The Rise Of The Daywalker

CHAPTER 4:The Queen's Trial

KAREN'S POV

The first thing I noticed when my eyes opened was the pounding pain in my head. The second was Cassian's face hovering above mine, sharp and perfect even in the gloom.

"Easy," he murmured.

I blinked at the funny ceiling of the room. I didn't recognise it. My throat was as dry as a desert; it felt like I had swallowed fire. "Where… are we?" I managed to ask.

"Safe," he said with a grin, but his eyes told a different story.

"Define safe."

Before he could answer, the heavy wooden doors creaked open. Isolde stepped inside, her gold eyes fierce.

"They know," she said. "Both councils. Word travels faster than blood."

A chill rippled down my spine. Meanwhile, far from us, in a hall reeking of smoke and judgment, my grandfather stood before the Hunter Council. Their faces were grim, carved in hate.

"She is one of them now," the High Warden spat, slamming a scroll onto the table. "And you raised her."

Grandpa's jaw worked as if he were chewing nails. "She is my blood. She was raised to hunt, not…"

"Enough," the warden blew hot. "You failed your duty. Now you will cleanse your stain with her blood. Kill the girl, or you forfeit your life."

Grandpa's silence was the loudest sound in the room. I was unaware of any of this at the time. All I saw was Cassian, tense and restless, his hands clenched like he was holding back a storm.

"What happened?" I asked.

He looked at me, and for the first time, I saw fear in his eyes. "The Hunters branded you a traitor. There's a death warrant on you."

I gasped for air; those words stole the air from my lungs.

"And that's not all," Isolde added. "Vaeloria knows too. The Queen summoned him." Her chin tilted toward Cassian.

Cassian cursed under his breath. "We need to leave."

"Leave? Where?" My voice shook.

"To Vaeloria," he said.

"Hell no! I am an abomination; the Queen will have my head. I cannot go there.

"I will protect you; that is the only place I can assure your safety. The Hunter's council will tear this place apart, and you'll be in danger if they find you here.

"The Vampire's council also wants my head; either way, I am still in danger there. What if they arrest me and throw me into the dungeon?" Cassian saw the worry in my eyes. He moved closer to me to reassure me, but there was no way I was going to Vaeloria; that was a disaster waiting to happen.

"Can you protect me from your mother? My grandpa and his hunters killed your brother, she will never recover from that," I added.

"Trust me. I'll protect you with my life," he assured me.

After what felt like forever, I finally agreed to go with Cassian. I knew I wasn't safe, but I had no choice. Travelling to Vaeloria was like falling through a dream I wasn't ready for. Cassian moved with relentless speed, the night air slicing my skin. Mountains rose like jagged spires under a crimson moon, and then the city appeared alive. Shadows moved like living things, curling across the streets. The gates opened before Cassian without a sound, as if the darkness knew its master.

"Stay close," he said, and for once, I didn't argue.

We crossed a hall carved from obsidian, and at the end of it sat the Queen.

Her beauty was severe, cold enough to cut bone. Skin pale as frost, lips crimson, and eyes like molten gold that pinned me in place.

"So," she said, her voice a blade wrapped in silk. "The half-blood child. I thought you were a myth."

My lungs locked.

"She is under my protection," Cassian said, his voice low and dangerous.

The Queen laughed softly. "You forget your place, son. This… creature stands before me untested, and you expect me to trust her? Her grandfather and his people butchered your brother. Have you forgotten his screams?"

The venom in her tone made my stomach twist. Her gaze cut through my skin like a knife.

“You are our kind now but not one of us. If you want to stay here," she said coldly, "you will earn it. Prove your loyalty."

My throat dried. "How?" I bowed

Her lips curved. "Go to the cursed woods, survive the night there and bring me the head of Tarok." I saw Cassian tremble

"You have to go alone," she added.

"What!! You cannot do that, mother! She cannot survive the night there; it would kill her. No one has ever faced Tarok and come back alive!" Tarok was the beast of the forest, and it had been there for centuries. No one knew what kind of beast it was, because no one had come face-to-face with it and survived. I had never seen it before, but this was the only condition I had to stay in Vaeloria. Cassian's voice was louder than mine; it overshadowed my thoughts as he tried to talk the Queen out of sending me to my doom, but she wasn't yielding.

"I'll do it." I burst out. "I'll bring you the head of Tarok."

"Brave! I like you already," the Queen grinned and walked away from us.

"What? Are you crazy? Do you even know what you are going against? You have no idea what you are doing, and I won't let you do that." Cassian's eyes were burning with fear. I felt his heart beating faster than it usually did.

"I can do this, I'll make it.

"I'll come with you."

"I said ALONE!" The Queen barked from the hallway as she walked to her room.

"Come with me." Cassian walked ahead of me and took me to a room filled with all the weapons I could ever imagine. He started packing me bullets, short guns, arrows and bows.

"I cannot carry all of these."

"This is the only way I'll let you go into that place alone. Come, pick the ones you can carry. I'll follow you to the edge of the forest." At this point, I knew there was nothing I would say that would make him change his mind.

"All set, let's move!" he instructed.

"But she will see you."

"Don't worry about that, she is the Queen, but also my mum, I know how to manipulate her visions. I have been doing that ever since I was little. We lunched into the Cursed Woods, which were not woods at all. They were teeth and shadows, I could feel them breathing, whispering things I didn't want to understand.

Cassian led me to the edge under the rising blood moon. He gripped my wrist before I stepped in.

"This is madness," he said harshly. "She is testing you like prey."

"I don't have a choice," I whispered.

His jaw tightened. "Then let me go in with you."

"She said alone," I reminded him.

"Let her say it," he growled, stepping closer until I felt the heat of him. "I am not letting you die in there."

The weight in his voice stole my breath. "Why do you care so much?"

For a heartbeat, he said nothing. Then his hand cupped my face, and the world tilted.

"Because I've lost enough," he said softly. "I won't lose you, too."

When he pulled away, I was shaking for a reason that had nothing to do with fear; I felt a spark.

"Go," he whispered, his forehead pressed to mine. "But know this, I'll be there. Whether she sees me or not."

I nodded, then I stepped into the woods, my heart pounding like a war drum. Behind me, the blood moon climbed higher, and something in the darkness laughed. There was only one outcome from this: either I kill Tarok or it kills me, but I wasn't sure which would be. But all I knew was that the odds were not in my favour.