Page 38 of A Rising Hope (The Freckled Fate #3)

38

GIDEON

“ O h good, you are finally awake.” Insanaria’s voice pounded in my ears. “I will admit, gouging your eyes was a bad idea. It’s taken a few days for you to finally come back to life and for them to regrow. I am guessing even your magic, General, is slowly coming to an end.” My eyelids were like lead, impossible to move, but I managed to open one of my eyes just enough to let daylight burn me.

My thoughts stifled, as if covered by a thick black veil, still lost in the abyss. Torturing pain rippled through every cell in my body, but I didn’t scream, didn’t even grunt.

“But the wait was worth it.” The Queen shrugged, taking a step closer to me, as she yanked my head up with a fistful of my hair, forcing me to look out the window. “Because I really wanted you to see this. Seeing you silently suffer has been quite underwhelming. But this should get you excited and more eager. At least one can hope.” Her lips stretched wide. “You see, while you’ve been napping, I’ve been busy testing your limits. And this—” She trembled, and her eyes rolled. My power in her veins tortured her. I felt it too. My only functioning eye opened wide, terrible nausea recoiled through me, blood gurgled at my lips. “This is the progress I made.”

A little crack in the shields. The most miniscule opening.

The Queen gasped, letting go of the magic, and that little crack disappeared. Her knees buckled, and she stumbled to the chair nearby.

“I am going to kill all your little mages you have been hiding from me. I am going to devour them all. And feed their flesh to you,” the Queen proclaimed. “And this is just the beginning.”

Livid rage burned within me through the Basalt Glass shard wedged deep inside me.

My magic drained. Body hung and torn. Flesh held together only by her poisonous vines.

“You’ll pay for that,” I managed to say. My consciousness flickered in and out. I had to get out of these fucking thorns, but they strung me like I was a puppet, a doll, stabbed with a million needles.

“No, you shall pay for your games,” she hissed, a victorious look lingering on her face.

“I don’t play games I don’t win, Insanaria. But you’ll learn that soon enough,” I slurred, managing a single commanding blink. She shrieked, my blood in her veins turning to acid as she clawed her skin raw.

Darkness called my name once more.

And I fell.