Midnight Thorns

PART 4- BLOOD & GLASS

Soraya opened her eyes.

For several seconds, she didn't know where she was.

The ceiling above her was white.

Again.

She hated that ceiling.

It was becoming far too familiar.

Her body felt heavy.

Not weak.

Drained.

As if something had reached inside her and pulled out pieces she hadn't known were there.

She turned her head.

Elias sat in a chair beside the bed.

He was watching her.

Not casually.

Not with curiosity.

Like he was afraid she might disappear if he looked away.

Soraya stared at him.

"How long?"

His eyes lifted.

"Since the vision?"

"Yes."

"Three hours."

She looked toward the window.

The sun had begun to set.

Ashveldt was glowing beneath the twilight.

The city looked beautiful from above.

Almost innocent.

Soraya knew better now.

She slowly sat up.

Elias immediately stood.

"Don't."

She glared at him.

"If you tell me what to do one more time—"

"I'm not telling you what to do."

"You were about to."

"I was going to ask if you were okay."

Soraya paused.

"Oh."

He waited.

She looked away.

"No."

Elias nodded.

"Okay."

That was it.

No argument.

No attempt to fix it.

Just okay.

Somehow, that made her angrier.

"You don't get to be calm."

His brow furrowed.

"What?"

"You don't get to sit there like this is normal."

"I don't think this is normal."

"You have a dead brother who isn't dead."

"Yes."

"You found me because you thought I was a weapon."

"Yes."

"My sister may be alive."

"Yes."

"My memories are lying to me."

"Possibly."

Soraya stared at him.

"You're not helping."

"I know."

She swung her legs over the side of the bed.

Elias moved to help her.

She pulled away.

His hand stopped in the air.

For a moment, something passed through his eyes.

Hurt.

He lowered his hand.

Soraya saw it.

She hated that she saw it.

She hated even more that some part of her wanted to apologize.

"Where is Lucien?" she asked.

"At the house."

"Why?"

"Because he can't leave."

She looked at him.

"Can't?"

Elias's expression darkened.

"The bond."

Soraya looked at the ribbon around her wrist.

The silver thread connecting it to Elias was gone.

But she could still feel it.

A faint tug beneath her skin.

"Your bond with him."

"Yes."

"Explain it."

Elias was quiet for a moment.

Then he sat down.

"The ritual didn't bring Lucien back properly."

Soraya remained standing.

"Meaning?"

"It brought back his body."

Her expression hardened.

"And not his soul."

Elias looked at her.

"Not all of it."

The room grew colder.

"The part of him that was human was weak. Fragile. It couldn't survive the transition."

"Transition?"

"Death to life."

"That sounds like a convenient way to say something went horribly wrong."

"It did."

Elias looked toward the window.

"Something else came back with him."

Soraya's voice lowered.

"What?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know?"

"I was seventeen."

"You're older than seventeen now."

"That doesn't mean I understand it."

She fell silent.

He continued.

"When Lucien woke up, he was still my brother. For a while."

"Three days."

"Yes."

"Then he changed."

"Yes."

"How?"

Elias's eyes darkened.

"He started hearing things."

"What things?"

"Voices."

"Whose?"

"I don't know."

"You're saying something came back with him, but you don't know what?"

Elias looked at her.

"Do you know what lives inside you?"

Soraya froze.

The question struck deeper than it should have.

Elias continued.

"You're not just a woman with magic."

His voice was quiet.

"You have something inside you too."

Soraya looked away.

"Don't compare us."

"Why?"

"Because I'm not a monster."

His expression shifted.

"I didn't say you were."

"You were thinking it."

"No."

"Then what were you thinking?"

Elias's gaze held hers.

"That I know what it's like to be afraid of the thing inside you."

Soraya had no answer.

The silence stretched between them.

Then—

A scream tore through the house.

Soraya and Elias both turned toward the door.

Another scream.

This time, Lucien's voice.

Elias was out of the room before Soraya could stop him.

She followed.

They ran through the hallway.

The house had changed.

The walls were covered in black veins.

The plants had withered.

The air smelled like iron.

Elowen stood at the end of the hall, one hand pressed against the wall.

Her face was pale.

"Where is Lucien?"

Elias didn't answer.

He ran toward the living room.

Soraya followed.

The room was empty.

The front door was open.

Black blood covered the floor.

Elias stopped.

"No."

Soraya looked around.

"Where is he?"

Elowen appeared behind them.

"The bond."

Elias turned.

"What about it?"

"It was severed."

His face changed.

"That's impossible."

"Apparently not."

Soraya walked toward the blood.

A trail led toward the open door.

Then stopped.

Not at the threshold.

In the middle of the room.

She looked down.

A symbol had been carved into the floor.

Not the thirteen thorns.

Not the Crimson Thorn.

Something else.

A circle split down the middle.

On one side...

A crown.

On the other...

A thorn.

Soraya felt the ribbon around her wrist burn.

Elias whispered:

"The Thorn King."

Elowen went completely still.

Soraya looked at him.

"Who?"

Elias stared at the symbol.

"The king from the prophecy."

"The one who wants me alive."

"Yes."

"Why would he take Lucien?"

Elias's eyes lifted to hers.

"Because Lucien knows something."

Soraya's stomach tightened.

"About me?"

Elias didn't answer.

The blood on the floor began to move.

A message appeared.

Slowly.

One letter at a time.

THE KING DID NOT TAKE LUCIEN.

Soraya stared.

The message continued.

LUCIEN WENT WILLINGLY.

Elias's face went pale.

Then a final sentence appeared.

HE HAS ALWAYS SERVED THE KING.

The room went silent.

Soraya looked toward the open door.

Then at Elias.

"Your brother is working for the person hunting me."

Elias shook his head.

"No."

The blood continued writing.

ASK HIM WHO HE SERVED THE NIGHT THE GUARDIANS DIED.

Soraya's breath caught.

Elias stared at the words.

"No."

Soraya looked at him.

"Elias."

"No."

"You knew."

"I didn't."

"You knew something."

"I didn't know this."

The ribbon around her wrist suddenly flared.

The room vanished.

Soraya saw a throne.

Black crystal.

Silver thorns.

A man seated upon it.

And beside him...

Lucien.

Not a prisoner.

Not afraid.

Kneeling.

The Thorn King placed a hand on Lucien's shoulder.

Then looked directly at Soraya.

Through the vision.

As if he could see her.

As if he had been waiting.

His lips moved.

Soraya heard his voice.

"Tell her the truth, Lucien."

The vision shifted.

The Garden burned.

The twelve Guardians screamed.

And Lucien stood beside the Thorn King.

Holding a blade.

Soraya returned to the room with a gasp.

Elias caught her before she fell.

She pushed him away.

"What did you see?"

His voice was urgent.

Soraya looked at him.

Her face had gone cold.

"Your brother."

Elias froze.

"Where?"

"With the Thorn King."

His expression changed.

"And?"

Soraya stared at him.

"He was holding a blade."

Elias shook his head.

"No."

"Against the Guardians."

"No."

"He was there."

"No."

"He was there, Elias."

His voice broke.

"No."

Soraya stepped closer.

"Maybe he was the one who killed them."

Elias's eyes filled with something raw.

"Don't."

"Maybe he was the one who erased my memories."

"Don't."

"Maybe he was the one who held me down."

Elias looked at her.

"Stop."

Soraya's voice became a whisper.

"Maybe your brother has been lying to both of us."

Elias stood completely still.

Then the mark beneath his skin began to burn.

Crimson light spread across his ribs.

A voice whispered through the room.

Not from the doorway.

Not from the walls.

From inside Elias.

"She finally remembers."

Elias gasped.

Soraya stepped backward.

The voice laughed.

"Now ask her what she did."

The voice inside Elias laughed again.

It was not his voice.

It was not Lucien's.

It was something older.

Something that sounded like it had been waiting.

"Now ask her what she did."

Elias doubled over.

His hand clutched his chest.

The mark beneath his skin burned crimson.

Soraya froze.

"Elias."

He looked up at her.

His eyes were no longer entirely his.

One remained dark.

The other glowed like blood beneath moonlight.

"Get away from me."

Soraya didn't move.

"Elias—"

"I said get away!"

The force of his voice sent a shockwave through the room.

The windows rattled.

The walls groaned.

Soraya's magic rose instinctively.

Fire curled around her fingers.

Elias saw it.

His expression twisted.

"Don't."

"I'm not going to hurt you."

"That's what you said before."

Soraya stopped.

"What?"

Elias stared at her.

The crimson eye blinked.

Then his voice changed.

"She said that before."

Soraya's blood ran cold.

Elias gripped his head.

"Get out."

The voice laughed.

"You remember."

"Get out!"

"You remember the fire."

The room blurred.

Soraya saw—

A forest.

No.

The Garden.

But it was different.

The White Thorn Tree was burning.

Its branches twisted through flames.

Black roses fell from the sky.

One by one.

A child screamed.

Soraya.

No.

Not a child.

She was older.

Sixteen.

Seventeen.

Her hands were covered in blood.

Lyra stood in front of her.

Holding a blade.

Behind Lyra—

The twelve Guardians.

All of them.

Alive.

Soraya's breath caught.

Lyra was crying.

"Please."

Soraya shook her head.

"No."

"You have to."

"I can't."

"You promised."

"I promised to protect you!"

"You promised to protect the Garden!"

Fire exploded around them.

The Guardians screamed.

Soraya looked down.

The Crimson Thorn was in her hands.

It was not a ribbon.

It was a weapon.

A blade made of black metal and silver thorns.

And it was dripping blood.

Lyra stepped closer.

"Use it."

Soraya shook her head.

"No."

"The King is coming."

"I can fight him."

"You can't."

"I can!"

"You don't understand."

Lyra reached for her.

Soraya pulled away.

Then—

A voice spoke behind her.

"She has to choose."

Soraya turned.

Lucien stood beneath the burning tree.

A blade in his hand.

The Thorn King stood beside him.

The King was watching her.

Waiting.

Lyra looked at Soraya.

Her face was covered in tears.

"Please."

Soraya's hands trembled.

"What do you want me to do?"

Lyra looked toward the twelve Guardians.

Then back at her sister.

"Kill us."

The memory shattered.

Soraya returned to the room screaming.

The fire around her erupted.

Elias was thrown backward.

Elowen shouted her name.

Soraya couldn't hear her.

She was still seeing them.

The twelve Guardians.

Their faces.

Their fear.

Their blood.

The Crimson Thorn.

Lyra.

"Kill us."

Soraya fell to her knees.

"No."

Elowen rushed toward her.

Soraya raised one hand.

"Don't touch me!"

Elowen stopped.

Soraya stared at her.

"Did I kill them?"

Elowen's face crumpled.

"Soraya—"

"Did I?"

Silence.

That was all the answer Soraya needed.

She stood slowly.

Her hands were shaking.

"Why?"

Elowen's tears began to fall.

"Because there was no other way."

Soraya laughed.

"No other way?"

"The King was coming."

"Then let him come!"

"He would have taken the Guardians."

"Then we fight!"

"You did."

Soraya stared at her.

Elowen's voice broke.

"You fought until you couldn't stand."

"Then why?"

"Because the Guardians were bound to the Tree."

Soraya froze.

Elowen continued.

"If the King took them, he would have taken the Garden."

"That doesn't explain anything."

"It does."

Elowen stepped closer.

"The Guardians were not just protecting the Garden."

Her voice lowered.

"They were the Garden."

Soraya's breath caught.

"Their magic was connected to the Tree. Their souls were connected to the seals."

Elias slowly pushed himself to his feet.

The crimson light beneath his skin had dimmed.

Elowen looked at Soraya.

"When the King came, he didn't want to destroy the Garden."

"He wanted to control it."

Soraya's voice was hollow.

"And the only way to stop him..."

Elowen nodded.

"Was to break the bond."

Soraya stared at her.

"By killing them."

"By releasing them."

"Don't call it that."

"I know what it looked like."

"You don't know what it felt like."

Elowen's face broke.

"I know."

Soraya stared at her.

"How?"

Elowen took a trembling breath.

"Because I was there."

The room went silent.

"I watched you."

Soraya's voice dropped.

"And you let me do it."

Elowen closed her eyes.

"I tried to stop you."

"No."

"I tried."

"You let me kill them."

"You were the only one who could."

"Why?"

Elowen opened her eyes.

"Because you were the First Guardian."

The ribbon around Soraya's wrist burned.

The room trembled.

Elias looked at her.

"First?"

Elowen nodded.

"The first Guardian."

Soraya stared at her.

"Then why were there twelve?"

Elowen looked toward the empty space where the blood symbol had been.

"Because the First Guardian was never counted."

Soraya felt the air leave her lungs.

"Why?"

Elowen's voice became a whisper.

"Because the First Guardian was not created to protect the Garden."

A pause.

"She was created to destroy it."

Soraya stood perfectly still.

The voice inside Elias whispered again.

This time...

It sounded almost like a child.

"She remembers."

The ribbon around Soraya's wrist split.

A thin line of blood appeared across her palm.

Then the Crimson Thorn rose from the floor.

Not a memory.

Not a vision.

Real.

Black metal.

Silver thorns.

Crimson light.

It floated before her.

Waiting.

Soraya stared at the weapon.

Elias whispered:

"Soraya..."

She reached for it.

The moment her fingers closed around the hilt—

Every light in Ashveldt went out.

And somewhere beneath the city...

The Thorn King opened his eyes.

"Finally."