Sometimes it’s worse.
Like when Klas buries me alive. Drowning me in soil. Ensuring that I can’t see the sun again for days and days while he plays with my power.
Oh, Gods, what if I wake up beneath the earth again?
I’ll claw at the soil on impulse, incapable of escaping no matter how hard I try.
A punishment.
But for what? I can’t remember.
A charm,my mind whispers.A mystical charm that brings me back, that allows me to override his spell.
I frown, a memory nagging at my thoughts. One of a goddess. Power. Full of stars.
She broke the obedience curse.
I can picture her perfectly, all that long, dark hair, golden skin, and glowing eyes.
So much power.
A dream or a reality?I struggle to remember.
Fallon.Issy’s voice is laced with impatience.I need you to wake up.
My brow furrows.Why does that sound so real?
Because it is,she snaps back.Now open your eyes.
I almost comply. But I don’t want to indulge in this trick. It’s probably Klas playing with my mind again, luring me to consciousness so he can make me pass out again.
He haunts me at all hours of the day and night, owning my soul, destroying me with each passing breath.
He’s in the dungeon, Fallon,Issy says.He tried and failed to kill the Gold and Garnet King. He was caught. He’s no longer in control. You eviscerated him several times. Remember?
My frown deepens, visions of Klas bleeding into buckets streaming behind my eyes. A fantasy or reality?
They’re delivering his sentence today,she continues.Which is why I need you to wake up. If they kill him…
It may kill me,I finish her sentence.
We’re tied together via an illegal spell. There’s no way to know what will happen when he dies.
But does it really matter?
I want him dead. Removed. Gone from my life.
He used my powers to try to create chaos in Gold and Garnet territory.All because he was frustrated by his lack of a promotion within the mercenary ranks.
“I’m tired of being overlooked. It’s time for them to see how powerful I really am. Besides, now is a great time with all the dissent brewing from the latest political scandal. It’ll be easy to recruit help. Not that I need much.”
His rant plays through my mind, reminding me of my mental reply.Except it’smypower you’re using. Not yours.
Granted, he had my power on a leash, so I suppose that did make him powerful indeed.
But he doesn’t have me on a leash anymore,I realize, my eyes opening.Because I’m no longer in that nightmare. I’m in a new one.
A nightmare shrouded in pretend luxuries.
