Chapter Fifteen

A sea of blackness surrounds me. I can't see where I'm going or where I came from, but I can see the black waters of eternity trying to lap at my feet below me. It's strange; the water doesn't get my shoes wet, nor do I start to sink. It's like I'm walking on water without trying.

Black mist coils and curls around me, forming something solid I can't quite shake off. A deep, low, almost mechanical voice whispers directly into my ear, "You think you can change the fate of Laconia, hmm? You think you can stop me?" The voice is so low I can hear it in my soul, and I shiver in spite of myself.

I can't speak right away. It's as though it takes every ounce of my willpower to fight back, to resist—but I will endure. "I don't know who you are or what you are, but yeah, that's the plan."

All it does is laugh, a deeply evil sound that makes me want to cover my ears just to block it out. "You are pathetic. A meaningless insect compared to me. You are nothing. I am everything. You cannot hope to defeat that which you cannot comprehend."

"I can comprehend you just fine," I say, my mouth suddenly too dry. "And I have one thing to say to you: fuck you."

The mist around me turns thicker as it tries to choke me, and the last thing I feel before I wake is a sense of ungodly irritation at my will to deny it.

My eyes open as I slowly sit up. I lay on stonework, underneath an overhang of some ancient ruin—did a little investigating last night before trying to sleep, but now I'm sincerely regretting that. My head kind of hurts.

Rune remarks dryly as I stand and stretch: "You do adore your sleep, don't you?"

I yawn. "Sleep is the only thing keeping me alive these days." I reach into my bag and pull out some of that stale bread. Stepping out of the old ruin's overhang, I'm greeted by a misty sky with a dim yellow sun.

Land of mountains and mist, for real. Ever since crossing into the mountainous part of Pylos—which was about three days ago—the sun is always covered by a thin layer of mist. You'd think it would make things more bearable here, but nope. It's hot as hell. When it's time to do some magically-enhanced running, I'm covered in sweat instantly.

And Pylos isn't even made of pretty mountains. You know, the kind with snow on their peaks and pretty mountain flowers growing amongst the hardy grass. No pine trees or anything like that. It's all ugly mountains, mountains made of stone and metal. Craggy, rough, unforgiving. It's no wonder why I haven't seen many villages during my travels in Pylos. The castle really must be tucked away on the hardest to reach mountain.

"By my calculations, we should reach the castle just after midday," Rune says.

"Great," I say. "Can't wait to face the bitch herself."

"That sounded like sarcasm."

"Good. It was."

Rune sighs, annoyed. "Please take what you are about to do seriously, Rey. You've never faced an enemy of her skill before. Simply because she may be out of her mind does not make her weak. It may only make her unpredictable."

I roll my eyes. "You said that already, like a million times."

"I'm only trying to—"

I interrupt him, "You're nagging me. Cut it out."

Rune takes immediate offense to that. "Nagging? I'm not nagging you. I'm simply reminding you of how difficult this is going to be. You're not a seasoned warrior, no matter what you think of yourself. Gladus has been training and honing her skills her entire life. Even if she had no magic, she'd still be difficult to beat."

"Yeah, yeah. Got it, Mom. Thanks."

My attitude makes him groan. "You are… I might not remember much, but I can honestly say there is no possible way anyone has ever aggravated me as much as you. If I had skin, you'd surely be digging under it—"

I smirk. "It's a good thing you're trapped on a tattoo on my arm then, huh?"

"Oh, what's that saying you like so well?" Rune pauses for dramatic effect. "Fuck you."

Hearing his accented voice say it, my lips curl into a smile and I laugh. "Awe, I love you too, buddy. So happy we're besties now."

All he says to that is: "Insufferable. Perhaps I'll forget to shield you when Gladus attacks and you're too clumsy to move out of the way." Even though I don't know what he looks like as a person, I can easily imagine him saying that with his arms folded and a snide, haughty look on his face.

"You wouldn't. If I die, what'll happen to you?"

Rune mumbles unhappily, "You've won this round." I laugh again, because the dude is ridiculous.

When my belly is relatively full and I've relieved myself, it's time to move. Not going to lie, I feel like the Flash when I'm running, magic at my feet. The scenery flies by, blurring and blending together, and the wind whips at my hair and my face like it's reminding me that I'm running unnaturally fast.

I'm too close to the castle now; I have to run along the main path. Trying to take shortcuts here would be a pointless endeavor. The main path is literally cut into the sides of mountains, curling around them so as to not need any tunnels through.

Honestly, if it weren't for the mountains, it would be an even shorter journey.

Rune is right. The castle peeks out around lunchtime—which I've grown better at avoiding when I'm on the move. It has thick stone walls around it, much like Acadia's castle and the city of Laconia, only the walls are carved from the mountain the castle rests on. It's as if the entire castle and its surrounding land was carved from a single mountaintop centuries ago. Dark stone creates an ominous feeling, and the path up to the front gate has steep drops on either side. If you were to tumble down, you'd fall for at least a hundred or so feet.

This place is wild.

I reach the main door, but it's so large I can't move it. Not even an inch. I don't feel like drawing a bunch of attention to myself either by using magic to blast the doors open, so I decide to do a bit of climbing instead.

One thing that's good about the entire place being carved from a mountain is that the stone is uneven, broken in places. It leaves good footholds to haul my ass up the wall.

Surfing, rock climbing, cross-country running… what else will I be forced to do here?

Oh yeah, kill someone.

"Don't look down," I tell myself. "Don't look down, Rey." I'm a few feet from the top. So close, and yet never have I felt a stronger urge to look over my shoulder as I do right now. Don't know why. I already know what it is I'll see when I look: a sharp drop since I'm thirty feet up.

I'm not afraid of heights. Just… you know, don't have much experience climbing like this. Don't want to risk it.

My hands reach the top of the wall, and I pull myself up and over. Thankfully, the wall has a flat part where I assume guards are meant to patrol and keep watch. I move to the other edge and gaze out at the small city that surrounds the innermost castle.

I guess each empress had their chosen people living close. I don't see a hoard of afflicted this time, and even though it's stupid, I hope that means everybody was able to get out while they could.

The castle sits higher than the rest of the town, its spirals and spikes thin and jagged, pointing at the mist-covered sky. It's not near the wall, so even if I follow the wall around, I'd still have to get down to reach it. I pick my path and then heave myself over the edge of the wall. Magic cushions my fall, and I push onward.

I'm not going to lie: I'm nervous. I don't know what to expect or how this will go. Facing down someone like this, someone who obviously lost her mind a long time ago… I don't know how I'm supposed to beat her, but I have to try. I have to keep reminding myself that I'm not alone. Rune and magic are on my side, so it isn't like I'll walk into the castle and demand a game of rock, paper, scissors where the loser dies.

You'd think after walking through so many forgotten, abandoned villages, so many settlements where nothing but charred skeletons are what remain, that I'd be used to walking through emptiness.

But I'm not.

It's still just as bizarre as ever to me to walk through the streets and hear not a single sound. Not even the wind. No laughing children. No adults hustling by. No cars since I'm not at home. Nothing at all to grace the air other than the eerie chill of silence.

I get close to the castle. I have to cross what looked to be a colosseum of sorts, and then I'll reach the path to the castle's front door. To get to the colosseum, I have to walk down into it. I can't see around me; the walls of stone make for better doors than windows. It's only when I turn the corner of the hall and walk out into the grounds of circular, wide-open space that I see.

The hair on the back of my neck stands straight up as I take in the ghastly sight. The colosseum isn't empty. The ground of the space is full of black, charred skeletons of all shapes and sizes.

"Well, I guess we found the inhabitants of Pylos's castle," Rune remarks with a sigh.

It's more than sad. It's devastating. To see all the skeletons—what must be hundreds—piled together like this; it means their empress corralled them, gathered them here, and then killed them all.

How can a kingdom ever come back from this? This is just cruel beyond belief. The absolute destruction of a people who thought they were safe, who, even as they filed in here, believed their empress would save them. They trusted her and it was their doom.

"A pity," Rune whispers. "So much wasted life." The understatement of the year. From what I've seen so far, everything in Laconia is wasted life.

The colosseum has three entrances. The one where I came from, another on the far side, opposite me, and the third from the castle itself. It is that entrance that I have to reach, but to do so I must walk across the field of bones.

I try not to step on any, but the bones are so thick and there are so many it's damn near impossible. I make it only two steps in before I hear the cracking of a dried bone, and the sound makes my skin crawl.

This isn't right. I'm not the picture of a saint, but even I know this isn't right. This is as wrong as something could be—and it's exactly why no one should have this much power. No person, magical or not, should be revered as a god.

I have to ignore the crunching of bones under my feet. Once I get further in, there's no avoiding them. There's too many. I try my best not to think about the people and all the lives lost, instead focus my anger and my rage on the woman who should've done better.

Empress Gladus. I'll see her sorry ass soon enough, and when I do, I'll make sure she regrets everything she's ever done.

Never considered myself a vengeful person until now.

I reach the path that leads from the colosseum to the castle. It's the only way to the castle; the rest of the area surrounding the castle is a sheer drop into the abyss of the mountain the entire place is carved into.

The stone bridge is about fifteen feet wide and more than quadruple that long. Each step feels like it takes an hour, the anticipation turning into dread and anxiety in my blood. As angry as I am, as much as I want to teach this woman a lesson, I know she's older than me. More experienced. She might mop the floor with me in two seconds.

Am I ready to die?

No, of course not, but what choice do I have? Turn the other cheek and live out the rest of my life in the wilderness, alone, eating out of rivers and seas because all the other animals are too tainted to eat? I'd never be allowed back in Laconia, so even the pathetic dried meat and cheese I've been eating are things I'd have to say goodbye to.

I don't know about you, but that doesn't seem like a life.

As much as I don't want to do it, I know I have to. It's my only option. Besides, removing Gladus from the equation might get me on the good side of the Emperor, and maybe he can help me once it's all said and done.

I cross the stone bridge, fill my lungs with a deep breath, and then push inside the castle.

I expect guards similar to the ones that stormed the marketplace in Laconia, but I'm greeted by nothing and no one. The castle has a few windows, along with some chandeliers that hang from the high ceilings. It's enough light to illuminate the hall I step into.

It's empty. Just as empty as the city outside.

"Deeper we go," Rune says what I'm thinking, and I venture further into the castle.

There is no rug that guides me this time to a grand hall. The lower levels of the castle are barren, no throne room in sight. A library, a dining hall, but that's mostly it. It's as I find a stone staircase that I come to the conclusion the throne room—and Gladus, by extension—might be at the top of the castle.

If the woman's magic has to do with storms and weather, her throne being up top shouldn't surprise me at all.

There's only one way to find out.

I go up, and as I go up, I keep listening for sounds of life. There is none. The higher I go doesn't change a thing; the silence remains. The only thing that changes is me: I'm slightly out of breath by the time the stairs end and I reach the top. I have to take a minute to compose myself.

The stairs stop right before a set of black doors. Something tells me Empress Gladus is inside, so I take off my bag and leave it on the top step. If I die, I won't need it, but if I survive, I don't want what's left of the food I brought to get fucked up in the fight. Plus, it'd only slow me down.

I heave a heavy breath and push through the metal doors as I think: Here goes nothing.

The room I walk into has no ceiling. The misty sky sits above, blocking out the natural blue. Nothing but stone beneath my feet as I step into a strange throne room whose walls on either side are also missing. The only walls still standing are the one behind the gray throne and the one I just walked through.

And guess who's sitting on the throne?

Gladus