The In-Between

50 years ago

I had not yet lost, but I was fairly close. I was surrounded by hundreds of lifeless warriors on a battlefield with no sign of help coming. Gripping my side, I tried to force my body to heal itself. My magic was almost drained, and I grimaced at the effort I had to extend. I was only half sure I'd walk away from this battlefield, but I had to try to get him back. I owed him my life.

In the distance a figure engulfed in a cloud of darkness lifted into the sky. He would not win; I would not let him win.

"You're too late Adelaide. You've lost. You have nothing left and no one's coming to save you...You are nothing." He said the last words slowly, as if explaining them to a child.

A snarl ripped from my mouth. "You are a coward Calden, just like your father."

A snort as the darkness faded, revealing himself to me. Calden's hand shot out in front of him, and I raised my shield; crossing my arms in front of me, an invisible wall shimmered to life around me, I waited for a blow that never came.

Instead, a body—if you could even consider it that, given it was charred beyond recognition— appeared just beyond my protective barrier. It could have been anyone but the way my heart sunk and the shadows that coiled inside me told me that I knew very well who laid before me.

No...It couldn't be. I gasped and dropped to my knees.

"You. Lose." Calden's voice rumbled through me, but my ears felt flooded. His voice sounded like it had traveled through water.

Ollie was dead. All this destruction just to try and get him back...meaningless. I was too late.

"I'll kill you for this." I whispered, a vow to myself. "He was your friend!" I screamed as tears quickly slid down my cheeks, a sob breaking through my lips.

"You made it clear that I do not have any friends, Adelaide." He spat my name through gritted teeth, his canines glittered in the sun despite his surrounding shadows.

Ollie was dead. My family was dead. My court almost entirely obliterated. There was nothing to fight for anymore, no reason to keep this shield up. Let him destroy me into nothing but ash. I lowered my shield and met Prince Calden's gaze.

"Go. Ahead." I bit out.

I watched as a flicker of an emotion — sadness maybe — flitted across his face. Gone before I could process what it meant. Then his jaw set, and his onyx eyes hardened.

"Pathetic." He said, running a hand through his dark hair. "You're not even worth it. Enjoy an eternity of loneliness, Adelaide. If you set foot in Iotia, I will have you killed on sight."

Then he was gone, as if a breeze had come by and swept him away.