5
We descended the final staircase, and I could feel a cold draft in the hallway below. It was much wider than those we had passed through previously on our journey out of the castle. As we continued on, I could see that the mouth of this corridor opened onto a patch of grass, the stars glistening in the night sky beyond. A tear spilled down my cheek as we crossed the threshold, and the night air surrounded me as if it were a warm embrace. We continued to walk in silence, but I glanced back at the castle one last time.
The mouth of the hallway was, in actuality, a cave entrance with an iron gate hanging over it. The opening was hidden among the rock face that led straight upward in jagged cuts before reaching the castle that rest atop it. We traveled away from the palace across an empty grass field towards the woods beyond.
How much further would we have to walk tonight? My eyes met Tess’ in the darkness, Liss having left her lantern at the mouth of the cave, snuffing out the flame. We didn’t want to draw any attention now that we were outside the castle walls.
The expression on Tess’ face said the same thing I was thinking, her eyes wide. We were weak, and traveling this far had already been physically taxing on the both of us. We hadn’t walked more than the width of the iron cell for the past few weeks, or however long our captivity had lasted. Every time we went to the throne room, we had either been drugged and carried or dragged.
Liss lead the way into the thick, dense forest without glancing back. Even without a pack, the heaviness of my own body was a great weight to carry. I trailed after Tess with Puck and Nik on my heels, feeling our way through the thicket by the glow of the moon.
We walked for another hour, at least, before we stopped at an outcropping of rocks.
“We rest here for the night,” Liss broke the silence when she spoke, a cold chill running up my spine.
The blooming of the trees and the lack of snow meant it was likely spring by now. We had been locked in the Stormvault longer than I thought. Nik and Puck unpacked blankets from their packs, creating a spot for us to lay down beneath the stars.
“No fire, it will draw too much attention. Liss’ spell will keep us hidden from any soldiers that come searching for us, but it will only hide us, not the fire,” Puck explained as he settled down onto one of the blankets.
We would have to sleep close together to keep warm without a fire. Tess reluctantly laid beside Puck and let out a soft groan as her muscles got to rest for the first time in hours.
Liss was busy with her border protection spell, her back turned to us as she waived her arms in the air and her lips moved in a silent spell. Nik laid on the edge of the blankets and finally met my eyes in the darkness.
I needed to rest, but the thought of lying next to Nik made my stomach turn sour. I was grateful they had broken us out of the Stormvault and snuck us out of the castle, but I wasn’t ready to let my guard down.
“You can’t stand there all night,” Nik spoke softly for the first time, and the sound of his voice threatened to undo me. It was both gentle and cutting at the same time. The emotions he drew from me were completely opposite one another.
I rubbed my hands along my arms trying to warm myself as my eyes narrowed. I hated him. Hated him. He was the reason for all of this, but it was my own fault that the sound of his voice could still send a shiver coursing down my spine. Heat rushed to my cheeks, and I swore under my breath, cursing my body for betraying me. I was thankful for the cover of darkness what would hide it.
“Says who?” I replied, crossing my arms over my chest in defiance.
A ghost of a smile crossed his lips at my response, as if he hadn’t expected me to still fight him. To push back. I might have been tortured and starved, but the fire never left me. Not once. Donika would not break me.
“Diana, you need to rest. I promi—” I cut a cold glare at him as he spoke.
I didn’t want to hear any more of his empty promises. He swallowed, his eyes moving to his hands which were woven tightly together in his lap. He paused before his next words came. “We have a lot of ground to cover tomorrow, and you’ll need your strength.”
I had no choice. I knew he was right, despite not wanting to admit it. I reluctantly curled up next to Tess on the blanket, staying as far away from Nik as possible. Liss finished her spell and joined us on the blankets, curling up on her side. I didn’t know her, but I hoped we could trust her. That we could trust Zion. That we weren’t being led into another trap.
I held Tess close to my side to keep warm, and she let out an exhausted sigh against me.
I had to admit, it felt incredible to touch something as soft as a blanket for the first time in weeks, despite the ground being cold and hard.
With Tess wrapped in my arms sleep took me quickly, and I slipped into familiar nightmares of the Stormvault, and Donika’s cold, dead eyes.
I woke to someone shaking my shoulder vigorously, my eyes straining against the dawn kissed sky. No more than a few hours could have passed since we had fallen asleep, and the quick respite hadn’t been nearly enough to soothe my sore muscles.
“We need to go, now.” A harsh whisper sounded against my ear.
My eyes popped open and took in our surroundings with a sleepy gaze. Puck and Tess were hurriedly packing the blankets back into the pack, and Liss was on her feet, anxiously biting her lip.
“They’re on our trail,” she explained, motioning for me to hurry.
Puck grabbed the blanket as soon as I made it to my feet and hastily stuffed it into his pack.
“Ten Nightshade soldiers, maybe more. Only about ten minutes behind us. My spell must have worn off in the night, it’s quite complex and takes a lot of energy. I don’t have the magic left to reinforce it, we need to move.”
I nodded in understanding as I steeled myself for the brisk pace we would need to maintain to evade them.
“Are you ready?” Nik asked, his voice close enough to me that I flinched away.
I couldn’t meet his gaze, I only nodded in return and moved to join Liss. She had begun to pave our way through the forest once more.
“We have two options,” Liss spoke, but didn’t turn to see if we were close on her heels. “You either run back to Silver Oaks and pretend none of this ever happened, where Donika and her soldiers will simply capture you again. Or hurt your family. Or option two…you join the resistance. As Zion wanted.”
I had been thinking about what I would do if I ever got out of the Stormvault, and I already knew the answer deep in my bones. Once I was introduced to this world of magic and to Istmere, there was no turning back.
Liss glanced back and met my eyes, recognizing the resolve there. She nodded once before moving faster towards whatever our destination was, Tess and I struggling to keep up. Tess gave my shoulder a tight squeeze in reassurance. She would fight this battle with me, no matter the outcome. We had to stop Donika and save the innocent witches she was killing. We needed to free Istmere from the tyrant who had ruled with a heavy hand this past decade, valuing nothing but herself and her own magic.
I was the daughter of the last King of Istmere. Donika murdered him, making me the rightful heir to the throne. I would stop at nothing to see her demise.
My breathing came sharp, and my legs stung as I pushed on with Nik at my heels. I knew he could easily keep up with Liss, but he stayed back to ensure I kept up with the punishing pace she had set.
“Where are we going, exactly?” I asked, my breath coming in short puffs.
“Prins. There is a resistance growing there, with healthy numbers. Saanvi sent word of their location and where to meet them,” Nik replied.
How far away was Prins from Akra? When I had traveled here initially I had been knocked out for most of the journey and couldn’t remember. I prayed it wasn’t far, and that Donika’s Nightshade soldiers lost our trail.
With a pang, I realized I hadn’t felt my magic once since escaping the Stormvault, and I was too weak to try to pull on it now. Would it come back on its own? A trickle of dread spilled down my throat as I thought about the torture Donika had put us through, the poisons she had made us drink.
Could she have given me something to erase my magic? Or steal it?
Movement in the brush to my right caught my attention and before I could call out in warning Nik had moved forwards, pushing my body behind his as he unsheathed the sword from his scabbard. A memory surged forth, and I realized it was the same sword he had used when we had trained in the meadow in the mortal realm.
With a shock, I realized that had been months ago. I swallowed hard as we stopped. Tess and I were motionless, pressed between Nik and Puck. Liss closed her eyes and her lips moved with a hushed incantation. Was she trying to hide us from them?
The eerie silence of the forest was broken by a ball of grey fur breaking through the tree line, jaws snapping as it aimed right for Nik’s throat. He had been ready, parrying quickly and throwing the large grey wolf to the ground. A guttural growl escaped him as he slashed his sword downward, the grey wolf jumping out of the way barely in time to avoid losing a limb.
Nik’s shadows slithered out around him, casting the forest in darkness. Through the shadows I could make out Puck unsheathing his Katana as another wolf emerged from the woods, its murky brown fur standing on edge. It peeled its lips back in a fierce snarl as it surged forth.
I didn’t have the energy to fight, but I grabbed a dagger sticking out of the top of Nik’s pack so that I was at least armed. The brush behind us was rustling, and I turned to find Liss locked in battle with a black panther, its sleek coat glistening in the light of dawn. The sun had started to rise and cast a soft pink glow across the battle. My eyes bounced back and forth, covering Tess with my dagger held tightly in my grip should another soldier break into the clearing.
Nik’s sword was swiped from his hand with a clatter and a grunt as it went soaring into the woods. The grey wolf had him pinned to the ground, snapping its teeth at his face mere inches away. In the blink of an eye Nik was pushing against the neck of the wolf with his very mortal, very human hands, and then suddenly they were no longer human at all. Nik transformed into a sleek black wolf, rolling out from under the grey with speed and grace. He leaped out of the way as Puck swept his Katana in an arc, slicing through the rough fur and flesh of the grey wolf.
It let out a curdled yelp as it fell to the ground, panting and whimpering. Nik lunged forwards to finish it off, grabbing its throat with his immense jaws and giving it one quick snap. Puck had finished off the brown wolf and he joined Liss, quickly dispatching the panther. Realizing it was outnumbered, it retreated into the woods.
“Don’t let him get away! He will bring our location straight to the other soldiers!” Puck called out.
The panther was fast, but Nik was faster. He caught up to the panther in merely a few short strides as he knocked it to the ground, Puck running close on their heels. Before Puck could reach them I heard a strangled cry, and a spray of blood coated the surrounding trees. Nik had used his teeth to tear its throat out.
I turned to Tess, squeezing her arm to make sure she was ok. She met my eyes and nodded. Puck jogged back towards us, his brow covered in sweat and his unruly mess of curls matted to his forehead.
“The others will be close behind, we’ve got to move,” he said, grabbing his fallen pack and strapping it onto his back.
Nik joined us with his fallen sword back in his hand. His cheek was stained with fresh blood and his shirt was ripped at the collar. He sheathed the sword and grabbed his pack.
“Ready for battle, firecracker?” The ghost of a smile crossed his lips for the second time since we had entered the forest as he nodded towards the dagger still held within my grasp.
The nickname felt like a knife to my heart. Instead of replying with a witty quip I swallowed hard, casting my eyes aside. I looked anywhere but at him.
“I know you aren’t going to like this…” he started, trying to meet my gaze.
“Then don’t say it,” I snapped, glaring at him.
“But we need to move faster than you and Tess are able,” he continued on anyway, his chest rising and falling with rapid breaths. He was still winded from the scuffle with the Nightshade soldiers. “I need to carry you. I can move twice as fast, even with you in my arms.”
“Out of the question,” I replied through gritted teeth.
I would have to set a better pace, I would need to push myself harder. I couldn’t let him carry me. I couldn’t. I hadn’t realized I was shaking my head back and forth furiously until my gaze met his.
“Diana, we need to. We need to get away from the soldiers, out of their domain,” Tess said as she moved towards me, giving my hand a gentle squeeze.
As I met her eyes, I could see the pain in them, that she knew how much this cost me. That under any other circumstance she would stand by my side and insist, but that we were running out of time. We couldn’t afford to be thrown back into the Stormvault again. Donika would never let us leave with our lives a second time.
My eyes were on my feet again as I nodded softly. Nik didn’t give me a chance to change my mind, he grabbed the back of my knees and scooped me up into his arms.
“Hold on to my neck,” he ordered, not meeting my eyes.
His breath fanned across my face and the faint scent of coffee and cinnamon sent a searing hot flash down to my core. I bit my lip hard, hard enough to draw blood, as I delicately wrapped my arms around him. I squeezed my eyes shut as I felt his skin, hot against mine due to the ripped collar of his shirt.
“Tighter,” he instructed, clearing his throat.
I gripped tight, and we were off, Liss jogging ahead of us with her sword in hand, Puck following on our heels with Tess in his arms. We were moving much faster now, and Nik barely broke a sweat as we jogged through the forest and over fallen tree branches with the weight of me in his arms. I had to remind myself the weight was much less than it had been a few months ago.
Before he had betrayed me.
Tears stung the back of my eyes, threatening to fall. I swallowed them back down, closing my eyes tight once more. I would not cry in his arms. I would not.
I hoped we would reach Prins soon, as in, within the next ten minutes, because I wasn’t sure how much more of this I could take. I could feel every breath Nik took as his ribcage expanded beneath me, his arms gripping tightly around me. I wanted nothing more than to bury my face in his neck, and I cursed myself for even thinking it.
I watched Tess over Nik’s shoulder and the sympathy in her eyes was clear. I gripped tighter, digging my nails into Nik’s shoulder. His breath came shorter, but he said nothing. He simply kept running close on Liss’ heels as we sped through the forest.
As we ran, I could sense the surrounding atmosphere changing. I heard the faint chirping of birds and the rush of water in the distance. I hadn’t realized it, but the forest in Akra had been completely devoid of wildlife. Utterly silent. The trees were greener here, lusher and more vibrant. Even the landscape had been oppressed in Akra. We must have crossed over into Prins at some point.
A small black shadow shot out of the brush and joined Nik, running at his feet. It was a black cat with a sparkling green emerald hanging from its collar.
It was Saanvi.
She meowed once before shooting forwards and joining Liss, running ahead of her. She must be leading the way to the encampment where we would find the resistance.
After a few more minutes of running, I could finally see stone buildings through the trees and hear the bustling of carriages on the cobblestone streets. I let out a sigh of relief. We weren’t safe yet, but at least we were back in familiar territory.
As we reached the edge of the forest, we slowed to a walk and Nik set me back on my feet, clearing his throat and averting his eyes. He adjusted the collar of his shirt and joined Liss and Saanvi without saying a word.
I waited for Puck and Tess to join us and then we continued on, walking down the cobblestone streets as if we hadn’t barely escaped Donika and her prison in Akra. We kept our eyes glued down to avoid any curious gazes, and we walked briskly.
We passed The Giddy Griddle and I could almost hear Tess’ mouth watering at the smell of simmering sausages and buttery pancakes. It had been months since we had eaten anything of substance, not counting the strange grey stew and stale bread they would bring us when they were feeling generous. We turned towards the charm shop we had visited once, climbing the steep hill to the more secluded part of town.
As we made our way back down the hill on the opposite side, we turned sharply right into a dense formation of buildings built so closely together it only left narrow alleyways between them. This part of the city could only be traveled on foot.
I wasn’t sure what I had been expecting, surely not a welcome sign that said, The Resistance, but what we found was certainly not it. We squeezed through an alleyway narrow enough that we could only pass single file before finding Saanvi stopped and laying her hand against the stone wall. She unveiled a hidden door set into the wall with a whispered spell. The door opened inward, and we all shuffled inside. We were met with a blast of warmth from a fireplace situated right inside the entrance to the strange, hidden building.
The room we entered was narrow and filled with people, a bar top running the length of the left wall with stools filled with Shades of all kinds. But this wasn’t a bar…it was well hidden, and spell protected.
This was a safe house.
The room fell silent with only hushed whispers and chairs scraping against the hardwood floor filling the silence. All eyes turned towards me as the bartender slung a white dish towel across his shoulder and approached. His blue eyes quickly flitted towards Liss before meeting mine, and without hesitation he knelt before me. He bowed his head before lifting his chin and meeting my gaze once more.
“Our true queen has returned.”