Chapter 22

Chapter

Twenty-Two

K aralyn awoke in darkness, her body aching and her mind foggy with confusion.

The first thing she noticed was the cold. An unnatural, biting chill seeped into her bones.

The second was the silence, an oppressive, suffocating quiet that pressed in on her from all sides.

She tried to move, but her wrists and ankles were bound, the rough ropes cutting into her skin. Panic surged through her as she struggled against the restraints, her breath quickening as she realized she couldn't free herself. The air around her was thick and stale, heavy with the scent of damp stone and something else, something acrid and unnatural.

Karalyn forced herself to breathe and struggled to think, even as fear clawed at her insides. Where was she? How had she gotten here? The last thing she remembered was being in her room in the fairy castle, the gentle glow of the enchanted lights lulling her into a sense of peace. And then… darkness.

No. Wait. She had a nightmare. There had been a struggle, and her hand had been cut…

She looked at her palm and stifled a scream.

It hadn't been a nightmare after all.

Someone had come for her. They had touched something to her, and her magic had been muted to the point that she couldn't do anything to stop them. Still, she had fought, trying to claw at their eyes, but they had been shrouded in shadows, and she hadn't known who or what they were, and then the darkness.

Her heart pounded as she strained her senses, trying to glean any information about her surroundings. But there was nothing—no sound, no movement, no sense of life. The room was utterly devoid of anything living. No plants, no creatures, not even the faint hum of magic that she was so accustomed to feeling in the air. It was as if she had been cut off from nature itself, from the very essence of life that had always been her source of strength.

A wave of terror washed over her. For a fairy, being cut off from nature was akin to losing a part of herself. She felt hollow, empty, as if a vital piece of her soul had been ripped away. The connection to the earth, to the plants and creatures that had always surrounded her, was gone. She couldn't feel the comforting presence of the trees, the gentle whisper of the wind, or the steady pulse of life that usually flowed through her veins.

"Hello?" Her voice trembled as it echoed back at her, the sound hollow and foreign in the lifeless room.

There was no response, only the deafening silence that pressed in on her like a vice.

Karalyn's breath came in short, ragged gasps. She had always been strong, at least with her magic, and she had always prided herself on her ability to stay calm in the face of danger, but this was different. The isolation, the utter lack of life… it was almost too much to bear.

Harald. Oh, Harald. She struggled again so viciously that she slammed her head on the cold stone floor. Her captor hadn't even given her a chair.

She shifted up onto her rear, her elbows planted on the floor beside her hips, and she managed to sit up, still bound. No window. No means of knowing where she was. She couldn't even see the outline of a door in any of the walls.

Growing terror prevented her from focusing on her thoughts, and her mind kept returning to the darkness, to the overwhelming sense of emptiness that surrounded her. She had never felt so alone, so cut off from everything that made her who she was. It was as if she had been thrown into a void, a place where nothing existed but her fear and despair.

The isolation began to wear on her, the silence growing louder and more oppressive with each passing moment. She could feel the edges of her sanity fraying, the fear gnawing at her mind like a relentless predator. How long had she been here? Hours? Days? Time seemed to stretch and distort, losing all meaning in the darkness.

She wanted to scream, to cry out for help, but she knew it would be useless. Even if her captor could hear her, she would not be saved. The thought of being trapped in this devoid place forever, cut off from the world, from nature, from everything she loved was almost enough to drive her mad.

"Harald…" she whispered, her voice breaking as tears welled in her eyes.

She clung to the thought of him, the memory of his strength, his love, as a lifeline in the darkness. If she could just hold on to that, to the hope that he would find her, that he was out there searching for her, she might be able to keep the despair at bay.

But the fear was relentless, whispering insidious thoughts into her mind. What if he couldn't find her? What if he never figured out who had taken her or where she had been brought?

The isolation chipped away at her resolve, the silence filling her mind with dark, terrible possibilities.

She closed her eyes, trying to block out the oppressive darkness, but it was no use. It was everywhere, all around her, seeping into her thoughts, her soul. She could feel herself slipping, her grip on reality weakening as the isolation took its toll.

"Please," she whispered, tears slipping down her cheeks. "Please, someone… help me."

But there was no answer, only the cold, unfeeling darkness that threatened to consume her.

Karalyn curled in on herself, trembling as she fought to hold on to the last shreds of her sanity, to the hope that somehow, she would be saved.

But in the silence, in the isolation, hope became a fragile thing, easily shattered by the encroaching darkness. And as the hours—or perhaps days—wore on, Karalyn felt herself teetering on the edge, her mind slipping further into the abyss.

Here, in this horrid place, she was vulnerable, her strength sapped by the very absence of life. Once more, darkness closed in around her, and Karalyn feared that she would lose herself completely, that the fairy princess who had once been so full of life and light would disappear.

In the end, all she could do was whisper Harald's name, clinging to the memory of him as her last tether to the world she had known. Viciously, even that connection felt tenuous, as if the darkness was trying to sever it.

Evermore, the silence pressed in on her, and Karalyn realized that the true danger of this place wasn't the darkness or the isolation. It was the fear that she might never escape it, that she might be lost here, in this void, forever.

Karalyn had lost track of time. The darkness, the isolation, the complete disconnection from the natural world had all begun to blur together, eroding her sense of self. She didn't know how long she had been trapped in this cold, lifeless room. Hours felt like days, days like years. The despair was overwhelming, a relentless tide that threatened to pull her under. Without meaning to, she had dozed off a few times, and there had been periods when hunger plagued her like a disease, but now, she felt more numb and weak than anything.

That weakness extended to her hope that Harald would find her. It felt as though the very walls of the room were closing in on her, squeezing the life out of her bit by bit.

She had screamed, cried, and fought against her restraints, but it was all in vain. There was no one to hear her, no one to save her.

There was no way for her to save herself.

And still, she did not even know who had taken her.

And then, one day—though it could have been night for all she knew—a portion of the wall to her prison moved. An invisible door in the rock wall.

Karalyn's heart lurched in her chest as she looked up, desperate for any sign of hope, but what she saw made her blood run cold.

A figure stepped into the room, cloaked in a dark robe that obscured their features. The hood was pulled low over their face, casting deep shadows that hid their identity completely. The figure moved with a quiet, almost eerie grace, the heavy fabric of the robe brushing against the cold stone floor as they approached her.

Karalyn struggled against her bonds, her breath quickening as fear twisted in her gut. "Who are you?" she demanded, her voice hoarse from days of disuse. "What do you want with me?"

The figure merely stood over her, their presence oppressive and menacing.

Karalyn's skin prickled with unease as she tried to peer beneath the hood, but it was no use. The darkness that shrouded the figure was impenetrable.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the figure spoke. "Your husband is dead."

The voice was low, cold, and devoid of emotion, sounding more inhuman than male or female. The words hit Karalyn like a physical blow, knocking the breath from her lungs. For a moment, her mind went blank, unable to process what she had just heard.

No. No. That couldn't be true. Every part of her being rebelled against the claim. Harald couldn't be dead. He was strong and determined. He would never fall so easily. This had to be a lie, a cruel attempt to break her spirit.

"No," she whispered, shaking her head. "Harald is alive. He's coming for me. He… he has to be…"

The figure tilted their head slightly. "Believe what you will," they said, their tone unchanged, "but he will not come for you. You are alone, princess. No one is coming to save you."

Karalyn's heart pounded in her chest as she glared up at the figure, trying to muster the strength to defy them, but the darkness that had been clawing at her mind since she was taken seemed to close in even tighter, whispering insidious doubts and fears into her ear.

"You're lying," she insisted, though her voice lacked the strength it once had. "He's not dead. He's not…"

But the figure said nothing more. They simply turned and left the room, the door slamming shut behind them with a final, echoing thud that seemed to reverberate through Karalyn's very soul. Once more, the wall looked like solid stone.

For a long time, she sat there in stunned silence, her mind reeling from the encounter. Harald couldn't be dead. He couldn't be.

But the words had planted a seed of doubt in her heart, and with every passing moment, that seed grew, its roots twisting deeper into her mind.

Days passed. At least, she thought they were days. Time had become meaningless in the dark, lifeless room. The figure didn't return, and Karalyn was left alone with her thoughts, her fears, her despair. The isolation was crushing, and the doubt began to blossom like thorns inside her, feeding on the fear and loneliness that surrounded her.

What if the figure had been telling the truth? What if Harald really was dead? The thought was like a knife to her heart, sharp and cold. Without him, what was the point of holding on? What was the point of fighting? They had started off at odds, but they had come together, and it had been beautiful, maybe the only thing beautiful thing left in Evermore with the wickedness of ugly war threatening their world. Now, though, their love felt like a distant memory, something she could no longer grasp. The despair was relentless, a tide that she could no longer keep at bay.

Karalyn curled up on the cold stone floor, her body trembling as she finally allowed herself to cry. The tears came in a torrent, a release of all the fear, the loneliness, the crushing despair that had been building inside her. She cried for Harald, for herself, for the love that she feared had been lost forever.

Crying, she knew, was unwise. She had not eaten or drunk since she had been taken. Her body was dehydrated enough as it was, but the pain poured out of her in the form of those bitter, sorrow-filled tears.

The more the tears flowed down her cheeks, the more the darkness closed in, tightening its grip on her mind, her heart, her very soul. She was alone, truly alone, with nothing but the suffocating silence and the terrible weight of despair.

The last shreds of her strength, of her hope, began to slip away, leaving only a hollow emptiness in their place. Karalyn's body shook with the force of her sobs, but she no longer had the energy to fight or resist the darkness that had consumed her.

Even the strongest can break, and Karalyn felt herself breaking, her mind fraying at the edges, her spirit crushed beneath the weight of her despair.

In the end, there was nothing left but the darkness and the haunting echo of the figure's words.

"Your husband is dead."

With that thought, the last light in her heart flickered and went out.