“No!” I screamed as my feet moved forward without permission
He looks up and there’s another man only inches from his face.
My steps halted as I froze in place to shield my eyes. Conan’s atrocious laugh resonated throughout the throne room as I looked up just in time to see Miron fall to the floor.
“Miron!” Tears streamed down my face as I stumbled to the floor and crawled to his side. His face was pale, but he still had the smallest smile spanning his silent lips. “No... no, no! Miron, don’t leave me!” I sobbed into his collar as Conan continued to cackle wickedly above us.
He was dying... and there was nothing I could do. Miron was gone.
“You ridiculous girl,” he snarked. “You knew his fate longer than anyone else, yet you still cry over him. It’s truly pathetic.” He turned his back on me and his dying brother to cast his devilish gaze on Killian, who was still unconscious. “One down, one to go.”
My chest tightened as I watched Conan stroll toward his motionless brother.He is going to kill Killian, too...What do I do?
Conan’s shadow drifted eerily over the sleeping prince, casting his body in grim darkness. Miron had sacrificed his life to protect his brother by fighting an already lost battle. If Killian died too, then his sacrifice would be for nothing... Killian might be the only connection I have left to Miron after this war ceases. I can’t let Conan take him, too.
My hands trembled as I anxiously wrapped my grasp around Miron’s sword. The dense metal was heavy despite the enchantments cast on it, but I still managed to lift the blade. With silent sobs, I rose to my feet, my face shadowed in vengeance and grief.
This is for the Emerald Realm.
I crept up slowly behind the unsuspecting prince.
This is for Miron.
The sword lifted shakily in my hands as I angled it for the center of Conan’s back.
This is for me.
I shut my eyes as I slashed downward. The sound of tearing fabric split the air. Just as I had hoped, the blade severed the magical sash, and the black and silver garment fluttered off the prince’s solider toward the ground. Conan touched his shoulder in confusion, right as I snatched the drifting fabric from the air and darted for the nearest window.
“Hey!” he barked behind me. “Bring that back at once!”
My adrenaline numbed all my senses as the prince’s words blurred behind the sound of my pounding heart. I skidded to a stop at the nearest window and gripped the sash tightly in my hand. I silently begged the magic within.
Please grant me strength.
Miraculously, a warm sensation flooded my muscles, and I smashed Miron’s sword into the thick, stained-glass windows without so much of a breath. Conan’s yells were only a few feet away as I gazed out the window and looked down at the horrifying drop. I took in a shallow breath, then thrust the sash out the window and dropped it into the mercy of the wind.
“No!” Conan shoved past me as he reached out the window and stretched out his arm at the distant fluttering fabric. An overwhelming rush of relief and fear flooded through me as my adrenaline melted away.I did it... I really did it.My self-congratulation was short lived as the prince turned his enraged eyes onto me. “You imbecile!”
My heart hammered as I tried to step back from the prince’s furious grasp. Without thinking, I shut my eyes to avoid the distraction of a vision. My blind movements made it impossible to escape, and he latched his steel grip onto the neckline of my dress and lifted me to my feet. I shrieked as he flung me around like I weighed nothing at all. I clawed desperately at his grasp in an attempt to break free, but I stopped my efforts as I felt a terrifying breeze rush all around me. My feet stopped kicking and one of my slippers fell from my toes. I listened in horror for the soft thump of the shoe touching the floor, but in never came.
He's holding me out the window.
My eyes were pressed shut, but I could still feel the heat of Conan’s blazing stare. His hands dug viciously into my shoulders. His tight grip pulsed with his boiling blood and vented fury.
“You know, I never really liked your magic,” The prince seethed, as he lifted a single finger from his grip. “I tried attaching it to the sash, but it was always too distracting.” He released another finger, and I squealed.He’s going to drop me. “I suppose it can have its uses, but overall, I think the realm will be just fine without such an annoying little mage taking up space.”
I squealed again. This was how it was going to end. My freedom had been locked away from me my entire life, and even though I had now gained it, I couldn’t take advantage of it. There was no avoiding the truth that the future of others always towered over my life. I could never let go of my connection to Miron, despite knowing I would likely end up falling to the same man who would kill him. It seemed only fitting that my life should end in a poetic fall onto the land that I could never explore.
I’m sorry, Miron. I guess I won’t see another sunset, after all.
My tragic thoughts were disrupted by a yell that emitted from the prince. My body went cold and lifeless as his grip released me entirely. I screamed as my body sank into the abyss below, but only an instant later, a tight grip latched around both my arms and jerked me to a stop.
“Hold on, Estelle!”
My breathing ceased entirely as I limply dangled in the air.That voice...? Nixie?My body miraculously lifted from the empty air with strained tugs, and my skin burned from the friction of my rescuer’s grasp. Despite being small, Nixie was clearly not weak. With another heaving pull, she hoisted my torso above the edge of the window and dragged me inside.
I toppled to the floor with stuttering breaths as Nixie braced me from behind. “Are you alright? For the love of the realms, if I had been a moment slower...” She shuddered behind me, and I felt a similar chill run down my spine.