My hands brush over my face. “I could still fight!”
Naturally my chin lifts, eyes searching for the sun, yet it's nowhere to be found.
Darkness has completely enveloped this Realm. The only light radiates from the fire that scorches the land underneath.
“I can sense the dark magic.” I drop my voice to a whisper, feeling the hair on my body rise. “No wonder this place is forbidden. Evil has touched every life here.”
“Which is why we only come here to fight the darklings.” Kaine’s lip rises in disgust as he sees a neon green bug with horns climbing on a dead tree. “If we can kill off the darklings and restore the life here, erasing the darkness that kills off every living thing, this Realm could return back to what it was.”
My brows pull inward, staring at him as he finishes his braids. “What do you mean?”
A loud snort comes from a horse behind us and the sounds of its hooves increase by the second. That’s when I notice Koen, prancing besides Kaine.
“You mean before my mother took reign.” His shoulders straighten, never glancing our way. His curls catch perfectly in the slight breeze as he trots along his ice horse.
“I wasn’t going to bring it up.” Kaine clears his throat.
I notice Koen’s veins bulge against his hands as he grips the reins tighter. “It’s okay. She should know. She should understand the destruction my bloodline caused.”
We never talk about his mother or who she was before marrying the King of Ice.
My heart drops, watching the tick in his jaw only increase before he finally catches my lingering gaze.
His emerald eyes are brightened by the lava that creates hues of a blood red around us, reminding me of the times I saw his eyes dark. As if the life inside him was gone for good.
He shouldn’t be here. Not with Tilly being here.
If she decides to make him shift in front of the Royals, he is dead.
“Koen…” I whisper out. “Should you be he—”
He cuts me off with a sudden rageful grunt. “Should I be here? That’s a joke, right?”
My throat tightens. “I just had to ask.”
“I’m fine, Serene. Don’t worry.” He rips away his stare and whips the reins with such force before flying forward to ride next to Florian.
I watch as Florian’s head bobs left and right, his back hunched over as if he might fall off of his horse at any minute.
Damn it. He needs to heal.
“You hit a nerve with Koen,” Theon scuffs, letting out a breathy laugh.
My eyes roll. “Let's get this last game over with. Koen needs to be far away from this place.”
The horses prance in sync up to where the land looks as if it meets the clouds above. We form a straight line on the top of a hill. The land stretches wide in front of us, with charred mountain tips sizzling as if fire had just been burnt out. All the trees in sight are lifeless without leaves, and their wood smokes. The mountain cliffs are filled with rocks and a pathway along the side that reaches the very tip. But below us, through the lifeless, rolling hills, is a graveyard.
Bones—everywhere in sight. As if battles are held every single day, yet I know they are not. Or, I’d like to believe this isn’t a forever graveyard.
“Are these the bones from the darklings?” I stutter, knowing I shouldn’t fear a darkling, but the sight before me makes my bones tremble.
Theon’s chest fills with air. “Yes. But also, some of the chosen who never made it out alive.”
My nose scrunches with disgust as I inhale a deep breath. The air is filled with death, and I could easily vomit at this very moment.
The Queen trots in front of us on her horse. “Once the darklings sense we are here, you men charge forward and attack. Kill off as many as you can!”
Our eyes lock, and my glare darkens.
