Dread sank in my gut. “The Hero’s Call,” I whispered.
He nodded solemnly. “I imagine it was a useful ruse to keep humans in line. No reason to turn your back on a goddess who saved you from bloodthirsty monsters.”
“You said you were seven hundred and four, does that mean you fought against her?”
“I did. Three of my brothers were some of her first victims. The remaining two fell in the war that followed.”
Tears pricked my eyes and he placed a comforting hand on my knee. “Don’t cry for me, Princess. It was a long time ago. I consider myself lucky that I still have my sister, Kohara, though she was born well past that time of pain. Besides, I had the honor of helping bring that evil bitch to her knees.”
I let out a breath. “This all sounds insane.”
“Yes, I imagine it does. Madam Shadow was rather surprised to hear the truth herself, before she helped us.”
“Who’s that?”
The darkness in his eyes receded as he leaned back. “Madam Shadow is the brave human that helped free us from the curse. Albeit by accident. In the last Hero’s Call, as you called it, she was attacked by a shadow dragon named Fallon Ozul. She struck him with a stick of cinnamon and his curse was lifted. It was then we found out that that’s how we break the curse.”
“Why do you call her Madam Shadow?”
“She married the shadow dragon. That makes her Madam Shadow. Just as you are now Madam Storm.”
“Madam, huh? Sounds fancy. So then what happened?”
He took a sip of his whiskey. “I’m a bit hazy on the details of the first two chalices, but from what I understand, she and Fallon went on a quest to destroy each of the chalices Myva used as her heart in order to break her curse once and for all. In an attempt to stop them, Myva attacked me here and embedded one of the chalices in my mane. With the source of her magic so close to me, the cinnamon did nothing to bring me back from that hell.”
He paused, a smile gracing his lips before he continued. “Unfortunately for that damned lich, nothing stops Madam Shadow when she puts her mind to it. She flew on her pegasus and dropped onto my back, then broke the chalice with a hammer, freeing me. After that, I joined forces with them and the other demons they freed. Together, we destroyed Myva’s remaining chalices and killed her.
“Wow. This is… This is a lot to take in,” I admitted. My fingers tugged at a seam in the dress as I tried to calm my heart. “How does cinnamon even break a curse?”
Dante shrugged. “You’d have to ask a magic scholar for that. Though most remedies to ailments can be found in nature. For example, the bark of a willow tree can make a wonderful pain reliever. It shouldn’t be too surprising that certain herbs and spices have a hand in counter-magic.”
Most of my childhood was spent running through fields of cinnamon. Who would’ve thought that was the very thing that could have broken such a dangerous curse. It was almost unbelievable. I suppose it could be. There is nothing stopping him lying to me. Yet the pain etched in his face when he spoke of his brothers seemed all too real to simply pass off. “I don’t know what to think,” I said finally.
“Then perhaps we should stop here. As you said, it’s been a long day. Why don’t we retire for now?”
I nodded, taking his hand when he offered to help me up. My mind whirled with all of the new information, and I wanted nothing more than to sink into a soft bed and sleep.
Chapter 8
Cherry
Ocean water glittered in the morning light. The waves were calm, giving the water an almost glass-like appearance. A bubble floated to the surface, causing a ripple effect. More bubbles floated to the surface. I peered closer, trying to find the source of the disturbance. Faster than I could blink, a wall of teeth shot out of the water and swallowed me whole.
I awoke with a start. Chest heaving, I sat up on the bed and clenched at my rapid heartbeat. The room was covered in darkness and the same terrible foreboding I felt in the dream remained strong.
Something low hissed in the dark.“Too sour.”
Movement caught my eye at the edge of the bed and I looked over to see something shift. A lone shadowy figure crouched at the end of my bed. It let out a horrible hiss as it rose. Higher and higher until its head scraped against the ceiling.
Screaming, I threw a pillow at the creature then snapped my fingers together to try to light the torches the way I’d seen Dante do when I had arrived at his castle. When the room didn’t immediately illuminate, I clapped, banged on the headboard and snapped again for good measure. When the flames lit up along the walls, the hissing stopped and the dark figure seemed to warp into nothingness. At the edge of the bed, the small white kitten tilted its head at me.
“A… cat?” I looked around the room, yet no monsters were hiding in the corners. Skin prickling, I glanced up, expecting a monster to swoop down from the ceiling. Instead of antlers and teeth, all the ceiling held was a painting made to resemble a calming night sky. Flecks of light from the crystal chandelier cast star-like glitters across the purple and blue hues.
The kitten stretched and jumped off the bed. I shifted upright, knocking away the absurd number of decorative pillows that took up a third of the bed. My heart pounded so hard in my chest it made my head spin. “It was just a nightmare,” I muttered, swinging my legs off the bed. The soft fabric of my borrowed robe spilled well past my feet to pile on the floor.
The robe, along with the yellow dress I’d worn yesterday, apparently belonged to Dante’s sister. By the looks of it, the female dragon shared her brother’s impressive height. Judging by the soft pastel colors that decorated the bedroom, I’d say this room was hers too. Hopefully she wouldn’t return home anytime soon and wonder why there was a strange human pilfering her clothes. Not that I had much of a choice. The weasel creatures had taken off with my clothes as soon as I got out of the bath.
Kneeling down, I checked under the bed to see where the kitten had gone. “Here, kitty,” I called, tapping my fingers on the floor. Not bothering to even glance my way, the bundle of fur scratched at its ear before darting off through the crack in the doorway. “Well fine. I didn’t want to pet you, anyway.”
