Truest

Chapter twenty-four

Kari was thrown in front of Shado. She crumbled to the ground her knees giving way. Shado grabbed her arm with a big muscular black hand and yanked her up so hard she cried out sure he had broken something.

"Ah dear Karissa, my little doll. You've come to help me. How kind of you foolish girl," he baited.

Kari bit her tongue from screaming in pain as he wretched her arm to the side painfully. Flames shot through her arm. Kari noticed for the first time that the four Cores were placed around them like a compass. They were in the center of the compass.

"Broke something have you?" He let out a mirthless laugh and yanked her so that she was facing where the sun was going down.

"So close. The portal would be open any minute now and I want to make sure I'm prepared."

Kari's mind was racing, hoping, and praying that Jack or Rubin or someone would come for her. She was giving up. She could feel her hope shriveling up inside of her. They were going to lose. Kari was so weak, so small against such a large and powerful beast like Shado.

His Shadow minions rushed around on the ground hovering just out of sight. The only thing that was holding Kari up was Shado and when he let go she dropped to the ground like a rag doll.

She couldn't stop herself.

No one was coming, they had failed.

She could feel the Shadows' power of making her feel desperate and hopeless weighing down on her but she didn't care or try to stop it. Shado laughed as Kari let out a sob. She didn't care who heard her cry anymore. Kari was ready to give up.

She was ready to give in and let Shado win.

Though she hadn't had some epically hard battle like in most books she had read she felt exhausted and sick of being pushed around and kept from things and in the dark. She was done and tired and just... done. Shado drew the same ragged dagger she had used to hit him with and grabbed some of her hair.

Kari cried out as he pulled her head back by her hair, dagger at her throat. "I will take so much pleasure in killing you like I killed your parents," he whispered in her ear.

Kari tried to pull away anger seething through her. He killed her parents! Murdered them in cold blood and took over her father's appearance, ruining his image forever!

Her anger began to fight the Shadows' weight of hopelessness and pain shoving it away from her. She was stronger than this. Her parents had not cried or given up, they had fought and saved her and died for her.

What was Kari doing in return? Being selfish and stupid and a frightened little girl. She was giving into Shado without even a fight. Kari's overwhelming sense of fear vanished, swept away by anger and sorrow for her Lands.

If she gave up she would be the most selfish person in the world for not doing anything to save everyone else's lives. Kari may not know a lot about sorcery but she knew one thing. In the hands of Shado it would be used for pure evil.

The dagger cut into her throat and Kari reached up to grab his hand fighting the pain of her broken arm.

"Let! Go! Of! Me!" she shouted pulling at his hand. He laughed with amusement.

"You silly doll, you can not stop me!" Kari fought and tried to pry his hand from her hair. She wasn't strong enough though.

"Kari!" someone shouted from across the meadow.

Shado allowed her to turn her head slightly as he did also. His eyes twinkled with delight, flashing in the night.

"Excellent. Your little friends are here to watch you die!" Kari shook her head as the dagger dug deeper and deeper into her throat drawing blood now. Seconds and then the portal would open and he would kill her. Suddenly she knew what she had to do. It would be painful, very painful but she would at least live.