by Bailey Dark
Willem sighs and raises his hand to hold off my ranting. “We both failed to act, Briar. Now we have to deal with whatever happens next. The lexicon and the lore didn’t prepare us for this. This was supposed to be a quick get in and get out mission, but there have been signs all over the place. The blocked path in the forest, Kane’s reluctance to go through the mountains, the assassins, the Leviathan...none of this was supposed to happen.”
I drop my finger and step back. “You think there was someone who did all of this on purpose?”
He shrugs. “The lexicon didn’t mention any of this. It didn’t prepare us for you either.”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you really think you’re able to do all of this by blood alone?” His pointed look makes me question everything. Willem might be just as corrupt as everyone else, but he sees things others tend to look past. “Look, it’s clear there are forces at work here. What they are, I can’t say. But don’t blind yourself to them the way Kane has.”
A sound snaps us out of our conversation. Willem and I turn to Kane as he moves toward the sarcophagus. Something inside of me screams for us to run away from this place and never return. The one being I never thought I’d want by my side stands at the ready. Willem’s eyes dart toward my dagger and quirks a brow. It might be our only hope if Drogaem awakens.
I race over to Kane once again, pulling his head down to meet my gaze. “Kane? Are you alright?”
He smiles, talking almost in a trance like state. “We’re here. We made it.”
“I know…” My words trail off, feeling the intensity of the evil surging through me.
“What is it?” he asks skeptically. “Why don’t you seem thrilled? We can finally do what we came here for and return home. Don’t you want to put all of this behind us?”
“Maybe we should just let Drogaem rest. Think about it for a second. None of us even expected to get this far. You said yourself you didn’t know what would happen if you put the crown on. Maybe there’s a reason no one speaks of this place.” I try to plead with him, but Kane scuffs in disbelief.
Willem moves closer, eyeing Kane carefully.
“She might be right, Kane,” the Reaper says reluctantly. “Lux killed Drogaem for a reason. Qenta knew someone would come here eventually, so she filled this place with mummies and spelled the tomb to awaken skeletons. She was protecting Drogaem. But whoever Lux’s follower was, the one that put up the doors and kept this place hidden, did it for a reason. They were strong enough to match a necromancer’s power and get this far without dying, and yet they didn’t take the crown for themselves.”
He groaned and shook his head. “What’s your point?”
“If someone that strong didn’t try to gain Drogaem’s power for themselves, there’s probably something wrong with it.”
Kane looks to Willem and then to me with betrayal in his eyes. “I’m not giving up. I’m not failing this quest because of maybes and possibilities.”
He walks away from us. I turn to stalk after him, but something strikes me as odd. I feel as though someone is watching, lying in wait until we least expect it. It’s a vile, ominous feeling that I can’t quite shake. Kane stands over the sarcophagus. I can sense his excitement almost as vividly as the fear that rushes through me. Willem and I stand on the opposite side of the macabre sight before us. Drogaem is wrapped in the same silk as the mummies. I scrunch my nose at the sunken in cheeks and leathery skin. His lips pull back into a grimace, showing off exposed teeth where the gums have rotted away.
Willem looks up at Kane and shakes his head. “Don’t do it. We can still walk away. Let Briar find a way out and we can come up with something else. There’s more than one object of power in the underworld. You know that. You don’t need the crown.”
Kane ignores him and reaches for the crown. I grab his wrist. The crown itself is horrific, fashioned from bone with fingers linked with black chains. At its center is a glowing green stone that’s far too bright to be an emerald. The scent of Nightshade chokes me a little. “Please…This feels wrong, Kane. Leave it. Let’s walk away and let him rest.”
“I can’t, Briar. I can’t turn back now.” He throws my hand away and removes the crown from its master’s head.
Kane’s eyes close. A fear unlike anything I’ve felt before courses through my veins as his gaze is revealed once more with a smile. Willem and I shift uncomfortably where we stand.
“Are you...are you alright?” The words barely leave my mouth. Nausea causes saliva to pool in my throat. I feel tainted, like someone’s hand squeezes my soul with dark magic, but...these aren’t my emotions.
Kane rolls his neck and flexes. “I’ve never felt better. I feel powerful. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever felt before. It’s...it’s beautiful.”
“Please take it off. You have the crown now. It’ll be safer if you put it away while we travel back home,” I suggest, hoping my tone is convincing enough.
“No.” His eyes are darker than before and his voice deep and ominous.
Something is wrong. Something is very, very wrong. I share a look with Willem. Perhaps Willem and Aiden were right about Kane all along. What have I done? My head spins again, but I turn away before Kane can notice. It’s another vision like before but clearer. I feel as though whatever lives within me is growing stronger.
Faceless corpses rest at my feet but their souls will not find peace, for Death is dead. My tears flow from my eyes and wash away the bodies until it is only me on the black beaches of Archech. They are coming for me. I know they are. The Inati will not stop until their master is avenged, but they do not know that I am already dead. This place...the place where my love has come to die is not where I will draw my last breath.
I straighten, holding a hand over my clenching stomach until the nausea subsides. The next vision comes without warning. There’s no pain this time, just a glimpse into the past.
“Here, Goddess,” a voice speaks quietly.
Hands stretch toward me with a sliver of rare Usulyni stone. She is loyal to me. I accept the sliver and wade into the glistening waters of the ethereal pool of our ancestors. The pool first came to be when the Mother of All was heartbroken and cried tears of pure magic. It is with these waters that I shall forge the blade.
I use the sliver to slice open my hand. Blood spreads from my body, mixing with the magic in the pool as lilies rain down upon me like a blessing from the heavens. There is pain. So much pain bleeds from my wound. It’s hot like fire, turning the sliver of Usulyni stone into molten metal. Black spots swarm my vision and I am lost to the darkness.
I come to on a bed of jasmine with the blade in which I call Redemption in my hand.
Redemption.
Lux must have thought she was saving Drogaem from the madness that tainted his reign. I look back at Willem and Kane. Now I don’t know who to trust. Right when I think the answers are within my grasp, something happens to throw me ten paces back.
Chapter 18
Kane
This darkness is not mine. It’s suffocating, closing in around me like a living entity. I can’t see through my own eyes. Briar’s voice is not but a warped sound that causes my ears to hurt. I am the tomb. I am in the place where my shadows are born, a corner of my mind where I am held captive by more than just the nightmares of my own creation. I am him...we...we are…
No, not we.
I think of Briar. I think of her smile and the way she looks at me as though she could find it in her heart to love me. I think of her scent and the way she tastes when I claim her mouth in a brutal kiss that tears open my soul and leaves it vulnerable for her to use as she pleases. There is nothing I would not do for her. I know that now.
I know the way she arches beneath me as I attempt to unite us in a way that would make the other gods envious. My little bride does not hide from my darkness no matter how afraid she might be. No. My Briar will stand tall in the face of my shadows and find comfort in their embrace. She shivers at my tou
ch but does not recoil from the chilling caress of my hands.
Briar aches for me. She cares for me with every inch of her being and does not pass judgement unless it is earned. Her soul is pure light, for I have seen it chase away the darkness. She is exquisite. I hold on to her. I yearn for her. I….we…
No. No. That’s not right. Briar is mine. She is mine alone.
But I am not alone. Not now. Perhaps not ever. Here in my mind there is something watching me. My hands lift, but touch nothing. I can’t move closer to the nothingness here. It moves on its own. Nothing makes sense. Only Briar.
“Pathetic.”
That voice. It is mine, but not. It’s his voice, but not. Our voice, a disjoined sound of deep rumbles and breathless words. He is the darkness that is here with me. The one who came before the throne was ever mine to claim.
“I expected more of a fight from the one who plays pretend. How did it feel trying to live up to my immaculate image, Kane? I think I’ll rather like playing pretend as you.”
I say nothing. He is not real.
Cruel laughter rings in my head. “Oh, I’m real. I’m far more real than any monster that haunts these thoughts of yours. Such a broken, flawed creature you are…”
My silence angers him. It angers Death, not the title, but the force behind it. The true wearer of the crown. A manifestation of myself appears, but the smile is not quite right.
“Perhaps you’ll feel like talking when I get my hands on that sweet bride-”
“No!” I push back against the shadows that force me into this corner, but it is useless. I am not what Death holds hostage, it is my mind. “I’ll break free of this hold, Drogaem. And when I do, there will be nothing to stop me from sending you back to the abyss.”
The him that is me walks toward the corner where I am held against my will. He runs a finger along my jaw and clucks his tongue. “Your insolence will earn you no favors from me, Kane. Continue to show defiance and those around you will suffer.”
I clench my look away from the eyes of my enemy...from my own eyes that Drogaem hides behind. “I won’t bow to you…”
“Then I will kill everyone. I will kill your mother. I will kill your brother, Willem, Lilith, and everyone else you care about. And then I’ll kill Briar. Slowly. I will make you watch as she dies thinking it was you that killed her.”
“Don’t touch her!”
“And after her soul is within my grasp, I will feed her to those she fears the most. The Nephilim have been calling out to me, begging for me to rise and make right the unjust acts that have been thrust upon them. I’m sure your Briar will be too tempting for them to resist.”
I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to banish the images that run through my mind. I can see her on her knees in front of me as her blood sprays my face. “No!” But the shadows swallow my cries. They pull tighter, stealing every drop of strength from my body. I try to hold on, to fight for Briar. But I failed her. I did exactly what she said would happen.
A new evil walks the underworld now and he wears my face like a mask.
Briar’s image begins to fade as I drift in and out of consciousness. I wish to hold on. I can’t see her anymore, but I know she won’t give up on me. Her anger never lingers long. She cares too much. Briar will be able to tell that I am not the one in control of my body. She understands me in ways no one else ever has. At times, I feel as if we speak a language no one else is privy to. She is my light, the very air that I breathe, and I will not lose her to Drogaem’s darkness or the consequences of my stupidity.
If this be my punishment, then let the gods show mercy on my bride. The cloying feeling in my body intensifies. My vision blurs and I am no more. I feel him move ahead, shoving me back and taking my place. He...I...we are...We are more than ever before.
Drogaem
I have been trapped inside of this crown for thousands of years, sitting in the dead silence of the abyss with nothing to do but plot my revenge. There are those who betrayed me, those who chose to honor Lux rather than stand at my side as I conquered the realms. But here I am on this wretched island surrounded by the glorious stink of death. I look down at my body. Not the one in the sarcophagus, but the one that I wear now.
Not a terrible vessel, I must say, but a bit starved for my liking. I use my powers to sake the hunger that gnaws at my belly. Thick, corded muscles rest upon a lean figure and I nod my head in acceptance. I watch the young mortal’s eyes widen at the small show of power. The creature beside her seems neither protective nor tolerant of Briar, but observant. There’s a prickle of respect that I’m sure she’s unaware of.
I point to the dreadful Reaper. “Get the body. We’re taking it with us.”
He shrivels his nose. “Why?”
The question catches me off guard. None of my followers would dare to question my orders. Kane allows his subordinates to voice their opinions? To speak freely? How dreadful...
Briar and the Reaper glower at one another and I realize they are still waiting for an answer. “I wish to know more about his reign as Death. Bringing him back to the castle will allow me to study him without having to come back here. There are things his body can tell us.”
Briar shakes her head. “But why? What are you looking to find that isn’t already written?”
Again, with the questions? “The texts have been wrong thus far. We can update them and then give him a proper burial surrounded by his once loyal followers. He deserves a proper resting place. Don’t you think?”
Willem stares down at my old body. “Actually, I think bringing him to the castle will cause trouble.”
“Willem is right, Kane,” Briar agrees.
Just the mere sound of her voice sets my teeth on edge. This is the creature that is responsible for weakening my replacement? There is nothing special about her. Long, unruly hair and a face far more average than that of a future queen.
Their questions and protests are no longer acceptable. “You will obey. Get the body now!”
The Reaper flinches at the demand, but he straightens his spine. I wish to pick my teeth with his bones. I step toward him, silently daring Willem to say anything. Like a good pup, the Reaper does as he’s told and lifts my body onto his shoulder. Briar stares at the empty sarcophagus and shivers. She appears to be in pain.
I care not. “We’re leaving.”
It is an announcement not a negotiation. Kane will be smart to learn from my ways instead of behaving like a mortal. I lead them to the far wall of the cavern and force a hidden door open. A gust of magic shifts through the air, warning me that there are enchantments placed on my tomb. An irritable sound leaves me as I walk down the narrow corridor where my wives and concubines have been slaughtered.
I kick their corpses as I stroll along, not caring for the glares that I feel burning in my back from Briar. In truth, she wouldn’t have made the rank of top ten wives, let alone my main bride. Clearly Kane’s standards are far less shallow than my own.
We reach the outer walls of the tomb. “Your followers enchanted this place with magic that flows through the whole of the island. Break the enchantments.”
Briar toys with the end of her hair. “I don’t have followers, Kane. What are you talking about? I don’t know how to do that.”
I turn to her angrily, releasing my wrath just inches from her pale face. “Break the enchantments, now!”
Her face goes even whiter. “I c-can’t. I don’t know how!”
I rush Briar, forcing her against the wall. The fear inside of her causes her power to flow. Those familiar blue eyes stare up at me. Her hands begin to glow as her soul radiates from the inside out. The Reaper does nothing to help and this pleases me.
“Say exactly what I say,” I hiss into the sniveling creatures face. She nods her head once.
“Eiluth amieleir…”
“Eiluth amieleir…”she repeats.
“Draga mortenadal…”
“Draga mortenadal…” She swallows hard but continues.
“Sala valimonte.”
“Sala valimonte.” Briar’s eyes roll into the back of her head and I smile.
That pulsating white light flashes and the walls of the tomb crack, breaking the enchantments. I step aside, watching her fall to the ground as the world begins to quake.
“What does that mean? What did I say?” she asks annoyingly.
How does Kane put up with her?
“Move quickly if you want to live,” I bark, moving forward through the rubble.
Willem carries my body to the boats on the beach and Briar climbs aboard. I follow suit, but make no move to grab the oars. Briar blinks down at the bottom of the boat, trembling like a newborn fawn at the start of spring.
I scuff in disgust at her weakness. “Do you see your own incompetence? I find it more and more difficult to imagine a life with you at my side.”
Her head ducks lower. There’s something satisfying in watching prey squirm before you go in for the kill. I can smell the tears that burn in her eyes and I chuckle. “Don’t cry. Really, don’t. I’m not sure I could stand the sounds of your whimpering all the way to the mainland.”
Briar's back stiffens. She rows with renewed vigor and it brings a smile to my face. “Perhaps you aren’t so useless after all. Every good wife is a servant first. You would do well to remember that while you tend to your wifely duties.”
She glares at me as though I am the one who brought her here.
“There’s that fire. I can’t wait to extinguish it, to watch your soul grow cold with time. Come on, Briar. Let us not pretend that we’re more than what our arrangement calls for. Given the choice, you know I wouldn’t have picked you.”
“Must you be so cruel?” she asks.
Willem grabs her arm and shakes his head. At least one of them know when to shut up. For a moment I suspect Briar wants to hurt me. And nothing is more victorious than turning a woman against the man in which she entrusts with her heart.
