It takes a vast amount of restraint to stay seated on the throne as I wait until I no longer hear Drogaem's footsteps. As soon as they echo off into the distance and silence returns, I lift the dense crown from my head and set it down before hurrying over to Kane. I put my hands on his face and help him to turn over on his back.
"I am here. Lie here while I get your chains undone."
Kane's eyes are barely open, but he gives a slight nod to let me know that he hears me. I carefully pull at the chains, unlatching them and sliding them off of his feet. His skin is raw and red, and I can feel surges of the pain pumping through my chest. When the chains are off, I slide up next to him and close my eyes, hovering my hands just above the wounds he has acquired today. I pull at the energy within my chest, feeling the warmth of the light expanding and retracting, giving everything that it has to help me heal him.
The light that comes from me is nothing close to what was there before, but I can tell I'm getting stronger. I'm able to heal Kane enough to bring him back to a conscious level and stop the bleeding. Some of his bones heal as well, but it's not enough to prepare him for what he will face next.
When the light fades and I look Kane over, I feel a frustration that's all too familiar. "I should be able to do more. I need to be able to do more."
Kane's hand shakes as he lifts it, rubbing his warm fingers across my cheek. I close my eyes for a moment, allowing myself just a second to escape the misery that I'm stuck in. Kane's voice comforts me. "You're getting stronger, I can feel it. Just keep working on it."
I smile at him and take a deep breath, lifting to my feet. Leaning down, I grasp his arm and help as much as I can to get him to his feet. My eyes flow over his wings, and it breaks my heart. My powers are not strong enough yet to heal that part of him, and that part is so important.
I pull Kane's arm over my shoulder and carefully grip him around the waist as he shuffles his feet along the stone, exiting out of the throne room and into the dark, silent hallways. He looks back and forth for a moment, and I know he's thinking about what the castle was like before it all happened. I want to comfort him.
"Willem hasn't come back," I whisper. "He has joined the rebels. Most of the courtiers fled as soon as they got word of what was happening here. I have looked for others when Drogaem is sleeping or distracted, but I've seen no one. Late at night, I can hear the voices of creatures, creatures I've never heard in this castle before, but I never see them. I'm almost glad I don't see them. The sounds of their screeches, their evil laughter, their howls, it makes me uneasy and fearful even."
I stop talking, knowing that Kane does not like weakness. He doesn't like it when I'm scared of something, or not brave. At least that was the Kane that I knew before Drogaem took him over. The Kane that I help along the hallway into one of the vacant rooms is a bit different than before. I don't know how to explain it, but within the fierceness that he still has, there is a softness, and I can feel it in my soul.
"One day, these halls will echo again with the sound of greatness," Kane says as he lays down on the bed, staring up at me. "For now, you must stay brave, and as long as you do, I will as well. This will not last forever. Remember, Drogaem may think that he has all of you, but we know that a part of you is always with me."
Tears pull at my eyes, but I don't allow them to fall. Instead, I use this pain to fuel myself. I use this pain to continue on because I know for a fact that I won't stop fighting until Drogaem is dead… And for good this time.
Chapter 2
Briar
Kane falls asleep quickly, and it's a good thing. With everything that he's going through and the little bit of time that he has before Drogaem snatches him up again, he needs as much strength as he can muster.
I know Drogaem's game.
He thinks I'm stupid, but he leaves me with him alone on purpose. He wants me to heal him so that he can torture him all over again. He gets a sick satisfaction out of breaking Kane.
Little does he know, Kane isn't broken. It's going to take a lot more than what he's doing to break him completely. In reality, I'm not really sure what will happen if he ever reaches that point. Before Drogaem took control of me, Kane and I were connected. If he dies, I die. I have to hope that connection still lingers between us because if it doesn't, Drogaem has complete control over me.
The dark surge pulls at me. It feels like my muscles are tensing and burning. With no warning, my body no longer is my own. Drogaem is calling for me. With the piece of his crown and his magic infecting me, he tugs at me, pulling me to him when he wants
