Page 80 of Ruined Kingdom

I reached out and touched the top of my head just as Berrok managed to climb out of the room we’d just been in a moment ago. I watched in something like a daze as he ran down the hill of black rock and mud toward us.

The others followed closely behind him, and a realization hit me like an anvil to my chest.

A sudden surge of terror sent my body into a chaotic spiral.

My heart pounded furiously against my ribcage as if it was seeking to escape.

The air had been thick with the miasma before, but now it was suffocating.

No…

I watched as sprinkles of soft white snowflakes floated down from the otherwise clear sky.

The first snow…

“Still trying to run?” A horridly familiar voice tore through the silent dread that was consuming me. “Don’t you understand? There is nowhere you can go where I will not find you! You cannot escape me. You can never win.”

Kaine turned around, pulling me behind him as he faced the Fae King. His words rumbled in his chest with a strong growl as he declared, “I’m not running anymore.”

Just then, the Fae King disappeared the moment a sudden gust of wind began, picking up strength with each passing second.

“Go to the others,” Kaine said, turning back to me, his voice desperate and pleading. “They will protect you. No matter what happens to me, I need you to live on. The world needs your light.”

He left so quickly that I didn’t even see him move. Before I knew what was happening, he was already several yards away.

All I could see were blurs of shadows as Kaine fought the Dark Fae King.

A lump stuck in my throat as I found myself watching on the sidelines. Again.

Even as I watched the battle raging in front of me, the sounds of the other one going on to the south reached my ears.

Sharra and Lexi grabbed my arms and tried to drag me away to safety, but I knew I had to stay.

“I have to be here. This is where I’m supposed to be,” I argued with them, but I fell silent as a shadow came over us, blocking out the moon.

We all looked up to see thousands of aerial Dark Fae minions approaching the battlefield from the skies.

My faith in this battle was beginning to dwindle more and more.

My eyes scanned the field where our people were making a stand. It was like I could see everything happening in slow motion.

General Eugin was yelling out orders.

Soldiers were fighting … and falling.

The new arrivals of Dark Fae descended from the skies to attack and decimate our troops, but something made them scatter and fall in disorder suddenly.

Then I saw what had caused it. A white chariot was cutting through the curtain of darkness, slaying multiple of the Dark Fae in one fell swoop.

The horseless chariot descended to the ground, and I was shocked to my core.

It was the Light Fae Queen.

“Attack!” she commanded, and more chariots and flying creatures that were Light Fae tore through the curtain of Dark Fae.

The Fae Queen then looked over at me, her eyes solemn and desolate. It was the same look Helene had given me before she guided me back to the mortal plane.

She knows what I have to do…

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