Dark Prince: The Death Realm

Chapter 10

She found him on the ground in a room. He was lying up against a wall, his eyes closed and looking barely conscious. Beneath his shirt something moved slightly. It looked like some sort of large, thick snake.

When she tried to move forward to help him, she found that she couldn't get any closer to him. She found that it was like looking at a scene through a mirror portal. She could see the scene, but she could do nothing to help or change it. It frustrated her so much. She closed her eyes and thrust her hand towards the scene, her open palm facing out.

When she opened her eyes, the scene was gone. It was still playing over and over in her minds' eye, however. But she tried to take it out and focus on the task at hand: actually finding Zekrin. Lamenting about a mirror vision wouldn't do anything to help him, nor would it actually help her find him. Unless....

"Dumb!" she screeched at herself. She mentally kicked herself for terminating the spell used to create the mirror portal. If she had been thinking, she could have traced the magick back to the Caster. But she didn't. All that had been in her head was to get away from that vision that was giving her waking nightmares.

What if the nightmare is real? What if he's really in that state at this very moment? You just threw away what was probably your best chance at finding him! You threw away your best chance at getting out of the Death Realm. Who knows how much time has passed in the world of the Living? If I don't find him, then we don't escape... We don't know how long that six-month parole offer is going to be open. If I don't find him soon, Kalik might retract his offer because he was left waiting too long for the conditions to be filled. What if that happens? What if we can't get out? It's probably already chaotic up there! It will only get worse with time without us to help! She thought desperately.

The fae queen groaned, looking around her for some other solution. Her eyes were attracted to a small, dim glow upon the ground. It was part of a puzzle. It had some kind of spell on it, by the look of it. It was white with a soft white glow around the edges that was hard to see.

"A portal puzzle." She looked ahead of her as though she could see something or someone, which she most definitely could not. It was just empty space, but she spoke to Kalik. "More magick? You think yourself clever, Kalik. But there is more than one way to do magick."

She straightened her posture and continued, quickening her pace through the stone maze. The portal puzzle piece was clutched tightly in her fist; so tight that her knuckles were red with the pressure. The portal piece cut into her hand, digging into her flesh slightly more than was comfortable to her. She used that force to keep her running.

Genevia gritted her teeth. She was fairly certain that, from what she got from her quick look, the snake-creature on Zekrin's stomach would be quite fatal, if the tales were true.

But how fatal can they be in the Death Realm? He's... well... he's already dead! She thought to herself. She didn't think that she wanted the answer to be known to her. But the answer flew through her head anyways. If he's 'killed' here, then he won't get that probation that we were promised after six months. There's so many conditions to meet in order to get to this stupid thing I almost don't know if it's worth it! She thought bitterly to herself. She knew that it wasn't true. It was worth it. Even if it was just to calm her people and name a legitimate successor, she knew it was worth it for those reasons at least, even if it was rather pointless for any other reason.

I have to get to him. I have to find these pieces... both mine and his... and get to Zekrin. She didn't want to say it, for they were famous last words, but they echoed in her head anyways, almost mocking her. How hard can it be?