We decided to set up camp for the remainder of the day so we could start out fresh in the morning.
But when we woke, the world as we knew had changed.
I studied the blood red sky with horror. The end was near.
Phyra gasped, staring up at the ominous sky. “We’re too late.”
Chel’s gaze snapped to her. “Don’t say that. You don’t know what this means.”
“Doesn’t this make you worry about Percifal?” She questioned, wrapping her arms around herself. “Do you even think about your brother?”
Her eyes darkened. “Yes, it does, but you know what? I’m glad he’s not with us. I’m relieved he didn’t have to face a goddess damned dragon at the top of a hidden island which had to be climbed.”
“Even though King Zaeden has likely conquered the kingdom we left him at?”
Chelela swallowed and looked away. “Yes. We don’t know for sure why the sky has suddenly changed colour.”
“If you two would stop arguing,” Seph shot, “we could be on our way quicker.”
They both stared daggers at him, but he’d already busied himself with saddling one of the horses.
“I wonder if Vesirus’s power reaches to places like Gwon,” I pondered, recalling her declaration of her enslavement on the foreign island to the south.
“If it does, it’s their gods’ problem,” she replied. Clearly, she hadn’t enjoyed herself on the hostile island she’d sometimes told us stories about.
We climbed onto our saddles and took off south, back the way we’d come. We galloped as much as we could without harming the horses.
The sky stayed red; the sun barely visible.
The horses were on edge at the change in nature. I had to keep my reins tight to hold my mount in. Phyra nearly fell off hers as the mare jumped sideways and pranced at her own shadow. I knew how they felt. Fear frayed my nerves too.
When we camped for the night, no stars shone. The moon no longer cast her light upon her children. I stared at the scepter strapped to Seph’s sleeping body, clinging onto my last strand of hope.
As the days went on, and we rode farther south, the trees began to turn from lush and green to dead and brown. It didn’t make sense. We hadn’t yet reached the wintery landscape of the Acutis, and summer still graced the rest of the realm. Sarantoa was dying. We could no longer deny it.
The white stallion I rode climbed up the steep path through the mountains, dampened with sweat from the exertion. I leaned forward to help ease my weight off his back each time, until the path flattened out. Up and up we rode, the way home much more difficult than the way there.
The flapping of wings caught my attention. My heart skipped a beat. I turned in my saddle, expecting to find Ramiel.
Instead, a dark shape glided toward us, a black void eating up the last bit of light in the sky.
“Run.” I kicked my heels into the sides of my horse, but he reared, flinging me from the saddle.
The grey mare Chel and Seph rode bolted along with my stallion, with the two of them on her back, holding on for life.
Phyra pulled on her reins, trying to gain control of her mount, but the mare tossed her head and spun around. She lost her balance and toppled to the ground. Face full of dirt, the fire elemental pushed herself up, but her horse had left us in the dust.
The dark creature flapped closer, its screech cutting through the air as it honed in on us.
I willed myself calm enough to reach for my power. Wind whipped my hair forward, shoving itself against the creature. It had flown close enough that I could make out its long furry neck and pointed ears. Its front two legs were short, the back two long and thick like a wolf’s. It spread its talons as it beat its wings fast and hard, fighting to overcome my wind.
As it rose higher, I realized it was going to fly over the reach of the wind I’d summoned.
Phyra noticed too, for she encased us in a bubble of fire. “Help me,” she yelled over the roaring flames.
I called upon the air to keep the flames from touching our skin. I knew she’d remain unburned, but I didn’t wish to be charred to a crisp.
The creature screeched again. I could only make out its dark shape as it dove down from above us.
I couldn’t look away as its claws penetrated through the liquid-gold flames.
In an effort to escape the creature’s reach, I leaped into the fire without thinking as Phyra screamed.
Searing pain covered the skin on my back, and I buckled forward, gripping onto my knees.
The creature plucked me from the fire with its crescent-shaped talons. Phyra already dangled from its other foot.
I shrieked in agony as the flesh along my shoulder blades melted, and she finally saw my mistake. The flames on my back went out, but the pain didn’t subside.
A flash of bright white snatched my attention.
Ramiel appeared out of thin air and shot toward us, his physical body returned to him.
He tried to grab hold of me, but the creature twice his size knocked him out of the air with a leathery, vein-covered wing.
“Nooo!” I cried out as Ramiel plunged to the ground.
I tried to see if he got up, but I couldn’t twist around with the talons gripping me so tightly.
Something dug into my side. My sword.
I ground my teeth against the pain flowing from my burns, trying to wriggle it free. I tried to shove my arm behind me to grab the hilt and dark spots danced in my vision. I snatched my arm back, but it was too late. The world went black.
Chapter 25
I came to when my body slammed against hard, packed dirt. A pain-filled moan escaped my throat. Conscious again, the throbbing pain between my shoulder blades stole my attention. I reached my hand back and touched the blistered, bubbling wound. I sucked air in through my teeth and pulled my hand away.
A sob from beside me cut through the silence.
“Phyra?” I groaned. “Where are we?”
“Ventosa,” she croaked, her arm trembling against mine.
I couldn’t make out our surroundings in the complete darkness. “Give me some light.”
She inhaled a shaky breath and produced a ball of flame before setting it down in front of us.
My eyes took in the soil all around us. I peered up. Wood covered the top. I swore. “They’ve thrown us in a pit.”
Phyra buried her face in her knees and cried again, rocking back and forth.
“Pull yourself together. We need to make a plan to escape.”
“I can’t do this again,” she breathed. “They’ve left us here to die. If we were behind bars, I could get us out. But this…”
I pushed myself to my feet. I stretched my arms up. They didn’t touch the board covering the top. Not even close. I jumped, my raw back screaming in protest. Still, they only met open air. I stumbled to the dirt wall and dug my fingers in, trying to climb up, but each time I got a grip, the soil crumbled and hit me in the face. I let out a frustrated growl, spitting out dirt. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I wish Sepheus were here.” I sat back down and pulled my knees up.
Phyra hiccupped. “That’s it! Seph and Chel got away. They will save us. Oh, but how will they find us down here? And Percifal… Have they killed him yet?” she babbled.
“I don’t know,” I answered truthfully. I reached back for my sword and came up short. Someone must have slipped it off of me while I was unconscious. “But I hope Seph still has the scepter.”
She clutched onto my arm. “Can it get us out of here?”
“I don’t think so, but it means we still have a chance at defeating Vesirus once we are out.” I shook her off my arm. “What’s wrong with you? I know you’re brave. I’ve seen you face a dragon. But throw you into a pit, and you come undone?”
She sighed. “This isn’t my first time being imprisoned.”
“Nor mine.”
She chewed her bottom lip, the orange firelight bouncing off her face. “Yes, but your prison was
much nicer than mine.” She leaned her head back against the dirt wall. “When I ran away from Solis, I was taken to a manor owned by a horrible man who wanted to make me his mistress. I fought him, of course, so he threw me in his dungeon along with a woman who was captured before me.”
I dropped my gaze to the ground. “Oh, I’m so sorry.” I didn’t know what else to say.
“She died there. And the only reason I got away was because I discovered my power—that, and Percifal found me and helped me escape.”
“You are the bravest woman I’ve ever met. And you’re not going to die in this pit. Neither of us are,” I assured her.
Her eyes focused on the waving flames. “Do you truly believe so?”
“Yes, don’t you have any faith?”
She hesitated. “I’m not sure anymore.”
“If the others can’t help us, Ramiel will. Oh.” My mind flew back to the image of him falling out of the sky… and his declaration that I didn’t need him anymore. Why had he come? Had something changed? Dread choked my breath off. He could be badly injured at this very moment, or even dead. Perhaps he couldn’t come help us. Couldn’t, or wouldn’t.
I sprung to my feet and screamed, “Let us out! You can’t keep us in here. Somebody, hellllp!” I shouted until my throat burned.
No one answered.
I scrubbed my hands over my face. “For goddess sakes.”
“The scepter,” Phyra questioned. “What does it do?”
I supposed she deserved to know the truth. I plopped back down next to her. I chewed on the inside of my cheek. “Whoever wields it can take on the power of other elementals.”
“Three of us would be left powerless?”
“Three of you would be spiritless,” I corrected. “Our powers are tethered to our spirits.”
She didn’t say anything for a moment. She smoothed a wrinkle out on her breeches. “Then, three of us would die.”
“No, your spirits will return to your bodies after.”
She blinked at me. “After what?”
I studied my hands, not able to meet her questioning eyes. “After I’m dead.”
“Pardon me?”
Our eyes locked. Time to stop hiding from the truth. “Holding so much power… it will kill the person who uses the scepter. I will be the one to combine all four elemental powers within myself.”
“You decided this all on your own?”
I pursed my lips. “Ramiel knows. He agrees it’s best I do it.” It wasn’t an outright lie, but it was a stretch. “He has trained me to use both a sword and my magic. Can any of you say you’ve been trained by an elemental guardian?”
She sniffed. “No, but that doesn’t mean we’re incompetent.”
I exhaled, brushing a silvery lock of hair off my face. I frowned at how stiff it felt, caked with grime. I wished I could have a bath. Of all the mundane things of ordinary life, I missed being clean the most. “That’s not what I meant.” She waited, so I continued. “You all have someone to live for. You don’t seriously want to leave Percifal behind, do you?”
“No, but—”
I didn’t let her finish. “And Seph and Chel have each other. It has to be me. I have nothing here. Star wears my crown, and I wouldn’t take it from her. Not anymore. The people of this kingdom would never accept me as their queen.”
“You don’t know that.”
“That’s if there are even any people left to rule. We may lose this war. And then none of this matters. So, let me carry this burden. I’ve been prepared to do so since I learned about the scepter.”
I thought she’d continue to argue, but she placed her hand on mine and squeezed. “All right. If you want it to be you, it can be.”
“I do. Thank you.”
“That you would offer up your life so the rest of us can live… I should be the one thanking you.”
I squeezed her hand back and leaned my head on her shoulder. “My back is killing me.”
“From your burns?”
“Mhm.” I winced as I adjusted my position.
“You shouldn’t have leaped into the fire.”
I snorted. “I wasn’t thinking. I acted on instinct, trying to get away from that creature.”
“I shouldn’t have trapped you within my flames. I put you in danger.”
I shook my head. “No, don’t say that. You were trying to protect us. It’s not your fault.”
With nothing left to say, I curled up on the ground, tightening the cloak Chel had returned around me. If Phyra hadn’t informed me we were back at my home kingdom, I would’ve known from the absence of warmth. At least it wasn’t damp like that wretched island.
Phyra’s fire burned low and, once she fell asleep next to me, it went out altogether, blanketing us in utter darkness once again.
I listened to her soft breaths, trying not to think about the pain.
I don’t know how long we lay like that, but eventually a scraping from above had us both dragging ourselves to sit up.
The board above our heads slid over, and two pairs of glowing, cerulean eyes stared down at us.
Chapter 26
A rope appeared from the top of the hole. “Grab on,” one of the soldier’s with eerie eyes dressed in black and silver ordered.
Phyra didn’t waste any time. She wrapped the rope around her wrists and held on tightly.
“Wait.” I grabbed her arm. “Something’s off about those two men.”
“They’re possessed by dark spirits, but I don’t care. I’m getting out of here.”
I watched as the muscles in her arms flexed as they hauled her up and out of the hole.
After they’d helped her over the edge, they tossed the rope back down for me.
I told myself I couldn’t let her face our enemies alone. While that was true, I also didn’t wish to be left behind. I put a hand to the necklace that once belonged to my mother, asking her to protect me, and then I grabbed onto the rope.
“The Dark Lord wishes to see you,” the greasy-looking soldier from Aquila stated, shoving me forward.
“You mean King Zaeden?” I asked with a scowl.
“Move!” he shouted, not bothering to answer.
With a sword pointed at each of our backs, we were escorted through the dungeon. Prisoners rattled their cages as we passed them. One woman, a former courtier by the look of her fine dress, cried out at the guards. “You can’t do this! You bastards! I’m high-born.”
They didn’t acknowledge her.
The harder I looked between the bars of the cells lining each side of the dungeon, the more I realized that these weren’t practical prisoners. Courtiers and commoners alike were stuffed into each of the cages. Children and mothers watched me with wide, scared eyes. Old, weary farmers reached for me with gnarly, calloused hands. Only in a backwards world would the innocent be imprisoned while the villains ran free.
We were forced up a set of stairs and passed the scullery. Palace staff worked away, scrubbing dishes and preparing food. All of them kept their gazes averted, focusing on their tasks.
Wheat-blond hair caught my eye. A familiar face, worn and grim, stared down blankly as she stirred a boiling cauldron.
“Hilda?”
My old handmaid glanced up. Her lips opened a moment before her head snapped back down to study whatever she was cooking. She pressed her lips tightly together.
I slowed to try to get her attention again, but the point of a sword pressed into the small of my back right below my burns. I cursed and quickened my pace.
What I witnessed on the main floor horrified me even more than what I’d seen in the dungeon. I barely recognized the once pristine Crystalline Palace now crawling with possessed soldiers, wraiths, and demons. Smashed white tiles littered the floor. Dried blood coated much of the purple drapes. Tapestries telling of our history were shredded by sharp claws. And the scent… I gagged, putting my hand over my nose. The scent of death invaded the cold air drifting in through the broken diamond-cut glass win
dows.
A demon with a hunched back and black skin snarled at us, shooting forward. The guard behind Phyra pushed it back with his sword. “These two are for the Dark Lord, back off.”
The demon shrank back with a low growl.
Others watched us with big eyes and jaws dripping with saliva as we were led through the palace, none attempted to harm us, but I knew they’d savour the taste of our flesh as soon as the Dark Lord was finished with us.
We were forced up more stairs and through a silver gilded door with etched crescent moons and pushed inside the room I hadn’t seen since my mother still lived… the Lunar Room.
My eyes followed the purple, blue, and white mosaic pattern leading up to the silver and diamond throne my mother once sat on while holding court. The throne I should’ve sat upon after her death. I remembered the boredom of being flashed before the courtiers, the pride and joy of the queen and king. My sister hadn’t had to suffer the fake smiles and petty gossip as the second born. She’d spent those days stuffing her face with treats, or playing silly games with anyone who would humour her. My fury nearly unleashed itself at the sight of the thing sitting on that throne as Phyra and I were pushed to our knees.
Squeals, screeches, and guffaws rolled around the room at our expense. Men and women dressed in silver armour with those glowing cerulean eyes clanked goblets of wine together. Demons of all shapes and sizes clawed at the floor or flapped their wings while shadowy wraiths slithered in between empty spaces. I noticed a few humans with regular eyes near the edges of the room. Their eyes darted between the different creatures as they tried to remain inconspicuous.
“Silence!” ordered the dark-haired man with the crooked silver crown inset with tiny pits of glittering obsidian jewels.
This God of Death looked nothing like the ruler I’d met at Noctis as a child. The man I’d met was warm… alive. I couldn’t believe my eyes. “King Zaeden?” I whispered to Phyra for confirmation.
Her eyes were pinned to the unsightly king before us. “Not anymore.” She shivered.
Indeed, for he was no man at all, nor a king. Clumps of black hair had fallen out, revealing a shiny white scalp beneath. Skin covered in inky veins tore at the seams. Nothing but a swallowing, eternal darkness lay beneath. Cold, hard silver eyes with no pupils watched us with an insatiable hunger, and I knew King Zaeden no longer existed. Vesirus wore the body of the King of Aquila, and when he smiled down at us with cruel, blackening teeth, I wanted to curl up and die. I wanted it all to be over, if only I didn’t have to suffer the wrath of the Dark Lord, God of the dark world, Mnyama. Come get him yourself, Celestia, I thought, but I knew she would do nothing if I gave up now, except perhaps give my power to some other poor soul.
The Elemental Diaries - Complete Series Page 89
