Prisoner of Chaos (Redemption Book #4)

Chapter 45

Rift

When I traveled through that mirror I didn't use any of the energy I got from my last Scourge. What a convenient form of travel... I wonder what else Sola can teach me about magic that comes from the Light?

Then she surprises me again by telling me I need to kill Kyla's father, who is also my child's grandfather.

"You're crazier than I am, aren't you?" I say to Sola, searching around the mirrored room and resting my eyes on her mirror form. "Are you sure that broken wing doesn't mean you're mind is what's broken?"

"It pains me to say it, but I've already told Alvar of what will come," Sola says softly, her feathers smooth down over her scalp and wings droop. "He knows it must be done to make the blood right."

"The blood right?" Kyla says, choking up as the words fall from her lips. "What does that mean?"

And suddenly I understand. It goes all the way back to when Kyla's ancestor betrayed mine. "I will break his Curse if I kill him. Won't I?"

Sola nods. "The Dark Lord didn't want you to figure this out."

"If I break his Curse will I end the Dark Lord's rule?" I ask her, taking Kyla's hand in mine even though I don't normally do that kind of thing. Still, it seems right. I know Kyla loves her father and it must be painful to have a parent who loves you go off his rocker like Alvar has.

Sola closes her eyes. "No. But you will weaken him. The only reason he lived on was because of the power he left behind in Corseth all those years ago. He wanted to possess you so that you wouldn't be able to kill Alvar, he wanted to possess you because you have power he does not have. Power from the Light."

"How are we even considering killing my father?" Kyla says, biting her lip. She pulls her hand from mine. "We can't k-kill him! How can you be suggesting this? My father has regarded you as his dear friend!"

"My child, it will be alright. Your father's mind will not belong to him much longer and he wishes for peace. The Dark Lord will take control of him," Sola says, a grief stricken expression on her lovely face. "I love your father. He's been a good friend to me for many years. I've always known him to be a kind-hearted man, but that kind soul also made what he went through all the more maddening."

"Why didn't you say this when the rest of my family were in the room?" Kyla accuses, and I don't blame her, this is a natural reaction to such news.

But I'm beginning to understand how the Dark Lord has planned all of this from day one of my existence. It's making sense. The mission my mother sent me on to kill Kyla, was truly a mission the Dark Lord sent me on so Kyla would find her Mate. He'd known I wouldn't be able to kill her, because she's mine just as much as I'm hers. He'd known that this would lead me to kill my mother who wanted to destroy Kyla, and thus allow him to possess me.

It's painful to think that another entity could manipulate a situation so well.

He's been around long enough that he's good at his game. Whatever he is. Whatever his real name is. The Dark Lord has mastered the art of manipulating the world to create chaos. And we're just one world on his long list of worlds that he's destroyed... at least according to Belinda.

Yet I believe we played a wildcard in this game of Chaos. Instead of the future Ash told of, where I, as the Dark Lord, destroyed Axus with Kyla by my side, we've now turned the tables on that future. The Dark Lord possesses his old body and I'm a free mage to do what I please.

"We will have to get the dagger I gave you, Kyla," I say quietly.

Kyla whirls around wide-eyed at me. "I can't believe we have to do this! There has to be another way!" she cries, suddenly she's pounding a fist on my chest while burying her forehead into me. "There has to be another way."

"If Alvar dies, you also will be changed, Kyla," Sola says. "There will be balance in Axus."

"Sola, I can't believe we have to do this," Kyla says, "No, I can't--can't support this."

"It is your life, and the lives of everyone in Axus if you don't," Sola states. "Know this. Without the blood being made right between Alvar and Rift, there will be no chance of defeating the Dark Lord."

"You see the future," I say to Sola. "Are Kyla and I happy together in the future?"

"That is not how my gift of prophesy works. I only see things that create a better Axus," Sola murmurs. "The only thing I know is that together you and can defeat the Dark Lord."

The doors of Sola's mirrored room burst open. It's Queen Lucy with a panicked expression on her face.

"Alvar is gone!" she exclaims. "He transformed and headed north."

Sola rests her gaze on me with sympathy. "Time is short. Use the mirror to travel to Kyla's room. She's placed it in a safe behind her fireplace's mantel."

"What are we going to do?" Queen Lucy says, eyes wide, searching each of our faces for an answer.

"Your husband will be at peace at last, Lucy," Sola says, walking over and wrapping Queen Lucy in her embrace. "I'm sorry. This is the only way."

"You can't mean?" Lucy gasps, covering her mouth as she collapses to the floor sobbing. "No. He's my world. You can't mean what I think you mean."

Kyla rushes to hug her mother. "I can't believe it either. Sola says Father is under the control of the Dark Lord now. Just as he was under the control of Saul."

"But I unlocked his Fe collar," Lucy sobs, grasping her daughter tightly to her. "I saved him. Just as he saved me."