Hidden Runes

by G. Bailey

  On the other side of the portal is a stone room with no doors, just grey stone floors and walls closing in on us. The room is pretty big, with a massive circle design on the ground. It looks like dozens of circles within circles, with runes etched inside the gaps. I step to the side as three keepers follow through the portal, and it closes behind them, the only light in the room coming from the tiny holes in the ceiling. Keeper Grey starts chanting something in runes and suddenly all the circles and gaps in the stone light up blue, glowing brightly.

  “Princesses, please lie down on the stone inside the circle. You will be taken to the test, and we will protect you both until you awake,” Keeper Grey informs us, and I glance at Erica, ignoring the smirk on her face that I just want to slap off. This game of playing nice with her ends today.

  “What about Star?” I ask.

  “Yes, have her lie down next to you, and she will follow you where you need to go,” Keeper Grey states.

  “Alright,” I say, keeping my eye on Erica as I sit down on the stone ground, as far away from her as possible as she lies down. Star follows me over, stretching out on the ground between Erica and me. I lie back, staring up at the runes glowing on the ceiling of the stone cave.

  “Let the ancient magic of both light and dark take you to the test. Close your eyes and fade away. The test will reveal the true queen.” Keeper Grey keeps repeating the same words as I close my eyes, and suddenly I can’t fight sleep as everything drifts away.

  Seventy-Nine

  Evie

  I blink my eyes open, feeling cold snow underneath me soaking into my clothes, and seeing snow falling from the sky. I feel frozen in place until a snowflake lands on my lips, the tiny brush of coldness against my lips making me snap out of the shock I was in. I sit up, holding my arms around myself as a cold, snowy wind blows against me in the dark night. In the sky, there are dozens of stars and an eclipse moon hanging right in front of me. I stretch my fingers out, touching something metal on each side of me. I grab what feels like handles and pick up the two gold swords which reflect the moonlight. The gold swords have silver runes etched into the blade, the runes glowing brightly.

  “Where the hell am I?” I mutter, pulling myself up so I’m standing and looking around at my new surroundings. I’m stood on a snow covered hill, looking down at a town with little lights flashing from street lights and windows, I think. Though I’m too far away to actually know for sure that is what the light is. The town is surrounded by hills, by the looks of it, and I have never been to a place like this. This is an odd test, well, assuming this is still the test and Erica hasn’t murdered me in my sleep, that is. I search around for Star or Erica, not seeing either of them through the snow and knowing I will only find answers by walking into the town. The snow is super thick as I push through it, and it only gets deeper as I get to the bottom of the hill. I’m out of breath after a little while and exhausted. I feel the swords in my hands, ready in case I need to fight with them. I doubt they were left in my hands for no reason.

  After what I think is half an hour of walking, I get to the edge of the village, looking up at the broken sign hanging off a pole. The sign only has runes on it, none of which I can read anyway. There is strangely no sound and no breeze once I step into the village. It’s like the snow storm stops and doesn’t fall on the village. I glance around at the buildings inside, seeing that they are made of wood, burnt in places and falling apart. The light I saw was actually parts of the buildings on fire, and the street lamps flicker every so often because they are broken. There is deadly silence as I look around, and I can’t hear anyone. I don’t even hear the fire burning. This place is all levels of weird and creepy. I walk further into the town and stop outside a house which has the door open, and there is someone sitting on the floor in the room.

  “Hey, I think I’m lost,” I say lamely to the person, who stands up and waves a hand for me to walk to him or her. I step inside the house and a fireplace lights, revealing the woman’s face in front of me. She is familiar, with long black hair and black marks of a queen of the Protectors on her face, though she isn’t my mother. I tilt my head to the side, and she smiles, holding out a hand.

  “Descendant of mine. Welcome to your test,” she says, and I slide my hand into hers after resting the sword on my leg, feeling a little burn from her touch before she lets go. I pick my other sword back up and stare at the woman. Her dress is a faded white gown, with little crystals all over the bodice of it. There is a gold pin shaped like an arrow pinned in her hair also.

  “Descendant?” I ask.

  “Yes. I made this test many, many years ago when I was queen. See, I had five children, and I did not know how to choose an heir to rule. My oldest was too spoilt. My middle children too lost, and my youngest was too much of a coward. A test was needed to choose which of them would be best suited for a king or queen in a fair way. The test chose correctly, and my child swore that their children would use the test to decide when the time comes. When I died, I locked my soul in the test to make sure only a true queen or king could win it for safe measure,” she tells me.

  “Have you met my sister yet?” I ask.

  “Yes. Erica has already passed by my house, and she chose not to come inside out of fear,” she answers me.

  “Does that mean she failed the tests?” I ask, feeling a little hopeful.

  “I sense that failing these tests is the least of her worries. She is in love with a demon whose heart is so black that love is impossible for him to feel,” she replies sadly. “Love does twist our hearts so much sometimes that we cannot see the evil within it. Erica may have had the perfect upbringing, but you have the most perfect future. Well, one of your futures is. All of Erica’s currently lead her to death,” she explains to me.

  “You can see the future?” I ask her.

  “Yes. I can show you if you let me. I can show you what you have to fight for, but then you must leave as your fate awaits you yet,” she says, walking right up to me. I keep still as she presses a finger in the middle of my forehead, and a light flashes into my mind. When I open my eyes, I’m stood in the throne room wearing jeans and a white shirt, a massive bump growing out of my stomach. Holy bacon, I’m pregnant here. I look away from my bump to see all my men stood next to the throne which looks different than usual. The whole room looks different. It’s no longer made of glass and gold, instead stone and a silver metal fills the room. The room is full of Protectors, but their faces are blurred and hidden from me. Hali walks through the people, and she is much older, about twenty, I think, and she smiles at me. The room blurs which makes me close my eyes, and once I open them, I’m looking at the nameless woman again. My hands twitch to drop the swords and touch my stomach, but I don’t. The woman smiles at me and bows her head before stepping back.

  “There are a thousand of your futures that do not end well, but I showed you the one I will pray for. Good luck, Evelina,” she says and steps back into the shadows of the house, the fireplace light fading away. I force myself to turn around and walk out of the house, trying not to forget everything I just learnt. That was a future to fight for. Everyone looked happy and, most importantly, alive. As I walk into the village, I trying to store away what I just saw, knowing I need to focus on the present to get to that future. I keep following the main path until I get to a stone circle in the middle of the village, which is empty of anything other than alleyways leading off in all directions.

  “Hello?” a small voice suddenly speaks once I get to the middle of the circle, and I spin around, seeing a girl standing in the pathway I came from. The girl has blue hair like mine, she is small and covered in mud. I step back for a moment because she looks like a mini me.

  “Hello. Where is everyone?” I ask her, and she shakes her head.

  “Monsters took them,” she says, wiping her tears away.

  “Where are the monsters now?” I ask, this time stepping closer to her.

  “Around us,” she says simply, pointing t
o another alleyway where vile, black, slime-covered creatures are crawling towards the middle of the village from the shadows. I step back just as I hear another voice, and I turn around to see Erica stood at the start of another alleyway. My eyes widen as she pulls Hali out from behind her and places a dagger at her throat. Hali doesn’t look like Hali though, she seems strange and quiet.

  “Let her go. Now!” I demand, and Erica doesn’t say a word, Hali just looks at me with an empty gaze, and instead, the little girl speaks.

  “Make the choice. I need your help.” I look over to see the creatures are heading straight towards the little girl, and then I look back to Hali. I can’t save them both, and I know this is a test. If I don’t save myself—the little girl, I mean—then no one else can. That’s the whole point of the test, learning to love and save myself.

  “Dammit,” I cry out because I still want to run to Hali, but I can’t, and I run to the little girl, knowing I can’t let her die, even if every part of me wants to save Hali. The girl is helpless, and there isn’t a choice here. I just get to the girl, pushing her behind me as the monsters get to me, and I swing my sword straight into the stomach of the nearest one. A blinding light blasts out from the monster, sending me flying backwards in the air, and everything is just white for a long time as I land on something soft. When I open my eyes, I am no longer in the village, and it’s not night anymore. Instead, there is grass in front of my face that smells sweet. I sit up, looking around at the green grass field I am in and spotting Erica stood on the other side of the field looking around as well.

  There is a loud clicking noise, and I look up, seeing a white sparkling ball of light floating down from the blue, cloud-covered sky. The ball stops just above the ground and fades away, revealing a gold crown with a glowing blue stone in the middle of it. I run towards the crown at the same time Erica does, and smirk as Star jumps out of nowhere, slamming into Erica and knocking her to the ground. I just get to the crown as pain shoots through my chest, and I look over to see Erica holding a dagger inside Star’s thigh. She pulls the dagger out and holds it over where Star’s heart is. Star growls, but she isn’t strong enough to push Erica away as Erica freezes her to the ground.

  “STOP!” I scream, making Erica pause to look back at me.

  “Walk away from the crown, and I will stop. Or she dies,” she warns me, and there is nothing but cruelty in her gaze. I have a feeling this isn’t the test anymore. If I walk away, Star lives and Erica wins. If I don’t do what she asks, I will lose Star, and I can’t do that. I love her. She is my familiar and family.

  “If I let you win this test. Everyone will die. You will destroy the world,” I whisper, tears falling down my cheeks and landing on my arm which is stretched out, inches away from touching the crown.

  “The throne belongs to me. I will do anything to get it and give my one true love the power he needs,” she demands, looking frantically between me and the crown.

  “Cex will kill you when he is bored of you. I hope you know that,” I warn her. “I could have been real to you. I would have been your sister if you didn’t choose to be so jealous and crazy. This all could have been different, and now we will both suffer for your actions.”

  “No, he won’t ever kill me!” she screams back at me, shaking her head as I’m clearly getting to her. “We could have never been real sisters. You would have always outshone me because of who you are. Now make the choice.” I stare over at Star, and just as I am about to step back to let Erica have the crown, I feel a wave of love and acceptance from her. She wants me to take the crown, I can sense it. Tears stream down my eyes as I meet Star’s gaze. She knows as well as I do that there is only once choice here; no matter how much it breaks my heart, I cannot let the world die and burn. This is just another test, and I have to pray Star will survive this. I wish I could take the dagger for her. I reach for the crown at the same time Erica slams the dagger into Star, making us both cry out. The crown glows a bright gold as I fall to the ground with it, hearing a voice inside my head as the world fades away.

  “Welcome, new queen of the Protectors. You chose correctly in each test, and we will honour you as queen until death.”

  Eighty

  Evie

  “Wake up, our queen,” Keeper Grey’s voice echoes in my mind on repeat, making me slowly wake up, feeling groggy as hell and confused about what happened. I’m confused about what is real and what is not. I blink my eyes open with a gasp, feeling my forehead and cheeks burning slightly. I place my hands on my face, feeling little raised marks like swirls all the way from the side of my cheeks, past my eyes, and they meet in a big swirl on my forehead. I open my eyes to see Keeper Grey kneeling next to me, looking very relieved. “The marks of a queen have been blessed to you. They truly suit you, Queen Evelina.”

  “Queen? I won?” I question, and then it rushes back to me as I sit up, looking at the empty space next to me and the blood on the stone. I gasp in pure pain until I feel Star’s bond rush to life inside my head, and I know she is alive, just resting somewhere nearby.

  “The keepers healed Star during the test. I sent two of my keepers to take her somewhere to rest while they continue to heal her and we welcome the new queen,” Keeper Grey explains to me. I shake my head, feeling like I owe Keeper Grey a massive debt for saving Star when I could not. I don’t think I could have lived with losing her.

  “Thank you. I thought I lost her,” I whisper, wiping away a tear.

  “The test is—and has always been—brutal to our loved ones. That is why keepers are kept close as there is no need for death to visit the tests,” Keeper Grey further explains just as I hear movement in the room. I look over to see another keeper helping Erica up, and the moment she sees me, she gasps.

  “NO!” she screams at me, shaking her head as I stand up straight, glaring at her. Every little part of me wants to jump at her, strangle her until she feels the same pain she put my familiar through. Though as I watch her getting more and more angry, I feel a sense of acceptance about her and who I am now. Erica doesn’t deserve to have me kill her. Cex will break her heart and kill her, which is what she deserves and will be far more painful than anything I could do to her.

  “The crown was always meant to be mine,” I state, crossing my arms. “This proves everything. You do not belong on the throne, and you will never be on it.”

  “You cannot be queen! You’re a street rat, an assassin, a nobody! This is insane!” she screams, trying to come over to me, but two keepers hold her arms at her sides. Erica tries to fight them off, but keepers are stronger than they look it seems.

  “I am queen though, despite my past. I look at my past as experience that taught me what is right and wrong. You are wrong, Erica. You will be shown to a court and held accountable for high treason, among other things. You will be locked up for the rest of your life. Every part of me wants to kill you for everything you have done, but I know that is not what our mother would have done. You can live as a prisoner instead of meeting death,” I say, keeping my head high as she shakes her head. I highly doubt I will actually have to keep to my word on locking her up once Cex finds out she isn’t queen, but it felt good to be the bigger person.

  “Never!! I will kill you and take what is mine!” she screams, wriggling to get free of the keepers’ tight grip. She calls holy fire, and the keepers’ hands glow white on her arm, and the fire burns away. Didn’t know they could do that.

  “Enough, Erica. This is your queen, do not threaten her if you know what is good for you,” Keeper Grey warns.

  “It’s not me she has to worry about,” Erica grins suddenly as she holds her hand out and calls a portal which burns into the room before anyone can stop her. I step back as Cex walks through the portal, the sounds of screaming heard on the other side of the portal sound awful. What the fuck is going on? I try to look through the portal as Connor jumps through it just before it closes. Connor is covered in dust and blood, and his clothes are burnt in places. Something
is really fucking wrong. Before I can even say anything, Connor rushes at Cex with a hand full of holy fire. I can’t do anything to stop Cex turning and grabbing Connor by his neck like a doll, lifting him into the air.

  “Don’t kill him!” I plead, getting Cex’s attention as Connor tries to shout my name. I don’t look at Connor as I focus on Cex who looks away from me to Erica for a brief moment, his face full of pure fury.

  “You had one job, get the crown while I destroy the Protectors. How could you fail in such a simple task, you useless woman?” he spits out at her, and she shakes her head. Cex waves a hand, slamming a wave of white looking energy into Erica and the keepers, sending them all into a wall, collapsing to the floor with a loud smack.

  “We must leave, Queen Evelina,” Keeper Grey insists, going to call a portal, but Cex sends a blast into him before he can do anything, sending Keeper Grey flying across the room into a wall, knocking him out.

  “If you leave, I will kill him. Then I will go back for the others you are so close to like my brother,” Cex warns, holding a choking Connor higher in the air. Connor tries to say something to me before he passes out, and I know I love him too much to let him die. This isn’t a test. There isn’t anyone to heal Connor. There is no second chance for him, and nothing in this world is worth letting Connor die.

  “What do you want?” I ask quietly.

  “The door to the magic is underneath us. Make me a knight and let me in. Now,” he demands, shaking Connor a little to make his point before throwing him across the room. I wonder for a brief moment if I make a portal near Connor, could I run and drag him through it if I distracted Cex somehow? “Make no mistake, you wouldn’t get far if you try anything, Queen Evelina.”

  “I know that,” I spit out as Cex gets to me, grabbing my arm with my black rune on it. “But I do not know how to make you a knight.”