The inferniwulves turned their red eyes to mine. I pulled on the power that resonated inside me. I bent it to my will, manipulated it and I sent it to the monsters.
The monsters that had taken me away from my home.
The monsters that had hurt countless innocent lives, including that man’s wife and child.
The monsters that had put Jonas on his deathbed.
The monsters that killed my brother.
I will kill them. I will kill them all!
My rage fueled whatever had grown inside of me and I shot some type of blue energy wave from my body. When the shockwave hit the inferniwulves, they vanquished, crying in pain in the sheer horror of what’d approached them
Yes. Die! Go back to the hell you came from!
Then they were gone as if they were never there. Lydia and Marcel looked at me in astonishment. I let out a breath then vomited on the floor beside me. The taste of blood filled my mouth and I leaned back on the cave wall, looking up at Fendrel.
Our eyes met, but no words were spoken. A small smiled curled my lips. If this was to be my end, then I will die knowing that I tried and that I took as many of those bastards with me.
My eyes were heavy and I closed them, letting the life I had go. I welcomed death’s embrace.
CHAPTER 30
Was this . . . the other side? Was I dead? I couldn’t move my body, but at least I didn’t feel any pain. I as numb, but I could feel a chill running through me. So cold. Why was it so cold? Is this what death feels like?
Familiar voices surrounded me, but I couldn’t understand what they were saying. Was it Fendrel? Jared? No, it couldn’t be. I opened my eyes, but there was nothing there but a cloudy blur in a blindingly bright light. I focused on the shapes above me until they resolved into something vaguely human. One had black hair and the other blond. They moved swiftly around me, but I couldn’t make out their faces. There were other blurry figures as well and another familiar voice.
“She’s still alive,” it said.
And my eyes fell back into the darkness.
Was I? I’d drunk the blood, just as Fendrel told me to. I’d managed to save Lydia and Marcel somehow with a . . . power that wasn’t mine. There was . . . a shockwave and the feel of that blue energy wave was still with me. It was a soft hum, a lullaby of sorts that echoed through my mind and body. It sang to me, telling me to close my eyes and rest. I’d wanted to listen to it, but something kept me where I was. Here.
Had the Goddess denied me her heaven? After all I had done, it wouldn’t surprise me. I’d made too many mistakes. My brother was dead because I wasn’t fast enough and I’d brought a stranger into our home. The men in Mightrun died because I didn’t protect them from—didn’t prepare them quickly enough. And Leo . . . he would spend the rest of his life suffering because of what I had done to him. His life remained, but I’d broken him beyond any healer’s ability and punished him for hurting me.
Jonas.
Had he finally succumbed to his injury? The blackness that plagued his body must have reached his kind heart by now.
I’m sorry, Jonas, I failed you again. I couldn’t keep my promise.
I offered a pitiful prayer to the Goddess who would never hear it, that Jonas would be accepted into her heaven. He deserved nothing less.
Would anyone miss me? I suppose if the Goddess herself had abandoned me, I was not worth a single tear. No funerals and no grave to establish my existence.
Then something was pushing me. Pulling me out of the darkness. I tried to reach out to it—to touch it, to feel it. Something warm caressed my hand, then my forehead. It seemed too warm to be real. I wanted to feel more, but it left as soon as I reached out, running away from me. Then, there was another sensation, pulling me backward as I fell into nothingness.
And there was no light or warmth here.
~ * ~
I didn’t know where I was, but I felt as though I was laying on a stone-cold floor. I had a single source of light that was a familiar blue. I stood up, and only then realized that my body didn’t hurt. When I put a hand on my wound, there were no burned flesh, no pain. What had happened to me? A voice said something, faint and far away. I thought it was my name.
“Ellyn,” the voice called again.
I didn’t know that voice. It was deep, masculine, but I couldn’t see the man who it belonged to. I followed the wall toward the blue light. The wall was growing colder as I approached a large room. It was then when I realized where I was. I was back in the cave where we’d found the fountain.
Only this time, someone was here, waiting for me.
His back was turned to me. A large man, he had long white hair and a black cape over his broad shoulders. He slouched forward as if he’d just climbed the mountain, trying to catch his breath.
“Ellyn,” the voice repeated.
“Hello?” I called out to the man.
He didn’t turn to face me or respond. I took a few careful steps toward him then stopped. The fountain was still pouring out its endless, glowing waters, but there was something wrong with it. It looked as though it had been demolished. It was broken in several pieces that fell onto itself and its waters traveled through the floor into nothing. The distorted S was cracked in half. The vial was missing.
I scanned the floor and found the vial shattered into thousands of pieces on the floor beside the man. The blood contained in it, gone. The man said nothing as I approached him, calling out to him once more then stopped again when he straightened his back. Fear ran through me as a chill pass through my body. There was something about this man I should know, but I knew I’d never seen him before.
When he finally turned to me, I froze in horror.
His irises were glowing red, with a golden ring in the center. His skin was gray with black veins reaching from his neck to the outside of his face, and his white beard a bright contrast. That face . . . why did I know his face? The man looked at me as if I had just murdered his family. Rage filled his heart and revenge had taken over his heart. I wanted to run—to get far away from him—but my feet stayed in place. His dark steel breastplate had a marking of a white wolf howling. Blood stained it the wolf’s face.
We stared at each other. He looked like he was contemplating how to kill me. He was planning my death, yet, I still couldn’t force my legs to work. Suddenly, he was right in front of me. He was a tall, heavily muscled man. And I was a tiny rabbit faced with a hungry wolf.
He grabbed me by the throat, lifting me off my feet. I struggled against his grip, but it was futile. He squeezed harder, but I could still breathe. How was he not crushing my throat? I didn’t understand what was happening. His eyes pierced mine. He wanted nothing more than to kill me, but something was stopping him.
With a growl, he threw me against the wall. There was the impact of the wall, but no pain or a crack from my spine breaking in half. That should’ve broken my back. How was I still alive? The man watched me as if expecting me to rise. To fight back. What was he waiting for? I tried to speak, but my voice failed me.
“I will see you again,” he said. His voice was inhuman. Not like the voice I’d heard earlier. It was like something was speaking for him, something . . . not of this world.
He turned away from me, disappearing into shadow like he was the air itself.
I tried to get up, but I froze at the sight of my arms. They were gray, covered in black veins that spread throughout my skin. My nails were twice as long and solid black, rotten from beneath. My hair was loose, passing over my shoulders. It was black with white streaks.
I stood up completely, staring at my arms and hands. Something moved from the corner of my eye and I whirled around to find it. Several pairs of glowing red eyes were watching me as they approached. As I went to grab my daggers, I realized they were gone and my heart skipped a beat. I had nothing to defend myself.
One of the inferniwulves approached me. I stumbled and backed into the wall. It
didn’t attack me and It titled its head as if it was fascinated by me. It stood completely still, its eyes glowing brighter, blinding me. And then, I fell.
~ * ~
I shot up, gasping for breath as I coughed repeatedly. Someone beside me covered my mouth with a cloth and I hacked a tiny puddle of blood into it and then, no more blood came out of me. There person next to me handed me a cup. Not caring what it was, I drank it all, thought it tasted vile. Trying to calm my breathing, I looked around as my vision slowly cleared. I was in the infirmary back at Jared’s palace. Empty beds surrounded me, except the one beside me.
Jonas. His chest raised up and down. He was alive! Tears ran down my face as I tried to move toward him, but then a hand took my own.
Beside my bed was Mia. Without saying a word, I flung my arms around her, gripping her as if she would fly away if I didn’t hold onto her. She returned my embrace with as much urgency and I sobbed.
Mia was with me. Jonas was alive.
I was alive.
CHAPTER 31
Mia told me how I come to be back at the palace. When I passed out, Fendrel and the others traveled with flying speed to return me here. She didn’t know why he’d brought me back here instead of his own palace when I was on the brink of death. But I knew the reason. Fendrel wanted me to be here with Jonas when I awakened. To see if I could save him. Despite his own curiosity, he’d done what I would’ve wanted him to. She told me my heart had stopped several times. The doctor tried to resuscitate me, but I somehow managed to get my heart beating again without his interference. She thought she’d lost me each time.
“Never do that again!” she ordered.
“Yes, ma’am,” I said quickly before she lost her temper.
And I told her everything and I didn’t care about any possible repercussions from Jared or Fendrel. After all of this, she deserved to know the truth—the real truth. Nothing was left out, I told her about Fendrel’s plan, the vial, and our journey to Gnotah Peak. And I finished by telling her that because I survived drinking the blood, I could save Jonas’s life—that I might be able to manipulate the Darkness within his blood and pull it out of him.
“Do you think you can?” she asked.
“I’m not sure how to exactly, but I plan to try.”
Ignoring Mia’s protests, I swung my legs over the bed and rushed to Jonas. He was barely breathing and when I touched his body, it had little warmth. He was losing the battle inside of him and wouldn’t make it by the end of day. The infection had spread to his chest and the bottom of his neck. It was eating him alive.
I moved the blankets to reveal his bandaged leg, which was covered in black blood. I slowly removed the bandage to uncover the bite. The infected area was black. Mia walked around to the other side of Jonas’s bed, watching me.
I placed my hand on the wound, causing Jonas to jerk slightly, though he had no strength to fight my touch. I tried to summon the power within me, calling to it in my mind, bending it to my control. It responded to me with a soft hum and I told it what I wanted it to do.
Save him.
The palm of my hand tingled. When I opened my eyes, small black clouds had formed around my hands. They moved like fire but were cold on my skin. Something pressed into my hand, and I pushed harder on the wound. Jonas’s skin reacted to my touch, seeming to vibrate under my palms.
I willed the power to pull the infection out and it did as commanded. I lifted my hands a few inches above his wound and speckles of black rose from his wound, flowing into my hand.
Slowly, the black veins from his neck retreated from his neck and down his chest until we couldn’t see them anymore. His skin regained its color. But I wasn’t done yet. I focused on the injury, summoning all the infection within his body. Finally, the last speck entered my palms. The shadows around my hands sparked for a moment, cleansing the infection from existence.
I let go of my power and the shadows around my hands faded. I watched Jonas as he stirred in his sleep, moaning in pain. Mia and I rushed to see his face. He moved his head toward the light and opened his eyes. For a moment, they were white from lid to lid but then they bled slowly to hazel.
“Jonas?”
A small smile appeared on his mouth. “There she is,” he said, barely audible.
I cupped his face with my hands and said his name again. His eyes closed as he drifted back to sleep. This time, it was a peaceful rest.
I pulled the blankets back over him.
Mia was staring at me, but in horror or amazement, I wasn’t sure. I said nothing. She put a trembling hand over her mouth.
“You . . . you have the Darkness’ power,” she mumbled. When I tried to speak, she held up a hand and I shut my mouth. She lowered her head as if she were praying and kissed her hands. “I hope you know what you’ve gotten yourself into.”
I’d known there would be a risk in dipping into this power, but all I’d been able to focus on was Jonas. Saving his life. And I had saved him, but at what cost? I may have done the impossible. I’d drank the blood of the Darkness and survived, but what had I sacrificed to in the process? What price did I pay to gain this power?
The doors opened loudly and Fendrel, Marcel, Lydia, and Jared walked in. They looked between myself, Mia, and Jonas. Lydia and Marcel smiled for a moment—happy, I guessed to see me alive—but their smiles faded. Jared went to Jonas, felt his forehead then stood straight, staring at me in fury.
Fendrel glanced at Jared who nodded. He turned to me, and there was a mixture of relief and hop in his eyes. It was a sharp contrast from the anger in Jared’s.
“You survived,” Fendrel said.
The others stared at me as if they needed to hear my voice before they could accept that I was standing here with them.
“I did, and I pulled the infection out of Jonas. I think he’ll be all right,” I said, trying to focus my eyes anywhere else but his. There was something in his eyes that made me uncomfortable. I noticed his hands mindlessly twitching as if he wanted to reach out to touch me.
I wasn’t sure what they expected me to say or do. They were looking at me as if I were nothing but a ghost—some ghost of what I was before.
Lydia was the first to speak. “Ellyn, your hair.” She pointed.
I looked down at the traces of my hair over my shoulder then pulled a handful in to my line of sight. My golden locks were gone, replaced by raven-colored strands. That dream . . . was it real?
My hands and nails looked the same as before. My skin was lighter, but wasn’t the gray I had seen in my dream. And my hair wasn’t streaked with white. Still, I trembled, stepping back. What had happened to me?
~ * ~
Jared, Fendrel, and I went to the study. This wasn’t good, but it was necessary. I was the first to survive the blood of the Darkness. This was something no one had prepared for—not even me. I’d done it to save Jonas, and also managed to save myself. My breathing was easier, my coughing had ceased.
I’d been raised from the brink of death. I’d come back restored. Reborn. And stronger than ever before.
The three of us sat in Jared’s study. I looked over at Fendrel to see how he was taking it. He was serious, but his eyes were bright. He was happy to see me alive. Perhaps even happier that the blood had done exactly as he’d hoped Did he know what consequences we would face now?
“I don’t even know where to begin,” Jared snapped, as if he could barely hold back his temper. I swallowed, preparing for it. “King Fendrel, while I respect you, you had no right to bring Ellyn into your games. You risked her life to take her on one of your little hunts of finding one of the blood vials. Do you have any idea what you’ve just brought to our kingdoms? To all of Armea?”
“I gave her a chance at life King Jared. Did you even know that she was dying? That your precious little savior was suffering from the same illness as her brother?” he said, sounding almost amused by Jared’s fit.
Jared’s eyes widened then
shot directly towards mine, hoping Fendrel was lying. “It’s true. Dr. Manley said I only had a month to live. There was no cure for what I had,” I explained.
“Why didn’t you tell me? I could’ve found you the best doctors—”
“There was no cure! I did plan to tell you, but after the attack on Mightrun, I couldn’t do it. Your people were more important for you to focus on. How can you expect me to add to that by telling you I was dying?” I snapped, interrupting him. My heart racing. I did this for myself. It was my choice to make.
“That blood could’ve killed you!” he yelled, standing up from his chair.
I matched his stance, looking up at him.
“I was dead anyway. Jonas got hurt because of my illness—because I was too weak. He was going to die if I didn’t go with Fendrel. It was the only way I could save him. The only way I could’ve save anyone who suffered the inferniwulves bite. I didn’t just do this for myself. I did it so I can help you—help your people,” I yelled into his face.
Jared said nothing. His chest rose as he breathed heavily. He gripped the desk so hard the wood creaked under his hands.
I stood there, waiting for him to argue. I’d made my choice, and I didn’t regret it. I’d done what I had to do, and now, with my new abilities, we might be able to save his people.
“As much as I love to watch a lover’s quarrel, this isn’t solving anything,” Fendrel said.
Jared and I looked at him. We each lowered our heads for a moment before sitting back down. He was right. Yelling at each other wouldn’t solve nothing.
He clapped his hands together. “Now that’s over with, we can get down to business. We need to start your training, Ellyn.”
My eyes shot to Fendrel’s smiling face. “Training?”
Fendrel opened his mouth to say something, but Jared interrupted him.
“No, I don’t want her to use this power. It’s evil. It would destroy her. No one could survive using such evil power—not without it consuming their very souls.”
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