Chapter Text
The early morning breeze felt even more icy through the shadows that blanketed the pathways and buildings of Silvergrove. The smell of burning wood filled the air as many families were getting their days started. For them, it was another day. For the assassins, it was another day of coming up with nothing.
Runaan stood at the center of the village, his group of his assassins discussing the plan for the day.
“We should branch out of the woods.” Skor suggested. “Two days is plenty of time to reach the edge. Especially for Rayla.”
Runaan nodded along as he thought a little bit more on that option. “I just don’t know where she’d be going.”
Lain suddenly pushed through the group to reach Runaan. “Wait a minute!” He said with his tone rising. “Why are we acting as if she ran away? Obviously something has happened to her. The forest during a bloodmoon is dangerous! She could be hurt or trapped somewhere. Searching out of the forest would be wasting the elf power we need! There are still areas we haven’t touched!”
Runaan kept stoned faced as he addressed his brother, “Rayla has worked during the bloodmoon many times now. I’m confident in her abilities to navigate it. Her disappearance must be intentional.”
“Not to offend your expertise, but why would she run off on purpose? Did someone upset her? Hurt her?” He stood taller and puffed up his chest in rising anger at the thought of someone hurting his daughter.
Runaan looked to the side at Skor and gave him a slight nod. The veteran assassin immediately picked up the signal and gathered the team to continue their search.
As they left, Runaan leaned in closely to Lain, “You want to know how I know she ran away?” He said through his teeth. “It's because we pushed her to do it!”
Lain leaned away, offended. “What do you mean?”
“I told you we needed to let her decide if she wanted to become Dragon Guard!”
“And I thought we did!” Lain returned, matching his energy. “She decided to go.”
Runaan turned away from Lain. “I-I know. I pressured her to.”
Lain was stunned to hear this. “You did?” He calmed down a bit. “I don’t understand. I thought you said–”
“I know. And it’s still true. Rayla doesn’t want to leave Silvergrove.” Runaan sighed. He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I gave her no choice. I told her the only option was to–to leave with you to the Storm Spire.”
Lain let the words sit for a moment before he continued their conversation. “Why did you do it? I doubt it was for our sake.” He huffed with slight amusement. “No offense taken.”
Runaan thought about telling him the truth. But the truth disturbed him so much. Rayla had an unhealthy obsession with the humans. It made no sense. But now, he had caused her to push even further away.
“I thought I was doing what was best for her.”
Lain walked up to Runaan. He opened his mouth to say something, but then thought against it. Instead, he placed his hand on his shoulder. He gave him a reassuring stare. “You are, brother. We’ll find her. Or perhaps she will come back to us soon. Where would she go?”
Just then the elves rushed by.
“What’s going on?” Lain said with a hint of hopefulness or panic. It was hard for Runaan to pick up on.
The elf turned to address them as he ran, “Trouble in the forest. It’s the north clan.”
The two assassins did not linger for an explanation. They ran to the edge of Silvergrove where a crowd was growing.
Runaan made his way to the action by politely, yet firmly pushing through.
“What is going on?” He addressed the elf on scene. She was talking to an elf who was leaning on another for support. He was clearly injured and not able to stand on his own.
“They were attacked last night.” She said, “Humans”.
“Humans? In the north of the forest?” Lain questioned, “That is so deep! Do they not fear the Moonshadow clans!?”
“No, sir.” The injured elf cut in. “ We scouted them on the edge. We made camp south west of Silvergrove. It was there that we were attacked.”
Runaan’s eyes narrowed. “How many?”
“Dozens. Maybe more.” The wounded elf coughed. “ And there were dark mages with them.”
“How could the humans be so bold!?” Lain spat. “This is an invitation for us Xadians to invade back!”
Runaan placed a hand on his shoulder firmly. Lain pulled away, frustrated. Runaan knew that whatever was going on was more complicated than it would appear, but understood Lain’s anger and him being quick to suspect.
“How did you all escape?” He asked.
The elf looked down.There was a long pause. Then the elf finally answered, voice hoarse. “General Keeva stayed behind. She gave the order to inform the clans. This type of force had never been this strong so deep in Xadia.”
Runaan’s heart dropped, “The general stayed behind. Is she… do we know if…”
The elf shook their head, “Some of us headed back to the camp. We have yet to hear anything back.”
“You and your clan deserve to rest.” Runaan placed his arm over his chest in a salute. “We will prepare lodging and prep our healers. Please, focus on recovery.”
The elf nodded slowly, clearly exhausted. As the elf was being carried away, Lain stepped forward suddenly. “Did your clan happen to run into any Silvergrove elves during your patrol or escape?”
The elf shook his head. “No. Just some humans.” He winced as he was being adjusted to walk more comfortably. “They probably all squirreled away back to their side.”
Lain’s jaw tightened, but he said nothing. Runaan noticed the way his fingers twitched. No word or sign of Rayla, dark mages deep into Xadia and attacking the moonshadow elves, during the blood moon too. All of this balled up in the pit of Runaan’s stomach.
He turned toward the forest’s edge. Where are you, Rayla?
Horns belted to signal the king had entered the throne room. This long and spacious hall caused the sound to bounce around the stone walls and got the small group of Katolians to stop all discussions. The sun shone through the stained glass windows, creating multi-colored beams of light across the red rugs and stone floor.
“Does anyone care to inform me why I am hearing rumors about a young woman being held prisoner in my castle?” King Harrow’s voice was strong. It made Callum feel like he was responsible to give him an answer. It was lord Viren who stepped forward with a bow.
“Your Majesty, the girl was found deep within a Moonshadow elf encampment during the attack. She appears human but everything about her is suspicious.”
“Suspicious how?” The king scowled.
“Her voice, her clothes, the fact that she appeared unharmed by these creatures, her attitude towards essence magic! It’s like she is a moonshadow elf!”
“Attitiude towards essence magic?” Callum said aloud. Once he noticed he was heard, his body flashed with panic.
“Correct. We have been trying to test to see if she is using illusion magic, but she refuses to cooperate when I try a disillusion spell. Violently so.” He said as he pulled back his sleeve to reveal scratch marks. Callum also just noticed his cheek had a red mark. He continued, “fortunately, we have other ways to test for arcanum magic. No matter how powerful.”
“Like what?” This time Opeli, King Harrow’s most trusted council advisor, spoke out. Leave it to good old Opeli to ask the tough questions. Callum sighed. He was also curious to know the high mage’s ways.
Viren gave her a side glance but when he looked back at King Harrow, he was also expecting his response.
He cleared his throat. "Currently Claudia and I are keeping her awake. I’ve heard mental exhaustion makes it hard to keep up illusions. But we also took hair, nail, and some blood samples to test as a consensual compromise to the disillusion spell.” He said pointedly.
“And what did those tests confirm?” Opeli hit with another clarifying question.
Viren audibly sighed, “So far they have not reacted as they should with Xadian magic.”
“So she’s human. Great, now can you stop hoarding her so we can speak with her?”
“I don’t care for your tone, councilwoman.” Viren narrowed his eyes at her. “You speak as if I’m enjoying this. I do not. But we are talking about a potential threat from the elves.”
“But if she truly is human, why did the elves keep her alive and well?” This time it was another councilman who interjected.
“According to the girl, she was raised by them.” Viren scoffed.
“Now that’s suspicious.” Another councilman held his chin in thought.
“Is it really all that hard to believe elves would do something like that?” Callum spoke up this time. All eyes were on him, including the king’s. “I-I know they are our enemies, but they aren’t monsters.”
Viren let out a bitter laugh. “That’s a bold statement coming from someone who’s never seen what they’re capable of.”
Callum immediately regretted speaking up. It just came out of him in the moment.
“I don’t think we can afford to be naïve,” Viren continued. This time he addressed the king. “She could be a spy. Or a test to see what we do and how trusting humans are. We could be giving all kinds of information to the enemy. I won’t risk the safety of the king or this kingdom just because she appears human. Everything about her is suspicious. There must be something going on. It is only a matter of time before I–”
“That’s enough,” King Harrow commanded. He looked at Viren first. “Your point has been made. The woman was tested, and the results point to her being human.”
“But—”
“She is not to be held prisoner for you to experiment on.” The king said decidedly. “If your tests are correct and she is human, we are only causing more stress to someone who has gone through a lot of trauma.” Harrow continued. “The sleep deprivation ends tonight. I will have a room set up for her this evening.”
“Sire, I don’t think that–”
Harrow held up his hand, “Enough, Viren.” He turned to Opeli, “Please oversee the accommodations. See to it that there is food and a bath ready for her.”
Opeli bowed her head. “Of course, Your Majesty.”
Something caught Callum’s attention in the corner of his eye. He turned his head towards the back of the hall. There he spotted Ezran’s curly head. He was motioning wildly for him to come.
Callum’s brows furrowed, but he gave a small nod and slipped away from the group still murmuring about the girl.
“And when she’s rested, I will speak with her personally. Viren,” Callum heard the king address his teacher. He turned to observe.
“I understand your concern and it means a lot to me. But we cannot let fear make us forget our humanity. We will help the young woman piece her life back together… while keeping an eye on her. And I will need your help with that.”
Viren nodded. “Very good, your majesty. I will employ the top guards to watch over her movements.”
That seemed to end the discussion for now as they finally moved on to a different topic. Callum slipped out of the throne room door and now stood alone in the hall.
“Ez?” Callum whispered.
Ezran popped his head from around the corner. “Over here!”
When Callum made it to where his brother was, the young prince was further down the corridor, halfway in a small crawlspace that was covered by an old wooden cabinet.
“In there,” he whispered, grinning ear to ear.
“Ez, how did you find this?”
Ezran scootched further into the space. “I’ve known about this entrance for a while now. It leads to one of the old hidden stairways I use to get to the courtyard near the stables. But if we follow the stairs up instead of down, it leads us to Viren’s study!”
Callum shook his head. “Wait, what?” He knelt down by the space opening. “Really?”
Ezran nodded. “Yup. That’s how I know you suck at magic.”
“Hey! I’m coming along… at the… expected rate. Dark magic is incredibly hard to master!”
Ezran rolled his eyes and slid all the way through to the stairs.
“And I’d love to see you try to read through all these old mages’ manuscripts! They are not an easy read. Also, it’s hard to practice when ingredients are hard to come by and–why am I explaining myself, you don’t care do you?”
“Nope.” Ezran’s playful voice echoed in the open space behind the wall. “Can you just come through? You are gonna want to see this.”
Callum sighed and followed his brother through the narrow passage.
“Make sure to move the cabinet back the best you can. I don't want anyone to know about the secret passageways.” Callum’s arms poked through the crawlspace and pulled at the cabinet legs until it was mostly back in front of the hole.
The stones were cool under his hands as Callum followed his brother upward.
“You’ve seriously been sneaking into Viren’s study?” Callum whispered.
“Not really, but after the incident with the mystery woman. I had to check it out.” Ezran pouted, “Both father and Viren forbade me from meeting her.”
The stairwell twisted tightly, and soon the familiar smell of herbs and vapor from his teacher’s spellcrafting room began to fill the space.
“Hey, wait a minute. Ezran.” Callum jogged up to stop his brother from continuing.
“What’s up?”
“This is not just Viren’s study. We are where he stores his ingredients and practices magic. I’m not even allowed in here.”
“That’s why we are sneaking in.” He smiled.
Callum sighed, rubbing his face. “If Viren catches us…”
“He won’t,” Ezran interrupted confidently, pulling an old rusted sconce that appeared to never have held a candle. A dull clunking noise came from the wall in front of them.“Help me push this wall. It's a bit hard.”
Callum walked up to Ezran and paused to glare at him before pressing his shoulder against the stone door. How did Ezran know about these secrets?
“Geez, it's hardly budging. How did you do this the last time?” he said through gritted teeth.
“Rayla helped me last time.”
“Who?” Suddenly, the door pulled open and sent the boys stumbling into the chamber.
Callum landed awkwardly on his knees, arms bracing himself against the cold stone floor. Ezran managed to keep his balance, already stepping forward.
“Hey, thanks!” Callum heard his brother say. He opened his mouth to give him some sarcastic response when a stranger’s voice in a strange accent answered instead.
“No worries here. I figured you’d be on your way back.”
Callum’s head snapped up and saw her, the young woman who rode in with the guards the other day. The one the whole castle is talking about. The human who was raised by Moonshadow elves, apparently.
He looked her over. He noted her brown hair, which was pulled up in a messy bun with a few strands clinging around the side of her cheek. Then he noted her eyes. They stared back at him, dark and tired, but seemingly amused by what was happening in front of her. His eyes moved down to her hands which were locked loosely in metal cuffs.
“Callum,” Rayla said, stepping closer, her stomach fluttered with butterflies. It really is him. Callum. The young boy from the festival. But, not just some boy, the prince!?
His name coming from out of her mouth seemed to shock the young man.
“H-how do you know my name?”
Rayla blushed. Of course. He wouldn’t remember me… Her heart sank deeper in her chest. It was only one day…
“I mentioned you quite a bit during our visit.” Ezran smiled as he walked up to Rayla.
"That's right!” She recovered with Ezran’s statement. “Said you liked elves.” She said while still trying to stay cool headed.
This time, it was the young man who turned red. “He WHAT!?”
“That’s all I said!” Ezran defended. “I told her you would probably like to meet her. Am I wrong?”
Rayla chucked and sat herself down on a stool near a crackling fireplace. She was exhausted. She was trying to get a few minutes of shut eye while the dark mages were gone. But she also didn’t mind the company. She liked the young prince. Glad I didn’t kill him. She joked to herself.
Callum picked himself up off the floor and walked over to where his brother was standing.
“Well… no. You’re not. But that’s not the point! Coming in here… it could be dangerous!” Callum stared at Rayla, who gave him an exasperated sigh. An awkward pause broken only by Ezran coughing to get his attention.
Callum raised an eyebrow at him. “Well I don’t feel like I’m in danger. Rayla has been nothing but nice to me. And fun!” He added. “We should show her some manners, right prince?” He mocked and indicated with his head that he should do something.
“Uh…” Callum blushed. “M-my apologies! I’d like to formally introduce myself.” He held his arms at his sides, stiffly and bowed. “I am prince Callum, eldest stepson of the king and mage apprentice. It is a pleasure to meet you…”
“Rayla of Silvergrove.” She tried to give a proper salute with her arm but since she was cuffed, she did it with both.
“So it’s true?” His caution and nervousness gave way to curiosity. “You were raised by Moonshadow elves? Actually raised? Like, lived in the Moonshadow clans? Ate Moonberry roots? Learned illusion magic and ways of the elven assassins or…” he started to turn red again. “Sorry, that was a lot.”
Rayla blinked, taken off guard by the sudden barrage of questions. Her heart ached listening to him talk. He may be older, but he’s still silly.
“Wow. You really are into elves.” she chuckled.
Callum smiled awkwardly. “It’s kind of my thing.” He paused for a moment. Rayla couldn’t tell what expression the prince had. Then he suddenly continued, “I want to study all the primal magics, especially moon magic.” This made Rayla blush. “I’ve read everything I could find in the royal library, but a lot of the books we get about them are always in elven and firsthand stories are basically non-existing and–”He caught himself getting overly excited again. “Sorry. I’m sure you have been bothered insistantly. I didn’t mean to–”
Rayla held up a hand, the cuff clinking softly. “It’s fine, you’re just curious.” Which was a breath of fresh air. It’s nice that someone is asking with wonder instead of suspicion for once.
She yawned without meaning to. “What would you like to know, Prince Callum?”
The young man sat down on the ground in front of her. “Well, I guess my first question would be if you are okay?”
Rayla blinked at the question, caught off guard. Of all the questions he could have asked about the elves, he chose to ask her if she was okay.
“I mean…” Callum ran a hand through his hair, clearly second-guessing himself. “I heard about the tests. I also heard about the attack from some of the guards.” Callum looked down at his hands. “It sounded horrible.”
Rayla watched him in the flickering light and shadow of the fire. She had an unreadable expression on her face. She thought about General Keeva. How she locked eyes with the general before she was hit. Her body on the ground. The general’s hand stretched, trying to reach her. Her mind flashed to the dark red mist and the sound of the Bloodmoon Huntress’ laugh echoed in her head. She also thought about her conversation with Runaan in her hideout. Then her parents.
“So much has changed so fast. I don’t think I’ve had a chance to really consider what I’ve lost.” Her voice held no emotion. She suddenly became very aware of the two boys listening to her with horror in their eyes.
“Uh, as for the tests...” she shrugged her shoulders and smirked proudly. “They tried to use dark magic on me. Couldn’t even get close.”
Ezran was grinning ear to ear, “I heard Viren cursing about it yesterday.”
Callum looked to his brother and then back at her with concern in his eyes. “Wait, what happened? Are you okay!?”
Rayla nodded, “They tried to cast dark magic on me. Said it was a disillusion spell to prove if I was deceiving them. I fought the old man. He grabbed my neck and I hit him. His assistant, the girl…”
“That must have been Claudia.” Callum informed. “His daughter.”
“Right, she got him to stop. She said there was another way. One that did not involve using dark magic on me.”
“Dark magic is what elves call it, but it’s essence magic, essentially. We don’t have an arcanum so…” he trailed off once he noticed her deadpan face. “You, uh… you probably know this already.”
Rayla held up a cuffed hand, the metal clinking softly. "I do. And I don’t care what you call it, it is still taking the life force of living things." She said, with bitterness in her voice. But then she remembered what Kim’dael had said about dark magic. Humans have lived their entire existence with no help from the Sources. They had to find their own ways for survival.
Rayla let go of the tension she held from her initial reaction. She was reacting out of habit. She knew dark magic is the human way. She could understand that, but it still deeply upset her.
“You’re right.” Callum said in a gentle voice. Rayla looked at him, surprised, and they locked eyes for a moment before he looked away. “I hate the cost of essence magic. Primal magic sounds so wonderful.” His voice began to pick up as he spoke. “Imagine being able to tap into the powers of the world. To feel the arcanums flow around and through you!” He sighed as he leaned back on his arms. “You could do anything with a power like that.”
Rayla chuckled a bit. “You can’t do anything. Just what your arcanum allows.”
“Oh, really?” He paused to think about it. “Yeah, I mean that makes sense. That’s what makes each Xadian race so distinct.” Her comment did not seem to perturb the young prince, which she was relieved. “ Still,” Callum continued. “It'd be cool to be able to use any primal magic.” His demeanor seemed to change suddenly. He moved a bit closer to Rayla. They were just an arm's length away. Rayla suddenly got more self conscious about how she looked and probably smelled. It has been a few days since I’ve been able to wash. I hope whatever happens to me next involves a bath.
“Do you think you could tell me about moon magic?” Callum’s question pulled her out of her thoughts and brought back that aching feeling again. “I-I know you’re human, but you are probably the only one to ever experience the moon arcanum on such an intimate level!”
“S-sure. I mean, I could try.” She had never really thought about her natural powers in such a way. In a human perspective, it would be difficult to talk about and even more so now that she would need to be careful about her words so as to not give herself away.
Suddenly, the echo of footsteps and keys jingling was picked up by all three. Rayla stood up, “You have to leave.”
She helped Ezran get up and by the time she was ready for Callum, he had already gotten on his feet. She gently pushed them back towards the passage door.
Callum turned to face Rayla, “I promise I will speak to the king about getting you out of here.”
Rayla could only get a second of a smile out before the door opened with everyone caught, wide eyed.
“I guess I should have known.” It was that dark haired woman, Claudia. Rayla stepped away from the door and put herself in the middle of everyone.
“They were just leaving.”
“And you, too?” She snapped back. Claudia reached for something in her side bag while Rayla braced herself for whatever the dark mage had in mind.
This time, Ezran stepped forward, “Don’t you think she would have already escaped by now. I mean, she didn’t the first time I visited.” Ezran knew immediately that he shouldn’t have said that.
Instead, Claudia pulled her empty hand from her bag and brought it to her forehead. “Prince Ezran…” she rubbed at her growing headache. “You have no idea how dangerous it is to sneak in here… especially alone… with her.”
Rayla was annoyed but didn’t want to make the situation worse for anyone but especially for her.
Ezran rolled his eyes, “I wish everyone would trust me to know what’s safe and what’s not. I’m not a little kid anymore.” He crossed his arms, “I’m 12 years old now.”
There was a long awkward silence between all three young adults in the room. Of which none dared to say anything to the young prince.
A door thudding shut in the distance drew everyone’s attention.
“Oh no. Dad.” Claudia whipped her head over to the princes standing in the halfway opened secret door. “You guys gotta leave. Now!” She said in a hushed yell.
Both Claudia and Rayla rushed over to close the stone wall. Callum turned around to say goodbye but the wall scraped shut, cutting away at the orange light of the fireplace, leaving the two brothers in the dark stairway.
Rayla and Claudia pushed away from the wall and stared at each other.
“What are you doing, Claudia!?” Viren stood in the door frame, hand gripped on his staff as if he was seconds away from using it. “Don’t be that close! She could still do harm!”
“Oy, give it a rest already. I’m not going to hurt anyone. I haven’t yet.” Rayla made the first move away from Claudia and towards Viren.
“I wouldn’t be so sure. You were found at the site of the battle.”
“That you brought. In our forest. In our land.” Rayla retorted back.
“‘Our land’.” He scoffed. “ That doesn’t sound very human of you.”
Rayla glared at the dark mage. She had so much venom on the tip of her tongue that she held back, not wanting to make her situation worse. She let that go.
Viren tapped his staff on the stone ground and clicked his tongue. “In any case, it would seem you are human. At least by these tests’ standards.” He opened the door wider to reveal two guards waiting in his office. Rayla was back on high alert. What now…
“The king has ordered that you be moved to one of the rooms typically reserved for servants of guests.” He walked up to Rayla with keys in his hands.
He grabbed her arms suddenly. Putting two and two together, she realized he was unlocking her chains, so she did not resist. But, she sure did mean mug the dark mage.
“Don’t take this as a symbol of trust.” He whispered to her. “You are still a prisoner here. Whatever you are hiding, I will find out.” The chains hit the floor.
“ Go.” He demanded with a gesture from his staff.
Rayla waited until she walked out of Viren’s lab and was led away by the guards before she showed any emotion. Once she and the guards were around the corner, she rubbed at her wrists and let out a long overdue sigh.
As she was led through the many corridors, she thought of Callum. She remembered the look in his eyes as he shared his excitement of learning about moon magic. She smiled to herself. She’d like to think their brief encounter many years ago had left that bit of wonder in him.
She nearly ran into one of the guards as they suddenly stopped in front of a wooden door. The guard opened it with a key and gestured for her to enter.
Inside, the room was small but clean. There was a simple bed with a pile of clean clothes on it, a wooden table, and a clay pitcher of fresh water.
"These are your quarters," the guard said, his voice flat. "The King's orders are that you are to be treated as a guest." He then pointed to a room off to the side. “There is a bath ready for you.”
Rayla damn near cried tears of joy at the sound of those words. However, all she could muster up was a slight nod and a weak ‘thank you’.
One of the guards turned to leave while the smaller of the two and the one who had yet to speak had not moved. The guard stared at Rayla a moment before speaking, "There are patrols outside your door at all times. Do not try to leave.”
She looked at him, her face cold and unreadable. “Well, duh.” Was all she said. The knight made an indignant face. He opened his mouth to respond, but the first guard, who had been waiting by the door, called out to him.
“Come along, Nicholas.”
Nicholas clenched his jaw and simply glared at her one last time before turning on his heel and following his partner out the door. The door closed with a firm click, the sound of the lock sliding into place.
Rayla was alone. She gave herself a smell check. Rayla was stinky.
She had removed her filthy, tattered, and stained clothes and left them in a pile on the floor.
The bath was steaming and had a slight scent of an unfamiliar herb. She was so tired she could barely stand.
She stepped into the warm water, and audibly sighed. She got the rest of her body in the tub and slid down so that she could rest her head on the edge. She had her eyes closed for a long time as she soaked and let the grime melt away.
When she finally opened her eyes, she sat up and took a look at her now pruny human hands. She took those hands and gently brought her wet brown hair to one side. Her body was strange to her and she wondered if she’d ever get used to it.
The water was dirty enough she could see her reflection. But a part of her didn’t want to. Fear gave in to fascination. She peered at the stranger in the water and blinked a few times. Each time, brown eyes stared back at her.
For a second, Rayla thought she saw her markings coming back. Her hand went suddenly to her cheek. But it was only dirt that was washing away.
Rayla relaxed and cupped some water to splash her face. “Thank goodness.” She sighed. The Bloodmoon Huntress’ magic really did do the impossible.
The moonlight streamed through the forest’s roots and crumbling opening of the mausoleum. The light bathed the dark altar in silver light. Kim'dael was kneeled before it, one hand gripping the lip. The other clutched her chest. The magic was there. Magic she hadn’t felt in centuries. The power she lost in exchange for lifetimes of knowledge.
A sudden, sharp gasp tore through her as pain exploded in her chest. It felt like a hook lodged deep within her, yanking at her heart.
Kim’dael arched backward, her back slamming against the cold stone floor. She screamed through gritted teeth, determined to get a hold of her reunited power. She knew restoring her connection would be an intense feeling, but this was more. Almost too much for her.
“This won’t kill me!” She yelled out. “Tough it out!”
Her body convulsed and a gasp ripped from her lips. She suddenly found herself on her stomach. Reddish black viscous fluid began flowing out of her mouth.
Once that purge had stopped, she took a shaky hand and scooped up some of the bile.
“What is this?” She dry heaved, feeling more fluid rise inside her gut. She spat some fluid on the floor and wiped her mouth. “I wonder… is this my corruption?”
Focused on this new development, the pain was temporarily pushed to the background. Only waves of the intense power would cause her to fold in on herself as she staggered around her lair gathering glass bottles.
She scooped up the bile and jarred them with shaky hands. After what felt like a small eternity, she had gathered plenty of samples.
Kim'dael finally slumped against the cold stone of the altar. Her chest heaved as she took deep breaths to calm her thudding heart.
Her vision began to dim around the edges. She slowly lifted her hand to the moonlight. The tips of her fingers were translucent. She managed a weak smile before she passed out.