Kael left shortly after his non helpful speech. I didn't want to think or feel about what was going on so eventually I drifted off to sleep. And again was awoken from the dream that I have been having except this time I heard a voice.
And at first I thought that they were in my head. But as time went on they started getting louder and louder.
"She is close... She has she will soon see!"
I jerked up the bindings piercing my skin as if they were on fire. My head felt like it was going to explode with the burning sensation and the voice shouting at me. My head seemed to throb with the rhythm of the shouting in my head.
"What's happening.. to me." I screeched in pain on the floor. But there was no one to awnser I was all alone.
I blinked trying to get this pain out of my head trying to focus as the walls had seemed to shimmer for a moment. I had to concentrate, I couldn't let the king capture me.
And then I heard footsteps.
It was Kael.
The door creaked open, and there he stood, framed by flickering torchlight. His expression was unreadable, but his eyes—those piercing deep blue eyes—held a mixture of curiosity and suspicion.
"Still defiant, I see," he said, stepping closer.
"What do you want from me?" I spat, my voice steadier than I felt.
"I could ask you the same," he replied coolly. "You're not just some lost girl, Ember. There's something about you—something even you don't seem to understand."
I glared at him, refusing to let him see the fear creeping through me. "You don't know anything about me."
Kael crouched down to meet my gaze, his smirk returning. "Maybe not yet. But I will."
Before I could retort, a loud crash echoed from somewhere deep in the fortress. Kael's smirk vanished, replaced by a sharp frown. He rose quickly, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword.
"What now?" he muttered under his breath, throwing a glance toward the door.
The whispers grew louder in my ears, urgent and insistent.
Go Now Runn. Runn. Run!
Kael turned back to me, as if sensing something. "Don't move," he ordered, though the binding spell ensured I couldn't even if I tried.
As soon as he left, the whispers became deafening, wrapping around me like a cloak. The bindings on my wrists flared with heat, and I gasped in pain. But then—without warning—they snapped apart.
I stared at my freed hands, bewildered. "What the—"
Run, the voices urged. The woods will guide you.
I didn't think. I moved.
The corridor outside my cell was empty, lit only by a single wavering torch. I slipped through the shadows, my steps as silent as the whispers guiding me. Each turn seemed to come instinctively, as if the whispers were mapping the way in my mind.
The cold hit me first when I reached the outer gates. Snow swirled in the night air, and I paused only for a moment before plunging into the forest.
The trees loomed overhead, their branches twisting together like skeletal hands. The forest felt alive, each shadow shifting as though it had a will of its own.
I wasn't alone.
Kael's voice echoed through the night, sharp and commanding. "Spread out! She's heading toward the cursed woods. Don't let her escape!"
Panic surged through me. The cursed woods. THE CURSED WOODS!??
But the woods are looking good right now compared to my current situation.
The snow beneath my feet slowed me, each step sinking deep into the icy ground once again. My breath came in ragged gasps, fogging in the frigid air.
At least i'm getting all my steps in today.
A howl pierced the night, distant but chilling. Wolves? No, something else.
The whispers in my head grew louder.
Do not fear. You are protected.
Protected by what?
"Ember!" Kael's voice rang out, closer now.
I darted behind a tree, pressing my back against the rough bark. My heart hammered in my chest as I heard his footsteps crunching through the snow.
"You can't outrun me," he called, his tone laced with both frustration and amusement. "The woods might be cursed, but I've faced worse."
I bit my lip to keep from making a sound. The whispers in my mind swirled like a storm, urging me onward.
Then, without warning, the shadows around me shifted. A figure stepped out from the darkness—tall, cloaked, and radiating an aura of power so intense it made my knees weak.
"Who—" I began, but the figure raised a hand, silencing me.
Kael's footsteps faltered. "Who's there?"
The cloaked figure didn't respond. Instead, they turned toward Kael, their presence like a wall between us.
"You've trespassed where you don't belong," the figure said, their voice low and resonant.
Kael drew his sword, his stance wary but unwavering. "She's mine. Stand aside."
The figure laughed softly, the sound both chilling and oddly comforting. "She doesn't belong to you. She belongs to herself—and the woods."
Before Kael could react, the shadows surged forward, engulfing him. His shout of surprise was cut off, and then there was silence.
The figure turned back to me, lowering their hood.
"You're safe now," they said, their eyes glowing faintly in the darkness. "But you must move quickly. They will come for you again."
I stared at them, my mind racing. "Who are you? What do you want from me?"
The figure smiled faintly. "The question isn't what I want, Ember. It's what you want. And whether you're ready to claim it."
Before I could respond, they stepped back into the shadows and vanished, leaving me alone in the cursed woods.
YOU ARE READING
The Shattered Crown BOOK 1: CROWN OF ASH AND GOLD
FantasiEmber Valen has spent her life believing she was an ordinary young woman named Lola, she was raised by Beatrice, a quiet family friend with a mysterious past. But on her 21st birthday, Ember's world unravels. Strange magic erupts within her during a...
