Chapter 41
Eliane
Within a second, I feel myself switch between space and time, everything collapses, mixing between the different colors life offers.
I am still kind of confused how he does this as my feet land with a stutter on the ground.
I open my eyes, still holding onto Braxton tightly.
I had no idea he was that scared of water, but I am proud he did it.
How could they torture him like that? The scar under his heart as a reminder for the trauma he possesses.
It is just awful. He might have killed a boy by accident, but he isn’t a murderer or the monster his father named him to be.
He is nothing like that at all. I look forwards, the top of the mountain being only a bit higher. Braxton coughs and I look up at him.
Only then I realize I am still wrapped around him. I release my arm fast.
“Sorry.” I chuckle, stumbling over my own tongue, my cheeks turning red.
As strange as it might seem, I haven’t come across anyone. I can see the top of the mountain. He could have just dropped us off there, but I don’t ask about it. Somehow, just like that, he slipped into my mind.
Of course he did.
“I still don’t want the king to know,” he breathes out, tidying his backpack. I nod in confirmation.
The mud makes it heavy for my feet. My calves burn with every step, probably mostly because of the exhaustion my use of magic yesterday caused.
I didn’t even need to climb the whole mountain, so I keep my mouth shut wisely.
Cold air brushes my neck and I shiver despite the sweat on my forehead, hair stuck on my face.
At this height there aren’t many trees anymore to block the fuming wind that comes these days.
The sun stands high, to the south as I expected, but as we reached the mountain, I let the compass disappear, not needing it anymore.
My theory was right, though.
Some soft murmurs and chatting fill my ears. I can’t make out words, but I feel the need to turn.
I look over my shoulder to see what is happening.
At the bottom of the mountain, two people fight.
They roll on the ground, but they don’t look much bigger than insects from above here.
I can make out a dark figure.
Caleb, I assume.
Fighting a girl, from the small posture I can tell, dunks away from him.
Aaliyah.
I tap Braxton on the shoulder.
“Look.” I nod my head in their direction and Braxton follows my eyes. He lets out a proud huff, but says nothing to it. If they are only there, are we the only ones on top?
How could that be possible?
Braxton’s shoulders stiffen at my thought.
Something comes into my sight.
People.
We don’t have to climb anymore.
Only a bit further.
People start to clap at our sight.
At our survival.
I bite my cheek so hard blood comes free and iron fills my mouth.
They want one winner, not two. They want one of us dead. The king cocks his head up. His eyes narrow as he scans me. Only a bit further, I tell myself.
You are almost free.
You deserve to be free.
Because I am going to force the king into a decision. Between my freedom and his continent.
People stand in a path, cheering as we cover the distance.
My sight is blurry.
Cheering fills my ears, but I follow Brax, who cocks his nose higher in the air and presses his shoulders back as the king faces him.
Zephron is on the king’s side, moving his shoulders uneasy, but something fills his face.
A proud smile.
I realize Braxton succeeded in his first goal.
He proved himself. And Zephron knows as well.
My feet drag me between the cheering rows of people, eyes scanning for a familiar face.
The warmth of the people covers my skin and sweat trickles done in lines off my back.
“Well, look who we have here!” The king claps his hands sarcastically, his eyes still narrowed as we are only three feet away.
“Not only one but two as a first.” He furrows his eyebrows.
Some people start booing and screaming. They are bloodthirsty.
Braxton doesn’t meet my eyes as worry flashes before mine. He only is focused on the king.
“Well, what should we do with this?” the king went on. Asking the audience, leaders and other people on top of the mountain. I look around at everyone in a haze.
“Kill! Kill! Kill!” people cheer, others stay quiet. I try to see their faces, but all I see is a blur, which makes it impossible for me to see what they are thinking.
You have to say something.
Braxton turns to me, lifting his sword towards me. My heart pounds in my throat. I cock my chin up.
I step next to Braxton.
The cold wind burns in my nose as I inhale deeply, thinking wisely about my next actions.
“No.”
It is a demand, not a question. Braxton lowers his sword. His body turning a bit towards me, like a push in my back, encouraging me, cheering for me to speak up again.
“No.”
I repeat myself as the king huffs out a laugh. “The king has kept something from you all,” I speak up, turning towards the crowd and they fall silent.
“I have been abandoned, locked away and trained for these trials, only because I have something in my blood that scares the king,” I continue.
“We did as he told us. We survived, we are first up.” I look towards the king who studies me carefully but curls his lips up.
“But it isn’t what he wanted. He wants a bloody show, that’s all.
He wants me to kill his son, or want to let his son kill the thing he is scared of somehow. ”
I step towards the people.
“Me.”
People start yelling at the king. And the king thinks fast, but I hear him murmur.
“Well, this isn’t unexpected.” He steps forwards, encouraging the people of my wrongness.
“Yes, there can be only one winner, since the price is meant for one,” he explains towards people.
He is playing a mind game on them. “But I can’t let them kill each other, because of their bond and stuff.
Then I will not be sure if I am going to have a winner at all.
” Two guards step from behind the crowd, holding someone cuffed.
“But they will have to kill someone. This man has helped people in ways he wasn’t allowed to, and for that he deserves death.”
Da.
His hands are tied behind his back, a piece of clothing stuffed in his mouth. His eyes look up at me. Panic fills me. Braxton freezes next to me. The guards kick him in his back, causing Da to fall towards the cold hard ground.
My body reacts without my mind discussing my actions first.
“Da!” I run towards my father, kneeling down next to him.
I hear people around me gasp. I look up at the king, who is smirking at me.
Rage bubbles up inside off, being charged by pounding panic.
I start to untie the knot at the end of his head, trying to get the clothing out of his mouth. Tears start to well over my cheek.
“You’re a monster,” I hear Braxton hiss.
“No, you are,” the king bites back. He twists his hand as I look at him. I finally release the cloth out his mouth, my hands shaking with adrenaline.
“Goldie,” my dad whispers. “I am already dying.” My sight goes blurry because of the tears in my eyes.
“No, you are not,” I bite back at him, starting to untie his hands in a hurry.
Some people around me cheer, others yell.
“He is going to die. And since you are not going to do it,” the king spit out. My eyes look up at him and he twists his hand.
“No!” I scream.
I am still kneeled down next to my dad. His body shaking horrendously, his mouth going open and close like he is going to puke. I hold onto him, as he tries to fight the thing inside of him.
“Don’t leave me, Dad. I need you.” I cry out. He is shaking uncontrollably, and I try to lay him down on my legs. Shadows start to erupt out of his mouth.
I know what this is. I have read about it.
He is taking his soul out of him.
The shadows.
Because he is a shadow wielder.
I start to scream uncontrollably as I watch the soul leave my dad’s body. “Please stay with me. I need you, please,” I cry out. Tears stream down my face like the waterfalls next to our house. My body shakes as I hold onto the limp body of my father.
Father. The man who raised me while I wasn’t one of his own. I hate myself for not showing him it more. I wish I brought him more flowers. Because he deserves every single one of them. I wish I showed him more how thankful I am for him. I hate that I never called him by what he really was.
A dad, my father.
“I love you,” I whisper in his ear, closing his mouth as all the shadows have left his body. I wrap my arm around him, wrapping him into a hug. His body is already turning cold. He died because of me, because he raised me. I feel hysterical, but something else bubbles in my veins.
Burning hot, tingling rage.
I stand up, turning dad around and closing his eyes before I go forward. I ball my fists. Every muscle in my body burns.
I’m no longer seeing clearly. My body tingles intensely, like I’m on fire. My jaws lock tight, and my chest rises and falls heavily with each breath. I squint my eyes.
A deafening roar escapes me.
Instead of attacking the king like I want to, I fall to the ground, not giving him an option of choice anymore.
My body is burning like hell, and I am feeling like I am going to explode like a bomb.
My knees hit the hard ground as I fall forward.
And then I explode, light bursts out of my skin.
I press my eyes close hard. My heart beats like a thunderstorm, until my skin goes numb.
I wait a few breaths before I open my eyes.
As I open them, I look up.
Everything is dark. The sun is nowhere to be found.
I took the sun away.
And the king is looking down at me, the widest grin I have ever seen appearing on his face.