THE UNBREAKABLE PIECE (FIRST BOOK OF THE HIDDEN WORLD) English version

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO: THE WEIGHT OF A STAR

I closed my eyes for a few seconds as my mind adjusted to the last few minutes. I could still feel Lloyd's fresh and thick blood on my cheeks, where it had splattered. Drahceb knew he was a vampire, which is why he had thrust one of his iron-forged knives directly into his heart. I couldn't help but wonder why it was me, the last thing his eyes saw. That girl who had given him hope of someday regaining freedom.

I knew he had used an iron knife because of my Magneto-kinesis gift inherited from my father; I had sensed it on my skin as soon as I had crossed the threshold at Blue's. Being aware of each of the weapons he had on his body. The same with those golden daggers, which had been forged only for the crown, and each member of my family possessed one. The same dagger Drahceb had used to murder his father.

My throat was dry, and I could barely hear what Drahceb was repeating around me, echoing in my ears like a drum foretelling my end. We ran towards the entrance of Albus, with the guards at my feet, as he had used his gift to neutralize them. Drahceb opened the gates of Albus with a single movement, laden with the grace that characterized him. On the other side, the Citadel was immersed in the deafening silence due to the curfew imposed by the king to protect the Albeans. I internally thanked that everyone was in the refuge offered by their homes because I couldn't bear another loss of innocents.

"Why?" I uttered almost without desire, the question that clashed with my mind over and over, trying to find an exit. "Why did you do it?"

Drahceb fixed his feline eyes on me, terrifying I must say, when they were under the moonlight, the stars reflected in them like a pool of transparent water. But it wasn't calmness they attracted but rather uncertainty, of the bad kind.

"What, Amity?" he asked, glancing between my face and that of his children who hadn't uttered a single word since the party at Albus.

"Why did you kill Lloyd?"

I looked at my boots, which had also been splattered with his blood, and I remained petrified at the castle's entrance. Unable to take another step.

"Oh, that... Because I can." he shrugged like a teenager who didn't care about the rules. "You can't mourn the death of a vampire, Amity; those bloodsuckers don't deserve our mercy."

My body began to shake violently, with the same intensity as the earthquake I had caused on the hill below Albus. I couldn't control my muscles or the instability my spine caused. Christian tried his best, keeping my arms tight to the side of my body, but everything was stronger than me. An involuntary reaction to the evil and unconsciousness that bathed his words. Killing Lloyd, for him, had been like squashing an unpleasant bug. There wasn't a gram of guilt in his eyes.

I tried to focus my gaze on the Citadel, on the peace that prevailed during the night, where the moon bathed the reddish cobblestones, giving it the enchanted look that characterized Alba. Flowers of all kinds and colors grew from the cracks in the houses or the ground, due to the Terra Onpices, and my heart sank within my chest at the thought of Drahceb enjoying incinerating this place entirely.

My spasm stopped, and Christian withdrew his hands from me, taking a few steps back as if I were a teapot about to explode. I couldn't allow more destruction, more deaths because of me. I wouldn't let him hurt anyone else on this island. Because they depended on me, their lives and futures, and I would take care of them. Even if it were the weight of a star on my shoulders, the one my grandfather had affirmed about me. I was no longer on the edge of the abyss; I had taken the leap into the unknown, into the deep waters of the sea. Accepting my destiny, the one that had been written with stardust long ago. And at that moment, I didn't care about dying if I could save the ones I loved the most. If I could save Alba, taking this devil with the face of good friends and a heart of ice with me. Believing he was doing the right thing.