Chapter 13 - THE BOY BENEATH THE MONSTER
The Hall of Ashes was guarded by soldiers wearing black iron masks.
Elara, Theron, and Tessa entered through a forgotten drainage passage beneath the royal chapel.
The stone walls were covered with names.
Hundreds of names.
The descendants of Aurion who had died during the massacre.
Elara ran her fingers across the carvings.
She had spent her life believing she was alone.
Now she stood surrounded by the names of people who had shared her blood.
At the end of the passage lay a reinforced crystal chamber.
Inside, Princess Lyanna sat chained to a pillar.
Elara stopped breathing.
“Mother?”
The woman slowly raised her head.
For a moment, she stared in disbelief.
Then tears filled her eyes.
“Elara?”
The girl rushed toward the barrier.
Her hands struck the black crystal.
“Mother!”
Lyanna struggled to stand.
“My baby.”
Elara pressed her forehead against the barrier.
“I thought nobody wanted me.”
Lyanna began sobbing.
“I wanted you every day.”
Theron stepped forward, his face devastated by guilt.
“Princess…”
Lyanna looked at him.
“You kept your promise.”
The old scholar lowered his head.
“Not well enough.”
“You kept her alive.”
Elara looked between them.
There would be time for anger later.
Time for questions.
Time for every lost year.
Now she needed to free her mother.
She raised her hand toward the crystal.
Golden light spread across its surface.
But the barrier did not break.
Lyanna cried out.
“Stop!”
Elara lowered her hand.
“Why?”
“The prison is tied to the seals. If you destroy it now, the Devourer’s chains will weaken.”
Elara felt despair rising.
“Then how do I free you?”
“Restore the remaining flames.”
A voice answered from the darkness.
“How touching.”
Malrec entered.
Beside him stood Kael.
His armor had turned black.
A crown of iron thorns rested upon his head.
Elara froze.
“Kael?”
The Prince looked at her without recognition.
Malrec smiled.
“The boy you knew is gone.”
Elara shook her head.
“No.”
Malrec raised one skeletal finger.
“Kill her.”
Kael drew his sword.
Elara stepped toward him.
“Kael, it’s me.”
His blade erupted with violet fire.
He attacked.
Elara barely raised a shield in time.
The impact threw her against the prison wall.
Tessa screamed.
Theron struck the floor with his staff, summoning chains of blue light.
Kael broke them with a single movement.
Elara struggled to stand.
“Remember the palace library!”
Kael advanced.
“Remember the books you left for me!”
His sword rose.
“Remember the dog behind the kitchens!”
For a moment, his blade trembled.
Malrec’s expression changed.
“Finish her.”
Elara saw pain flash across Kael’s face.
Somewhere beneath the curse, he was still fighting.
She stepped toward him.
Then lowered her defenses.
Theron shouted.
“ELARA!”
She ignored him.
Kael’s blade stopped inches from her throat.
Elara looked into his violet eyes.
“You’re not a weapon.”
His hands shook.
“Kill…” he whispered.
Elara reached toward his face.
“You’re the boy who gave away his dinner because a servant girl was hungry.”
Kael’s expression twisted.
A single tear fell.
“Elara?”
She smiled.
“I’m here.”
The black crown cracked.
Malrec screamed.
“No!”
Kael seized the crown with both hands.
He pulled.
Black lightning erupted.
The crown shattered.
Kael collapsed into Elara’s arms.
She held him tightly.
He looked at her weakly.
“You came back.”
She began crying.
“I told you I would.”
Then Malrec raised both hands.
The crystal prison flared.
Lyanna screamed as black energy surged through her chains.
The sorcerer looked toward Elara.
“Thank you for bringing the Third Flame.”
A red beam erupted through the ceiling.
Far beyond Valtherion, a mountain seal cracked.
The Devourer roared.
Malrec laughed.
“Every act of love brings me closer to freedom.”
May you like
And Elara realized the enemy wasn’t merely trying to capture her.
He was learning how to use the people she loved against her.
Related Stories
