Page 75 of Bound By Darkness

Ellia patted my back once. “I’m not dying… that easily.” She coughed, blood peppering my tunic. “Sorry,” she said as she wiped her red lips.

“What do you mean she can do it?” A young boy clung to the older woman’s shirt, her sheer hands caressing his head.

Ellia let go of me as she stared at the boy, hands on her hips. “She’s the daughter of Euris Feyron. General to King Hywell… and a Rahan High Fae who possesses the casting of her ancestors—descendants of one of the first Four Kings of Cethales.”

Murmurs echoed around the still room as eyes flared to me. Some softened. Others hardened their gazes, embracing each other a bit tighter.

“How do we know she doesn’t work for them?” The boy said, his eyes widening as his fingers trembled.

My name did this.Mypeople did this—killing innocents to maintain a balance they thought necessary.

Ellia coughed, but her stance remained strong. “She gave me this,” she said as she lifted the necklace from beneath her shirt. “A gift… of trust,” she spoke. “Moria will get us out. I promise. Right?”

Her eyes flicked to me as I stood there, twenty eyes shifting to me.

It had been years since I’d fought—felt metal cling to my hand as I’d practiced beneath the mountains of Raha, my ancestors rippling through my blood with each strike. Did my casting still exist? Did it still breathe within despite the torture—despite the black minerals running in my veins?

A hand gripped mine,tender and soft as I stared into blue. She was so young and here she was, choosing to stand beside the enemy. She was brave. More than I’d ever be as I squeezed her hand back, warmth caressing the chill of my heart.

“I can,” I said, my head dipping in a nod. “I can get us out if you’ll… if you’ll put your trust in me.”

I took a shaky breath as I stepped forward, that warmth leaving my hand. “Rebellion has found Galar, its walls crumbling as their group rescued me from the tower. The sentinels who’d flooded this cave would rather kill you than let you escape because they know… they know you’d give your dying breath to see Cethales freed.” I swallowed. “Rebellion waits outside the gates for you—for us.”

“Let’s show this place… show King Hywell what his slaves can do,” Ellia added, her teeth barring as a snarl tore through her throat. “I’m willing to find… this rebellion—” She coughed, a rasping breath echoing before her eyes narrowed. “Find this rebellion at the gates if it means they will rescue us.”

I gave her a small smile, a thank you breathed in her direction as I swept my hand over the cave. “Find any weapon you can. I’m not sure how long we have until another group of sentinels rush down the mountainside toward the rescuers awaiting us at the bottom.”

As the quiet clinking of metal upon metal rose, a bit of pride welled in my heart as I thought of Thalia. She’d be proud of me and that was enough to spur me forward to Death’s edge.

The path was treacherous, wet from runoff and blood as my bare feet pressed into the mud. There was no cover. Only open air and one path to follow toward the broken doors of Galar.

Sentinels were screaming, streaks of black and blue painting the air in misery as we descended into the fray. They were fighting their battle with whoever had blasted the gates. A war of their own as we waged ours.

A ray of blue raced toward my head as I ducked, yanking on a woman’s shirt as she dropped to the mud. The streak hit rock, pieces crumbling.

“Thank… thank you,” she rasped, her hands trembling. She would have been in its path, obliterated into nothing.

“Watch—”

Black slammed into a young man, his face curling to white as he disintegrated into a pile of bones.

Screams tore from the group as they ducked, hands flying over their hands. Chaos ensued as they spread like rodents, hands flailing as they ducked to the ground.

“Quiet!” I hissed, my eyes widening. “They will come running!”

But it was too late as a sentinel appeared from around jagged rock, his weapon glowing.

He dragged a man with a sword in one hand, his teeth barring. “You think this will stop her? She’s building an army to take on King Hywell,” he spat, blood plopping onto his chest.

The sentinel blasted him, his words dying in the wind.

The guard turned to me, a smirk lighting his face. “Going to join the rest at the gate?” Laughter bubbled from him. “Sorry to disappoint, but no one is leaving here alive. If others discover what is happening on Galar, King Hywell will murder us. Head back up the hill and you may live.”

“We’d rather die fighting.” Ellia coughed, her fingers tinted red. “We will not be slaves anymore. We are free.”

A young man gripped the sword in his scarred hand tighter as he rose it to the guards. “Free,” he echoed. “We are free.”

The sentinel flicked his gaze across everyone asthat weapon rose to point at my chest. “Then you will die.” He licked his lips. “Starting with you.”

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