Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-One
Kellan
I didn't like the look on Ernest's face.
There was something he hid, and it lingered in the air between us. Fern and Josie didn't seem to sense it like I did.
Grabbing Ernest's forearm, I pulled him to the side. We didn't have long before dawn. It was our only chance. Unless we made it an entire day to try again, and I didn't want to push my luck.
"What's your plan? I don't like the look on your face."
Ernest interlaced his fingers in front of him. The grave look on his face slithered over me but hung against my skin like cement. He'd gone out of his way to help us over the span of our journey.
I couldn't let him do anything stupid, and he had that look on his face, as if he was about to do just that.
"Ernest," I warned again. "What's your plan?"
"There is something I can do that will distract Deidamia. It will draw her dragon's attention so that you can kill her."
I shifted, my gaze turning toward Josephine pretending she wasn't dying on the inside. She was hurting from killing her mom. I felt the pain like it was my own.
"Spill it, Ernest. What are you talking about?"
Ernest sighed heavily. "I can perform dark magic. I can shapeshift into Delilah to distract Deidamia. It"ll give you a better chance at killing her."
Dark magic?
I stared at his determined look with unease. I hated magic. I loathed dark magic. Dark magic always comes with a price. Look at Deidamia. She was eating people to stay alive, using some golden spindle that she would kill for to live forever.
The consequences of dark magic were never worth it if you asked me. "I can't ask you to do that, Ernest. There'll be a price, and I"m not sure you can pay it."
"You didn't ask me," he said, grabbing a canteen from the bag Josephine brought with us. "I'm offering because I want this to end. I want this realm to go on knowing they are safe to venture wherever they please. I hate that she holds everyone in fear."
I shook my head. "There has to be another way."
Ernest looked over at Josephine and then back at me. "You look at that girl and tell me you're not ready for this to end. You two have been pulled through Hell and deserve a fresh start."
As good as that sounded, dark magic didn't look like the answer. I slid my palm over my face, feeling the warmth of the sun as it began to brighten the world behind the mountain.
"We're running out of time. We need to act now," Ernest said.
"What's the price you'll have to pay? Do you even know? Will you end up like Deidamia? Eating people's souls to survive? What if doing this will only create another monster someone will need to destroy? When will it ever end? I can't let you do this."
I walked away from Ernest. His selflessness was too much for the moment. I needed to make a move before he decided to do it anyway.
Josephine kept her eyes on Fern, though I could see the tears in each corner. The want to hold her mother and it all to be pretend weighed her down like a guilt-ridden blanket. I stepped between them and kissed her forehead.
She closed her eyes and relaxed into my touch. It was a brief moment that made me want to run the other way. Would Deidamia even come after us? We could go live happily ever after without slaying the witch.
But like Ernest said, the realm will never be safe until she's dead.
She deserved to die for what she did to my family. For what she did to everyone.
I touched her jaw lightly and brought her chin upward to capture her mouth with mine. It was sweet and longing. A kiss that I hoped she remembered in case something happened to me. I knew where I needed to go to kill her, and it wouldn"t be easy.
In case this didn't play out like the fairy tale and I didn't make it back, I needed her to know I loved her.
I pulled away, looked deeply at her, and began toward the castle. "Kellan," she called after me, but I couldn't turn to look at her.
"Stay," I shouted. "I'm going to end this."
Josephine's heartbeat melted into my eardrums.
The distance did little to hide her pain and discomfort. She was angry at me. I could feel it pouring off her in waves.
I heard Ernest speaking to her, but I blocked out the words. Whatever he said to keep her there worked. I wielded my sword and ran through the Dark Woods.
The path seemed more dangerous than I remembered. Maybe it was the darkness still lingering from the night or knowing I was attempting to kill a witch that held unimaginable power.
Either way, I waded through the death and the rot of the forest toward the castle. Dawn was approaching, and it felt like a ticking time bomb. Nerves climbed up my spine as I made it toward the bayou surrounding the castle.
The lone wolf's howl slithered under my skin the further my feet sank into the mud.
It took all of my strength to get past it. I grabbed a handful of grass and pulled myself out with what little strength I had left.
Gasping for breath, I looked up at the trellis twining up the side of the castle. It was a long way, but I knew venturing into the castle wouldn't work. She"d catch me easily if I walked through the front door. I needed an element of surprise.
I braced my palms against my knees and breathed in deeply.
Sunlight began to peek over the mountains. A silent threat that I wouldn"t make it if I didn"t hurry.
I grabbed the trellis and began to climb the castle. Defeat hung over me like an umbrella. This had to work. I had to do this. If I was the man in the fairy tale or not, I had to kill her.
The loud roar of a dragon vibrated my bones. Her shadow hovered on the top of the castle as I made it over the brick. Sunlight blinded me for several seconds as I wielded my sword and braced myself for impact.
Her dragon moved slowly on the roof of the castle, her large tail swinging as she shot fire out of her mouth and over the bayou.
She hadn"t noticed me because of my size. She was overpowering, clumsy because of her size, and unaware of anything other than her dragon"s needs.
Deidamia bent her legs in preparation for flight when I crawled underneath her, watching her serpent-like movements slither above me.
She had completely shadowed me.
Her size was enormous.
Taking my one chance, I stepped on the edge of the roof and shoved my sword into her chest.
She roared loudly, swinging her tail and stumbling on the roof. Her inability to control her dragon was evident. It was the only time to kill her. The only time she wasn"t self-aware.
It took one second for me to lose my footing as blood began to pour from her chest. I saw the defeat in her dark eyes as her dragon slumped, and she fell onto the side of the roof, as if she was watching the final show.
Bricks fell to the ground as I toppled over toward the ground. Seeing the light drain from her eyes as she stared down at me made the moment surreal.
I was taking a life while losing my own.
I'd defeated Deidamia in seconds. I just needed the courage to face the dragon that she hid inside.
The stories of the castle drifted by me in slow motion. Falling to your death isn't as fast as I pictured. Curling my arms around my head, I closed my eyes and prayed for Josephine.
I was losing my second soulmate because of an unfair game of life.
She'd move on. I was sure she would. Josephine was bright, strong, and youthful.
Things I wasn't sure existed in me anymore, but she brought them out. The breath in my lungs sucked out of my body, and I gasped for breath. The ground neared and I braced to die.
With Deidamia dead, I was sure the curse would end, right?
I'd die from this fall, and the world would continue.
Only my body halted before I hit the ground. The pain I knew that would radiate through me like lightning didn't happen.
I stopped inches from hitting the hard rocks. I hovered like something out of a superhero movie.
I lifted my head, expecting to see Ernest, but it wasn't.
Josephine stood in the middle of the bayou, covered in slime and mud with both hands out and shock written all over her face.
The powers she didn't want to have emitted out from her hands. The shock hit her hard, and she dropped me the rest of the way.
I pushed up with the palms of my hands and sat back on my heels. Josephine waded through the bayou and raced over toward me. She glanced up to see Deidamia's dragon hanging over the top of the roof, dead. She tossed her arms around me and hugged me tightly.
"You saved me," I whispered, bringing her in closer.
She sniffled. "I'm sorry it took so long to get here. I almost didn't make it. I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if I hadn't."
"I told you to stay," I said.
She laughed. "When do I ever do what you say?"
"That's very true," I whispered into her ear and then I pulled back to look at her. "You used magic."
She frowned. "I did. I'm not even sure how I did it. I think it was the fear of seeing you fall from that castle top. Something surged through me, and I did it without knowing how to do it."
"I'm glad you did. Now I don't have to worry about someone else loving you for the rest of your life. I was telling myself to be brave, that you'd find someone else, but I hated every thought of it."
She smiled and leaned up to kiss me softly. "I'm not sure that I'll ever love anyone else after what we've been through. How could another man live up to what you just did?"
"You're right," I groaned and cracked my neck. "I'm irreplaceable for sure."
She stood and helped me to my feet. The feeling of losing the pressure on my shoulders consumed me. I wanted to go back to our realm, crash on my bed, and sleep for days.
With Josephine beside me.
But our problems weren't over. What would we tell her father about her mother? I wasn't sure if he would believe us or not.
Josephine sank into my arms as Ernest and Fern made their way through the bayou. "I tried to stop her," Ernest shouted. "She's hardheaded, that one."
"Who are you telling?" I mumbled.
Josephine twisted my nipple through my shirt playfully. "I'm ready to go home," she whispered.
I looked down at her dirty, perfect face. "Me too."