I moved forward to grab Talon just as Edmund broke the magical bond that surrounded him. His voice howled as he stood, his body moving to block my path to my mate, his eyes boring right into where I stood.
I wanted to say he couldn’t see me, but the way his eyes seem to bore into me, I was sure he could. I froze, carefully calculating the possibilities and my chance of survival.
I knew it was low, but right then I didn’t care. Right then, I just wanted Talon, even if it meant we would die in each other’s arms.
“You will live to see Talon again, Wynifred.” I froze at the voice that rasped through the air, the familiar tones triggering some memory long forgotten. I didn’t dare turn to see who had spoken. I trained my eyes on Edmund’s fingers as they flexed and glowed.
Edmund sent a surge shooting toward me, without even a flex of energy. I threw myself to the side, the heat of his attack warming my skin as it grazed the air beside me. I caught my scream in my throat before it escaped me, as my body landed roughly against the wood floor.
The impact of my body against the floor was hard enough that a strong surge of magic rushed out of me unrestrained, the floor shaking as I sent everyone to the ground again.
“Run!” The voice came to me again, the yell pounding into my head.
I didn’t want to listen. I didn’t want to leave Talon. I could hear each beat of my heart as it begged me not to. I could hear the voice’s statement echoing around my head. Talon would live. I wanted to believe him.
I needed to believe him.
I jumped to my feet before anyone else had a chance to find theirs. I looked one last time toward Talon, my feet feeling like lead as they carried me away from him. I ran down the hall, their screams following me as I bobbed and weaved through the web of halls.
I didn’t look back. I didn’t dare. I only had a matter of minutes before they would regain their strength. I needed to draw them off my path while I figured out what I needed to do next.
I attempted to slow my heartbeat as I ran, but it was no use. Edmund was inside the caves of Prague, and now, he was after me – if anything my panic only increased.
They were here. There was no safety here anymore. Edmund had gotten past Ilyan's protections, and Ovailia was the one to guide him through.
Ovailia had betrayed us all.
My soul froze as screaming began to fill the halls. The sounds of fear, loss, and battle exploded through the once safe halls.
I could easily hide, stay back, and stay safe. But even if I did, it wouldn’t benefit anyone. Not even me.
There was no safety here anymore. There was no place to hide. I needed to get everyone out of here.
I needed to get out of here. But I couldn’t, not without Talon.
The screams increased as I continued to move through the halls. I knew bigger things were at play here, and I needed to stop them. Stopping my father, and stopping Edmund was my only way to get Talon back.
The cave vibrated as the battle increased, screams ricocheting around the stone halls as the battle broke out all around me.
Edmund’s final execution had begun. Only one race stood between him and the wells of Imdalind, and if Edmund had his way, there would be nothing left by the time the sun had risen.
Edmund had started a war, and I was not going to back down.
Chapter Three
I ran through the halls toward the screams, the shouts increasing in strength and number the closer I was to the battle. I couldn’t deny the throb within me that wished to run into my father, to end this before it even had a chance to begin.
Each step I took thundered through the underground tunnels, shaking lamps and doors, each step recharging my magic and sending magical currents surging through my body.
Flashes of light filtered along the dark stone that surrounded me, the screams chasing the shapes as they rippled through the once dark halls. I passed a raging fire, not willing to see what was keeping the blaze going. I turned and ran, my feet taking me toward the loudest concentration of noise where I was sure I would find the battle; but the state of the hallway in front of me froze me in place.
This was where it had begun. I could tell by the splatter of red on the walls, the screams that still lingered in the air, and the lifeless bodies of my friends that littered the ground, left to die with no one to hold them.
I stepped around them, my eyes trying to look away from each heartbreaking expression but unable to do so.
I fought the panic that rose in me, the hopelessness that tried to take hold, instead choosing to let my anger and conviction fuel me. I tiptoed around at least twenty of my friends; selfless people who had taken me in and loved me after my father had tried to kill me. My father. He had brought enough Trpaslíks into Imdalind to begin and end a massacre in one swipe. My logic begged me to hide, to wait until the battle slowed, until I could find Talon and we could escape.