Were I Chrome and stretched to the point of killing Hazel, I’d be in a very dark place, too. I’d kill every last one of them.
I could only hope Chrome didn’t completely lose himself to devolution by depleting two more times. Becoming Endarkened was a fate worse than death.
As Kinetics gathered in the oversized stone building behind the high-rise, I stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Hazel, Onyx, and Cotton on the other side of me. We didn’t speak, the absences of Chrome and Peri pressing in on us from every angle.
Lying on individual unlit pyres at the front of the room were the deceased bodies of the fallen Kinetic Warriors and guards killed by Chrome during his escape. Meanwhile, the entire Royal Domain gathered in their dark formal attire, ready to sing the praises of the lost.
At front and center, though, lay Peri. Beside her lay a body that must’ve been heavily glamoured and altered to appear like Chrome himself.
Cotton, the only one in our group who didn’t know the truth of Chrome’s disappearance, stood stoic. Dressed in his formal attire, comprising of the Royal Domain Inquisitor’s blackhooded robe trimmed in red, he stood tense. The robes were only for ceremonies or royal celebrations, so this wasn’t the most joyous way for us to bring in his new prestigious position. His jaw muscles rippled as he ground his teeth in silence, refusing to remove his eyes from the sight before us.
Onyx, who wore his formal guard attire, black gear with gold trim and insignias stitched into the fine material, pressed a palm to Cotton’s shoulder. “Let’s go take our places on the dais for the ceremony.”
The knot in Cotton’s throat bobbed as his gaze remained on Chrome’s pyre. All the hope he’d harbored for overthrowing the king seemed to die at the sight of Chrome’s corpse. After a heavy pause, he nodded before moving toward the front of the building behind the mass of pyres.
Although The Land of the Lost was built within the past couple of decades, with King Forest’s rise to power here in Atlanta by his choosing, the building felt ancient. It was a reminder of how old we were as a culture and how we may live in modern times, but our roots and customs stemmed back a millennium. Once inside this building, it felt as if we’d been transported to a more archaic time.
In true Kinetic fashion, we celebrated the lives of our fallen through our favorite custom of revels. In most cases, we celebrated one or two deceased at a time, so this occasion was a bit different than others, with over a hundred bodies to send off to the afterlife—whatever that entailed.
Hazel’s grief lay exposed to the masses. “I need to head up there as well,” I said, lifting my arms to show the formal gear of a Warrior. Much like the guards, it was similar to our mission gear, black, but finely crafted and trimmed in silver. Insignias representing my rank, garrison, and Kill Marks were stitched intricately on sleeves in the same color as the trim.
Hazel, dressed in a black formal gown, nodded. Her metallic bronze hair was pulled into a tight, low twist at the base of her neck, accentuating her black currents and pale skin. “Yeah, go on. I’ll find you during the revel.”
With a comforting hug, we parted ways as I waded through the crowd. I caught glimpses of conversations as I passed through, a mix of outrage, grief, and drunken theories of what had happened. None of them were even close to guessing the truth. Blended in was a sense of unease and fear due to the new declaration of war with Elementals, especially with Chrome’s death making it seem like we were more vulnerable than ever before.
I could only imagine Chrome would wreak hell on our society from this point on.
I climbed the steps to the dais to take my place at the front where the Warriors grouped together. The white cacophony of chatter echoed from the tight acoustics in the stone dwelling. Scanning the crowd, I spotted Golden Figgaro and Royal getting cozy with one another as they giggled. Her body brushed against his side as he leaned into her ear with a grin.
A fresh wave of anger flashed through my chest at the lack of respect. Then again, I wasn’t surprised. The two were a match made in hell with their twisted ambitions to reach the top and gain favor with the king.
The doors to the Land of the Lost opened, streaming in the dying sun from the outside world. The king’s silhouette stood in the doorway, waiting for the room to quiet at his presence.
At his arrival, the chatter faded as everyone began dropping a knee and bowing their heads. Reluctantly, I followed suit. However, I bowed for the princess, who I knew stood waiting behind him.
The orchestral band to the right played a string melody, welcoming royalty. The king’s verdant hair was styled in hisusual coifed fashion. His royal robes, black with sapphire trim and insignias, billowed behind him in a train as he bathed in his own arrogance.
Princess Gray, draped in her royal robes—albeit less elaborate than the king’s—took her place at his side of the throne, her chin held high. The sharp viciousness from the training room had returned to her eyes, demanding respect.
My heart swelled with pride at her growing confidence and strength. The hollowness that had once dwelled in her stormy depths had vanished. In it sat a savagery waiting to be unleashed.
I wished I could pull her in for another kiss, but as soon as I envisioned it, the memory of Chrome smoking a cigarette, saying,“I just want her to be safe and protected. And happy,”revived itself. There was no way I could dig that dagger deeper into him after everything he’d been through already. But Icouldkeep her safe and protected.
“Rise,” the king announced. We all rose to our feet as the king dove into his inflated speech, where he spun lie after lie about Elementals threatening our world. “Prince Griffin Silas has officially returned to claim a misguided vengeance for his parents’ disappearance. He wrongfully blames us for it. Now, the risk of the growing number of Endarkened will soar. I strongly suspect that he’ll be targeting Kinetics to create his deranged army of monsters.”
The tension in the room grew thicker, the unanimous fear and anger souring on my tongue.
Except for a handful of people in the Kinetic world, no one knew that the Elemental king and queen had been kidnapped, beaten, bred, and then killed. The people bought into Forest’s shit hook, line, and sinker. It infuriated me as Chrome was now unknowingly their biggest enemy—the Warrior who they’d just been praising not forty-eight hours ago.
My stomach churned, the implications continuing to register at what this all meant. I worried that Forest would eventually expose Kinetics and Elementals to the humans. If he did, I couldn’t imagine that the news would be welcomed by the public.
At last, Forest wrapped up his speech to further dig his claws into the minds of our people, garnering their support more so than ever by using our dead, including a fake Chrome Freyr.
“Tonight, we will celebrate the bravery, sacrifices, and lives of the Warriors who fought to protect our way of life. And we’ll forever have Chrome Freyr embedded in our minds and hearts, for a gaping hole now resides in our home without his presence,” Forest said.
The orchestral band began playing the haunting melody customary for our funerals. All the Kinetics fell silent, turning their attention to the deceased bodies on the elevated pyres. Many of the attendees who’d lost a loved one cracked from the emotion the music evoked as they buried their faces into their hands or the chest of the person beside them.
I kept my gaze on faux-Chrome and Peri’s bodies, silently saying my goodbyes to them, remembering them for their smiles and friendship. My throat squeezed, wishing that we could all meet up on the rooftop after this and get drunk.
