The Monster and His Queen

Chapter 38

Elaria looked at Draven through the bond. They had a plan. It was risky. Possibly suicidal. But it was all they had.

She turned to Captain Ryver and whispered quickly. "When we move, get those people out. Don't hesitate. Don't try to help us. Just save them."

"Your Highness, you can't go in there alone," Ryver protested.

"We're not alone. We have each other." Elaria squeezed his arm. "Trust us."

She looked at Amariel next. "Can you disrupt her power from outside the circle?"

"For maybe ten seconds. After that, she'll overwhelm me."

"Ten seconds is all we need." Elaria took a deep breath. "Martha, if this goes wrong, if we don't make it, tell my mother the truth. About her. About what happened today. She deserves to know."

"Nothing is going wrong," Martha said firmly. "You're coming back. Both of you."

"Thirty seconds," the Second Seeker called out.

Elaria and Draven moved to the circle's edge. Through the bond, they synchronized their breathing, their heartbeats, their very thoughts.

"Together?" Draven asked through their connection.

"Always together."

They stepped into the circle.

Power slammed into them immediately. The ritual magic tried to drain their energy, pull their life force into the growing rifts above. But they'd expected that. They pushed back, using their bond as a shield.

The Second Seeker laughed. "Impressive. Most people collapse immediately. But you won't last long."

"We don't need long," Elaria said.

She reached the first disruption point and placed her hand on the ground. Draven reached the second. They just needed one more.

"Amariel, now!" Elaria shouted.

The priestess began chanting, her magic creating interference in the ritual's power flow. The Second Seeker stumbled, her concentration broken.

Lyssa, who'd been standing back with the guards, suddenly ran forward. Her void marks flared bright as she dove into the circle, reaching the third point.

"No!" the Second Seeker screamed. "You were mine! You swore loyalty!"

"I lied," Lyssa said, pressing her hands to the ground. "I was never yours."

The three points activated simultaneously. The ritual circle shattered like glass. Power exploded outward in a wave that knocked everyone off their feet.

The void-touched humans slumped forward, freed from the draining magic. Captain Ryver and his guards rushed in, pulling them to safety.

But the Second Seeker was still standing. And she was furious.

"You dare? You DARE?" Her form began to change, shadows consuming her human appearance. What emerged was something else. Something ancient and terrible that had been wearing Elaria's face like a mask.

"She's not human," Amariel gasped. "She never was. It's a void entity that consumed a human body. Your twin sister's body."

"My sister is dead?" Elaria's voice broke.

"Dead and possessed. The entity has been wearing her like a suit." Amariel's face was pale. "And now it's showing its true form."

The entity that had been the Second Seeker towered above them, easily twenty feet tall. It had Elaria's face stretched across a body made of shadow and bone. When it spoke, the voice was layered, ancient, nothing like the human tones from before.

"CLEVER CHILDREN. YOU BROKE MY RITUAL. BUT ALL YOU'VE DONE IS FREE ME FROM THE LIMITATIONS OF THAT WEAK HUMAN FORM."

"Who are you?" Draven demanded. "What are you really?"

"I AM THE DEVOURER. YES, THE SAME ONE YOU BANISHED BEFORE. DID YOU THINK THAT WAS THE END? I SIMPLY NEEDED A NEW BODY. A NEW PLAN." The entity's laughter shook the ground. "AND YOUR SISTER PROVIDED BOTH."

"You killed her. You killed my twin," Elaria said, rage building in her chest.

"SHE WAS ALREADY DYING WHEN I FOUND HER. ABANDONED IN THE VOID AS AN INFANT. I SIMPLY GAVE HER PURPOSE. USED HER BODY FOR SOMETHING MEANINGFUL."

"There was nothing meaningful about this," Draven said, his shadows rising. "You're just another parasite feeding on pain."

"AND YOU'RE JUST ANOTHER WEAPON THINKING IT'S HUMAN." The Devourer leaned down, its massive face inches from Draven. "TELL ME, VOID-BORN, DOES SHE KNOW WHAT YOU REALLY ARE? WHAT YOU'LL BECOME?"

"Don't listen to it," Elaria said, moving closer to Draven. "It's trying to divide us."

"I DON'T NEED TO DIVIDE YOU. TIME WILL DO THAT." The Devourer straightened. "BUT FIRST, I NEED TO FINISH WHAT I STARTED. THE RITUAL MAY BE BROKEN, BUT THE RIFTS REMAIN. AND WITH THE POWER I'VE GATHERED, I CAN STILL OPEN THEM. ALL FORTY-SEVEN. PERMANENTLY."

"We'll stop you," Elaria said.

"YOU CAN TRY." The Devourer began to grow larger, pulling power from the surrounding void. "BUT UNLIKE BEFORE, YOU DON'T HAVE THE VOID KING TO SAVE YOU. HE CANNOT REACH THIS PLACE. I'VE MADE SURE OF IT."

That was true. Elaria had been trying to call the Void King through their connection, but something was blocking it. The Devourer had learned from past mistakes.

"Then we do this ourselves," Draven said, his hand finding Elaria's.

"FOOLISH CHILDREN. YOU'RE POWERFUL FOR HUMANS. BUT YOU'RE STILL JUST HUMAN." The Devourer raised its hands, and the rifts above began to pulse. "WATCH AS I TEAR YOUR WORLD APART."

Energy poured from the Devourer into the rifts. They expanded rapidly, growing from small tears to massive openings. Through them, Elaria could see the void realm pressing against the barriers, ready to flood through.

"We need the Void King," Amariel shouted over the roar of power. "Without him, we can't close gates this large!"

"I know!" Elaria was still trying to reach him, but the block was too strong.

Wait.

The block was stopping her from calling out. But what if she did the opposite?

"Draven, I have an insane idea," she said through the bond.

"Those are becoming our specialty."

"What if we don't call the Void King to us? What if we go to him?"

She felt his understanding through the bond. It was insane. Suicidal. They'd have to open their own rift to the void realm, dive through, find the Void King, and convince him to return with them. All while the Devourer tore reality apart behind them.

"I hate this plan," Draven said.

"But you're going to do it anyway?"

"Obviously."

They stood together, hands clasped, and did something no human had attempted before. They tore open a controlled rift directly to the Void King's domain.

The Devourer noticed too late. "NO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

"Something crazy," Elaria said.

Then she and Draven dove into the void.