Page 20 of A Rising Hope

A blink and I was running upstairs, leaving all reason and hesitation behind. I scaled one flight of stairs, then a second, then third, soon reaching the long hall leading to that damnable room.

I wrapped the chain from the shackles tight around my fists as I sprinted through the long corridors, making sure it wouldn’t rattle as I reached the black door.

There was no turning back. A slight push of my hand on the brass handle, and the door moved. Not a single creak, no lock.

I hesitated on the threshold. Though I didn’t see it, I could feel an invisible membrane that was in my way, a ward, a shield. Whatever it was, my Magic Wielder’s powers didn’t like it, recoiling at its nearness, begging me to step away.

But one glance at the ceiling, at the suspended lifeless bodies pierced with giant black thorns and my uncertainty evaporated. Only clear-cut commands sounded in my head.

Break the shackles and the window, and let this piece of hell burn.

I crossed the threshold, leaving the shadows behind. I didn’t know how much time I’d have before Insanaria would get alerted to an intruder in her sacred room. If whatever magical ward Ijust stepped over would send a blaring alarm, informing her of my presence.

Seconds or minutes, I didn’t know. But I knew I had very little time to waste. Break the window. Break the shackles. My brain fogged, jumbling the instructions.

I should break the shackles first,I reminded myself.

“Okay . . . ” I murmured, looking around the stale room for anything that would help me.

I was too slow, each contemplating thought a wasted second.

I really should’ve slept.

The muscle in my jaw twitched, but I was already near the window. Perhaps I could break it with my shackles. Two birds, one stone.

“Here goes nothing,” I whispered, wrapping the chain around my fists, hoping they’d protect my hands as much as possible. I summoned all of my strength, punching the double-paned vaulted window.

Poignant, blinding pain shot through my body. Pain I had never felt before. I dropped down on my knees. My face hit the floor a blink later, my body in complete shock, convulsing. The pain was deafening, but so was the loud ovation sounding from the door.

“Oh, what a show.” The Queen’s cynical laugh reached me, her voice cutting sharp past the ringing in my ears. “Look everyone—a true hero.” She strolled inside the room, a wicked grin on her lips as she watched me quiver uncontrollably from the pain. “I’d say you should clap for your performance, but wait . . . you can’t!” she sneered, as her chin pointed where my hands . . . myseveredhands laid flat on the floor a couple feet away.

l flashed a glance at my wrists, where blood rapidly left my body.

My hands were gone. My eyes saw. My body felt. And yet my mind couldn’t comprehend.

“Did I forget to mention that those shackles are charmed? When broken, they shatter, severing the hands of the one wearing them. And the best part? The little shards of Basalt Glass bury deep into your veins.” She tilted her hand to me, watching me slowly die.

“I am guessing we’ve got a few minutes before the Basalt Glass chips get to your heart. A spell of my own invention,” she added. “Originally, I planned to use them on your lover. But you’ve turned out to be a much more valuable asset.” Our eyes locked. And though my lips moved, I couldn’t say a word, my jaw locked and teeth grinding into dust as I fought to stay awake.

“You didn’t really think I was falling for yourgeniusidea, did you? To rule together with the queen of Destroyers?” the Queen mocked me. “What? You see a few dead bodies, and the hero comes to the surface.Justicemust be served for the oppressed?” She scowled, like that word tasted bitter on her tongue. “I’ve dealt with a lot of want-to-be-heroes over the years, and I must say I haven’t been this entertained in quite some time. I mean just the effort. Gods, the effort you’ve put into this, to make this plausible.” She crossed the room, kicking my severed hands with the metal tip of her boot. “I mean, you can’t even think straight after three days with no sleep. But the grumbling stomach pains were quite the creative touch.” The Queen took a few steps closer to me, now crouching near the pool of my own blood. “Although, this ruse was a very small price to pay for the gift you have given me.” She dipped her finger into my blood, licking it, tasting it, savoring it.

“All these years . . . ” She clicked her tongue, satisfied with whatever she found in my blood. “After all these years, it’syouwho I’ve been searching for. The Lost Destroyer . . . ” She shook her head like she was in disbelief. “I had almost given uptoo, thinking that bitch Diamara out played me. But look at us now.” She lifted my macabre dead hand, twisting it around like a decoration. “I had only planned to destroy the General. You were merely collateral damage. But when you spoke to my shadows, when you calmed them with yourCreatormagic . . . Oh, what a pleasant surprise that was. Years.Years. . . I waited for my stolen, sacrificial lamb only for her to walk back home to me. A sign of the times.” Her eyes lingered on me, but it was like she was seeing something beyond me.

“The Justice Wielder with all the magic . . . What are the chances . . . Who would’ve thought. ” She stood up, glancing around the ceiling full of bodies, like they were an audience to her great enactment. “And the General thought he could just keep you for himself. What an ambitious idiot.” She smirked, her eyes filled with pure retribution. “Once I become a god, thanks to your generous offering, of course, I will make sure to say hello to the High Ladies and thank them for their donation.”

The Queen continued talking, but my brain could no longer make sense of her words.

My lungs spasmed, cutting my breaths shorter with each passing moment.

Only now it dawned on me that this was truly the end.

I was dying. There was no fixing this. No avoiding it. I was going to die.

I was going toactually,truly, die.

Hardwood floor cut into my cheek, my saliva mixed with bile pooled near my face, blood soaking into my dirty clothes.

My life didn’t flash before my eyes. My thoughts of comfort and guttural survival had already abandoned me.

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