CHAPTER NINE:THE ESCAPE
1124 Words
Elara's POV
Cold was the first thing I felt when I woke, bone deep and unforgiving.
The kind that settles in your chest and won't let go…
My wrists burned where silver chains bit into my skin, the metal searing like hot iron even though it was freezing to the touch.
I tried to move but the chains held me tight against the stone wall, my entire body ached from lying on the hard floor.
My dress was still damp from the Moon Pool, clinging to my skin and making me shiver.
Through the small window high above I could see the sky beginning to lighten, pale gray bleeding into darkness, dawn was coming, and with it my execution.
I almost laughed at the irony, I'd come to this castle to end a war, to save my kingdom, and instead I was going to die in a dungeon like a criminal.
My father would never know what really happened to me, he'd think I'd failed.
"You did fail," Seraphina's voice whispered in my mind, soft and mocking.
"You were weak, just like all the others."
"Shut up," I muttered.
Her laughter echoed through my head, louder now, stronger, I could feel her inside me like a second heartbeat, the silver marks had spread while I was unconscious, covering half my chest now, creeping toward my throat.
I thought about Liora crushed in the west wing, that guard whose throat I'd cut without knowing…..Kael kneeling before Seraphina's altar promising to bring her back.
Maybe it was better this way, maybe if I died, she'd die with me, at least then I'd stop hurting people.
Footsteps made me look up, someone was coming, I heard keys jingling, boots scraping on stone.
I closed my eyes and waited.
The cell door opened.
"Get up," a familiar voice said, "we're leaving, now."
I opened my eyes and saw Kael standing in the doorway, he wasn't wearing his usual formal clothes, instead he was dressed in dark leather and traveling boots, a heavy cloak thrown over one arm, his silver eyes were urgent, almost desperate.
"No," I said flatly.
Elera we don't have time for this."
"Why?" I asked, my voice bitter, "so you can resurrect her somewhere else?
I saw you Kael, I saw you kneeling before her portrait, promising to bring her back."
His jaw tightened, "You don't understand what you saw."
"I understand perfectly," I said, pulling against the chains even though it burned.
"You never wanted to save me, you just want her back, you always have."
"If you stay here you die in less than an hour," Kael said, stepping into the cell, "come with me and live, or stay here and let them cut off your head, choose.”
I stared at him, searching his face for any hint of the man who'd held me gently in his study, but all I saw was cold determination.
"Why should I trust you?
"Because I'm the only chance you have," he said simply.
He was right, I hated that he was right, but staying here meant certain death.
At least if I went with him I'd have time to figure out what he was really planning.
"Fine," I said, "but the moment I think you're going to hand me over to her.
I'll run."
Something flickered in his eyes, hurt maybe, but it was gone too fast to be sure.
He crossed to me and pulled out a key, unlocking the silver chains, the moment they fell away I gasped in relief, the burning stopping instantly
"Can you walk?" he asked.
"Yes," I lied, my legs shaking.
Kael wrapped the cloak around my shoulders, "Stay close and stay quiet, if we're caught they'll kill us both."
He led me through narrow corridors I'd never seen, the stone walls old and covered in moss.
Behind us I could hear voices, guards searching, alarm bells starting to ring.
"They know you're gone," I whispered.
"I know," Kael said, pulling me faster.
We turned a corner and suddenly Riven was there, blocking the passage, his hand already on his sword, his face torn between duty and something else.
"My lord," he said quietly, "what are you doing?"
"What I should have done from the beginning." Kael said, his voice steady.
"let us pass Riven."
Riven looked between us, his eyes lingering on me, on the silver marks covering my skin.
"They'll call this treason."
"I know."
"They'll hunt you.”
"I know," Kael said, "but I'm asking you anyway, as your king and as your friend.
Let us pass."
For a long moment Riven didn't move, then finally he stepped aside.
"I'll buy you time, but my lord, the council will send the Shadow Guard."
"I know." Kael said, "thank you."
We ran past Riven through more passages, up stairs, through rooms I didn't recognize.
Finally we burst through a door into the cold morning air, the castle gates were ahead, already closing.
"Run," Kael said, grabbing my hand.
We sprinted across the courtyard as guards shouted, arrows whistled past my head, we made it through the gates just as they slammed shut behind us.
The Enchanted Forest loomed ahead, dark and forbidding, Kael pulled me toward it without hesitation.
Behind us hunting horns echoed across the valley.
The moment we crossed into the forest everything changed.
The air grew thick, the trees seemed to lean in toward us, shadows curled around my feet like they were welcoming me home.
I stumbled and Kael caught me, but his expression had gone dark.
"What?" I asked breathlessly.
"The forest," he said slowly, staring at the shadows clinging to my dress.
"it recognizes you."
"What does that mean?"
"It means that's why the Moon Pool rejected you," he said.
"You're not just carrying Seraphina's soul, you're becoming something else entirely."
Before I could ask what he meant, a howl cut through the air, long…..haunting and wrong, it didn't sound like any wolf I'd ever heard.
More howls answered, surrounding us.
Kael's face went pale, "No, they wouldn't, not this fast."
"What is it?" fear crawled up my spine.
"The Shadow Guard," he said, "they've been released."
Another howl, closer now, I could see shapes moving through the trees, massive forms made of smoke and moonlight, their eyes glowing like silver fire.
"Run," Kael said, grabbing my hand again, "if they catch us not even I can protect you from them."
We ran deeper into the cursed forest, branches tearing at my clothes, roots trying to trip me.
Behind us the Shadow Guard howled and the sound was like death itself.
And further back, visible through the trees, Moonspire Castle burned with silver fire.
Seraphina's rage lighting up the dawn sky.
- Writer
