Page 13

The following morning, I woke in a sea of white sheets. After Nepta’s firm ruling, I was in shock. I didn’t even remember my walk back to the dome. Not to mention, I learned the Elder Spirits reforged me in the likeness of the Ancients.

I struggled to master the powers I had, and now, they were enhanced tenfold. Everyone wanted me to remain calm, but how could I under this immense pressure?

“How are you feeling?” Rowen asked, rolling over onto his side to face me.

I popped my head over the barricade of pillows I constructed, my hair no doubt looking a wild mess. “Trying not to think too hard about anything, honestly. Thinking is a slippery slope these days.”

“How about we enjoy breakfast on the beach today?” he asked, resting on his elbow with his head in his hand. He smiled at me, though it didn’t quite reach the corners of his eyes. “To help get your mind off . . . not thinking.”

“Am I even allowed?”

“I guess we’ll find out.”

We ate breakfast at the beach pavilion, soaking in the serene ocean views. It was hard to fathom how there could be so much water yet not a drop to drink.

Thanks to the drought, food was scarce and mainly consisted of salted beans, seaweed, and dried berries.

Our welcome-home feast must have been a delicacy saved for a special occasion.

And though this spread wasn’t nearly as appetizing, I needed to eat.

My metabolism in this new elven body was through the roof.

Rowen finished the food on his tree ring plate and immediately began sharpening his ax.

I was a much slower eater than Rowen. I had to plan and construct every bite to perfection, eating in a clockwise manner and ensuring every rotation ended with a dried berry as a palate cleanser.

Whereas Rowen mixed it all together, not even glancing at what he shoveled into his mouth. What a barbarian!

“I think your ax is sharp enough now,” I said, realizing he still ran his blade over the whetstone.

He lowered his hands to his lap, squinting at me through the sunlight. “I need to find ways to keep my hands busy. If they are idle too long, I start getting funny ideas.”

“Funny ideas?” I asked, finishing up with my plate.

“Ideas like running my hands along your body, hiking up that dress, and tracing my touch up to your pretty pussy.”

A barbarian indeed!

“Under any other circumstances, my mouth would be wrapped around your cock with talk like that,” I said as my inner walls clenched around nothing.

“Your mouth will be the death of me,” he groaned, adjusting himself in his pants. “How will we keep our hands and minds occupied today?”

I was forbidden from seeing the prisoner, but the mystery of his identity kept me up all night, and here I was, counting berries at breakfast. It was ridiculous! I had much bigger things to focus on.

“I have an idea,” I said, tucking my legs beneath me and facing Rowen.

“Uh-oh. You have that look in your eye,” he said, mirroring my excitement.

“Takoda and Nepta said I couldn’t visit the prisoner. Not that I couldn’t just happen to walk by and see who it is. They never said I couldn’t look at him.”

“Remind me to be on my guard with my wording around you,” he said, pocketing the whetstone. “I love your cunning mind.”

I grinned. “I love your willingness to join me in my schemes.”

“Always,” Rowen replied as he holstered his ax. “I have been forbidden from speaking with the prisoner as well. I haven’t even tried. When Nepta took me in, I swore to abide by the laws of the land. But it seems you have found a loophole.”

“I’m going to enjoy corrupting you,” I replied, hiking up my skirt to stand.

Rowen eyed the slip of my leg and groaned, his eyes dancing with heat. “Spirits, I can’t wait to get my hands on you. I’d like to explore the full scope of your corruption.”

My soul flame led me to the prison, guiding me to the far back corner of the village. My pulse was in my ears, and my tongue was thick in my mouth. The suspense was agonizing.

I held my breath as we rounded the corner, but instead of coming face-to-face with the intruder, we were met by two armed warriors .

We halted in our tracks.

“What brings you?” asked the warrior with the long, tight braids.

Damn . I should have known there would be security. They stood beside a white stone wall, which I assumed was part of the cell.

“It’s a nice day for a walk,” Rowen said casually as if our presence was a mere coincidence.

“Well, keep walking,” said the warrior with a pixie cut. I immediately recognized her from when I’d seen her spare with Dyani. If she was close to Demil’s twin, then she most likely hated me.

“She is forbidden from seeing the prisoner,” the first guard said, his fist tightening on his spear. “As Minroe said, keep walking.”

“Best be going on your way now,” Minroe agreed as she motioned to the path with the tip of her blade. “And don’t get any ideas about night walks. The guards switch out at sunset.”

“Sorry to have bothered you,” I said, knowing I wouldn’t be able to return later tonight. Nepta had ordered twenty-four-hour surveillance on this guy.

Who was this prisoner? And why was Nepta so afraid of him?

I chewed on my thumbnail. Whoever this dangerous interloper was, he had stopped me from killing Rowen. But why? Why would he care about me and my soul flame?

He also wielded a power similar to mine and used it against me. The prisoner was able to catch me when I fell and held me until he was detained.

“What if he’s an ally?” I asked as we continued our walk. “Someone wanting to help us defeat Erovos.”

Rowen stroked his stubble in contemplation. “Why not just say that and share his intentions? By not doing so, he’s earned the ire of the whole village. Wouldn’t it be better to be honest?”

I bit the inside of my cheek. Because he refused to communicate, I was forbidden from seeing him at all.

There was no way I could let this mystery persist. “We’ll just have to find another way.”

I was sprawled in the dirt of the Crystal Crypts, the mica twinkling above me like the night sky.

I must have blacked out from another of Caeryn’s beatings.

Blood streamed down my face and clouded my vision.

I raised my pounding head, knowing who sat upon the throne, watching with glee.

I shot the false queen a seething stare, but she wasn’t alone.

Erovos stood beside her, his darkness thick and billowing around a pair of flaming orange eyes.

Indrasyl, the Sylvan Mother Tree, grew proud and strong behind me, magnificent in her healthy form. Her leaves shimmered in hues of gold, pink, and green, and reflected on my skin like an iridescent canopy.

The Crypts were filled with the missing villagers from around Luneth. Innocents led here under the false pretense that Fou was their savior. Their terrified eyes glistened and pleaded for help.

I scanned the crowd for Rowen. Though I could barely see through the blood, sweat, and grime dripping down my face, I spotted him in an instant.

He was lying on a luxurious four-poster bed, so out of place on the dais.

He was shirtless and drenched in sweat, his arms and ankles bound to the posts.

His mouth was gagged as he writhed and struggled to break free.

The false queen approached Rowen and trailed her fingertips along his inner thigh. “You have to choose,” Aliphoura said, wearing a blood-red gown that matched her plump lips. “You can only save one. Is it going to be Rowen, the innocents, or Indrasyl? ”

My heart plummeted to the floor. I couldn’t save them all, especially not in my current state. I was wounded, barely able to walk, and my vision blurred in and out from my concussion.

Fou slithered her nails up Rowen’s torso and chest, his muscles tensing as he fought her touch. “Would you be selfish enough to save Rowen, condemning all these innocents to die? Or is his life worth sacrificing for the greater good?” she asked, removing his gag.

“Keira!” Rowen bellowed.

“Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of him,” Fou said before tracing her tongue along his mouth.

“No,” I pleaded, running to rip her off him, but my broken leg couldn’t withstand the weight, and I collapsed to the throne room floor. No matter what choice I made, someone was going to get hurt. My limitations were sealing all our fates.

“Or you can choose the Sylvan Mother Tree, saving the world but murdering everyone in this room,” Erovos said, suddenly beside Indrasyl.

He placed a palm on her split trunk, and with a swirl of his orange eyes, he began to drain her dry.

As he pulled the life from her, from the earth, from us all, she withered and turned to blackened stone.

Desperation clawed at me. “Stop. Please,” I begged as Indrasyl’s leaves rained down on me like ash. In my periphery, Fou joined Rowen on the bed.

“You don’t have much time to choose,” Erovos hummed, his pale skin stark against his black cloak. “The Alcreon Light chose a worthless vessel. I told you your mortal body was dying all around you.”

I gazed down at myself, gasping in horror. My skin was rotting and decaying off my limbs. Death . I was death and dying. And there was no escaping it.

Caeryn, the red man who’d kidnapped and beat me, appeared in a gust of flames.

“Choose quickly,” he said; the gash I’d given him across his face was bloody and raw.

He stalked toward the crowd and grabbed the nearest innocent.

He held the man flush against his front, and I realized he was dressed in Wyn clothing.

My gut twisted in a sickening knot. Though his hair fell in his face, I swore he was familiar, as if I knew him from a different life.

But before I could recall who he was, Caeryn drove his ruby-red blade into his back.

“Stop!” I cried, my voice trembling with desperation. I willed the Light, the Elder Spirits, anyone, to help me. But there was nothing and no one. I was utterly alone, the impossible decision mine to make.

“Choose,” they all seemed to say in unison. “Choose."

“Stop. Stop. Stop!” I screamed, the Light in me building to a furious crescendo. I had no control as it shot out of me like a supernova. The explosion erupted with blinding force, splintering the stone above us.

The cave collapsed, its crushing weight plummeting down and destroying us all.

I woke with a jolt, my heart pounding.

I immediately checked Rowen by my side. Once I was sure he slept soundly with no gags or bindings holding him down, I frantically scanned myself. My skin was perfect, not a single blemish or spot of rot to be found.

I let out a relieved exhale, but the tightness in my chest remained. It wasn’t real, yet I couldn’t ignore the impending panic attack. My heart refused to slow down, as if in preparation for the oncoming storm.

Careful not to wake Rowen, I pushed off the covers, tiptoed across the floor, and slipped out of the dome.

Once I quietly closed the door, I noticed a storm brewing overhead.

I sprinted towards the field where I had once faced the giant Graem.

The clearing offered a sense of safety. If I did strike the land with my Light, no one would get hurt.

I staggered through the village, my nightmare flashing through my mind like a carousel of death. The smell of blood, rot, and sweat clung to my skin as if the horrors of my dream had followed me into the waking world. Nausea coiled in my stomach and surged up my throat, gagging me .

Before I reached the center of the field, I doubled over and expelled everything in my stomach. Violent heaves wracked my body as bile burned my nose and throat, and tears stung my eyes.

I gasped for air and wiped my mouth.

It wasn’t real. It wasn’t real.

I wanted to focus on something tangible, but I had to ignore the grass beneath me—I couldn’t risk feeling it dying through the soles of my feet.

I finally stumbled to the heart of the clearing and fell to the ground. I curled into the fetal position and begged my spiraling thoughts to stop.

Suddenly, a shadow flashed in the distance—stealth, strong, and aware. I didn’t need to raise my head; I knew the gaze tracing over every inch of my skin like a night hawk. I buzzed with electrical awareness as the green eyes from the forest caressed my body.

Rowen’s presence reached out to me from the trees, as he had done long before I ever knew he was there.

During my nightmares, he had been my silent guardian, protecting me from the sidelines.

But now, I was intimately aware of his watchful eyes offering me strength from a distance, and a warmth pulsed in my chest. He must have sensed that I didn’t want him to get too close—in case I lost control.

And I did. I lost it all as lightning struck down around me.