by Bailey Dark
He clucks his tongue against the roof of his mouth, yawning mockingly. "What is your choice little Princess, I have things to do, souls to raise."
I clear my throat, very aware of the dagger on my back but I don't move my hand. "Fine. I am yours if you return Kane."
He chuckles as he walks toward me, reaching out and snatching the necklace from around my neck. He holds the small orb up in front of him and waves his hand over it. I watch as the crystal and gold fade away. He reaches down and takes my hand, turning it over, palm up. His eyes shift to mine. "You have my word, your Majesty."
With that, he grips the piece of his crown tightly in his hand and I don't realize what's coming until it's too late. With force, he stabs the metal into the palm of my hand and immediately releases my wrist. My mouth falls open and I grip my hand tightly, looking down at it. The pain is almost unbearable. My lungs are full of air and I'm frozen in place, feeling the tears streaming down the sides my cheeks. With force, I release the deep breath and scream out in agony. It burns, and not like my light but like a venomous intrusion that surges through my veins, creeping up my arms and over my shoulders.
I begin to panic, raising my other hand and pulling the light to it. I hold it over the metal shard but it does nothing. The piece of crown melts over my skin and drips down on the floor, turning into a deep red puddle at my feet. Blood runs over my wrist and down my elbows and I take gasping breaths, trying to save myself. No matter what I do, it doesn't stop.
The burning runs down my back, over my thighs, twisting around my legs. It reverses and shoots up to my stomach, finally reaching my chest. As the last inch of me is filled with whatever dark and demonic magic this is, the world begins to fade and everything goes black.
* * *
"You betrayed me. I've done nothing but love you. You were to be my queen, rule the Underworld side by side. It's what you wanted." Drogaem stood in front of Lux, breathing heavily, a trickle of blood running down from her mouth.
"Love has nothing to do with this," Lux says breathlessly taking a step toward him. "I cannot let you do this. I cannot."
"You’re weak!" Drogaem screams out, taking off toward her.
Lux's body begins to glow, everything whirling around her, the light becoming brighter and brighter as she leaps in the air, slamming into Drogaem. The walls of the tomb shake wildly, stones plummeting to the ground. As they collide, Lux swings her arm down, stabbing her dagger deep into the crevice of Drogaem's neck. The light bursts from the wound, sending Lux spiraling backward. She slams into the ground hard and slides until her body hits the steps.
Drogaem lay on the ground, his blood flowing from the wound. He reaches up and pulls the dagger from his throat dropping it on the ground. He presses his fingers to the wound and pulls them away looking curiously at the red liquid dripping from his fingertips. He focuses in, trying to close the wound, but it doesn't work.
Bending down on one knee he picks up the dagger, turning it back and forth, watching the shimmer wave across the blade. His eyes shift up to Lux who is barely moving on the ground. His lip snarls and he drags his body slowly across the tomb, dropping down next to her. With a loud growl he turns her body over and stares angrily down at her. "You bitch. I promise you I will return, and when I do, I will find you and I will kill you."
Lux reaches up and touches Drogaem's cheek, her face calm and serene. "How beautiful our life could have been. Your powers may be great, but they cannot save you from this death. We can only hope that your soul disappears, as your life has meant nothing but pain and torture."
Drogaem's face is draining in color and he feels the weakness surrounding him. "Don't you know me better than that? I will make sure neither of us find that peaceful rest."
Chapter 24
Briar
A deep gasp pulls at my lungs as my eyes shoot open. I blink wildly staring up at the dark ominous void above me. My hand throbs, my head aches. My dream is not the normal dream, it was a memory and for the first time, I was able to see the world from outside of this woman's body. Her name is Lux, the woman betrothed to Drogaem, the woman who was supposed to be the Queen of the Underworld. She is the woman that killed Drogaem the first time, and the one that held the very dagger still pressing to my back, enchanted to kill a God.
The sounds of the room are coming back to me, and my vision is clearing. To my left I hear Kane's voice, whispering, almost singing as if it's floating through the air surrounding everything. I slowly turn my head to the left, finding myself lying next to Drogaem's corpse. My face scrunches, and I close my eyes tightly, turning my head back. The smell of rotting flesh brings new life to my wakefulness but it isn't pleasant in the least. I study myself and look again, finding Kane's body, controlled by Drogaem, standing over his corpse. On the ground below are the mortals he has captured, no more life in their bodies. Blood spills on the ground all around and he steps through it as if it's not even there.
Next to him, stands a tall pillar holding a large bound book. It looks to be covered in some sort of leather, but with the marks that pepper it, I'm fearful to think what it's truly made of. Drogaem is speaking some sort of enchantment, and I watch his hands move from the top of his corpse to the bottom. From his fingers, strings of dark fall, his powers pull like yarn, dissipating into a thin fog that sinks into the corpse's rotting skin. He is nearly finished with his ritual.
My first instinct is to move, grab the dagger from my back and plunge it into the heart of Kane's body before Drogaem can exit, but I stop myself, gripping on to the sides of whatever table I am laying on. I grit my teeth and tap my head against the surface below me, frustrated by the position I'm in. I know that if I kill Drogaem now, I will kill Kane, too. And when Kane dies, I no longer exist. All that will be left when Willem returns will be two bodies of God's and one mortal, only a shell. I hate this choice, I hate lying here knowing that there's a chance that what I'm doing will lead to the torture and suffering of every living mortal in the realm, but letting Drogaem finish his ritual and claim his body back is the only way that I can save Kane.
Even if Kane and I had not bonded in the way that we had, I couldn't rule the Underworld on my own. Kane and I weren't even married yet and therefore I wouldn't be given the throne. The crown would go to Willem and who knows what would happen to me. I may be sent back to the Mortal Realm, or I may be forced to stay, lost in a world where I don't belong. I can't imagine being here without Kane by my side.
No matter how much my mind fights against me, I have to be strong. I turn my head again and force myself to watch, wanting to know what is happening. As he swipes his arms back and forth across the corpse, the black mist crawls up his arms and over his shoulders. It winds around his torso and moves back across the table and into the corpse's chest. Kane's voice echoes through the entire room, words that I feel deep down are familiar but I do not recognize.
I watch in horror as the broken and swollen flesh on Drogaem's corpse begins to mend. The dark energy flows through his veins, growing his tissue back together, tightening his skin, reconnecting bones and healing wounds. It surges all around him, cracking and clicking, reforming the places where the flesh had completely gone away. The smell begins to lift, and in its place… I smell flowers. It's strange, like the lilies that used to grow in my father's garden. For such an evil man, that is not the smell I thought would come from him.
It takes a few moments but eventually his flesh and bones reattach and almost instantly his body begins to convulse. My eyes shift up to Kane, his eyes completely black, his face contorted. The words begin to slip from his lips as he too shakes violently. The dark mist swirls back up his body wrapping around his neck and surging over his chin. Kane's body jolts, his arms flying out to the side and his head tilting back. His mouth opens and I expect a scream, but instead, it is an inhuman sound, what I would imagine the death of a 1000 men would sound like all at once. It's so loud it hurts my ears and I clap my hands over them.
Suddenly his mout
h closes, and the dark and damp space around us goes absolutely silent. The wind blows around me, extinguishing the candles that line the walls. The only light is the large torch behind me on the wall. The shadows dance wildly around as it flickers. I slowly sit up, straining my eyes to find Kane's body. Through the darkness, without warning, he leans forward, stopping just inches from my face. I freeze, my eyes wide, my heart barely beating in my chest. His face looks strained, his eyes completely black. His mouth hangs open as the dark mist swirls down his throat.
Tears gather in my eyes and I lift my hand to touch his face, but before I can, he falls to the ground. The body next to me begins to move, and I scoot back as far as I can without falling off the table. My body feels so weak, as if I've got nothing left inside of it. I reach back behind me and wrap my hand around the dagger, beginning to pull it from its sheath. I watch Drogaem’s corpse as it comes to life, his eyes opening wide, his mouth curling into a vicious grin. Slowly he sits up, running his hands over his face, and down into his long dark hair.
At this point, my entire body shakes with fear. He slowly turns his head toward me and I yank the dagger out, lifting it up over my head. Drogaem doesn't flinch. Bringing his other hand up, showing me the crown in his hand, he smiles. My mouth twists into dismay and I scream out as I prepare myself to plunge the knife deep into him. But before I can, he lifts the hand and touches a single finger to my chest. I freeze, the dagger falling to the ground and bouncing off into the darkness. I'm able to look down just enough to see the trail of dark mist come from his crown and into my body. Our souls are intertwined, I feel the cold rush up over me and I only see one last thing before everything returns to darkness.
It's Kane, and he's still alive.
* * *
The wind whips across my face but I don't know where I am. I feel as if I'm soaring through the air, but everything is dark around me. I hear voices, they grow louder. All around me light begins to spark faster and faster until it connects and swirls around me. Flashes of images move through the air, so fast I can barely focus on it before it's gone again. They speed up, until they begin to flow into one another, a moving picture in front of me. I tilt my head and watch, seeing Drogaem, as if I am Lux looking up at him from the tomb floor.
Blood runs down his shoulder and over his arm, and he laughs wildly. The sound reverberates through my head and I cover my ears, closing my eyes tightly. When I open them again, I'm no longer in the darkness, no longer soaring through the air. I stand in a room, a room in the Castle looking around one of the beautiful dining halls. I hear laughter to my right and I shift my gaze, watching a beautiful blond headed woman, her skin sparkling, walking with a vampire arm in arm. They both look at me and smile sweetly.
I turn, catching a vision of myself in the large mirror hanging on the wall. But it's not me, it's Lux. The vision changes and I find myself standing outside of the castle, rolling magical light in my hands, tossing them into the air. I feel someone come up behind me and lips press to my neck. I have no control over this body. I'm living through Lux in this moment. I'm living in her memories. I turn with a smile laughing, finding a young Drogaem standing there. I reach up and touch his cheek and bat my eyelashes.
The scene changes again, and I stand outside of Drogaem's chambers, listening to him speak to someone in low hushed tones. "I will tell her. She loves me. She is not weak like the others. She will be a queen that stands by me and she will hold the mortals just as I will. We will control everything."
Again, the memory moves, and I'm walking down the stone streets, a black hood covering my head, my cape dragging the ground behind me. I look ahead and see a man, he stands in the shadows for a moment and then returns. I pause and glance around before hurrying after him. He stays in the shadows and I cannot see his face, but he reaches across, handing me the dagger. "You know what to do with it. And when you're finished, that dagger will kill anyone, even a God."
I put my hand to my chest feeling a pain of sadness take me over. Everything goes dark and when the light comes back, I'm standing in the tomb, Drogaem beside me, a few feet back. My hand is gripping the dagger, my heart throbbing, tears streaming down my face.
"You did all of this for me," Drogaem says.
Lux turns toward him, and I can feel the familiar handle of the dagger gripped tightly in my hands. "I can't let you kill all of these people. I can't let you hurt the Mortal Realm. It is not who you are. It is not who I am."
"My beloved, you always had too much of a conscience," he says laughing loudly. "These people mean nothing to you. And you mean nothing to them. They pray to you, but they'll stab you in the back just as easily. Do not be fooled. You are my Queen, you are my love, and we will do this together, we will go down together."
Everything flickers, and I'm back on the ground, looking up at Drogaem once again. He is whispering, singing as he was when he was resurrecting his body. My hands begin to burn brightly, and I place them to the ground. I watch as light floods across the floor and over the ceilings, blanketing everything. I'm putting protections, making it so no one can resurrect him, no one can get his crown. I am weak though, and I fear my magic will not hold up.
I release the light before he can look back down. When he does, he reaches down and grabs me by the face, squeezing my cheeks together, anger written all over his face. "By the gods, by the powers that rest within my crown, I curse you. By the ancestors, and the gods to be, I curse you. Your body shall be no more but your soul will live on, little pieces moving from generation to generation, captured in the capsule of the mortal bodies. You will wish for greatness, while you feel every pain of a mortal, every thought of deceit, and all without your powers. You will live within the mortal flesh, dying over and over again, but your soul will never return to the Underworld. When I come back, I will show you the type of mercy that I give those who betray me."
I watch as he grips the dagger, and lifts it up, my body begins to radiate light, filling the room. As the dagger comes down toward me, I burst, changing into a million glimmering lights soaring through the tomb, across the Underworld lands, and toward the portal to the Mortal Realm. I am pulled there, not by will but by force. As the remnants reach the Mortal Realm they shower down over a castle.
I watch through Lux's eyes as those glimmering pieces flutter down, landing on a beautiful woman sitting in her garden. She's a Queen, her hair dark like mine, her complexion pale and smooth. As the light which the mortal cannot see sinks into her skin, I realize that I know that woman. I have looked at pictures of her hanging in my father's castle since I was a little girl. That woman is my great-great grandmother.
Everything goes black and I shudder, floating in the dark void of my dreams. But my consciousness is awake and I realize I haven't been watching someone else's memories, or someone else's life. I have been watching my own past, as I am Lux, my soul trapped in a mortal body.
Chapter 25
Kane
I lay on the ground, the cold stone scraping against my cheek. There's a warm liquid beneath my hands, and I can smell the blood pooling around me. My lip twitches, my fangs attempting to protrude. My body is weak, my muscles straining and convulsing. While my body had been used, it's returning to my soul and the connection that it needs to fully function. Being lost in that void has taken everything from me, but I cannot give up. I open my eyes and blink deeply, trying to focus in on whatever is in front of me. I put my hands down, feeling the warm pool of blood that surrounds me. I don't feel any cuts, nothing that would cause me to bleed. I take a whiff, realizing that it's not mine.
I move in silence, just in case Drogaem is waiting for me. Struggling, I pull myself up to my knees, and grip on to the ledge above me, using everything I have to pull myself to my feet. As I stand, I see Briar lying next to Drogaem who is holding the crown in his hand, his finger against her chest. Black mist twists around, going from him to her and seeping through into her soul. I can feel the burning inside of me, the fear and rage.
&n
bsp; Just as her eyes lower to mine, she connects with me and then collapses. My body isn't moving as fast as I want it to, and my feet slip on the blood beneath me. I climb over the mortal bodies lying on the ground, trying to get to Briar. "No!"
Drogaem's arms thrust out, and I feel an invisible force wrap around my neck. My feet come up off the ground, and I gripped onto whatever it is, whatever power is lifting me. I search for my own shadows, for my own powers but they are nothing compared to Drogaem. I stop squirming, hanging in the air, my eyes shifting down toward him. He snaps his fingers and fire flickers across the candles lighting the tomb. We are in the crypts, which doesn't surprise me in the least. Drogaem was always a dark God, and the crypts will give him secrecy, away from the prying eyes of anyone who would test him.
He slowly turns on the Onyx slab and lowers his bare feet into the blood below. Standing up, he rolls his shoulders, energy vibrating from him. He glances down at his crown and smiles as he places it on top of his head. He walks closer to me, looking me up and down. "You can probably expect that I was happy to get back to my body. And look, you're still here… for now."
I choked out my words. "What… Did… You do… To her?"
Drogaem lifts his eyebrow and looks over at Briar, lying on the table next to his slab. He pokes out his bottom lip and walks around, running his finger down the side of her cheek. The anger explodes inside of me but I cannot move without him squeezing tighter against my neck. "At first, I found it completely ridiculous that you fell in love with a mortal, but I can see where she charmed you. Unfortunately, what you don't know, is her soul has been sullied before."