Reign of The Valdraken Read online

  After the discovery Drogan was more determined than ever that she had more powers and so the torture and beatings continued but to no avail. He finally gave up after several months of no new developments.

  All the while Reign became a force to be reckoned with both in physical prowess and her shadow magic. She never had to will her healing magic to work anymore, it just took over on its own when she was injured.

  For a while thing went back to some semblance of normal with her training continuing and the beatings coming less and less. Reign even went back to serving in the bar being sure to cover her runes at all times. That is until a drunken traveler caught her off guard one night.

  Chapter 5

  Present Day

  There standing in front of her where the three most beautiful males she had ever seen. The man on the right could only be the Fae Eerikki he was tall at least six foot five, with silver hair that hung to his waist, the tips of his pointed ears parting the hair on both sides of his lean face, pale skin that made his gray eyes stand out, and a lean muscular build that made her think he must be quick and light on his feet.

  The man on the left had to be the mage judging by the way he dressed. He wore a black cloak that covered most of his body and pooled gently at his feet. He had short plush black hair that Reign immediately thought about running her fingers through, his skin tanned a beautiful brown and brown eyes of melted chocolate. It was the runes tattooed under his eyes that caught her attention though. The runes looked similar to her own, but they were clearly marked there by ink as his where blue to the black that seared itself to her skin.

  The third man caused the breath to catch in her throat. Those blue eyes that haunted her memories and brought back the night she became the monster that stood before them. This must be the shifter Drogan had called him Maikoh.

  Could it be? Could this be the same wolf from all those years ago? He stood tall and muscular his build similar to Drogan’s. Sandy Blonde shoulder length hair accentuated his high cheekbones and angular jaw. He wore simple leather pants that showed of his muscled chest and the V that dipped deliciously into his low-slung pants.

  She noted he had a tattoo as well in the center of his chest a dark black rune that reminded her once again of the wolf she had seen all those years ago.

  She met his eyes once more and the look she received in return could only be described as animalistic. She could see the animal that raged within him and if she wasn’t mistaken that was lust that darkened his gaze.

  Finished with her perusal of the, what could only be described as gods before her she once again looked to Drogan. Her eyes questioning if this was to really happen as she knew better than to voice her thoughts out loud.

  His gaze toward her spoke volumes, he expected her to fight and not only that, he expected her to win! With one last nod from her she took her stance and he spoke again.

  “I realize you are all new to this but to be clear; this is not a fight to the death. You can yield or be knocked out; any intentional killing blows will be met with an equally harsh punishment.”

  He nodded toward the archers set up in the rafters ready to strike at his signal.

  “You are free to use whatever weapons you wish and gifts you have at your disposal, be warned though” he glanced to Reign with a wicked grin “our little demon here will be playing by the same rules!”

  With that he nodded towards the men to ready themselves one more nod towards Reign and the fight began.

  Reign funneled the rage in her life to the rune on her right hand. As her mind wandered to that place of calm fury that allowed her to fight like the demon, they all thought her to be. The ruin glowed and a set of matching Sais appeared in her hands.

  Placing her feet shoulder length apart she eyed the men who appeared to be readying themselves as well. All took their stances but the shifter. The fae pulled a long silver blade from his back and proceeded to twist it in a circular motion a couple times before finally coming to rest in front of him.

  The mage removed his cloak to reveal the rest of himself to the crowd. He stood in pair of black leather pants slung low on his waist and accentuated by a belt filled with various bottles and pouches. His chest was bare and held tattoos similar to those on his face. Ink blue runes decorated most of his upper body. He extended his arms and placed his palms up facing the ceiling.

  She looked to the shifter expecting him to shift into his wolf. He made no move to do anything except to cross his arms over his broad chest and smirk at her. He stepped back as the other two stepped forward.

  The mage began muttering something, his eyes rolling back into his head. His hands taking on the same blue glow of the runes that decorated his body.

  The fae stepped forward making the first move. He advanced towards her with a calm quick pace. He clearly had skill as she noted his light step and sure steadfast gate.

  Mentally prepared she stepped forward moving to meet him in the middle of the ring. Her first steps causing a hush to fall over the crowd. The first strike was his as he arched his sword toward her the only sound in the room the mages muttering.

  Reign quickly sidestepped the swing not even moving to raise her own weapons. The fae recovered quickly pivoting on his left foot, completing a complete turn and once again brining the sword down towards her.

  Amused by his skill and speed the corner of her mouth twitched up and she couldn’t help but admire the grace with which he fought. Unfortunately for him it took far more than grace to best her. Reign sidestepped several more wings from the Fae’s sword. He even managed to nick her with the blade a small trickle of blood escaping the cut on her cheek.

  She was impressed by his grace and quick maneuvers. They danced around each other deflecting blows for several minutes. When Reign finally got a feel for his style she began to fight back with more vigor. The fae didn’t seem to be tiring at all but he was beginning to struggle with her ever-changing tactics.

  To make matters worse the muttering mage was throwing magic at her. His spells would cause her to miss a step here, fail to block a punch there. It was really beginning to annoy her. These two where formidable opponents. She worried that if the shifter jumped in she may truly loose the fight.

  Having to think quickly on her feet she tossed some shadow toward the mage causing him to falter in his words. Recovering quickly she went back on the offensive with the fae. He parried a few quick shots at his core. Following through with a great arching swing of his sword aimed straight for her head.

  She raised her shadow Sai to intercept the swing of his sword. Reign let the shadows soften long enough to catch the blade, only to harden it again once the blade sunk in. It was a risky move but one she had practiced with Drogan countless times.

  With the blade effectively stuck within her shadow trap. A quick twist of her wrist caused the fae’s blade to release from his grasp. He was so stunned that she was able to execute her next move perfectly.

  In the blink of an eye she dropped the Sai in her left hand, the shadow disappearing into thin air. She grabbed his right arm and spun him, so his back met her chest and the blade in her right hand came to his throat.

  The room exploded into cheers men on their feet shouting. The fae was quite a bit taller than her so she threw her leg out and caught the back of his knee bringing him down to kneel in front of her. With her shadow Sai still held to his throat she leaned forward her breath fanning his cheek. She smiled as she asked him

  “Do you yield fae?”

  The mages muttering increased causing her to twist so his strikes would hit the fae instead of her. He stopped throwing magic at her as soon as Eerikki cried out in pain after the third attack that hit him. All the while the shifter stood back watching with an amused expression on his face.

  She expected him to run into the fray when his companion was in trouble, but he hadn’t moved an inch. Eerikki tried to turn his head but Reign only brought the Sai closer to his throat causing a slow trickle of blood to release from
the nick beneath his Adams apple.

  “You heard he rules I’m not allowed to kill you Fae, regardless of how easy it would be at this point.”

  Bringing her face closer to his once more she gripped the lobe of his ear in between her teeth and nibbled lightly drawing a groan from the fae before her. Reign didn’t normally play with her opponents but with these three she couldn’t help it. The attraction she felt was undeniable.

  “Do you yield Eerikki?” she asked in a sultry tone pressing her chest against his back.

  With a low growl Eerikki lifted his upper lip.

  “I yield!”

  Once again, the crowd erupted in cheers and shouts for their demon. Letting her Sai dissolve from his throat she stepped back allowing him to get up and remove himself from the ring.

  Reign realized her mistake immediately as the first blast of magic hit her effectively throwing her across the ring. Standing up and dusting herself off she faced the now grinning mage. Reign returned his smirk in kind. A small dagger appeared in her hand which she threw directly at the mages head. If he had been one second slower the dagger would have found its mark right between his eyes.

  The mage gave Reign a look of surprise clearly not expecting her to throw magic back at him. He wasn’t ready for her to recover so quickly.

  “Well now mage, I have to admit I’m impressed by your magic, but it’s going to take more than a few parlor tricks to defeat me. Especially now that you’re little guard dog there is out of the fight.”

  She pointed to the fae now sitting on the sidelines. Eerikki growled and the crowd let out an assortment of smirks and laughs. With Maikoh still stationed in the exact spot she figured her and the mage would square of one to one.

  She had never fought a mage before and was curious if he would fight solely with magic or if he would engage her with his fists as well. Her answer came quickly when the blue glow from the mages hands increased in strength and started taking shape.

  Above Abban’s hands the blue light transformed into a series of daggers aimed straight at her. Reign smiled and thought to herself “this one is going to be fun”.

  As the mage took aim Reign funneled her rage once more into the rune on her hand waiting for just the right moment to release her power. The first dagger flew towards her at an alarming speed followed quickly by the dozen others that where aimed in her direction.

  When the dagger was mere inches from her, she threw out her shadows and wrapped herself in the comforting blackness that she knew so well. The daggers all came and one by one they all disappeared on contact with her shield. She wasn’t sure if Drogan was curious like the rest of the crowd but had she no ability to block the magic those would have certainly been killing blows.

  Looking at the mage before her with an arched eyebrow and an amused look on her face she allowed her wings to expand to their full size. The crowd gasped as the runes that decorated the thin membranes began to glow. The mages eyes went wide with concern just as her shadows wrapped around his mind and caused his vision to go black.

  Using her wings to propel her forward she aimed straight for the mages center taking him off his feet. He hit the ground and she was on top of him her knees clamped on either side of his abdomen and her hands firmly gripping the expanse of each shoulder. The breath rushed from Abban’s lungs just as his vision cleared. He stared up at her with those beautiful chocolate eyes and a grin on his face.

  “Well, well I do like a lady on top”

  Reign leaned down extending her wings and wrapping them in a cocoon of privacy. He looked to her wings and the glowing runes there before resting his eyes back on hers once more. That cocky grin graced his face once more as she leaned closer now mere inches from him.

  The temptation she felt to close the distance and let her lips meet his in what would surely be and intense and pleasurable experience, almost overwhelmed her. Lost in her thoughts of him she didn’t realize his hands had come up to caress her sides. The pads of his thumb gently perused the underside of her breasts.

  Reign let an involuntary shiver run up her spine as the mages cocky grin grew. Before she let herself get anymore caught up in this beautiful man Reign executed the magic that she had intended when putting herself in this position.

  Leaning down to whisper in his ear the way she had done with the fae.

  “I’m sorry but this is going to hurt”.

  Pulling back, she noted the sudden lack of his grin and the slight fear in his eyes. Before he could react, or she could think on it too long she released the magic she had been building with the glowing runes on her wings. The magic slammed into the mage before her causing a scream to rip from his throat as the white light encased his body.

  The power of pain wasn’t one Reign used often. Partly because it was draining, but mostly because using it meant that everything he was experiencing she had felt herself at one point in her life.

  The mage writhed in pain screaming.

  “I yield!”

  She released the magic and the mage fell to the ground unmoving in his current state. She felt bad for using the magic on him, but she knew the pain he felt would pale in comparison to what she would experience if she lost this fight.

  With that in mind she pivoted on her toes and faced the final challenger Maikoh. She was mentally preparing herself to fight with the wolf. She expected he would go for the throat, expected him to fight dirty, never did she expect him to do what he did.

  With a grin on his face the shifter stepped toward the middle of the ring faced Drogan.

  “I yield.”

  He then turned around and walked out of the ring.

  Chapter 6

  Present Day

  Reign was shocked, she had competitors run from the ring screaming, but never had she expected the shifter before her to simply walk away. In fact, she was pissed. After all this time the wolf with the blue eyes walks back into her life insisting on a fight only to run from it.

  He wouldn’t fight for her back then and he refused to fight her now. Fury like she had never felt before welled up within her and she lashed out wrapping her shadows around his neck and yanking.

  The shifter came flying back into the ring. The boo’s from the crowd quickly turned into shouts of joy and cries for blood. They only served to feed the rage pulsing through her now.

  She could feel the blood pounding in her ears as the noise of the crowd began to fade into the background. She approached the shifter laying on the ground trying and failing to pry her shadows from his neck.

  “It was you! Wasn’t it?”

  His eyes finally met hers and he quit struggling against her bonds. With a look of anguish and what she thought was guilt on his face he replied.

  “Yes, I was there”.

  Reign released the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding and dropped the shadows. The shifter rubbed at his neck and refused to meet her gaze.

  “I was there but not as you think”.

  Now more confused than ever she looked to Drogan as the noise from the crowd became louder. Unsure of herself and slightly horrified of what she had just done she nodded to her “mentor”.

  Never had Reign attacked another who yielded, she was a monster, a killer, but even she had her limits.

  Drogan was in as much shock as her but quickly righted himself when he realized what Reigns nod meant. Clearing his throat, he stepped forward and grabbed her hand raising it in to the air.

  “The winner of tonight’s battle, our very own demon Reign.”

  The crowd wasn’t happy with how the shifter ended things or with her inability to attack a man down but cheered for her win none the less. The winners of tonight’s bets quickly went about collecting their winnings and the losers grumbled about. Heading towards the bar to drown their sorrows in ale and whores.

  Taking her que, Reign quickly exited the fighting ring and headed towards the back and to the solidarity of her room.

  Reign had always enjoyed the aftermath of a f
ight, not the winning but the night she was always allowed to herself after the fight ended.

  Closing the flimsy piece of fabric that acted as a door for her room, Reign let out a long sigh. Running through the events of the evening in her mind, she began to strip out of her leathers.

  It was a good night by Drogan’s standards, she had won the fight, and no one died. Sliding the soft leather down her legs the hair on the back of her neck stood on end.

  Someone was watching her. She took her time removing the pants, folding them neatly, and finally lying them over the single chair in her room. Standing with her back to the door in nothing but her chest wraps and thin cotton underwear she began funneling her power to the shadow rune.

  A black dagger appears in her hand as she tilted her head enough to rest her chin on her left shoulder. Standing in the door without even an attempt at looking ashamed stood Maikoh.

  “It’s not polite to watch a lady undress.”

  A grin split his face

  “Judging by what I saw in the ring tonight you are far from a lady.”

  Reign couldn’t help but smile at that, he wasn’t wrong. She had been a lot of things in her short life, but a lady was definitely not one of them.

  “I’m surprised Drogan allowed you back here, he must be slipping in his old age.”