Strength
Page 17
“I’m off to see Rone. Save me some ale, will you?”
Freya shook her head decisively, while Ellanden pushed to his feet.
“You’re really doing that?” he asked skeptically. “He’s really going to try to help you get back your memories?”
“Of course,” she declared, like it was something that happened every day. “Why in the world wouldn’t he?”
The fae stared at her a moment longer, weighing her determination, then grabbed a biscuit off the table and popped it into his mouth. “All right, I’m ready. Let’s go.”
The princess glanced up in surprise. “Really? You’re coming?”
He adjusted his cloak, rolling his eyes at the same time. “Do you mean...am I letting you get drugged in a jungle hut by some old man? All by yourself? No, I am not.”
Asher flashed him a silent look of gratitude as the two friends headed off into the night.
THE CHIEF’S HUT WAS at the far edge of the village—a place where the sounds of the feast had faded to a gentle hum. The friends spotted it from a ways off and slowly began walking towards it, hands in their pockets as they wandered beneath the stars.
“Are you nervous?” Ellanden finally asked.
Evie nodded silently, watching a trail of smoke drifting up from the hut. “You know...you were pretty hard on Rone this morning.”
The fae rolled his eyes. “Rone’s a lot tougher than I am. He can take it.”
She glanced at him curiously. “Still, why—”
“It’s just so typical of the way they do things,” he interrupted, a hint of that old irritation seeping back into his voice. “Their prince returns home, and instead of saying anything he’s given a necklace of bones and carried in with the mangos.”
A group of warlocks went barreling past them, and he let out a sigh.
“This just isn’t me. When I was younger, I tried. For my mother’s sake. I’d go with her every summer. I’d try to give it a chance, but...it isn’t me.”
Evie remembered the first few times Ellanden had returned from the hot Kreo desert, back into the cool embrace of his beloved Taviel. She remembered how Leonor, the head of his father’s council, had been delighted in the prince’s discomfort. Stoking those flames every chance he could.
One year in particular, the prince had come back painted head to toe in swirls of amber henna. He didn’t say anything. He simply looked at his father, then headed to his room.
The summer after, he was no longer forced to return.
Still, she refused to think that all the memories were bad. She’d seen the look on his face when they’d first set foot in the camp. The way he’d smelled the flowers, the way he’d repeated their collective chant, a little smile creeping up his face.
Then there was the way he’d been watching the warlocks.
“You never wonder what it would be like?” she asked. “To be able to do all those incredible things yourself?”
It wasn’t just the shape-shifting. His mother could whip up potions and elixirs just as easily as any witch. His grandmother could open portals to a different place in time. At one point in their childhood both women had spontaneously sprouted angel wings, taking to the sky.
Ellanden paused a moment, then shook his head.
“No,” he lied. “I never wonder what it’s like.”
She snorted sarcastically. “Sure. And I never wonder what it would be like to be a dragon...”
When they reached the tent, two things became immediately clear. First, that was not ordinary smoke rising from the chimney. And second, there was no way to knock.
“This is what I mean,” Ellanden muttered, pulling back the animal-skin flap with a rather disgusted look on his face. “All this power, yet they live like savages—”
“The savages can hear you,” a voice answered from inside.
The princess shot him a smug look, and together they ducked inside.
In hindsight, the chief’s hut was nothing like what she thought it would be. She’d expected a reflection of the man himself, but the place couldn’t have been more different. The walls were clean and sparse, the floor was neatly swept. There was a bed in the corner, along with a few simple pieces of furniture, but other than that the place was nearly empty.
Except for the dead snake in the middle of the floor.
“Seven hells!” Evie let out a gasp without thinking, grabbing the fae. “What is that doing here? Is it really dead? Landi—poke it to be sure!”
The words all ran together as the chief pulled himself away from the fire he was tending in the corner, straightening up to greet them with a twinkling smile.
“It’s undoubtedly deceased,” he assured her. “I drowned the thing myself.”
For whatever reason, that didn’t help soothe her nerves. She eyed it warily, still angled defensively behind the fae, when Ellanden swept forward and put it on the table.
She stared at him in baffled silence.
First that he would touch it. Then that he hadn’t thrown it outside.
Maybe he was right to avoid this place. It’s a bad influence.
“So that’s what it is?” he asked in an oddly practiced voice. “The venom?”
She stared a second longer, then her eyes widened in illumination.
All her life, she’d assumed the Oberon women had made their little brews from flowers, or herbs, or other palatable ingredients. Never would she have imagined it was something like this.
Rone nodded routinely, gesturing for them to sit on the floor.
“Vials are on the table. You’re welcome to do the honors.”
Unaware that the princess’ eyes were following his every move Ellanden picked up a glass tube and the snake before settling down beside her, handling both as if it was the most casual thing in the world. With a look of intense concentration he lifted one to the other, pressing the fangs ever so carefully to the lid of the jar. A thin stream of liquid poured forth, trickling down the sides.
“Just a touch,” Rone instructed, watching over his shoulder. “More than that and she won’t be able to come back.”
Ellanden hesitated a moment, then handed both things to the chief.
“You do it,” he said stiffly. “I don’t want to make a mistake.”
“That’s the only way we learn—”
“He can learn on someone else,” Evie interrupted with alarm. “You do it.”
The chief chuckled quietly, lifting the vial as he sprayed in tiny drops of venom from the teeth of the snake. Ellanden’s eyes followed every move, watching closely. The princess sucked in a quick breath, trying to brace herself for what was about to come.
She didn’t know what she was hoping to find. She wasn’t entirely sure why’d she had asked the chief in the first place. The others couldn’t remember the shipwreck either. But all of them had laid those burning questions to rest. Why was it that she alone was plagued with the mystery? Unable to chalk it up to providence like the rest of them and simply let it go.
Because it’s not just about the shipwreck. It’s also about my dreams—
“Are you ready?”
She lifted her eyes to see Rone sitting right in front of her, offering the glass vial. She took it then, turning it over with profound hesitation, glancing instinctively at Ellanden by her side.
“I’ll be right here,” he said softly.
She nodded quickly, taking his hand.
Sitting on the floor, holding a vial full of venom, she suddenly realized the real reason he’d offered to come with her. She loved him for it even more.
“Drink quickly and try not to resist,” Rone advised. “In order for your vision to expand, you must open yourself to it. Release all expectations and allow yourself to be carried along.”
The princess nodded, staring into the vial.
Try not to resist. Right.
Before she could talk herself out of it, she downed the venom like a shot—setting the vial down quickly and bracing herself against the floor, re
ady for whatever was coming next.
For a few seconds, nothing happened. She heard the crackling of the fire. She felt the warmth of Ellanden’s hand. Then all at once, the princess crumpled noiselessly to the floor...
IT WAS LIKE TRYING to remember a dream, even as it was happening. Blending time and reality as a story you’d always carried inside you, played out before your eyes...
Evie stared around in a daze, trying to get her bearings as the ground beneath her quaked and writhed. Gone was the fire, gone was the hut. The land itself had vanished, and she was sailing on the open seas. A second later, she saw the lightning. A second later, she heard the screams.
It was one thing being lost in the chaos of the moment. It was another thing entirely to see that moment play out in perfect clarity before your eyes. The princess watched as she and her friends were thrown violently from one side of the ship to another, pitched back and forth as it rocked from side to side. Looking at it from a distance, it was a miracle they’d managed to say on board so long. With each wave, she thought they were done for. Each time water streamed over the railing, she had no idea why it didn’t sweep them straight out into the churning maelstrom.
Of course, there were several details that she’d missed.
Twice, Asher released his death-grip on the banister to go diving after her—pulling her back to safety just before she could slip into the waves. Three times. Then four. There seemed no limit to the number of times he would risk his life, no limit to the things he would do to just to keep her alive. It was no wonder she couldn’t remember. She would highly doubt the vampire remembered himself. But as the world fell apart around them, they clung to each other in the middle of the ship, illuminated by flashes of lightning as they braced themselves against the storm.
But such a thing was never meant to last.
When the boat began cracking up the middle, each friend went white with fear. The noise alone was terrifying, coming from deep within the ship itself. Splintered boards went flying skyward, hurtling through the air.
Cosette was screaming something, but no one could hear her. The rest of them were scrambling farther up the deck, but none of them would make it in time. In what looked like slow motion, the two halves of the vessel split apart—throwing everyone still clinging to its broken pieces out into the churning waves.
It didn’t take long to realize the storm was too powerful. They wouldn’t be able to swim. One by one their heads vanished into the shadowy water, disappearing without a trace.
Evie held her breath, diving down with them.
It was utterly bizarre—to view such a thing from within the calming lens of sleep. She watched with perfect clarity as they were thrashed beneath the waves just as fiercely as they’d been above, helpless playthings of a vengeful storm.
Seth was struck over the back of the head with a fragment of the ship’s keel. His arms floated up in front of him as his eyes fluttered closed. Cosette was kicking towards the surface with all her might, but the pull of the ship continued dragging her down, too strong for even a princess of the Fae to withstand. Asher tried to grab her as she flashed by, but he was quickly struck with debris and drifted lifelessly down beside her, still reaching out his hand.
There were only two people still moving—both in the greatest trouble of all.
Ellanden was awake and kicking but he was tangled in one of the riggings, the thick rope digging into his sides. He harder he fought the greater it ensnared him, dragging him farther and farther down into the sea.
Even knowing the outcome, that he was currently safe and dry and sitting beside her, it was still hard to watch. There didn’t seem to be any hope for him...until a beautiful girl appeared by his side.
How Freya was able to reach him, the princess would never know. All she remembered was her look of fierce determination as she lifted her hands to the rigging, blasting the rope loose. Again and again bursts of light shot from her palms, but they were running out of time.
She kicked to the surface, kissing a burst of life-saving air into his mouth. For a split second the world steadied, but as she kicked off to do it again he realized it was helpless. He was sinking too far down. Instead he caught her wrist, shaking his head and pointing her up toward the surface for good. A last desperate bid for freedom, saving one life instead of losing two before they were swallowed forever by the darkness, never to be seen again.
But she refused to part with him. She refused to leave his side. As lightning flashed above, illuminating the sea around them, she laced her fingers through his, holding on for all she was worth as the two silently vanished into the sea.
Evie blinked after them in horror, having already lost sight of all the rest.
It would have been impossible to save them, let alone move them, let alone FIND them. All of them had vanished, their lives claimed by a raging and violent sea.
‘So what happened?’ she thought desperately. ‘What could have possibly...?’
All at once, she went still—listening as a chorus of voices echoed softly beneath the waves. At first she thought she was just imagining it, but louder and louder it grew, overwhelming her with the certainty of one thing.
They were not alone.
There was a great shadow moving in the distance, too far away to make out a shape. She tried swimming towards it, squinting her eyes against the water only to see other eyes staring back at her. They were beautiful, faceless, a thousand different colors glinting in the depths of the ocean despite there being no sun.
She stared in fascination, listening as those sing-song voices drifted along the waves.
An overwhelming impulse swept over her. She had to get closer. She had to find out what those singing voices meant. The fate of the world depended on it. The lives of her friends. If only she could get closer—
Then all at once, a cold current swept out of nowhere—lifting her with the tide.
The eyes vanished. Those singing voices faded into the depths as she and the others were taken somewhere far away, out of the ocean’s grasp—
Evie opened her eyes with a gasp, panting for air as if she was still underwater.
No longer was she in the ocean, but back in the chief’s hut. The colors steadied and the dizziness vanished, but there was something wrong here as well.
It wasn’t cold, as she remembered. It was hot. Too hot.
Her eyes lifted slowly, dazzled by the flames.
The hut was on fire.
“Ellanden?” she gasped, unable to pull her eyes away.
There were screams coming from outside, echoing across the length of the camp. Through the open flap, she saw people running as if their lives depended upon it—chased by what looked like shadows of liquid smoke. She watched with wide eyes as one caught up with a warlock, ripping back his head before showering the ground with a splash of blood. The body fell with a thud very near to the entrance of the dwelling. She pulled back in horror, understanding for the first time why everyone was screaming. What those shadows really were.
Her blood ran cold and her face paled with fright.
Vampires.
THE END
VALIDATION – Book 6 blurb
THE WORLD KEEPS TURNING... so be careful not to fall out of step.
When the Kreo settlement falls under attack, Evie and her friends are spirited away to the last place in the world they’d ever want to be...a vampire prison. With the fate of the kingdoms hanging in the balance they bind themselves to an unlikely ally, sealing a covenant they might give their lives to keep.
The prophecy is waiting. A silent adversary is moving in the dark.
Can the friends recover the lost stone?
Can they find the missing pieces and restore balance to the realm?
Or will they be forced to ask the fateful question?
...are they already too late?
The Queen’s Alpha Series
Eternal
Everlasting
Unceasing
Evermor
e
Forever
Boundless
Prophecy
Protected
Foretelling
Revelation
Betrayal
Resolved
The Omega Queen Series
Discipline
Bravery
Courage
Conquer
Strength
Validation
Approval
Blessing
Balance
Grievance
Enchanted
Gratified
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More books by W.J. May
The Chronicles of Kerrigan
BOOK I - Rae of Hope is FREE!
Book Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gILAwXxx8MU
Book II - Dark Nebula
Book Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ca24STi_bFM
Book III - House of Cards
Book IV - Royal Tea
Book V - Under Fire
Book VI - End in Sight
Book VII – Hidden Darkness
Book VIII – Twisted Together
Book IX – Mark of Fate
Book X – Strength & Power
Book XI – Last One Standing
BOOK XII – Rae of Light
PREQUEL –
Christmas Before the Magic
Question the Darkness
Into the Darkness
Fight the Darkness