No More Choices (Void and Light Book One)

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve
~Councilwoman Tanda~
Let me free beast! I yelled inside of mind.
Not until time is out, and the princess's mind is full of doubt, the nightmare hissed at me. I had been tricked by it. And now, it, and it's cohorts had control over the entire council. There was nobody strong enough to stop them. They were shadow creatures, nightmares really, from the Lunar realm defeated by the Queen Tessalyn. And the magic the sealed then was passed down to her daughter, the mother of the new princess, this Akiriya. She was interesting. Her power alone was a welcome surprise. As was her mate match. For Zelisa to be her mate was a surprise. I'd had higher hopes for the princess. I'd sent my niece to find her and become her guardian.
Emory was dead when I got to her.
The Nightmare used my body and power to take the shifters to Everest, the highest point on Earth, in order to get to the celestial council base of operation. Akiriya looked around at the space and her eyes widened. Her armor was impeccable, and the obvious trademark of her lineage. Every queen before her had the innate need to have intricate armor that fed on their magic only to the pump it back into the wearer's body. The wings were new though. Those had never been a feature on a previous queen's outfit and it had me concerned about the flair of power that she had demonstrated. Though I didn't have control over my body anymore, I could still feel everything. My senses were still my own even though I would never be able use then as I pleased. The Nightmare took her time watching them all and try as I might I could block all of her thoughts. I knew the plan of these monsters but it would all do me no good if I couldn't tell anybody.
Calvin, smart Calvin, looked at the Nightmare with narrowed eyes.
YES! Please notice something! Anything!
"Councilwoman Tanda, is everything alright with you?" He took a step closer and I noticed that the others had moved away to a distance so that the girls could calm the princess who had apparently fell ill. But teleportation would do that to you if you weren't used to it.
She smiled at him, "Oh yes indeed, as fine as a humble steed."
He nodded and turned his back, seemingly accepting that answer. "You know it's interesting, you're usually a little more disdainful towards Zelisa, all things considered. It seems that you've finally forgiven her, huh?"
The Nightmare flinched at the question. She didn't know! Of all the things that Calvin pretended to be, he could never be incapable of pretending to lack intelligence.
And he was right in this instance to be suspicious. I hadn't refrained from making rude commentary towards Zelisa in years. The night she left my son at the altar had angered me beyond any sanity. She'd been cursed by the council, when we were still in control of ourselves, to live a year without her phoenix flame.
    That would have broken most shifters. A consequence like that would hurt anybody, but not Zelisa. She prevailed through it and continued her training so that she could be apart of the team to find the Princess and now she was her mate.
    "A mistake was made once in the past, But no more shall that bad blood last." her rhyming was eloquent but there was no emotion in her voice.
"You know, I thought you might say that." he turned and threw liquid on my body. I felt the burning of my flesh and the nightmare looked down on it and used my magic to burn off the substance.
NO!, I screamed in my head. This was supposed to free me!
This child tried to do his part, but, my people have been ready since the start, the Nightmare states.
"What is it that you think you're doing?" it sneered, glaring at Calvin.
I could feel it's irritation. It didn't even try to rhyme. It was slipping up.
"I was just making sure you were who you said you were." He said slyly with a smirk.
"Guys, I think we need to go, Akiriya passed out." We looked over to see the princess' armor had changed back into normal garbs of human material. The Nightmare clenched our-no, it's jaw and looked down on Akiriya.
It-no, we nodded. "Yes, of course, she mustn't be harmed in anyway. She is our future." We hesitated, as we sent the Princess and her shifters away back to the bathroom and their educational facility.
"She's the future? What did you mean?" I asked, wait, I was speaking! "How am I speaking?"
My mind felt like it was too small. Like the space was cramped. But as soon as I asked the question my consciousness was pushed back to wherever it had been before and the creature smiled cruelly.
"It would seem," it spoke with our voices intertwined, "that our essences are fusing and with that, the battle of wills. Will you succumb to me? Or will you prevail, with even the odds stacked against you?"
I pushed my essence through and looked at the skyline, "I will win."