“Very impressive.” Morgana put her hands on her hips. “I can see your power is strong, little princess, even with the amulet on. But you are no match for me.”
I knew I was going to die; there was no way out. My palms were sweating, and I was shaking. I had to pull myself together. If I could create some diversion, maybe Kalen could escape. I knew there was no hope for me.
“Looks like you have your father’s foolish courage, Niece,” Morgana said scathingly. “But that will not help you now.”
With the amulet on and my hands bound, I was no match for her, and she knew it. It was then I realized that Morgana was a coward, and she was afraid of me, afraid of my powers. I quickly put up a stronger shield. I would die fighting, not quivering in the corner like a weakling. At least I didn’t need my hands to shield myself.
Morgana laughed and hit me with fire strikes that bounced off my shield, but they were strong. Her strikes kept pushing me back as she advanced upon me slowly. I knew she was toying with me, and I reinforced my shield. My power was waning, and Morgana was hitting me with alternate lightning and fire strikes.
I concentrated all my power on keeping my shield intact. I kept telling myself that I would not let her kill me with magic; I would not let her beat me. But all that was useless. She kept coming at me.
Beads of sweat formed on my forehead, my heart raced, my palms were clammy, and I could feel raw terror welling up inside me. I didn’t have enough power to stop her. Morgana was going to kill me, and there was nothing I could do about it.
“You are brave, little princess.” Morgana hit me with another lightning strike. It broke my shield and hit my left leg.
I fell to the ground on my knees in pain.
“Yes,” said Morgana, “kneel before your queen.”
The wind had picked up, and Morgana’s hair whipped around her face as she held up her hands, palms facing outward to deliver another blow. She attacked me with a fire strike that burst through my shield and burned my arm and leg, but it was not a killing strike. She was still toying with me.
I screamed in agony and fell face forward onto the hard, moss-covered floor. My nose was bleeding, and shooting pain ripped through my left arm and leg.
“It is unfortunate that you got away from me the first time, Aurora,” said my aunt with a sneer. This was the first time she had called me by my name. “Your mother used up the last of her powers to stop me from getting to you.”
She hit me with another burning fire strike while I was on the ground, and fresh pain shot through my body again.
“It was she who made the portal and sent you away to the other world. If you hadn’t been wearing that cursed amulet, I would have found you much sooner.”
I barely had any strength left. I tried to heal myself, but only a flicker of magic now remained in me.
I maneuvered myself to my knees, blood streaming from my nose and leg. My arm burned, and I pulled at the magic around me to try to create some semblance of a shield. I could feel the magic surrounding me, but however much I tried to pull it into me, it wasn’t enough.
“I stabbed your mother through the heart myself,” snarled Morgana. “And it took nearly ten Drakaar assassins to kill your father. But he was finally cut down as he tried desperately to save you both. If your mother’s power hadn’t been concentrated on trying to save you, she could have saved herself and him.”
Morgana hit me with a crushing strike. I screamed in agony and would have clutched my chest if I could, but my hands were still bound behind my back.
This was too much. I couldn’t bear it anymore. I could picture my mother giving her life to save her only child, and my father trying to save his family only to be cut down by dark magic. My dream flashed in my mind. I could see my mother standing still, eyes flashing silver, protecting me with her magic as Morgana came at her with the curved dagger.
Morgana was the one who had destroyed my life. She was the cause of all my pain, and she was the one who took my parents from me and destroyed my family. She was a monster, evil to the core, and she had to be stopped.
This thought gave me strength to fight on. I faintly heard Kalen’s voice calling my name. I tried to get up, but I was hit with another lightning strike that shattered my shield and left me writhing on the floor in excruciating pain.
Morgana laughed at me. “Yes, get up, fae-mage,” she sneered, “show me what you’ve got.”
The Shadow Guard were also laughing, while Snow called my name in my head. I barely heard them. I had had enough. I shut out the voices, the fear, and the terror that were invading my mind and looked inside myself to the safe place where the source of my power lay. A faint light still flickered, struggling to stay alight.
I tried to sense the magic around me, but I had no strength to pull it to me. I couldn’t even remove my amulet. But I had to do something. I couldn’t just give up and die. People were depending on me. And for the first time in my life, I felt a sense of responsibility. I was no ordinary person. I was the true Queen of Illiador. I was a fae-mage with unlimited power. But where was that power now?
I closed my eyes and silently called out for help. I had no idea if there were even anyone to hear me. My heart nearly stopped when I
