The Raven Flame [The Crown Saga III] (First Draft)

A Flame so Dark

Tristan was here.

Stick to the plan.

Art had promised me my family was safe.

Stick to the plan.

Where were my parents?

Stick to the plan.

Tristan was here.

I no longer remembered the plan. It lingered like a misted thought, too blurry for me to make out the details through the pulsing fear shrouding me.

My body tensed when Pangea squatted beside him, a warm smile plastered across her face. "My dear boy," she said, placing a gentle hand under his elbow to help him to his feet. "There is no reason to cry."

Disgust crawled like restless bugs under my skin as Pangea wiped his tear-drenched eyes with her cloak.

"Get away from him, Pangea," I snarled, my hands curling into white-glowing fists, air whirling around them like a pending hurricane waiting to be unleashed.

Pangea rose again, one gloved hand grabbing firmly onto Tristan's shoulder. She eyed me with a victorious glare that Tristan couldn't see.

Those familiar blue eyes—once so absurdly similar to Caiden's stormy eyes—had undoubtedly darkened as if shadows had leaked into her blood and spilled across her gaze.

"I sense the unwavering love and commitment you have for your brother, Miss Aldwyn," Pangea spoke with a cool, resolute voice as if every second leading up to this moment had been planned from the start. "I have sensed it since long before we had the pleasure of meeting face to face. I admire that, so I am willing to make a trade."

The air in my lungs stirred, but I refused to let it show in my eyes.

Tristan and I shared blood. She'd needed mine to activate the gauntlets, but with him in her grasp, I didn't understand why it sounded like she still needed me. The traces of Katarath's genomes coursed as much through his veins as they did mine.

I narrowed my eyes at her, inspecting Pangea's face for any shadow of deception. However, her molded mask revealed no cracks for me to look through.

"A life for a life," Pangea said, not wavering from my gaze even as Tristan twisted his head to look at her with puzzled eyes.

My heart sank when Tristan's eyes filled with another wave of tears.

Tristan was a smart boy. I didn't doubt he'd already realized what those words meant.

Cursed... Cursed everything. I couldn't let Pangea tear down the veil, but I couldn't let her take my brother either.

I heaved a composing breath through my clenched teeth, my mind reeling to devise a decent solution to this mess.

"If you want me, Pangea, come get me," I said, my fingertips humming with explosive energy, longing to break free.

"She cannot." The familiar whisper of a voice made me halt in my tracks, the flame of anger from within me flickering shakenly.

I glanced over my shoulder. The claw clenching my drumming heart loosened its grip a smidge when I saw Caiden leaning against the onyx pillar, wrapped in shadow.

His lips twisted into a strained smile when our eyes met, but the rest of his face seemed contorted with pain, sweat making his brow glint in the dimming sunlight.

His left arm hung limp down his side, the scarlet veins peeking through the tattered clothes across his shoulder. He must've overextended himself under Ariyah's influence.