Chapter 28
Seda
The heady sandalwood air around Seda was misty once more, and she immediately knew where she was. She could see snakes slithering around her and hear the distant cries of people.
“Come out, Kalon,” she seethed. “Give me my necklace!” She looked all around her, only seeing the glistening black snakes surrounding her every step. She took a cautious step forward, trying to avoid stepping on one in case it sank its fangs into her.
“I’ll give it back soon,” came his husky voice.
Kalon appeared through the mist, moving slowly with purposeful grace. He wore a torn black tunic that accentuated his muscular abdomen, his corded arms bearing black snake tattoos that swarmed up to his shoulders.
She narrowed her eyes at him, hating herself for noticing his stupid chiseled face and the breadth of his shoulders. He was now just a symbol of betrayal.
“Where is it?” she asked with an undertone of acid, taking another step forward.
“It’s in Noctrya,” he replied with a smirk, and her eyes lingered on the cruel perfection of his lips, the same ones he had kissed her with. She sneered with disgust. How could she have fallen for his tricks?
“Why am I here?” She flared her magic once more, allowing it to churn and spark along her fingers.
He looked down at them and smirked. “Oh, Seda, please electrify me again. Last time it felt so good I almost ca…”
“Stop!” Seda yelled, feeling rancor churn in her stomach. “Why am I here?” she asked again. “Why did you steal my necklace?”
He stepped closer to her and slowly raised his hands to her hair, running his fingers through it, his smirk fading as a look of seriousness overtook his features.
“Your hair’s finally changing back,” he said, his words holding a tenderness she didn’t want to understand.
His touch infuriated her, and she quickly pulled away from him.
He sighed. “I had to, Seda. The moonstone’s yours. It always has been. It’s a part of you. You had someone in your group who was about to betray you. He was getting ready to steal it. Despite what you may think, I’m not the bad guy here.”
“What do you mean, ‘you aren’t the bad guy’? You stole it from me!”
“As I said, I had to,” he said with a shrug.
She thought about what he said and who possibly could have been betraying them. Electric shocks radiated across her chest, and she felt her eyes flare in anger.
“Who was it?” Her sharp whisper came out tight with seething frustration.
He smirked again as he gazed down at her, his seafoam-colored eyes gleaming with delight. “There she is.”
“No more games, Kalon! Who are you accusing?”
He sighed, ran his hand over his face, and pulled the moonstone from his pocket, causing Seda’s eyes to flare once more. “I thought you said you didn’t have it!” She reached for his hand, but her touch glided through him, as if he were made of smoke.
“I’m not truly here, Seda. I only pretended your magic hit me last time. This is just a dream, and I’m in control within its illusion, but nothing is physically real.”
Her lips parted, a soft gasp of surprise filtering through her.
“One of the Corvids, Feich, was about to betray you and his kind,” he said. “He’s working against the purity of this world, and right now it’s alongside that Monster King, Tievel.”
Seda’s world felt like it was turning on its axis. She began to feel dizzy, and she gasped once more, grasping her throat and struggling to breathe.
“Feich? And Teivel?” she breathlessly asked, feeling shock ache in her heart over Feich. “How do you know? How do I know you aren’t lying?”
“I can hear thoughts if I want to,” he replied with a shrug. He reached down and gently touched her shoulder. “You are growing your wings back,” he said as his light touch caressed one of the feathers on her back. She winced, expecting there to be pain, but none came.
“I’ll never cause you pain, Seda. Even in these wild dreams. I’m sorry for kissing you and leaving in the night.” He reached out his hand for her, and she reached for it, forgetting that she could not touch him.
His hand brightened, and the magic of the dream allowed her to feel the warmth of his calloused hand within hers.
She rose, and he handed her the moonstone. The stone’s glitter was now amplified, sparkling vibrantly around her.
“As I said, this is yours, Seda. I’ll give it back to you when I see you.”
Her brows knit together as she stared at the stone, his words circling her mind. “Tievel is the advisor in Joro. He’s… this Monster King? And you said Feich was working for him?”
“Is, Seda. Feich is alive. And he’s trying to form an army of Corvids against you. Those who no longer remember and do not trust who you are.”
“Who am I?” she asked.
“You’re their queen,” he replied. “…And so much more.”
“How do you know all this?” she asked.
“Because you have been reborn, Seda. You once walked this planet, a very long time ago. You must touch the Stone of Peace, remember who you are, and focus on what’s important. A ravenous wolf wearing a man’s skin is lurking and hurting the innocence of this world.”
“Why didn’t you tell us about Feich?” She felt herself pulse, an angry inferno growing within her. The dreams she’d been having lately weren’t dreams at all.
They were memories.
“Would you have believed me? I’ve said too much,” he noted as the painful power radiated through her very being. “I cannot say more. Get to the other stone, Seda. Embrace the dreams I’m not giving you, for they are your own. Your moonstone is safe with me, I promise.”
Darkness began to fill her vision, and the mist started to blur.
“Be careful with King Ael, Seda. I’ll see you soon,” was the last thing she heard before she was swept away into oblivion.
Seda’s eyes flared open, and the room was cast in a pulsating purple glow. Suza stood over her, smacking at her cheeks and begging her to wake with tears forming in her eyes.
Seda jumped up from the floor and narrowed her eyes at the woman. “Who are you, Suza?”
The accusation caused Suza’s body to flicker, revealing a black snake beneath. Her body quickly shifted back into the form of a Fae, and she took a hesitant step back.
“You’re working with Kalon,” Seda said as her eyes widened.
“I…” Suza started, audibly gulping. “I am. Somnium is my master.”
Seda’s chest was violently vibrating within her, and there were sharp stabs of pain flaring through her nerves, tearing apart the fibers of her being.
“You need to cool down, Seda,” Suza said as she quickly turned and ran to the bathroom, returning with a cool washcloth and placing it on her forehead. “You have to cool down, or you will explode, and all of this will be for nothing.”
“What do you mean?” Seda asked as another painful flare tore through her.
“Deep breaths, please,” Suza begged.
Seda struggled to sit back down on the vanity stool with pain ripping through her body. She took deep breaths through each stab.
“In through your nose, and out through your mouth.” Suza kneeled before her, showing Seda how to breathe. Seda followed her instructions, wincing every time another round of pain flared through her chest.
The throbbing began to ease, and Seda stared at the woman before her. It all made sense who she was, what she was. But why was she here?
“Wh—” she began to ask, but Suza stopped her.
“Not right now. Someone’s coming.” Suza looked to the door, and Cahir flung it open.
He ran to her side and kneeled beside her, causing Suza to step back into the recesses of the room.
“Are you okay? I heard you scream from down the hall when I was coming back to check on you,” he asked as his eyes searched hers.
Seda smiled up at him, barely wincing as the last bit of pain flared through her.
“I’m fine,” she rasped. She reached up and cupped his cheek in her hand, gazing into the worry that filled his eyes and offering a small smile. “Let me finish getting ready with Suza, please. I’m close to making my way down. I’ll tell you with the others.”
Cahir’s eyes shifted between hers, and anger started to simmer beneath them, casting dark shadows. “It was Kalon, wasn’t it?”
She nodded, but she didn’t want to say more right now. She needed a few minutes alone to process the information Kalon had given her. “Almost ready. I’ll see you in a few.”
It was a dismissal, and she could see that he knew it for what it was. The muscles in his cheeks flexed with the grinding of his teeth, but he kissed the top of her head and walked out of the room, softly closing the door behind him.
She waited for a few moments before sighing and turning to Suza. “You can do my hair, but you need to talk.”
Suza bit her lip and hesitantly nodded, glancing down at Seda’s glowing chest before taking a step closer.
When she approached, she picked up the brush and began, once again, to pull it through Seda’s hair.
“Somnium teleported me to Umbrea, with the sole intention of assisting you as much as I could and also to try and lure King Ael away.” She shook her head.
“Unfortunately, I’m not the prettiest of Fae women in my disguise, I suppose.
I don’t have beautiful, shining hair and amethyst colored eyes, like you. ”
Seda narrowed her eyes at the woman but allowed her to continue, remaining silent.
“With each passing day, I got better at my disguise, but I was too late anyway. King Ael only has his eyes set on you, Seda. I couldn’t lure him away, despite my attempts.” With gentle touches, she pulled the brush down her hair.
Seda’s hands were tightly wrapped around the edge of the stool, squeezing it firmly, but she took a deep breath. The woman was being truthful, and she wanted to hear more. “Why does Somnium want Cahir away from me?”
“Som—” she sighed. “Somnium knew you before,” she said quietly. “That part of the story is not mine to tell.”
Silence fell between them. Suza began to braid Seda’s hair into a tight braid, concentrating on her work. “If it’s okay with you, I’d like to join you guys on this trip,” she said, breaking the silence.
“Why?” Seda asked.
“I promise you I’m not trying to go after King Ael anymore. I failed at that part of my task. But, I want to do everything I can to assist you so that I won’t have failed in everything.”
Seda studied her, watching how her form now flickered between both Fae and snake, and she sighed in response. “Okay.”
Suza perked up and smiled brightly, transforming her face into something quite lovely.
What was once a face full of snide expressions was now radiant and beautiful.
The ice surrounding Seda’s heart began to melt, and she fought her smirk.
“You know,” she started, trying to sound angry still.
“Maybe if you showed that expression more often, your wooing might have worked.”
Suza laughed loudly, and the sound was contagious, making Seda chuckle and cover her mouth.
“You’re likely right, but I didn’t really want to woo him, Seda,” the woman said.
Seda reached up and cupped her hand within her own, staring into her eyes. “Thank you for telling me. Honesty means a lot.”
Suza beamed under her praise, and the snake within her flickered, revealing lustrous black scales that reflected the light.
Seda looked down at Suza’s ragged dress. “Do you have anything else to wear? You can find something in that massive closet if you don’t.”
“Oh, may I please?” Suza asked excitedly. “This is all I have.”
Seda nodded, and Suza entered the closet. She could hear her rummaging through the clothing.
This trip... She needed to explain everything to everyone in the dining hall, but she was nervous to share what she had learned, especially the part about Feich.
Anxiety flared through her when she thought about the new information and Kalon’s plea for her to stay focused.
Finding the stones was important. The people of Joro were important. Doing whatever she could to destroy the corruption of the world mattered.
All of it felt like too much, too quickly, and she felt her magic flare back to life unwillingly as her mind continued to churn.
Destroying the Camp was important. Bringing balance into the world was needed. She needed the stones. She needed to get back to the door.
Seda was the key.
Agonizing pain ripped through her body, tearing through her back muscles and shredding through her skin.
Seda screamed as her chest vibrated a glowing storm of pulsating purple, throbbing through each heartbeat.
She felt her back muscles tense, and the sound of a rustling storm blew through the room.
She dropped to the floor, panting for breath, crying through the pain as tears slipped down her cheeks. She felt new muscles she didn’t know existed tense. A heaviness pressed her further into the ground.
Suza ran out of the closet, clothing in hand, and dropped her items on the floor. She rushed to her side and knelt, “Oh my gods! They’re here!”
Seda looked up at Suza, whose wide eyes were filled with wonder as she gazed over Seda’s shoulders.
Seda lifted her eyes with a hesitant breath, and twilight rose to meet her, unfolding around her like a quiet revelation.
Wings, massive wings, the color of midnight with white, beating sparkles like stars etched into every feather, blanketed around her.
A moonlit dust floated around the room, blowing out from each feather as if caught in its own wind.
Seda had wings.