Chapter 12
CHAPTER
TWELVE
Interesting, they made it through the storm.
I feel the moment they step foot on my land.
There are five of them. I taste the air and their magic, knowing what they are without seeing.
I felt their powers far off the shore of the ancient land I am never to step foot on again, and I wondered if they were seeking me like so many other fools have before.
They will face the same fate they did. It doesn’t matter what they want—it’s all basically the same thing.
Awaiting their presence, I prowl through my chambers.
The moss and flowers bloom as I pass, crawling along the rocky walls and ceiling, then hanging down and offering me their comfort.
Stepping up over the crooked black rocks, I turn and flare out my coat as I sit on my throne carved from the same rock.
Thorns and moss cover its surface as I lean back and wait.
My world stretches before me, as beautiful as it is deadly.
Closing my eyes, I watch them pick their way across the deadly beaches and walk deeper into my land and its rocky terrain. It’s not long before they find the entrance to my home, and without hesitation, they step inside.
Either they are foolish or brave.
Knowing the creatures of this world, they are both.
They all think they are indestructible simply because they are stronger than mortals, but they are fools. Everything can die, and it does at my hands.
I wait, my eyes closed, as they step into my chamber, their whispers reaching me. “What if he’s not here?”
“He is. I can feel it. Can’t you?” a male responds.
“Shh.” This time it’s the female, her voice hushed. “He’s there.”
Interesting, she saw me before they did. They slowly move closer until they are before me, and only then do I open my eyes, focusing their glowing purple depths on them.
They gasp and fall back, all but her. She tilts her chin up, meeting my gaze.
Even more interesting.
There is fear there, but also determination.
“I am—”
“I do not care,” I respond.
She swallows, her lips thinning in displeasure, then she eyes me before speaking again. Her words are carefully selected and slow. “I have come to find you.”
“Obviously,” I drawl, arching a brow as I wait, wondering what she will say next. Usually, they are begging on their knees by now.
It’s how it works—fear, begging, denial, anger, then death.
It’s the same monotonous routine over and over. The bones of those that have tried before line my walls.
“We—I,” she corrects as she boldly meets my glowing eyes, “need your help.”
“As does everyone who seeks me. Only those who are willing to face death come here. I have helped no one. Why do you think you would be different?”
When she’s quiet. I lean back and watch her, knowing what she sees, but I see my reflection in her gaze. “Nothing to say to that? I expected more from someone willing to tame these beasts and come to my land. How disappointing. Never mind, you may leave with your lives if you go now.”
I look away, dismissing them, but she surprises me when she walks closer to my throne. “No. I am not leaving without you. I need your help. I understand you are angry and tired of this world—”
“You know nothing. You are but a child. I am bound to this land,” I murmur, my black-tipped nails tapping the arm of my throne as I watch them.
The black crawls up my fingers as the land reminds me why I’m here.
“They said it was to keep me safe, but it is a lie. I am as trapped as you are. All this power, yet no escape, so tell me, how could you ever understand?”
“I understand being trapped, chained up, and used.” Her eyes flame with something that captivates me. “I understand the hatred and anger that builds inside. I understand you better than most. Those chains may be gilded, but they are chains all the same. Let me free you of yours.”
Interesting. She awaits my answer, and I find myself reconsidering her.
Standing, I dissolve and appear behind her, trailing my hand above her skin without quite touching her shoulder. “I can taste your fear.”
“I am afraid, but I’m not ashamed of that. Only a fool wouldn’t fear you,” she responds as she glances at me, but I appear on the throne again, and her head whips around to see me. “I won’t let fear stop me.”
“Nobody can free me,” I say. “You would be foolish to even try. I cannot help you.”
“Can’t or won’t?” she retorts as she steps closer.
My eyes narrow in warning. “Careful, do not mistake my lack of aggression for kindness,” I warn.
She steps closer again until she is level with me. “Can’t or won’t?” she repeats.
“It’s one and the same,” I reply, a bite in my words. “Do not push me.”
“Why? You aren’t going to help me anyway. What does it matter if I die here or there?”
My power explodes from me at her challenge. She hits the floor hard as I transform above her. Her companions rush me, but with a flick of my fingers and a thought, they fly out of the cave before I block their entry.
My pincers appear on my back, three on each side like giant spider legs. Their black lengths drip with power as I stab them into the ground and her skin. The air above me turns as black as the veins crawling up my body and face as I change into the monster they made me.
“You ask for death with your insolence,” I hiss, knowing my fangs are showing—ones meant to subdue my prey, not feed.
Their venom fills my mouth, acidic and poisonous as it drips down my throat.
My strength is my weakness, and it burns as I swallow, but I show no signs of pain after years of getting used to it.
“Then do it,” she answers, her eyes hard despite her position. “Kill me. It won’t free you of your nightmare, but it will free me of mine. You think I fear death?” She stares right into my glowing eyes. “I don’t.”
“Then what do you fear?” I ask curiously as my pincers dig into her skin.
“I fear failing my people. I fear the chains that await. Do your worst, Eversor. You can do nothing that has not been done to me before.”
“Enough,” I hiss.
“You are not the only one this world has hurt and turned its back on. You are not the only one who has suffered,” she hisses. “Don’t you want more than this? Don’t you want to be free?”
“You know nothing,” I warn as I lean down and let her see the true horrors of what they made me. “I am a monster, and you do not bargain with monsters.” I free her of my pincers and rise, dragging them back into me as I walk away from her.
She climbs to her feet and looks at me in all of my horrific glory. “You are exactly what I need.”
“I am a monster, a nightmare.” I laugh, the vicious sound filling the air.
“I need a monster, one bigger than they are. You asked me what I want. I want their fear. I want their pain. I want them to suffer like we did. I should just want their death and my people’s freedom, but the truth is I want revenge.”
“Go now, before I take my own revenge,” I murmur as I turn away.
“There is nothing you can do to me!” she screams, and I turn to see her chest heaving, her eyes vivid with a fire that threatens to burn me alive. “There is nothing you can do to me that has not been done.”
“There is plenty more,” I warn.
“No, there isn’t.” She steps towards me as she speaks.
“My body was violated and destroyed. My freedom was taken. My home was demolished. My family was murdered. My people were slaughtered and imprisoned. My court and life lie in tatters. There is nothing more you can do to me.” She swallows as her chin tilts back, and I swear I see a smoky crown on her head that seems to wrap around her.
“There is nothing left for me to lose, so do your worst. Show me your wrath.”
She waits, and I know she will not stop. She will not leave. This stubborn fool would prefer I kill her rather than leave without what she came for—me.
“Do you know why they trapped me here?” I murmur.
“I am too strong. Even the gods fear me. Even evil bows to me. I am nature, wrath, and fury. I am death, and I am life. I have been so corrupted that I exist only in nightmares. Out there, the world doesn’t stand a chance, yet you want to free me?
What makes you think I would not simply leave you as soon as you did and destroy the world for what it did to me? ”
“It’s a risk I will take.” She juts her chin out again. “Besides, I can see it in you. You don’t want that, not really. You’re angry, but not angry enough to do that.”
“You speak like you know. It could all be a trick.” I appear behind her. “Haven’t you been fooled before?” She flinches, and I chuckle. “I am not one of your little monsters to collect, foolish girl.” As I go past her, she catches my hand, digging her nails in. I look from her hand to her eyes.
“I know my soul, and I know this. I could trust you for this. How do I free you? Show me and I will, and if I do, you have to help me,” she demands.
I stare at her for a moment. I will lose nothing if she cannot free me. Besides, she’s interesting, and other than killing her, it’s the only way I can get rid of her. “Very well, as you wish.”
“Vow it,” she demands and holds out her hand. “A blood oath.”
Tricky fool, she thinks that will bind me. For everyone else, it would. Our exchanged blood would force my hand, but I’ve never been controlled by such things. Besides, if I bleed all of mine, the bond will break. I, however, humour her, curious if she can actually free me or not.
Taking her hand, I feel her shiver at my touch, and I meet her eyes.
I give her no warning as my pincer slides out and stabs her hand.
She doesn’t cry out, only winces, and as I slowly pull back, tasting her magic, blood, and memories, I smirk.
I stab my own hand without looking or feeling a thing then cover hers.
Our blood mixes as I press them together until she whines softly.
“I vow if you can free me, I will help you.”
Her breathing is heavy, but she doesn’t make another noise, so I release her hand. My palm is already healed, but I lift it and lick away our blood. She doesn’t avert her gaze, but she does fist her injury.
“How do I free you?” she asks, her voice hoarse.
I walk to the tunnel that takes us down. I could simply disappear and appear there, but I have a feeling she would annoy me until I came back. At the entrance, the runes light up above the door, and I turn back to meet her curious gaze. “Well, are you coming?”
I plunge into the dark, following the tunnel down.
There’s a moment of hesitation, then I feel her behind me, rushing to catch up until she stumbles into my back. My hands catch her before I realise I reacted, and I quickly let her go and wipe them clean before speeding up.
The deeper we go, the hotter it is. This is at the centre of the world, what they call the core, but it’s actually not.
Once we step into the chamber, she is sweating and breathing heavily but still determined. I stride to the edge and point out. “There.”
“What is it?” She has to yell to be heard over the storm. It swirls like a tornado, surrounding the glowing stone.
“That? It is my heart,” I explain as I look at her in time to see her horror. “They tore it from my chest and locked it away here. I cannot leave or I’ll die. If you wish to free me, then you must put it back.”
“That is your heart? How do I even get to it?” she shouts as she stops at my side. “That storm will kill me.”
“If you wish to free me, figure it out.” I disappear then reappear on a rock, lounging back as I watch her.
How many years did I attempt to get it back?
It was foolish, and each time, I woke up weaker.
I tried to use those who came for help, but none could reach it, so I stopped trying, but this stupid girl fists her hands and steps off the edge of the rock without another word, throwing herself into the raging storm that protects my heart.
That captures my interest. I lean forward, straining to see her through the tunnel of wind.
Her grunts reach me, and I can see the blurry silhouette of her slowly facing its wrath.
She slips, and I sigh, knowing she will be lost like the others, but she suddenly crawls forward, dragging herself through the gale.
My head tilts as she makes slow, tortuous movements towards it.
She has travelled farther than most others have.
When she reaches the rock my heart sits on, the storm ebbs enough for me to see her.
She’s panting, shaking, and scared, but she looks up at the beating, glowing rock that is my heart and hauls herself to her feet.
Standing on the jagged edge, she reaches out with both hands, and I hold my breath in hope.
She inches towards it, and when her hands make contact with it, her agonised scream fills the air, and I release my breath.
Just as I thought, she’s just like the others.
Despite her screams, she picks it up, staggering under its weight, and turns to me.
Her hands glow with veins, which will slowly engulf all of her, but this is farther than anybody else has ever gotten.
Her lips are thin, and her jaw clenches as she bites back her pained cries and takes one step forward.
Then another.
She stumbles, dropping to one knee before standing with a grunt and carrying on.
Only a pure soul can reach my heart.
Only one who wishes it no harm nor seeks to control it.
I eye her in fear as she staggers my way. The flesh on her arms burns bright orange. Each second she holds it, the higher it goes, yet she doesn’t stop.
When she reaches me, the fire burning away her skin and melting her arms, she still holds it. I gape, shocked to my very core.
Looking from it to me, she lifts her arms above her head and slams the rock into the ground. It cracks open, turning to dust, and my glowing heart lands in her hands. She gently lifts it to me.
Parting my shirt, I expose my chest, remembering what they said. The cut there that never heals opens, splitting my muscles as she holds my heart above me, and then with one last look at me, she shoves her hands into my chest.
It’s the strangest feeling. I can feel her ripping inside of me, but it doesn’t hurt. Nothing does anymore. She slowly pulls her hands back, holding them out since they probably hurt a lot.
The moment my heart beats for the first time in over a hundred years is the moment her smile tips up her lips, and her eyes slide shut.
I catch her as she collapses, landing hard on my ass as I break her fall. She lies across my arms, her hands and arms ruined, and I simply stare, sensing the truth.
This tricky, pretty fool has done what no other could. She freed me, and with it, she bound me to her. How unexpected.