The Uprising

22

Leo fumbled with the miniature key, his palms growing more moist as the seconds passed by.

The sound of the lock being opened filled his ears and he swallowed painfully. The trapdoor unlocked and he crouched, painfully yanking the small door open.

He turned around and watched as the moon glistened with sparkles as it hovered over the silhouttes of the lurking trees.

The slight breeze brushed the loose strands of hair as a final tear slipped down his pale cheeks and he grasped the top of the ladder, inhaling once more.

Leo couldn't help but look back to the glorious sight of iridescent colours lingering in the sky and inhaled one final time, trying to take all of it in.

Who knows the next time he will be allowed to be above ground?

With an uncontrollably shaking body, Leo gathered the last bit of fear and climbed downwards, into the dark abyss.

•••

Lana shuffled uncomfortably in her bed as Maximus tightened his grip around her waist.

"It will be okay Lana, go to sleep."

Like it was that easy. Every alarm in her mind was ringing wih anxiety and it was pounding and lashing against the side of her mind, causing pain to throb at either side of her mind.

Her heart felt like it was being tightly squeezed in the hands of nervousness and nothing in her body was allowing her to sleep.

Lana was too alert, to panicky. She needed to be up and searching, drowning coffee as she plucked all the courage in the world to find Leo.

Instead, she was lying helplessly in the confines of the silk sheets that were concealing her a little too tightly.

"I'm going to go get some water."

She whispered the words and kissed the King's cheek before she gracefully left the bed, gliding down the hallways.

A mess. That's what everything was. One big hell of a mess. Everything Lana touched seemed to disintegrate into dust, slowly drifting away in the wind, carrying her hopes away in their miniscule grains.

Her dreaded, cursed hands had wrapped themselves around her twin brother and now he was gone, exactly like her parents.

Moisture collected in the middle of her already clammy hands and she finally let the bottled up tear spill and the small shout to escape as soon as the tear had rolled down her cheek.

The winter breeze entered through the slightly open window and Lana shivered as she reached for a glass, the wind seeping through her night gown.

Around her, the mansion was succumbed in pure darkness. No lights were on and candles were flickering in the breeze.

Only the dim light of the servant's kitchen reflected against the silver in the mansion and Lana closed the window, her eyes lingering on the outside world.

The trees were gracefully moving in unison, the leaves shaking as the wind penetrated each one.

Above them, the full moon eerily greeted her eyes, covered with slight clouds to create a more haunting look.

Lana's eyes fell back towards the trees and a defeated sigh escaped her trembling lips as the realisation finally sinked in.

Maybe she would never see Leo again. Maybe that was the last time the both of them would share their powers.

Anguish and pain continued to travel in each of her thoughts and her skin started to glow with the bewitching obsidian colour, turning darker by the second.

"Stop stop stop stop stop stop stop!"

Lana couldn't stop her mind from spiralling into the worse scenarios and she gripped her head as water began to rise.

Then anger and rage arrived. Mixing in with the sadness already plaguing her mind, all the emotions whipped each part of her vulnerable mind, unkowingly causing the newspaper lying about to set alight.

Blazing fire of reds and orange surrounded her, moving in sync with the tidal waves of relentless water.

She fell, her arms clutching her knees as she curled into a foetus' position. Her cries echoed against the walls as the fire grew mercileslly into a hazardous beauty.

Lana squeezed her eyes shut and whimpered loudly as heat cornered her and she coughed, crying as the smoke started to crawl its way into her throat.

This is it. This was the end.

The end of Lana.

•••

Maximus ripped the door off of its hinges as the smell of smoke increased dramatically and sprinted down the hall ways of the palace, disregarding the hardwork done by the maids in terms of the floor.

All logical thoughts had disappeared as soon as the first wiff of smoke had filled his nostrils.

His mate. Lana.

That is all that matters. She is all that matters.

The normal kitchen was empty, but the grey clouds of toxic danger continued to spread, arriving directly from the servant's kitchen.

The sound of feet pounding against the floor vibrated against the decorated walls of the mansion and Max's eyes widened at the sight.

Saphhire waves surrounded half of the room and covered the kitchen from floor to ceiling. The rest of it was littered with large fires, licking each and every plate and silverware, causing explotions and glass to fly everywhere.

Max frantically searched for Lana and only panicked more when he saw that she was right in the middle of it.

His heart hammered painfully against his chest as his pulse raised and he exhaled loudly, coughing as he did so.

With his shirt covering his nose, he pushed against the lashing waves of water and forced his way to her, coughing more and more the closer he got.

Instincts forced him to cradle her against his slightly burned chest and he hissed in pain as the fire stroked his arm, leaving blisters and scars in it's path of chaos.

Using his strong arm, he lifted her small body and tried to ignore the pain on his left arm.

However, the water was making that very hard. As soon as he tried to pass the water, it smashed against his left arm causing havoc to erupt and pain to sting at each burn.

A scream ripped from his lips as the water made contact and Max started to cry. The pain was intolerable but his mate was in a dire situation and he had to save her.

He sniffled and squinted as the water yet again made contact with his arm. Maximus clenched his jaw and called on his wolf who aided him with the healing.

With the help of his wolf, both Max and Lana made it out of the horror but Max collapsed almost straight away, clinging to only Lana and nothing else as his eyes closed.

End of Book 1