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I pull my limbs, desperately trying to get free of whatever magic binds me.
Two adult fae walk by the cave mouth where I’m trapped. I call to them, beg them to save me. Help me.
I can see them, hear them clearly. But they can’t see me. Can’t hear me.
“What do you think has the sprites in such a tizzy?”
“Nothing good,” the female says.
The dark-haired male nods. “We should keep a close eye out for all the youngsters.”
“They’re all accounted for?”
He nods. “We have eight total. Stay at the exit and keep count.”
“No! There are nine! Don’t leave me!” I scream until my voice is hoarse. Even when the fae are out of my sight, I yell and try everything I can think of to get free of the dark glistening web holding me hostage.
I can feel the creature behind me, breathing, watching. But he’s not moving. He’s waiting for me to give up.
I stay there for hours, strung up. My body gives out, but my mind resists. I count the youngsters who run by me. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Three more, and they’ll leave me here. They won’t even know I’m trapped.
“Help isn’t coming,” a voice tells me. “You are mine now.”
***
IT’S HOURS LATER, AFTER all the fae leave and the shadow sprites settle, that my heart resigns itself to hopelessness. Why didn’t they help me?
“I tricked them as I tricked you, child.” The cave around me trembles as if the ancient voice terrifies even the very rock.
“What?” I croak.
“The sprites think you’ve left the caves. They cannot help you.”
I let out a quiet sob. What did I do? How do I get out of this?
“Come to me, child.” The echoing voice calls gently. “It’s not as bad as it seems.”
I realize for the first time, I’m able to move. Not forward but backward. Toward him. I wonder if he cannot reach me here. If I stayed in this spot forever, maybe I’d never have to face him. Whatever he is.
“Yes, you can remain there for eternity if you’d like. You wouldn’t be the first.”
“Wh-what?” I stammer. Had he read my mind?
He chuckles, a sound that rumbles the entire cave and sends a quake of desperation through me. “You have a choice, Caelynn. I desire willing servants, not slaves.”
“So,” I gasp desperately. “You’ll let me go if say no?”
He chuckles again, and I wince. Pain shoots through my body like acid dripping. I don’t care what he says, every instinct is telling me that he is evil. I cannot trust him.
“No, I am not as gracious as that. Your choices are as such: First, you can stay where you are, trapped for eternity. You will be encased in the stone, your soul fueled by the magic in this place. You can see and hear those that pass, but they will never see you. Never hear you. You will not die, but your magic will fuel the caves and the caves will fuel you. Your essence will be a part of this place forever. It’s actually quite poetic for a child such as yourself. You love this place, that much I can feel strongly.”
I swallow. I don’t want to be trapped here!
“No? Well, in that case, the second choice is to come to me. Willingly enter into my open jaws. There is treasure here, if you’re brave enough to accept it. I can give you everything you’ve ever desired and more.
“I will make a bargain with you. If you accept, I will grant you power. Power a child like you couldn’t dream of. I warn you though, once you draw close enough for me to grip you in my magic, you will be trapped in a new way. The only way out is to complete the bargain.”
My teeth chatter, fear filling me, but I work through every word he’s spoken. Perhaps staying here is the better choice. It could give my parents enough time to notice me missing and come for me. But even if not... it’s better than whatever he wants. It has to be.
He said there have been others? Trapped in this way? Sealed in the cave for eternity.
“Where do you think its magic comes from?” The Night Bringer chuckles.
I gasp, but that doesn’t add up. It comes from the Source Rivers. All magic comes from those seas and its watershed.
“No, child. Not all. Only some.”
I swallow.
“There are more sources than all of that. Creatures who lived before your world was built. We gave the fae their first powers, making them superior to humans. We gave them a world to rule.”
“And who made you?” I ask him directly.
He laughs. “Most would call me a god after hearing that story. But not you, little feisty one.”
“If you are a god, I do not want to be part of the world you created.” I spit at the ground toward him.
“I am not the first. I am not the true source. You are right about that. But I am rather high on the hierarchy.” His voice is amused. “And I do not lie to you when I say it is from me that many fae have gained the power they used to build the world as it is. The Shadow Court is not the only court to have lost power over time. Thousands of years ago fae, all fae, were stronger than they are now. I could give you a taste of that power. I could give you magic like no one in the Shadow Court has seen in a millennium.
“You alone could fuel the palace; fuel the lands of the court you adore so deeply. You could give it what it lacks. You could be the hero that saves your court. Pulls it out of the hole it’s been shoved into.”
I swallow, chills running down my spine.
“Ahhh, see you do desire that.”
I clench my jaw. No. I don’t want anything you can give me.
Images flash through my mind... A massive black castle thrumming with magic. Power seeping from it. Every court in the realm, every fae, turned to watch, to admire the power of the Shadow Court.
My heart picks up speed at the desire that rushes through me.
“You love your homeland, young one.” His voice is calm, almost nurturing for that one moment. “You also... love power.”
I swallow. Do I?
“Come to me,” he whispers. “I can show you what you really are. I can show you what you could be. I can build you into a powerhouse that every fae in the realm will fear and respect. No one would dare cross the Shadow Court while Caelynn is ruling.”
I choke, coughing suddenly.
“Yesssss,” he whispers, the sound so much closer than ever before. “I can make you queen.”
I press my eyes closed, bottom lip trembling.
My heart aches for what he tells me. I do desire it. Deep within my soul, I...
I shake my head. I am not that person.
I won’t let him control me, own me. I won’t do whatever terrible deed he wants to force me to do for those things—no matter how much my soul aches for them.
Desire doesn’t mean I’ll allow him to manipulate me.
Are those things I want? Yes. But they’ve never been within my reach. I can, and I will, live happily without them.
All I want is freedom. All I want is to be a part of my court.
“I’m not stupid. I know whatever you want from me is evil. I won’t do it.”
“Won’t you?” the voice whispers sweetly. And suddenly, a pain like lightning shoots through my body, making my vision go black. Every muscle clenches painfully, and I roar in pain.
A sharp blade pierces my flesh, straight through my torso. Warm blood rushes down my body. I cry out, shaking, as I stare down at a deep black talon sticking out through my stomach.
I whimper. I’m dead, I’m dying.
“Noooo,” the monster croons. “I will not let you die.”
My whole body is wracked with sobs. “How?” My knees buckle but the claw holds me in place. How big is he? The talon is several feet long, curled like a sickle blade. “I thought,” I pant, hardly able to get the words out through my trembling lips and fuzzy mind, “you couldn’t...”
A voice whispers in my ear. “Fae are so easily manipulated. You didn’t even notice how you drifted toward me, toward the things you desire so deeply. One step. Then another. Small. Inch, by inch, by inch. Until you were in my grasp.”
“No,” I whine, but my vision is entirely black now. My limbs go numb. He’s wrong. I am dying, I can feel it. Life is fluttering away.
Every hope I’ve ever had drifts into me like wafts of shadow smoke. My soul leaves my chest, twists into the raven I was supposed to make just days ago, and flies off. The last things I see are her beautiful glimmering wings. And my last thought before I go under for good, is why—why didn’t I see her beauty before this?