“Stay close,” Troy whispered, his hand brushing against mine. We walked further into the shadows and around a huge, white pillar.
The throne room, strangely enough, was very well illuminated in comparison to the entrance hall. Bright, golden sun trickled in through huge, high, decorated windows, and white, stone flowers crept up the walls, right into the domed glass ceiling. We walked past what seemed like one hundred massive white, sparking pillars. One side of the castle, where the day’s light came in, glowed in perfection. Silver and white light drowned out all the shadows. On the other side where the moon rose, its gorgeous pale glimmer formed long, dark, deep shadows into the corners of the room. Right in the center, stood a dead fountain, which rose up about three stories, reaching for the stained domed roof. As soon as we smelled the same deadly choking scent we all came to a standstill, not uttering a single word.
“Aroen,” Kronan said, his fists tight against his sides.
We all froze and stared at the radiant dark head, skin so perfect it bristled pure goddess. Slowly, she descended white steps, gliding on a black fog that made up the bottom of her obsidian dress. One half of her bathed and shimmered with the light from the large windows above, the other half swallowed by the shadows.
“I knew you would come.” Her voice was alluring and sweet, beautiful even, matching her exterior perfectly. She grinned, lips a crimson red. “I never expected it to be so soon. If I had known, I would have cleaned up a little,” she said, wrist turned out motioning to the dust and ruins of a forgotten castle.
“What do you want, Aroen?” Kronan asked, calmly.
“Hmm, let me see.” Her gorgeous, dark eyes glided over us. “I have what I need, and more. The question is, why are you here?”
He huffed, unimpressed. “You let us live, why?”
“Because, there is one more thing I desire.” Her smiled turned wicked, her hand gliding over her onyx, crystal necklace hanging snugly over her bust. The shimmer from it drizzled down to her hips.
“Desire all you want. No matter what form you present yourself in, I will never be interested.”
She chuckled. “I’ll have to negotiate for it then.” Her eyebrow lifted in amusement.
I looked up to ceilings, high and magnificent, clean lines intertwining above our heads into something like a star pattern cutting into high, glossy windows now coated with a thick layer of white ash.
“Well look what we have here. You come bearing gifts,” Farrow’s sharp voice echoed through from the shadows.
“Where is she?” Troy suddenly interrupted.
“I never said you could talk!” Aroen’s hair was suddenly a black, smoking flame, her eyes flashed obsidian madness. I felt my jaw shudder in horror of how the beauty was transformed to a monster in a mere blink. Is this what my sister will become once fully turned? Precipitously, two flames shot up from the pillars beside us. Anaya gave an angry, painful shrill as we were all knocked to the ground by an invisible wall.
“Please, my lady. You promised.” Farrow bowed.
Aroen sighed. “This one.” She pointed to Troy as he stood helping Anaya to her feet, her hand grasping her side where the fireball grazed her.
Farrow nodded. “What is so special about this one?” The dark queen lifted an eyebrow, her perfect fingers trailing down his shirt. Troy slapped them away, but she just laughed.
“Perhaps I should keep him for myself,” she said with a smirk.
“You don’t get to go back on your word, sister,” a delicate voice said, and from behind a shadowed pillar, a stunning redhead appeared, all dressed in glittering white.
“Thank you, Queen Timotei.” Farrow bowed, keeping a nervous eye on Troy.
“How boring of me, but very well.” Aroen moved between us, the air around her almost sucking us in.
“Thank you, my queen.” Farrow bowed once more. “And now that you have all of this, I will graciously accept my crown.” She straightened, drew a hand over her shiny, raven hair and smiled at me all-knowing.
“Not so fast.” Timotei stopped the guards as they came for Troy.
The redheaded queen came closer, her hair touching her hips in soft, swirling waves. “Something is off. Do you notice how Kronan, Troy, and that one,” she said, pointing to me, “are less affected by our presence?” She turned to Aroen who nodded, scrutinizing me, then leaned in to smell Troy.
“What? Eww!” Troy said, moving back.
“There is something she has perhaps left out. Isn’t there, Farrow?” Queen Timotei asked, baring sparkling teeth.
“I have told you everything I know,” Farrow insisted.
We all knew she was lying.
“Yes, yes, yes. The blonde girl is a powerful carrier, the one we all seek. But, you never told us about the dark-haired girl with glowing, sapphire eyes, and why she thinks so freely. I can almost feel her thoughts move, her heart beats deeper than the others. She, like Kronan and his son, are unfazed by our...”
“Tricks?” Kronan interrupted.
Aroen moved closer, her hair like black, silk wrappings. “Careful, old warlock. I have your warriors, and the last of the Pures within my web. I would not be so eager to defy me.”
“And I would not be so cocky, if I were you,” Troy retaliated, wiping his arm across a sweaty brow.
“Why is that, handsome?” Timotei queried, moving to the other side of him.
Troy stood staring ahead, not meeting either queens’ eyes as their gazes raked over him.
“You give me what I want. I give you what you want,” he said, plainly.
“I don’t think I will give you what you seek. I have been searching for eternities to be in the position where I am now. With her, and with Legentium, I can rule over all the Shadow.”
“Now, that’s where you are wrong.” Troy crossed his arms.
“This one is going to be a problem,” Timotei hissed. “Why, Farrow, are you hiding something from us?” Timotei was suddenly behind her, sharp nails scratching at the soft flesh of her throat. Farrow’s eyes dulled in fear.
“I’ll slit your throat, and watch you die over and over again, until you tell me what you know. I can smell it on him, and you know what it is, don’t you?” Queen Timotei shoved Farrow’s delicate jaw forward with long, sharp fingernails so that she was facing Troy directly.
“He is bound to her,” Farrow said softly.
“Farrow, no!” Kronan admonished sternly, while advancing. It happened like a swift game of chess. Kronan moved forward, Aroen moved right attempting to hit Kronan, but he ducked under the smoking fist. Then, slamming Timotei, she glided left and forward, suddenly behind Kronan, and knocked him from his feet. Troy pulled and threw death stars, which exploded on the pillars beside us. I ducked, pulled Rion and Anaya down with me, but Dave and Tatos remained still, perfectly still. Smoke filled the air, choking us. One by one, I watched them all fall like scattered pieces, as if the entire checkered board was knocked over by a tempered child in the hope of throwing the game. I lay on my side, catching the breath that had escaped me in a loud thump. The black smoke emitting from the tips of Queen Aroen’s bellowing dark hair, poisoned the air around us. I turned over on my back – everything slowly faded. The big star in the domed sky eclipsed, the beautiful white sunlight bouncing off the pillars simply faded into golden rays, painting the walls in hues of oranges and peaches. I kept my grip on Rion’s hand as the thump in my head screamed, wishing we had never come on this impossible mission.
“What trickery is this?” Aroen shouted, upon finding Troy and Kronan suddenly beside her. I sat up as smoke pulled back and the beautiful colors swam down the walls, touching one side of the room, bleeding into the darkness. Taking a deep breath of clean air, the effects from the poison released me.
“You have no idea what we are capable of!” Troy shouted back.
I found my legs, pulling the dagger from my boot as I stood. I thought I imagined it, but it was real. Abruptly, the shadows started moving and transformed into
Shadowing souls with dark, hollow eyes and hungry claws coming at us. I called to Rion to get up, but he lay unmoved. Queen Aroen’s laughter punched through the darkness, and settled with a bone crushing chill inside of me. I went over to Anaya who lay pale and still, slumped against a sparkling pillar. I looked around, Dave, Tatos, and Rion, all perfectly motionless. Is this what she meant by her effects on the others?
Queen Aroen spoke, “I know what you’re hiding from me Kronan. I can sense the young one needs to be turned.” Her eyes squinted in my direction.
My gaze snapped to hers. I looked back and the shadows had receded, pulled back like dark smoke, twisting, turning and dissipating into the shadowed side of the vast hall. I could hear them, waiting, wanting, calling from the darkness.
Timotei moved like an orange and black flame, her hair licking at Troy’s face. “And this one, your son, I have seen what Farrow has shown me through her memories. I just need to figure out what it means,” she said, her chuckle filling the air with a thick, sticky malice, which clung to my insides bitterly.
Aroen shrugged, her black, lace dress hung over her shoulder, embellished with gorgeous dark crystals. I kept my distance as her eyes fell to mine.
“It is him!” Timotei shouted, pulling Aroen’s stare the other way.
“What?” Aroen asked, staring between the two men on either side of her, her guards’ blades suddenly aimed at their necks.
“He is the Ignited one.” She smiled wickedly. “It’s not a myth to pull us from our quest.”
Troy kept his hard stare on Farrow who had taken her place on top of the white stairs, walking circles around the three, rock thrones nervously.
No one was sure what it meant, but now I was sure it was way more than we had originally thought. The smoke from the shadows moved up and over the walls, slowly clouding over the star shaped roof, fogging up the entire room in a dark, blue haze. Twilight fell in shades of gray, saturating the entire world with a palpable fear.
“Check mate!” Aroen said, suddenly right in front of me, her face so beautiful and frightening. Foreboding, dark, glistening eyes captured mine. She took from my memories what she needed.
With all the odds against us, there was just no other way. I knew exactly what we were all risking by taking her to Legentium, and those fears had all blossomed as we found ourselves in the precise position we had wanted to avoid. Now I had to give myself in order to save the others. A coward’s game. My breath left me when I saw her. Damn, she – all and every part of her will forever be my poison, my weakness, my bitter sweet mistake. This part was the worst. Watching and not being able to do anything about it. I was bound by an oath I did not understand, cursed as a guide never to intervene. But as Ava’s clone stepped in front of me, it was instant. The pull took me. My eyes fell upon her, and her gravitational Shadowing magic worked its way into me. The madness had finally devoured me whole. I saw Ava, not her clone – to me, it was Ava. Her beautiful pouting lips, gorgeous gray eyes, her scent, her skin, her golden hair. The Truth Seekers’ warnings may have been right. I was about to fall. I should have gotten to her in time when she had shifted in the Night Forest, I know. But I hadn’t, yet another hard pill to swallow. My father pushed and penetrated my thoughts, cutting off the alluring effect the Shadowing had on me. With a kind of heaviness, I drew my enchanted blade. I had to take someone out. The four women together, linked by the dark presence of the Shadow, surrounded us like an impenetrable web of deceit and lust. Ava’s clone, Farrow, Aroen and Timotei, gorgeous goddesses, beckoning to us. I looked back, Maya was hovering over Rion and Anaya. David and Tatos lay fanned out on the floor. The queens’ siren magic had entrapped them. Father pushed into my head again to not look at the cloned Ava, it was my only weakness, only she could siren me as her Ignited one, as her soul guide it anchored me without the hope of release. I was bound to all of Ava, in all my ways. My eyes flashed my full intentions.
“Troy, no!” Father shouted.
It was too late. I closed my eyes and spun out of the light, and into the dark shadows.
“Who’s going to stop me, Dad? You?” I spat back. Each time I saw him in his new gear, I was mad. Mad that he had pretended to be someone else my entire life to protect me. Mad that it had to even be that way.
“You will kill her!” Dad was shouting.
“I already have!” I shouted back, feeling the shadows reach for me.
I hated that my love for it had us all noosed, and it should have been my curse alone. My hand shook, and for the first time I attempted something I swore I would never do again. My entire body trembled as I conjured a wrath hex. Darker, more powerful magic was needed for these creatures. Thick, black smoke exuded from Aroen’s inky hair, reaching into the shadows for me, choking the room and all in it. As I stood waiting, a wide grin spread across my face, it was the perfect time to use what was a part of me, because the one I was about to use it on was the perfect target. I would shun it no more. I locked in on the rhythm of Ava’s clone’s heartbeat, thumping softly through the darkness. I knew she was the best weapon we had against them. And, I also knew I could use my magic without bounds, because she was only an imitation of Ava. Lucky for us, the imitation imitated her abilities perfectly enough. I smelled the two queens move. I used my eyes the way a predator would, seeking heat through the darkness – warmth rose from their skin, it was faint, but I sensed it. My senses were more intense than ever. I could feel the air stir before me as they moved through thick, dark smoke. One was behind me, the other came straight for me, and then they changed positions. They were fast, but I was faster. My ears tuned to the slight beat of their frozen hearts, zoned in on the very flow of their Shadowed blood. That’s when I heard my father swallow when someone gripped him by his throat. For that one split second, I was not focused. Aroen was on me, nails digging and ripping into my chest. Maya started screaming. Aroen tried her best to push me against the pillar behind us, managing to use my body to hit Dad off his feet. It was now over for her. My legs locked around her body and I slammed her to the ground, face first. I laughed as my foot landed on the back of her head. The other queen shrieked, her red hair emitting a radiant flame, which worked to my advantage and allowed me to see each arrow as they came flying past me in the dark. Aroen’s entire body became a black flame. My favorite denims singed. I only got madder, but I had to wait for the last moment to release the hex, clenching my fists so tight they cramped right into my arms. I kept it in, though, building into a solid mass inside of me. It was thrilling, even though I knew how dangerous it could be if I was wrong and my plan failed. I shook my head, every bone in my body knew it was the only way out. There was a reason for all of this. I kicked Aroen down, and with my other leg, I swiped at Timotei as she swirled past, her nails ripping into the back of my shirt.
I chuckled. “You missed again.”
My leg connected with Aroen’s stomach. I was somewhat surprised at the force it took to take her out. The last thing I expected was the brutal force that hit my body full on as I took flight. I turned in the air, throwing some death stars in the direction the blast had come from. Momentarily, I was on the ground, but up again as I heard Dad’s growls. The death star exploded, the room a flash of radiant whites. I saw Ava’s face through the cloud of smoke, one glimpse of her gorgeous eyes, and I released it. As she watched me, I watched her, the hex hit her straight off her feet. I yelled for anyone who was near to take cover, hoping that they would hear me. Maya moved her hand, pulling a nearby wooden door off its hinges, and used it as a shield to cover herself and the others. I closed my eyes, didn’t want to watch the effects of the wrath hex on her, but I felt it as she absorbed it and then released it back. A thick wall of pain and stars knocked the very breath from me.
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