Serpent's Daughter (Four Kingdoms #1) ✓

48. A Tarnished Savior (Part 1)

a/n: This book is literally my heart and soul. I really enjoyed writing this chapter and I hope that you guys enjoy reading it. I apologize for the delay in updating! Thank you so much for your endless patience and understanding. Y'all don't even know how much I appreciate it <3

Enjoy!

Black spots swarmed in her vision like a swarm of wasps.

It had happened in the blink of an eye. Swifter than lightning across angry skies, she'd felt her blood boil over, contradicting the icy spread of coldness that cloaked her skin.

Alethia's connection to reality was stripped from her; she could no longer feel the cushion beneath her tingling legs and the harsh edge of the table that stabbed into her palms. Wave of dizziness washed over here as if she was amidst the Wasted Sea during a storm surge. Hopelessness and rage swirled together in her core as her past taunted her.

The days that were filled with endless gagging, profuse sweating, and aching bones. Unforgettable sensations linked to blood curdling memories; a past filled with enough impiety to turn the most innocent of children crooked.

As her vision blurred, Alethia's panic rose to a higher degree. Despite her tolerance to poison, the one they'd used was ravaging through her body at a frightening speed.

Her body trembled as frost sunk and buried itself in her bones. Her fervent blood froze over. Darkness wrapped around her as Alethia lost her lingering grip on reality. The cacophony of drums and wild whoops of excitement dwindled into searing silence. The last thing she saw was Naevia's dark eyes, peering into her own with intent, conveying an unreadable message.

In the shadowy corners of her mind, Alethia could feel the burning warmth of magic, beckoning her. It had taken her days to recognize that all-consuming breath of power in the murkiness of living nightmares buried in her consciousness as her magic.

A power that forced her to walk through the haunting memories that plagued her dreams to obtain it.

And even though it was a strenuous task, Alethia found that each time she approached the abyss where her magic glowed, an addictive rush of strength pushed aside all other thoughts. Every single thing that made her lay awake in the dead of the night, drenched in sweat, no longer fazed her. The aching bones in her body and throbbing scars might as well be nonexistent.

Now, it had become second nature to fall into the abyss, into that secret alcove of magic that was all hers.

Something Alethia hadn't known she'd had all her life. It was right there. Hidden beneath her clouding fears, tortured mind, and uncertainties; in all its glory, it had waited patiently.

She walked through a haunted forest filled with images of innocent Kantians she'd murdered at her mother's command, a sister whose cheeky smile transformed into one tarnished with blood and sharpened fangs, and roses that stretched out to wrap their thorny roots around her neck.

Instead of focusing on those gut-wrenching thoughts, she pushed forth until she reached a ball of energy—until she could plunge her consciousness into the center of its red fiery cloud.

Instantly, her magic clung to her skin, warming her insides as it wrapped her in a cocoon of safety. It was the motherly embrace she'd always wished for.

But she didn't have time for those kinds of desires. Time was limited. She could feel it by the way her magic trembled, jittering as more was amassed.

From Naevia's training, when the old woman had poured magic within her like a broken dam, Alethia had learned to realize when her body was absorbing it. And she had learned when her cloud was teetering on the brink of diffusing uncontrollably—a diffusion that rocked her body to the precipice of death itself.

Someone was giving her magic, either purposefully or unknowingly. And she would prefer to avoid another potential meeting with the reaper.

At the center of her power, Alethia pictured the familiar cherry blossoms, the soft, crinkling grass, and the blue and white canvas of an undaunted sky. Her cloud of magic thickened, flashing redness across her awareness before dispersing until her vision was before her.

She found herself staring at the cluster of cherry blossoms stretched out to the horizon. Pink petals fluttered across her vision, tickling her cheeks. The sight washed her with the alluring sense of comfort until the details of why she was forced to come to Callistro's world sprang forth in her mind.

As if summoning her from her thoughts, Callistro spoke from behind her. "You have truly grown."

Alethia pushed away tangles of black hair curtaining her vision as she turned. Through the wisps, Callistro knelt, pulling out strands of grass with a petite, pale hand. As always, the mysterious woman wore a lacy nightgown that pooled around her frame. Her white hair drifted with the whims of the wind as she turned her gentle eyes to Alethia.

"You must not linger here," Callistro continued, blinking slowly. "You are needed."

Alethia nodded grimly, gifting the woman with rarely given gratitude. "Thank you, rhisil."

Her gut twisted with unfathomable grief and worry as a lurking suspicion of where that perceptible magic had come from. It felt like him.

And only she knew how far he would go to save her.

But she wasn't the same person he'd met. Callistro had taught her what to do through their meetings perching in the branches of cherry blossom trees.

It was time she returned a long overdue debt.

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