The Last Hope

30 - Terrified

SONG FOR THIS CHAPTER - Monsters, Ruelle. If you can't tell, I really like Ruelle. If you enjoy the chapter please vote and share, it means a lot. Also, I actively encourage commenting and am trying my best to reply to any as quickly as I can. Want a chat? Don't be shy!

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"Are you ready?" Lincoln asked her the next morning, watching her down the last dregs of the coffee he'd made her. It had been on her bedside table when she'd opened her eyes, and God damn if it didn't make her chest tighten just a little.

"Am I ready to face what is essentially a dragon and find a magical sword that may save me from sacrificing my life to kill an evil Queen?" Mercy asked, placing the cup back down on the counter and crossing the room to peck Lincoln's mouth.

"Well, when you put it like that..." he trailed off tugging her closer, deepening the kiss. When they eventually pulled away, both were struggling to catch their breath. "You taste like coffee," Lincoln murmured onto her lips.
"Want some more?" Mercy teased, toying with the zip on his jacket.
"I'd love some." He pulled her close again and was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Mercy, it's time." Mona's voice floated through the door, and Mercy pulled away from Lincoln. She made a face at Lincoln. "Time to slay a dragon and steal a sword." Lincoln smiled half-heartedly at her attempt at humour.

"Come on," she grabbed his hand and tugged him out of the room, not caring who saw them.

Downstairs, Sebastian was waiting impatiently, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "I need my magic back." He said by way of greeting. Mercy crossed her arms over her chest and quirked an eyebrow. "Good morning to you too."

"Magic. Now. Lest you forget."

Lincoln bristled, stepping in front of Mercy. "You will be respectful lest I jump you somewhere by accident and drop you off the side of a mountain." He growled in response.

Sebastian snorted, "try me, training wheels."

"Boys, please. It's far too early for arguing." Mercy levelled both of them with a stare, and Lincoln set his jaw, looking away. Sebastian met her gaze. "I would like my magic back."

"Fine." Mercy glanced at the palm of her hand and released her grip on the thrashing dark void she held onto. It slipped through her fingers like grains of sand, and she felt the energy flow back to Sebastian. Felt his contentment as it settled back into his body. He took a deep breath through his nose. As he released it, his bandolier of daggers appeared, strapped across his chest. The missing central one was still on the weapons rack at the end of the room.

Mercy sauntered over there and plucked it from between its plainer neighbours, admiring the two crests as she flipped it in her hands. The royal crest of Mira winked at her, a creature with a head like a lion and the body of a fish, enclosed inside a shield. On the opposite side was the royal crest of Anavir, a plainer, more simple engraving, a serpent, with its tail coiling into a spiral. Recently, Keenan had taken to adding snippets of history into their training, when he realised just how little Mercy remembered. History about the royal families of Allunyah, who was in line for the thrones, who they were descended from, past turmoil of each of the courts and more about imports and trading.

Most of it had gone completely over her head, including the names of many of the royal families, and on the third day he'd done this, Mercy had switched tactics and started asking about Ellyheim. What it had been like to live there? How had he come to train at the academy? What his life had been like before he was a Sentinel? She'd hoped to get some information about Svahera, but when he'd seemed reluctant to any questions about his life before, they'd gone back to ripping each other to pieces in silence.