Page 26 of The Faebound Trials (Mates and Madness: The Phantom Prince and The Bloodweaver #1)

I helped him up from the hollow of the crater he landed on.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

Kell chuckled at my surprise.

“It was a long story.”

And when we heard a cough, we turned to look at the second crater of the last bloodweaver to enter the ancient lands of Enoranthas.

We walked towards it and I found a familiar broad shoulders and inky black curls coughing up ashes from his descent.

Ellis.

He worked his way up and Kell offered a hand.

“I’m glad we found you.”

“Me? Why?”

“We lost you,” Kell answered.

“How did you find me?”

Kell’s mouth opened to speak but he was cut off when we heard the horses rounding up.

They’d catch up.

My neck snapped harshly to them. I had so many questions. But now was not the right time.

“We need to run.”

“What?” Kell asked.

“What did you do, troublemaker?” Ellis scanned the mossy forests the sound was coming from.

“I can’t explain right now. But I need to escape.”

“Why?”

“I ran away in the middle of a test. I was stuck here because I became a human tester for the fae. They tested different sorts of things on the mortals here, they wanted to know what kills us, what hurts us because they knew one day humans would come to live here.”

Kell and Ellis both had a shock expression on their faces.

“Come again?” Kell was more confused than shocked.

“What is it? What year are we in?”

We heard a loud booming trumpet-like sound coming from the hoard of knights in our tail.

They were silent. But I didn’t have time to explain more. Or ask them questions.

The loud thumping of a horse’s heart grew louder. They were getting nearer. And I saw how Kell and Ellis snapped their heads towards the sound. They could hear it too.

“We need to get out of here!”

I didn’t wait for them, I ran. I knew they’d follow.

We ran past what looked like a cave, and down towards it was a cliff. Stones fell when I stopped just before it.

I almost didn’t see it because it was covered with bushes and fallen branches.

If I didn’t feel the hollow edge, I would’ve plummeted down to my death.

There was no way out now.

When I looked back, I knew I was doomed.

The fae were powerful on their lands, more than ten knights formed a circle around us.

Shilmarej rode on a horse too, he swiftly went down from his horse and his brows were knitted when his eyes fell on the two bloodweavers.

There was a question in his eyes, they were sure the knights were following me alone, and now two mortals appeared beside me, all dressed in clothes too modern for today’s taste.

“Bring them back to Thorsmora. Now.”

I groaned and pushed back but the knights commanded the tree roots and I was stuck before I could try to run.

I couldn’t move, couldn’t get out. I was nailed to the ground.

The branches moved and slithered their way to wrap around my neck, pushing me down by putting force on my shoulders.

My knees hit the ground, I was careful as I put my whole weight away from crushing my knees and making myself bleed from the force of the branches.

I saw Kell fighting and cutting the roots and tree branches using a mid-sized knife. His swift and light movements took a few branches before one pulled him on his left ankle and dragged him away.

He stopped at the feet of the knight who commanded the trees. He grunted and groaned as he tried to cut off the roots circling his feet.

But the knights were faster.

When they grabbed Kell, they popped white powder dust right into his face.

And he inhaled it, his eyes fluttered close.

Then his body went limp.

A choked breath rammed stuck in my throat.

“Kell!” Ellis shouted and I didn’t notice he was still fighting off and the knights hadn’t gotten a hold of him.

Ellis ran to Kell, he was nimble and strong, he expertly dodged all the attempts of branches lurching towards him to bind him to the spot.

He didn’t have any weapon he could use to cut off the branches, but he didn’t need it.

But if he had a weapon, I could only imagine the smallest of what he could do.

He was lanky and fast, and I was rooting for him to get away.

But all of his fast movements, all his abilities slowed down when he realized Kell lost consciousness.

Ellis’s weakness was Kell.

He was blinded by his worry and he didn’t see the knights he was falling right into as he focused on Kell.

They got him, grabbed him, and steadied him like they did to Kell. They bounded his arms to his back and the branches went to his mouth, covering it.

He couldn’t stop shouting Kell’s name until they did the same thing to him.

Smoke popped into his face and he was lulled to sleep.

I gritted my teeth in anger but Shilmarej was long gone, who knows, maybe he had rode off his horse to go back to Thorsmora quickly.

Way too sure, we’re too weak to fight them off and escape.

I waited for them to make me inhale a powdered smoke like I did when they first caught me.

But they left me awake, bound by blue magic and tree branches circling my upper body and wrapping around, choking my neck.

I groaned in frustration but I didn’t trash around.

I was too tired, and I knew I needed to save my strength.

They let me walk the whole way back to Thorsmora, I stopped feeling my feet hours ago.

They dragged me as I was chained to a horse. The branches remained choking my neck.

I was treated worse than the smallest creature.

The path ahead wasn’t the one I ran into.

The path way back was longer as if the trees were playing with us, making us turn into circles, hiding the right way out.

Scalding heat scorched my skin, the branches were too tight and bruising my already rough and dry skin. The friction was irritating and uncomfortable.

And frustration broiled in me, as tears filled the corners of my eyes in shame and disappointment.

I thought I could go back now to my sister.

I felt it, the flow of time right into my veins.

I felt the pull of threading, weaving in time.

I was so close to going back and leaving everything behind.

And now I’m back to square one.

Fuckity fuck.

I wanted to give up. My ego was no use if I was dead.

So I let my body go limp, letting them carry me back.

I was too tired to hold myself up. I was too tired to walk.

Let them carry me back. They wouldn’t leave me behind. They rode horses just to catch me.

The knight riding the horse where I was chained to, halted to a stop.

My heart slammed in my chest because I was too close to the horse’s feet when I let myself go limp.

I miscalculated and was almost crushed by a thousand-pound horse.

Godfuck.

I almost died.

Fuuuuuuck!

I was internally dying inside.

I heard the knight I was chained to click his tongue in annoyance but he had no choice but to go down and carry me to the back of his horse.

“Heavy bitch,” I heard him murmur.

And I made it even harder for him.

I put all my weight and he struggled.

I heard him utter a word similar to a curse word. I wanted to laugh out of spite.

Then one knight sprinkled dust into the air and blew it.

I gasped as I realized what it was.

When I gained consciousness, we were suddenly back inside the underground city Thorsmora was built in.

The next thing they did was slam the metal doors right into my face after pushing me towards what looks like a dungeon cell.

Great. Just fucking great.

My days of luxury were gone.