Shadows of Lela

by Tessonja Odette

  “People are dying all around us. I don’t expect to be any luckier than the rest.”

  I looked around at the field busy with bloodshed. Swords clashed. Arrows soared. The unicorns sprinted past me with dizzying speed as the Roizan panted after one and then another, sending the ground rumbling with every step.

  Teryn was right, people were dying. Many were. But I wanted Teryn to live. I put my hands over his wound and felt something flow through me. It wasn’t the fire of power coursing through my veins. It was something else. Something warm and peaceful and flowing. Something I’d never felt before.

  “Cora!” Teryn’s eyes were wide with terror, shocking me out of my daze.

  I turned around to see Morkai’s shadow looming over me and felt a sharp pain as he pulled me up by my hair. His staff was quickly hooked around my neck, cutting off my breathing as I clawed at his arm.

  “Let her go.”

  Morkai whirled around, still gripping me tightly, as we faced Dimetreus. My brother’s sword was drawn, and his eyes were narrowed with a piercing fury.

  “Traitor.” Morkai’s voice was a venomous hiss. “You serve me, Dimetreus. This girl is nothing to you.”

  Dimetreus shook his head. “I don’t know much about what has happened to me over the years, but I do know that is my sister. And I am the rightful king.”

  “You abdicated to me.”

  “The man who abdicated to you doesn’t exist.”

  “I thought we were friends, Dimetreus.” Morkai’s voice held the slightest rasp.

  Dimetreus let out a bark of a laugh. “You can’t create friends with sorcery.”

  “I should have killed you.”

  “You should have. Now let her go.”

  Morkai lowered his staff just long enough to replace it with a dagger held in the other hand. I felt the sharp, cold edge press into my flesh. “Lower your sword or she dies.”

  “Do as he says, Dimetreus. I’ll be fine,” I said, moving as little as possible.

  My brother’s eyes flashed from me to Morkai. He lowered his sword and dropped it to the ground. “Let her go.”

  Morkai released me. Without a moment of hesitation, he sent his dagger spinning end over end toward my brother.

  “Dimi!” Before I could see where the blade stuck, Morkai spun me around to face him. One arm pulled my waist against him, while his hand wrapped around my throat and pressed my neck back, forcing me to look him in the eye.

  “I will destroy everything you love,” Morkai whispered.

  I felt the fire rise within me once again. I let it flow, filling me from head to toe. This time the fire was joined by the warmth I had felt with Teryn. The fire and warmth tickled my flesh, ready to burst from every fingertip, every toe, and every eyelash, freckle, and hair.

  “Everything I love is part of me,” I said through strangled breaths. “And you will not destroy me.” I let the fire burst from me, from all around my body. Not enough to send Morkai far, just enough to push him away, giving me enough time to unsheathe my dagger and plunge its shining white blade into his gut. He shouted in surprise as I twisted it further, deeper.

  I stepped away and we eyed each other. Morkai’s face flashed with shock, confusion, and then anger. His eyes narrowed, and he opened his lips with a snarl. He looked down at the hilt protruding from his gut. A dark pattern was quickly spreading from the wound, coloring the midnight blue of his robes a red-tinted black. He gripped the hilt and pulled it free, the white blade covered in a sheen of red.

  “You’ll have to try harder than that, Coralaine.” Even though Morkai’s voice still held its steady coldness, it was weaker than before. His face was red with fury, and for the first time, he looked at me with something he never had before; hate.

  I backed away as Morkai came toward me, my dagger still in his hand. Over his shoulder, I saw a flash of white. Valorre raced toward me, eyes wild as the Roizan followed closely behind. The ground rumbled, jarring my footing. I ignored Morkai’s progress and focused on Valorre instead, closing my eyes as I cloaked his horn beneath my glamour. I opened my eyes in time to see the Roizan pause, sniffing the air as it looked this way and that. Valorre came to a halt behind me.

  Morkai turned around to face his blood-red creature. “Yes, come to me!” Morkai held his staff toward me as he summoned the Roizan with his other hand. The Roizan obeyed, charging forward with a renewed fury. Morkai flashed a wicked grin my way and erupted with laughter. “You’re finished, Coralaine.”

  The Roizan opened its mouth over the hand that still held the white-bladed dagger, and snapped its teeth shut. Morkai’s face twisted as he let out a blood-curdling cry. His staff fell to the ground as he reached for his other arm, trying to pull it from between the Roizan’s teeth. He shouted, he begged, he screamed for it to let go, but it was as if the Roizan had gone blind, ravenous for more of the horn-blade. Morkai’s relentless pleas were stifled as the Roizan opened its mouth again, this time snapping its teeth over Morkai’s head. Morkai’s body quivered and convulsed until the Roizan moved on to consume his torso, then legs.

  I watched unblinking with a combination of terror and morbid satisfaction as Morkai, my enemy, the man who killed my parents, was finally destroyed, replaced with a pool of bloodstained grass.

  34

  Victory

  Larylis

  A strangled cry rang out behind me, startling me as I fought my wraith opponent. The cry was not that of injury or a grunt of strength. It was neither a battle cry, nor a shout of vengeance and rage. It wasn’t the yelp of terrified awe that escaped my lips when I saw unicorns flood the field. Instead it was a wail of torment and anguish. My opponent turned toward the cry with a look of curiosity. I used the distraction to thrust my sword through his gray body. Sweat dripped into my eyes as the wraith fell.

  I wiped my brow and looked out at the bloody field around me, littered with bodies and cluttered with men still active in battle, wondering if they were as tired as I. Nearby, men in Red faced men from Norun in Morkai’s Blue, while the Black Force dashed between a group of wraiths, cutting them down one after the other.

  Although the task seemed endless, Lex and I had been right to suggest the Black Force fight the wraiths. The wraiths were easily confused, easily distracted, and prone to rising slower and slower after each new death. Many had already wandered off the field and disappeared, seemingly disinterested in continuing the farce. Yet, a few others seemed tireless.

  I looked down at my own relentless opponent, just beginning to rise again, and cut his throat before he could even stand. Dark gray blood spilled from the gash in his neck, which I knew would begin to repair itself within moments.

  Another anguished cry.

  This time, it came from nearby. I turned in time to see a man in Blue fall to his knees, throw his helmet at the grass, and then cry into his palms. His opponent, a Red, stepped back and stared wide-eyed at the man.

  Similar cries echoed throughout the field, flooding the valley with tormented wails. I watched as men in Blue raised their hands in surrender, eyes darting wildly as if they didn’t understand their surroundings. A moment later, the Royal Horns announced the death of the enemy, quickly followed by an unfamiliar anthem at the other end of the field. It must have signaled retreat for Morkai’s Forces, as those who did not surrender—most of them bearing the red crown sigil of Norun—began running for the other edge of the field.

  I turned back toward my fallen opponent, expecting him to rise, but the wraith was gone. And so were all the others.

  * * *

  Cora

  I raced to my brother’s side. The hilt of Morkai’s dagger protruded from beneath his collarbone. His face was pale as he tried to stand.

  “Dimetreus, lay still. I’ll get you a healer.”

  Dimetreus shook off my caution and planted his feet beneath trembling legs. “I’m fine. I’ve been through worse, trust me.” He looked out at the chaos of the field, the retreating Forces, the hands raised in surre
nder, the swords still clashing, the Forest People and unicorns racing back up the hillside, the Roizan pawing the grass, sniffing the blood of his master. “I still don’t quite understand what I’m seeing. I haven’t understood since the day you came to Ridine. It’s like I’ve been slowly waking from one nightmare into a new one.”

  My throat tightened as I looked up at his thin, tired face, the dark circles surrounding his eyes—eyes that were no longer black and unseeing. They were vibrant green like they had been when he was Dimi, the brother I loved. I resisted a shiver of repulsion as I placed my hand in his. Flashes of his dead eyes, his cold voice, and his stern hand went through my mind. I breathed the memories away. “I’ll be here, Dimi. I can help you remember who you really are.”

  A flicker of a smile tugged at Dimetreus’ lips, although it quickly turned to a grimace. His free hand reached toward the dagger, wincing as he placed his palm on his chest below it.

  “The Forest People healers can help you. Or the Royal Physicians.”

  “Don’t worry about me, Coralaine. I told you, I’ll be fine. There are many worse injured than I.”

  I looked toward Centerpointe Rock and felt the blood leave my face as I thought about Teryn. “Dimetreus, I have to—”

  “Go,” he said. “I’m fine.”

  I ran to the other side of the Rock where I’d last seen Teryn. He wasn’t there. I circled the Rock, looking everywhere as tears burned my eyes.

  “Cora.”

  I turned and found him standing a small distance away, his side still wrapped with the cloth I’d tied around him. Next to him stood a man in black clothing who wore Teryn’s features, arm draped over Teryn’s shoulder. Both men’s eyes were rimmed with red and the air between them was thick with a combination of sorrow, tenderness, and a subtle awkward strain. I hid my previous distress as I calmly walked over to them, resisting the urge to greet Teryn with a relieved embrace. It was all I could do not to bubble over with excitement at finding him alive.

  “Cora, this is my brother, Prince Larylis.”

  Larylis nodded my way, a sad smile on his lips. “Lex told me much about you, and I’m sure Teryn will tell me more. Now that I finally have him back and alive.”

  “I’m really glad to find him alive as well,” I said.

  Teryn and I locked eyes and I opened my mouth to say more, but no words seemed to match what I wanted to say. He too remained silent, a questioning expression on his face.

  A screeching bellow rang throughout the valley. I jumped, and the three of us looked toward the Roizan as it howled and thrashed, foaming at the mouth and turning the bloodstained grass to mud beneath its hooves. Then it stilled. The Roizan’s giant head drooped as if suddenly heavy. Its eyes closed, its hindquarters quavered. As it fell to the ground with a rumbling thud, its skin began to blacken and char. Even the white horns protruding from its body turned the color of charcoal.

  Not sure what I was doing or why, I took a step forward, and then another.

  “Cora, where are you going?” Teryn called. “Don’t go near that thing.”

  I ignored him and approached the moaning, whimpering Roizan, watching as the blackness spread over its body more and more until fiery veins of red began to glow from within. The Roizan slowly opened its maw; I paused. Its eyes grew heavy as if it were tired, and then it released a deep moan. With that breath, the body of the Roizan fell into a pile of ash. Tendrils of smoke caught the wind and began to drift the ash away.

  I swallowed a lump in my throat as I walked forward yet again until the ash lay before me, and prodded it with my toe. Nothing. I sighed and took a step back, nearly tripping as my heel caught on something in the grass. I looked down. Beneath my foot lay a large, purple crystal next to another pile of ash. A rush of fear passed over me as I stared at the crystal, recognizing it as belonging to Morkai’s charred staff. Why hadn’t the crystal burned away with the rest?

  After a moment of hesitation, I reached down and picked it up. The way my stomach flipped as I felt the cold surface against my palm reminded me of the two horns I’d taken. I expected to sense darkness immediately, yet that wasn’t what I felt. There was a weight and a sorrow, but something else I couldn’t identify…

  A hand fell softly on my shoulder. “What are you doing?” Teryn asked.

  I shoved the crystal into an inner pocket of my cloak. Whatever it was, it had belonged to Morkai and would need to be destroyed. I turned to Teryn. “I just wanted to be sure he’s gone. I almost expected Morkai to pop up out of the ash.”

  “Me too. But he’s really gone. It’s over.”

  I looked past Teryn to the field beyond, where bodies—those of man, horse, and unicorn alike—were being gathered for burial, and wondered if war was ever truly over. Hostages were taken from the surrendered, Forces pursued the retreating enemy, and the last glimpse of a unicorn disappeared beyond the tree line. However, one unicorn remained behind.

  I smiled as Valorre came up beside me. I placed my hand on his neck and scanned his body for injuries. Although his white coat was speckled with mud and blood, he appeared to be free of any serious wound.

  “So, Lex’s story was true.” Larylis said as he joined us. His voice was so different from Teryn’s, despite their similar faces. “You are the unicorn girl.”

  “She is,” Teryn said with a weak smile. “She’s also the Princess of Kero—”

  Teryn was interrupted by a shout. “That’s the traitor! Seize him!”

  A stout, gray-haired man in red armor stomped toward my brother, sword drawn. Dimetreus met the man with no resistance, raising his arms in surrender as he was quickly surrounded and bound by the guards.

  My feet flew beneath me as I ran to my brother and began pushing at the guards to get to his side. “No! He’s injured! Please, don’t hurt him.”

  “Who are you?” The man in red grabbed me by the arm and pulled me toward him. His face sparked a familiarity, but I couldn’t place the name.

  “King Verdian!” Teryn shouted as he limped to us. “Your Majesty, that’s Cora. Please let her go.”

  “What does she want with the traitor?” Verdian narrowed his eyes at Teryn. Now that I had a name for the face, I could remember that, even in my youth, the King of Sele had always seemed fierce.

  “King Dimetreus is my brother!”

  “King? He’s no king in Lela. He betrayed our land and his own kingdom. Are you a traitor too?”

  “Your Majesty, she is Princess Coralaine of Kero,” Teryn said. “I’m sure Lex told you about her. Cora is the reason we discovered Morkai’s plot.”

  “Lex never mentioned she was Princess of Kero, a dead girl brought back to life. What kind of sorcery is this?”

  “She was never dead, Your Majesty. Let her explain.”

  “She can explain during questioning. Take her and the traitor with the other hostages.”

  Fire flooded my body as guards took me by the arms and bound my wrists behind my back. I felt the fire flow down through my hands, heating my palms, and I knew it would take no effort to send the men reeling from me. Yet I held it in, and breathed deeply. These men are not the enemy.

  “I will go with you, and so will my brother. But you must treat his wounds and hear us fairly.” I was surprised at the calm in my voice, every word as smooth as honey as it slipped from my lips on waves of fire.

  King Verdian held my eyes and I held his.

  “Your Majesty, I’m begging you to listen to her.” Teryn’s voice shook. “She’s my friend. I owe her my life. I…care about her.”

  Teryn’s words made my heart quicken.

  Finally, Verdian released my gaze. “Very well. Take the traitor and get him to a Royal Physician. Take the girl, but keep her separate from the rest of the hostages. Give her a private cell when we reach Verlot.”

  “Treat her well,” Teryn added. “And don’t hurt her.”

  Verdian gave Teryn a scolding glare, but his face softened when his eyes fell on the bandage wrapped around his si
de. “Someone get Prince Teryn to a Royal Physician at once.”

  The king stomped away, his final order sending the guards into a frenzy of movement. Dimetreus and I were prodded forward as Teryn was quickly surrounded by a flurry of healing hands. I craned my neck to watch him until he was no longer in sight. Then my eyes searched everywhere else for a hint of white.

  Valorre was gone.

  Good. Stay safe.

  I’m never far. I go where you go.

  His words filled me with warmth. I carried it with me as I marched, head held high, toward my fate.

  35

  Fate

  Cora

  My cell was private, but that was its only favorable amenity. It was dark, cramped, cold, and had the smell of stale dirt and dying things. I could hear cries and shouts from further down the dungeon hall at all hours of day and night. They could have been the cries of my own brother, dying from an infected wound, for all I knew.

  After three days of questioning by a team of unknown men who stood in shadow alongside a young scribe, my patience was wearing thin. I’d done everything to cooperate and explain what I knew, yet every question I asked went unanswered. I had to know how my brother fared, and I was beginning to consider alternate means to get those answers.

  My palms flooded with heat as I imagined using my power to slip through the bars. I knew I could do it. They would have nothing in place to stop me. Verlot seemed to be a place of no magical understanding, and no one—unless Teryn had mentioned it—had any clue to the extent of my powers. I could be free of this place within moments.

  Yet, without my cooperation, what would they do to my brother? What would come of Kero?

  No. I must stay. For now.

  I let out a resigned sigh and rested my back against a wall, trying to remember if it was day or night. The bells that marked the hour didn’t reach the dungeons. Time was lost as easily as it had been in the dungeons of Ridine. I shivered at the memory, and closed my eyes, determined to think something else, anything else.