51. Chapter Fifty-One
Chapter Fifty-One
A knock came from the door.
“Sapphira,” Nyx called and I couldn’t remember if I locked the door or not. Pretty sure I did. I gripped the moonstone dagger tighter and pressed down.
“I’m coming in.”
No, she wasn’t.
“I’m right where I want to be. I’ll strike down anyone who dares enter this room,” Rune said in my head and I nodded. He’d keep me safe while I continued working on my plan.
The door opened and the light from the hall washed into my dim room.
“Sapphira?”
I guess the door wasn’t locked.
Finishing the final letter in the wood and I looked at my work with pride. Surely, I’d know what the message meant if I’d forgotten everything. It was so clear.
Climbing out from my wardrobe, Nyx’s mouth fell open as we stared at the words carved into wood behind the pushed aside dresses. Nyx ran to close the door to my room and locked it.
“Okay, I’m worried. I was really worried before, but now I’m… if I’m being honest scared, Sapphira.”
Why was she acting like this? All I wrote was He knows.
He’s coming for me. Must split it. Must hide it.
He knows. He’s coming. Sleep. Sleep. Sleep.
The darkness is coming. A few times. I couldn’t come out right and say, “Verin is a villain and he’s consuming magic using the Heart Tree, go get him.
” What if he searched my room and figured out my plan?
“You need to fix that face, Princess,” Nyx said and I scoffed.
“You need to fix your face.” I laughed but she wasn’t laughing with me. Instead, her fingers covered her mouth, her gaze roamed over me, taking in the wild look in my eyes, and the veins.
“You didn’t say anything, did you?” I sighed then sat the on the messy bed.
She slowly followed me, taking in everything, more than I wanted, and fully seeing this person I’d become.
Verin’s poison was ripping me apart, but at least I’d kept it hidden in this room.
Eventually I’d have to leave to make sure Verin’s army failed, that he failed.
That my blood changed something, perhaps neutralized his poison in some way.
I had so much power in my essence, in my blood. Including his.
“Tell me everything, please, Princess. As your friend, I need to help you.” Tears welled in her eyes as she sat beside me and hesitantly placed her hand over mine. Her calming powers flowed into me, and I closed my eyes, feeling like I could take a deep breath without my bones hurting.
“Verin poisoned me, and I’m dying,” I said and lifted the moonstone dagger still in my free hand.
“I met Celestine’s ancestor in Crystoria.
The Magrithia lady I mentioned.” At least I think I mentioned her.
“She told me how to save myself from that fate but Verin’s army might already be here and using a potion he made and a ritual Celestine gave him to consume all the magic from Heart Tree tonight.
There’s not enough time for me to take out my core, heal, put it back in, and fight him.
So, I did what I could to sabotage his poison by dropping a little of my blood in it. ” I sucked in a big breath of air.
She gasped. It truly is a gasp-worthy tale.
“It still smelled like cinnamon and looked dark, so I don’t think he’ll notice. Now, I’m leaving clues behind in case I forget or become sad after I’m healed, because that’s a few of the side effects, you know?” She definitely knew all about them. Everybody knows about the side effects.
“And then I’ll say goodbye to everyone and see how what happens. The plan was to give us more time to fight him another day. Like Celestine said. However long it takes.” Unless that was a voice in my head. It was hard to tell the difference.
I think only six hours had passed since my time in Verin’s room, but my curtains were closed. Had the sun come up already? If it did, I needed to execute the next stage of my plan.
“Okay, okay. I’m gonna roll with this, and accept that everything you’re saying is true, as wild and impossible as it sounds,” Nyx said. “However, I think you need a better plan.”
I looked at her with a frown. It was the best plan I could come up with in the circumstances.
Nyx blew out a breath and squeezed my hand.
“Verin’s somehow using a potion on the tree.
You said days ago that he was trying to consume all magic.
Logically that tracks since the Heart Tree is said to be the source.
” I nodded along with her repeating what I said.
“You are poisoned and dying, and somehow you can magically take out your core. Which should kill you but somehow you say it’ll heal you. ”
“Make me human. But possibly a sad, or tired, or forgetful one,” I corrected and she pursed her lips.
“Okay. You become human, and after the poison magically dies, you can put your core back and be a Fae again?”
I gave her a thumbs-up. She was so good at this, handling it much better than I had at first. Although, she wasn’t the one who had to stab herself in the chest and rip out her core. So that made this easier to swallow when it wasn’t you.
“And it’s all happening at the same time.
Because Verin is poising a tree with something you tampered with soon.
So, there’s no time to waste in case he becomes this all-powerful person with all our magic inside him.
Does that mean you’d be stuck as a human if your core was outside your body when that happens? ”
She asked an interesting question. One I didn’t have the answer to, but it made sense. Would my core be useful outside my body if magic was stolen by Verin?
“I’m not sure. Maybe I could put it in a box like the letter and ring, and stuff I hid on the roof.” It could work.
“I like where you’re going but I don’t think a box would be enough to protect what I’m assuming is a crystal with all your powers stored inside. You would need something stronger, like diamond, or… I don’t know. A crystal with evil repelling energy.”
I’d read so much about gem properties in Gregory’s notes, they’ve blurred together.
Gems were so unique in the frequencies they emitted.
Diamond was strong, sure, and radiated clarity.
Before the poison, my sapphire gave me great intuition.
My father’s onyx core was a powerful protector against negative energy.
A shield if one were having nightmares, which I should have asked him to give me a little nugget to place under my pillow for after dark.
Wait.
“Onyx! My father’s onyx could shield my power. I’ll put my core in an onyx box and maybe make a key or something only I can open it with.” Yes, this was good, I liked this plan. It felt right, like I was actually going to defeat Verin with it. He’d never see this coming.
Nyx nodded, her purple hair swishing gently with the movement. She looked so beautiful, while I’m sure I resembled a troll instead of a princess.
“I like where this is heading but there’s a few problems I can see,” she said with a frown. “One, if you do this, what’s to stop him from killing you as a human? Two, what if someone steals the box or destroys it?” She had good points and I couldn’t think of any answers for them.
Moments later, she snapped her fingers and smiled.
“I’m gonna slather you with makeup to cover those… uh... delights.” She was looking at the black veins in my hands and neck. They nearly covered my whole body.
“Then we are gonna talk to your parents. I have a plan, but we’ve gotta move. Can you do that?”
I nodded.
“Okay, let’s get a move on. Time is wasting.”