Light Burned (Realm of Four Kingdoms #3)

Chapter One Ethan

Chapter One

Ethan

The sky deepens into a silky indigo as night falls across the Kingdom of Mountains.

The battle has been raging hard and brutal for hours.

Exhaustion envelops me like an ominous shadow, but I crack my neck and swing my axes with sharp flicks of my wrists, flinging the blood off the blades.

The enemy soldiers flinch and scurry back, and I flash them a menacing grin.

Captain Ha, the head of the royal guards, plants his feet wide at my left and crosses his tree-trunk arms over his chest. At my right Jihun, my brother in every way that matters, wipes his long sword on his armguard, then stabs the tip into the dirt ground.

The soldiers jump and scamper some more. The poor fools have no fight left in them, but they still outnumber us fifty to one.

I locked up my father, the former King of Mountains, mere hours ago. It didn’t take long for his loyal general to lay siege on the Shinsi Palace in his name. And Jihun and I joined the royal guards to hold the line outside the audience hall.

A part of me wishes I hadn’t, damn my duties as the King of Mountains.

I left Sunny in the dungeon with my father, and I haven’t seen her since. While I’m glad she isn’t caught up in the fray, it’s not like her to shy away from a fight.

Where is she?

My skin tightens with a growing sense of wrongness. If she had a choice, she would be by my side right now.

“Do you surrender, General Shin?” I shout across the vast courtyard.

“Not until I have your head on a spike.” He waves his fist in the air, then in a fit of temper, he kicks and screams at the soldiers around him. “Go kill him, you worthless fools. All of you. Go!”

“Your Majesty”—Jihun half turns toward me, keeping his eyes on General Shin—“please retire to the audience hall and get some rest. We will subdue this uprising when reinforcement arrives.”

“How long until they reach us?” I subtly shift my weight from leg to leg to relieve the aches in my battle-worn body.

“They are a half day’s ride away.”

“I don’t have half a day,” I growl. Something went wrong in the dungeon. I need to get to Sunny.

“Your Majes—” he begins.

“I am ending this now.” I cut him off. “Are you with me, Jihun?”

“Always.” He doesn’t hesitate to give his support, even as a muscle jumps in his clamped jaw, frustration in every line of his face.

“Thank you.” I clap a hand on his shoulder. What I am about to do will sap me of what strength I have left, and he knows it. But I need to find Sunny before I lose my mind. I turn my grim gaze on the enemy. “Give me some room.”

Captain Ha backs up without question and orders his men to keep their distance.

After a mutinous pause, Jihun walks away to stand with the royal guards.

When my people are safely behind me, I cross my axes—one golden, one silver—in front of my chest, then slash them down, drawing an X in the air.

They vanish before my fists fall to my sides.

I wouldn’t want to misplace the true crown of the King of Mountains.

With a deep inhale, I step toward the enemy soldiers. Many of them look too young to be twenty-four years old, the age the Shinbiin come into the peak of their powers and become nearly immortal. I don’t want to hurt these young soldiers, but I don’t have the luxury of second-guessing myself.

I need to find Sunny, and I have to get past them to go to her. They will fall, because she always comes first.

The gi of Mountains rushes through my veins and sings in my blood. I close my eyes and coax the vibrant life force toward my heart’s center, concentrating the gi into a single point. Sweat beads on my forehead, and my body trembles as I struggle to contain the growing power.

Almost there.

“What’s going on?” The anxious question bursts from a soldier at the front and spreads like wildfire across their formation. “What is he doing?”

When my entire chest beats with power, I open my eyes at last, casting a green glow on their terrified faces.

The silver gi of Sky swirls within me, fortifying the magic, but it’s the green gi of Mountains that pounds to be released, burning in my eyes.

I press the base of my open palms together and extend my arms out in front of me.

With a shout, I discharge the power in a pulsating stream through my hands, even as I grit my teeth to hold back its full might. The magic grows and spreads like a green tidal wave and rams into General Shin’s army. Silently, the soldiers fall, row after row, like a well-arranged domino set.

I grunt as I abruptly cut off the stream of magic. That couldn’t have taken more than five seconds, but it wasn’t a second too soon. My arms shake as I lower them back to my sides, my chest heaving with labored breaths.

I stare across the sea of unconscious soldiers. Unconscious, not dead. I want to crow with triumph. I don’t know how I dampened my magic—gut instinct and desperation probably had something to do with it.

Either way, I did it. I spared the lives of my enemies. Brute strength without control doesn’t make you powerful. It makes you a brute. With both strength and control, I feel truly powerful for the first time—like I’m worthy of this power.

It’s ironic that I can hardly stay upright as my head spins violently. I almost plant my hands on my thighs, seeking purchase to drag air into my lungs. But I can’t show weakness. Not now.

I left General Shin standing because he cannot concede defeat if he’s unconscious. Unfortunately, I see the flaw in my plan too late as the edges of my vision darken.

Well, shit.

I can’t accept his surrender if I’m unconscious.

“I got you.” Jihun is at my side before my knees can buckle, his grip firm on the back of my arm.

“Perfect timing.” I lean imperceptibly against him, inhaling a proper lungful of air, and the vertigo passes.

“General Shin.” My voice sounds firm and steady, if not as loud as before. “Do you—”

The general falls to his knees before I finish my question. “Please show mercy, Your Majesty.”

Ah, that’s right. General Shin doesn’t know his soldiers are alive. I doubt he cares much about his men’s well-being. But he thinks I killed them all and will do the same to him if he doesn’t yield. I’ll take that.

“Captain Ha, show General Shin”—I jerk my chin toward the sniveling general—“to his new accommodations.”

“With pleasure, Your Majesty.” The captain bows low, then motions for two of the royal guards to follow him. They stumble after him, throwing frightened glances my way.

Confusion lines my forehead until I realize that the royal guards also think I killed the soldiers. Can I blame them? They’ve been under my father’s ruthless regime for centuries. How can they be sure I’m not like him? I have to earn their trust.

“Captain Song”—I address Jihun formally for the benefit of the guards—“have the enemy soldiers restrained before they regain consciousness.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” He doesn’t look surprised—just proud. I nod at him, my chest tight with gratitude. Then he faces the royal guards and commands, “Secure the soldiers. Work quickly.”

Across the courtyard, Hailey, our resident jeoseungsaja, clips Captain Ha’s shoulder as he leads General Shin away from the royal audience hall.

“I’m sorry,” she pants, but she doesn’t slow down to hear the captain’s reply, instead making a beeline toward me. My heart gives a sickening lurch when she reaches me, clutching her side. “Your Majesty—”

“Catch your breath first,” I interrupt her, not ready to hear what she has to say. Sunny is not with her. It can’t be good news.

“Are you okay?” Jihun has the wherewithal to ask.

Hailey nods as she gulps in more air. “But I don’t think this could wait.”

“What happened?” I brace myself.

“Sunny’s gone.” She bites her trembling lip, then blows out a shuddering breath. “She went to the Mortal Realm to stop Daeseong from killing the thousand humans he has kidnapped.”

Everything goes out of focus, and my ears ring with the high-pitched sound of someone flatlining. I lock my knees so they don’t buckle under me.

“Where?” My voice is unrecognizable, harsh and feral.

“I took her to the entrance to the Gray Void.” Hailey hikes her chin up. “I couldn’t stop her, so I helped her.”

I take a stumbling step forward, and Hailey backs away. With an impatient shake of my head, I squeeze her shoulder to let her know I’m not angry with her. Sunny is a force of nature. She cannot be stopped. I know that, and yet . . .

She might still be here. I have to find her. I take a calming breath and blink hard to clear my vision. Taking down General Shin’s army depleted me, but I dig for whatever dregs of power I have left.

Lend me your strength, Mountains.

“Where is the Gray Void?” I manage to rasp.

“Just outside the city walls . . .” Hailey shoots a panicked glance at Jihun.

I don’t wait to hear what he has to say. The gi of Mountains flares in my veins and flickers over my skin as I run until I’m a blur in the streets. I don’t know what I’ll do if I find her.

I can’t leave and abandon my kingdom . . . my people, but she can’t stay. The very fate of the worlds is at stake. She is the only one who has a fighting chance of stopping Daeseong and the Amheuk, an ancient force of darkness.

I’ll think about that when I find her. In this moment, all I want is to hold her in my arms and tell her I love her.

I love you more than anything, Sunny.

A growl rips out of my throat as I push myself faster, and a teardrop slides across my temple and flies into the air. I streak past the city gates, and I hear her—a cry of pain.

“Sunny,” I roar, and I race toward her voice.

My neck muscles strain tautly, near their snapping point. I taste blood in my mouth as my lungs burn. I don’t need to fucking breathe. Sunny is hurting, and I have to find her. She needs me.

But I feel myself slowing down, no matter how I urge my body faster. I’m too weak. I’ve pushed myself too hard. I stumble as I force my legs to keep moving. Pain rips a low moan out of me, but I don’t stop—I won’t stop until I’m at her side. I have to tell her.

I love you more than life.

I see her at last. She stands in the distance—a speck on the moonlit hill. With the last of my strength, I stumble toward her.

“Sunny,” I shout, but only air rattles past my lips. I watch in horror as she takes a faltering step toward the Gray Void. Then another. My hand reaches out for her as my legs give out, and I fall to my knees. “Please. Stay.”

But . . . she is already gone.