Chapter 6
1388 Words
Elara stood frozen, heart pounding against her ribs. Her mother’s voice still echoed in her mind not a dream, not an illusion, but real. A flicker of Evelynn’s true self. Not lost. Not completely.
She wanted to believe it. Needed to. But doubt crept in like a slow-moving tide. Was it a trick? Was she seeing what she wanted to see?
The weight of it all pressed on her, her mother’s fate, the war brewing, and the growing darkness inside herself. And then there was the Darkness. His presence in her dreams was intoxicating, his power like a drug she couldn’t resist. How could she focus when his touch still lingered in her mind?
She considered telling Eugene. Her brother was her anchor, the only one who could bring her back when she felt untethered. But something stopped her. If she said it out loud, it would become real.
No. She had to be sure first.
Resolve hardened in her chest. Whatever was happening to Evelynn, she refused to let her mother be swallowed by the darkness.
She would bring her back.
“I—” She straightened, forcing herself to be composed. “I need to talk to Father.”
Eugene’s expression darkened at the mention of their father, but he gave a short nod. “Then let’s go.”
That evening, she and Eugene went to their father. Eric,had never once let go of the belief that Evelynn could be saved. When Elara told him about her experiences,leaving out the dreams, she saw something shift in his and Eugenes eyes.
“I knew it,” Eric murmured, a fire rekindling in his gaze. “She’s still in there.”
And for the first time in years, hope didn’t feel like a fool’s delusion.
The council chamber was dimly lit, the large wooden table in the center covered with maps, reports, and remnants of unfinished meals. The scent of candle wax and parchment hung heavy in the air. Eric sat at the head of the table, his presence as commanding as ever, though his face bore lines of exhaustion. Around him, the trusted leaders of the rebellion—Jasmine, Mary, Callum, all stood engaged in quiet discussion.
When Elara and Eugene entered, all eyes turned to them.
“I need to speak,” Elara announced, her voice steady despite the storm raging inside her. “I have reason to believe our mother can be saved.”
The words dropped like a stone into a still pond. The silence that followed was thick, heavy.
Jasmine folded her arms. “You believe?”
“I know,” Elara corrected sharply. “She reached out to me. I heard her voice, her voice not the dark thing she was in the courtyard , not the darkness. She’s still in there.”
Mary’s brows furrowed, her expression troubled. “That’s a dangerous assumption to make, Elara.”
“It’s not an assumption,” she insisted. “I felt it.”
Callum had been silent up until now, but at this, he leaned forward, his gaze unreadable. “Tell me everything.”
So she did. She left out the dreams, the ones where the darkness whispered to her, touched her in ways that made her shudder with both revulsion and desire. But she told them about the voice, the feeling that it was real.
Callum to himself whispered . “I always knew she wasn’t gone.”
He, let out a heavy sigh. “Even if she’s still in there, that doesn’t mean we can save her.”
“Then we try,” Elara shot back.
The room erupted into arguments. Some believed Evelynn had made her choice, others argued that she could be freed. Elara’s patience snapped.
“If any of you had been taken, she would have fought to save you,” she said fiercely. “I won’t abandon her.”
Eric stood, silencing the room. His voice was calm but firm. “Neither will I.”
A sharp scoff came from one of the kings guard. “This is madness.The queen has been gone for years. She commands the dark forces now. We all saw her.”
“She is the dark forces,” another spat. “If we go after her, we risk—”
“We risk nothing!” Elara’s voice cut through them like a blade. “We risk everything if we don’t! She is not lost, and I will not sit here while all of you condemn her. If none of you will help me, I’ll go alone.”
The tension thickened.
Eric stood. “She will not go alone.” His voice was quiet but resolute. “This is my fight as much as hers. I will not abandon her.”
Eugene let out a long breath, nodding. “We should do more research before we go in blind, but I’m in.”
That was enough.
The strategy was set—a small, stealth-based infiltration instead of an outright assault. They would slip past Alazar’s forces and find Evelynn without drawing unnecessary attention.
But even as the plans were laid, Elara felt something curling around the edges of her thoughts.
That night, she did not fight sleep.
She welcomed it.
And he was waiting.
Alazar’s presence was intoxicating, his power wrapping around her like silk. She stood in a darkened chamber, moonlight filtering through high, arched windows. He leaned against the wall, watching her with eyes like liquid night.
“Elara,” he murmured, his voice sliding through her like a caress.
She shivered as he approached, his fingers brushing against her wrist, feather-light but electrifying. She knew she should resist, that she should push him away—but she didn’t.
“I heard her,” she whispered.
Alazar smiled, slow and knowing. “Did you?” He leaned in, his breath warm against her ear. “And what did she say?”
“She told me to run, I am assuming from you.”
A chuckle rumbled from his throat. “Oh, my sweet little flame… she already lost.”
His hands traced down her arms, his power thrumming through her veins. The pleasure that coursed through her made her weak, made her want—
She gasped, wrenching herself away.
Alazar only smirked. “You will come to me Elara.”
The dream shattered.
Elara bolted upright in bed, heart hammering, sweat clinging to her skin. Her room was dark, but in the mirror across from her bed—
She saw him.
Alazar, standing just beyond the glass, watching her.
Her breath caught, and in a single, instinctive motion, she hurled a dagger at the mirror. The glass splintered, cracking into a thousand shards.
But as she stared at her fractured reflection, she whispered the truth she was most afraid of.
He’s right.
The warmth.
The pull.
He had been growing stronger in her dreams, slipping into the edges of her waking thoughts. And when she closed her eyes, he was there.
“Elara,” his voice was like silk, curling around her mind. “You cannot deny it.”
She shuddered but didn’t pull away. His presence, his touch—it weakened her in ways that terrified her.
It was like he was standing behind her now, though she hadn’t moved. She could feel fingers trailing along her neck, featherlight. “You want to come to me,” he murmured. “Why fight it?”
She squeezed her eyes shut.
“You think you can resist?” he continued, his voice amused. “Tell me, Elara… did you shatter the glass because you hate me, or because you hate that I make you feel?”
Her body betrayed her with a shiver.
“Then I guess I will come for you,” he promised.
And just like that, the feeling was gone.
Elara let out a shaky breath.
She had to fight this.
She had to.
As the sun dipped below the horizon, the time to act had come. Elara stood with Eugene, Jasmine, and a small group of trusted warriors. They would leave at nightfall, slipping into the shadows.
Eric approached, resting a hand on her shoulder. “We need to be careful.”
She nodded.
As she turned away, she whispered to herself, Hold on, Mother. I’m coming for you.
- Writer
