Prisoner of Chaos (Redemption Book #4)

Chapter 13

Rift

"Rift, thank the Light I found you!" it's Scenna, she's nudging me. "Rift, wake up, you bastard!"

I groggily turn around and look up at her, her brow is knit with worry and eyes wide with urgency.

Why do I feel utterly awful? What's going on? Why is Scenna so upset and what is she doing in my tent?

"Rift, it is you, right?" Scenna studies my face.

"Uh, yes," I mutter.

"You need to know that the Dark Lord... he--he showed up last night," Scenna rushes out the words. "Through you."

"What do you mean?" I ask, blinking at her, then my eyes widen. "Shit!" I scramble to sit up as memories flood me. I'd thought I'd had a terrible dream. "What did I do?" I grasp her shoulders. "Tell me!"

"You made an example of Cask in front of everyone, you took him from the hospital and--" Scenna says, she sucks in her cheeks and gets quiet, before adding, "Well, he's dead now."

I curse under my breath. I recall what I'd done to him. I'd had him chained up by his own men, and while laughing, fed him tainted arlite.

"This is what happens to the people who think they can challenge me."

"Did the Dark Lord do anything else?" I ask her, closing my eyes and rubbing my temple, trying to remember all the details in what I'd thought had been a terrible dream.

"That was the worst of it, I think," Scenna states, "After that you made a speech. You announced you were going to  bring about the end times with a Cursed minion at your side, as it was always supposed to be, you were going to call up all the dark entities of Axus, and that the civilized world here would perish in Cursed fire and dark magic. How it's the destiny of our world. Inescapable since the beginning of Axus. You told them, if they followed you, they wouldn't die in the fires."

"What was their reaction?" I ask her.

"Everyone in the smugglers camp loved it." Scenna rolls her eyes.

I shake my head with disgust. Yes, I recall the clapping and cheers from this group of psychopaths and degenerates.

"Arlite... and after that?" I ask her, wondering if I killed or perhaps screwed someone else.

"You said you were going to see Kyla, and return in the morning," Scenna says. "Then you disappeared."

Yes, I remember this. I appeared at my dark mirror to summon up a vision of Wes and see what was going on with Kyla. I'd seen him naked in the mirror, he was staring at her as she undressed. Drooling over my mate's curvaceous body.

My blood boiled at the sight. Even with the Dark Lord in control it tortured my mind to watch as he put his hands on her.

I don't remember what happened after. I don't remember if Kyla actually went through with it. The Dark Lord in control makes my mind hazy.

Damn. I want to know if she went through with it. I wouldn't blame her. In her mind I've probably betrayed her tenfold.

"Do you want to go somewhere safe? You now have seen how traveling with me is a bad idea," I tell Scenna as I get up and shrug into a shirt. "I wouldn't have done that to Cask if I was just me. I could do something like that to you without realizing it."

"I know," Scenna growls at me, she tosses her head and glares at me ferociously, "But I'm not leaving you, so stop asking!"

I raise my hands up and laugh. "Okay, okay. Don't make me Scourge you."

"You can't even if you tried," Scenna snorts, indicating to her talisman. She folds her arms over her chest. "Okay, so what do we do now?"

"I've earned their loyalty and respect, thanks to the Dark Lord," I tell her. "Let's go to Erlund with them and see where this leads."

"What about the Dark Lord?" Scenna asks. "How can we be sure he won't return and possess you again?"

"We can't,"  I tell her with a shrug as I button up my shirt. "But you'd better pray to the Light that we can find a way to stop any kind of war which may happen here, because the chaos which inevitably will occur from it will make the Dark Lord powerful enough to take over my mind all the time. And if a war does happen, let's all hope I can kill us before it's too late."

"That's the goal," Scenna says. "Any ideas on how you're going to kill yourself when that happens? I found you drinking in a hole in the ground without a clue, remember?"

"I love how much hope you have in our success," I mutter dryly. "Since you asked. Here's what I've been thinking... I wonder if the key to my death has something to do with the innate light abilities I possess from my father's side."

"Oh?" Scenna sounds skeptical.

"Whenever I've brought Alvar or Kyla from Cursed to human form my body has attacked itself," I explain. "You see, I'm a walking conflict. The Dark Lord wanted me this way to carry out his plan, but that could be his downfall. I won't say aloud what I have planned, but I believe I know how to die."

Scenna nods and uncrosses her arms. "I hope you're right," she says. "But I'll be sad for you if that ends up being necessary."

"We're all going to die," I tell her. "Why not die for someone you love? I think you should all be thanking Kyla. If it wasn't for her love, I'd have no reason to die. No reason to care about this world enough to die in order to stop the Dark Lord."

"I think you're not as bad as that," Scenna says.

"She changed my life," I say somberly, trying not to get choked up, "She--she redeemed me." She also is marrying someone she doesn't love and her heart is broken because of me. "I'll return by evening, start out on your way to Erlund. I'll make sure they know I'll kill every single one of them in ways they can't fathom if anything happens to you."

"I think they already know that, Rift," Scenna says. "They fear you more than anyone. They always have. I remember well back when I was in Dirk's mansion how they'd talk of you. Where are you going though?"

"Don't stop me," I say.

"You're going to see Kyla?" Scenna grabs my arm. She's a quick thinker. "Don't you dare!"

"I won't touch her, I just want to see her," I defend.

"You told me to keep you away from her," Scenna rebukes. She slaps me across the face, it stings over my cheekbone, she's got a good arm. "After what you did to Kyla, you stay far away. If she's moving on with her life, seeing you will only delay that."

"I won't let her see me then either," I snap at Scenna. My mind is made up. I know Scenna can't stop me. I need to see Kyla and make sure she's okay after what she had to do to cover up my treachery.