The Shadow Kingdom

Chapter 28iii

But fate has one more twist in mind for me.

"JUST DIE, YOU EVIL BITCH!" Adrian grabs Selena around the neck and forces her to the ground. He somehow found the strength to crawl across the courtyard while Selena and I were distracted. He roars more violently than ever before and seizes Selena's head tightly in his hands.

Selena is already so worn out from our fight that she cannot even scream let alone resist. But the pain she must be suffering is clearly visible as Adrian siphons every drop of her life-force without mercy or restraint. Selena's misleadingly youthful body shrivels like a raisin in the sun as Adrian rips off the beautiful mask that he has provided her for decades.

Selena's already distorted beauty becomes utterly grotesque, disgusting to the opposite extreme. And by the time that Adrian is done with her, Selena has the appearance of the eighty-five-year-old woman that she really is. And she is grateful for the release of death.

Adrian releases her, and her corpse falls to the ground, open eyed and lifeless like a ragdoll. In the process, Adrian becomes fully healed and stands strong. He swiftly pulls out the dagger and covers my wound with both his hands. The familiar white light appears, and I am rejuvenated just as he is. We spend a few seconds staring into each other's eyes, coming to grips with everything that has happened. And then he pulls me into his arms, and we share the longest kiss that either of us has ever had.

"Is it over?" I entreat. "For real this time?"

For once, Adrian's dark eyes betray him. "No." He answers regrettably. "I lied to you once, and I will not lie to you again. Chateau Elena was just one battle. The war has only begun." I bow my head but take solace in the fact that at least, Adrian has returned to me.

"Scarlett!" Diana's voice hollers through my earpiece. "What is your sit-rep?"

"Selena is dead." I respond. "I have Adrian, and we're waiting for Julian to show up."

"Julian's not going to get here fast enough! You need to find somewhere to hide now!" Diana screams. "Prometheus has reinforcements coming in from Southampton. They have a massive squadron of AH-6 and Apache gunships inbound. Most of their ground forces are already wiped out, so they won't hesitate to kill everyone they see!"

"Come with me." Adrian says. "I can deal with this."

I thought he was going to lead us back into the sewers, but instead, he lifts me up into his arms as if he's Superman and I'm Lois Lane. "What are you doing?" I ask. He doesn't have a chance to answer because an explosive gust of wind propels us off the ground, and the next thing I know, we are flying. Yes, that's right – flying.

Adrian lands us on the roof of the Chateau and sets me back on my feet. How the hell did he never mention the fact that he can fly! I stumble around like a drunk for a few seconds in order to regain my balance.

"Adrian!" Diana runs up to her beloved brother and hugs him dearly. "Thank god!" Her gaze meets mine, and for the first time ever, I see the semblance of a tear appear in her eyes. She immediately closes her eyes and forces the water back with her powers. But I smile all the same.

Adrian returns the embrace, but there is no time for sentimentality. He quickly turns his attention to the incoming air cavalry. He lifts his gaze to the sky and holds out his hands in that familiar fashion. He begins making strange gestures with his hands, and the rain dies down, but the dark clouds become even darker.

He raises his open palm toward the sky and pushes outward almost as though he is forcing the clouds forward. Not only that, they begin to coalesce into a cyclone shape, combining to form a massive funnel cloud. Adrian claps his hands together, and a bolt of lightning cuts across the sky. Pretty soon, an entire thunderstorm erupts, but it's concentrated entirely over the strait. And it's not just any thunderstorm either; it covers half the sky.

The Prometheus gunships begin to appear over the horizon, and I realize what Adrian is doing. Adrian pounds his fists together, and the lightning strikes scorch the sky with rapidly increasing frequency over the water. They keep growing until the black sky lights up like a fireworks display, and the thunder that follows rocks my eardrums like explosions. It would be a terrifying sight if it weren't happening so far away. And I grin malevolently as I imagine what those helicopter crews must be experiencing.

As the air cavalry nears the shore, the real spectacle begins. Adrian brushes his hand through the air like a finger painter, and the funnel clouds finally grow into full-scale tornadoes. The serpentine clouds slither downward from the sky to merge with the water. One of the little birds is caught in the storm, and it loses control before being torn apart by the tempest.

One-by-one, the helicopters are consumed by the cyclone winds, spinning wildly out of control and crashing into the strait. Some are struck by the lightning and explode in midair. The battle ends before it even begins as Adrian's torrential destruction obliterates Prometheus's entire squadron and litters Osborne bay with shattered steel.

Adrian's naturally black eyes now flash brightly in tune with the lightning. The storm does not end until Adrian has finally appeased the dark tempest within himself. I have always viewed Adrian's power as the gentlest of all the spellbinders, but it was always the man who was gentle, not his power. What I saw here was the beastly side of Adrian, the savage that dwells inside the prince.

The last helicopter tries to navigate it way through the maelstrom, but in one magnificent flash of lightning, its tail rudder is destroyed, and the crew jumps into the bay to join their comrades. "Tell Julian we don't have to worry about their air support." Adrian says, gasping for breath as the storm finally subsides.

"Julian's forces have broken through the forest; they are on their way to the mansion now." Amanda chimes in. "He reported an outstanding success on the southern front. What was left of Prometheus tried to escape the island with their patriarch. A Praesidium tactical team intercepted them at the harbour."

Diana and I exchange glances. My eyes do all the talking as I silently forgive her for what she had to do. I understand that this is going to be my life from now on – one of struggle and pain. The resentment that I once felt for Diana is now admiration. She has lived in this mad world her entire life, and it still hasn't broken her.

"We laid siege to their castle, and we captured their king. This was a decisive and unqualified victory." Diana voice sings with a triumphant tempo. "The day is ours."