I swallowed a lungful of desert-heated air, sand thick on my tongue and stealing every ounce of moisture I had left. Blood and blisters marred my palms and I knew I was only half way up this monumental climb.
The harsh, Lyrian wind swept over me and I had to squint against the onslaught, barely able to see each brick above my head as I progressed higher into the sky. But each time I reached up once more, I found somewhere to hold onto. And I never let go. Not once.
I'm coming. I'll be there. I won't let you down.
A faraway scream carried to me on the breeze and fear rushed through me in a tidal wave. I ground my teeth as my arms strained, reaching up once more and forcing my legs to move.
My foot slipped and I cried out as I held on to the next handhold with all my might, jamming my toes back against the wall and miraculously finding a gap to perch on. My entire body was being pushed to its very limits. Every day of training, every beating, every drop of sweat and blood. They were here with me now. And I finally realised what it had all been for. It had been preparing me for this. To save the woman I loved and do the impossible in the process.
Pain tore down my arms like nothing I'd ever known as I moved higher and higher, my jaw clenched and my mind set on the task at hand. I would reach the top or I'd die trying. Those were my only two options.
Death or her, death or her. Let it be her.
I reached up with a groan, feeling the line of bricks for somewhere to place my fingers. I cursed as I failed to find purchase and my legs trembled with exertion as they held me in place. I only had seconds to move on or I'd lose my grip and fall.
I reached as far as I humanly could, my fingertips brushing rough stone, sharp edges of the bricks then something achingly soft in comparison.
My legs buckled. My other hand gave out and I lunged blindly upwards, snatching hold of the silken thing above.
My stomach soared as I wrapped my hands around it and my legs came free from the wall. I swung wildly, spinning and crashing back against the hard stone of the tower.
I grunted heavily, hanging on the mercy of the rope as I faced the wrong way, staring across my beautiful city as it fell to chaos. The desert storm had rolled across it, painting the streets in blood red and burnt amber. From deep within it, rose the desperate screams of civilians running from the undead.
I ached to help them, but the only way to do that was to stop Gothel and save their true Queen.
Between Aladdin and I, we held the fate of Osaria in our hands. And that knowledge gave me the strength I needed to keep going.
I twisted around and planted my boots against the wall. Hanging back, I was able to look up and suddenly realised what I had in my hands. A golden rope made of… hair?
I didn't have time to question it. The world was upside down tonight and nothing seemed impossible. I hauled myself skyward, using the length of hair to pull myself up and up and up. With my feet pressed to the wall and a rope in my hands, the climb became much easier and I was soon ascending far faster than I had before. Every foot I gained brought me closer to her. And one at a time, I devoured them all.
I closed in on the balcony above, my heart working harder than it ever had, my body nearing breaking point.
I ascended the final line of breaks, the stone balcony looming above. I swung out on the rope and climbed it hand over hand.
With a surge of effort, I caught the edge of the balcony at long last and hauled myself over, collapsing onto the floor with a moan of relief.
I panted heavily, completely exhausted. But I had to get up. I had to help Rapunzel.
I rolled to my knees, rising to my feet as darkness drew in around my eyes. I blinked it away, wiping the sweat from my brow and drawing my scimitar. I wrapped the hilt between my bloody hands as tightly as I could and swallowed to try and fight the dryness of my mouth. Setting my jaw, I marched forward into Rapunzel's quarters.
I strode into the room and rage poured into my gut as I found Kahn already there. The place was destroyed and Rapunzel was darting around the space to evade him as he tried to catch her. She wore a pale blue gown and the right sleeve had been ripped off. A shining bruise flared on her arm and the sight of it shattered something inside me, sending a million jagged shards of glass cascading into my gut.
“KAHN!” I bellowed, charging him down, his death waiting on the edge of my sword.
He swung around, stumbling just before I slashed the blade across his back, not cutting nearly as deeply as I would have liked.
“Cassian!” Rapunzel cried her relief, the power in her voice lending me strength.
Kahn snatched a sword from his hip, parrying my next blow as I brought it down on him with as much force as I could muster. My arms were weakened from the climb and I knew I was battling on pure adrenaline alone. But Khan had run up here too, and he had to have tired, even if not quite as much as I had.
“You laid a hand on her,” I snarled, the clash of metal ringing through the room as I rammed my blade up to meet his. “And I swear on all of Osaria I will take your life for it.”
Kahn bared his teeth, swinging his sword in a powerful blow that could have cleaved a man in two. I retreated fast before planting my feet once more and readying my scimitar for the death match that was about to ensue.
“I'll crush your skull with my bare hands,” Kahn growled. “She is my wife and I will be Emperor.”
“Not on my watch.” I ran at him again, my muscles flexing as I poured every scrap of energy I had into taking on this brute.
He tried to parry again but this time I cut a deep wound into his arm. He yelled his anger, slamming his sword into mine with so much force I almost lost my grip on the hilt. I gritted my teeth, my arms straining and my muscles bulging.
He pressed his advantage, taking a knife from his hip and stabbing it toward my gut.
A chair smashed down on his shoulder before he could land the blow and the knife clattered to the floor. Rapunzel dove on it in a swirl of golden hair and Kahn slammed his heel down on her back to stop her.
Rage consumed me as I threw a sharp kick at his calf to get him off of her. He stumbled back and I slashed my blade at his gut, desperate to end him in his moment of weakness.
I ripped his shirt, my blade scraping along skin. Not enough. I leapt over Rapunzel, swinging my scimitar in several merciless blows, praying one would hit. But Kahn blocked and blocked, backing up further and further. I had to hope he either ran out of energy or made a wrong move.
Come on, give me an in you bastard!
My arms shook with the impact of every blow, screaming for me to stop. On any other day I could have gone on like this for hours, but I was utterly drained and as I slashed my blade through the air once more, my arms gave out.
“No,” I gasped as Kahn's ferocious parry swept the Forken scimitar from my hands. It clattered across the floor and I ran for it without a moment's hesitation. If I didn’t retrieve it, I was dead.
Kahn threw his weight into me and I hit the ground from the tremendous collision. My head whacked the tiles and the loud crack of the impact made my ears ring. Pain daggered into my skull and my body wouldn't react as I willed myself to get up.
Kahn fell over me, his thighs clamping around my waist and locking my arms to my sides. I groaned, my vision doubled as I tried to make myself move.
Rapunzel leapt onto his back with a shriek, driving the dagger into his shoulder. “Release him!”
He cried out in anger, reaching over his neck and grabbing hold of her dress. With ferocious strength, he threw her over his head and she slammed to the floor beside us in a heap. She fell still and terror crawled into my heart.
No. Please get up. Run.
Kahn slid the knife out of his shoulder with barely a wince and I shuddered beneath him, trying to drag my arms free to no avail.
My heart seized up in my chest as I thought of the woman beside me, left here alone after Kahn ended me.
I couldn't bear to let it happen. But I was trapped and weak and more us
eless than I'd ever been in my life.
I've lost. I've let her down. And my kingdom will fall to ruin alongside her. My beautiful, strong-hearted Princess will be destroyed by this man.
And I will be to blame.
Kyra advanced on me again, her body primed to strike while her eyes danced with panic. She couldn’t control what was happening. Gothel had ordered her to finish me and she had no choice but to obey. Following her master’s wishes was written into the very fabric of her soul. She had no way to fight back against it.
I didn’t blame her. I only pitied her as she was forced to act against her own desires. It wasn’t right. Gothel was wielding her like she was a weapon instead of a girl. And I fought to get past her with the determination to set that straight. I would reclaim the lamp from Gothel’s clutches if it killed me. And as Kyra’s sword cut through the air an inch from my throat, I began to wonder if that was what it would take.
I threw myself back, batting her sword aside with a strike from my own. I refused to even pretend to aim my weapon at her though. I’d use my scimitar to save my own skin but never to hurt her.
Gothel watched us with excited fire dancing in her eyes. Every time Kyra cried out to beg for my life, that fire grew. The Emperor sat stoic in his throne, not seeming to notice the fight which raged in his throne room. I wondered if the bug had taken too much of him. Was there anything left of the man Rapunzel remembered from childhood anymore?
Kyra’s sword got closer than I expected, drawing blood from my arm and a curse from my lips. Kyra cried out, apologising through her tears as I begged her not to blame herself. Gothel stood suddenly, abandoning her throne to get a better look at us, a hungry glint in her eye as she watched.
The battle between the undead and The Forty raged on in the huge enchanted mirror behind her but I couldn’t afford to look at it too closely. I had to hope that Pip, Balthazar and the rest could hold their own out there until I managed to take down this witch.
She was enjoying this. And not just because she wanted to see me die. She wanted to watch Kyra do it. She was enjoying forcing the girl I loved to kill me. And I refused to let her cause that. Not just because I liked my pretty face and wanted to save my own ass. But because Kyra deserved a life. Not eternal imprisonment tainted with the grief of murdering the man she loved.
As that thought crossed my mind, my heart leapt with excitement once again at the idea of it. She’d said those words to me. And though a long time ago I’d convinced myself that I had no interest in hearing them spoken, I couldn’t deny the thrill it had sent through me. It was hard to imagine anyone harbouring those feelings towards me but I’d seen the look in her eyes when she’d said it. She meant it. With all of her heart she loved me and she wanted me to be hers. Which was more than okay by me. I was pretty sure I’d been hers from the moment I’d claimed that lamp anyway. If you cut me open, my heart would be stamped with her name just like that lamp was. And now that I’d found her, I wasn’t going to let her go. I’d never let Gothel claim her like that.
Which meant I had to kill the Shaitan bitch no matter what.
The enchanted dagger was burning a hole in my pocket, itching to find its place in her heart. I didn’t dare draw it out. I couldn’t risk her seeing what fate I had in store for her. No. That gift would appear once it was close enough to kiss her flesh and not a moment sooner. For now she had no reason to think we could kill her and I wanted it to stay that way until she found out she’d been wrong.
“Please don’t make me do this!” Kyra cried again, her distress making her voice crack.
I leapt back, my shoulder brushing one of the huge stone pillars which lined the room as I avoided yet another blow. I was on the back foot here, Kyra’s magic and speed outweighed my talent with a blade. And even if I could have found a way to strike at her I’d never do it.
“Fight back,” Kyra begged as I parried her blows again and again. “I can’t die. But maybe you can stop me for long enough to get past and-”
“I could never hurt you,” I replied with a shake of my head. “No matter if the damage would last or not.”
Tears tracked down Kyra’s cheeks as she lunged at me again and I barely avoided the blow.
Gothel sucked in a sharp breath as Kyra launched the sword at my head but I dropped down just in time to avoid the touch of its steel. Her sword rang against the stone pillar behind me and I twisted away from her, parrying the next blow quickly. The Queen would be disappointed if she thought I’d go down that easily.
“It’s alright,” I said, my first words for Kyra before I raised my voice for Gothel too. “She’s just using you because she’s afraid to face me herself!”
Kyra’s eyes widened in fear as I goaded the Queen but I didn’t care. I wanted her to come at me and take this burden off of the genie. And I wanted her close so that I could plunge the dagger straight through her black heart.
“Why would I be afraid of a mortal boy like you?” Gothel sneered, not rising to the bait.
“Because my true face is beautiful,” I taunted, grunting as I evaded yet another of Kyra’s attacks, the strike reverberating through my arm as our swords collided once more. “And so is Kyra’s. But your true face is enough to make grown men vomit. Enough to turn a starving buzzard off of its meal. It’s enough to make a blind dog-”
“Shut him up, Genie!” Gothel spat, my jeering breaking past the tough facade she tried to hold in place. I knew I had her then. Why make herself appear as a beautiful woman if she didn’t care about the way she looked? Her true self was a disgusting creature but her false face just proved how vain she was. And if anyone knew how to rile up someone vain then it was me. Because I never could help but love the way I looked and I never could take it if anyone even hinted that they didn’t agree.
“It’s a shame you couldn’t do any better than that pasty, sour, lips-like-a-cat’s-asshole face for your human form either,” I said.
Gothel’s lip peeled back, revealing teeth which were sharpening to razor points. “Strike harder genie,” she snarled.
The next clash of Kyra’s blade against mine knocked me back several steps and I almost hit the ground.
Holy shit, Kyra!
“How embarrassing to be outshone by your daughter-in-law everywhere you go. And now you’ve placed Kyra by your side too. You kinda look like a heap of pig shit beside her - if you don’t mind me pointing it out.” I chanced a look at the Queen as that blow landed and smirked as Gothel’s eyes flared with rage.
“Please let me stop!” Kyra begged, another sob escaping her.
“Don’t stop until you have him on the ground and he can’t get up again!” Gothel snarled.
Kyra gasped as she launched herself at me once more but a moment before she swung the blade at me, her eyes flashed with power.
I tried to parry her blow but she kicked out at my hand, spinning so quickly that I didn’t see it coming and my scimitar was thrown away from me. I cried out in alarm.
Gothel barked a laugh as I tried to stumble away but Kyra had me and the desperate look in her green eyes told me she knew it too.
The broad sword carved a line through the air before my neck and a sharp breath filled my lungs as I flinched in anticipation of the blow that would end me.
But it never came. The sword disappeared and a triumphant smile filled Kyra’s beautiful face.
I didn’t have time to reciprocate before a wave of her power slammed into my chest and hurled me across the throne room away from her.
I yelled as I flew back, wrapping my arms around my head protectively a second before I slammed into the wall.
Every inch of air was knocked from my lungs and I hit the ground hard enough to make something crack in my side.
I wheezed through my injury, coughing weakly as pain flared through my ribs.
Kyra stalked after me, her face hidden in shadow as her hands glowed and sparked with purple magic.
“Wait,” I breathed, raising a hand in a vague attemp
t to warn her off. I couldn’t get up yet, if she expected me to dodge this strike then she overestimated me.
Kyra’s arms flew out before her and the purple magic slammed into me. Instead of the pain I expected, I felt a weird warmth instead.
Her magic coiled around my waist, moving lower to encase my legs in an iron hold which completely immobilised them and stopped me from rising again.
Kyra rushed forward, dropping down before me with a smile on her full lips.
“You’re on the ground and you can’t get up,” she breathed so low that I barely heard her and I was sure that Gothel couldn’t from the far side of the room.
I frowned at her as the pain in my side dulled my senses for a moment before realising what she meant. She’d granted Gothel’s wish without having to kill me to do it.
“You’re brilliant, Kyra,” I whispered as I slid my hand into my pocket and used her position to conceal my movement as I handed her the dagger. “Now finish this.”
Kyra’s eyes widened in understanding and more than a little fear but she snatched the blade into her grasp readily enough before concealing it within a fold of her dress that she created specifically for it.
Her fingers brushed mine and she threw herself down on me, sobbing so loudly that for a moment I didn’t understand what she was doing. But she was playing a role and I had to play mine too.
I let her drag me against her chest, inhaling the scent of jasmine, strawberries and smoke which clung to her skin intoxicatingly. I let my eyes fall closed as Kyra continued to wail and scream and curse Gothel’s name until the Queen’s voice rang out above all else.
“Enough! Leave him there and return to your lamp in silence.”
Kyra’s limbs tightened around me as I felt her panic at being sent to the lamp as keenly as if it were my own.
“No,” she gasped and my stomach lurched as her beautiful features were filled with fear. She dissolved into smoke, the warmth of her flesh abandoning me in a moment before she was sucked back into the prison of the lamp she feared so much.
For that wrong alone, I would rip Gothel limb from limb given half a chance. But all I could do while Kyra’s magic bound me was hope that the genie managed it instead. Because if she couldn’t find a way to succeed where I’d just failed, then I was beginning to believe we were fresh out of chances.
Forbidden Fairytales- The Complete Series Page 69
