Chapter 1 #2
Not only was it extremely confusing, but the bits of Arcadia I’d encountered felt as if they had become Endarkened, like an Elemental who had depleted too many times. Like Chrome, or at least how he was supposed to be.
An inky shadow sat around the back corner, swallowing all visible light and sound. It moved toward me, creeping forward, coating everything in its path.
The hilt of my dagger scrubbed against my palm. I squeezed it in anticipation.
“Princess Gray,” a male Cajun accent, drawling and deep like danger wrapped in silk, floated to my ears from within the large ink blot. “I’ve waited years to meet you.”
Even with my heightened vision, I couldn’t see through the darkness seeping across the concrete, inching closer and closer to my feet.
I dropped into a defensive stance, prepared to fight it off with a Kinetic dagger in one hand and an Elemental in the other.
My Elemental and Kinetic magic waited in the wings to assist in whatever way they could.
I refused to retreat a step, unwilling to show any sign of weakness. It was unclear what species I faced, but I learned a long time ago that showing anything less than power and strength meant you were at the bottom of the power dynamic. As a queen, that wouldn’t be me.
Soon, the darkness embraced me, submerging me into its void of emptiness. Blinded, I sought the energy of the intruder. Kinetic.
His energetic source piqued my interest, reminding me a lot of Grim’s ability to absorb energy.
I shoved the Kinetic dagger in my weapons belt and summoned another Elemental one with air to take its place. Orange light from my two blades glowed in the pitch darkness, providing an eeriness within the void.
“Nothing to say, Princess?” the man taunted.
What was there to say? Not like he’d answer any of my questions. I didn’t want to say anything that I’d later regret, so I remained silent.
“Very well, then.” Kinetic blades appeared within the shadow we inhabited, adding their cerulean light to the orange from my daggers.
The electric blue cast a glow onto the intruder’s face, making it difficult to discern what he looked like. I could see enough to know that he was broad and had sharp facial features.
“I’m going to go out on a limb and assume you’re looking for the same person I am,” he started. “Hybrid. Supposed to be dead. Twice.” My heart sank. “I’ve never known someone to escape death quite like Chrome.”
Escape death twice? When was the first? I squeezed my daggers tighter. Very few Kinetics knew of Chrome’s true identity outside of Amethyst, Forest, and Grim. So who was this guy?
Scoffing, I replied, “Well, if you find him, let me know, yeah?”
“If I find him, I’m going to kill him. For good this time.” The promise in his deep voice was smooth.
My darkness that craved violence and bloodshed bubbled to the surface. “That’ll be kind of hard to do when you’re dead yourself.”
The shadow that surrounded us began to dissipate, melting away to reveal a man looking down on me with feline-shaped eyes.
My breath snagged. “Who are you?” I whispered, my heart racing in my chest.
The Kinetic flashed a pearly grin that would melt any normal heart. “You see the resemblance, huh?” he asked with raised eyebrows and a beautiful smile swathed in ambiguity.
I remained silent, taken aback by what appeared to be ghosts from the present. His eyes bore an impossible resemblance to Chrome’s.
“Ah, I see Chrome has been withholding more secrets…” He chuckled, seeming to enjoy my shock.
“What secrets?” I asked, momentarily forgetting that I should be on alert with this man.
With a crooked grin, he replied, “The name’s Shadow. A secret’s favorite hiding place.”
I stepped closer to him, craning my neck to examine his features clearly. His hair blended with the darkness, cropped close to his head on one side with side-swept bangs on the other. “Why do you want to kill him?”
The man raised his upper lip into a sneer, anger burning in his bright amber eyes. “Because he killed me.” He tilted his chin upward to glare down his nose before he laughed sardonically. “Or so he thought.”
“Probably deserved it,” I said with a shrug.
The strange Kinetic bit his bottom lip, angling his head. “Ah, there it is. That fire he loved so much about you.”
I narrowed my eyes, squeezing the hilts of my daggers.
Taking a step closer, he closed the gap separating us.
“Hear me, and hear me very fucking clearly, Princess.” His breath wafted over my face.
“One day, I will break him. So slowly. And not in the ways that Forest did. This time, I’ll make sure he never recovers.
” With the blade of his dagger, he trailed the sharp edge lightly from my cheekbone down to my neck.
“You’re the perfect bait to catch such an elusive man. ”
I flinched at the threat just before thrusting my dagger toward his gut. At the last second, he disappeared in a shroud of darkness, his laughter echoing as the shadow fled the alley, leaving me staring at the space he’d just occupied in disbelief.
I trekked through the woods that led from town into the rural areas of Perry to head back to the Hollow.
Distant hints of the rising sun peeked through the landscape, presenting the faintest of pale light.
It seemed to be nearing seven a.m. The humidity this time of year sucked.
The sticky air mixed with the heat, making me itch as droplets of sweat trickled down my neck and spine.
My clothes were drenched as the sweat clung to every crevice in my body, while vacuuming the air from my lungs it seemed.
Of course, the tug on the bond had gone silent since my encounter with the mysterious Kinetic. I couldn’t help but wonder what else Chrome had been hiding.
I seethed as I crunched through the leaves and used my sword to slice through the branches that hung too low. I’d slid my bracelets in place to mask my energy from being detected by any Kinetics, hoping to make a seamless trek back to the Hollow.
For the millionth time since it happened, I wondered about Cotton and Scarlett, whether they were safe.
The last time I’d seen them, Scarlett had been unconscious in Cotton’s arms from the deprivation in the King’s Palace prisons.
Chrome and I had demanded Cotton take her through the portal we’d created in the Palace prisons after dealing with Amethyst. At the time, I trusted that Chrome knew where they would end up.
If it hadn’t been for Scarlett’s brother, they’d be dead.
When the Kinetics had attacked the Hollow, Cardinal had been there and had sought me out to warn that Scarlett, Cotton, and Hazel were expected to be put to death.
I had suspected he’d been laying a trap, and after the way everything went down at the King’s Palace later that day, I still wasn’t entirely convinced that it hadn’t been.
Cardinal still remained at the Perry Hollow as a guest, but no one completely trusted him.
With every Kinetic battle that cropped up, the others cast a suspicious eye upon him.
Too lost in my thoughts, I didn’t notice the darkening of the woods surrounding me.
I reached my senses out, my insides twisting. Natural wildlife didn’t exist here. No birds chirped. Frogs didn’t call out to the stars. The only sounds belonged to my combat boots traipsing through the stiffened brown leaves.
I paused, looking around me to observe the trees that were now shrouded in a heavy shadow.
Their branches twisted, becoming painted in black.
I knew from experience not to touch anything.
Poison sap dripped from the trees and ran down the trunks, and it took an act from the gods to keep you from death.
I skirted around and through the claw-like branches that seemed to reach for me, being sure to avoid as much contact with them as possible.
It was pointless to waste my magic reserves on putting up an air shield to protect myself.
Whatever was wrong with these trees allowed them to penetrate the shields with ease.
Based on the limited information Orion and I had, we suspected that the sickly magic had something to do with the Tempests, the wicked Arcadian beings who wielded dark magic.
After creeping through this patch of Arcadia for what felt like an hour, I released a stifled breath when I spotted healthy greenery and the distant songs of crickets and cicadas that brought life to the landscape again.
I’d made it back into my world, I realized, recognizing this path in the woods. The Hollow was close.
Exhaustion washed through me, weighing down my limbs and seeping into my bones.
Another hour passed as I pushed myself toward the hillside where the Hollow sat hidden behind the wards.
Onyx had shown me how to leave and enter the gates of the Hollow by having his wards recognize my magic.
So, I released what little I held inside me into the lock, allowing the metal gate to swing open.
When the Elemental King and Queen were killed, Orion—the king’s brother—took control of the monarchy.
Nearly two decades later, Forest declared war.
With the human military on his side, it wouldn’t have been long before the Kinetic armies completely eradicated the Elementals.
In a last-ditch effort to spare his people, Orion broke up the kingdoms from around the world and stepped down as king, allowing the regions to be self-governed.
In response, Elementals formed Hollows—hidden dominions spread out to make it harder for Kinetic abilities to find.
The lodge and cabins that made up our Perry Hollow had once been a luxury resort, but were left abandoned during the war. After Orion and his people found it and moved in, it became the leading Hollow of the Elementals, since their king and queen—Chrome and myself—would eventually reside there.