The Sun's Shadow

Chapter Thirty-Four

Eledorah escaped the palace with ease- Apparently her services of being the bait were no longer required. She wondered what she left behind... Had Kaanan entered to face the satyroids? Surely if he did, she would've heard it.

She shook off the feeling of unease and soared high in the skies above any creature that threatened her. No one could touch her now. Oh, how proud her father would be to see her now. For the first time, she kicked off from land without hesitation and used the greatest gift bestowed by her ancestors- The redwings lived.

Clouds blocked the sun and she wished to fly above them to have her skin blessed. She flipped over to see how much cloud coverage she had to wait out, only to see it wasn't a cloud at all.

Kaanan!

She felt her heart explode when he gazed down at her. He flew a mere ten feet above her and she believed that, if they both flapped their wings, they would touch. She craved to see the contrast of her red feathers against the black skin of his bat-like wings.

Something felt off. When he looked at her... He was looking through her.

The smile on his face was not his own. She hardly classified it as a smile. It felt too sinister.

'Kaanan?' She signed his name and he looked away when she did.

This body may look like the boy she cared for but what lied inside was pure evil. Even his aura was shrouded by something she'd never encountered.

She twisted back around and pressed her wings tight to her back, barreling down to the castle to warn everyone before he got there. While he had unmatched power, she had more experience with flight.

Ele touched the ground before he did and ran into the castle through the kitchen's side door. She knew every twist and turn of these halls, navigating it faster than she did the satyroid compound.

Every face she passed just looked on with confusion.

She went to the Queen's chambers. Empty. Her boudoir. Empty. Then she remembered what Taurean said about finally capturing the twins and her heart sank when she came upon the Queen in their nursery, on her knees and weeping.

Wylda smelled the girl before she even opened the door. Broken past the point of putting up a fight, she fell back into the girl's embrace when she walked behind her. Ele hesitated, then sunk to the carpet and wrapped her arms around the Queen to just let her cry.

"This... This is what happens." Wylda bitterly grit out through her sobs. In her arms, she hugged a child's toy that looked to be a teddy bear. "Child, this is what happens when you love something. It breaks you. Love doesn't ask you to sacrifice anything, it expects it."

Ele nodded to express sympathy and kept soothing her hands down the Queen's arms. She nearly forgot to deliver her message.

She shot up from the ground and the Queen swayed without the needed support. She dug into cabinets to find parchment and a quill. When Wylda noticed what she searched for and got up to help.

"Do you know where Kaanan is?" She asked the girl, who bobbed her head and kept searching. The pair finally managed to get both utensils so Ele could speak.

"I'm right here, mother."

Ele closed her eyes tight. Too late.

Wylda sensed the difference in his tone and took a timid step back. She shielded the girl. "My son? Please... I don't want to lose you too."

"You haven't, mother." He gave the faenix a once-over, admiring her red wings. Seeing her in the skies nearly sent him over the edge. He wanted to rip those pretty appendages from her back and make her scream.