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Eleven Years Old

They crowded around the fire, warming their cold hands. Khort turned around, shaking his butt too close to the flame.

"Khort!” Vega swatted at him. “You’re gonna burn your butt!” The kids all broke out into hushed giggles, trying not to draw too much attention to themselves.

They were staying the night at the Feras’ Demuto home instead of traveling back to Stella in the snowstorm pounding the mountain path. Their parents were inside the house, finishing their glasses of wine over some important Curia business, and the kids snuck out… despite their parents’ warnings.

Arlet laughed so hard she stumbled over the log and landed on her butt in the cold snow.

The rest joined in.

Marlena shushed the others through a fit of giggles she did her best to hide. “If our parents know we’re out here, they’re going to flip out.” She put her pointer finger over her lips.

Khort and Arlet were Vega’s friends, according to their parents. They only tolerate you because of your sister. But in moments like these, Marlena forgot to believe them.

Khort helped Arlet up, and they scooted closer to the fire when a twig snapped.

“Are you kids telling ghost stories?”

They all spun around at the same time, their eyes as wide as the moon hiding behind the clouds.

Olenor Fera lit up behind the firelight, her green eyes glowing with the reflection of the bonfire. Her dark burgundy hair spilled over her shoulders, and she was wrapped in a much lighter coat than the rest of them. The fire of her dragon form kept her warm enough to avoid heavy clothing.

Khort hadn’t shifted yet, but his little sister, Delori, already had a few weeks ago… and things had been tense in the Fera household since then.

Delori had taken her mother’s dragon form, and it was pretty rare for both children to get the same gift.

“Sorry, Mom, we were just?—”

Olenor held up her hand. “You’re not in trouble. All of you, relax.”

They collectively took a relieved breath.

“But if you aren’t telling the story of Mira Viator, then you’re not doing ghost stories right.”

Marlena’s eyebrows rose, and Arlet beat them to the question they were all wondering. “Who’s Mira Viator?”

Olenor looked over to Arlet, and then her eyes trailed to the rest of the group as she stepped up to the fire where everyone could see her. “Mira was Fraus’s Curia seat holder 209 years ago, and she tried to summon a dead god.”

Marlena stayed silent, but Arlet and Vega audibly gasped. Khort watched his mom, his eyes never leaving her face. “What happened to her?”

A small breeze kicked up the embers of their fire, and Olenor watched one sail into the night sky. “They’re listening,” she whispered, refocusing on the kids as a chill ran down Marlena’s spine.

Vega reached out for her hand, and Marlena snatched it up.

“Mira wanted power, more power than the rest of the realm wanted to give her. She tried to assassinate the Dimicos, claiming Fraus-born could run the military better than they could, but she got caught and thrown into the prison under Atrox.” The original city of Fortis where the Curia member’s and Commander’s families lived.

Khort’s eyebrows creased. “Why haven’t we ever heard of this?” he asked. Khort was less than a full year older than Marlena, but he was still the oldest of their group. If any of them had heard of it, it would have been him.

Olenor met her son’s curious gaze. “Because the Curia and a few of their family members are the only ones who know about it, and it isn’t something people like to talk about.”

Marlena stared into the fire, captivated by the crackling of the log. “How do you know about it?”

“Because I was there,” Olenor deadpanned.

Marlena’s eyes shot from the popping flame.

“The Curia was readying for her execution, and my father was part of the dragon firing squad.” Olenor was the leader of Demuto, having taken over her father’s seat when he stepped down. “And yes, ‘firing squad’ was the literal term at the time. They planned to execute her by dragon fire.”

There weren’t enough dragons for that type of execution anymore. Their population had been dwindling for centuries.

Arlet crossed her arms over her chest and ran her palms up and down to chase the chill of the story out of her bones.

Khort’s jaw dropped.

Laws had changed since then. Executions weren’t common anymore, only taking place for the most heinous crimes.

No one spoke, all waiting for Olenor to continue.

“The night before her execution, Mira’s actions were neurotic, and knowing now what happened, it should have been worrisome. She had begun talking to herself, clawed one of her eyes out, and ripped most of her hair out at the root. Everyone chalked it up to her impending death.”

Olenor’s eyes scanned around the fire again when the wind rolled through the trees with a cold gust. “When they put her on the pedestal where she would die, she dropped to her hands and knees and began chanting in the old tongue. The people who knew it scattered, and those who didn’t stayed to see what was happening.

My dad and the other dragons had yet to shift, and by the time they did, it was too late.

She was trying to summon Mars, the dead god of Fortis-born’s bloodline, but the gods don’t want to give to you… They want to take .”

Olenor stomped her foot, making everyone but Marlena jump. She was too entranced by the story.

“A power like none of us had ever seen shifted the ground, and in the blink of an eye, Mira was gone, sucked into oblivion like she’d been slurped through a straw.

” She mimicked the sound with a pop. “One might have thought she never existed in the first place if it weren’t for her still-beating heart left behind. ”

Arlet gasped, slapping her hand over her mouth.

Olenor leaned in further, the fire casting a shadow over her face. “They say if you’re locked away long enough inside the Atrox prison, you can still hear her screaming.”

In the distance, a warbled cry shattered through the night sky with a flash of dim light.

This time they all panicked. Vega nearly jumped into Marlena’s arms, Khort took off towards the house, and Arlet dropped to the ground, throwing her hands over her head.

Olenor laughed, bending at the waist, and slapped at her knee as a laugh from down deep tore through her.

From the cover of the trees, the Caelums appeared with Khort’s dad and Arlet’s parents in tow .

Everyone but the children joined in on their laughter.

Arlet peeked from underneath her arm, and Khort peered from the front porch of the large cabin home. Vega climbed off Marlena, still shaking a little.

Marlena stared.

It had been a joke. The wind was her father’s. The scream and flash of light had come from Arlet’s mother.

Arlet’s dad scooped her up, kissing his daughter’s forehead. “Arlie, I am so sorry.” He laughed a little when Arlet buried her face in his chest. “I told them not to.” He looked up at the group with a playful look. “She’s going to be sleeping in our bed for a month now. Thanks, everyone.”

Marlena’s father stepped behind her, gripping her shoulders with a firm squeeze. “We told you kids to go to bed. When we realized you hadn’t listened, we decided to have some fun of our own.”

Marlena could smell the wine on his breath.

Khort made his way back to the fire, chest puffed. “I wasn’t even that scared.”

That earned him an eye roll from Marlena.

Arlet’s parents waved to everyone as they took a shaking Arlet in for bed.

“So, was the story true?” Marlena asked, still invested in the failed summoning.

Khort’s father stomped out the fire with his boot. Carwel was a phoenix shifter, making their entire family basically fireproof.

Ryanna reached for Vega, who took her mother’s hand. “One may never know, Marlena, because summoning any of the dead gods is an immediate death sentence.”

Her father dug his fingers into her shoulders harder, making Marlena snap her mouth shut and forget the next question she was about to ask. “Now, whose idea was it to come out here?”

All eyes landed on Marlena, who wiggled out of her father’s vice grip .

“It was mine,” Vega lied, tearing the attention off her guilty sister. “I wanted to watch the fire go out.”

It was Marlena who had wanted to watch the flames flicker to nothing and dragged everyone out here.

Ryanna’s eyebrows smooshed together. “Hmm, now who does that sound like?” She glanced at Marlena.

“I—” Marlena started.

“No matter,” Olenor interrupted. “Off to bed, and don’t even think about stopping for a cookie on the way up.” She winked as the kids scattered to the house in the distance.

That night as Vega clung to her side in the bed she insisted they share, Marlena fell asleep wondering: What if Mira got it wrong?