Alex tossed his scepter between his hands, smirking. "I know what you're thinking."
"Enlighten me."
"Why the fuck are there two scepters?"
She blinked. "Oh. You're right."
"Surprised, April?" She looked unimpressed. "Don't you know the stories?"
"Yeah. Some kid goes into the woods, finds the scepter, almost gets killed but doesn't, and returns home a hero. They're the fucking Ancestor, you dumbass, of course I know the legends."
"But that's all they are." He held the foggy, dimly glowing ball in front of his face, smiling eerily. "Legends."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"What do you think it means? Come on, April, you aren't stupid. We both know that." He went back to playing with it. "So tell me: Why are there two?"
"You're one of the Believers, aren't you?"
"Maybe I am." His tone turned playful. "Maybe I'm not."
"So yes." She thought for a second. "So...there's two Ancestors?"
"What do you think?"
"I don't fucking know!" April exploded. "You show up with your- your death threats, and your scepter, and your pain and lies, and I don't even know what the fuck is happening anymore because Noah almost died and it's your fault." She could feel a burning sensation in her throat and tears pushing at her eyes but chose to fight through it. "Why are you even here? What do you want?"
"Oh, April, darling," he half-sang, striding closer to her. She took a step back. "It's not what I want." He leaned forward and winked. "It's who."
She gasped and twirled her own scepter, hitting him in the shins and ran. Rain was pounding and her heart was beating and people were fighting and she was running and she tripped, tumbling across the grass, the rain soaking her shirt.
"April?" She looked up and could see Cooper standing over her. "What happened?"
She took a deep breath, struggling to not scream or yell or something. "Alex is a prick and I wish I could punch him." She watched his jaw set and he nodded over to Noah, who was still lying on the ground. She crawled over to him, twirling her fingers through his hair and watching Cooper calmly walk over to Alex. He tapped him on the shoulder.
Alex turned around.
Cooper punched him square across the jaw.
YOU ARE READING
Shadowstruck
FantasyA girl wakes up in a forest with her memory wiped. Now they have to figure out who's behind The Uprising and, more importantly, how to stop them. If they can stop them. They're losing time. And the gods aren't on their side.
