Chapter 32 – Rikki
I had a few seconds to watch Maggie safely get herself and Kinsley away from this drowlgord, but where was the other one? I turned my full attention to the beast, “Speak. I know even in this demonic form you still can communicate.”
The beast growled and seemed to smile, “I’m glad you separated from your mate. That’s what I was planning. I knew you wouldn’t put her in danger so Trygve will be there to intercept. Brilliant wasn’t it? See, I’m always one step ahead.”
I seen father charge, but luckily Drakkar did not. Father and Drakkar rolled across the clearing as I turned to see if I could sense Maggie and Kinsley. I heard growling a little ways ahead and my heart sank.
Barreling forward, I reached the edge of the clearing within seconds, but stopped immediately when I seen Gene carrying a limp, seemingly lifeless body. A familiar looking one at that. “I found her over there,” he motioned behind him with his head, “I think she’s just unconscious because I can feel her pulse.” Meshella looked pale.
“Get her out of here. I must find Maggie and Kinsley. Trygve set a trap for them.” Gene nodded and raced out of the clearing.
Only the stars know how many casualties this will cause. Damn you Drakkar! You will pay dearly for this as soon as I find the girls. These humans are not only completely innocent, but they are just children.
The snarling turned into whimpering as I heard my sister yell. I ran to the sound and seen Maggie on the beast’s back with his upper jaw in her hands. A few more inches and she could snap his neck. Right before she could deliver that last crack in his neck, black and red dust surrounded them both, causing Maggie to jump off and land safely next to me.
There stood Trygve, no longer in beast form. “This is not a win for you, so think nothing of it. Kinsley is not your concern, nor do you have permission to stop her from her destiny. Who do you think you are?” All we could see of him was his gritted teeth underneath the helmet he always wears.
“She’s my bindende sjel and I have every right in the universe to keep her away from your filthy hands. You know nothing of her destiny!” I roared back. He unclenched his teeth and did something unexpected, he smiled.
He removed his helmet, still smiling, and revealed light brown hair down to his shoulders and familiar looking sky blue eyes. “I know more about her than you think, Prince Eerikki. This is far from over.” Another cloud of red and black dust circled him then he was gone, leaving the haunting image of Kinsley’s eyes behind.
“Rikki...” Maggie trailed off. This doesn’t make sense. How could he look exactly like her, down to perfectly matching her eye color? That’s impossible.
Shaking the thoughts trying to overtake my mind away, I focused on my first priority which was to find Kinsley. I looked around, “Where’s Kinsley?” Maggie seemed to jump out of her shock, “When he blocked our path I told her to run and don’t stop. She ran back towards the clearing.”
We both shot off like rockets in that direction only to meet mother and father at the edge. The scared kids were holding each other, crying, screaming and some vomiting from fear. “Drakkar disappeared a few seconds ago without warning. We are waiting for him to return, but so far I see nothing.” Mother replied.
“Have you seen Kinsley?” I looked around wildly. She was nowhere to be found. We spread out to search for her.
Father and mother went back through the woods, while Maggie and I searched by the cliff. I walked towards the edge, frustrated that I couldn’t find her, when suddenly it started to pour down rain. Oh no. Not rain. Not now. Why here?
A feeling overtook me to glance down into the waves crashing into the side of the cliffs. My heart dropped into my stomach, and I managed to yell, “Kinsley!” As I dove head first into the water, I heard Maggie screaming for our parents.