sampler) ‘Pleasure.’ She tried to fight it. Whipping her head sideways, she dug her fingers deep into the spongy tree bark, easily breaking the brown outer layer. Unwillingly, an image of her parents covered in their own blood popped into her head and Zaryn Reshnor squeezed her eyes shut tightly, willing the image away. But she allowed herself a few stolen seconds to revel in the crazy satisfaction that accompanied the image. “Oh God,” she whispered. Her eyes snapped open, and with a jerk, she smashed her fist through the tree, toppling it and sending its jagged splinters into her skin. The sudden pain slicing through her brain overcame the image and Zaryn found herself sliding to her knees, panting hard. “God, what’s happening to me?” she whispered brokenly. “Zaryn!” Her brother’s urgent voice sounded through the brush, and hastily she got to her feet just moments before Amerea burst into the clearing. Slender and strong, her brother usually carried himself with more intensity than his nineteen years dictated. “What’re you doing? There’s no time for resting, not yet anyway.” He fixed her with a scowl and Zaryn made a face. Despite their age difference, and the fact that Amerea was set to become the next ruler of Chosen Realm, they were actually best friends. It was something that he would never admit, nor would Zaryn insult her own close friends with, but she shared everything with Amerea first before anyone else. Just not….this. Not the fact that she was slowly going crazy and dreaming of her family’s murders. He came over to stand beside her, and Zaryn pulled herself up to her full height. Standing next to Amerea made one want to do that, though he wasn’t that much taller than her. At sixteen, Zaryn stood only a few inches shorter than her brother’s 5’10 frame. Though he wasn’t as muscular as most of the young dragons his age, what he didn’t have in bulk, he made up for in stature. As she stared into his face, a carbon copy of her own, Zaryn envied his beauty. He certainly was the best-looking dragon in the Black-Gold clique, and he would be a much sought-after ruler. Female dragons would be lining up to be courted by King Amerea. That is, if they survived this attack. Ignoring his question, Zaryn asked one of her own. “Who attacked? Are they stopping the coronation?”
Knight 2
Singed (sampler) Looking perturbed, he shrugged. “My guess is that they’re trying.” Then he sucked his teeth. “Some faerie-folk will do anything to de-throne the King. They just can’t stand to see dragons in power for another ruling cycle.” She could only agree. Actually, her brother was taking everything a lot more smoothly than she would have; it was his coronation that was scheduled for tomorrow. By this time tomorrow, her brother Amerea Reshnor, current 1st General of the Dragon Army would become King Amerea, Ruler of Chosen Realm, which included the five main dragon cliques, a colony of sprites, two sections of the Tono Dryads, and seven branches of miscellaneous forest people factions. She could admit it to herself; she was the teeniest bit jealous. It was an impressive step for her brother, but one she couldn’t argue with. Aside from being the first-born, he had also been Chosen. The ruler of their lands always were. And the Hand had touched Amerea Reshnor of the Black-Gold dragon clique, out of all the royal heirs from the fifteen lands. Just as their parents had predicted. Having been in the Calling Circle with Amerea and the others, she’d experienced the moment of letdown, just like everyone else, when she hadn’t been selected, but that was that. The Hand of the Spirit never made the wrong choice. She was happy for her brother. “I bet it’s the Alt-Tono Dryads attacking. Did you see the Duke’s face when his son didn’t get Chosen?” Amerea shook his head. “Nah. The Dryads might be stuck-up sometimes, and they’re strong fighters, but even they wouldn’t be so violent. I can’t see them waging war like this. A sneak attack? Nope.” “Ok. Then maybe a fight broke out between two of your girlfriends, over who gets to be the Queen,” Zaryn quipped. “That would do it. Now they’re hunting you down to make you choose once and for all.” He gave her a withering look. “Grow up, Zarie. This isn’t the time for joking around.” A sudden whistling sound came from above and before she could even glance to see what it was, pain ripped through her shoulder, spinning her sideways and off the path. Zaryn pitched over a precipice, into the gully below. After falling for what seemed to be forever, she collided with something hard and crashed to the ground. Stars danced before her eyes, and she coughed, fighting to shake off the haze of the fall. A shiny glint through the grass caught her eye, and she reached for it quickly, snapping to. Her
Knight 3
Singed (sampler) ring. The deep engraving of Chosen Realm stared up at her from the gold band. She snatched it up, then came to the realization that she had landed on someone. Zaryn rolled onto her back, instantly alert, eyes scanning around. She was winded from the fall, yes, but she would not be taken down. Sharp pain lanced through her shoulder and she realized that she had been hit with an arrow. The pain even extended across her back, and gingerly she raised one hand to explore the pain at her shoulder. A ragged, open slice sat just below her right shoulder blade. Then, that made sense why her back ached; the arrow would have torn straight through the wing muscles and kept going. “Guess I’ll be grounded for a while,” she muttered. Just the faintest of rustles, nothing more than a whisper along the ground, but she heard it. Whipping her head around again, still she saw nothing. Then, he stepped into view and she saw him. It was a boy about her age, already on his feet, and he stood motionless, just staring at her. Slowly, she stood up. For some reason, she couldn’t take her eyes away from him. He was the most beautiful creature she’d ever seen. She felt a strong attraction pulling between the two of them, and she could sense that he felt it too. “Who are you?” she whispered, mesmerized. The boy didn’t answer, only continued to stare at her. He, too, seemed enchanted by her. Slowly, he stretched out his arm until his fingers were mere inches away from her. Bowing her head, Zaryn wondered what she was doing. As if her body had a mind of its own, her fingers stretched to reach his as well. His fingers spread and formed a symbol in front of her. Fehren. Mate. In the oldest histories of Chosen Realm and the surrounding woodland, only a few selected individuals would be lucky enough to find their fehren, their soulmate. Supposedly, the instant you looked at your fehren, regardless of knowing them or not, you would recognize them. The connection between fehren would be deeper than both people; it came straight from nature. You could feel it. Zaryn wasn’t sure exactly what she was feeling now, but she felt something. At the sound of heavy wings above, the boy glanced up sharply, and as his fall of hair slid away from his face, she knew right away what he was. His ears gave it away. ‘I should have known.’ The narrowed eyes, cedar complexion, sweep of dark hair and tall, erect posture all pointed to one thing.
Knight 4
Singed (sampler) An elf. The pointed tops of his ears peeked through the shoulder-length hair, inky-black like raven’s wings. Shaking her head in disgust, Zaryn caught her breath and tried to steady herself. How could she still be attracted to him, now that she knew what a filthy, loathsome creature he was? The elves had sworn to kill all dragons. Which she was one. But even that ingrained knowledge didn’t stop the butterflies from skittering through her stomach as she gazed at the gorgeous elf in front of her. Just to even the tables, she leveled her gaze on him and let her normally fiery eyes go white-hot, the color before a dragon released their fire. That hand that had stretched so easily to her at first, faltered in the air, hanging between them as if unsure. His gaze held hers, and Zaryn scowled at him, trying to force hatred into her eyes, even as she wondered why her palm was still outstretched to him. And his to hers. “You know what I am, and I know what you are,” she whispered softly. Exactly NOT how she had intended those words to come out. Her plan had been to spit the words at him, biting and edgy, but instead they had slipped out gentle and a little bit hopeful. And clearly, he heard it that way as well, for his hand still reached for hers.
Knight 5