~ Raine ~
Thesceneblurredintofocus, and I stared at my strange surroundings. I appeared to be in some kind of royal vault surrounded by shelves lined with jewels, golden vases, and priceless artifacts. And I wasn’t alone…
A tall guard with ebony hair stood with a sword protruding from his shoulder, the blade lodged between the plates of his armor. As the man staggered backward, a male dressed in a golden robe with a crown circling his hair, snarled and lunged for him. From the male’s attire, it was obvious he was royalty, either a king or a prince. Before the royal could reach the wounded guard, a female with long white hair darted forward, intercepting him, and the two sprawled to the floor. I gaped in surprise when I recognized the snow-white hair and glittering blue eyes.
Lyr?
“I said, STOP!” someone shouted, and the ground trembled as if in answer. Ancient weapons and treasures toppled from the shelves, clanging as they collided with the stone floor. It took me a moment to realize that I was the one who’d yelled. Well not me, but…I glimpsed my reflection on the golden surface of a vase. I had long beautiful azure-colored hair, a similar shade to Prince Azaren’s, delicate features, and small ears that curved into pointed tips.
Holy goddess, am I seeing through Queen Izla’s eyes?
“You will not slaughter my people,” Queen Izla said to the king, her voice eerily calm. Her gaze softened when she peered at the wounded guard, and then to Lyr who was on her feet again, crouched low in a fighting stance. I couldn’t just see through the queen’s eyes, I could feel her emotions. Her regret and sadness twisted inside her like barbed wire caging her heart, and then she reached her hand out, her palm pressing against the stone wall beside her. The floor shook more violently, and items continued to fall from the shelves.
I noted Lyr’s human form.Great Mother Falia, is she about to create the curse?
“What is this?” the male in the golden robes bellowed, and I understood now that he was likely the king who had ignited the war between the fae and the monsters all those years ago. The king lifted to his feet glaring at Queen Izla as the words tumbled from her lips.
“I curse you, King Adrien, ruler of the human Kingdom of Katakin,” she said in a frightening voice that sounded ancient and unnatural. “You will become the monster you so fear my people to be. All portals to my kingdom will close to you, its treasures will be lost, and you shall spend your days unable to die and unable to live. No longer a human, but a walking disease upon this land. Your heart will become stone, as that is what it is.”
Where her hand was touching the wall, blue flames ignited, filling the room with blue light. The fire absorbed into the stone, sinking into the mountain, and a separate line of blue fire shot out from her hand, racing along the stone until it reached King Adrien’s golden boots.
King Adrien stepped backward in fear, but not before the blue fire had begun to climb up his legs, consuming him until it sunk into his skin, disappearing into his body. I watched in horror as the king convulsed, falling to his knees and screaming as his skin turned the color of ash, and he transformed into a monster made of stone.
“What did you do to me?” King Adrien roared when the transformation was complete.
Queen Izla pulled her hand from the wall as she watched her furious husband. Where her palm had been, a handprint of blue remained. The color dimmed, but before it disappeared entirely, flames shot out from it again, and streams of blue fire speared across the floor in all directions.
“No!” Queen Izla cried as the fire reached the others in the room, and they began to fall and writhe just as the king had.
Queen Izla’s frantic gaze went to Lyr. “This wasn’t supposed to happen.”
The guard who had been wounded let out a pained cry, and Queen Izla ran to him and fell to her knees, pulling his head onto her lap. “Vasken. No, Vasken. This curse wasn’t for you,” she cried.
“You little fae demon,” King Adrien shouted. Turning, he lunged for her.
“Izla,” Lyr gasped in warning, but before the queen could move backward, King Adrien’s stony arm smashed across her chest, sending her to the floor. She cried out and sniffed, blue blood trailing from her nose.
King Adrien grinned, watching as she slowly rose to her feet, her body trembling, but his smile fell when a circle of burning blue fire appeared behind her. She spared one last regretful glance at Lyr and Vasken, and then with a hand pressed protectively to her abdomen, she stepped backward and into the portal.
Light engulfed my vision, and I drifted in the endless blue as if I were stuck between worlds.What is this place?As if in answer, a picture began to materialize in front of me, and I focused on the illustration of a winged beast depicted on the left page of an ancient book. I’d seen the image before, but it took me a moment to realize it was in the book Prince Azaren had in the fae realm. The book he’d had open when he’d implanted information about the curse in my mind.
The image then changed as if I was flipping through the pages of the book, but this time instead of fae text inscribed under each illustration, the symbols shifted, forming into words that I could read.
One of fae, blood so blue,
One who’s cursed, but bold and true,
Forgive the past, pay the price,
Surrender to the sacrifice.
The book closed then, and Prince Azaren’s voice filled my mind along with the image of his face. He appeared just as he had before the assassin had attacked him, with his neat azure-colored hair and vibrant blue eyes, but there was a severity to his expression that he hadn’t had when we’d seen him in person.
Raine, if you’re hearing this, you must have found a way to unlock my message as I knew you would. I’ll get right to it. By now you should have read the secret to breaking the curse placed over Katakin. While I can’t be certain what the words mean, I can only guess that someone with pure fae blood must forgive the monsters for their past transgressions and be willing to give up their life for the monsters, and similarly, a monster must be willing to do the same for the fae. At present, I cannot think of any fae who would be willing to do this, so unfortunately and regretfully, I believe your group may be on a fool’s errand.
There was a pause, and I thought the message was over, but then Prince Azaren’s voice sounded again.
But there’s more. I told you the magic over you was made with love and about protection, and that’s true, but I wasn’t honest about all I discovered. The four monsters you travel with have been bound to you as part of a protection curse. My aunt has scribbled notes about such a curse in one of her books, and I believe she adapted it so it would be placed on your bloodline rather than an individual. I can only guess that it was intended so that if, for any reason, a member of your bloodline was forced to go to Katakin, their life would be tied to the first monsters they encountered in turn creating monster knights who would protect rather than harm.
