Chapter 31 #2
I squeezed my eyes shut, feeling exposed as Slate voiced each of my emotions. I didn’t fight the tears that burned my cheeks against the cold wind. Feeling so seen and understood ripped me open again.
“While you’ve been hellbent on restoring Chrome, you’re also pissed off with him for being self-sacrificing and leaving you behind.
But you saw the look in his eyes when he brought us here, Gray.
He won’t be angry, but that almost makes it worse at the same time.
I’d take his anger over his pain any day.
Just as I would for you,” Slate said, wiping the tears from my cheeks as I leaned my head against the rocky wall behind me.
Slate had always been my oasis in such a vicious world.
A place I could always go and hide when things were too much.
He’d never ask questions, just protected me and loved me while thawing that frozen part that seemed ever-present.
I pulled back, analyzing him in a way I hadn’t before.
The veiled tightness around his eyes concealed so much pain, yet shone with so much love.
The cliff shuddered again. This time, I knew I wasn’t imagining it. As if an earthquake trembled, pebbles began to tumble down the towering structure, pinging Slate and me.
Startled, the pair of us shifted away from each other and closer to the balcony’s door. “What’s happening?” I asked, sniffling. “Is this some sort of Druid thing?”
Slate didn’t respond as he scanned the cliff for any clues as to what was happening. “Let’s head back inside.” He grabbed my wrist with one hand and a sword with the other.
“I don’t think our weapons will be of much use here if there is a threat,” I remarked as I stumbled to follow after him.
“It’s better than nothing.”
We were two steps away from the door when it flew open. Chrome loomed in the doorway, shades of his malice promising unyielding vengeance.
“Ah, there you two are,” he said. His shadows extended outward from his body in every direction. “Did I interrupt something?” The number of jet-black veins on his neck seemed to have multiplied since the last time we saw each other.
Slate moved to stand in front of me. “How did you get in here?”
Chrome snorted, his face twisting in disgust. “I like to think I’m quite ingenious when it comes to getting what I want. Wouldn’t you agree, brother?”
“Where’s Brecken?”
He glared at Slate with hatred seeping from his obsidian eyes.
“He’s alive somewhere, defending his precious books.
It’s such a shame, really, because knowledge truly is power.
I hate that a few got damaged so I could get to you,” Chrome said, not sounding apologetic at all.
It seemed that whatever magic Slate had wielded on him to bring him back to himself had worn off already. That was too quick.
“But it seems we all have to make sacrifices every now and then to get what we want. And what I want more than anything is to make you scream for the shit you pulled yesterday. And having Gray watch will make it even sweeter. Because there are always consequences to our actions, right?” Chrome took a step closer to us.
Light ignited from Slate’s palms as he released my wrist, but remained planted in front of me.
With his sword hand, he arched his blade to swipe through Chrome’s shadows.
As if it were a corporeal being, it worked.
A chunk of it dropped to the ground. Then, with his free hand, he flung a ball of silver light at Chrome’s chest, throwing him back against the wall.
Chrome laughed. It was a sinister, chilling sound that felt toxic to the air. I summoned my element and drew upon my Kinetic power as he continued his advance toward us, seeming unbothered by Slate’s attacks.
One of Chrome’s inky shadows lurched forward for Slate, and at the last second, I stepped around him, blasting a stream of blue energy into his chest. He froze, his eyes going wide with shock at my move.
But I knew this wasn’t the real Chrome. I refused to let him fool me.
Adding to the gusts pummeling the cliffside, I directed my element at him, causing a torrential wind to whip around him.
I stood beside Slate, my hair thrashing between the two of us as I formed a tornado with Chrome in its center.
“Gray! Don’t fucking—”
“It’s what the real Chrome would want,” I said, more to myself than to anyone, as I flicked a hand off the side of the balcony, tossing Chrome over the edge and into the sea.
“Let’s go.” Slate didn’t waste a second before he bolted into a sprint, towing me toward the door. When we reentered the Druid kingdom once more, we found it unoccupied, but there was noise down below.
Great, the fucking stairwell, again.
We jogged to the death trap and began our descent. If I didn’t kill myself on these first, I was sure Chrome would eventually kill me for what I’d just done.
Carefully but with haste, Slate and I jogged down the steps, me in front and him behind. If I seemed unsteady, he latched onto me to give me enough leverage to right myself. The further down we went, the louder the battle echoed.
What had Chrome done?
At last, we reached the expansive library that Brecken had brought us into yesterday. At the scene unfolding before us, my mouth fell open, and my heart sank.
No.
A battle waged within the library, sending papers and books sailing throughout. Beings covered in blackened veins moved with striking speed and precision against the Druids, who fought back with equal speed and fluidity.
“Those aren’t the Endarkened, are they?” I asked Slate, horrified, knowing the truth.
Slate shook his head. “No. Worse.” He unsheathed his sword again; the look of confidence at what we were about to face was not inspiring. “Infernals.”