by Millie Burns
King Bryant nodded, giving Blade a conspiratorial wink. He then took his beautiful wife by the hand, leading her to the dance floor. They floated about the room as if they were dancing on air. Rainbows of Light swirled around the ceiling, pulsing in time to the music.
Ravyn sighed and turned her back on her enchanting parents, still so much in love. She was happy to escape to the cool quiet outdoors. Beneath the glowing moon and sparkling stars, Ravyn and Blade walked hand in hand, a new chapter beginning in their lives.
Epilogue
Whoosh, thud, whoosh, thud. Zelera opened a gritty eye to find herself consumed in complete and utter blackness. Her stomach lurched into her throat as the world she found herself in rolled and lurched beneath her. Fighting the confusion, she grasped for the Darkness that welled within her, finding nothing, nothing but a gaping hole where the awesome terrible power had teemed within her. She felt worn and used, a hollow shell. She opened her mouth to scream but then snapped her lips tight together to battle the bile that burned in the back of her throat. She groped about the walls caging her in, her hands scraping along rough timber, sharp splinters dug into her palms. Fury rose like a fire consuming her from the inside out, her pale cheeks warmed in blotchy splotches. Lurching with the rocking beneath her feet, she fell into a door, catching the handle as she slammed into it. It swung open, vomiting her out onto a ship’s deck.
The ship sailed without crew. No man tended the sails or tiller. An angry red streak burned across the sky, a new day breaking. On the horizon, she spied land. The ship closed the gap, the shore looming nearer with each ragged breath she took.
Exiled.
Zelera eyed the desolate shore.
“Rasport,” she spit. She heaved herself forward to clutch the rail, supporting her weight on legs that meant to give.
“You should have killed me when you had the chance,” she screamed shaking her bony fist at the sky. “This isn’t over. I know you’re watching. I will return one day, stronger than before. You know nothing of the power of the Darkness. I will return. And you will regret the day you were born!”