Page 113 of The Queen’s Shadow

Rycon was fast in his human form, but as a panther he was unstoppable. He tore through bodies in a relentless explosion of gore. Streams of blood whipped from the tip of his tail with every corner he turned. Jeremy impressed me by not only managing to keep up, but by holding his own. He more or less was able to mow down clones with well-placed blasts from his Carbine. He was vulnerable when he needed to reload, but that was where I came in.

My shadows tore the copies of Vespara away from him and launched them down the hallway as if they were rag dolls. By the time we made it to the stairway that led to the megaron, we had developed a sort of cadence. Rycon cleared, Jeremy attacked, I defended.

We shot up the stairs as a team, the flash of lightning and the crash of thunder providing a fitting backdrop to the chaos that surrounded us.

Finally, we made our way to the top of the stairs and spilled into the megaron. Rycon shifted back into his human form the moment our feet hit the white marble floor and I raised an eyebrow at him, shocked that he had been able to shift again so soon. More lightning flashed as I took in the scene before me.

Cerenah stood precariously close to the carving in the center of the megaron. The carving seemed to have come alive and was churning angrily, a near perfect mirror of the raging storm in the sky. She was outnumbered by three Vesparas. Two held her back by her arms, and one stood before her, a crushing grip around Cerenah’s throat. My gaze found Zayne, who was currently on his knees, watching Vesapara strangle Cerenah with something close to fury and terror painted across his scarred face.

“Enough!” I screamed and fired a quasar at the Vespara who had Cerenah by the throat. The blast hit her square in the shoulder, and she fell back, the scent of burnt flesh hitting my nose. I realized with a start that I had just hit The Original.

The true Vespara let go of Cerenah, who coughed roughly as she drew in a ragged gasp of air. However, the rest of the clones continued up the stairs behind us and flowed forward. They formed a fleshy shield of bodies between us, Vespara and Cerenah, who was still held back by the two clones.

“You bitch!” The real Vespara snarled, clutching her arm as it spilled blood over the marble floor.

“Let her go Vespara, or I will kill you where you stand.” I shouted over another deafening crack of thunder. She started laughing.

“Try it, False Queen, you will never get through my clones before she goes into the ring.”

My eyes widened as I realized suddenly what she intended to do. She was going to throw Cerenah into the carving in the center of the floor. Amon had told me it would kill me, if I stepped inside. I watched in horror as the clones pulled Cerenah closer to the ring.

“Don’t!” Zayne shouted.

My head whipped to Zayne, who was looking at his sister, fury etched across his face. She sneered at him.

“I tried, Zayne. I tried to get you to see me. But you always only look at her! Maybe when she is finally gone, you will realize what you have right in front of you.” Vespara snarled at him, as her clones continued to drag Cerenah closer to the stormy ring. Zayne turned his head to me from where he had been forced to kneel on the ground.

“Free me. I can stop her.” He said. I hesitated, wracking my mind for another way.

“I don’t trust you.” I hissed. If I freed him, I would lose my only piece of leverage I had with him. What if it was a trick? What if he turned on us?

“You don’t have a choice if you want her to live.” He snapped back.

I glanced up, and Cerenah was so close to the edge, her boot was brushing against the outer ring of the carving.

I was out of time.

I was out of ideas.

I shadow walked to Zayne and tore his slavery bond away from his aura, slipping my shadowstone blade between the bond and his sanguineous energy, meeting his gaze.

“Don’t make me regret this.”

He just gave me a deadly smile. “I’m not making any promises.”

I let out a frustrated snarl at his refusal to admit allegiance but allowed my blade to cut through his bond anyway. Immediately, I threw a barrier around Rycon and Jeremy, to protect them from the explosion of energy that tore through the megaron as he was released.

I fell back to join them as Zayne rose shakily to his feet. He was looking down at his hands, flexing his fingers, as if amazed that he had the power to move them at all. He glanced at me briefly, his face pale, before a terrifying smile curled the corners of his scarred mouth. Turning to face his sister, his smile only widened.

“What have you done!” Vespara screamed at me from across the megaron. “I will make you pay for that you bitch!” She screamed, and with a wave of her hand, she sent a wall of her clones forward. I shot into the air and powered up a quasar. Jeremy and Rycon unloaded clip after clip into the oncoming mob, but it was all unnecessary as suddenly, Vespara and all of her clones froze.

Silence fell over the megaron, interrupted only by the occasional roll of thunder, and Zayne’s slow, methodical footsteps as he walked toward his sister.

With one hand in his pocket, the other floated before him, as if he were a conductor and the crowd of Vespara’s were his orchestra. I watched, enthralled, as he parted the sea of bodies with a casual wave of his hand.

“Zayne! Release me!” Vespara screeched, and Cerenah struggled to get herself out of the frozen hands of her clones.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk.” Zayne tutted, as he came closer. “Vespara, my sweet, sweet sister. I am confused. Have you not been begging, all this time, for me to hold you? It would seem all your dreams are finally coming true.”