Page 66 of Draekora

He chuckled, and the sound was so lifelike, so similar to that of the real Kaiden that Alex actually felt a shiver travel down her spine.

“What I said was true,” he claimed. “Your subconscious knew that what you’re going to see here will be traumatic, and that you would need someone you felt safe with to guide you through it.”

“There are plenty of people I feel safe with,” Alex said. “Why are you at the top of the list?”

“Name one,” Kaiden challenged.

“Jordan,” Alex returned instantly, saying the first name that came to mind.

Shaking his head, Kaiden said, “Not true. With him currently Claimed by Aven, your subconscious knows you wouldn’t be safe anywhere near him.”

“That was a bad example,” Alex admitted. “What about Bear? D.C.? I know both of them way better than I know you.”

“And at the moment, after having lost Jordan, you would never have one of them go anywhere with you if it left the other alone for any length of time, virtual scenario or not.”

Alex was unwilling to concede just yet. “What about my parents?”

Kaiden shook his head again. “You wouldn’t put them in any kind of danger, even if it was all in your mind.”

“Darrius. Fletcher. Roka, Kyia, Zain—hell, even Hunter and Karter. I trust all of them.”

“You do,” Kaiden agreed. “But it’s with me you feel safest.” He couldn’t hold back a self-assured grin when he said, “Deny it all you want, we both know the truth.”

Alex pulled a face at him. “You’re annoying.”

He burst out laughing. “I’m not real, remember?”

“That just makes you more annoying.”

After a moment he sobered and his expression turned serious. “We don’t have long here. Are you ready?”

“To see what might happen in the future if I let the whole world down?” Alex asked, her tone only slightly bitter. “Sure. Lead the way.”

Taking Kaiden’s hand, she observed with growing horror as he showed her not just destroyed cities and mass graves, but also specific—and vividly detailed—events.

She saw the empty eyes of Astophe and Roka, both lying in pools of silver blood. She saw the triumphant King Aven standing above their lifeless bodies, commanding hisGarsethand theZeltorato kill any mortals they could find.

Houses were demolished.

Families were slaughtered.

Villages were decimated.

And it wasn’t just humans who Aven targeted. He massacred entire races, from the tree-dwelling Jarnocks to the amphibious Flips to numerous other beings Alex had never encountered. Not even the powerful Shadow Walkers were able to survive his tyranny, their city of darkness and all its inhabitants burning amid the chaos.

If seeing all that wasn’t bad enough, Alex also witnessed the deaths of her friends.

Bear was first, his family dragged from their home in Woodhaven and strung up in Myrox cages outside the Meyarin palace, left to die slowly and painfully from starvation. Simulation or not, Alex would never forget their whimpered pleas or the look of their malnourished, neglected bodies for the rest of her life.

Next she had to watch as Aven Claimed D.C. and ordered the princess to kill her own parents before turning her blade on herself—and all in front of a crowd of horrified onlookers who were then forced to bow to their new immortal ruler.

Then came Alex’s parents, having left the safety of the Library only to be captured by a group of scoutingGarseth. Rachel and Jack were tortured first before the Rebels discovered their connection to Alex, and only then were they delivered directly to Aven. His laughter was almost as loud as their final screams as he slowly, so slowly drew out their deaths.

On it went as one by one, the lives Alex held most dear were taken from her; the goodness in the world snuffed out like a candle. Leaning on Kaiden more heavily with each passing frame, she could do nothing but try to detach herself from what she was seeing, telling herself it wasn’treal.

But itwasreal. Or rather—itcouldbe real.

Everything came to a head when Jordan was handpicked by Aven to lead the final attack on Akarnae, presenting the worst of everything Alex was forced to watch. Her classmates, her teachers, the academy itself went to war against Aven’s immortal force. Even the Medoran military was there, led by General Drock and Major Tyson. The Wardens battled alongside them, with Kaiden’s sister, Warden Jeera, shooting Stabiliser blasts at Meyarin attackers from all angles, but to no effect. The mortal weapons barely phased the immortals, if they even managed to land a hit.

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