A World To Lose

by Frances Ellen

  Sophie groaned and her grip on Sky tightened, disrupting his thoughts.

  The corridor Sky and Sophie were running down, started to widen. The lanterns had been replaced by chandeliers on the ceiling, and the walls were smoother and had been painted a lighter colour.

  To Sky’s surprise, the footsteps that had seemed to be getting closer, now seemed to be farther away again. The Disciples were still coming after them, but for some reason they were keeping their distance.

  The corridor they were in was long and seemed to go on forever. Sky dared to look over his shoulder. The Disciples had now entered the same corridor, but they had slowed down to a jog. Another glance back, and they had stopped altogether.

  “They’re not following us,” Sophie hissed through rasping breaths. Apparently, she had also managed to steal a glance. “We can stop.”

  “A little further,” Sky panted. He could see the end of the corridor coming closer, and a great white door stood at the end of it. It was open. If Sky could only get Sophie in there, he could lock them in and he’d have the time to heal her without the fear of Disciples being able to surprise them.

  The rocky floor had turned to white marble, and the light walls were now covered in elaborate paintings. They reminded Sky of the gallery back in Saluverus’ castle. The island’s gallery was filled with paintings that told the story of past wars and battles. These were similar. And at the heart of every army of Disciples, stood a man with hair whiter than freshly fallen snow and eyes of liquid silver.

  Mitrik wasn’t the Original King of the North American Underworld. If Sky remembered his history correctly, there had been at least four Kings before him, the original one dying in the Original War against Queen Aiyana. But every North American King since had the same bright silver hair and eyes; it was what distinguished them from the other six. It was how they had all recognised Mitrik the second he’d walked out of the circus tent at the bottom of the Canyon.

  Only one man in the world had hair like that. It shone unnaturally brightly.

  Sky burst past the white door and heaved Sophie inside. He carefully dropped her to the floor and closed the great door behind them. When he turned around, Sophie had taken up the same position as when Lian was about to heal her. She was lying on her left hip, angling herself so she could have a better look at the arrow in her leg.

  Sky neared Sophie and dropped to his knees beside her. This was the first time he’d had the chance to get a better look at her. Her skin had gone slightly grey. Even though Sophie had kept the arrow in her leg, she had still lost a lot of blood. Her hands were shaking slightly as she tore away the fabric around the entry point of the arrow.

  She then wrapped her hand around the arrow and looked up at Sky. While her skin had paled, her thunderstorm grey eyes were as fierce as ever. Sky reached down and held his fingers against the wound. Once her blood was on his fingers, he brought them to his lips and said, “Excipie magica sanitatis.”

  A Band so similar to his own appeared on his wrist. The only difference was that the symbol on the inside of his wrist was the staff of Caduceus, and not the wing of an angel.

  Sky looked at Sophie. “Ready to save your life,” he told her with a twinkle in his eyes.

  Sophie rolled her eyes. In one quick motion she ripped the arrow out of her leg. She hissed through her teeth and Sky leaned over her immediately. He placed his right hand over the wound and closed his eyes.

  Sophie’s magic flowed through his fingers.

  It always took longer than when Sophie did it; this magic wasn’t second nature to him – it wasn’t a part of him like it was a part of her. But sure enough, he could feel the Band prickle on his skin and he knew it had started to glow. Sky could feel a certain warmth travel through his body and towards his right hand.

  When the warmth vanished, Sky opened his eyes and pulled back his right hand. There was nothing left of the wound in Sophie’s leg. Brand new skin had replaced the torn skin, and the muscles underneath had knitted together again as well.

  Sky looked up at his sister, but then caught sight of the view behind her.

  “Thanks,” Sophie was saying. “Now let me do you.”

  Sky barely heard her. He could feel her hand against his skin, but he batted it away. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from what was behind Sophie.

  “We need to leave, right now,” he said with low urgency.

  “What?” Sophie turned around herself, and Sky could hear her suck in her breath. For before them was a greater space than Sky had ever seen in any Underworld before. It was large enough to fit a small village, and tall enough to fit the skyscrapers Sky had once seen in New York City. It was greater even than the cavern that held the entrance to the Sera in South America.

  And they were sitting on a narrow path; the width of which would fit no more than three people, and which seemed to be suspended in the air. There was nothing either side of the path but what looked like a bottomless drop down into the darkness. In front of them, the path went on straight for about sixty feet, before vanishing downwards and appearing again a little further on. And they saw where the path led to. The sight would’ve been awe-inspiring if it didn’t strike them with great fear.

  The path led to a stunning castle. Only Saluverus’ castle could compare. It was completed with high walls, with battlements at three levels, and thick towers, watchtowers and finally turrets at the top, and a drawbridge at the bottom.

  But the most chilling part of it all, was the colour. The entire castle – except for the bars in the open windows, the chains of the drawbridge and the tops of the battlements and watchtowers which were a slick, glossy black – was white. Brighter than white even. It was like the entire castle shone with a light of its own.

  “We need to go,” Sky repeated. He tried to get to his feet, but found that he couldn’t move. He looked to Sophie in alarm, and found that she was staring back at him, fear in her eyes. She couldn’t move either. Sky struggled and fought against the invisible bonds that were keeping his legs firmly on the ground, but he couldn’t move them an inch.

  “We need to find a way out of here,” Sky snapped.

  “Oh, don’t do that. You’ve only just got here,” said an icy voice from down the path.

  Sky’s gaze snapped away from Sophie towards the voice. There was no one there, but Sky could hear faint footsteps on the white, marble path.

  He saw the silver hair first. Then followed the sharp, bony face, the thin neck and then the narrow shoulders.

  Mitrik walked up the staircase, his eyes locked on Sky. Sky’s heart slowed as he took in the King of the North American Underworld. The colour of his eyes, just like his hair, was unnatural in every way imaginable. They were a sharp and shining silver.

  The King’s body was quite thin. Sky’s history teacher hadn’t been lying when she said Mitrik had never been a fighter. With a mere skin-and-bones body like that he wouldn’t last thirty seconds in combat. There didn’t seem to be any muscle on him at all. He was still wearing armour, though; black with streaks of white.

  A single white dagger hung at his hip, but his hands were nowhere near it. To Sky’s horror, Mitrik’s hands were by his side. They seemed relaxed, but Sky quickly noticed the white glow about them. Sky then looked back at his legs and found that there was a similar glow in the shape of multiple ropes keeping him tied to the floor.

  Sky! I need Sophie!

  A chill went through Sky’s body as he recognised Lian’s voice in his head. The panic in his brother’s voice was undeniable. Sky tried to fight against his bonds once more, but he couldn’t move an inch. He prayed that Lian could get to Matu and Nathan; to the blood they had that could help him.

  “What?” Sophie whispered as softly as she could, seeing Sky’s distress.

  Sky stopped his struggles, which were obviously futile, and looked at his sister. “Lian needs you.”

  The weight of what those words meant sank in. Sky could see the difference in Sophie’s eyes. She clo
sed them for a moment, then turned to look back at the King of the North American Underworld. Sky did the same. There was nothing they could do for Lian until they found a way to get out of this first.

  Behind Mitrik, two Disciples, wearing the same black armour, stepped from the top of the staircase onto the marble path towards Sky and Sophie. One was male, and had a bone white bow and quiver slung around his shoulder, and a similar white dagger to Mitrik’s at his belt, while the other was female, with a white sword strapped to her back and two whips curled around her shoulders.

  “I’ve been told you came here by accident,” Mitrik said, stopping a few feet away from where Sophie and Sky were trapped on the floor. Mitrik smiled at them. “And here I thought you came especially to see me.”

  Sky glared at the King but said nothing. Sophie did the same beside him.

  Mitrik looked from Sky to Sophie, and then back to Sky again. He smirked and said, “Oh, we’re going to have so much fun together.”

  With his hand clutched to his abdomen, Lian rushed through the corridors of the Underworld. Blood was running through his fingers like water and Lian could feel himself grow weaker with every step that he took.

  In his free hand he clutched Sky’s dagger. He’d used the blood on it time and time again to speed through the Underworld in search of Sophie and Sky. Lian had shimmered back to the place where he’d left them, but they were long gone. Only the bodies of the dead Disciples told Lian that he at least had shimmered to the right place.

  Lian called Sky’s name and told him he needed Sophie; his brother should hear him and be able to shimmer right to him. But no blue light appeared. Sky didn’t come.

  Lian brought the dagger to his lips and whispered the spell once again. Sky’s Band appeared on his wrist for what seemed like the hundredth time that afternoon. Lian reached into the magic and forced it to recognise its true owner. The magic tugged at his legs as the Band glowed blue on his wrist. He had tried to shimmer to Sky specifically, like Nathan had done when escaping the explosion in the Perth townhouse. Lian even tried to shimmer to Sophie, just like he’d managed to shimmer to Matu out on the trail. But something wasn’t letting him. Something was blocking him. The only thing he felt was that little tug on his legs, guiding him.

  Lian didn’t waste any time. He staggered on in whatever direction the magic pulled him. He even shimmered to the ends of corridors just to save time; he imagined Sky had done something similar to get Sophie some place safe for long enough so that he could heal her. Lian wondered how deep into the Underworld Sky had gone to do that. Every time he spoke the words and the magic tugged at Lian’s legs, the connection he felt towards Sky’s magic didn’t feel closer or farther away. The connection was just there, and it was guiding him, but nothing more.

  Lian had no idea how long he still had, but he knew that this had been his best option. Lian didn’t dare shimmer back to Matu and Nathan. There was no guarantee that they were safe and had the time to heal him. Not to mention Lian would first have to shimmer to the cabin to get Sophie’s blood before he could go to his brothers. Even if he didn’t know how close he was to Sophie and Sky right now, this still had to be his best shot.

  Though now he was starting to wonder if he had a shot at all. His entire arm was soaked in blood, and his legs were starting to falter. His Band was glowing a fierce silver; his magic being the only thing keeping him on his feet right now. He didn’t feel the pain; he would run until his legs would physically give out.

  And his legs were starting to fail him now. With all the blood gushing out of his abdomen, not enough oxygenated blood was reaching the muscles in his legs. The energy was leaving them, and Lian could feel it. His legs were slowing down even though he willed them forward.

  He called his brother’s name again.

  The blood was leaving his head as well. He shimmered to the end of another corridor again, reaching a T-junction. His brother’s magic pulled him to the left, so that was where he turned to go. But he was starting to stumble. Dizziness had taken over and his vision was starting to get blurry.

  He wondered why he wasn’t meeting any Disciples. Not that he was complaining. But there had been quite a few still left when he had shimmered off to help Nathan and Matu. The fact that the magic was still pulling him somewhere and that the connection between him and Sky was strong, told him that Sky was alive and well. For now, at least.

  Lian held on to that thought as he stumbled once more.

  He paused for a moment and leaned against the corridor wall. His breath was coming out in short rasps. He coughed once, and found that blood was coming out of his mouth, too.

  Lian forced himself to take another step forward. He needed to keep following the connection to Sky. He needed to get to Sophie. They didn’t know he was dying. Only Nathan and Matu knew, but they were somewhere else entirely. The only thing to do was to keep going… to keep swallowing Sky’s blood to keep the connection alive. To keep…

  Lian’s knees buckled.

  No… not yet.

  He’d been close to death before. He knew what it felt like to feel his life slipping away.

  Lian tried to take another step forward. All the strength had left his right leg, and it gave way underneath him.

  He crashed to the floor. With his left arm he managed to break his fall slightly, but he landed awkwardly on his elbow.

  “Sky…” he rasped. His brother should be able to hear him. He should be able to come. The veil was gone. Sky should be able to shimmer wherever he needed to go.

  Lian whispered his brother’s name again, but no one came. No blue light appeared, bringing his salvation.

  Lian felt his blood flowing from the wound, and had just enough sense left to turn onto his back to slow the bleeding.

  His blurry vision was getting darker as he stared at the ceiling. He tried to press both hands against his abdomen now, but even that wasn’t possible anymore. There was no energy left in his limbs.

  There was no energy left at all.

  His Band glowed silver as his magic made sure he couldn’t feel the pain. But he could feel the end coming.

  Lian whispered his brother’s name one more time before everything went dark.

  To be continued

  Acknowledgements

  Firstly, I want to thank my incredibly dream team:

  Tina, for standing by me every step of the way from day one.

  Carlota, for always being there to be my sounding board.

  Timothy, for your everlasting energy and insights.

  Peggy, for your brilliant eye for detail.

  And a brilliant thank you to the newest member of this dream team: Aster! What a hilarious coincidence that your name is the same as my series. Your unique perspective and – let’s face it, sometimes – just common sense, have improved my writing beyond what I thought possible.

  Secondly, a thank you to my awe-inspiring parents. You are my heroes and I would have never made it this far without either of you.

  Thirdly, let me thank my unbelievably talented designer, Arjuna Jay, who makes bringing my vision to life seem like the easiest thing in the world.

  Finally, I am so grateful to a few more people who knew I would make it to this day:

  Nick, any time I veered off course, I remembered you telling me how at heart I was an author. Those words never failed to help me find my way back.

  Rob, every time you saw me you told me again of that empty space on your bookshelf where you would put my first novel. Now you can finally fill it.

  Marissa, you were there at the beginning. I don’t think either of us thought that those original, silly ideas would ever turn into anything. But, oh my, look at what they have become.

  From the author

  Thank you for reading A World To Lose. If you loved the book I would really appreciate it if you would take a moment to write a short review, as it will really help new readers find my books.

  If you’d like to be kept informed about the progress of ot
her books in the Aster series, free extra content, and more, visit my website francesellenbooks.com and sign up to my email list, or follow me on instagram.com/francesellen_/.

  All the books in the Aster Prequel Novella series

  A Queen To Come

  A World To Lose

  A Threat To Remain

  A Threat To Remain

  South America remains a mystery.

  The retreating research and rescue teams are still not safe.

  Darkness stalks them, and not all make it back to home base alive.

  Percy Kelly is the only known survivor of the Disciple attack in the Amazon Rainforest. He is the only one who can shed light on what happened, but is too traumatised to speak of what he has seen.

  Meanwhile, chaos continues to unfold in North America.

  Sophie and Sky are trapped by Mitrik, and his best inner-circle soldiers. Lian is gravely injured and has no way of getting healed. Nathan and Matu are on the outside, with no way of getting back in.

  The Asters will have to be smarter than their enemy, and use their magic in ways they didn’t even know was possible.

  Only then will they have any chance of staying alive and taking down the North American King and his uprising.