“Show yourself!” he demanded of the monster within, straining to see through his blurry vision. “You’re not my mother. Shedied.” The final word broke in his throat, feeling his emotions tear through him like a wicked storm. What kind of cruel beast took pleasure in mimicking the despair of loss?
Seda held her knife by her side, her hand shaking as she gripped it firmly. He stepped in front of her. He would not allow this beast to hurt her in any way. He brought her here. This was his fight to finish.
Another spider’s leg wrapped around the ledge, and slowly, the darkened shadow of La Uma crawled into view.
Ael tightened his grip on the sword and anchored himself, waiting for her to strike. The rapid pounding of his heart beat wildly in his chest. He didn’t know what to expect when they set out to find La Uma, but it wasn’t this.
La Uma appeared. A giant spider emerged, blacker than night, with a large emerald green stripe down her back. Eight legs likesharpened needles connected to a rounded body in the center, with two extra arms on the front of the arachnid body. But her head… her head hovered above her form, hanging on nothing but air. Long black hair with a familiar white stripe cascaded wildly in the air.
The face of his mother stared down at him.
Ael’s sword clattered to the ground, and he sank to his knees as a painful cry escaped his lips at the sight of her. That same painful ache from years past when he lay by her casket burned through his chest.
“Don’t believe her!” his father screamed.
“Silence!” La Uma hissed in response, expelling a thick paste from her body onto the staked head, leaving only muffled sounds behind. She shifted her gaze back to Ael and slowly crawled along the walls, whimpering as she descended.
Seda bristled next to him. He could see her body shaking from the corner of his eye, but the pain tearing through him was too much. He couldn’t do anything. He couldn’t react. Itwasher—the person whose loss molded who he became, leaving an open wound on his heart for hundreds of years.
La Uma slowly crawled toward Ael.
“How?” he choked out.
The monster reached out and ran her cold hand across his face, lifting his chin, and staring into his eyes. He gazed into her familiar, emerald eyes and cried out once more.
Tears that matched his own trickled down her cheeks and landed onto the spider’s body below.
“Your father tried to kill me, my darling. But like all things in his life,he failed,” she said as her voice deepened with rage and she spat in the direction of his father’s head.
Her eyes widened when they snagged on Seda, and she hissed wildly in response, shirking back into the recesses of her cave and growling.
Ael’s gaze shifted to Seda. Wild fury burned behind her eyes, and they were glowing vibrantly. Beads of sweat dripped down herforehead as she struggled against the magical depression of the cave.
How was her magic getting past the barrier?
“You…” La Uma said as she slowly uncurled her body from the corner. “You’re finally here.”
Dark clouds began to form in the cavern as electrical shocks radiated across the ceiling.
Seda raised her arms, and her eyes narrowed on the covered head of his father.
“Stop!” a familiar voice screamed from behind them. Ael’s awareness came rushing back to him, and he shot to his feet, grabbed the sword, and quickly turned around.
Tahti and the same Lobison, Sacha, barreled through the macabre tomb behind them, carrying the head of another Lobison.
“Don’t hurt her!” the witch screamed as she hobbled forward.
Thunder roared through the cavern as lightning danced across the ceiling. Seda looked furiously between Sacha and Tahti, narrowing her eyes once more.
She slowly lowered her arms, releasing the magic within, and began to pant as the magical barrier once more descended, blocking her storm. A loud zap sound erupted, and the clouds quickly dispersed.
“Explain,” Ael demanded of the witch. He pointed to his mother. “Explain now!”
Tahti held her hands up, words quickly tumbling from her wretched lips, “The day you were torn from her arms—that was the day your father demanded I kill her and erase her magic from this world.” She took a deep breath, quickly looking between him and Seda. “Your mother was once the most powerful Dark Witch in all of Xyberus. Your father only married the poor girl from the north to use her for his own gain. But once she had you, her dark magic turned into something stronger, somethingpure. She channeled that love and became the most powerful witch in the Coven of the Wilds—The White Witches.”
“But she’s alive!” he snarled in response, feeling the anger surge forward. He wanted to kill this witch. She had played enough tricks on him over the years, and this was the fucking cherry on top.
“Yes. She is, King Ael. I faked her death, but my magic had its limits, and I accidentally turned her into what she is now. When we left Umbrea to bring her here, we stole the Stone of Peace. Your father wanted to collect all of them, and we stopped him from having this one.”
