Someone wept.
Another yelled.
Grunts.
A cry.
Marius could no longer see, but he felt someone tugging at his bindings. The sound of a blade slicing through rope reached his ears, and then, his gag was rippedoff.
A cool hand clamped onto his arm.
“We have much to discuss, brother.” Luna’s voice was sharp, and his stomach twisted at the sound.
Usually, she spoke to him with kindness, care, and love. He couldn’t remember the last time she’d spoken to him in anger.
It only made the fury tinging her every word hurt that much worse.
The problem was that Marius wasn’t surprised by Luna’s ire. He deserved it. He hated that she was upset with him, but even more than that, he hated that she had to rescue him.
Helpless.
Once again, he was helpless. It was the worst feeling in the world. He couldn’t even stop a feral vampire on his own.
Why hadn’t he been born a Death or Earth Elf? At least then, he could’ve used his magic to defend himself. If that had been the case, he never would’ve ended up in this situation.
Instead, he was left with Fortune Elf magic that didn’t even work half the time.
Luna tugged on his arm, and he stumbled over something as he followed her through the darkness.
More evidence of his inadequacies.
He’d never imagined that his first adventure would end in such a horrible fashion. His throat thickened and his limbs felt heavy with shame. He’d trained for years and spent hours working on his magic, all to fail in such a spectacular fashion.
It had all been for nothing, and now, it was time to admit defeat.
“I’ve got her.” The king’s voice came from in front of them, notes of darkness permeating his every word. “Phyrra will deal with this. Let’s go, darling.”
The queen didn’t respond, but her grip on Marius’s arm tightened. He drew in a breath as the world swirled. The screaming villagersdisappeared, and the air chilled. Silence enveloped them, and no one spoke. Marius wasn’t even sure he could come up with words right now.
The weight of his failure pressed him down, down, down.
He sensed the king’s presence behind him but couldn’t see him. The Void was empty of both light and life.
His stomach churned, protesting this awful form of travel.
You failed.
The words echoed through Marius’s mind on a loop until they were the only thing he could hear. They suffused his mind, body, and soul.
He wasn’t sure how much time passed before the shadows slipped away and they stepped out of the Void.
Familiar, cold stone was beneath his feet. The darkness was replaced by glowing violet orbs. Frigid air poured through cracks in the walls, the wind howled, and two matching black thrones stood in the place of honor upon a dais.
As soon as Marius straightened, Luna let go of his hand. She retracted her wings and stepped away, her gaze never leaving his.
For the first time that night, Marius got a good look at his sister.
Instead of the gowns she usually wore, she was dressed in midnight fighting leathers. They hugged her form, her brown hair falling in gentle waves, framing her face.
