Page 77 of A Rising Hope (The Freckled Fate #3)

77

FINNLEAH

“ I fucking hate running.” Priya hissed next to me as we barged through the castle corridors. I let my dagger fly at an archer aiming for us. The shadows slithered in through every crevice they could find filling up the Royal Castle. The two guards emerged from the metal gates leading to the courtyard. They reached for their swords but fell dead before their blades were fully drawn as Priya flashed a look. A trickle of blood seeped from their ears and noses decorating the already macabre stares of their dead eyes. I flinched, stepping over their bodies as we entered the luxurious courtyard full of carved marble statues and exquisite fountains.

The beautiful enclosure was in a whirlwind of panic as Royals, servants and their guard all frantically rushed for any possible cover away from the growing black fog.

“Let’s go.” Priya motioned with her chin towards the tower leading to the dungeons.

We raced, hoping that the chaos was enough to let us slip by unnoticed.

Panting, we scaled the stairs leading to the bridge over the lush gardens below. I stumbled as my eyes froze on the horizon.

The Kinderby River was gone.

Entirely. Wholly. Not a single drop of the grand waters left.

“Damn,” Priya mumbled, looking at the deep ravine separating the two shores void of any moisture. “Your husband better figure out how to fix that, because I am not wasting my time traveling by carriage everywhere.”

Shouts and a wave of steps echoed behind us, and we resumed our run.

“Why are you smiling?” Priya asked, winded.

“You called him my husband.”

“I am under duress,” Priya grumped. “You can’t take my words seriously.”

We descended down the towers until darkness buried us up to our necks. Tall, mossy walls blocked the sunlight we needed as we entered the dungeons. Cold air prickled against my flushed cheeks. The musty smell of thick air coated my lungs.

We stood before a pair of massive iron doors. My heart skipped a beat as I knew exactly what stood behind them. The monsters. The creatures. The demons we faced before.

I let my fire form, melting an entrance for us through the two-foot-thick iron.

“Well, I guess I won’t need these.” Priya dropped a ring with keys she swiped from two dead guards hidden in the shadows. The metal clunked, falling against the stone, echoing in the dreadful silence.

“It’s too quiet,” I murmured as we stepped over the melted metal into complete dark.

“Fuckers . . . ” Priya ducked, but there was no need, as I had already shielded us from the arrows that flew towards us. My eyes flickered with fire as I let a burning sphere fly over the vast chamber. The scorching flames illuminated dozens of Royal soldiers, dressed in full armor with a crown carved over their hearts. Their spears pointed towards us; their faces drenched in fear behind their tight helms.

“No.” I blocked Priya as she took a step forward, ready to kill them all.

“I have no desire to kill you,” I proclaimed, my voice echoed in multiple waves through the vast dark chamber. “Drop your weapons, swear your allegiance to me as your Empress and you shall live.” None of them spoke. None of them dared to move. “Or”—I let the flames in my eyes spark brighter—“die in a blazing death.”

“We are wasting our time,” Priya murmured near me. But I waited, giving them a chance. Blood rushed to my ears, the muscle in my jaw locked as fire scratched the surface, itching to get out. Another second and they’d die.

“So be it,” I uttered with a heavy heart. Raising my hand as infernos swirled at my fingertips.

“Wait!” one soldier shouted, dropping his weapons. “I swear my allegiance to the Dragon Queen and the Protector of Justice. I swear my allegiance to you, Destroyer Empress.” He took off his helm, dropping to his knees as he bowed until his forehead touched the ground. One by one, each of them followed, bowing low after scattering their weapons far.

Until the very last one.

He recognized me.

“The rebel from the winter ball.” His lips frowned.

“Captain of the Royal guard,” I snarled back, ignoring a flash flood of memories from the night I worked so hard to forget. “Bow,” I commanded, my voice lacking the mercy I had offered before. He dropped to his knees, throwing his sword far from him. His despicable face lined with nothing but hatred.

I strode through the rows of the bowed men.

“If any of you so much as think about moving, you’ll be dead before you finish the thought,” Priya threatened, following me as she glared at each one of their bowed heads. Her copper eyes glittered under the flickering glow of the infernos floating above us.

I stopped right in front of royal captain, picking up his discarded sword. Though the blade was sparkling clean, it felt tainted, sticky. I extended my arm holding his sword, the tip of the weapon lifting his chin as he looked up.

My eyes met his.

“This is for Kaius.” I sliced deep into his cheek. He winced as the bright blood trickled down his face. “But this”—I raised the sword—“this is for the dog.”

“Fate will come for you too,” he spat angrily in the last seconds of his life.

“I am my own fate. And I shall be yours,” I uttered his verdict, swinging the sword. His head rolled, headless body swayed, dropping flat on the floor as blood pooled at my feet.

I shifted then, calling upon my divine powers, as I saw his book of life. Pages stained with hatred, hatred that had no root other than his selfish craving for power.

No, there was no mercy for him. Justice, as if the soaring word of truth demanded to be answered. His rotten soul forever to suffer to repay his sins.

A flicker of shadows, Death had appeared, capturing the black light of his soul, silently asking me.

Make sure he suffers , I told her. She gave me an acknowledging nod, vanishing within a blink, taking his lost soul with her to b left in the realm of screams and gnashing teeth.

Another blink and I was back in the dark chambers illuminated by my fire, standing in the pool of blood surrounded by the bowing soldiers. Their fear coated my tongue as time resumed its beat.

“That’ll be a bitch to get out of those leathers,” Priya scoffed, arms folded as she watched.

“Go to your families. Go home,” I bellowed to the frozen soldiers, my eyes glued to the dead body of the cruel captain of the guard. “Know that justice was served and mercy prevailed in your lives today.” I dropped the bloodied sword. The blade hit the ground; the splashing sound of blood echoed through the tall ceilings.

Without looking back, I marched forward. Priya’s silent steps followed.

“Well, that was dramatic,” she scoffed, as we trudged forward in the dark, but I didn’t reply. My mind was lost. Each thought was a thread in the universe, with no beginning or end. Justice and mercy, beginning and end, all intertwined into a truth, one my mortal body couldn’t comprehend.

“What now?” Priya hissed as the walls of the castle shook. The earth’s trembling pulled me out of my haze.

“They are not here,” I replied, realizing that the monsters had been freed before we arrived.

“They are above us, aren’t they?” Priya narrowed her eyes at the ceiling, watching it quake. I nodded slowly. My mind split between the ethereal and mortal. The world was so much more beyond this. “This is not the fucking time to ponder, Freckles,” she snapped in my direction, and she was right. “Ponder when we get out of this dungeon,” Priya hissed, looking around for a way out.

I closed my eyes, diving far into the depths of the ocean of fire within me, until every inferno was at my fingertips. I lifted my arms up and let the flames burst free.

The insatiable fire burned mercilessly. The stone crumbled above us until the ceiling caved in completely. A ray of sun burst through the smoke, accompanied by loud, hateful screeching that rumbled through the sky. Screeching accompanied by the thunderous roaring of my two giant dragons. Talons, claws, bone and scales all woven into a deadly dance between the clouds of smoke.

“They are too far,” Priya murmured as we watched the terrible fight unravel high in the sky. I nodded, calling to the part of me connected to the dragons I’d created.

“Run,” I calmly said, my only warning before I yanked Priya’s wrist, scaling the crumbled walls and ceilings, climbing as high as possible. One of the dragons dove straight for us, freefalling into a nose dive. Raw fire burst from his enormous jaws.

“Now!” I shouted to Priya through the loud screeching. Priya swore but leaped after me into the smoke. The dragon soared back high into the sky after catching our falling bodies. Wind rushed past my ears, blood drumming with the thrill. I scaled the magnificent creature until I reached the spot between his wings, holding on to the tall spikes on his back. Priya swore a rain of profanities but settled behind me.

“Time to shine.” I glanced at her paled face.

“Keep me alive,” she said. I wasn’t sure whether it was to me or my dragon, but before I could ask, her eyes closed.

Here, far from human eyes, between the ferocious fighting of the dragons and the creatures, she let her powers soar through the sky, finding their mark one by one. The eyeless monsters fell, their bodies crashed atop the green hill, far away from people and their homes.

Second after second, Priya’s powers reached every single one of them, turning the sky silent as their unnatural shrieks fell dead.

A trickle of blood ran down from her nose as her eyes rolled. I twisted, holding her body tight against mine as she swayed.

“No falling allowed.” I smiled, commanding my dragons to land.

The earth shook as their large claws found the ground.

“You did it, Priya,” I murmured, still holding tight to her as she slowly blinked awake.

“Consider it my wedding gift to you.” She wiped the blood off her perfect lips.

“Here.” I reached in my pocket for the pack of candy I brought for her.

“These are crap,” Priya complained as she stuffed her mouth full. “Absolute garbage.” Her hands shook, and I helped her unwrap the sugary treats as she shoved them whole into her mouth, color quickly returning to her face.

A loud horn exploded through the city. I twisted around towards the horizon, heart skipping a beat as I recognized the sound of our armies.

The second dragon circled above us in the smokey sky, impatient and eager to return to the savage fighting.

My eyes darted to the other side of the city. My mouth turned dry as I thought of Zora and the Ten fighting alone. Xentar’s shadows, as their only cover, slowly disappeared each second we wasted.

Priya sat up, adjusting her braid and the golden pins in her hair.

Another loud horn sounded. The inner-city walls had been breached. Then another sounded. The City Hall had fallen.

“Go, Freckles,” Priya murmured, shaking her arms and stretching her neck before she slid down the large wing.

“Priya?” I called out, but she was already strolling away. “Wait, Priya,” I called out again.

“Live a happy life for me, Freckles.” She looked over her shoulder, but didn’t meet my stare, her copper eyes lacking their usual spark. Another horn sounded, and I glanced back to see another wave of heat roll through the city.

“Priya?” I asked, returning to look where she was just moments prior, only to find her gone.

She left.

The dragons would get the glory and fame for taking down the large creatures, their carcasses splattered on the green hill, and nobody would know of her irreplaceable contribution to the victory today. She would disappear as a nobody, sauntering down the streets, making her way to her manor, soon to be lounging in a bubble bath as the world broke and rebuilt itself again.

A part of me knew Priya was never going to change. She held on to her wounds, ripping off the scabs each time they healed to feel the comforting zing of pain. She craved the lulling darkness and the taste of blood on her dagger. And yet, somewhere, somehow, deep inside of her, she cared for someone beyond herself.

I nodded to the dragons, holding on tighter to their scales as they soared through the sky, tearing through the clouds towards the exploding front lines.

I knew Priya’s kill lists would never end. She would hunt and kill, do anything to bury the heavy weight of the broken rage within her.

But I hoped.

I truly hoped that one day that little sprout of caring in her heart would grow bigger. Because no matter where she would be, no matter where I would be, there would always be a bond between us. There would be her and there would be me. And neither one of us could deny that this bond, however broken and damaged it was at times, healed a part of us when we needed it most.

Her rage and my grief, forever tied together.