Until the lights flicked back on. Coughing, Roque stumbled forward, his voice rasping, “Nei... Nei!”
“Here. I’m fine. I’m fine.” His wife lay across the room, looking shaken but unscathed. With ringing ears, Roque stood, any trace of the Oilean and Aine gone. The smoking burn in the floor was the only evidence of what had happened. The room tilted, but Roque walked toward the table, the blackened book pulsing with light, the surface of the wood completely singed underneath it.
“Roque, no! Can’t you see it?” Nei was before him in a second, pushing against his chest, shielding him from the work they had cultivated over the years, the work that would change the face of their culture, for Emory, for Kiero. The book contained spells from worlds unknown from their country, and he had been the commander behind such an expedition. A desolate orchestrating the most influential artifact Kiero had ever seen. Now all of it was destroyed in a second.
Growling, he seized her forearms. “Nei, I have to see it! All our work...” He trailed off as tears slid down her face.
“They destroyed it. I can... sense it. It’s dark magic. It’s not safe, we must get rid of it! Roque, listen to me. The channels are destroyed, closed. It’s over. But those faeries tainted it. They may be gone, they may not be. But their magic is a siren call to them. A weapon. And dark magic only calls to its master.”
The stirring of the Academy sounded behind them, and his mind was freefalling. Clenching his teeth, he said, “No. No, we will hide it, and until we can understand it, we won’t destroy it.”
She paled, stepping away from him, shaking her head. “Their blood is staining our hands, and you would have us keep it?”
“Yes.”
The memory became washed out and dull, churning until his bearings became clear once more. Curled up on the tunnel floor, cold sweat soaked through his shirt, clinging on the inside of his jacket. You see, we did have one purpose. Shivers racked through him, making his teeth chatter as the voices cut through him. For your greatness, Adair, we needed you. Your body, to act as our vessel. Together, we will be unstoppable.
Tears slid down his dirtied cheeks, and he pushed himself up onto his knees, whispering to the darkness, “No, please no. You promised me, if I did this. If I k-killed them. I would be free. I would be more.”
You already are.
They attacked relentlessly, tearing through his mind, through his ability, through his memories. His secrets and fears all dissolving as he was pushed under, drowning in the old magic burning through his veins. It was like having his oxygen cut off, everything becoming fuzzy except for the last desperate attempts to remind himself of who he was. Laughing with Emory as the sun set, the golden light brushing the world in a soft luster. Walking through the courtyard at night, the rest of the Academy asleep, but when the stars erupted in the velvet sky far above, tracing constellations, leading his heart and his mind to every untouched adventure that awaited him. He would lay on his back, boots crossed over his legs, the bench cool underneath him as the hours slipped away directed by his imagination, and reality would shatter. All that ever mattered was that one day he would break out of his confines, and he would discover exactly what the world had to offer. Because each day that disappeared and he read about the mythology, the history, and the mystery of Kiero, a piece of him died that he wasn’t experiencing it.
Snarling, he clawed and threw himself at those memories, at the burning desire to hold on. As fast as they came, they were gone, and the walls of his reality disappeared as well. The room was much like the one before, the curling stairs plunging down into the cavernous room. He stepped forward, his footfalls echoing falling alongside his panicked breaths. Down and down he walked. Sweat collected in his palms as he clenched and unclenched them. Finally reaching the bottom of the stairs, he followed the soft silver light bouncing against the slick walls.
A pale hand stroked his cheek. The touch froze him and broke down every barrier he had, laying him bare. Every dream, wish, hope, longing that had every taken root within him was gone. Until he felt nothing. Until he was nothing.
Adair. Tears fell as his lip trembled. Don’t be afraid. He felt their nails dig into his jacket, pulling and pushing, and he didn’t know what his reality was anymore. The Oilean hissed in pleasure, clawing at his chest, at his arms, pushing him farther and faster back. Stumbling back, his gravity tipped, the wind was pushed from his lungs. His fingers started to burn, spreading viciously up his arms, binding his legs, surging through his chest. It splintered and pulled him apart, and all he could do was watch in horror as all around him dark spears sprouted from the ground, shuddering and growing taller and taller. And that darkness that had been waiting for him, greeted him with open arms, pulling him close. Forming a cage.
Flipping onto his side, he dragged himself closer to the bars as he watched the four figures lower themselves to eye level. Their voices bouncing in the confines of his mind—Now, you will understand your freedom.
“No!” he roared, snarling against his confinements as their
