Clockwork Kiss

Public Exposure

Torian’s sword flared blue, almost blinding as it illuminated the devastation. The shattered candelabra, the stunned, silent guests, and Valerius’s twisted, demonic face. Torian pushed me further behind his battered body, still encouraging me to run.

I couldn’t though. I was frozen to the spot. My heart hammered heavy against my chest, in my throat. I couldn’t leave him. Where would I go anyways? I didn’t know the castle, and I certainly didn’t know the land. I thought about how Torian had first reacted to my presence, and me being mortal…how Valerius and his men had dismissed me. What if the other people in the realm were just as cruel or dismissive of me being mortal?

I swallowed.

“Valerius!” Torian roared. His voice was rough, yet he projected it through the ballroom with a raw, royal power that cut through the silence. “You stand here, on the sacred ground of the Drakemoor Hall, attempting to murder the intending ruler and seize power through treason and dark magic.”

The remaining guests continued to gasp, looking at one another. Whispers swirled in the air, as they held on to each other, ducking behind pillars and hiding, though they kept their eyes locked on the madness happening in front of them.

Valerius sneered, ignoring the witnesses. They meant nothing to him. He would see them as collateral damage if they ended up in the crossfire and not think twice about them. “Your words are meaningless, Torian. The Council is no longer here, and after these people witness what I do to you, they will be begging to bow before me.” His eyes locked on me as pale golden light began to wash over the ballroom. “The Solstice alignment peaks now. I will take the Temporal Key, and I will be king.” A terrible, faint purple light began to pulse from Valerius’s hands. The red ring in his eyes seemed to blow brighter, a fire that matched his fury.

A shiver ran through my body, and I tried to swallow my fear. “You’ll never make it back to the chamber before the alignment is over.”

“I don’t need a ritual chamber,” he continued, sneering. He took a confident step forward, “The alignment is the chamber, and you are the vessel.”

He thrust his hands forward, and a cone of that sickly purple light shot out from his palms. Torian was knocked to the ground by the blast, his sword hitting the marble floor with an echoing clatter. I was enveloped in the light. It was thick and hot. I tried to move, but it was like moving in syrup. I tried to scream, but nothing came out. It was as if the purple fire was consuming me.

A new, sharp pain blossomed in my chest. It grew larger by the second. I felt as if a piece of my soul was being separated and ripped from my body. I tasted metal and wasn’t sure if it was blood or the light.

Torian roared as he pushed to his feet, an angry and primal sound. He threw his body against Valerius. It didn’t do much, but it was enough to throw off the focus of the beam. “Stop! The extraction will kill her!” His voice was feral and desperate.

“A necessary sacrifice for a new reality,” Valerius pushed him back and refocused the beam. His voice was so cold and casual. He didn’t care how many casualties there was, as long as he got the end he wanted.

Torian collapsed on the cold marble. All I could do was watch, helpless and unmoving as he tried to crawl back to me.

I was nearly blinded by the extraction magic, the pain unbearable. Through it though, I felt that familiar pale light. The Temporal Key was reacting. It wasn’t being extracted, it was being activated.