Sin approached the queen’s right, who watched her as she held out her hands and rolled up her sleeves.
Ecythis gasped at the rune revealed on Sin’s wrist. “Does the king know?” she asked, not needing an explanation apparently.
“No,” Jocelyn answered. “We ensured he wouldn’t.”
Sin frowned. “That’s why you really sealed my magic?”
Jocelyn nodded grimly.
“Huh,” Sin said, not having to ponder on it long. She was grateful to her since she would’ve been dead otherwise, no doubt. She may have wanted that at one point, when her dreams and life seemed a pointless endeavor.
That was no longer.
As she held out her hands, trying to get a feel for the barrier they needed her to break—
“Halestorm,” Jocelyn said, reminding Sin of the script magically tattooed on her skin. “Settle the weight of what lingers. Balance what has been borrowed. Destroy.”
Horripilation scattered across her skin, the feeling of premonition consuming her as she met Jocelyn’s stare.
She nodded as she started over. “Halestorm.”
Sin faced the barrier once again and repeated, “Halestorm.”
The sweet voice returned to her mind, humming a tune she recognized but couldn’t place.
“Settle the weight of what lingers.”
The barrier strained, pulsing with power as Sin repeated the words.
“Balance what has been borrowed.”
A croaking sound echoed through the plains.
“Destroy.”
The sound of the barrier erupting travelled through the cliffs, echoed by the fading sound of the sweet song.
Sin swallowed as an idea formed in her mind who that voice could belong to, then shook the thought away for another time, if she even lived through this.
“Let’s go,” Ecythis ordered, reaching her hands out until they all formed a circle.
Mushrooms sprouted at their feet in response to the channel.
Power pulsed through Sin.
“You’re the only one here with High Fae blood. We need to use your essence to teleport and get there faster,” the queen told her.
Sin should’ve been horrified at the thought of her blood being used gain, but all she saw was Max’s face, felt the memory of his pain before she turned off the physical portion of it.
Sin nodded. The queen muttered under her breath. Not Vhaevari, but a completely unrecognizable language to Sin. Perhaps from her land.
Reality shimmered, twisted—the world bending in on itself until it shattered around them. For a heartbeat, there was nothing, just the void, and then they were standing just outside the Asera capital. The fortress loomed ahead, silent and imposing.
The landscape was eerily still. Mist curled along the ground. The stone walls of the castle seemed to blend into the night sky. Torches flickered, their light casting long, dancing shadows that seemed to move with a life of their own.
Sin could feel a sentience in the castle walls, screaming with rage, and wondered if it was the king himself.
Sin led the way, having the most invaluable power there for battle. The queen was behind her, and Gideon behind her with his sword ready to be drawn as soon as they made it in.
