Page 74 of The Jester

“And?” Eldrion rubs his temples again and winces. Looking past me, he casts his gaze towards the bookcase at the back of the room. Then taps his fingernails on his glass. “And...?” he repeats.

“He admitted you were telling the truth.”

“Good. Then finally we can talk honestly with each other.” Eldrion’s words slur a little. He is drunk, which is proved by the fact he has to brace himself on the arm of the chair as he stands.

“Honesty? At last.” I walk over to him, purposefully standing closer than I normally would. “I’d like some honesty. So, why don’t you tell me why the fuck you brought me here? What is all this about? What do you want from me? Is it all part of some weird obsession? A crush?” I laugh, trying to find the buttons I can press to supercharge his frustration and draw him into an argument.

Eldrion simply looks me up and down, rubs his palm over his face, and laughs. “A crush?” he mutters. “You think I’d go through all this for a crush?”

Fire flames in my belly. “Perhaps.”

“You are not that special, Alana Leafborne.”

“Except, I am, aren’t I?” I square up to him.

He looks down at me, my frame small and lithe compared to his broadness. A laugh shakes his shoulders. He looks at my hands. “You no longer wear your gloves.”

“They’re not necessary. You know that.”

He nods slowly. “I do know.”

He turns away, but I grab hold of his upper arm and force him to look at me. “By the stars, Eldrion, tell me why I’m here!”

His eyes flash. Deep, blood red. A colour that sends shivers to the darkest depths of my soul and rattles free the fears that linger there. “I can’t tell you,” he says. “So, let me show you.”

With one hand, he takes hold of my wrist. I object, but he holds on tightly. With the other, he opens his shirt. My breath hitches. “What are you doing?”

“Quiet,” he barks.

Then he slams my bare fist onto his chest. Above his heart. He fixes his eyes on mine, and his wings flash the same deep shade of crimson as his eyes.

I inhale sharply. I can’t breathe. I feel like I’m choking. Like the room is filling with smoke.

A bright white light appears in front of my eyes and blinds me. I try to pull away but Eldrion holds me still until... everything disappears. I am standing up high, looking down on the castle and the citadel. Flying, maybe.

A scream echoes in my mind. Then another. I look down. The citadel is burning. Huge, towering, infernos of heat billow up into the sky. With them, they bring clouds of dark grey smoke. It fills the air. I cough, and turn around, desperately trying to find a way to escape.

But then there is more.

The ground shakes.

A carousel of images pummels my brain.

Crumbling walls, surging seas. Ice, and fire, and ash. Screams. Leafborne dying. Sunborne dying. Wings being ripped from their owners and bursting into flame in the air. Turning to dust.

Then Finn . . . I see Finn.

I reach for him but he turns away from me.

His mask lies at my feet. I pick it up and hold it in front of me, but as I stare at it, it disintegrates into a million purple butterflies. They surge up into the air, but then they darken. They become black and foreboding.

The entire sky is full of them, undulating, pressing down on me.

Fire, and ash, and ice, and screams.

I rip my hand away from Eldrion with a a force that makes him cry out. I stumble backwards. Sweat glistens on my brow, but my skin feels deathly pale. I stumble. And then I realise Eldrion is no longer standing in front of me. He’s lying on the floor.

And he is unconscious.

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