A Kingdom of Bloodshed (A Crimson Court Series)

*¬*Chapter Thirty Three*¬*

       Blood coats the cracked cobblestone streets. The once beautiful city, filled with laughter and sparkling glass now lay in ruins. Bodies are strewn across the ground, bent at odd angles. The last thing I remember was looking at my reflection and then nothing. It was like my mind had been swept clean. I do not know how I got here. I do not know what happened to these people.

"What's going on?" I whisper. There's two large males standing next to me. One with skin as dark as night and fierce hazel eyes, long midnight blue hair that falls past sculpted shoulders. The second male, a little shorter than the first, has short, close cropped copper hair and sharp moss green eyes. He meets my gaze but he does not answer me. Instead they push me forward, stepping between the bodies and the chaos.

They look like Light Soldiers. They have the gold and pale blue uniforms, their faces severe and serene. But the people? They are coated in red. Blood has soaked their skin, their lips. It has trickled from the piles of bodies laying around, and the city? By the gods... the city is nothing more than ruins. Crumbled buildings where castles once stood. Houses burnt to piles of ash and the skies seem to have split in half. It's raining.

The drops splatter across my face, down my cheeks, it soaks my shirt until we stop. We stop in the middle of it and I cannot stop my knees from giving out.

The males catch me but not fast enough. I hit the muddy earth and take in the ruin before me. What happened here?

"Where are we?" I whisper again. The rain seems to fall harder trying to wash the painted stain away. The first male speaks, "We are at the SunLight City. Or what's left of it, after you."

After me?

I turn back to the city and feel something crack in my chest. The second male twists next to me, his fingers falling to my shoulder before pressing into my temples, "Sleep now, Althea. We will call you back when needed." What is he talking about?

But I do not have time to ask, when the world starts to press in on me. It squeezes at my lungs, my ribs, pushing me down, down, down. I look.

I can't stop myself from looking. Talons and claws grip at my being and drag it down. I keep looking, too afraid to blink. And just as the world starts to shift and this broken city fades from view, I see it. Glittering across the cobblestone streets, twinkling like fallen stars; glass. The last thing I see is a city of shattered glass.

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         This world has changed since I last stepped foot into it. Gone are the days when giant beasts roamed the earth. When there were no kingdoms and only one ruler. I have not seen this realm in a long time. Althea does not fight the change, the shifting of our souls as she is pushed deep within herself. She simply watches, refusing to take her sight from the shards of glass at her knees.

Which is how that becomes the first thing I see. The second is the carnage. The bloodshed is still sweet on my tongue. Their screams now a haunting howl in the wind. This city never stood a chance. The two males at my sides do not say a word. They simply look at the hollowed city and smile. "He'll be pleased. We must retrieve him now." The darker one states. "Yes. Let's go."

They grab her by the shoulders and haul her up. Althea's body is not her own. Not when I'm in control. They stare at me through her eyes and whisper, "Let's go demon, we have a prince to rescue."

He's no prince. Augustus Morningsong is nothing more than a fly buzzing around rotting flesh. He is the first marked target on my list. Grinning, I dip my chin and say, "As you wish." She's silent. She's fallen into the recess of her mind and keeps looking. I don't think she's blinked.