Just to add a layer of wickedness, he lays Drogaem’s corpse on my bed.
I sleep restlessly on the floor and dread the troubles yet to come.
The next day is full of his spoils, his evil laughter, and I stay far from his side. As we ride through Zculth, Drogaem’s eyes stare into my soul.
Willem’s words from the tomb come back to me. If it’s not the blood in my veins that fuels my power, then is it my soul? I pause for a moment. I’ve never acknowledged the fact that these abilities, this power that rests inside of me is part of me. We reach the Blood Forest and I ponder the origins of my strength. I close my eye and search for it, prodding deep into that place where a constant hum of magic lingers.
But I find something else entirely.
Before we reached the island, I felt as though Kane and I were one. We are one, I correct. I could feel his emotions at times and even hear his thoughts. Of course, Kane never gives me an answer when I question him. But this connection never felt so dark. It’s tainted in some way. I search for the feeling again, trying to figure out what it is and how it connects us.
The realms will burn beneath my wrath.
Kane’s voice sounds distorted and shaky, but it’s the words he says that cause me to quiver in my saddle. I think of Lux and the things Drogaem told her during their time together. He was ruthless, bloodthirsty, and absolutely vile. I see these things in Kane now and I hate it.
I know what needs to be done, no matter how impossible it may seem. I can only hope I am not in this alone. The crown must be taken from him and destroyed. No one should hold that power. Not Willem. Not Kane. Not Aiden. No one. Lux compares loving Death to being tapped inside of a dream she can’t escape. Her only way of getting free was to kill Death himself. I don’t want that future. The cycle must end.
My fingers slightly graze Redemption. I need a plan.
Epilogue
Kane
Briar. She is all I know. All I can think of in this ever engulfing darkness. I must come back to her. I must fight my way past Drogaem and into the light. Her light.
Briar is all that I know.
I hear her voice in my head, reaching out to me even though she does not understand our bond. The only thing that keeps me company are my memories. They twist and turn, morphing between reality and what my mind uses to trick me. I struggle to understand the truth, the reality, the realness of where I sit. I want to fight, but I feel no body, no sword.
I fade in and out of a dream state. At times I stand in my office, staring into the crackling fire as I lick the taste of Briar’s kiss from my lips, savoring it. Other times I sit beside her in the Blood Forest as Willem tells her the tale of the fabled beast that dwells there...
“…Legend states that many moons ago, a mindless soul wandered a bit too far into the Blood Forest. When he found himself charging in circles, he became more and more panicked. In his frenzy and fear he cried out for the gods to save him and help him find his way home. He thought surely the Gods could hear him in a forest where he was the only one crying out for them. But what he didn’t know was that the trees of the Blood Forest sing louder than his own hollow voice could carry…”
The image shifts and I see Willem standing over Briar with blood on his hands. She’s still alive, but barely. Willem is the beast of the Blood Forest. No. That isn’t right.
“...Their enchantment muffled his cries and filled his head with song. He became ensnared by this song, lured to a place only the lost can find, a place where he was cursed to roam the forest for eternity, his fear growing to an explosive and shattering point each and every night…”I can hear her laughter. A beautiful melody that floats on the wind.
“I love you,” she says, but it’s not her.
It’s not my Briar. It’s Lilith. I recognize the fangs and the cruel intent behind her beautiful eyes. Lilith does not love me. She loves the illusion that I allow her to see. Briar knows me. She knows who I really am. And yet she has never confessed her love. The motions are there but the words have never graced her lips. I long for them, to hear the words, but it never comes. In its place is the deliberate and vile tone of Lilith’s voice.
Perhaps it is not possible for a creature as light as Briar to love me.
I shake my mind to free myself from these thoughts. Together, the three of us have survived mummies, skeletons, demons, a Leviathan, and uncharted landscapes. We could have tripped and fallen into a rift, but destiny kept us together. It’s a strange thought, sure. But I can’t deny that we’ve ended up in one unfortunate situation after another with barely a day’s rest in between.
Briar must be so tired.
I know the nightmares that plague her mind.
And after her soul is within my grasp, I will feed her to those she fears the most.
My own voice haunts me. I would never…Briar is strong, but her fear is crippling. She needs me. The world will not survive under Drogaem’s tyrannical rule. I must get to her. I climb to my feet and shuffle through the darkness, finding once
