Cloak of Darkness (The Destroyer-Blessed Saga Book 1)

by Sara E. Tonissen

  Snow White loosened a breath that she did not know she was holding when the dungeon soldiers finally made it to the palace gate. The people seemed to feel the same way as their queen, for the crowds parted like the soldiers held the plague, their jeers and curses falling silent.

  The palace guards created a path for their dungeon brethren, but the people shied away from the dark knights as they passed. Citizens did not try to reach out and grab the killer like they had when she was captured. Rotten food splattered against the cobblestones, hands falling open in shock as the procession passed by.

  The girl only started to struggle when the gallows were in her sights. Two dungeon guards grabbed hold of her boney arms, their powerful hands forcing her forwards. The prisoner shook her head, her unrecognizable shrieks muffled by her gag.

  “Blessed Maker,” Queen Snow White began, her eyes misting over as the girl marched up the gallows’ steps, “bring this girl into your ever-loving arms.”

  The crowd around the gallows was braver than the group around the palace gates. They surged forward, their curses echoing off the shields that forced them backwards. Their rotten fruit hit its mark, dark splotches blending in with the dirt and grime from the day before.

  Snow White’s voice was strong behind her prayer. It was the only thing that she could offer the poor girl who was to suffer in someone else’s place. “Take her soul and let it flow across the winds of this continent until it reaches your hand.”

  The prisoner was helped onto a bucket, her legs wobbling with terror as she was forced to stand before a crowd of people who thought they hated her. Queen Snow White imagined the tears soaking the gag, the salt the last thing the girl would ever taste.

  “Place her energy in the safety of your womb so that she might get another chance to right her wrongs,” Snow White added, her own knees going weak as she watched the spectacle. She grabbed onto the windowsill, compelling herself to stand. Forcing herself to observe the chaos she had created.

  The noose was tossed over the girl’s neck. Another faceless dungeon guard stepped up to tighten it.

  Queen Snow White gasped as she felt her own airway blocked.

  The girl mustered one last ounce of bravery, her chin rising up against the crowd. The people threw their rotten goods with a new vengeance. Their screams were carried on the wind, reaching to taunt Snow White’s ears.

  The dungeon guards paid no heed to the crowd, their duty lined up before them. Their coal-crusted swords were drawn from their sheaths. The palace guards followed suit, but their hesitation showed that they were not as willing to use their weapons against their own people.

  “Let her feel no pain as you welcome her into your kingdom of light and warmth,” Snow White quietly ended. A single, shame-filled tear escaped Queen Snow White’s ebony lashes, the salty water falling in time to the drop of what should have been Red Riding Hood’s body.

  Chapter 7

  The mismatched band of Kingdom Rogues traveled across Airaldan for two and a half weeks. They passed through countless cities that swarmed with dwarves living off their hard-earned riches, and many more that housed creatures who could barely afford to feed themselves.

  No village was short of royal guards to watch over and protect the people. Most of Airaldan’s cities had not yet heard of the terror Red Riding Hood had brought to Peragon’s shimmering streets, but Red was still careful where she wore her cloak.

  Her alter ego was still popular throughout Cathal. It would take one well-placed guess to get her thrown back in prison.

  Despite the minor protection her hood sometimes provided her, Red was always looking over her shoulder. Her nerves grew more uptight at every passing minute. Her anxiety only worsened once the group had made it through the first week of their journey.

  Cathal was not a large continent, but it was made up of a vast array of terrain. From Britton’s great mountain ranges, to Weznik’s frozen tundra, to the almost dessert-like beaches of Seadell, Cathal’s lands varied as much as its citizens.

  Airaldan was the most populated and the most developed out of all of the kingdoms. Work from the dwarves had brought fortune to Cathal’s first kingdom. The territory was separated into twelve provinces, each controlled by one of Queen Snow White’s councilwomen. The eastern border was saved for farmers, the humble businesses booming since the beginning of the war.

  This was where the group traveled tirelessly, per Red’s desperate request. She had already overstayed the queen’s impossible demands. And it would only be a matter of time before palace guards were sent to find her. Queen Snow White might have had a decoy prisoner die in Red’s place, but that did not mean that she was not finding a way to secretly bring her back.

  The three Kingdom Rogues grumbled relentlessly every time Red pushed them to continue. They did not stop, though, if only out of fear of being left behind.

  Sooner than anticipated, the group finally made it to the southeast border between Airaldan and Britton, Queen Briar Rose’s Kingdom.

  The border was made up entirely of the only large river that snaked its way through Cathal. Airaldan could have been considered its own island if the river did not abruptly stop flowing once it hit the Forbidden Wastes just south of Snow White’s kingdom.

  The Bruick River’s deadly waters created the only border in Cathal that did not require armed guards to watch over. It had been renamed “Pricker River” by Britton’s people when they realized it was as deadly as the thorns that had almost destroyed their lands. The only non-lethal points of passage were located on three bridges.

  Red refused to cross at any of them.

  Fees set by the gluttonous soldiers on either side of the rickety bridges were high enough to persuade most peasants not to cross. Some travelers chose to brave the Forbidden Wastes before they would spend a year’s worth of wages on the toll. Most of those beings would eventually cough up the gold after talking themselves out of entering the haunted woods.

  The Kingdom Rogues despised the cowardice of those who spent a year’s worth of wages just to cross a poorly erected bridge. But they also refused to admit they were crazy enough to venture into the Forbidden Wastes.

  Instead, the Kingdom Rogues fit into an even crazier group of wayward travelers who believed that swimming was the best way to cross the Pricker River.

  Arthur Welin had even turned the river into one of his favorite training grounds. Set perfectly into the landscape, the deadly waters were used to sort out the weak links. It was the first and last tests to see who would continue the legacy of the Kingdom Rogues.

  The strong became stronger. And the weak never survived the crushing currents.

  Despite surviving the excruciating hours spent swimming against the dangerous waters, Red still feared that the filthy waves would drag her away. Or that her final resting place would be at the bottom of the river’s murky depths, buried under the silt and waste that made up the riverbed.

  As the group neared the riverbank, Dranac noticed Red’s hesitation. Trying to console her, his shoulder bumped into hers as he said, “Don’t worry, you’ll do much better than these amateurs. Besides, you’re the best of the best, remember? Nothing can get in your way.”

  Red returned Dranac Gnorw’s daring grin with a tentative smile, but his joking tone did not help soothe her electrified nerves.

  Hansel and Gretel Norton stopped at the bank, whispering to themselves while they adjusted their cumbersome weapons and packs. The twins huddled close together. Their eyes shifted to watch Red and Dranac before looking back at each other. An already closed off conversation became more secretive as they silently communicated with their eyes.

  Bryce Clayden stopped short of them, looking between the two groups before deciding that he was better off on his own. The boy kept his distance, retying his own weapons and pack. His quivering hands gave away his own worries as he tried to keep himself busy with his gear.

  Red turned away from the rest of her companions, finding comfort in the familiar
feel of working with Dranac. They worked quickly and quietly, helping each other secure their supplies.

  The two were like a well-oiled machine. One barely lifted their head to ask for help before the other was by their side, holding down a particularly tricky fold in their pack or repositioning their weapons.

  Red reluctantly placed her new cloak into her stuffed pack, folding it with care as she wrapped Alpha into the swaths of crimson. She moved to untie Dranac’s from around his neck and place it in his travel pack. Her feet held fast to the ground as he tightened their shoes.

  Next, Dranac moved to Red’s waist, pulling her toward him by the buckle of her belt. The smooth leather was too big at its tightest hole, but he carefully used Red’s stiletto dagger to add more, fitting it snugly around her hips.

  When he finished, Dranac Gnorw gave Red a boyish grin, his hands moving the belt around as if he needed to prove to Red that his quick thinking had saved her from the trouble of losing her only weapons.

  “We try to stay together,” Red quickly announced to the group, stepping out of Dranac’s warm hands that slowly fell away from her waist. “If we get separated, head east toward the Golden Tavern at the crossroads between Britton and the Forbidden Wastes. If we are not all back together within three days, return to the manor.”

  She looked around at the group, making sure that everyone was paying attention to her. The last thing she needed was to get in trouble for losing one of Arthur Welin’s scouts because they did not know how to listen to orders.

  The Norton twins looked back at Red dubiously. They quickly turned away from her, continuing their whispered conversation that was clearly more important than surviving the Pricker River. They shifted their guarded stances, moving farther away so they would not be disturbed again.

  Bryce Clayden nodded his head vigorously as Red spoke. His eyes took in Dranac’s every move as he tried to gauge how his leader was responding to her commands.

  “Hansel. Gretel. You two will take the lead with me,” Dranac Gnorw stated, reaching around Red’s feet to grab his discarded knives. His hands were quick in their movements as he tucked the blades into his belt, muscle memory taking over. “You and Bryce aren’t strong enough to pull any of us from the water, even if you did manage to get out on your own. I am technically still the leader of this group, so you can’t fight me on this.”

  “What made you automatically assume that I would put up a fight?” Red demanded. She reached her foot out, holding down the blade for which Dranac was about to reach.

  “Please,” Dranac laughed out. He pulled the blade from under her toe, flicking it against the toe of her boot. “I could see steam coming out of your ears when I didn’t say that you would be taking point on this. You can’t stand not being in charge.”

  Red blew a loose strand of hair out of her face, her hands swiftly pulling it back into a braid. “You just can’t stand the fact that I’m a better leader than you,” she jested, a smirk lining her lips.

  Dranac Gnorw returned her smile before rising and facing the rest of the group. He nodded to the twins, reiterating, “Get to the bank as fast as you can. You’re tall so it shouldn’t be too hard getting onto dry land. I expect you to immediately be on your feet and ready to help the rest of us up.”

  Pleased with his brilliant decision-making, Dranac moved to the edge of the river before the Norton twins could respond. Water splashed up against the roots and rocks that made up the steep riverbank. Careful of the mud the flying droplets created, Dranac leaned over the edge, looking at the murky waters below.

  The others followed suit. Each person took their places on the edge of solid ground, spreading themselves out so they would not run into each other during their fight to get to the opposite bank.

  “We dive together, and we try to stay together,” Dranac Gnorw commanded.

  Without checking to see if anyone had listened to his order he shouted, “One.”

  The group crouched into their coiled stances.

  “Two.”

  Everyone focused on their diving point.

  “Three.”

  Five inhales sounded. Followed by five splashes as the group dove, taking on the depths of the Pricker River headfirst.

  ~~~

  Red dove into the murky waters of the Pricker River. Despite the summer heat, the river was freezing, its currents too fast to be heated by the sun’s rays. Her eyes immediately closed as the dirty waters rushed around her. She forced her lids open, though, hoping to see the others beating against the current to reach the other riverbank.

  Red broke the surface, her lungs gasping for breath before she was sucked back under by the force of the water. Red held in every bit of breath as she tried to reach for the calmer currents at the riverbed. She inched her way across the rocky bottom before propelling herself back up to the surface.

  Before she could manage to take in another breath, firm hands were grabbing at the corners of her tunic, pulling her toward the open air. Red struggled to stay upright as she tried to twist her body toward her helper. But the hand that saved her reached around her neck, trapping any air in the base of her throat.

  Red tried to swim away from her savior-turned-assailant, but the current only pulled the two farther down the river. Red heard a distant female shout, but her waterlogged ears could not tell if she was the one yelling.

  Her vision sparked at the corners. Her flailing limbs turned numb as her lungs tried and failed to bring in any air. The freezing water stung her exposed flesh.

  The hands wound around her body. Words made their way past her senses, but nothing registered past the panic. Tears welled in Red’s eyes, saltwater mixing with the Pricker River’s muck. She could no longer process what was happening, her body going limp as she stopped struggling against the flow of the waves.

  Red could feel her hands tingling, but she could not tell if it was her dark magic or if her digits were freezing from the lack of oxygen. For the first time, Red hoped that it was the darkness within trying to save her. If only it could break free from the short leash she kept it on.

  She felt that kernel of darkness thrash about.

  Red could feel tendrils of black fire burning through her body. It relished in the new freedom that it had gained, its prison torn apart as it tried to protect Red, its vessel, from drowning. But that unnatural darkness would have to find a way to work with the natural powers of the Pricker River.

  The current gripped at Red.

  Phantom hands wrapped around her arms and legs, pulling her forward in a steady rhythm. The peaceful bottom taunted her as the freezing waters sent needles along her skin—stabbing knives into her veins.

  A curse rang from the throat of her assailant, their hands slipping from the dead weight of Red’s slick body. Her assailant fumbled for her, raking through the water, trying to pull her back toward the surface.

  But those phantom hands held on tight, pulling Red to the bottom—toward a waterlogged grave.

  ~~~

  Prince Sampson strode through the halls of the palace. His determined steps never faltered as he let his rage simmer. Sweat glistened around his neck. His cheeks were pink with anger. He clenched his hands together at his sides, jaw tight with tension.

  The prince used every ounce of his royal training to keep himself calm even as his every nerve told him to curse the world around him.

  The prince had been trying to reach his mother for almost three weeks since Red Riding Hood’s trial. He had aimlessly walked the palace, tried to interrupt her meetings, and had even traveled through the servants’ passageways trying to get to his mother. To no avail.

  Queen Snow White did not want to speak with her son. But he needed to speak with his mother.

  He had never directly sought her out, afraid that he did not possess the right words to persuade her over to his side. But he had thought long and hard for weeks—and he was not going to leave his mother alone until he had said his piece.

  Soldiers grabbed at the pa
lace women, pulling them out of their prince’s predetermined path. Servants dodged into the nearest doorways, abandoning their cleaning supplies to avoid interrupting Prince Sampson’s thoughts by drawing more attention to themselves.

  When he was met by the guards at his mother’s office, he pushed past their spears without hesitation. He refused to wait for one of the butlers to rush over to open the heavy oak doors for him, his thoughts already spiraling out of his brain the longer he waited to speak with his mother.

  Queen Snow White was startled at her desk, her hands slamming onto the paperwork that surrounded her as she tried to demand the reason for her son’s intrusive visit.

  “You had no right to use a prisoner to impersonate her death,” Sampson seethed as he stood before his mother. “No right!”

  Snow White swiped her hands across her hairline, brushing away imaginary out-of-place hairs. Her hands calmly folded together, resting on her desk as she looked up at her son. “I had and still have every right to the decision I made. I did not ask what you thought on the matter because I do not need your consent. I am still Airaldan’s queen.

  “I knew that you would not agree with my decision, but I made it despite that knowledge. Do you know why? Because your thoughts are clearly clouded if you are still hung up on what happened almost three weeks ago.”

  The calmness in her voice only made Sampson’s rage start to boil over the edge. But with the sting of her words still ringing in his ears, Sampson reeled in his emotions, hoping to prove to his mother that he was much more than the child that she still saw him as.

  He placed his hands against the edge of the desk, his tall frame leaning closer to his mother. The queen barely blinked as she waited for her son to continue with his fight.

  “You froze,” Sampson stated as calmly as he could manage. His voice still shook, though, his words teetering on the edge of his anger. “We could have changed the tide of the war, but you let her go. And I let you.”