Page 118 of A Kingdom so Crimson

I was not a Magic…I couldn't be. Nor akeyto something.

He held me close, his touch soothing yet stirring up a storm of anxiety and bafflement. "We'll explain everything," he said softly, stroking back my hair and gently kissing my forehead.

A sudden loud crash hit the carriage from the outside, tearing a scream from my throat and whipping Levon's gaze towards the door.

Abruptly, the carriage lurched to a stop, throwing us both off the seat. We tumbled across the floor, hitting the opposite wall with a thud. Pain flared through my already battered body, and I groaned, clutching my side.

Levon scrambled to his feet, helping me up with careful hands.

"Are you okay?" he asked, his voice tight and concerned, as he quickly scanned the area outside the window.

I nodded, gritting my teeth against the pain.

He glanced towards the front of the carriage, his expression darkening.

"We need to be ready for anything," he demanded, handing me a dagger from one of his bags, his eyes meeting mine, displaying a fierce tension.

He helped me back onto the seat and pounded on the carriage's roof, signaling Kaizen. The carriage lurched forward with a violent jolt, sending us crashing into the opposite wall. It accelerated rapidly, rattling harder with each passing second. Levon cursed under his breath, his voice tense with urgency, as he leaned down to help me.

Kaizen started screaming something, his voice filled with panic but was instantly cut off by the sharp roar of flames erupting around us, consuming our entire beings and engulfing the carriage in a fiery inferno.

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Ibarely had time to scream before the shockwave hit, a massive force that seemed to rip the very fabric of reality apart. A deafening roar shattered the air around us, sucking the breath from my lungs as an intense heat erupted, engulfing the carriage and obliterating it into splinters that flew in every direction. Shards of wood and glass cut into my skin as the blast hurled me through the air, slowing time to a crawl.

I slammed into the rocky road with a bone-jarring impact, knocking the wind out of me and barely hanging onto the edges of consciousness. The world around me blurred in fire, and all I could feel was the crushing pressure and searing heat of flames that licked my flesh with agonizing intensity. My ears rang with a high-pitched, continuous scream, and my head swam, disoriented and heavy with the shock.

Debris began raining down around me, crashing onto the road with startling force. Muffled shouts, distant and distorted, intruded into my mind, but they were dulled out by the persistent ringing in my ears and the pop of fire, sizzling beside me. I struggled to process what was happening, but everythingblurred together in a cacophony of confusion and pain—so much pain.

Smoke plagued the air, thick and pungent, making breathing almost impossible. It choked me, sending me into violent coughing fits that wracked my battered body.

I blinked slowly, trying to clear my vision and regain some sense of my surroundings. My limbs felt numb, tingling with the desperate need to move and grasp something solid.

The area around me lay in ruins, shattered and consumed by flames that licked hungrily at the air. Thick smoke enveloped me as a suffocating blanket pressing down like a tangible weight. Each breath was a battle, my lungs burning with the effort to draw in air tainted with ash and soot.

Rolling onto my back, I choked for air, seeing flames paint the smoky sky with an ominous glow. Towering pines stood behind like daggers, their shapes morphing and twisting in the swirling haze.

A figure emerged from the blur, reaching out to grasp my arms and pull me from the scorched earth. I cried out in agony as his touch seared my blistering skin. Coughing, I blinked repeatedly until Calum's golden eyes slowly came into focus. A black cloth partially concealed his face, and his dirty blonde hair spilled out from beneath his hood.

It felt like a dream, a surreal and hazy nightmare of fire, smoke, and ash.

"Cal?" I choked out, my voice weak and trembling, not believing he was there.

Tears welled up in my eyes as I reached for him, hoping he was real. His hands closed around mine, sending a painful jolt up my burning arm.

He was real.

I shook my head, trying to clear the ringing pressure in my ears.

"El," he breathed, his voice thick with emotion as he took me into his arms. "I-I didn't want this. I…had to," he stammered, his voice breaking.

I clung to him, fighting to stay conscious. "What…what are you…talking about?" I slurred with a cough.

Calum said nothing and only held me tighter in his arms. I slumped against him, too tired to speak as an uncomfortable feeling raged within me. My gaze caught sight of fire devouring the remnants of Levon's destroyed carriage. The surrounding area was covered in scattered flames that threatened to lick our flesh right off as it began scaling the tall pines within the dense forest. Dark, thick smoke swirled low as crackling embers sparked, snapping more pieces of debris into the air. The sound of burning flames overtook the painful ringing in my ears.

Levon.

My head lolled to the side, panic rising in my chest. "Levon," I rasped, coughing on the thick smoke. "Cal, where's…Levon?"

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